By Ashis Biswas In recent weeks, the value of Bangladeshi Taka (tk) has been declining sharply, as the US dollar has emerged as the strongest currency in the aftermath of the Ukraine war. According to reports from Dhaka this morning, the Bangladeshi tk further declined by 40 paise vis-à-vis the US $. Early market reports […]
The post Bangladesh Feeling Impact Of Ukraine War On Its Exchange Rate first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas Nothing has engaged the capabilities of police forces in India (West Bengal) and Bangladesh in recent times more the arrest of international fugitive Prashanta Kumar Halder, charged with the embezzlement of billions of rupees through a scam that makes the homegrown Sarada ponzy scheme look puny! A Bangladeshi citizen Halder (also known […]
The post Arrest Of A Big Bangladeshi Financial Scamstar In Bengal Creates A Row first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas In some Indian states, the two major regional parties the Trinamool Congress and Aam Aadmi Party, sworn as they are to battle against the ruling BJP — find themselves unavoidably drawn into a bitter struggle to upstage each other in their quest to achieve organizational growth. Both Ms Mamata Banerjee (TMC) and […]
The post Competition Between AAP And TMC Warms Up In East, North East States first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas For the Delhi-based Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), winning a seat in the 2022 Guwahati Municipal elections was not exactly a major victory, but it certainly helped in consolidating its position as the undisputed front runner among regional parties in India, currently ahead of the Trinamool Congress (TMC). The political significance of the […]
The post AAP Winning A Seat In Guwahati Municipal Poll Is A Jolt To Trinamool Congress first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas Once more, the Bangladesh Government finds itself embroiled in a tricky public debate with civil rights groups — this time over a touchy matter involving the quantum of food supply to the stranded 1.1 million strong Rohingya population. The bone of contention: whether the Rohingyas produce too many children because some of […]
The post New Births Of Children In Rohingya Camps Rage Controversy In Bangladesh first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: For West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, her party’s by-election win announced last Saturday in the Asansol (Lok Sabha) and Ballygunge (Assembly) seats was the best news in some time. Of late the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) had been facing some truly torrid times over repeated administrative failures in maintaining law […]
The post Saturday’s Bypoll Wins Bring Some Relief To Beleaguered Trinamool Congress first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas In the fight for the pole position among regional outfits, the Aam Admi Party (AAP) led by Mr Arvind Kejriwal has opened up a sizable lead over early front runner Trinamool Congress (TMC). What’s worse for TMC chief Mamata Banerjee, present trends do not favour her party. The energetic Chief Minister of […]
The post Trinamool Congress Worried At AAP’s Expansion Plans In Bengal And North East first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas Major opposition parties including the Congress and the Left, have responded negatively to Trinamool Congress Chief Mamata Banerjee’s call to put up a broad anti-BJP alliance. State Congress and CPI(M) leaders strongly question the TMC’s true intent and especially the timing of its latest appeal, seeking a stronger opposition consolidation against the […]
The post In Bengal, Opposition Parties Take Negative Stance On Mamata’s Unity Call first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas In Bangladesh, political circles are still puzzling over an apparent display of Russian prickliness over a minor spat, even as bombs rain down in Ukraine! The Russians recently registered a strong protest against what they saw as a pro-West anti-Moscow narrative in the Bangladeshi media in their coverage of the war in […]
The post Russia Upset Over Bangladeshi Press Coverage Of Ukraine War first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas It is their shared colonial past that brings together the three major South Asian countries — India, Pakistan and Bangladesh — into adopting a neutral, hands-off approach on the current war raging in Ukraine. Ignoring bitter local disputes and a notoriously conflicted relationship affecting all three countries at times, three disparate ruling […]
The post View From Dhaka: Is South Asia Defying Western Bloc On Ukraine? first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas Bangladesh will not halt the construction of the Russia-aided $12 billion Ruppur nuclear power plant regardless of recent anti-Moscow Western sanctions announced in the wake of the ongoing war in Ukraine. The long awaited unit, considered an absolutely essential project in Bangladesh’s plans to address its chronic power shortage, has been under […]
The post Bangladesh Defies U.S. Pressure, Russian-Aided Nuclear Plant Work On first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas In South Asia, size continues to matter, even for countries- never mind diplomacy. Bangladesh has been impacted by the ongoing war in Ukraine, along with India, but the Western response could not have been more contrasting. The US/EU-led bloc of countries have hit out at Bangladesh viciously, while they still assess their […]
The post Russia’s Ukraine War Impacts Bangladesh’s Trade And Development Programmes first appeared on IPA Newspack.
By Ashis Biswas In West Bengal, the first immediate impact of the recent Assembly polls in five states has been a noticeable change in the familiar rhetoric used by major parties. The eventual outcome of the polls has also affected the internal functioning of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and the […]
The post Assembly Polls Outcome Gives A Big Boost To BJP In Bengal first appeared on IPA Newspack.
NATHU LA NEW OUTPOST OF COMMERCE
By Ashis Biswas
While investors and business circles grumble over the tardy pace of growth in Indo-China bilateral trade through the Nathu La Himalayan outpost, Beijing is apparently not too keen to launch any export promotion initiative just yet. In the context of India’s large trade deficit vis-à-vis China, the reverse trend at Nathu La, where China imports far more from India than it exports, strikes most observers as an oddity.
In statistical terms, the volume of trade has increased considerably. In 2006, when movement between the two countries was resumed linking Sherathang, Nathu La in Sikkim with Rinqinjing, once part of the Tibet autonomous area(TAR)which is currently Southwest China, there was a trade turnover of Rs 20 lakh only !And there was nil import from China that year.
However, by Jan 2015,
ENERGY-HUNGRY BANGLADESH SAW DECADES-LONG WAIT
By Ashis Biswas
KOLKATA: Diplomacy may have won the day for Russia more than financial/technological reasons, in bagging the order to build two nuclear power generating stations in Bangladesh by 2022-23.
This would enable Bangladesh to become the third country in South Asia to generate nuke power, after India and Pakistan. However, Sri Lanka could join the list soon according to present indications.
A proposal to build nuclear power plants in East Pakistan had been put forward as early as 1961 and approved in 1963, according to open source information. Therefore, neither Awami League (AL) leader Sheikh Hasina, nor Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leader Khaleda Zia, can be rightfully accused of harbouring illusions of grandeur in going nuclear. Bangladesh has pledged to observe non-proliferati
MAMATA WOOING CONGRESS AGAIN
By Ashis Biswas
For the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bengal, the theme song could well be akla chalo re: Ironically, as the weakest opposition party in West Bengal, the BJP alone is not contemplating any alliance, with only a few months left before the 2016 Assembly polls.
Among other parties, the usually derided, much weakened Congress has emerged as the prime choice as an alliance partner both for the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the CPI(M). Interestingly, the Left camp remains divided over the question of political alignments. For instance, the CPI a firm ally of the Congress during the seventies, has put its foot down to any linkage with it, as have smaller parties like the SUCI or the CPI(M-L). The CPI’s logic: it points to its own remarkable decline over the years, which it sees as a consequence of its earlier reliance on
RURAL DEVELOPMENT MAY CLINCH 2016 POLL FOR MAMATA
By Ashis Biswas
As the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) and opposition parties gear up for the next round of West Bengal Assembly elections, their campaign themes have been established.
The TMC is contesting on a ‘development’ slogan, while the twin pillars of the opposition’s campaign will be ‘lawlessness and economic stagnation’, broadly speaking.
At first sight, the TMC’s claim of having improved the state’s economy may look suspect, if not downright dubious, to most observers. However, initial impressions may be deceptive. After 54 months of its tenure, the ruling TMC has consolidated its position in rural Bengal. Especially in the highly populated South Bengal districts, which account for most of the 294 seats in the Assembly, the TMC is confident of doing better than its op
TRINAMOOL’S ROWDYISM CONTINUES AS IT IS By Ashis Biswas At long last, with only a few months left for the…
ARCHRIVALTRINAMOOL GETS CLOSER TOBJP NOW By Ashis Biswas With West Bengal Assembly polls now only months away, political alignments between…
MAMATA BANERJEE AT HELM OF GOONDA RAJ By Ashis Biswas In West Bengal, the law and order situation has hit…
By Ashis Biswas While prospects for improving Indo-Bangladesh relations have brightened following Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s discussion with his Bangladeshi counterpart Ms Hasina Wazed on pending issues, working out the Teesta river water sharing arrangement may take some time. A strong indication to this effect was available in a section of Bangladeshi media recently. In an interview to a Dhaka-based website, former Indian High […]
From Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: Under severe political pressure and feeling vulnerable, Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Mamata Banerjee has reacted characteristically, by going on the offensive against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). During the last few weeks, Ms Banerjee, as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, has been keeping away from the media. Her leadership and the role of her party, in the multi-crore Saradha chit […]
By Ashis Biswas KOLKATA: In the end, the outcome of the high level Trinamool Congress (TMC) meeting last month was disappointing. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is usually at her attacking best whenever she feels politically cornered. There was no better time like the present, if she wanted to take on her critics, who have been tearing into her over the multi-crore rupees Saradha chit […]
By Ashis Biswas Relations between India and Bangladesh are on the upswing if recent Dhaka-based media reports are any indication. The Government of India’s decisive intervention into the law and order situation in West Bengal, following the Burdwan blast on October 2, ignoring the state Government’s objections, has been welcomed among the ruling Awami League circles in Bangladesh. Significantly, Bangladesh authorities have been interacting […]
