Imagine a piece published in the New York Times that tries to tackle the epidemic of tax evasion in Bangladesh. Imagine that in the first few paragraphs, the piece rushes to describe the sights and smells that stand behind and in front of that seemingly intractable epidemic : “Much of Bangladesh’s capital city looks like […]
As India and China battle it out in the Indian Ocean, human rights takes a back seat in South Asia.
Bangladesh’s political economy made it into the front page of the New York Times this morning. Unfortunately, though important, it was a story about the garments industry in Bangladesh. That is, it was a story about the downward push of wages and regulations in the garments industry in Bangladesh. The kind of downward push that is […]
One of the principal reasons that Bangladesh’s economic development has been so slow in coming and so meager upon arrival is that information hasn’t reached the poorer, farther flung, places in Bangladesh. Villages that do not have easy transport access (and therefore do not have information, publicly or privately bundled) do not enjoy their fair […]
Two events occurring within hours of each other earlier this week illustrate India’s potential for great power status as well as the vast distance the country still has to travel to fulfill its global ambitions.
In another mutual advantage move, Bangladesh and Nepal have signed a deal that will very likely increase bilateral trade between the two countries. A transit deal, including a transport route worked out in Dhaka–and finalized in early 2011– will increase transport and tourism between the two countries. The deal initially made in 1976 will finally […]
The Indian Rupee now has its unique symbol – a confluence of the Roman ‘R’ and Indian (Devanagari script) ‘Ra’. The symbol was finalized yesterday by an Union Cabinet Committee. Uday Kumar, the designer of the symbol explains the symbol, “My design is based on the Tricolour with two lines at the top and white […]
The government has stumbled upon the opportunity to move against all its enemies on the religious right. International partners are asking the Awami League government to take its next steps carefully. The BNP is backing down from its high pitched rhetoric on the ruling party’s moves against the right. With that confluence of events, the […]
The street protests in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) are de javu for many locals. It is claimed that a new generation of youth in the state are turning to confrontational tactics as the state continues to define security in strictly militaristic terms. For the Indian side peace in J&K implies ensuring that separatists and militants […]
The government of Bangladesh has placed severe penalties against burning the national flag. The cabinet approved the move and the parliament will debate the prospect of 2 year prison terms and a 10,000 Taka fine levied against all such acts. This smacks of nationalism run amok. It is nearly incontestable that any instance in […]
The New York Times just published a fascinating piece about a Iranian scientist named Shahram Amiri, who has sought refuge in the Pakistani Embassy’s Iran interest section in Washington D.C. The piece shows that there are at least two different versions of the story and clearly demonstrates the murky and cold waters that run over […]
I’ve not attended to Bangladesh’s climate change derived water crisis in some time. Whether I’ve been right or wrong, I’ve principally attended only to the political bearings that have supported the two main opposing parties. Happily, Sebastian Strangio a journalist writing for Foreign Policy Magazine has written up an excellent piece about climate change in […]
It often goes unremarked but politics is nothing more than the show of armed, military might sublimated through votes and caucuses. So it is somewhat odd that the majority of the coverage of Pakistani politics related to the so-called ‘War on Terror’ is principally concerned with terrorism and the growing insurgency of the Tehrik e- […]
As I wrote recently the High Court in Bangladesh has deemed fatwas and other extrajudicial punishment illegal. Indeed, it has ruled that those who issue fatwas are now subject to punishment. This is good news. But the results that the ruling might seem to promise may be a long time coming. In the first instance […]
India faces daunting challenges in overcoming its infrastructure deficit.
