I have been working to protect the rights of women workers for 25 years, and whether I speak to domestic workers, election workers, farmers, or activists, their experience of sexual harassment and violence has been a common thread. The other…
Author: Lutfun Nahar
Workers change the world
The president of the GUE/NGL group in the European Parliament reflects on her retirement at the forthcoming elections and on the battles to come. On May 1st we celebrate the achievements of workers throughout the world and renew our commitment…
A message for May Day
Mayday, mayday: the leader of the European trade union movement warns of the threat from the populists in the coming EP elections. May Day is workers’ day—and for trade unionists that means celebrating the solidarity we manifest towards each other…
BD businesses FBCCI wants tax-free income up at Tk 350000
Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries (FBCCI) on Tuesday proposed raising the tax-free income tax celling for individual taxpayers to Tk 3.5 lakh from existing Tk 2.5 lakh considering the increased living…
Private floating terminal pumps 500 mmcfd LNG to BD grid
Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – Summit Group’s LNG terminal started operation on Monday night, said its officials on Tuesday. The Floating Storage and Regasification Unit (FSRU) which is known as LNG terminal arrived in the country on April 21 and…
Bangladesh PM Hasina flies to London on official visit
Dhaka, May 1 (UNB) – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left here for London on Wednesday on an official visit to the United Kingdom (UK). A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the prime minister and her entourage departed Hazrat…
Massacre of the innocents: Whereto from here?
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka, Apr 30 2019 (IPS) – We have been here before. This blooded precipice is familiar, this looming abyss. What is unfamiliar, what renders the Easter Sunday massacre most vile and truly nightmarish is the total absence of any…
Renewables to become the norm for the Caribbean
KINGSTON, Apr 29 2019 (IPS) – Jamaica and other Small Island Developing States (SIDS) are embracing renewable energy as part of their plans to become decarbonised in the coming decades. The Prime Minister of Jamaica, Andrew Holness, has committed the island…
Historic May Day Wednesday
Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – The historic May Day will be observed in the country as elsewhere across the globe on Wednesday with a pledge to establish the rights of workers. May Day, also known as the International Workers’ Solidarity…
UNDP launches waste clean-up campaign in Teknaf
Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – In response to Rohingya influx, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on Tuesday launched a month-long waste clean-up campaign in nine wards of the Teknaf Municipality to clean up and recover wastes. During the inaugural session…
‘Bomb hurled on cops different from normal cocktail’
Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – The improvised bomb that exploded in Gulistan on Monday was different from normal crude bombs, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) chief Asaduzzaman Mia said Tuesday. “The Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) and DMP’s bomb disposal…
Actor ATM Shamsuzzaman on life support
Dhaka, Apr 28 (UNB) – Veteran actor ATM Shamsuzzaman, who underwent a gallbladder surgery at Asgar Ali Hospital in the city on April 27, has been put on life support at the hospital. The Ekushey Padak-winning actor was put on…
Fakhrul’s seat declared vacant as he fails to take oath
Dhaka, Apr 30 (UNB) – The Bogura-6 constituency from where BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir was elected in the December-30 general election, fell vacant as he failed to take oath within the stipulated time. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin…
‘Cyber security capacity increases markedly in Bangladesh’
DHAKA, April 30, 2019 (BSS)-International and local cyber security experts today said that the cyber security capacity of Bangladesh has considerably increased due to take various pragmatic actions to address the fast growing cyber-attacks and threats. But, more efforts have…
Is endgame inevitable for Ganges river dolphin in the Barak
The proposed Tipaimukh dam on the Barak river in northeast India – a controversial political issue between India and Bangladesh – could be the last nail in the coffin for the elusive Ganges river dolphin in Assam’s Barak river system, researchers warn. They assert that…
Refugees threatened, attacked in Sri Lanka: HRW
(New York) – The Sri Lankan government should take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of South Asian refugees and asylum seekers from violence. Since the April 21, 2019 Easter Sunday bombings by alleged Islamist militants on churches and hotels that…
Output gap nonsense
Adam Tooze explains how a false exactitude in economics has led to a terrible politics in the EU. Economic ideas, when linked to measurement and policy-making, have power. Knowledge informs decisions and helps to justify policy in public. In the…
How to tax a multinational
For too long, multinational corporations—and digital firms in particular—have used existing rules to avoid paying taxes in countries where they do much of their business. For some time now, multinational companies (MNCs) have been gaming the rules of the global…
Multilateralism key to ensuring cyber security: Dhaka at UN
Dhaka, April 29 (UNB) – Permanent Representative (PR) of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Masud Bin Momen has said multilateralism is the key to ensuring cyber security and no single government can manage its security on its own. “Our only…
Akihito begins abdication rituals as Japan marks end of era
Tokyo, Apr 30 (AP/UNB) — Emperor Akihito began his abdication rituals at a Shinto shrine Tuesday morning as Japan embraces the end of his reign with reminiscence and hope for a new era. Television images showed Akihito in a traditional…
Mozambique cyclone victims Forced to trade sex for food: HRW
The Mozambique authorities should urgently investigate and appropriately prosecute alleged sexual exploitation of Cyclone Idai victims by local officials, Human Rights Watch said today. Hunger and destruction caused by the cyclone have left hundreds of thousands of women vulnerable to abuse. Victims, residents, and…
Desertification, drought: Land conservation a risky business
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 29 2019 (IPS) – In light of land degradation and climate change, the protection of the environment is crucial—but the protection of the very people working tirelessly and with much risk to preserve nature should be just as…
Terror and religion
STOCKHOLM / ROME, Apr 29 2019 (IPS) – Just before nine o´clock in the morning of April 21st, Christians in Sri Lanka were in their churches peacefully celebrating Easter Sunday, while tourists were waking up in their hotel rooms. Suddenly explosions…
US takes back signature on Arms Trade Treaty
UNITED NATIONS, Apr 29 2019 (IPS) – The United States dropped a political bombshell when President Donald Trump announced his administration would withdraw from the historic Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) which the former Obama administration signed in September 2013. “We are…
BD cellphone provider GP offers enhanced maritime com
Dhaka, Apr 28 (UNB)- The fishermen and commuters around the Bay of Bengal will be able to communicate with a wider range of mobile network as Grameenphone has recently improved its deep-sea network capacity. Grameenphone is providing this deep-sea network…
New study says universe expanding faster and is younger
Washington, Apr 29 (AP/UNB) — The universe is expanding faster than it used to, meaning it’s about a billion years younger than we thought, a new study by a Nobel Prize winner says. And that’s sending a shudder through the…
People now hostage to a party whim: BNP
Dhaka, Apr 29 (UNB) – Stating that the current parliament does not represent people, BNP on Monday alleged that the country is now held hostage to the whim of a particular party. “We would like to clearly say the current…
4 other MPs-elect of BNP take oath leaving Fakhrul alone
Dhaka, Apr 29 (UNB) – Following the footstep of Zahidur Rahman Zahid MP (Thakurgaon-3), BNP’s four other MPs-elect took oath as members of the 11th Parliament on Monday. Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury administered the swearing-in around 5:40pm at the…
Ramadan office timing from 9 am to 3:30 pm
Dhaka, Apr 29 (UNB) – The government has rearranged the office timing for the upcoming holy month of Ramadan from 9 am to 3:30 pm for all government, semi-government, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions. The decision was taken on Monday at…
BD President asks doctors to reduce consultation fees
Dhaka, Apr 29 (UNB) – President Abdul Hamid on Monday urged specialist physicians to serve patients more sincerely and take an initiative to reduce their consultation fees as these are beyond common people’s capacity. “You (doctors) are engaged in a…