AT THE Singapore Changi Airport, I was waiting for my connecting flight to Brisbane, Australia. I entered one of the restaurants for a meal. As I waited for my order to be served, I looked around. My attention was grabbed by a service robot which was given the name Wendy. Wendy was moving around and collecting used dishes from the tables. As she did her work, she...
IN THE evolving situation, the severity of vector-borne diseases, especially mosquito-borne diseases such as dengue and chikungunya, is increasing day by day. The worst dengue situation happened in 2023. According to government estimates, the number of infected people was 321,179 and the number of dengue death was 1,705 that year. This year until August...
IN TODAY鈥橲 interconnected trade system, the smallest tremor in distant economies can send out disruptive waves through developing nations such as Bangladesh. As the country navigates the turbulent aftermath of the Covid pandemic, the combined impact of geopolitical tension, fractured supply chains and persistent inflationary pressures continues to...
THE death of three workers at an abandoned building in Netrakona is yet another reminder that the government needs to take urgent steps to protect labour rights in the informal sector. The deceased were involved in the demolition work of the Agricultural Development Corporation鈥檚 irrigation office. They died as the roof fell on them. As it has always been the case, the...
EARLY signs of an impending flood have been around the corner, with 35,000 people having already been stranded in three northern districts. Heavy rain and India鈥檚 opening of all gates of the Gazaldoba barrage are said to have worsened the situation, leaving areas freshly inundated. Official accounts say that about 25,000 families in 35 villages in Lalmonirhat stay marooned...
THE Israeli human rights organization B鈥橳selem released a comprehensive report on July 27 describing the Israeli war on Gaza as genocide...
THERE is something profoundly disquieting about a moral catastrophe unfolding under the glaring light of international attention鈥攐nly to be met with an American shrug and a diplomatic shrug-off. Israel鈥檚 unfolding plan to seize full military and administrative control of Gaza, paired with the dismaying acquiescence of the United States, ought to alarm every...
IN RECENT years, debates over electoral reform in Bangladesh have intensified, with many policymakers, academics and citizens arguing for a system that would represent the diversity of political opinions. One potential model comes from Japan鈥檚 house of representatives, which uses a combination of single-seat constituencies and proportional representation. Adopting...
THE emergence of artificial intelligence brings both promise and peril to the democratic process as Bangladesh prepares for its national and local elections. While artificial intelligence offers tools for efficiency, communication and data management, it also poses threats to electoral integrity, political stability and social trust. Without proactive measures, the...
TEACHERS of colleges and secondary schools under the monthly pay order scheme once again pushing for their demands for a salary increase and the introduction of a general transfer system highlights the delay in government response to a crisis that has persisted for far too long. The teachers on August 13 gave the government an ultimatum until September 13 to meet...
DELHI鈥橲 border ploys, which have been evident in the murder of Bangladeshis at the hand of India鈥檚 Border Security Force that have continued apace for years, appear to be taking an added dimension. Whilst a series of events of erecting barbed-wire and electric fences along the frontiers began with the direct involvement of Indian border guards in the final days of December...
鈥楢SSASSINATION,鈥� wrote George Bernard Shaw in The Shewing-Up of Blanco Posnet, 鈥榠s the extreme form of censorship鈥�. Such extremism visited Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif and his colleagues in Gaza City late on August 10. Resting in a tent located outside the main gate of Gaza City鈥檚 al-Shifa Hospital, he was killed alongside Al Jazeera correspondent...
IN CERTAIN corners of the Republic perhaps there are some curious institutions that pride themselves on their monastic devotion to austerity, where intellectual labour is performed not in cloistered stillness but in communal chambers reminiscent of well-behaved boarding houses, their perpetual murmur interrupted only by the occasional sigh of a scholar negotiating...
THIS article critically examines India鈥檚 expanding regional hegemony, characterised increasingly by domination rather than genuine partnership. Under diplomatic rhetoric, this posture undermines the core democratic values India professes to uphold, including pluralism and regional cooperation. Focusing on India鈥檚 sixteen-year dominance over Bangladesh, the article...
THE ecological loss at the Sadapathar stone quarry in Sylhet is a case of a complete enforcement failure of all authorities. The largest stone quarry at Bholaganj, a wide, shallow section of the River Dholai with white stones, has been one of Sylhet鈥檚 most visited tourist spot for decades. But it now stands ruined, marked with muck and pits and the characteristic white stones...