A LOOK into the newspaper photo morgue, basically an array of directories sequentially numbered by date on the server in this digital era, where photojournalists 鈥� Md Sourav and Sony Ramani in the case of 抖阴精品 鈥� rest their day鈥檚 work, might weave a pattern of an event that broke out over days. This might also tell a story. The photographs of the student protests...
SEVENTY-THREE years ago, Ernest Hemingway published 鈥楾he Old Man and the Sea,鈥� a story of quiet defiance and enduring dignity. Santiago, the old fisherman, had not caught a fish in 84 days. His apprentice had left him. Yet, undeterred, he sailed deep into the Gulf Stream and fought a giant marlin for three days, using little more than his bare hands and worn tools...
IN A world of escalating trade tensions and transactional diplomacy, tariffs have re-emerged as pivotal instruments for recalibrating national economies. At their core, tariffs are not merely financial levers; they are strategic tools for what one might call economic homeostasis 鈥� a term borrowed from physiology, which refers to maintaining equilibrium across key...
THE much-expected shift in mainstream political culture is far from a reality although it has been a year since the fall of the Awami League regime. A Transparency International Bangladesh study that reviewed the performance of the interim government since August 8, 2024, when the government under review was installed, reports political violence, partisan control of state...
A NUMBER of challenges persist in economic recovery, especially in poverty reduction, employment generation and business environment despite some improvement in the macroeconomic sector in the past year. While it is understandable that the authoritarian and kleptocratic Awami League regime, toppled in a mass uprising in August 2024, left the economy in a shattered...
AS THE Zionist project devolves from apartheid and ethnic cleansing to the final solution of its decades-long genocide, we also commemorate 80 years since the August 6 and August 9 nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Let us consider what are the implications of remembering the nuclear genocide in this present moment of technogenocide in Gaza...
JULY of 2024 was a happening month, in national sphere, in the newsroom and in my personal life. It did begin as other months do, but, for me, three events happened 鈥� two, in fact, did and one did not. I did not anticipate the two that happened and I was eagerly looking forward to the one that did not happen. I stepped into the University of Dhaka in July 1989 and 34...
PUBLIC health system stands at a crossroads. For a country that has made significant strides in maternal and child health and lowered infectious disease burdens, a deep contradiction now threatens to jeopardise further progress: the paradox of low public financing coupled with low budget utilisation. In plain terms, not only is Bangladesh spending too little on health...
THE July uprising, a watershed moment in the nation鈥檚 history, will be remembered not only for its political ramifications but also for the powerful and defining role played by women, specifically mothers and daughters. Their collective action, a potent blend of seasoned wisdom and youthful idealism, became the uprising鈥檚 driving force, shaping its character...
THE heads of five commissions on tasked with making recommendations for reforms in labour rights, women鈥檚 affairs, public health, local government and the media, set up on November 18, 2024, on August 3 urged the chief adviser to the interim government to take steps for the implementation of the recommendations of the commission and secure commitment from the...
THE volume of non-performing loans has increased by Tk 745.7 billion in the January鈥揗arch quarter, taking the total to a record high of Tk 4,200 billion and the figure accounts for 24.13 per cent of the total outstanding loans, by far the highest in South Asia. Whilst this has happened, banks which have already identified more than 1,500 wilful defaulters, the borrowers...
PALESTINIANS and international humanitarian groups were among those who denounced Friday鈥檚 (August 1) highly orchestrated tour of a Gaza aid distribution center run by a US-backed group condemned for its role in Israeli forces鈥� massacres of desperate people seeking food and other lifesaving aid...
MYANMAR is a complex geopolitical milieu in the Indo-Pacific region that directly affects the connectivity between South and Southeast Asia. During colonial time, it was one geopolitical unit, but it is now practically divided. There is tension brewing at the midpoint between these two sub-systems. The internal insurgency and national integration problems of Myanmar...
WATER has long been a source of both hardship and nourishment in Bangladesh鈥檚 coastal deltas and riverine plains. With more than 700 rivers, this low-lying country has long relied on its plentiful water supplies for human use, agriculture and fishing. However, the same water systems that formerly supported development are currently under attack from institutional...
IN RECENT decades, Bangladesh has made significant progress in promoting gender equality in areas such as education, health and employment. However, when it comes to politics 鈥� the sphere that defines who makes decisions and sets the direction of public life 鈥� women remain vastly underrepresented. While the country has been led by women prime ministers...