Bot Opinion
At 50, Bangladesh is a land of opportunities and promise
I am delighted to be returning to Bangladesh in its Golden Jubilee year, and I look forward to celebrating the tremendous achievements of the past half century with friends old and new.
Proposed revisions in the EU-GSP scheme: Implications for Bangladesh
As is known, the current provisions of the EU’s Generalised System of preferences (EU-GSP) scheme are being revised at present in anticipation of the new scheme to be put in place as of January 1, 2024.
What does it say about our society when a child bride sets herself on fire?
Upon reading the news headline for the incident I am about to discuss, I only felt a momentary, dull pain in my gut or thereabouts. Because while it is a shocking incident that would rob you of hope, the elements of the story are all too familiar to us all.
Can the Great Powers avoid war?
As tensions over the Taiwan Strait mount, everyone needs to think about whether war is inevitable. Ukrainian revolutionary Leon Trotsky once said: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” And if we slip into war by what World War I historian Barbara Tuchman called the March of Folly, can the Great Powers step back from mutual nuclear annihilation?
Reinvigorate efforts to end TB
The year 2020 marked a watershed in global efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. First, it was because, by 2020, the TB-affected countries aimed to achieve the first set of “End TB” milestones: a 35 percent reduction in TB deaths, a 20 percent
Lost home, abandoned nation: Fighting for a Bangladesh for all
I have been feeling unwell since October 13. After the mayhem in Cumilla, I knew it wouldn’t be the last. With a broken heart, my father-in-law and I, along with my son, decided to continue with our tradition of puja visits and mandap-hopping, yet we were all deeply disturbed, witnessing the carnage unravelling with a helpless rage.
National Road Safety Day / A plea for safer travels
Today, on October 22, we celebrate National Road Safety Day. But why? Not why we care about safety—the devastating toll of accidents makes it clear why it is important—but why call it Road Safety Day? If we are using roads to travel from place to place, and we want to be able to do so safely, why not call it Safe Travels Day?
Climate anxiety and the rights of future generations
I was around 10 when I first heard about the idea of, as it was then known, global warming and how Bangladesh will one day go underwater as sea levels rise.
Girls Deserve a Better Normal
The Covid-19 pandemic has been hard for everyone, but it has been especially so on children.
Bridging the digital divide empowers girls, if we get it right
When Vithika Yadav returned to India in 2008 after living in the United States, she saw that many young people—especially girls—didn’t have a space to openly talk about the difficult issues they faced. Gender-based violence, child marriage, and other harmful social practices remain commonplace, and are hardly ever discussed.
Let’s not be the fox without a tail
You must have heard of the story of a fox who accidentally lost his tail to a trap, and later decreed that all foxes must lose their tails too.
Four urgent steps to put students on track for successful learning
We commend the government decision to finally reopen schools on September 12, after a long closure of a year and a half. The proposal for a unified school curriculum and learning assessment reforms, approved in principle by the prime minister, is also praiseworthy.
Whither opposition unity in India?
About a fortnight ago, when senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid asserted that his party was still in the “best position” to clinch 120-130 seats in the next Lok Sabha elections in 2024, and assume the leadership of a prospective anti-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposition coalition, he set the cat among the pigeons.
As climate change worsens, riparian management holds the key to our survival
Frequent cyclones, flooding, riverbank erosion, salinity intrusion, and increased waterlogging are among the typical climate-induced adversities affecting Bangladesh.
Learning recovery is a long battle but we must keep at it
Education, if looked beyond its conventional boundaries, forms the very essence of all our actions.
The vaccine apartheid must end
Vaccine costs have pushed many developing countries to the end of the Covid-19 inoculation queue, with most low-income nations not even lining up. What’s worse, less vaccinated poor nations cannot afford fiscal efforts to provide relief or stimulate recovery—let alone achieve Agenda 2030.
Learning to value people, not cars
Imagine if aliens came to Earth. If they landed in just about any major city, they would be forgiven for believing that people are simply batteries for automobiles, and that automobiles are the true life form, with everything designed around their needs for housing, fuel, and socialising with other automobiles on congested streets.
Delivering climate finance is the key to COP26 success
This week, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres held a high-level meeting on climate change in New York,
