Bot Opinion

Bot Opinion

At 50, Bangladesh is a land of opportunities and promise

I am delighted to be returning to Bangladesh in its Golden Jubilee year, and I look forward to celebrating the tremendous achievements of the past half century with friends old and new.

3y ago

Proposed revisions in the EU-GSP scheme: Implications for Bangladesh

As is known, the current provisions of the EU’s Generalised System of preferences (EU-GSP) scheme are being revised at present in anticipation of the new scheme to be put in place as of January 1, 2024.

3y ago

What does it say about our society when a child bride sets herself on fire?

Upon reading the news headline for the incident I am about to discuss, I only felt a momentary, dull pain in my gut or thereabouts. Because while it is a shocking incident that would rob you of hope, the elements of the story are all too familiar to us all.

3y ago

Can the Great Powers avoid war?

As tensions over the Taiwan Strait mount, everyone needs to think about whether war is inevitable. Ukrainian revolutionary Leon Trotsky once said: “You may not be interested in war, but war is interested in you.” And if we slip into war by what World War I historian Barbara Tuchman called the March of Folly, can the Great Powers step back from mutual nuclear annihilation?

3y ago

Reinvigorate efforts to end TB

The year 2020 marked a watershed in global efforts to end tuberculosis (TB) by 2030. First, it was because, by 2020, the TB-affected countries aimed to achieve the first set of “End TB” milestones: a 35 percent reduction in TB deaths, a 20 percent

3y ago

Lost home, abandoned nation: Fighting for a Bangladesh for all

I have been feeling unwell since October 13. After the mayhem in Cumilla, I knew it wouldn’t be the last. With a broken heart, my father-in-law and I, along with my son, decided to continue with our tradition of puja visits and mandap-hopping, yet we were all deeply disturbed, witnessing the carnage unravelling with a helpless rage.

3y ago

National Road Safety Day / A plea for safer travels

Today, on October 22, we celebrate National Road Safety Day. But why? Not why we care about safety—the devastating toll of accidents makes it clear why it is important—but why call it Road Safety Day? If we are using roads to travel from place to place, and we want to be able to do so safely, why not call it Safe Travels Day?

3y ago

Climate anxiety and the rights of future generations

I was around 10 when I first heard about the idea of, as it was then known, global warming and how Bangladesh will one day go underwater as sea levels rise.

3y ago

Harnessing marine renewable energy in Bangladesh

Because of their continuous renewability and inexhaustibility, ocean energies are known as marine renewable energy (MRE). However, all ocean-based renewable energy resources are not considered MRE.

3y ago

How do I hate myself? Let me count the ways

The holiday lethargy has caused me self-loathing. Let me count some of the factors as to why I am beginning to hate myself.

3y ago

Is Bangladesh running out of gas resources?

Bangladesh had its first gas field discovery in Sylhet in 1955. Since then, a total of 27 commercial gas fields have been found in the country with a cumulative original recoverable gas reserve of 28 trillion cubic feet (Tcf), according to Petrobangla official estimates.

3y ago

Why does the story always begin with Palestinians throwing stones?

You have perhaps been witness to a cycle of violence that begins with one-sided bullying and coercion (action) and continues until the victim is forced to respond (reaction). And then the “fighting” begins. But then the victim is blamed for countering the continuing onslaught.

3y ago

Changing mask-wearing norms is no easy task, but it is possible

Deadly Covid-19 surges are painful reminders that we cannot let our guard down. If the virus travels into rural South Asia with the same vengeance with which it hit Indian cities,

3y ago

Refugee crisis, green energy, and climate responsibility

In the second half of 2017, the government did something unprecedented in response to an unprecedented situation—it sheltered about 750,000 Rohingyas fleeing from a “textbook example of ethnic cleansing” by the Myanmar army.

3y ago

What we need to know about artificial intelligence and privacy rights

Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel Klara and the Sun, his first since receiving the award in literature in 2017, has some relevance for policymakers and ordinary citizens across the globe.

3y ago

Je suis Palestinian

Governments in the Western world were galvanised by the “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) slogan after the shooting at the office of the ill-famous sleazy French magazine in Paris in 2015 by Muslim extremists, which ended in twelve of its staff members being killed.

3y ago

Our health sector is ‘sick’ because of government apathy

In a report published on May 1, this newspaper revealed that according to a recent study, the Covid-19 treatment cost is abnormally higher in private hospitals compared to public hospitals.

3y ago

Brazen Violations, Bizarre Charges

It was quite a sight. Viewers of television channels and readers of the dailies that carried the images of incarcerated journalist Rozina Islam were baffled at the scale of security measures taken by the state.

3y ago