Chintito

Silver Linings to Celebrate

Chintito

It is not easy to unearth good news from the debris of bad at any time in the life a country like Bangladesh that eternally tries to wash away the problems with the prospects that lie ahead. Sifting through the news over the past fortnight, one quite typical, there are occasions that make us proud as Bangladeshis, and others that give us hope. Yes! It could have been better (easier said than done), but this was not the worst way to end a year, nor was it a bad way to start another.

We must appreciate the positive effects taking place, not by a government's doing alone, but by effective contributions from all stakeholders. To make a more meaningful difference, to give the poorest of poor a cause to remain awake to fulfill their dream, we should learn to criticize to construct our nation, not merely to mock those who have failed. The clips are all taken from The Daily Star:

Dhaka trade fair: shop online: Imagine being able to explore a massive trade fair from the comforts of one's home, without the crowd, long tailbacks and the tussles with the vendors. (25 Dec 2012)

The whole nation, except the BNP-Jamaat people, is united for completion of the war crimes trial, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said yesterday. (26 Dec 2012)

Bangladesh has moved up six positions to rank sixth among 12 countries in South and Central Asia and 91st out of 140 countries in the DHL Global Connectedness Index (GCI) this year. (27 Dec 2012)

Dhaka has sharply reacted to Ankara over misuse of “on arrival visa” facilities by a NGO delegation, which visited Bangladesh from December 20 to 24 and reportedly advocated in favour of the accused under trial for war crimes. (27 Dec 2012)

Eight illegal structures, including a four-storied building, were demolished yesterday in Savar on the outskirts of the capital in a drive to recover 10 acres of government land grabbed by Hall-Mark Group. (28 Dec 2012)

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday approved filing of 26 cases against several top officials of Sonali Bank and five business entities for misappropriating more than Tk 345 crore of depositors' money. (28 Dec 2012)

Except for health sector, corruption in other public and private service sectors has come down by 28.4 percent in the last two years although bribe rate has doubled during the same period, a TIB survey shows. (29 Dec 2012)

The image of Shakib Al Hasan and Mushfiqur Rahim in tears after the Asia Cup final in March is one that springs readily to mind when looking at the Bangladesh cricket team's performance in the year just going by. The chance to achieve their biggest success was shattered following a two-run defeat to Pakistan at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in March, but the crying cricketers won the hearts of millions through their outstanding performance in the region's showpiece event. (31 Dec 2012)

BRAVO Bangladesh eyes $20b in New Year: Bangladesh enters 2013 with a firm footing as the world's second largest garment exporter, raising hopes for a new wave of business despite turbulent times in parts of the globe. (1 Jan 2013)

Lifting a four-year ban, the Malaysian government has decided to recruit 10,000 male workers from Bangladesh for its plantation sector, Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain said yesterday. (1 Jan 2013)

Smiles, all around: Children began this year in a festive mood with new textbooks in hand yesterday. (2 Jan 2013)

The much-hyped Hatirjheel-Begunbari integrated development scheme in the capital opens to public today. (2 Jan 2013)

Vegetable cultivation on floating gardens in abandoned water bodies brings good prospect for marginal farmers in Teesta and Dharla basin areas of Lalmonirhat Sadar, Aditmari and Hatibandha upazilas under the district. (3 Jan 2013)

Bangladesh has achieved significant success in reducing the number of people killed in cyclones and storm surges, claimed Professor Jamilur Reza Choudhury, vice-chancellor of the University of Asia Pacific. (4 Jan 2013)

The Election Commission is ready to hold elections to Dhaka north and south city corporations, said Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday. (4 Jan 2013)

Police recovered 10 monkeys and 160 birds of rare species from Shahjalal International Airport in the capital after those were illegally imported from South Africa Thursday night. (5 Jan 2013)

Scope to use mobile technology for health sector is huge and everyone would have to find opportunities to use it properly for improvement of people's lives, said speakers at a roundtable (in Dhaka). (6 Jan 2013)

Concerted efforts to promote gender equality have enabled Bangladesh to outperform India in all social indicators, said Nobel laureate Amartya Sen. (7 Jan 2013)

Education sector shows rosy picture: In the four decades after independence, not that many governments had taken up measures that could be considered remarkable for development of the country's overall education system. (7 Jan 2013)

The inflation eased by 2 percentage points on average to stand at 8.74 percent in 2012. (8 Jan2013)

 

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