IN A world increasingly driven by artificial intelligence, we find ourselves captivated by machines that emulate what we call 鈥榠ntelligence鈥�. But before we marvel at neural nets and language models, we must ask: whose intelligence are we referring to when we use the term? The rise of AI, paradoxically, urges us to reflect not just on technology, but on what...
BANGLADESH stands at a critical juncture in its development journey, where energy, equity and environment intersect in profound ways. As the country aspires to become a prosperous, climate-resilient nation by 2041, it faces the dual challenge of sustaining economic growth while responding to the escalating climate crisis. Central to this transition is the need to reform...
IN AN era increasingly shaped by technology, Bangladesh鈥檚 digital sphere has evolved beyond a means of communication into a critical arena where identity, livelihood and expression converge. Yet, for many women and girls, this space has become perilous. Online platforms, intended to connect, are now frequently weaponised for harassment, exploitation and abuse...
IN THE quiet town of my youth, life moved to a rhythm that felt almost sacred. We, the children, rode our bicycles with a joyful abandon, yet a silent understanding governed our movements: we dismounted when elders passed. It was a gesture so small, so ingrained, that it barely registered as a conscious act, yet it carried the unspoken weight of generations...
AT DAWN over Hakaluki Haor, the cry of Pallas鈥檚 fish eagles blends with the soft slap of paddles from early fishermen. Yet, beneath this tranquil surface lies the story of an ecosystem under siege and a nation grappling with the consequences of losing its natural flood buffers...
ISRAEL鈥橲 weaponization of starvation is how genocides always end. I covered the insidious effects of orchestrated starvation in the Guatemalan Highlands during the genocidal campaign of General Efra铆n R铆os Montt, the famine in southern Sudan that left a quarter of a million dead 鈥� I walked past the frail and skeletal corpses of families lining roadsides 鈥� and later...
URBAN traffic policing in Bangladesh, especially in megacities like Dhaka, operates within a complex and often dysfunctional institutional framework. Despite the presence of multiple agencies tasked with managing transport, enforcing traffic laws and overseeing infrastructure development, a persistent lack of coordination has severely limited the effectiveness...
IN TERMS of communicational and behavioural transparency, expressive organisations are clear and fair in their business dealings that they are vested with. On the contrary, bureaucratic organisations have been stigmatised as opaque and grey in managing their affairs. Even there was a time, 141鈥�87 BC, when bureaucrats were largely positioned into offices weighing...
FOR decades, the reformation of both school and higher education in Bangladesh has been a subject of discussion in policy circles, academia and civil society. Today, fresh calls are echoing for the immediate formation of a new education commission to address the deep-rooted challenges that continue to undermine our education system.聽 While several education...
COLLEGES and universities are caught in a moral and political dilemma. Students are encouraged, on the one hand, to engage in party-affiliated or factional campus politics. And, on the other hand, that very political involvement becomes a black mark when they apply for government jobs. Many of us advocate student politics on campus, yet the same political affiliations...
TRAFFIC management remains one of the most pressing urban governance issues in Bangladesh, particularly in rapidly expanding metropolitan areas such as Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna. The responsibility of ensuring road safety, maintaining order and enforcing traffic laws primarily lies with the traffic police. Despite their crucial role, traffic policing in Bangladesh...
SOME things we throw away too quickly 鈥� food scraps, used plastic bottles, election promises. Others, like the waste problem in our cities, we鈥檝e simply stopped seeing. Garbage piles have become part of the backdrop of urban life in Bangladesh. But here鈥檚 the truth we鈥檝e overlooked for too long: most of that trash isn鈥檛 useless. We just treat it that way...
OVER the past year, an unsettling pattern has emerged in the landscape of justice. Serious criminal charges, particularly murder, assault, extortion and sedition, are filed not solely in pursuit of justice but, increasingly, as instruments of coercion, retaliation and harassment. The right to legal recourse, a fundamental pillar of any democratic society, is now at the risk of...
THE Chinese embassy in Moscow recently published a list of 30 countries the United States has bombed since World War II 鈥� framing it as evidence of American aggression cloaked in the rhetoric of democracy and human rights. A full rebuttal to this sweeping indictment is beyond the scope and space of this article. Instead, this piece aims to offer an objective analysis...
HINDU women in Bangladesh still live in a kind of invisible prison, the walls of which are made of centuries-old religious family law. Their limited rights in matters related to marriage, divorce and inheritance are not only in conflict with the constitution but also with human rights...
