Image: Shahidul Alam, NY Times Lens Blog Bangladesh has the disreputable distinction of being a democracy that supports a killing squad. The Rapid Action Battalion, an “anti-crime” paramilitary group that has killed more that 550 people, under circumstances that are, at best, suspicious. The smarter bet is that this group has been engaging in extra-judicial […]
Given the milestones that have marked the recent history of the overwhelmingly successful microfinance institution (MFI) business model, it is only appropriate that there be some consideration of retrenching and maintaining some sustainability in the MFI market. Surely none of us are so secure in the obvious beneficences of micro-finance that we cannot fathom that […]
Border skirmishes around Jaintapur and Padua threaten to destabilize the hard won amity that Bangladesh now shares with India. The Daily Star reports: “Indian Border Security Force dug 25 bunkers following an overnight intrusion into Bangladesh territory through Padua-Protappur border in Gowainghat upazila of Sylhet and retreated yesterday afternoon after 19 hours.” “The BSF’s retreat […]
There are two new Economist articles that highlight the impact and consequence of micro-credit, or more generally micro finance institutions, that in Bangladesh moved millions of families away from the gaping jaws of extreme poverty, toward a vision of more sustainable, capability oriented lives. The first article deals with innovations that have empowered women. Though […]
Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are ahead of the curve again. This time its innovations in agricultural development and production. The good news at issue is: using 40% less nitrogen fertiizer, farmers have increased rice yield by 20%. And why is this a significant achievement? The NY Times blog Green Inc has some answers: “Chemical fertilizers are critical […]
The High Court in Dhaka quashed all the corruption charges brought against sitting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her involvement in purchasing Russian MIG-29 planes during her previous term in office. The charges, brought by a group that was associated with the BNP-led coalition were dropped declared the Court because the charges were meant […]
The Awami League government has promised that it will not halt any ‘pro-people’ public policy works that were initiated by the previous BNP led coalition government. Speaking to Dr. Margaret Chan, the Director General of the World Health Organization, the Prime Minister reaffirmed her commitment to social development in far-flung villages. To cite just one […]
The Awami League released the following after CNN rated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed as the sixth most powerful woman in Asia. More important that the fact of her rating is the reasons she was rated as such. “Awami League President & Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been rated as the sixth most powerful women […]
On International Women’s Day, March 07, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared that the Awami League “will eradicate gender discrimination from Bangladesh by 2021, the golden jubilee of the country’s Independence.” Speaking in Dhaka, she reminded her audience that though Islam secures women’s procedural and property rights, the BNP-Jamaat coalition, the previous government in power, made […]
The Guardian published an op-ed by Simon Chestertman and Kishore Mahbubani today. Though a run-down of the pragmatic way countries in Asia have dealt with global challenges, the article features Brac and Grameen Bank prominently. “Asia has emerged as a leader in social entrepreneurship. The successes of social businesses such as Grameen Bank and Brac in Bangladesh have contributed […]
The Bangladesh Rifles, the unit of the military that revolted against its own military officers will be changing its name to the Border Guards Bangladesh. As the BBC reports: “It is not clear how much the changes will cost. Several trials are under way of thousands of border guards accused of taking part in the […]
It seems that though I rail about the dearth of international media coverage on Bangladesh, nevertheless, I often miss important pieces that speak to Bangladesh’s opportunities–missed opportunities, perhaps–to make of itself a model, inclusive Muslim democracy. (For all my equivocations, I cannot reject the reality that both leading parties in Bangladeshi politics have long ceded […]
The latest IMF report on the health and stability of the Bangladeshi economy is, on the whole, quite positive. The IMF analysts claim that with respect to Bangladesh’s economy “financial contagion was contained by low levels of financial integration. Growth, estimated at 5.9 percent for FY09, decelerated only modestly from the pace recorded in recent years and […]
The International Crisis Group (ICG) recently published a report on Jamaat-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). I’ve been writing about the group and their wider ties to Harkatul Jihad al Islam, Lashkar-e-Taiba and the rightist Jamaat-e-Islami party in Bangladesh. The connections, ferreted out and mapped already, span the Indian Subcontinent and have now begun to spread, taken […]
The Awami League government in power in 1997 thought it had settled a long-fought campaign for autonomy led by a group of the Chakma, the tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts. It seems now, acts of violence have recalled the Bangladeshi military into the region As the BBC reported on February 23rd, “Bangladesh’s army […]