A FEW days ago, I tried to access DeepSeek on my mobile phone. I was taken to a verification page, which wanted to make sure I was a human, not a robot or a mindless automaton. This prompted some thoughts about AI, humanity, and their...
BENJAMIN Franklin once warned, 鈥楧on鈥檛 put off till tomorrow what you can do today.鈥� In Bangladesh, this wisdom is reversed, distorted and institutionalised within bureaucratic practice as a strategy for self-aggrandisement. Their unspoken motto seems...
THE staggering regularity in violence inflicted on women and girls suggests a crisis that is not only widespread but also systemic. At least 235 women and girls were subjected to violence in various forms, including rape, murder, trafficking and...
THE proposition that one in four people, which translates to about 39.8 million individuals, suffer multidimensional poverty, as the Multidimensional Poverty Index made public in Dhaka on July 31 shows, is worrying. The index that the General Economics...
OVER the past four decades, there have been at least three tectonic shifts in the geopolitics of the Middle East, often referred to as efforts at 鈥榗hanging the map鈥� of the Middle East.聽 In 1982, Israeli defense minister Ariel Sharon invaded Lebanon in order to destroy the threat of Yasir Arafat鈥檚 Palestine Liberation Organisation.聽 In 2003, the Bush administration created...
THE government of China has formally embarked on constructing what is projected to become the world鈥檚 largest hydropower dam on the Yarlung Zangbo river, known downstream as the Brahmaputra in India and Bangladesh. This mega-dam will comprise a cascade of five hydropower stations situated in Nyingchi, southeastern Tibet and will be capable of generating...
THE most heart-rending accident of a BAF training fighter jet鈥檚 crashing into a city school and catching fire has caused irrecoverable losses to the nation as it has so far left dead 35 learners who had a long way to bloom in life as better human beings than us. It is a disaster beyond enduring limit for the parents bereaved of their most loved ones in life. It is not to...
PLASTERS having flaked off the ceiling in several rooms of the Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall in the University of Dhaka has once again exposed the neglect of student safety. A large chunk of plaster came off the ceiling of a bathroom in an extension building of the hall early July 29. While no injuries were reported, resident students say that such incidents are far from...
A SOMEWHAT decline in cultural activities by institutions has been apparent, especially in outdoor rather than indoor programmes, in a year of the interim government as many organisations say that they go slow because of security reasons. A reported incoordination among government agencies and an absence of an appropriate environment, which mostly..
FOR decades, countless US officials have proclaimed that the bonds between the United States and Israel are unbreakable. Now, the ties that bind are laced with genocide. The two countries function as accomplices while methodical killing continues in Gaza, with both societies directly, and differently, making it all possible...
IN A sunlit classroom at Bangladesh Agricultural University, final-year students gather around a miniature canal model, tracing the path of water as it flows towards a simulated paddy field. It may seem like a simple academic exercise, but for these young engineers-in-training, it symbolises a quiet revolution. This is where Bangladesh鈥檚 future is being engineered...
BANGLADESH may be far from achieving equality and its social stratification is so stark that a university student, a rickshaw puller, a street vendor and a day labourer are put in the same bracket on one count. They largely skip meals. They are forced to skip meals, especially breakfast...
PROPORTIONAL representation is often praised for making electoral systems fairer. It can ensure more accurate vote-to-seat ratios, greater inclusion of small parties, better minority representation, and coalition-based governance that reflects diverse voices. However, it also comes with serious risks 鈥� policy gridlock, coalition instability, empowerment of extreme factions, and weakened accountability...
TWO-THIRDS of children with neurodevelopmental disabilities having no access to education points to the neglect and systemic barriers that the children continue to face. A survey report, made public on July 29, also finds that four-fifths of adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities remain excluded from employment opportunities. The study, conducted in July 2023鈥揓uly...
