Lot of actions, little result!
Hold meetings, make decisions and then forget all about them. This has been the practice of successive governments regarding road safety in the past three decades. Since the mid-80s, each government has undertaken numerous initiatives to reduce road crashes, but they are gathering dust at the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry.
Civil Service Reform Plans: Doomed all along
All the successive governments made moves to reform the civil service but none of them brought about the much-needed changes due to lack of political will and resistance from a section of bureaucrats.
Effective yet ignored
Traffic from Banasree, Badda, Rampura, and Hatirjheel used to converge on Pragati Sarani near Rampura TV station and it was a messy affair. Commuters previously feared the intersection but now a cheap U-loop has made a huge difference.
Quota in Govt Jobs: Too complex a system
The quota system in Bangladesh civil service is extremely complex and cannot be implemented ensuring proportionate representation of all sections of the society, according to two former top bureaucrats of the country.
Diary of a young radical
Since the emergence of the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in mid-2014, the brutal ideology of the militant outfit has ensnared hundreds of young Bangladeshis, like it has brainwashed youth from across the globe.
3 Major Bridges by Early Next Year: Dhaka-Ctg highway awaits relief
Opening of three new bridges on the Shitalakkhya, Meghna and Gumti rivers will reduce bottlenecks on Dhaka-Chittagong highway early next year.
4-Lane Dhaka-Ctg Highway: Up for mending all too soon
RHD engineers and ministry officials who were involved with the project now squarely blame overloaded vehicles for the condition of the highway, known as the economic lifeline of Bangladesh. This highway is responsible for carrying 90 percent of the export and import volume.
Traffic's trial with remotes
City authorities have tried out a host of “solutions” to control chaotic traffic over the decades. The result? All the money went down the drain and the situation turned from bad to worse.
The Other Radical
The number of militancy cases filed each year go into the hundreds—way more than the handful of combat operations we have seen.
In search of her roots
Her expression began to change as soon as she stepped into the Missionaries of Charity at Islampur in Old Dhaka on Christmas morning. The colourful Christmas decor of the premises could hardly draw her attention.
The militant money maker
The man takes different names but introduces himself as an automobile trader to all. He lures people into buying vehicles at prices far lower than the market rate, citing special connections with the custom officials at Chittagong Port.
This also happens
When all major infrastructure projects are facing delays and cost escalation, the venture to build three new bridges on the Shitalakkhya, Meghna and Gumti rivers is making good progress. All of them are expected to be completed by the December 2018 deadline, and setting an example, will cost less than what was estimated in the development project proforma (DPP).
Moon Ride on the cards
Excessive rains and flooding twice in just four months have left most of the roads in a miserable state, which could make people's journey home for Eid-ul-Azha a nightmare. If rain continues and the flood situation doesn't improve shortly, the road networks will be further damaged, compounding woes of travellers. Many roads are currently under floodwater.
Charged with murder, blessed with impunity
Tufan Sarkar his three brothers and nine of their men, killed Imran at his home in Bogra town's Chaksutrapur Modhyapara area in
Tufan admits rape: police
Suspended Sramik League leader Tufan Sarkar has admitted raping the Bogra college girl after promising that he would marry her, police said.
Crime, politics meet to fetch him a fortune
It is apparently the criminalised politics of our country that made it all possible. A high school dropout became a millionaire and one of the most notorious figures in Bogra just in a decade.
He is India's worry too
Sohel Mahfuz, who had worked for about five years from 2009 to set up an extremist network in India's West Bengal, was planning to expand the activities of IS-inspired militant group “Neo JMB” to the neighbouring country.
The price of complacency
The authorities' total denial of IS presence will not help. Whatever the reason behind the refusal—political or tactical—it is undermining gravity of the problem. The denial coupled with the complacency may again create ground for re-emergence of extremism.
Combating Extremism: Still relying mostly on force
When countries across the globe have multi-pronged approach to tackle militancy and extremism, Bangladesh is still relying on the use of force.
Go slowly, get costly
Be it construction of a road, a sea port or a power plant, almost all projects go through delays and cost escalations, a problem that
New axis of terror
Islamic State-inspired terror groups may catch the Asian region off-guard by using Rohingyas, the persecuted minorities of Myanmar.
A dying hospital
A couple of weeks ago, Dhanful Begum, a long-time asthma patient, had a sudden attack at her home in Dahagram of Lalmonirhat's Patgram upazila. Unfortunately, she had run out of inhaler and her condition deteriorated fast.
No thanks to technology
Technology seems to have made jobs easy for militants and difficult for crime busters. Facebook groups, YouTube videos and two highly secured apps -- Telegram and ProtectedText -- come in handy for militant outfits to spread hate and select or train would-be radicals in Bangladesh.
Indian Line of Credit: Fresh $5b likely amid slow use of previous $3b
Bangladesh has been slow in using up the previous $3 billion of Indian credit due to procedural flaws mainly on Dhaka's part.
What Bangladesh needs to do
"It is absolutely wrong to say that there is no IS presence or that the Holey Artisan attack was carried by home-grown terrorists. There is nothing "home-grown" about that attack. The attackers did not reflect anything home-grown."
Radicalisation of Youths: Families alone are not responsible
A Belgian mother, now in Bangladesh as part of her world tour against radicalism, said families alone should not be held responsible for the radicalisation of their youths.
17 deaths a day on roads this year
On an average, 17 people lost their lives every day on the country's roads and highways this year, according to Bangladesh Passengers' Welfare Association.
Crackdown on, so are covert militant activities
On November 2, someone from Dhaka entered the domain of al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS). Investigators found the cultural institute of
Mentally ill man languishes in jail
A month has gone by since mentally challenged Polash Mia landed in prison on charges of attacking and looting Hindu houses in Brahmanbaria's Nasirnagar upazila.
Faster travel to Mymensingh
Once you take the newly-constructed Dhaka-Mymensingh highway after the agonising 12-km journey from Abdullapur to Joydebpur
No solution to ease traffic congestion
With Dhaka's perennial traffic congestion getting worse by the day, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has given no solution to improve the situation other than some ideas he has been spouting about for years.
Imams' role vital, but left untapped
Imams, who provide religious guidance to local communities, are worldwide considered a key element in the fight against religious extremism. But Bangladesh is not getting the most out of them mainly due to flawed policies, experts say.
Big boost for trade, travel
Conversion work of two major highways into dual carriageways is in the final stage and it will boost trade and travel in a major way. Travel times will be cut drastically once the work of broadening the highways, Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh, is finished this June. There have been delays stretching into years in the completion of the projects. Costs also went up considerably, but the works are expected to be completed by middle of this year.
Signs are very alarming
The recovery of a sophisticated sniper rifle and military suits in Chittagong yesterday and Friday's suicide blast at an Ahmadiyya mosque in Rajshahi are alarming additions to the country's security situation, says a security analyst.
A missed opportunity for Bangladesh
It is a common phenomenon in many developing countries that government officials show a keen interest in attending conferences...
Ensuring pedestrians' safety top priority
More than 130 countries have made a commitment to making their roads safer for users, especially the most vulnerable pedestrians, cyclists and motorcyclists, by improving and enforcing laws and developing sustainable public transport.
Radicalism growing freely
The fight against rising extremism sees no results mainly for three reasons -- problems within law enforcement agencies, poor political will of the government and a general inability of the masses and even a section of law enforcers to separate religion from radicalism.
'Unfit vehicles are mobile bombs'
Taking unfit vehicles off the roads is crucial to improving road safety as more people get killed in crashes involving such vehicles.
Roads highly unsafe for pedestrians
Thirty-two percent of the people who die on the roads of Bangladesh every year are pedestrians, says a global report on road safety, exposing how deadly the roads are for pedestrians. The pedestrian mortality rate is 10 percent higher than the global average, according to the Global Status Report on Road Safety 2015 released by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Geneva yesterday.
Railway reels from manpower crisis
Lingering shortage of train operators and other essential staff for the past two decades has hobbled the services of Bangladesh Railway, the largest public transport sector in the country. Years of attrition, corruption, interference in appointments from powerful quarters and legal wrangling are responsible for the sorry state of the once most effective and cheap transport system for millions.
Train delayed for 4 hours as driver sleeps
What happens when a train driver is fatigued, having worked late into the night, and has a train to drive in the morning?
Militants change tactics, govt doesn't
In many madrasas, youths are fed with wrong interpretation of Islam and thus pushed towards militancy. Outfit leaders are motivating
Lawmaker snatches 'criminal' from Rab
Awami League lawmaker from Natore-2 Shafiqul Islam Shimul snatched away “a criminal” from Rab custody immediately after his arrest in Natore town on Tuesday night, said local AL leaders and journalists who witnessed the incident.
Police role in question
The law enforcement agencies are capturing the so-called Islamist militant operatives and foiling their “missions” to kill high-profile personalities and carry
No one left to mourn for them
Shah Alam and his wife Piyara Begum were sad when they left Board Bazar for Narsingdi sadar two days before Eid. Just a couple of months back, they had
Home-goers suffer on Dhaka-Tangail highway
Thousands of home-goers go through an indescribable suffering as their vehicles get stranded in a huge tailback on the Dhaka-Tangail highway.
Licence to kill
He neither owned any business nor paid income tax when he applied for a licence to buy a firearm for protection of his life and assets. There was no police
Cartels employ ingenious ways
Many eyebrows were raised when a consignment of liquid cocaine was seized at Chittagong Port on Saturday. But this is just one innovative tactic
June 16, 2015
4 nations to get linked by road
Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal have mapped out a six-month action plan starting in July to establish a seamless movement of passenger and cargo vehicles across their territories.
June 5, 2015
Communications lack new vision
Smooth communications directly boosted economic activities and development, yet the country would continue suffering for not
May 29, 2015
Opinion: Solve MRP problem soon, or face forex slump
3 million Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and UAE are facing uncertainty over failure to convert their manual passports into machine readable ones.
May 28, 2015
Trips so funny
They are keen on visiting European countries, the United States, Australia and Canada but not Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Malaysia, where they are needed the most to ensure new passports for all expatriates.
May 26, 2015
Analysis: Ban, an answer to Ansarullah?
Government’s ban on Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an Islamist outfit blamed for the killings of two free-thinkers and bloggers in Dhaka and one in Sylhet in a span of only 75 days, came on the heel of utter failure of law enforcing agencies.
May 19, 2015
Costly trial ends in traffic chaos
The appalling traffic congestion that Dhaka dwellers suffered on Saturday and Sunday was the result of a trial of new electronic traffic signal system installed for the second time, wasting crores in taxpayers' money. In the last 11 years, the government spent Tk 37 crore on the traffic signal system in the capital.
April 8, 2015
Work takes back seat at secretariat
Nearly 800 senior civil bureaucrats, mostly in the secretariat, had no work yesterday as they were made officers on special duty (OSD)
April 2, 2015
Militants pose threat
Many militant leaders and activists who had been arrested on specific charges manage to walk out of jail only to assume more crucial
March 31, 2015
It's too much for a father to bear
Tipu Sultan woke up his son Oyasiqur Rahman around 6:00am yesterday morning and asked him to close the door. He was leaving his
March 28, 2015
Militants spreading wings
Amid a slack monitoring in recent months, the Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh and a few other militant outfits have become active
X