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Bangladesh ranked 22nd among 50 most conflict-ridden countries by US-based researcher
Bangladesh ranked the 22nd among the world’s 50 most conflict-ridden countries, according to new research that measures political violence around the globe.
Myanmar, with the highest number of armed groups in the world, topped the list with a rating of “extreme,” followed by Syria and Mexico.
Ukraine, Nigeria, Brazil, Yemen, Iraq, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia ranked the rest positions ranging from four to ten on the list with the rating of “extreme,” according to the data.
On the other hand, superpower Russia ranked the 39th with the rating of “Turbulent”, the third of four categories with the top “extreme”.
Bangladesh ranked 22nd with a rating of “high”, the second category.
Afghanistan, neighbouring India and financially-stricken Pakistan ranked 13rd, 16th and 19th with the rating of “high” like Bangladesh.The United States ranked the last among the 50 most conflict-ridden countries. The U.S. ranking is driven by rising levels of political violence and a proliferation of far-right groups in the country in recent years, according to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED).
ACLED, a data collection, analysis and crisis mapping nonprofit based in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, gathers data for more than 240 countries and territories around the world.
In one year to early September, it recorded over 139,000 incidents of political violence worldwide with an increase of 27 percent over the prior year.
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On the basis of four indicators — deadliness, danger to civilians, geographic diffusion and armed group fragmentation, the ACLED Conflict Index ranks every country and territory, using data collected for the past year.
While most countries saw at least one incident of political violence over the past year, 50 were ranked the highest in terms of their levels of conflict, receiving ratings of “extreme,” “high,” or “turbulent.”
The U.S. was rated as “turbulent,” along with 19 other countries, mostly in Africa and Asia, including Libya, Ghana and Chad.
Sam Jones, head of communications at ACLED, said the U.S. placement on the list shows that political violence is not confined to poor or nondemocratic countries.
“The U.S. is in the same turbulent index category as other countries that might be more traditionally understood as ‘conflict-affected’ like the Central African Republic … though, of course, it has a much lower overall ranking than such countries, which is important to note,” Jones told the media.
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France was marked by violent anti-police riots this summer after police shot and killed a teenager in a Paris suburb, according to the data.
Canada has seen a small but noticeable uptick in anti-LGBTQ demonstrations in recent years, a spillover from larger U.S. protests organized by far-right groups.
Thomas Zeitzoff, a political violence expert at the American University in Washington, noted that recent elections in both France and Canada have been marked by vitriolic rhetoric.
“It’s not the same level of violence [in France and Canada], but I think in general the U.S. is not isolated in that there is definitely … across the Western world … increased political contention,” Zeitzoff said.
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ACLED has been tracking U.S. political violence since 2020, a year marked by a perfect storm of crises — a deadly pandemic, social justice protests and a divisive presidential election.
Top 5% contractors account for 26% market share in government procurement: TIB
Top five percent contractors account for 26% market share of government procurement, according to a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) study unveiled today.
Although the implementation of online-based government procurement (e-GP) in Bangladesh is almost a decade old, it has not been able to create an environment of fair competition, but the three-way nexus of government departments, political influential groups and contractors has given a new dimension to it, it said.
TIB made the remarks at a press conference on the occasion of the release of a research report titled "E-Government Procurement in Bangladesh: Trends Analysis of Competitive Practices (2012-2023)".
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“The e-GP process started as a very important positive step in Bangladesh, with the main goal of ensuring transparency and open competitive procurement in the public sector. E-GP has facilitated procurement processes, reduced processing costs, but market capture and monopolization in bid submissions and submissions has continued and has actually been institutionalised,” said TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman.
"The main message of our report is that a kind of market capture process has become fairly institutionalized in the government procurement process. However, the main purpose of e-GP was to control and prevent this market share,” he said.
The share of work of the top five percent contractors is increasing every year, on an average; about 30 percent of the work is in the hands of these contractors, said the TIB report.
The share of work done by the top five percent of contractors is increasing every year. On an average, these big contractors are getting more than 26 percent of the work and the bottom 10 percent of the contractors are getting only two to three percent of the work, it said.
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“Such a situation cannot in any way ensure the highest value of public money. We believe that due to political influence and three-way nexus of contractors with public procurement companies, on the one hand, the expected benefits of e-GP are not being achieved, on the other hand, there is a massive monopoly of the public procurement process,” he also said.
“Overall, we believe that if there is a will, the authorities can identify the weaknesses in the procurement process and take adequate action through the analysis of the existing data in the government database,” added the TIB executive director.
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At the time, TIB presented six recommendations for the consideration of the concerned authorities in the interest of making e-GP free and competitive.
TIB Outreach and Communication Department Director Sheikh Manzur-e-Alam moderated the programme while Mohammad Touhidul Islam, coordinator of the same department, presented the keynote paper.
Experts’ opinions sought to know causes of falling remittances despite rising manpower export
The Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Monday sought innovative suggestions from economists and sector experts to identify the reasons why inward remittance flow is not growing to the expected level, despite huge manpower export and students who stay back and work abroad.
He said that the government will accept suggestions and advice to reform policy and increase desired remittance into the country.
Kamal said this while speaking as the chief guest in the inaugural session of ‘Bangladesh’s Public Financial Reforms Initiatives’ in collaboration with the World Bank held in a hotel in Dhaka on Monday.
Read: Islami Bank receives award for highest remittance collection
Abdoulaye Seck, country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan of World Bank, Hisham Waly, Practice Manager, governance global practice-South Asia Reason, World Ban, Dr Md Khairuzzaman Mozumder, Secretary of Finance, among others, spoke at the function.The finance minister said the government is thinking of making structural changes to enhance inward remittance flow in the country.
Read: August remittances slide to 6-month low clocking $1.6 billion
He also mentioned that the expatriates were sending USD $2.0 billion and above remittances in the country in a month, if the flow continues, there would not be a foreign exchange crisis now.
“But why it is falling despite manpower export and students going abroad increasing a significant number, we would like to know,” he said.
Read more: Bangladesh received $1.97 billion remittance in July
Adilur, Nasiruddin file appeal against court verdict
Rights body Odhikar’s top officials Adilur Rahman Khan and Nasiruddin Elan have filed an appeal with the High Court challenging the lower court order that sentenced them to two-year jail terms in a case filed under the now defunct Information and Communication Technology Act.
They also filed a petition seeking bail in the case, said their lawyer Md Ruhul Amin Bhuiya.
Also read: Fakhrul demands immediate release of Odhikar’s Adilur, Nasiruddin
On September 14, a Dhaka court sentenced them to two years’ of imprisonment in a case filed over publishing a report about the death toll in clashes between police and Hefazat-e-Islam activists in the capital in 2013.
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Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge AM Zulfiqar Hayat also fined the convicts Tk 10,000 each, in default, they will have to suffer one month more imprisonment.
This was the maiden case filed under the Information and Communication Technology Act (ICT).
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In 2013, Odhikar published a report on its website that claimed 61 people were killed at Hefazat rally at Shapla Chattar in the capital following a clash between Hefazat-e-Islam activists and law enforcement agencies on May 5, 2013.
Detective Branch (DB) sub-inspector Ashraful Islam filed a general diary at Gulshan Police Station on August 10 of the same year. The GD was later registered as a case.
On September 4 of the same year, DB inspector Ashraful Alam submitted a charge sheet against Adilur and Nasiruddin to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Dhaka.
In 2014, the court framed charges against the two accused and ordered the trial to begin.
Deaths from dengue now 928 with 19 more in last 24hrs
According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the number of dengue fatalities in the country has now crossed 928.
With nineteen more deaths from dengue in 24 hours till Monday morning, the fatalities from the mosquito-borne disease in Bangladesh rose to 928 this year.
During the period, 3,033 more patients were hospitalised with the viral fever, according to the DGHS.
Read: Dengue death toll surpasses 900; over 3000 cases reported in 24 hrs
Of the new patients, 801 were admitted to hospitals in Dhaka and the rest outside the capital--indicating a worsening situation across the country, DGHS said.
A total of 10,147 dengue patients, including 3,622 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
So far, the DGHS has recorded 190,758 dengue cases, 179,683 recoveries this year.
Read more: Dengue claims 300 lives already in September
Image of police won’t be affected due to US Visa policy: IGP
Police will not face any image crisis due to the US Visa policy, said Inspector General of Police (IGP) Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun on Monday.
“I think, the US visa policy won’t harm the image of police,” he said while talking to reporters after attending a seminar at Tourist Police headquarters in the city’s Paltan area.
Govt has nothing to do about Khaleda’s treatment abroad: Law Minister
The US Department of State on Friday that it is taking steps to impose visa restrictions on Bangladeshi individuals responsible for, or complicit in, undermining the democratic election process in Bangladesh.
These individuals include members of law enforcement agencies, the ruling party, and the political opposition.
Talking about possessing illegal arms, the police chief said the drive against illegal arms holders will be conducted , he said adding "We can’t reveal the plan now.”
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“We firmly believe that police can perform their duties properly during the next general election as police have taken some plan to seize illegal arms ahead of the election,” said the IGP.
Replying to a question about their role during election, the police boss said the Election Commission (EC) has the responsibility to arrange the election and police will accomplish their responsibility as entrusted by the EC during the election.
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Responding to a question over the death of a lawyer Bhuban Chandra Sheel who was shot by stray bullets in city’s Tejgaon area, the IGP said, “The Law and order situation is fully under control and the law enforcers are taking steps through investigation after the incident. I want to assure you (people) that no one will be spared, no matter if he/she is a member of the law enforcement agencies. Legal action will be taken against the criminals.”
Govt has nothing to do about Khaleda’s treatment abroad: Law Minister
Law Minister Anisul Huq on Monday said the government has nothing to do about BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s treatment abroad considering the legal aspect.
“I have told it earlier that the BNP chief got the conditional release as per the section 401 (1) of the Code of Criminal Procedure which is a generosity of the Prime Minister. If any change is brought in this legal position then her conditional release has to be canceled first. Then other things may be considered in this regard,” he said.The law minister said these while talking to reporters at the Secretariat on Monday.
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On Sunday BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir issued an ultimatum to the government to take necessary steps to send Khaleda Zia abroad for better treatment within 48 hours, or be held responsible if anything happens to her.Replying to a question about Home Minister’s statement over Khaleda issue, Anisul said, “The application has to be sent to the Home Ministry first and the Home Ministry will send it to the Law Ministry and it depends on the opinion of the Law Ministry. I think that the government can’t do anything more as per the law.”Earlier on September 18, the Security Services Division under the Home Ministry issued a notification extending the suspension of Khaleda’s jail term by another six months.Khaleda Zia has to receive treatment in Dhaka, and she will not be allowed to go abroad during this period, said the notification.
Application must be submitted to Home Ministry to allow Khaleda Zia to go abroad for better treatment: Law MinisterThe 78-year-old former prime minister has been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung, heart, and eye problems.Since her conditional release in 2020, the BNP chief has been receiving treatment at the hospital under a medical board headed by cardiologist Prof Shahabuddin Talukder.
Khaleda’s conditional release to be extended by 6 months: Law ministerKhaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Jail after a lower court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty in another corruption case the same year.Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government of Bangladesh temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, with the condition that she will stay in her Gulshan house and not leave the country.END/UNB/M-MAS/FH
Indiscriminate firing at Tejgaon: Injured lawyer dies
A 52-year-old lawyer who sustained injuries during an indiscriminate firing by a group of terrorists on a road in Dhaka’s Tejgaon area, died on Monday.
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Bhuban Chandra Shil succumbed to his injuries at 10:35 am today while receiving treatment at the intensive care unit (ICU) of Dhanmondi Popular Hospital in the capital.
His brother-in-law, Palash Chandra Shil, confirmed the news.
A group of terrorists opened fire indiscriminately at the private car of a top terrorist around 10 pm in Tejgaon industrial area of the capital on September 18.
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A bullet struck Bhuban in the head while he was crossing the area on his motorcycle. He was returning to his residence at Arambagh in Motijheel from his office in Gulshan.
Bhuban was rescued and rushed to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, and subsequently transferred to Dhanmondi’s Popular Hospital.
He is survived by his wife and one daughter. He worked as a legal consultant for Gomti Textile Limited.
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Sweetmeat shop catches fire in Dhaka's Lalbagh
A fire broke out in a shop in the capital's Lalbagh area on Monday.
The fire broke out around 1:35pm at ‘Madina Mistanno Bhandar’ at 92 Lalbag Road, said Anwarul Islam, warehouse inspector of Fire Service and Civil Defence headquarters media cell.
Read: High-rise building catches fire in capital's Shyamoli
On information, seven firefighting units rushed to the spot and are trying to tame the blaze.
No casualties were reported as yet, he added.
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CEC replies to EU letter seeking cooperation in organising elections
Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Kazi Habibul Awal has sent a letter to the European Union (EU) in reply to the letter it sent informing the decision not to send a full-fledged observation team to Bangladesh during the upcoming national election.
Election commissioner Brigadier General (retd.) Md Ahsan Habib Khan gave this information to reporters while talking to journalists at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital's Agargaon on Sunday.
He said the CEC in the letter said the EC would be able to hold a free and fair election if it continues to get the cooperation it is receiving from the government and other stakeholders.
Read: Powers of presiding officers have been enhanced through law to ensure that elections are fair: CEC
In the letter, the CEC expressed his expectation that the European Union would send even a small team to observe the next general election.
The CEC in the letter said that the more local and foreign observers would be there, the more transparent the election will be and there will be some kind of pressure on everyone. It will also increase the acceptance of elections home and abroad.
Read: British High Commissioner wanted to know EC’s efforts in ensuring that journalists can work freely: CEC
Election Commissioner Ahsan Habib Khan also said EC would hold a workshop on the role of candidates and polling agents with the former chief election commissioner (CEC) and EC in the first week of October aiming to hold a fair election.
The workshop would involve former chief election commissioners (CEC), election commissioners (EC), senior election commission officials, media personalities, and university professors, he added.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) received an email from the European Union over their decision about not sending its full-fledged election observation team to Bangladesh for the upcoming national election.