IN OTHER WORDS
What the story of Kaavan tells us
Amid the sad, the sordid and the sensational, let us look at some other news. On November 30, Kaavan, dubbed the “loneliest elephant” arrived from Islamabad to Cambodia to start a new life.
Efficacy of the home-made mask
The recent back-and-forth debate over the use of face masks to prevent the spread of covid-19 has settled. In the beginning, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that there was no need for people who are well to wear face masks.
The moral rot that threatens Bangladesh
No two countries that share borders are more different from each other than Mexico and the United States. The contrast between the quality of life in these two countries could not be starker.
The value of writing letters in a digital society
Social media, texting and emailing have revolutionised the way we communicate. These technologies have enabled us to be more efficient and stay in touch more easily. But they have also altered the dynamics of some of our most important relationships.
The changing nature of work
Most of us have serious reasons to worry about the future of work. The development of automation powered by robotics and Artificial Intelligence has enabled higher productivity, increased efficiency, safety, and convenience. At the same time, these technologies pose difficult questions about the larger impact of automation on jobs and wages. But perhaps we need to pay attention to another aspect of work: how we look at work is changing as well.
How volunteering can help the youth
Each year, more than one billion people are engaged in volunteering worldwide. Their actions have economic, private and social values. You may wonder how helping others has economic value when no monetary transaction is involved.
Time to speak up for Palestine
On March 20, 2019, the UN Human Rights Council held an interactive dialogue with Michael Lynk, the UN Special Rapporteur on the
Christchurch: Why this is not an isolated terrorist attack
In the aftermath of the deadly attacks in New Zealand that caused global shock, it is important to explore the broader questions about the ideology behind these acts of terrorism.
University without a campus
Since July 1, private universities of the country have been in the spotlight and mostly for wrong reasons. In the cacophony of arguments for and against them, an important fact seems to have been lost. A lot of them do not have a campus.
KASHMIR IN GRIEF
The turbulence following the July 8 killing of Burhan Wani by Indian security forces is a blow to peace in the long-troubled region claimed by both India and Pakistan, where an insurgency movement peaked in the 1990s, then dwindled, but never completely melted away. Can deep loss, once it finds utterance, be silenced through the barrel of a gun?
Making character palatable again
It is baffling that physical courage is so common in the world and moral courage so rare. It is hard to find people whose manner is infused with kindness, humility and integrity, in other words, character. The issue is relevant because it is timeless.
Thought Control
“Patriotism” and “national unity” trumped truth. The line between propaganda and journalism was forgotten.
Love in the time of war
There are two kinds of virtues, the resume virtues and the eulogy virtues. The former are the skills that one brings to a job interview.
Private money, public good
Countries with a successful PPP programme have built it on a solid framework. The Government of Bangladesh passed the PPP law last year. Before that, in 2011, it formed the Bangladesh Infrastructure Finance Fund Limited (BIFFL), a government-owned non-banking financial institution with a mandate to invest in large infrastructure projects, including power and energy, ports, connectivity, tourism and economic zones.
Revenge of the Bugs
Antibiotic resistance is the new bacterial normal. About a hundred years ago with the discovery of penicillin, the antibiotic revolution commenced the era of modern medicine.
The Other News
It's nice to catch glimpses of human sublimity slipping through the cracks of hate and bloodshed. This is not to suggest that news of death and killings and accidents and wars are not important, but only to remind oneself that the news is selective and often parochial.
Unity over Division
The calm, unyielding yet racially and religiously inclusive campaign of Sadiq Khan has come to symbolise all that is most impressive about London: its diversity.
Seesaw inequality
The most commonmisconception about economic inequality is based on the pie fallacy: that the rich always get rich by taking money
