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Opinion


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Slogans on posters

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 — Md Sourav and Sony Ramani in the case of ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· — rest their day’s 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...

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The regime fell, but not the machine

SEVENTY-THREE years ago, Ernest Hemingway published ‘The Old Man and the Sea,’ 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...

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Who wins, who loses?

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 — a term borrowed from physiology, which refers to maintaining equilibrium across key...

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Hiroshima, Nagasaki and genocide

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...

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Living through uprising days – I

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 — 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...

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Less public financing, even lower use

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...

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Role of mothers and daughters

THE July uprising, a watershed moment in the nation’s 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’s driving force, shaping its character...

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A ‘blatantly theatrical display’

PALESTINIANS and international humanitarian groups were among those who denounced Friday’s (August 1) highly orchestrated tour of a Gaza aid distribution center run by a US-backed group condemned for its role in Israeli forces’ massacres of desperate people seeking food and other lifesaving aid...

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Response for sustainable peace and stability

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...

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Climate-threatened water systems

WATER has long been a source of both hardship and nourishment in Bangladesh’s 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...

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Women’s political representation

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 — the sphere that defines who makes decisions and sets the direction of public life — women remain vastly underrepresented. While the country has been led by women prime ministers...

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Building power for Palestine, a new world order

A COALITION of cross-regional states met in Bogotá, Colombia in mid-July to discuss measures to disrupt Israel’s genocide of Palestinians. The subsequent commitments by some of those governments to end all material support to Israel and to uphold international law is an important development not just to end the genocide, but to counter the relentless militarism...

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Accounting: casualty of capital market compliance

IN A world where capital flows increasingly shape the fortunes of developing economies, the importance of transparent and comparable financial statements cannot be overstated. International accounting standards, when properly applied, can help countries attract foreign investment, bolster financial credibility and unlock economic potential. But while the global...

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Cut in global funding in education

A SIGNIFICANT number of underprivileged children continue to suffer from what is now recognised as learning poverty — particularly in developing foundational literacy and numeracy skills — despite the government’s considerable annual investment in primary education through the Primary Education Development Programme and additional efforts by...

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When earth speaks in fire, flood

IN A world already fraying at the seams with endless wars, deepening divisions, and mounting anxieties, something far more ancient and ominous seems to be stirring — something that does not come draped in ideology or diplomacy. Nature, the most silent of all forces, seems to be shouting now. And her voice is one of flames, floods, quakes, and storms...