The shipping routes off the coast of Bangladesh are among the most important in the world, but they're also some of the most dangerous because of rampant piracy. Al Jazeera's Nicholas Haque reports from the Bay of Bengal on pirates, as well as the shaky administration, whose job it is to combat this growing problem.
In a new series for Al Jazeera, Divya Gopalan attempts to understand the real Mumbai by taking a culinary journey through its vibrant streets.
> Streets of Mumbai - Part one
When Sourav Ganguly landed in Kolkata after the Test series against Australia, he was no longer an Indian player. For Bengal, which put him on a pedestal higher than any of its other sons, an era had ended.
Now, in the quiet confines of his house in Kolkata, it's time to reflect on an unique career. It's time for life after cricket for Sourav Ganguly.
>> Dada's full interview on IBN Live
In a new series for Al Jazeera, Divya Gopalan attempts to understand the real Mumbai by taking a culinary journey through its vibrant streets.
> Streets of Mumbai - Part two
Some felt he couldn't play the bouncer, some laughed at his lack of athleticism, others took immense pride in his ability to galvanise a side. Sourav Ganguly's ability to polarise opinion led to one of the most fascinating dramas in Indian cricket. Yet, nobody can dispute that he was India's most successful Test captain - forging a winning unit from a bunch of talented, but directionless individuals - and nobody can argue about him being one of the greatest batsmen of all time.
Up to 900,000 people die each year from smoking-related diseases in India. It is feared that the yearly toll could rise to one million people by 2010.
> Smoking curbs: The global picture
Faced with these startling figures, the government is instituting toughter smoking bans. But will it be enough? Al Jazeera's Matt McClure reports from Delhi.
Rahimafrooz Batteries has played a leading role in the Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development Project (REREDP) - a large scale programme to provide solar home systems to rural households in Bangladesh.
Pressure is intensifying in Bangladesh for the interim government to end its state of emergency and release Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia, the country's top leaders. That is according to Al-Jazeera.
Related Link > 'The 2 Women' of Bangladesh
In 1972, the president of Bangladesh issued an order which established special tribunals to prosecute Bangladeshi citizens who had collaborated with the Pakistani armed forces during 1971. Thereafter, India and Bangladesh agreed to bring criminal charges against certain Pakistani prisoners of war held by India.
In anticipation of these trials, Bangladesh Published Act No. XIX of 1973, which was entitled "An Act to provide for the detention, prosecution and punishment of persons for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and other crimes under international law."
As Bangladesh prepared for the prosecution, Pakistan filed an action before the International Court of Justice. The basis of Pakistan's action against India was predicated on the grounds that India had detained 92,000 Pakistani prisoners of war in violation of the third and fourth Geneva Conventions of 1949.
Pakistan claimed that pursuant to these conventions, India had the duty to repatriate these persons at the conclusion of the conflict. However, India did not continue the repatriation of the detainees that it had begun in 1972, because it claimed that it had agreed with Bangladesh to surrender to that country those persons whose number exceeded ten thousand, and who were to be charged with genocide. By 1973, the exact number was fixed at 195.
Via Bangladesh-Blogger
> Bangladesh War-Crimes: Part one
Bangladesh has a number of organized & lavishly funded fundamentalist militias and a government that yields to their pressure on all matters.
Understandably, there has been growing concern over the possibility of Bangladesh becoming a country like Afghanistan under Taleban rule.
Addressing a press-conference in Dhaka on 5th September 2004, Joseph Cofer Black, the US State Department's coordinator for counter-terrorism, who was visiting the country in wake of the attack on Awami League's rally on 21 August, affirmed that USA was looking at Bangladesh's role as a terrorist platform.
Many would, however, scoff at the suggestion that a shift might be under-way from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, arguing that the situation in Bangladesh today is very different from Afghanistan in 1994 when the Taleban emerged.
Bangladesh is a far more developed country than Afghanistan. It has a vocal and assertive civil society supported by an active and secular intelligentsia. More important, it is a Muslim country with a significant degree of religious tolerance, where women play important roles in the country's social and economic lives.
Related Link > Radicalism in Bangladesh
Via Bangladesh-Blogger
A model displays the new spring-summer collection from French fashion retailer 'Galeries Lafayette' during a French-Festival in Mumbai, India.
> Reuters Pictures
Jagjit Singh makes some vibrant, but simplistic words, his own enterprise.
In 1971, Golam Azam, then chief of East Pakistan wing of the Jamaat-i-Islami, actively collaborated with the Pakistani military junta and helped organize paramilitary forces (called Razakars and al-Badrs) that were akin to killing squads. In the last days of the liberation war, Golam Azam fled to Pakistan.
In February 1972, the government issued a subpoena to Golam Azam to appear before a local court. Later, the Bangladesh government canceled his citizenship (along with that of thirty-eight others) on April 18, 1973.
After the liberation of Bangladesh, Golam Azam took refuge in Saudi Arabia and the UK and engaged in anti-Bangladesh propaganda.
After the coup d'etat of 1975 and the political changes that ensued, Azam attempted to return to Bangladesh. After several failed attempts, he finally succeeded in 1978 and on July 11 re-entered Bangladesh.
Golam Azam's return was made possible by a series of steps taken by the military regime. But the atmosphere for change in legal provisions that finally resulted in his return was created during the reign of Mujib.
Via Bangladesh-Blogger
> Bangladesh War-Crimes: Part two
