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.
Education is a powerful tool to protect our future
Climate change poses the biggest existential threat to humanity. As world leaders prepare to renew their pledge to combat the crisis amid increasingly frequent natural hazards and the raging pandemic, one measure that so far remains grossly under-tapped is the transformative role that education can play in mitigating climate change.
Why is the dream for fair wage and work safety still so distant?
What are the risks associated with workers’ protests in modern-day Bangladesh? When workers take to the streets, what sort of treatment should they expect to receive?
Let our rural women rise and claim their rights
Out of a population of over 160 million in Bangladesh, approximately 107 million people live in rural areas. Of them, at least 50 million are women and girls.
Better late than never, but act now
The world should now be more aware of the likely Covid-19 devastation unless urgently checked. Last week, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced a USD 8 billion plan to quickly vaccinate many more people to expedite the end of the pandemic.
All screen and no play?
We are all familiar with the sight by now: everyone in a family—adults, children, parents—sitting together, but each concentrating on their personal device, usually a smartphone or a tablet.
Can the regional be the national in Indian politics?
As India inches towards fresh general elections in 2024, there is a wind of change in the political landscape.
Reducing Middle East tensions can lessen sectarianism and open doors for women
Two separate developments involving improved relations between Sunni and Shia Muslims and women’s sporting rights demonstrate major shifts in how rivalry for the leadership of the Muslim world and competition to define Islam in the 21st century are playing out in a world where the Middle Eastern states can no longer depend on the United States coming to their defence.
Why Bangladesh should invest in artificial intelligence
In the 1970s, American sociologist and economic historian Immanuel Wallerstein (1930-2019) proposed an approach to view the global economic system as an interplay between three groups of countries: core, semi-periphery, and periphery countries.
Will the tea workers get the wages they deserve?
An unthinkable and deplorable situation has risen out of the rigid position taken by the Minimum Wage Board (MWB) that was formed to fix the minimum wage for the hapless tea workers of Bangladesh.
A Nobel boost for fearless and independent journalism
Maria Ressa of the Philippines and Dmitry Muratov of Russia have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their relentless struggle to protect freedom of expression.
