COX's BAZAR The longest sea-beach

Miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves, rare conch shells, colorful pagodas, Buddhist temples and tribes, delightful sea-food--this is Cox's Bazar, the tourist capital of Bangladesh. Having the world's longest (120 kilometers.) beach sloping gently down to the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, Cox's Bazar is one of the most attractive tourist sport in the country.
Located at a distance of 152 km. south of Chittagong, the leading seaport of Bangladesh, Cox's Bazar is connected both by air and road from Dhaka and Chittagong.
Other attractions for visitors are conch shell market, tribal handicraft, salt and prawn cultivation
OTHER PLACES OF INTEREST:
Besides, the longest sea-beach, Cox's Bazar and its adjoin areas have a lot of things to see and places deserve visit by the tourists.
Himchari : It is about 32 km. South of Cox's Bazar along the beach, a nice place for picnic and shooting. The famous "Broken Hills" and waterfalls here are rare sights.
Inani : It is about 32 km. South of Cox's Bazar and just on the beach, with the sea to the west and a background of steep hills to the east. Inani casts a magic spell on those who step into that dreamland. It is only half an hour's drive from Cox's Bazar and an ideal place for Sea-bathing and picnic.
Maheskhali : An island off the coast of Cox's Bazar. It has an area of 268 square kilometers. Through the centre of the island and along the eastern coast line rises a range of low hills, 300 feet high; but the coast to the west and north is a lowlying treat, fringed by mangrove jungle. In the hills on the coast is built the shrine of Adinath, dedicated to siva. By its side on the same hill is Buddhist Pagoda.
Ramu : This is a typical Buddhist village, about 16 km. from Cox's Bazar, on the main road to Chittagong. There are monasteries, khyangs and pagodas containing images of Buddha in gold, bronze and other metals inilaid with precious stones.
One of the most interesting of these temples is on the bank of the Baghkhali river. It houses not only interesting relics and Burmes handicrafts but also a large bronze statue of Buddha measuring thirteen feet high and rests on a six feet high pedestal. The wood carving of this khyang is very delicate and refined.
The village has a charm of its own. Weavers ply there trade in open workshops and craftsmen make handmade cigars in their pagoda like houses.
Sonadia Island : It is about seven kilometer of Cox's Bazar and about nine square kilometer in area. The western side of the island is sandy and different kinds of shells are found on the beach. Off the northern part of the island, there are beds of window pane oysters. During winter, fisherman set up temporary camps on the island and dry their catches of sea fish.
St. Martins Island : This small coral island about 10km (6mi) south-west of the southern tip of the mainland is a tropical cliché, with beaches fringed with coconut palms and bountiful marine life. There''s nothing more strenuous to do here than soak up the rays, but it''s a clean and peaceful place without even a mosquito to disrupt your serenity. It''s possible to walk around the island in a day because it measures only 8 sq km (3 sq mi), shrinking to about 5 sq km (2 sq mi) during high tide. Most of island''s 5500 inhabitants live primarily from fishing, and between October and April fisher people from neighbouring areas bring their catch to the island''s temporary wholesale market. A ferry leaves Teknaf for St Martin every day and takes around 3 hours.
Getting to St. Martin's is a three-step program. First you'll need to fly or bus it down to Cox's Bazar, and then catch a bus to Teknaf, which is right on the very tip of Bangladesh, sandwiched up against Myanmar. From Teknar, ferries run daily to St. Martin Island. The total distance from Dhaka to the island is 510km (316mi).
The Aggameda Khyang, Cox's Bazar : Equally elaborate in plan, elevation and decoration is the Aggameda Khyang near the entrance to the Cox's Bazar town which nestles at the foot of a hill under heavy cover of a stand of large trees. The main sanctuary-cum-monastery is carried on a series of round timber columns, which apart from accommodating the prayer chamber and an assembly hall, also is the repository of a large of small bronze Buddha images-mostly of Burmese origin-- and some old manuscripts. Beyond the main khyang to the south there is an elevated wooden pavilion and a smaller brick temple with a timber and corrugated metal root. Apart from bearing an inscription in Burmese over its entrance the temple contains some large stucco and bronze Buddha images.
Teknaf : Southernmost tip of Bangladesh, Teknaf situated on the Naaf river and just at the end of the hilly regions of the district. Mayanmar is on the opposite bank of Naaf river. Wild animals and birds are available but the most interesting thing is a journey on the river. Wide sandy beach in the backdrop of high hills with green forests is an enchanting scene never to be forgotten.

Coco paroled for two months

Hurreh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!finally Arafat Rahman Coco, the ailing youngest son of detained former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia was released on parole for eight weeks yesterday for better treatment abroad. Coco moved out to freedom in a wheelchair from Bangladesh Sheikh Mujib Medical University, where he was undergoing treatment, at about 6 pm and was soon transferred to the Cantonment residence of Khaleda Zia in an ambulance.The home ministry issued an executive order in this regard."Arafat Rahman Coco, who was detained and undergoing treatment at the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMUH), was released on temporary parole for two months under the section of 401 (4A) of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), the circular said.Thousands of BNP leaders and activists greeted Coco as he was taken out of the hospital. Coco is suffering from chronic respiratory complications.Earlier, an official medical board recommended that the government send him abroad for medical treatment and his wife Sarmili Rahman had appealed to the government for his release for better treatment.When asked about release of Coco, the home adviser Major Gen MA Matin BP (retd) yesterday told newsmen at his secretariat office that Coco would set free for eight weeks on humanitarian grounds for his better treatment.Quoting Coco's wife, his lawyer advocate Md Sanaullah Miah said that his (Coco's) family would send him to Bangkok for better treatment soon. However, he said Coco's wife would take the final decision about his treatment.Coco was arrested on September 3 last year along with his mother Khaleda Zia in Gatco scam case.

I hope & I think the government is likely to release BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman within a week.

ISLAM "n" FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

As USA and its allies have set about building coalitions that include many of
the Islamic nations, it is easy to lose sight of the issue of intellectual
freedom within the Muslim world. While the safety of Western countries
may depend on alliances with other regimes, those alliances should not
come at the price of abandoning scholars and intellectuals in the Middle
East, whose ability to speak out is no less under attack, often by these
same governments. Our concern is that scholars in Muslim countries will
be overlooked in the rush to forge expedient alliances.The image shown to the world on the cover of the June 17, 2001, New York
Times Magazine, of Saad Eddin Ibrahim, a respected Egyptian sociologist,
caged and on trial for the exercise of his intellectual freedom, ought to send
a chill through both the Muslim world and the West. Before his arrest for
alleged homosexuality, embezzlement, and spying for the United States and
Israel, he was conducting research on Cairo voters' sentiments about why
Muslims join militant groups. From South Asia to North Africa, an entire
generation of Muslim intellectuals is at this moment under threat: Many
have already been killed, silenced, or forced into exile.Consider Pakistan. The late nuclear physicist Abdus Salam, Pakistan's only
Nobel laureate, was pressured to leave early in his career, in the late 1950s,
because he belonged to a sect not recognised by most Pakistani Muslims.
Fazlur Rahman, instrumental in starting Islamic studies at the University of
Chicago in the late 1960s, was chased out earlier in that decade by Islamic
religious parties. There is considerable irony in the fact that Pakistan's
record in relation to freedom of thought is not good, given the nature of its
founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Jinnah believed in human rights, women's
rights, minority rights, and the rule of law. Along with his followers, he
hoped to create a modern Muslim nation, one that would respect Islamic
tradition but at the same time be part of a modern community of nations.Jinnah so respected women's rights that he insisted that his sister, Fatima
Jinnah, be with him publicly in his struggle for the creation of Pakistan in
1947. Fatima Jinnah herself became a role model for women. And Jinnah
deeply loved his wife, Ruttie, who was a non-Muslim (and half his age), and
his only child, Dina, who, as a young woman, refused to marry a Muslim.
The women in Jinnah's family thus created problems for those who wished
to portray Jinnah as a straightforward religious extremist.That view of Jinnah was pushed most strongly after General Zia-ul-Haq
took power in 1977 through a military coup and launched a campaign to
"Islamise" Pakistan. But how do you explain a wife who is not a Muslim,
and a daughter who refused to marry a Muslim? The historian Sharif
al-Mujahid - whose 1981 biography of Jinnah, Quaid-i-Azam Jinnah, is
perhaps the best known in Pakistan - did not mention either woman in his
806-page volume. Nor do Pakistan's official archives, pictorial exhibitions,
or official publications contain more than a picture or two of them.To portray the real Jinnah, Akbar Ahmed, one of the authors of this essay,
along with several friends and colleagues, spent the 1990s on several
related projects, which came to be called the Jinnah Quartet. They included
the feature film Jinnah (released in English and Urdu in 2000); a television
documentary, "Mr Jinnah-The Making of Pakistan" (released in 1997); an
academic book called "Jinnah, Pakistan and Islamic Identity: The Search for
Saladin" (published by Routledge in 1997); and a graphic novel (published
by Oxford University Press in 1997).The Jinnah Quartet attempted to answer a crucial question about Muslim
society that many scholars and intellectuals - Muslims and non-Muslims
alike - are asking in their respective countries: Can Muslim countries
produce moderate leaders? Do Muslims have leaders who care for human
rights, women's rights, minority rights, and the sanctity of law, and who
can lead their nations to the international community with honour? The
authors of the quartet believe that Jinnah was one such leader who
provides a relevant, contemporary model. The Jinnah Quartet attempted
not only to challenge images and ideas of the last days of the British Raj,
but also communicate ideas about leadership, the nature of the Islamic
state, and the compassionate and tolerant nature of Islam.The Jinnah Quartet project was controversial. Once the filming started in
1997 - in England, where the author was living, and on location in Pakistan
- the Pakistani press and various political parties launched a disinformation
campaign, claiming that Salman Rushdie had written the script for the film,
or that it was part of a Hindu or a Zionist conspiracy.While filming in Pakistan, the author and others involved in the project
were verbally attacked and threatened by journalists and "concerned
citizens," and important officials repeatedly warned them not to portray a
tolerant Jinnah and the tolerant Islam he represented. Journalists
demanded money to publish positive articles about the project or
threatened to write slander; bureaucrats tried to stop the project through
delays and denials of permissions necessary for filming. (Eventually, the
government of Pakistan reneged on a written agreement and pulled out
almost one-third of the budget it had committed during the shooting of the
film.) The project was completed, and the film won several awards at
international film festivals. But despite gratifying responses in the West,
Africa, and even Pakistan, the Jinnah model appears to have failed in the
Muslim world. Even those political leaders who believe in democracy, once
in power, fall back on tyranny and corruption to stay in office.Ordinary citizens have little idea that an indigenous democratic model is
available to Muslim society, because the scholars and intellectuals who can
articulate that vision are being silenced.When Muslim scholars and intellectuals - those who seek and foster
knowledge - are silenced, Muslim citizens are cut off from part of who they
are. Islam places enormous emphasis on knowledge. It charges humans to
use their reasoning power bestowed by Almighty Allah to better themselves
and their dependents, and throughout history ordinary Muslims have
cherished that expectation and the benefits such knowledge has produced.
They appreciate the control that knowledge gives them over their destiny,
the connections it allows them to form with people different from
themselves, the insight it gives them into their faith, and the limits it may
place on those who exercise power. For that multifarious search for
knowledge to be jeopardised is to risk not only the loss of information but
also a crucial element of who Muslims know themselves to be.We think of knowledge in this information age as readily accessible to all.
When we see an Internet cafe in a dusty town of South Asia or a satellite
dish hooked up to a car battery in the countryside of North Africa, we
assume that authoritarian regimes can no longer control the flow of
communication. But being hooked up and online may make it easier to
know what is happening across the world than to know of events in the
next town or district.

Journey of the Bollywood Song

Songs became an integral part of Indian movies ever since the talkies era started with "Alam Ara" in 1931. Released on March 14 that year, it had seven songs.As the early Indian movies were all based on dramas, songs came to be an inseparable part of talkies.Singer-actor Master Nisar who, along with Jahanara Kajjan, appeared in India's second talkie, "Shirin Farhad" - released just two months after "Alam Ara" - was such a hit with the audience that in his subsequent talkies he sang 30 to 40 songs.Nisar, one of the first Bollywood actors to hit stardom, however, died in penury. At the later stage of his life he survived on the munificence of the Good Samaritans from Bollywood, including actresses Nargis and Nadira.When this correspondent visited his house at a nondescript locality on Grant Road in central Mumbai after his death in the late 1970s, it had not even a chair for anybody to sit on. In those days it was mandatory for actors to be singers. Many with acting talent could not make it because they could not sing.Since the introduction of the playback system was still a few years away, the songs had to be sung live by the artistes in 'single system sound', which required the sound to be recorded simultaneously with the picturisation of scenes.This meant that the musicians, keeping themselves out of the camera frame, had to play their instruments following the movements of the artistes when they sang. Neither the artistes nor the musicians could afford 're-takes'. It was a very cumbersome, if not costly, process. But the artistes, musicians and the technicians perfected it gradually."The musicians had to carry their 'baja' (musical instruments) to the sets and to the outdoors when the shootings were held there," the late actor Ashok Kumar had once told this correspondent, recalling his days in the earlier talkies era."Before 'double system sound' was introduced, separating the sound from picturisation of scenes or songs, the movies used to have all the extraneous sounds, including the caws of crows, creeping into the film, spoiling most of the romantic and intense scenes."Cut to 21st century Bollywood.The format of the movies has not changed much, though technology took a giant leap. Like earlier, songs continue to enliven Hindi movies, but at a very heavy price. Today just one song can entail a cost of Rs.10 million and even more.An average music director today demands and gets Rs.2.5 million to compose music in a movie. If the composer is in the class of A.R. Rahman, the price goes up to Rs.10 million per assignment.The fee of a song-writer or lyricist varies from Rs.50,000 to Rs.300,000, depending on his eminence and popularity.Before a song is penned, composed and recorded, a producer needs to loosen his purse strings to arrange a series of all-expenses-paid 'sittings' among the lyricist, composer and movie director, often at a hill station near Mumbai.It takes three to four days to record a song and the hiring charge of a recording studio is between Rs.1,000 and Rs.3,000 per hour. Assuming that about 25 to 30 musicians are required for the recording, the producer ends up spending Rs.200,000 to Rs.300,000 on them daily.A popular playback singer gets Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000 for lending his or her voice to one song. The fee is four times over if the singer is Lata Mangeshkar or Asha Bhosle. Once the song is ready to be picturised on artistes, the cost escalates at an unpredictable scale."Up to the recording level, all expenses are mostly regulated. But once the song is ready to be picturised on artistes, we are not only at their mercy but also at the mercy of a host of external factors, involving a plethora of people from divergent fields," said producer Pahlaj Nihalani. Nihalani is currently making the musical "Khushboo", which has singer Adnan Sami scoring music for the first time.

Post Title coming up in Ten Minutes

No seriously, I don’t know if this classifies me as a handicapped person , but I can not type stuff about a particular single topic. I mean, people leave comments saying the blog lacks direction , is shallow and contains content stupid enough to make Govinda look like a philosopher . But after twenty minutes of trying to write something sensible , like something which expresses my concern over HIV infected kids in Rwanda , or something which tries to tell the world that we must save the blue whales before they are all dead , I decided that there are enough pillars of the society to do that , and I also decided that I am hungry . So now as I munch on a pack of Hide and Seek, I think I will just talk whatever I want to even if it makes me look as intelligent as Sameera Reddy and leaves you sick in the stomach. For one , what’s wrong with Aaj Tak people ? I mean , I had a feeling they were pretty low on news the day I saw a 30 minute capsule named “Yeh kaisa rishta” which was about a female monkey in Madhya Pradesh which was bringing up half a dozen pups and picking their lice and feeding them her own milk ( As if I have ever seen a monkey buying polypacks from a mother dairy). But if someone was to watch Aaj Tak over the last 15 days , he would be absolutely confident that the only man who is left on the face of this earth is the Great Khali , the mahabali Darinda , ‘Jo apne dushmano ko kuchal deta hai’ , ‘Jiska naam sunte hee uske dushmano ki aatma kaanp jaati hai’ , and , I heard this yesterday , ‘Jo duss babbar shero jitna taakatwar hai’ . Oh , by the way , if you don’t know who Khali is , he is a WWE wrestler of Indian Origin who is 7’3” , weighs 190 kgs and you should be very happy you don’t owe him any money. I guess Khali would discover a lot of information about himself if he starts watching Aaj Tak regularly. "HeeeHawww , Now this son of a lady dinosaur is standing on my left foot , and I need to be on another floor to reach his ear , so lets just Grin and Bear it"
Also , I watched ‘Race’ at a Gurgaon multiplex recently . To cut it short , and to save 175 bucks on the ticket and 85 bucks on the burger + coke , it’s a movie where everybody is evil with a head bubbling with deadly plans , everybody is in bed with somebody , and everybody is driving an exotic car which costs around fifty times my expected lifetime earnings . But the movie left me with a very disturbing message – “You wanna be a winner ? Please kill those morals first” . I mean , if I would have watched that movie when I was six , I would have grown up thinking that being truthful is an insult . Not that I am a Harishchandra-2 , but the people in the flick do not even try. Of course , there is one another image from the movie which will not leave me till I breathe my last – That of a topless Akshaye Khanna standing chest facing towards the camera . At least three XL sized sweaters could have been knitted out of the hair on his chest, I swear. Add Anil Kapoor to that , and you have the raw material for the complete winter collection of Rohit ‘Bal’ . And ever since Arjun Singh has played around with the quotas , my mother has been wandering around the house murmuring “Jaane munnu ke baccho ka admission kaise hoga” . Munnu is me , and that means she is already worried if my kids would be able to go to schools and colleges with the kind of direction this country is headed to . No offences , but over my schooling , engineering and MBA , there have been numerous occasions when students from the reserved categories have made it while far smarter and deserving ones have been left in the cold. It’s all too moving to read about the son of the rickshaw puller who made it to Infosys , but what about the guy from the general category who had double the brains but could not get into a decent engineering college because the rickshaw puller’s son got in through the quota ? I am sure that one day, there will be little kids dropping years to get into nursery class. By the way , coming to think of it , I actually wonder how my kids will make it to a good college anyway , especially if they inherit my IQ. But seriously , I think some day , Mrs Malhotra and Mrs Taneja would be having this conversation over the paneer pakodas at a kitty party .. Mrs Malhotra : So Miss Taneja , ab to Bittoo 4 saal ka ho gaya hoga ? Mrs Taneja : Haan abhi March mein 4 saal ka hua hai , ab serious hone laga hai life mein.. Mrs Malhotra : Haan Jee , abhi to age hai mehnat karne kee….wo Mrs Sharma ki beti Pinky ko nahi dekha , teen saal se nursery entrance exam de rahee hai …determination , nah ? Mrs Taneja : Ab dekho kya hota hai , Bittoo bhee 8 saal ki age tak to try karega nursery mein entrance kee , warna fir OBC certificate banwana hoga …Bittoo ke papa keh rahe the tab tak itni savings ho jayegi ki ek certificate aa jaye installments par… Mrs Malhotra : Haan jee , All the best keh dena Bittoo ko !!
And before logging off, here is a snap of the ‘entertainment’ page from MetroNow , a newspaper which comes to my home . Abb Aapkee Maut , Humara Manoranjan ! If you plan to die sometime soon , make sure to let the MetroNow people know . They got some space in the comic strip section too !

Fuel price and the

We all know that the crude oil price is skyrocketing globally for many months now and our oil companies are reeling under a heavy financial burden. Just to bail out these companies of their predicament this moderate price hike was inevitable and rather overdue. The situation had become so alarming that after a month or so our petro companies would not have been able to buy oil from the international market due to the paucity of funds and there would have been no petrol at all in the country. Imagine the scenario. It would have been worse. It is better to pay more for the petrol or diesel than not to have it at all. We should be a little more reasonable and think that how long the government can subsidise petro products. Subsidies have eaten away a great chunk of our resources and to continue subsidising product after product will not be healthy for the economy. The earlier we get rid of this menace the better it is. My sympathies for our finance adviser Dr Azizul Islam who in spite of his good intentions was forced to swallow the bitter (oil) pill

Happy birthday Nelson Mandela

Recently, the inspirational revolutionary-turned-peacemaker Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday was celebrated in advance in Hype park, London. The 46664 concert evening highlighted tribute and thanks from world leaders and celebrities to honour this iconic and much respected leader. On this occasion, he spoke briefly about poverty, health, including AIDS, and oppression. He also spoke about Zimbabwe’s democracy.
Nelson Mandela, a great political leader born in South Africa in 1918, fought against racism, violence, oppression, repression and impoverishment in his own country. A Nobel laureate for peace in 1993 became the first black president in South Africa.
His 90th birthday is a significant one as the USA is also likely to elect a black president for the first time in its history which is consequent inspiration of this great man’s legacy against racism. Facing a stiff prison term for his ‘anti-government activities’, in 1964 Mandela made the following statement before the court:
‘During my lifetime, I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.’
We also congratulate and wish him the best on the most inspirational leader’s birth day. Long live Nelson Mandela and say ‘NO’ to racism.

Peace finally breaks out

NEWS BASED STORY BY BLOG's EDITOR:More than immediate peace, the painstaking Egyptian brokered Israel-Hamas truce is appreciated for vindicating advocates of dialogue and negotiations, setting the pace for the future as regards the Middle East's most complex problem, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.While few familiar with the region's history are lighting their cigars just yet, and the understanding could not prevent immediate exchange of limited hostilities, it is the most promising yet between Tel Aviv and Hamas at a time when both have pressing issues with the other they'd like taken care of sooner rather than later.After years of 'no negotiations with terrorists', a stance that registers closely with allies in Washington, Israel has apparently come to the conclusion that a little understanding isn't too bad if it halts the flurry of rockets into its southern establishments, even though their fatality threat is far smaller than the panic they cause. Hamas, for its part, has come to appreciate that its defiance is much better served without incessant Israeli bombardment and raids. Then there is the mutual give-and-take concerning Israel's long captured soldier Cpl Gilad Schalit in return for opening Gaza's borders to food and fuel supplies as acute shortage threatens to finally finish off struggling residents. On the surface the understanding seems to nicely balance both sides. Yet there are greater concerns that are bound to present themselves very quickly. Having taken the heat, Hamas will waste little time in refurbishing its supplies and rearming itself, an exercise that will make Israel see the deal as counter-productive, most probably inviting strong reaction. On the other hand, even if Hamas stays committed to its word, seeing its obvious immediate advantages, there is no guarantee numerous other militias will cease operations simply at its behest, such diverse has the Gazan splintered uprising become in the years of struggle, choke and lawlessness. Considering the odds, a realistic assessment does not see the understanding holding for long. Indeed, most pundits accord it little save the lull-before-the-storm brushing aside. Yet that is specifically why the international community must gear itself for far greater involvement. For a US administration that has only recently promised taking up Palestine as its legacy initiative, the timing could not be better. The agreement, however fragile, is a great victory of use of negotiations as opposed to muscle. Hamas' actions following its promise should be seen very carefully, and cooperation should be rewarded so it has something to show for the new approach. As for Israel, even its firmest supporters will struggle to find instances where the Jewish state has honoured promises with regard to its role in the Middle East. Counting the six long decades of its illegal occupation, that makes for a very long list of lies.For better or worse, regional powers are clinging to the understanding as the most positive development to have emerged from the conflict in quite some time. Keeping it on track will require skilful diplomacy from regional and non-regional players alike. Considering the way the Middle East has been damaged in the recent past, it seems unlikely any stakeholder will take this opportunity lightly

Tarique's spinal cord broken

TAREQ RAHMAN Who is son of Ex-President Zia-ur Rahman and 3 times prime minister begum Khaleda Zia.Spinal cord of Tarique Rahman is broken, causing acute pain in his waist and neck, a physician at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) said on Saturday.Private TV channel I quoting Prof Yunus reported that Tarique, who is undergoing treatment at BSMMU hospital prison cell, is also suffering from pains in his right hip- joint. "His condition has deteriorated," the doctor said, adding that he needs treatment abroad.Earlier, detained ex-PM Khaleda Zia had alleged that her son was in good health before his arrest and questioned why he cannot walk now being under government custody.About Khaleda Zia's health, DIG (Prisons) Maj Shamsul Haider Siddiqui said she developed swelling in the wrist of her left hand and was also suffering from pains in her knees due to arthritis.The BNP chairperson preferred her treatment at the United Hospital in Gulshan, as she doesn't want to go abroad for treatment. She is rather calling for sending abroad her two detained ailing sons-Tarique and Coco for their proper treatment.

TIB(BANGLADESH) ON CORRUPTION

If graft alone eats away a country's 3.84 per cent of per capita income, the pervasiveness of corruption can only be imagined. One wonders what would be the percentage of GDP growth if the country could get rid of such massive corruption. Earlier the World Bank estimated that Bangladesh lost 2 per cent GDP growth to corruption. What is however so disconcerting is that contrary to a general feeling, corruption in some sectors in fact increased in the first half of 2007. The overall corruption picture remains almost same as before despite the Caretaker government's much vaunted anti-corruption drive, the regular biennial survey and fourth of its kind, conducted by the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) concludes. Sector-wise, education, health, land administration, local government and different utility services sector recorded increased corruption and the law enforcement agencies, the judiciary, power, banking and tax sectors registered a slight decline in the magnitude of corruption compared to the previous six months. So, the sectors on which was the spotlight recorded a decline in corruption, albeit in a small measure because in terms of magnitude the law enforcement agencies together with land administration are still massively corrupt. Admittedly much of the country's fight against corruption depends on getting corruption curbed particularly in the law enforcement agencies because they are the tools for fighting this socio-economic vice at the grass-roots level. We have often heard that the police are no longer under any political influence and therefore can take independent decisions. Also there is perceptible attempt to turn the agency more accountable than it ever was and the best measure of this was the punishment meted out to members of various law enforcement agencies, the number of whom has been all-time high. Turning small gains into triumphYet it needs to be realised that endemic corruption cannot be rooted out overnight. It is a continuous process and the small gains made have to be turned into bigger triumphs in the long run. It is impractical to change the administration and the public service sectors lock, stock and barrel. But given the political will and people's active participation in the process through creation of public awareness, reforms can indeed be brought about in the functioning of public offices. When corruption rises even in the education sector, it surely is a cause for serious concern. The TIB report has found increase in petty corruption as also higher rates of bribery in sectors where corruption has recorded a decline. So we suggest a long-term plan, say a 10-year one, for bringing corruption down to a tolerable level from where a final onslaught will be launched to eliminate this vice once for all.

OBAMA SAY "SORRY"

Obama apologizes to Muslim women over picture snub AFP, WashingtonWhite House hopeful Barack Obama personally apologized Thursday to two Muslim women after campaign volunteers barred them from appearing in a picture because of their headscarves.Obama spoke by telephone with Shimaa Abdelfadeel and left a message to Hebba Aref after Muslim leaders urged the Democrat to personally apologize to the women.The campaign has blamed the incident on volunteers who, during a rally in Detroit, Michigan on Monday told the two Muslim women they could not stand behind Obama because of their "hijab" headgear."The actions of these volunteers were unacceptable and in no way reflect any policy of my campaign," Obama said in a statement."Our campaign is about bringing people together, and I'm grateful that Ms Abdelfadeel accepted our apology and I hope Ms Aref and any who were offended accept my apology as well," he said.The Obama campaign had already apologized for the snub.But the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR) had called for a personal apology from Obama to help redress the grievance and also combat growing anti-Islamic sentiment in the United States."Although we welcome the Obama campaign's apology, we are extremely concerned about the level of Islamophobia in our society that would prompt other minorities to view Muslim supporters as potential liabilities," CAIR's national legislative director Corey Saylor said in a statement."We hope that Senator Obama will personally apologize to the two women and (show) that he decries the current Islamophobic climate in our nation that is not only attacking him, but has even jaded some within his own campaign." CAIR, the leading US group for Muslims' civil rights, also urged Obama to invite the women to the stage during a future campaign event.Dawud Walid, executive director of CAIR's Michigan branch, told AFP that Abdelfadeel and Aref were "very pleased that the senator personally called them to apologize."The women said Obama told them that "such behavior has no place in his campaign and does not represent his values," Walid said, adding that CAIR welcomed the apology.Obama, who is Christian and promises to turn a page on America's cultural wars, has struggled to counter false Internet rumors that he is a Muslim

OBAMA "THE ONE"

Obama "the one", the only candidate this cycle -- besides Ron Paul, of course -- to get donations from actual Americans as versus the pressure groups, has decided not to take socialist funding, and instead depend on private gifts for his campaign. McCain, the social nationalist, is squealing.
A Republican op was attacking Obama on TV over this: "He changed his mind on public financing. Can he be trusted on taxes, on Israel?"
Isn't that a slightly odd question?