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Two-headed baby boy born
A baby boy, named Kiron, was born with two heads by Cesarean section in Bangladesh on Monday.
An estimated 150,000 people from the region descended on the clinic to try to catch sight of the boy so he was moved to a larger hospital and placed under police protection.
Dr Mohamad Abdul Bari, the mother's gynaecologist, said: "He has one stomach and he is eating normally with his two mouths. He has one genital organ and a full set of limbs. He was born from one embryo but there was a developmental anomaly."
The clinic had been unable to determine whether the baby had one or two sets of vital organs, Dr Bari said.
Kiron's life was not in immediate danger but he and his 22-year-old mother were moved to the hospital in the nearby city of Jessore city because of the large crowds that had gathered at the clinic, the doctor said.
According to a local newspaper, many well-wishers had left money for the baby's family.
Update: 28th August. Sadly the baby died after the parents took him home because they could not afford adequate medical care. A baby boy, named Kiron, was born with two heads by Cesarean section in Bangladesh on Monday. ... more -
Bangladesh landslide leaves 14 dead
At least 14 people have been killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in southeastern Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong.
Dozens of people were injured and several others are still missing following the landslide.
Officials say most of the victims were sleeping in their mud huts at the bottom of hills when the disaster struck.
Hundreds of people living in tin shacks on the slopes are being moved to safer places.
The death toll could rise as police and fire fighters are still trying to dig people from under tons of mud.
Landslides sweep hillside villages in Chittagong almost every year during the monsoon season. Some 142 millimeters (5.6 inches) of rain had fallen in the city in the past 24 hours.
Last year, landslides killed about 130 people in Chittagong. At least 14 people have been killed in a landslide triggered by heavy rains in southeastern Bangladeshi port city of Chittagong. ... more -
Acid and Fire Attacks on Women
"Let us look at two examples. One example is Sabir Sultana, 30, who was newly married and pregnant. Her husband thought that they had received a poor dowry from her parents - why he poured acid over the woman, who expected his children. The scars will stay with her forever, even after extensive plastic surgery. One of the worse examples I have heard of is Najaf Sultana, 16. Her father poured kerosene over her when she was fifteen and lit it, while she was sleeping. Her "crime"? She was of the wrong sex as he didn't want any more girls in the family. After the attack Najaf is now blind and abandoned by her parents. She now lives with relatives and has had at least fifteen plastic surgeries." "Let us look at two examples. One example is Sabir Sultana, 30, who was newly married and pregnant. Her husband thought that they... more
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Bangladeshi Garment Girl
A look into the lives of two young, female garment workers in Bangladesh, a country where women were historically excluded from public life. The garment industry has been a mixed blessing for Bangladeshi women - while it has allowed them to finally assert themselves in Bangladeshi society, the conditions they work under in the factories are often oppressive. A look into the lives of two young, female garment workers in Bangladesh, a country where women were historically excluded from public... more
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Bangladeshi writer back in India
Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has returned to India to renew her visa which expires on Tuesday, officials say.
She flew in to Delhi from a European capital and was whisked off to an undisclosed location, they said. Ms Nasreen was forced to leave Calcutta last November after angry protests by Muslims. She spent four months in Delhi before moving to Sweden. She fled her native Bangladesh in 1994 when her book attracted death threats.
Ms Nasreen told some journalists by e-mail that she was keen to return to Calcutta to "gather her personal belongings, books and pet cats". "I have to be in Delhi for renewing my Indian visa, but my heart is in Calcutta," Ms Nasreen said in her e-mail. But the West Bengal state government is not willing to let her return to Calcutta now.
"We have to assess the situation because her coming back may provoke violence again," said a senior police official in the state capital. He said the Indian federal government had asked for the West Bengal government's opinion on whether Ms Nasreen could be allowed to go to Calcutta, at least for a few days.
After spending several years in Sweden, she moved to Calcutta, an Indian city close to Bangladesh where her mother tongue of Bengali is spoken. She was moved to Delhi last November after Muslim groups in Calcutta staged violent protests, accusing her of having insulted Islam. Property was damaged in the riots and at least 43 people hurt.
Read more... Controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen has returned to India to renew her visa which expires on Tuesday, officials say. ... more -
Human development: Child mortality stays high despite India's boom
Four in every 10 children in India are malnourished despite the country's economy growing at an average rate of 9% a year, one of the world's leading development economists warned yesterday.
Kevin Watkins, who edited the UN's human development report, said that despite growing prosperity brought on by a sustained boom, child malnourishment in India is higher than in Ethiopia and well above the African average of 28%.
"India dominates the world hunger league," he said. "Economists like to debate the factors behind India's spectacular take-off. Perhaps they should be asking how a country can grow so fast with such a limited impact on child hunger."
Watkins's warning follows comments by India's finance minister, Palaniappan Chidambaram, who said last week that he wanted India to become an "economic superpower".
"I have no hesitation in saying that I do not envy China," he said. "I want to emulate China. I want India to become an economic power, an economic superpower."
When it comes to economic growth, India is a long way ahead of Bangladesh but when it come to child survival rates, it lags behind. According to Watkins, an Oxford academic, Bangladesh has been cutting child deaths at a rate some 50% higher than in India. If India, where there are about 1.1 billion people, had matched Bangladesh's record on child mortality since 1990 there would be about 200,000 fewer child deaths this year.
"Both Bangladesh and Nepal are far poorer than India, but India has a higher child death rate than either," said Watkins.
Poverty has also been falling far more slowly in India than in other high-growth developing countries, such as Vietnam and Brazil. Watkins believes that part of the problem is that the benefits of growth have been "highly skewed".
"While wealth has been flooding into urban areas and middle-class suburbs, it has been trickling down in small doses to rural areas, poor states in the north of the country, rural labourers and low-caste groups," he said.
Watkins also criticised India's public health system. He said that India's children did not receive the basic medication they so badly need such as immunisation, drugs for treating childhood diarrhoea and nutritional supplements. "Fewer than half of India's children are fully immunised and the share has barely changed in a decade," he added.
Gender inequalities are also still rife in India, with boys getting access to food and medicine before girls, according to Watkins. "Being born a girl carries high risks: it raises the chance of premature death between the ages of one and four by about one-third," he said.
India's government needs to become seriously committed to more equitable growth, strengthened provision of public services in health and action to tackle disparities based on gender, wealth and caste, the report said.
"Market indicators on economic growth, investments and exports tell us something important about the state of the economy," Watkins said. "When it comes to people, child death rates, literacy, public health and the capacity of all people to participate in society is what counts." Four in every 10 children in India are malnourished despite the country's economy growing at an average rate of 9% a year, one of... more -
Using YouTube with a Purpose - Helping Kids in Bangladesh
Something a bit more substantive than "Leave Britney Alone!" and Diet Coke & Mentos videos.
A rural village in Bangladesh (in a military controlled malaria heavy region called the Chittagong Hill-Tracts) were able to benefit from the help of YouTube users from around the world. Something a bit more substantive than "Leave Britney Alone!" and Diet Coke & Mentos videos. ... more -
Bangladesh set to disappear under the waves by the end of the century
Bangladesh, the most crowded nation on earth, is set to disappear under the waves by the end of this century – and we will be to blame. Johann Hari took a journey to see for himself how western profligacy and indifference have sealed the fate of 150 million peoplewent to see for himself the spreading misery and destruction as the ocean reclaims the land on which so many millions depend
Friday, June 20, 2008
This spring, I took a month-long road trip across a country that we – you, me and everyone we know – are killing.
One day, not long into my journey, I travelled over tiny ridges and groaning bridges on the back of a motorbike to reach the remote village of Munshigonj. The surviving villagers – gaunt, creased people – were sitting by a stagnant pond. They told me, slowly, what we have done to them.
Ten years ago, the village began to die. First, many of the trees turned a strange brownish-yellow colour and rotted. Then the rice paddies stopped growing and festered in the water. Then the fish floated to the surface of the rivers, gasping. Then many of the animals began to die. Then many of the children began to die.
The waters flowing through Munshigonj – which had once been sweet and clear and teeming with life – had turned salty and dead.
Arita Rani, a 25-year-old, sat looking at the salt water, swaddled in a blue sari and her grief. "We couldn't drink the water from the river, because it was suddenly full of salt and made us sick," she said. "So I had to give my children water from this pond. I knew it was a bad idea. People wash in this pond. It's dirty. So we all got dysentery." She keeps staring at its surface. "I have had it for 10 years now. You feel weak all the time, and you have terrible stomach pains. You need to run to the toilet 10 times a day. My boy Shupria was seven and he had this for his whole life. He was so weak, and kept getting coughs and fevers. And then one morning..."
Her mother interrupted the trailing silence. "He died," she said. Now Arita's surviving three-year-old, Ashik, is sick, too. He is sprawled on his back on the floor. He keeps collapsing; his eyes are watery and distant. His distended stomach feels like a balloon pumped full of water. "Why did this happen?" Arita asked.
It is happening because of us. Every flight, every hamburger, every coal power plant, ends here, with this. Bangladesh is a flat, low-lying land made of silt, squeezed in between the melting mountains of the Himalayas and the rising seas of the Bay of Bengal. As the world warms, the sea is swelling – and wiping Bangladesh off the map.
~~~~~~~~~~~
But hey, let's keep on pumping out that coal. Bangladesh, the most crowded nation on earth, is set to disappear under the waves by the end of this century – and we will be to blame... more -
18,000 held in Bangladesh 'political crackdown'
Bangladesh police have detained or arrested more than 18,000 people in the last 11 days in a crackdown on crime they say is aimed at improving security ahead of December elections.
Human rights groups decry the actions as politically motivated.
The round-ups began May 28, days after the two main political parties said they would not cooperate with the military-backed caretaker government on organizing the elections. By Saturday 16,916 arrests had been made, while local media reported another 1,548 were arrested Sunday.
The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) said hundreds of their party members had been taken into custody.
"The timing and targets of the arrests are a dead giveaway they are politically motivated," Brad Adams of the New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement. "It's obvious that they are paying the price for the political parties' refusal to accept the government's conditions to participate in the elections."
The government rejects the allegations. The detentions, it said, are part of a planned sweep to rid the country of criminals. Bangladesh police have detained or arrested more than 18,000 people in the last 11 days in a crackdown on crime they say is aimed at i... more -
Obama's victory spreads excitement on a global scale!
From hundreds of supporters crowded around televisions in rural Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, to jubilant Britons writing "WE DID IT!" on the Brits for Barack discussion board on Facebook, people celebrated what they called an important racial and generational milestone for the United States.
"This is close to a miracle. I was certain that some things will not happen in my lifetime," said Sunila Patel, 62, a widow encountered on the streets of New Delhi. "A black president of the U.S. will mean that there will be more American tolerance for people around the world who are different." From hundreds of supporters crowded around televisions in rural Kenya, Obama's ancestral homeland, to jubilant Britons writing &#... more -
Roma Scapoccia!
Roma scapoccia, nel senso Roma va fuori di testa.
E' triste quello che accade a Roma da un pò di tempo: ieri un gruppo di neonazisti ha terrorizzato le strade del Pigneto distruggendo negozi di extracomunitari e mandando in ospedale un commerciante del Bangladesh. Poi l'aggressione a Floris, disc jockey di Deegay.it, al quale è stato intimato di non parlare più di omosessualità in radio. La gente scende in piazza per dare la caccia ai trans in via Longoni.
Curioso, il clima di violenza che il cittadino percepisce si traduce in ribellione contro un dj omosessuale, un commerciante del Bangladesh, un paio di trans e prostitute, non esattamente dei "public enemy number one"...
La violenza, non quella "percepita" ma quella vera, invece ci descrive una coppia di fidanzatini stroncati da un ultrà tossicomane alla guida, neonazisti che distruggono negozi. Ma questa violenza il cittadino non la "percepisce", non ne viene impaurito, chissà perchè.
Ed è ora che i media si prendano le colpe di questo clima, perchè la gente aizzata dai telegiornali ora crede di essere spalleggiata dalle istituzioni, e di poter fare giustizia da sola. E combina solo danni, perchè è accecata da un'informazione a senso unico.
Vedremo mai ronde di cittadini contro i politici corrotti? Neonazisti che assaltano i costruttori che stanno distruggendo Roma con i loro intrallazzi? Non credo, per questo tipo di azioni ci vogliono gli attributi, quelli che non servono per pestare in venti un ometto del Bangladesh nel suo emporio. Roma scapoccia, nel senso Roma va fuori di testa. ... more -
Technology Empowers the Poorest
This talk is TONIGHT!
Doors open 7:00pm, talk at 7:30pm lasting ~1.5 hours
Located at Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center
Quadir is the now-legendary founder of GrameenPhone, which transformed his home country of Bangladesh in the 1990s and led the way for the cellphone revolution throughout the developing world. Currently Quadir heads the Legatum Center for Development and Entrepreneurship at MIT and is building Emergence BioEnergy Inc., a project to develop local electricity for the rural poor, using such devices as a fuel cell that runs on anaerobic bacteria. Linking new technology with the boundless resourcefulness of the poor drives innovation in surprising directions at surprising speed. This talk is TONIGHT! Doors open 7:00pm, talk at 7:30pm lasting ~1.5 hours Located at Cowell Theater at Fort Mason Center ... more -
Indian Culture For Sale
Indian culture is so popular in the West these days. Being South Asian myself, I find it interesting to see people embrace eastern symbolism with very little knowledge about its origins.
I’ve explored the themes of Indian-inspired clothing (saris, salwar kamis...), beauty, and symbolism ('om,' buddhas...) and their prominence in the western community. I also interviewed a few Indians and a few White people to get their take on this phenomenon.
What do you think?
Do you think ancient traditions are being commodified? Indian culture is so popular in the West these days. Being South Asian myself, I find it interesting to see people embrace eastern sym... more -
Bricklane: Movie on Bangladeshi Immigrants in London set to be released June 20th!...
"Brick Lane," the widely-acclaimed book by Monica Ali about life about Bangladeshi immigrants in London, is coming to U.S. theaters as a movie on June 20. "Brick Lane," the widely-acclaimed book by Monica Ali about life about Bangladeshi immigrants in London, is coming to U.S. t... more
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Women are taking over Bangladesh
Grameen Shakti is one of the fastest growing rural alternative energy companies in the world. It's installed over 135,000 solar home systems and trained over 1,000 women to be green entrepreneurs. Go Team! Grameen Shakti is one of the fastest growing rural alternative energy companies in the world. It's installed over 135,000 solar h... more
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Bangladesh Faces Climate Change Refugee Nightmare
DHAKA (Reuters) - Abdul Majid has been forced to move 22 times in as many years, a victim of the annual floods that ravage Bangladesh.
There are millions like Majid, 65, in Bangladesh and in the future there could be many millions more if scientists' predictions of rising seas and more intense droughts and storms come true.
"Bangladesh is already facing consequences of a sea level rise, including salinity and unusual height of tidal water," said Mizanur Rahman, a research fellow with the London-based International Institute for Environmental Development.
"In the future, millions of people will lose their land and houses. Their survival will be threatened," Rahman told Reuters.
Experts say a third of Bangladesh's coastline could be flooded if the sea rises one metre in the next 50 years, creating an additional 20 million Bangladeshis displaced from their homes and farms. This is about the same as Australia's population.
Saline water will creep deeper inland, fouling water supplies and crops and livestock will also suffer, experts say.
Government officials and NGOs estimate about 10 million people are already threatened by annual floods and storms damaging riverine and coastal islands.
It is unclear how the government could feed, house or find enough clean water for vast numbers of climate refugees in a country of 140 million people crammed into an area of 142,080 sq km.
"We are taking steps to face the threats of climate change. Bangladesh needs $4 billion to build embankments, cyclone shelters, roads and other infrastructure in the next 15 years to mitigate the threats," Mohammad Aminul Islam Bhuiyan, the top bureaucrat in the government's Economic Relations Division, told Reuters.
"These are big challenges and only time will say how efficiently we address them, including finding accommodation for the displaced millions," he said. DHAKA (Reuters) - Abdul Majid has been forced to move 22 times in as many years, a victim of the annual floods that ravage Bangladesh.... more -
Ethnic clothes linked to mental health
According to a recent report, teenage girls from some minority communities have better mental health if they stick to traditional family customs.
Queen Mary University of London discovered that Bangladeshi girls who chose traditional rather than Western dress had less behavioural and emotional problems, than their western counterparts.
The research looked at a selection of 1000 British and Bangladeshi 11 to 14-year-olds, exploring their culture, social life and health, as well as posing questions that were designed to reveal any potential emotional or mental problems.
The Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health reported that pressure to integrate fully could be stressful, but that close-knit families and communities could help protect them.
The report found that although adolescents are particularly vulnerable to mental health problems, the Bangladeshi pupils who favoured traditional clothing were significantly less likely to have mental health problems than those whose style of dress was a mix of traditional and white British styles.
Interestingly, when this was broken down by gender, it appeared that only girls were affected. According to a recent report, teenage girls from some minority communities have better mental health if they stick to traditional fami... more -
Successful Peace Maker Jimmy Carter Shunned By Israel As He Attempts Peace There
Former US President Jimmy Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who brokered the first Arab-Israeli peace accord, is being shunned by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.
Why? Because the former President wants to talk with Hamas in Palestine as well. The Israeli government is afraid of Jimmy. Israel has alot they do not want to talk about because Israel has broken their own laws as well as International laws by continuing to rob the Palestinians of their land. Israeli government continues to murder innocent children and people. Israeli government continues to block much needed medical supplies as well as food going into Palestine.
If someone robs you of your land, aren't you going to fight for it?
That is the reason why there is so much hate and discontent in the Mid East. Israel continues to take advantage of the Palestinians who have no budget for self defense. Israelis unlimited defense budget is supplied by the US government (without the peoples permission).
Israel needs to change their arrogant and selfish, greedy ways. Maybe when they do give back the land to Palestine, they will do what the US government did for the Native Americans in return for the stolen land and murdering that happened to them. Casinos? Former US President Jimmy Carter, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who brokered the first Arab-Israeli peace accord, is being shunned by Pri... more -
How To End War, Poverty and Diseases. A 2 Minute Plan to Save the World
This video is a simply stated plan to save the world. If implemented, it would take 10 world leaders 2 minutes to implement this. It would put an end to poverty, homelessness, disease, and war. It would also help the environment in the process. We all know that money is usually scarce and getting by can be hard, no matter what income bracket we're in. Except for about 2% of the population. This video is based on facts from many sources. This video is a simply stated plan to save the world. If implemented, it would take 10 world leaders 2 minutes to implement this. It... more
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Employment for Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia on rise
Says foreign ministry
Unb, Dhaka
Employment of Bangladeshi workers in Saudi Arabia is once again on the rise following hectic diplomatic activity for reclaiming the labour market over there after a temporary lull in March for a smear campaign, according to an official disclosure.
A total of 1,924 visas were issued within the first ten days in April. “The number is increasing on a daily.”
So far, there are over 1.7 million Bangladeshis working in that country.
A news release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said there were some reports of negative publicity against Bangladeshis, particularly through a website.
“But the Bangladeshi authorities took up the matter with the Saudi counterparts and the website was finally closed down on March 27,” it said about the recent diplomatic efforts.
During the recent OIC Summit in Senegal, Foreign Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, also in charge of the Ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, met with his Saudi counterparts Dr Nizar Obeid Madani and Deputy Minister Prince Turki
Bin Mohammed bin Saud el Kabir.
Recently, a high-powered Saudi delegation headed by Deputy Minister for Labour Abdulrahman S Albwardi also met foreign adviser and others here in this patching-up process.
During the meeting, the Saudi deputy labour minister assured that the issuance of visas would be resumed and said that no legal Bangladeshi workers would be deported. Says foreign ministry Unb, Dhaka ... more
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