Neglected strategic issues on the Indo-Bangla border
In the first week of November 2016, this writer, as part of a distinguished three-member fact-finding team of experts set up under UN-mandated program, undertook a rapid appraisal of the work of the voluntary agency Masum, which operates in four districts along the Indo-Bangladesh border in the Indian state of West Bengal.
The agency seeks to prevent or deal with torture and extrajudicial execution by central and state security forces deployed along the international border. The team found that far from posing a threat to national security, the organisation is actually working to defend the human 
Bangladesh has much to celebrate, much to do in fight against poverty
Jim Yong Kim
It may come as a surprise to some that I will celebrate the international day to end global poverty in Bangladesh - a country often associated with extreme poverty. Born from the ashes of its war for independence in 1971, Bangladesh has a history of famines and cyclones that have claimed countless lives.
Enriching education in Bangladesh
About a year ago, seven year-old Afroza Khatun dropped out of school as her mother could not continue supervising her homework.
The interruption in her grade II lessons was soon noticed by a teacher of an information education centre known as ENRICH, a state-funded programme which aims at supporting children who drop out to continue their education from the primary level (up to grade II).
“I could not accept that Afroza, so brilliant in her lessons, had to drop out of school just because her mother could not help prepare her lessons at home,” Mosammet Shirin Akter, a teacher at ENRICH learning centre, told IPS News.
Afroza’s father died when she was still in her mother’s womb. Too poor to support the family, Afroza’s mother, Joshna, had to work as a day labourer. Recently, she ...
Myanmar’s peace prize winner and crimes against humanity
SITTWE, Myanmar — SOON the world will witness a remarkable sight: a beloved Nobel Peace Prize winner presiding over 21st-century concentration camps.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, one of the world’s genuine heroes, won democracy for her country, culminating in historic elections in November that her party won in a landslide. As winner, Aung San Suu Kyi is also inheriting the worst ethnic cleansing you’ve never heard of, Myanmar’s destruction of a Muslim minority called the Rohingya.
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Bangladesh transforms despite its vicious politics
Bangladesh’s social, economic and political development is one of the great success stories of the past 25 years. But today it is Bangladesh’s politically dysfunctional ‘battling begums’ — Sheikh Hasina of the ruling Awami League (AL) and Khaleda Zia of opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) — that hold the country back.
n overview of a floating vegetable market for the poor people besides the rail tracks close to the station during the country wide strike at Mohakhali in Dhaka, Bangladesh, 1 January 2015 (Photo: AAP)Bangladesh has emerged from military rule as a fledgling democracy struggling to build essential economic and political institutions. It has made great strides in drawing children into schools, improving gender equality, boosting maternal and child health, and red...
Issues with Bangladesh
The India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement (LBA), which was signed in 1974, eventually came into force on 1 August 2015. It provides for the formal exchange of 162 enclaves between the two countries. It is imperative to further consolidate the historical ties through functional cooperation in other spheres of mutual interest. Observers feel that bilateral economic ties continue to be hobbled, a major irritant being the illegal trade in many commodities across international borders. This has resulted in a huge loss of revenue. The smuggling of cattle persists as a border crime.
Despite the improvement of infrastructure along the borders, a lot remains to be done. The construction and improvement of Land Customs Station (LCS), the setting up of Immigration Centres and further develop...
