brad brace contemporary culture scrapbook

Among the world´s poorest countries, Bangladesh is home to one of the richest treasures – prized black bengal goats. The dwarf-size animals are the source of meat, milk, and leather for families – and a big part of the national economy. But changing patterns of land use are threatening the animals´ future.

“Our fallow lands for grazing goats are reducing day by day,” says Dr. M. O. Faruque of the country´s Department of Animal Breeding & Genetics at Bangladesh Agricultural University. “It´s because of our growing human population and the need to plant cereal crops.”

Research supported by the IAEA and Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is helping Bangadesh plan and protect the goats´ future. Working with other countries in the Asian region, scientists are looking to learn more about black bengal goats and other livetock. A specific aim is to build up the capacity of national agricultural research systems to conduct research in livestock genetics and breeding using modern methods of molecular science.

“The goat is perhaps the most misunderstood and neglected, but nevertheless important species of livestock in the Third World countries,” notes Prof. Md. Ruhul Amin, a colleague at the university. “They play an important role in our country’s economy.”

Bangladesh scientists are working with other experts to help goat herders and farmers adapt to the changing environment. About 80% of the country´s people live in the countryside, and raising goats and other livestock is a key part of their livelihood.

“Goats have typically been raised as scavengers, but now the traditional rearing system in Bangladesh is under threat,” says Dr. Faruque. New approaches to rearing and managing the herds are needed, he says. One government priority is to train tens of thousands of farmers on better ways to raise black bengal goats.

No one knows exactly how many goats graze in Bangladesh – some estimates run as high as 30 million. Together they provide about 30 thousand tons of meat and 20 million square feet of hides and skins, besides milk and other products families depend upon.

“Meat and skin obtained from the Black Bengal are of excellent quality and fetch high prices, even in the local market,” says Prof. Ruhul Amin.

The FAO/IAEA-supported research, launched in 2004 to run over two phases, is analyzing more that 100 sheep and goat breeds by applying nuclear and molecular tools for DNA analysis. Together, the breeds represent the most important livestock species in the Asian region, numbering nearly one billion animals.

At least 10 people died and more than 200 were injured as tropical storms swept through southern Bangladesh, according to reports.

Several thousand villagers were left homeless following the downpours.

The storms levelled hundreds of houses in Bhola district, 65 miles south of the country’s capital of Dhaka, the United News of Bangladesh reported, quoting a local government official.

Rescuers recovered 10 bodies buried under the debris of collapsed houses, and dozens of injured were taken to a hospital, local television station ATN Bangla said.

The storms knocked down trees and electricity lines, plunging the affected areas into darkness and hampering rescue work.

Several thousand people were left homeless in dozens of farming villages, the TV station said.

Seasonal storms are common in Bangladesh, a tropical delta nation of 140 million people.

The metaphors of Islamic mysticism and philosophy are not merely poetic ornaments but are indicative of a peculiar way of thinking. The Sufis have, for instance, spoken of the experience of the Black Light–the light of bewilderment: when the divine light fully appears in the mystic’s consciousness, all things disappear instead of remaining visible. Such is the experience of fana–a blackout of everything until the mystic perceives that this blackness is in reality the very light of the Absolute-as-such, for existence in its purity is invisible and appears as nothing. To discover the clarity of this black light is to find the green water of life, which, according to legends, is hidden in the deepest darkness–baqa, persistence in God, is concealed in the very center of fana.

Dacca, Mar 14 Since the introduction of the emergency state by the interim government in Bangladesh, 95,825 persons have been arrested by security and there were at least 50 deaths, according to statistics.

The report of the humanitarian organization Odhikar compiles the numbers published by 11 national newspapers, edited in Dacca, between January 12 and March 12 of 2007.

The measure was applied by the president Iajuddin Ahmed after postponing the general elections and withdrawing the interim government, which were people s main demands during three months of demonstrations in Bangladesh.

That decision followed the call carried out by the Awami League president and leader of the opposition alliance Hasina Wajed, who urged supporters to surround the Presidential Palace from January 14.

The statesman talked about his position of suspending the constitutional guarantees by the state of “serious emergency, where security and Bangladesh economic life are threatened by internal disturbances.”

More than 60,000 soldiers and policemen are deployed with special powers and can stop people without a court order in the national territory.

THE rich and powerful of Bangladesh are dumping luxury goods from top-of-the-range 4WDs to pet peacocks in the hope of evading a crackdown on corruption by the new military regime.

The latest haul includes three Hummers abandoned by the roadside in Dhaka and six rare deer left in a disused iron foundry, police said yesterday.

The discoveries came after the confiscation of more vehicles and exotic pets from politicians arrested since an election was cancelled and a state of emergency declared on January 11.

The animals, including a bear and a cheetah, have been given to a safari park after what one official described as the largest recovery of wildlife since independence.

The seizures hint at the extraordinarily opulent lifestyles enjoyed by Bangladesh’s political elite, while more than half the population of 150 million struggles by on less than a dollar a day.

And the crackdown reflects the military’s determination to root out corruption at the top before organising new elections.

Security forces last week arrested Tarique Rahman, whose mother, Khaleda Zia, was prime minister until late last year. Mr Rahman, wearing a bullet-proof vest, was remanded in custody for a month yesterday pending a full investigation into corruption charges against him.

The military’s role in government was formalised last week with the establishment of a National Security Council, including the civilian head of a caretaker administration and the chiefs of the three armed services. That has raised concerns among Western diplomats and ordinary Bangladeshis about how and when the army will return to barracks.

However, most people support the new regime, such was their disillusionment with the personal rivalry between Ms Zia and the main opposition leader, Sheikh Hasina, which has dominated politics since 1991.

When Ms Zia’s Bangladesh National Party was in power, her 40-year-old son became known as Yuvraj (Prince) and Mr Ten Per Cent because of the cut he was alleged to take on government deals. Critics accuse him of amassing millions of dollars through corruption.

The military now appears determined to break the grip of both the BNP and Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League.

The Bangladeshi interim government issued a complete ban on political activities late Thursday, stating that “the government will take stern action against anyone who breaches” the order. The announcement, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, expands the January 11 state of emergency order by President Iajuddin Ahmed, which prohibited street protests, public meetings or gatherings, but did not prohibit “indoor political activities.” In addition, police have been given four days to question Tareque Rahman, son of slain former president Ziaur Rahman and Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia. Rahman is accused of being involved in a $186,000 extortion scheme. Rahman, a senior member in the BNP who was widely expected to succeed his mother, was arrested Thursday in Dhaka.

In recent weeks, government security forces have arrested more than 60 politicians, mostly members of the BNP and the Awami League . Several major corruption trials are slated to begin later this month. Transparency International has listed Bangladesh as one of the world’s most corrupt states. The interim government mandated by the constitution prior to a scheduled national poll has promised to hold elections which were canceled following the January 11 order, but no date has been set.