I SPENT the summer of 1965 arguing about the Vietnam War. I was 13, and my interlocutor was my 18-year-old camp counsellor in Vermont. She was headed for UC Berkeley in the fall, where she would, as she later described it, 鈥榤ajor in history and minor in rioting.鈥� Meanwhile, I was headed back to junior high school. I was already convinced that our government was...
A SECURE green future is not a slogan. It is a road map for any country that wants prosperity to last. As societies digitise everything from banking and energy to healthcare and education, two questions must be asked together, not separately. Does this system protect people鈥檚 data and livelihoods? And, does it minimise harm to the environment? If the answer to either...
BENEATH Bangladesh鈥檚 paddy fields, village homesteads and fish ponds, a quiet digital revolution is reshaping rural life. Real-time agricultural technology is providing timely insights into crop health, soil fertility and localised weather patterns. In a country where nearly half the workforce still depends on agriculture, these tools are changing the way farmers grow food and sustain their livelihoods...
THE year 2024 marked one of the most dramatic political shifts in Bangladesh鈥檚 recent history. The fall of Sheikh Hasina鈥檚 long-serving government, after more than a decade in power, was greeted with optimism among citizens, civil society, and particularly journalists who had long struggled under restrictive media laws. The Digital Security Act (2018), later repackaged...
THE deplorable condition of Banani Lake, as a front-page photograph that 抖阴精品 published on August 20 shows, is reflective of the sorry state of the water bodies in and around the capital. Moss and accumulated waste have turned the water of the lake black, emitting a foul odour and making it a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes. The state of other water bodies...
THE Bangladesh Expatriates鈥� Rights Council鈥檚 demand for the recognition of the contribution of the expatriates to the 2024 July uprising, which toppled the authoritarian regime of the Awami League for a decade and a half on August 5, 2024, and their political inclusion in the July national charter 2025 merits justification. The council, a platform of expatriate Bangladeshis...
AT THIS decisive moment in Bangladesh鈥檚 strategic course, a new vector has been set 鈥� one not drawn on land, but charted across the sea. In a nationally televised address, chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus signalled a maritime turn of historic magnitude. His proposition 鈥� that Bangladesh will 鈥榤ake the world our neighbour鈥� by turning decisively towards the sea...
WHEN most European countries and Volodymyr Zelensky were praying together with American neocons for the collapse of Vladimir Putin鈥檚 Alaska summit with Donald Trump, India was vocal in hoping for its success. The Indian idea was laudable, only the argument was a tad self-regarding. If the talks ended on a positive note, assorted Indian analysts reasoned, the...
CHILDHOOD, from birth to eighteen, is the single most formative period in human life. It is during these years that the foundations of physical, cognitive, social, emotional, motor and linguistic development are laid. Research suggests that up to 90 per cent of brain development, along with socio-emotional and linguistic skills, occurs before the age of three. These...
THE plunder of stones in Sylhet is now replicated at the Rangpani tourist spot in Jaintapur and the River Lobha in Kanaighat, where politically influential quarters are blamed for lifting boulders under the cover of expired auction permits. People allege that large stones are hauled away unhindered while sporadic drives are under way. The allegations come even as a major...
THE government鈥檚 going ahead with a new law on road safety whilst the Road Transport Act 2018 is in force has created the scope for doubt, especially regarding its enforcement. The Road Transport Act 2018, made on September 19 that year, after a countrywide road safety movement in July 2018 was set into force on November 1, 2019. But the road transport minister...
THE Trump administration is currently attempting to rewrite American history by whitewashing the country鈥檚 negative legacy and scrubbing out references to anything connected to multiculturalism or diversity...
THE American dollar, long the primary vehicle of global finance, now faces a quiet but consequential retreat. This decline is neither sudden nor absolute; it signals a deeper shift than a mere cyclical correction. It reflects a geo-politiconomic erosion 鈥� a simultaneous weakening of US geopolitical dominance and economic centrality...
AS BANGLADESH moves deeper into the digital age, the internet has become both a playground and a battleground for the country鈥檚 young users. A recent study by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University found that 59 per cent of rural children aged 11 to 17 who access the internet had faced cyber harassment or digital abuse 鈥� ranging from online...
ABOUT a month ago, a military training aircraft crashed onto Milestone School in Dhaka, killing 30 people, including many children, in a fiery explosion. When I saw the news, I fell into silence. But strangely, I noticed something: I didn鈥檛 feel the same deep shock I once would have. A few years ago, such a tragedy would have devastated me 鈥� I鈥檇 have spent the day in...