The budget for 2009-2010 warrants scrutiny on the efficacy of the proposed measures in translating polls manifesto, revitalisation of economy, and expansion of productive capacity to generate wealth and reduce poverty, beyond the general discussion of size and delivery.

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The cyclone Aila hit the southern coastline of Bangladesh hard this May and the hardcore poor are the worst victims. The “infamous” Aila destroyed thousands of acres of crop fields and left areas waterlogged, causing deaths to thousands of livestock, damaging sources of drinking water and forcing an approximate 50,000 people homeless.

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 Issue No. 3 Year 5 November 2008

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Unnayan Onneshan has organized a two day conference on education in March 2008. The present Anthology of a total of 19 articles is a subsequent product of the conference. Topics of the anthology relate to colonial and post colonial political issues. It also aims to convert education into a discourse. Policy related issues are also selected to represent a critical analysis of the education policies from the point of proper implementation to meet desirable success.

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Food grain prices have increased to all time high both at national and international levels since early 2007, causing major social, political, and macroeconomic disruption in many poor economics including Bangladesh. The present study aims to investigate the reasons nationally and internationally- behind the increase in commodity prices, especially, the main food grains e.g. rice and wheat. It goes on further to assess impacts of high commodity prices on the poor producers, wage labourers and consumers in Bangladesh. For that matter, this paper also reviews the present food security position of Bangladesh.

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Pathshala is a regular publication of education section of Social Policy Unit, Unnayan Onneshan. Pathshala wants to enhance the existing analysis, discussion and critique on the discourse of neo-liberal education system, questions it and shows its limitation. This issue of Pathshala criticizes the neo-liberal project of reforming primary education of Bangladesh. It shows its limitations and its impact on our education system. It also suggests some policy reforms to achieve a more people oriented education system.
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The Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation Project (SBCP) was the largest project of its king undertaken by the government of Bangladesh aiming to establish a proper management system for conserving the biological diversity and securing the environmental and biological integrity of the Sundarbans. The US$ 77.3 million project was intended to take place between 1999 and 2006, but the implementing agency and co-funder, the Asian Development Bank suspended the project in September 2003 and cancelled it in January 2005, citing problems with project design, the implementation of some activities, and financial management. This study illustrates that the Asian Development Bank and the Global Environment Fund – the two main funding agencies failed to put in practice their own policies.
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This is an output of collaborative action research actively participated by stakeholders, researchers and experts from home and abroad. It explores the nature of Sundarban Reserve Forest, customary use of its biological resources and related traditional cultural practices followed by the traditional resource users which are compatible to conservation and sustainable utilization. During British Regime in 1878 the Sundarban was declared as Reserve Forest and placed it under full state control ousting the forest peoples. Nearly one and a half century had passed since declaration of Reserve Forest. The approach of exclusive state protection did not able to achieve the desired outcome- either in respect of biodiversity conservation or in respect of people’s livelihood security.
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This study provides an in-depth investigation into the overarching disparities existing in our primary education system through studying input-output linkages in different streams of primary education system and tries to develop clear pathway of linking different steams for a sustainable uniform quality education in Bangladesh. Its perspectives are built around questioning the intrinsic value of education and its outcome in different streams.

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This Issue of IFI Watch contains outcome of a study conducted in Bangladesh as well as other five aid recipient countries include Ghana, India, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia under a pilot project of the UK Department for International Development (DFID). The study was based on a survey to identify country’s key stakeholders’ views about the performance of multilateral organisations and their preferences for which organisations disburse promised additional aid in future. The six multilateral organisations that have been taken into account are: the Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, the Global Fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) and the World Bank.
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The present caretaker government has been decided to review the draft coal policy again, prepared in December 2007. The government wants to determine mining method according to the geological condition of respective coalmine. Open pit mining will lead to excess production of coal beyond country’s annual demand that will create pressure on the policy makers to give permission of export of coal. In the draft policy it has stated that if there is access production of high grade coking coal it can be exported in the form of coke- a solid material derived from coking coal. But minimum royalty rate has not been fixed in the draft policy. This issue of IFI Watch analyses the coal policy and offers some suggestion from people’s point of view.
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Unnayan Onneshan has organized a round table discussion on “The Role of IMF in Policy Making in Bangladesh” at CIRDAP auditorium on 20th October, 2007. Md. Iqbal Ahmed presented a paper on the issue. Ahmed showed the effect of IMF policies with empirical data and ended with questioning its role.
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The budget for the fiscal 2008-09 coincides with a heavy down pour in the day of announcement, with a simmering heat wave during its preparation. The budget, economic manifestation of political mandate, lands in by a non-political government, in the backdrop of a chaos created by feuding political parties. It times up with G8 leaders’ heads in the sand of poverty, hegemony and protest at seaside summit in Germany. The budget keeps up with the continuity of liberalisation, privatisation and deregulation of successive governments.
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