With recent tensions between Ukraine-Russia highlighting pivotal oil and gas supply, a similar issue can brew between Bangladesh and India

The India-Bangladesh Power Trap

A reliance on India for its electricity could be contrary to Bangladesh’s geo-strategic interests.

By Zahedul Amin
The Diplomat
April 27, 2014

Following the election of its Awami League (AL) government in 2009, Bangladesh’s diplomatic relations with India have enjoyed some renewed vigor. In the years since, the relationship has flourished, with a series of high-level meetings culminating in a visit from Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2011 to sign a joint communiqué. The communiqué focused on three key aspects: peacefully resolving a long-standing border dispute, ensuring a fair allocation of Teesta river water, and allowing transit to India through Bangladesh.

Although the Bangladesh government is already offering transit facilities on a selective basis (without charging a transit fee), India has yet to deliver on its promises. The border dispute remains unresolved in the face of stiff resistance from the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), while the Teesta water sharing agreement has stalled, thanks to the belligerence of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. A promised $1 billion credit line from India has been caught up in bureaucratic red tape. As a consolation, India has at least agreed to export 500 MW of power to Bangladesh at a competitive rate.

For its part, Bangladesh has now decided to provide a corridor for Indian power transmission, from Assam to Bihar. In return, India has promised to increase power exports to 1500 MW in the near future, which would partially assuage Bangladesh’s persistent power shortages. However, could an overt dependence on Indian electricity spell danger for Bangladesh’s strategic interests?

To answer that question, it is important to understand Bangladesh’s power sector. Power shortages remain a chronic problem for Bangladesh, mainly because of a lack of effective investment and dwindling reserves of natural gas. Currently, peak power demand for Bangladesh stands at 8,349 MW, against installed generation capacity of 10,289 MW, although only about 75 percent of that capacity is operational, leaving a substantial shortfall. In fact, the demand-supply gap was higher in 2008, which the government addressed by turning to “quick rental” power stations owned by the private sector. As of 2013, the government had arrangements with 20 of these stations, which combined generated power in excess of 1,000 MW. These stations, however, are run on diesel or heavy fuel oil, making them costlier compared to more traditional energy sources, meaning that end consumers need to be heavily subsidized by the government. Imports from India are much cheaper, at less than half the per-unit cost. Given these immediate cost advantages, the government of Bangladesh is keen to import more power from India.

However, while that might make economic sense, the question is whether Bangladesh can afford to increase its dependence on Indian power. Electricity is a key resource and the country’s manufacturing sector is entirely dependent on a seamless supply.

National elections are underway in India. A change in government looks likely, with BJP candidate Narendra Modi tipped to be the next prime minister. A new BJP government may well adopt a more hardline foreign policy stance.

A comparison can be made with the Russia-Ukraine crisis, in which Russia retains a powerful bargaining chip in the form of its shipments of natural gas. Since the falling out between the neighbors, Moscow has (through state-owned Gazprom) raised the gas price with more stringent payment terms. Russia has even threatened to cut off the natural gas supply entirely, something that would be catastrophic for the struggling Ukrainian economy.

A Bangladesh that is heavily dependent on Indian electricity could conceivably face a similar scenario in the future. In any disagreement, India could use its power card to keep Bangladesh in line. As a much smaller country, Bangladesh is already at a disadvantage in negotiating with India, a position that may be exacerbated with greater dependence on Indian power.

In the wake of these analyses, Bangladesh should think of alternative methods of generating electricity, reducing its dependence on both privately owned quick rental stations or Indian power. A long-term plan is needed to increase supply in step with rising demand. Bangladesh has adequate coal resources, which can be cheaply extracted. New power plants should be coal based, reducing pressure on natural gas reserves and expensive imported oil. Bangladesh should also construct an LNG terminal to facilitate natural gas imports.

Although India-Bangladesh relations are at an all-time high, Dhaka has mostly failed to extract anything tangible from the Indian side. India’s Border Security Force (BSF) is still regularly shooting Bangladeshi nationals, while Bangladeshi exports to India face a multitude of non-tariff barriers. With the shifting political landscape in India, the situation could be set to worsen, as the BJP has historically shown a more hardline stance towards its neighbors. In this context, Bangladesh should avoid an excessive reliance on its neighbor for electricity.

Zahedul Amin is the Co-founder and Director Finance & Strategy at LightCastle Partners, a business planning and intelligence firm specializing in emerging markets.

Call it courage: Bangladeshi boy risks his life in raging floodwaters to save baby deer

Astonishing bravery of boy who risked his life to save baby deer in Bangladesh river by holding it above raging floodwaters
--Boy called Belal defiantly held the young fawn in one hand above his head
--Onlookers were unsure whether the boy was going to appear again
--When he made it to the other side the locals cheered
--Teenager jumped into river in Noakhali, Bangladesh to save animal

By TARA BRADY
DAILYMAIL
Feb 6, 2014

A brave boy fearlessly risked his own life and showed astonishing bravery to save a helpless baby deer from drowning.

The boy, called Belal and believed to be in his early teens, defiantly held the young fawn in one hand above his head as he plunged through the surging river. During the ordeal onlookers were unsure whether the boy was going to appear again.

Incredible: A brave boy fearlessly risked his own life to save a helpless baby deer from drowning

Fearless: The boy called Belal plunged through the surging river to save the animal

Cute: The fawn rests on the side of the river bank after it was rescued by the boy in Bangladesh

When he finally made it to the other side the locals cheered as the deer was reunited with its family.

The incident took place in Noakhali, Bangladesh, when the young fawn became separated from its family during torrential rain and fast-rising floods.

Wildlife photographer Hasibul Wahab captured the brave act while visiting on a photography trip.

He said the Noakhali locals lose a lot of deer during the rainy season and that they have to do all they can to protect them. Wildlife photographer Hasibul Wahab captured the brave act while visiting on a photography trip

Brave: The boy called Belal definatly held the young fawn in one hand above his head

He said: 'He was such a brave boy - the river was so full of water and it was high tide so we thought he might drown. 'My friend was even ready to jump into the river to save the boy. But he made it, and when he returned, we thanked the boy. 'There were only five to seven people observe this situation but it was a phenomenal sight.'

Saved: The little deer lives to see another day thanks to the boy who jumped into the river and rescued it

more images of the heroic rescue are here

Current human-rights abuses in Bangladesh by repressive regime

If you have tears to drop,#Bangladesh
By ttorongo
CNN iReport
March 3, 2012 | Dhaka

While I am writing from Bangladesh I am in doubt whether world will ever get to know the grief of a green land Bangladesh, a small but most densely populated country of the world. I am in confusion since my language is not that much attractive but hopefully it will draw the most humanitarian hearts of the people from around the world. I just want to say, Bangladesh is in trouble. Please share your hands to save millions from persecution and killing by the state machinery of a radical secular government.

I have never thought of writing to the world people since I preserve the dignity that my country is my world. Whatever happens, let them inside my home and let the world know about we are happy since we are the highest in number in the UN peace keeping mission. But I am sorry, I have no way but to let you know that we are in trouble. We are in trouble for being burnt in political vendetta of some political groups, very powerful and indeed they are ruling us now.

What happened on last Thursday of February 2013 has never been experienced in the history. At least 50 people have died in police bullet for staging political processions, more than thousands have been bullet ridden and countless have been injured across the country. The country shocked with protests in every corner and straightly put down by the authorities by bullets, the only response to agitating demonstrators.

Why that has been happened to us? It was all about verdict, handed down by a court, not recognized internationally rather criticized by all rights groups including the UN, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch. That verdict was handed down to Delware Hossain Sayedee, an acclaimed preacher of Islam but, unfortunately, implicated for crimes against humanity during liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971. He has been handed down death sentence by a court set up by Bangladesh’s radical secular government which eventually achieved a critically debated position since its head had been revealed to concoct policy of charging the religious cleric. The head had to resign, but the verdict has been handed down as sketched by the resigned judge, even before hearing the arguments of either the prosecution or the defense.

How have been the charges? This question will haunt the generation to come for years. Just a glimpse into the witnesses would reveal how the justice had been handed down. In a charge the religious scholar has been accused of looting gold and silver from a house but no witness was been produced before the court. In another charge, the Maolana (Islamic term of a religious cleric) has been accused of setting fire on a house of a person during 1971 but the person was, stunning enough, not born at that time, let alone had a house. He is also charged with killing a man but whose wife filed a case during 1972 and of which case the final charge sheet was even framed. Name of Sayedee was not even there but he has been awarded with death of that person. In charge number 10- allegation of killing Bishabali has been placed. According to the allegation, a Razakar fired on Bishabali upon the order of Maolana Sayedee. But no witness has been produced to identify who carried the killing, what was done with the dead body or other relevant issues. On the other hand, Sukhranja Bali, brother of deceased Bishabali, defense witness for Sayedee was abducted from the Tribunal premise. Still the whereabouts of Bishabali is unknown. In these charge number eight and charge number ten, the tribunal has ordered death sentence to Allama Sayedee.
The tribunal’s ‘beyond reasonable doubts’ proved charges are also reasonable to consider and reconsider for a future at least to save a nation from splitting over political grounds. A charge has been brought against him of killing Bisha Bali for which he has been sentenced but whose brother Sukh Ranaja Bali, previously a prosecution witness but turned to into a defense witness for not going against a ‘valo manush Sayedee’ [ a good person Sayedee shouldn’t be blamed on false charges] has been abducted from the court premise. Just go a little bit more, a person Gouranga Shaha has accused Sayedee of raping his three younger sisters of the age of wedding and for which the Maolana has been sentenced. But Gouranga Shaha was born in 1963 and during the year of 1971 he had three younger sisters of the age of wedding and on ‘beyond reasonable doubt’ the Tribunal has accepted the charge.

Don’t be bored to get the stories from the Tribunal before reading one miraculous story of charge framing. Maolana Sayedee has been accused of raping a woman who, later, gave birth to a child. But the court evidences eventually proved that the woman gave birth to a child only within 4 months.

At this point, if you think I am against the trial of war criminals and verdict against crimes against humanity, I would not mind but would humbly request you to consider the point that if one person has not handed down justice what could the history to offer to injustice. It can spark crying if the person is an individual and if that person is an institution it would spark frustration and anguish. The followers of Sayedee have expressed their frustration and anger and many were seen praying. But their anger and frustration have eventually put down by bullets. May the be the future would write the crying and anguish or may the future will forget amid mass propaganda just like the most precious tear drops keep the footprint only inside the heart, not on the cheek.

The situation will continue to haunt many, uncountable at this moment and for many years to come indeed. The missing line is here. Crimes of against were carried during 1971 but were not carried by this person who is now convicted. The anguish of 1971 of Bangladesh has never been redressed but now some individuals are turning into new victims who have much political supports.

Today’s protests were massive so as the government’s violent but government supporting media didn’t publish them much. I have got a confirmed report that supporter of Sayedee was shot dead and later his two eyes were pulled out. This inhuman violence is nothing but simple cruelty and will be continued in a land where international interests are very low but human being, powerless, live there.

The despicable men who prey on the hopeless children in Bangladesh

Mutilated by gang who set out to maim him so he'd earn more as a beggar, the seven-year-old boy whose story is all too common in Bangladesh

• The young child was surrounded by four men in Bangladesh who tied him up, and cracked open his head with a brick
• Sliced his chest and belly in an upside down cross and chopped off his penis
• Attack said to be retaliation for argument his father had with one of the men
• 'Beggar mafia' is becoming more common in South Asian countries
• Shown in the 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire, in which a child in Mumbai, India, is intentionally blinded so he could bring in more money

DAILYMAIL
By JILL REILLY

A seven-year-old boy was grabbed from the street by strangers to maim him so he would elicit more sympathy working for them as a beggar. But when he recognized the men from his area and told them he would report them to his father, they decided to torture him, cutting off his penis and leaving him for dead on the streets of Bangladesh.

SCROLL DOWN TO VIEW THE VIDEO

In some South Asian countries, the prevalence of 'beggar mafias' is becoming increasingly common.


Butchered: The seven-year-old's attackers drew ab upside down cross on his chest as well as slitting his throat

The practice was portrayed in the 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire, in which a child in Mumbai, India, is intentionally blinded so he could bring in more money.

The tragic story was uncovered by CNN's Freedom Project - they named the child, who can not be identified, as Okkhoy, the Bengali word for 'unbreakable.' The horrific attack on Okkhoy unfolded in late 2010, just a few days before the Muslim festival of Eid, when three local children lured the trusting child out of his home with the promise of a lolly.


Brutal: One of the attackers grabbed a brick and Okkhoy lost consciousness after he was struck over the head

It was then a group of neighborhood men grabbed him and pulled him into an alley, binding his hands and feet. 'They tied me up and told me they'd force me to beg,' said Okkhoy.
But their hope to maim Okkhoy turned into a plan to kill him after he told the men that he recognised them and he would tell his father. One of the attackers grabbed a brick and Okkhoy lost consciousness after he was struck over the head. They then set about carving up his body, slashing his throat and slicing his chest and belly in an upside down cross.


Butchered: Okkhoy nearly died from blood-loss after his attackers slit his throat and left him for dead

In a final brutal act, his attackers chopped off his penis and his right testicle. Okkhoy was dumped by the side of a warehouse - his attackers intended to come back later and dump him in the river. But his mother, who had gone looking for her missing child, stumbled across his blood-soaked body.'

I barely recognized him; he was so stained with blood,' shes said. She carried her young son's body to the side of the main road where she was met by Okkhoy's father Abed, who had been alerted by a neighbor. 'It felt like the sky fell on me,' he said.

'As a father, there is no greater pain in the world than knowing that you could not protect your child.' Okkhoy spent three months in a Dhaka hospital, but doctors were unable to do much to repair the severed organ. Abed reported the attack to police, but was shocked to discover it had already been covered and the police would not investigate. A man, who pretended to be Okkhoy's uncle, had told police that his nephew was attacked by two boys in a playground spat.

A judge also refused to help, but by sheer coincidence human rights lawyer, Alena Khan was in the courthouse and felt compelled to publicize the horrifying case.

As the founder of Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, she contacted a local television station and the story garnered so much publicity the high court was forced to ask authorities to launch an inquiry. Within days, the Rapid Action Battalion rounded up five suspects and charged them with attempted murder. 'The boy started arguing with us and I hit him on his head with a brick,' said one of the men in a televised confession.

'After I hit him on the head, he fell to the ground. Then (one of the men) said to cut off his penis, and I cut it off. After that, (someone else) cut his chest and belly. Then (a third person) held his head and slit his throat,' he said.


Philanthropy: U.S. businessman Aram Kovach, from Ohio, heard the story on CNN and decided to fund a trip for Okkoy and his family to travel to America for treatment

At the trial, according to prosecutors, it emerged that the gang maimed at least five other children to get money for begging. The gang kept the children confined for months in tight spaces or even in barrels and deprived them of food and then send them out to beg, according to one of the men who confessed. Okkhoy's father believes the attack was payback after he had a confrontation with one of the men at a tea stall. Authorities continue to look for four others who they claim are part of the same 'beggar mafia' gang.

To ensure Okkhoy and his family stay safe, they were placed in a battalion compound, but his father remained concerned about his son's ability to father children.


Publicised: The practice was portrayed in the 2008 movie Slumdog Millionaire, in which a child in Mumbai, India, is intentionally blinded so he could bring in more money

But then U.S. businessman Aram Kovach, from Ohio, heard the story on CNN and decided to fund a trip for Okkhoy and his family to travel to America for treatment. John Gearhart, the director of pediatric urology at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Maryland decided to waive his fee and help Okhkoy.

Although the surgeons were initially concerned they would not be able to reconstruct Okkhoy's genitalia, they found it was less-damaged than originally thought on the operating table.
They were to move the urethra - the tube used for urination - to the tip of Okkhoy's penis, so he would no longer have to urinate through a tiny hole the doctors in Bangladesh had created.
And his father's concerns about having grandchildren was abated after Redett's team used skin from Okkhoy's thigh for the shaft of the penis and tissue from his inner cheek lining to create the tip.

The success of the operation means that Okkhoy will be able to have sensation and the organ will continue to grow as Okkhoy gets older. Now Okkhoy's ambition for the future is to become a doctor and help other people who have been inured.

A CNN Freedom Project documentary, ‘Operation Hope’ can be seen on CNN International

Bangladeshi national feared dead returns home after 23 years, "the last 15 of which were in a Pakistani jail."

• Family were stunned to see their relative return to the village in Bangladesh
• He was was helped by the Red Cross after they discovered he had been in captivity

By KERRY MCQUEENEY
DAILYMAIL
August 1, 2012

Finally home: Moslemuddin Sarkar
has made it back to his home village
in Bangladesh after 23 years

A man who was given up for dead has returned to his home village in Bangladesh after 23 years - the last 15 of which were spent in Pakistani prison.

Family members who long believed they would never see him again were stunned when Moslemuddin Sarkar returned home for the first time since 1989.

Sarkar was helped home by the International Committee of the Red Cross after he was imprisoned in Pakistan for 15 years.

Hundreds of well-wishers lined the streets of Bishnurampur village, in Bangladesh's northern Mymensingh district, to catch a glimpse of him and congratulate his tearful and jubilant family.

In a telephone interview, Sarkar said he had entered India without valid documents in 1989 without informing his family.

He was then caught as he tried to cross into Pakistan in 1997 where he was jailed for trying to enter the country illegally.

Speaking in a combination of Urdu and Bangali, he added: 'I went to Pakistan believing that I would get a better job there. But they caught me at the border. I was beaten and tortured in prison.

'I wrote dozens of letters to my village address, but did not have any clue that they were never posted. At one stage I lost all hope of returning home.'

He added that he was 'delighted' to see that his mother is still alive...

Emotional reunion: Mr Sarkar, 52, who has been missing since 1989, is hugged by his brother Sekandar Ali (right)

(click here to continue reading the full article at DAILYMAIL)

Dhaka's Cholera Wars, Factory of Miracles

Cholera is a silent killer in Bangladesh but one hospital is helping to give hope to millions

a film by: Orlando de Guzman and Andrew Marshall

AlJazeera, July 27, 2011

"The city of Dhaka is surrounded by water, but it is so polluted that very little of it is drinkable. That, plus the very poor sanitation across the city, means that the people of the Bangladeshi capital not only have to scramble daily for clean water supplies but are also regularly in danger of the silent killer that is cholera. In Dhaka's Cholera Wars filmmakers Orlando de Guzman and Andrew Marshall visit the hospital that is bringing hope to the millions vulnerable to cholera in Bangladesh and elsewhere. Here they write about the experience."

Watch video:

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/witness/2011/07/201171974227416827.html