Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked the members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to make sure that common people do not fall victims to unnecessary torture and oppression during their duties. “You all must give attention to the fact…
Author: Lutfun Nahar
California beauty queen jailed for child porn
A former US beauty queen has admitted possessing child pornography and lewd acts with a child. Meghan Alt, 27, was sentenced to 300 days in jail and three years of probation after entering the pleas.
Indian SC asks BSF: Stop cattle smugging to Bangladesh
Paramilitary forces and the local administration in the districts bordering Bangladesh should be involved in preventing cattle smuggling, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday, directing the Centre to finalise the rules. A bench of Chief Justice J S Khehar and…
Indonesia: Journalists under assault – HRW
The Indonesian government should adopt measures to ensure that state security forces who physically attack journalists are suspended and appropriately prosecuted, Human Rights Watch said today. New data and case research shows a disturbing increase in assaults on journalists in…
Reject Trump’s anti-immiration funding:HRW
The United States Congress should reject President Donald Trump’s Fiscal Year 2017 supplemental funding request for a dramatic expansion of immigration detention and enforcement, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to congressional leaders. Congress will vote within the…
SHENG Monthly Commentary: The Sino-American Employment Challenge
Donald Trump’s rise to power in the United States involved more than a little China-bashing. Yet, with Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Trump’s Florida estate earlier this month, it seems that the status quo in the bilateral relationship –…
Global censorship of news reaches new level: CPJ
Despite the promise of new information technologies, governments, non-state actors, and corporations worldwide are ‘censoring vast amounts of information’ using complex and sophisticated tactics. The 2017 edition of Attacks on the Press, published on Tuesday by The Committee to Protect…
Underage marriage in special cases to create obstacles: NHRC
Voicing concern over the special provision in the Child Marriage Restraint Act that allows underage marriage in special cases, Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Kazi Reazul Hoque on Tuesday said it will create an obstacle to controlling…
All govts behave stepmotherly with judiciary: Justice Sinha
Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha on Tuesday lamented that the judiciary faces a ‘step-motherly’ behaviour during the tenures of all the successive governments. “The executive never wants the judiciary to function independently although it provides security to the administration, too.…
White House summons US Senate to briefing on N Korea
The entire US Senate will go to the White House on Wednesday to be briefed by senior administration officials about the brewing confrontation with North Korea. The unusual briefing underlines the urgency with which the Trump administration is treating the…
One would never guess 2017 is the year of ecology in Russia
Last Friday morning, Yuri Ivanov, a member and former director of Kola Environmental Center (KEC), arrived at his office and learned from the news that the Justice Ministry had listed KEC as a “foreign agent.” “It is not a big…
Migrant Domestic Workers With Children Deported
Lebanon’s General Security agency has detained and deported migrant domestic workers apparently for having children in Lebanon, Human Rights Watch said today. Authorities should stop deportations and release anyone detained for this reason. Denying residency renewals to long-term workers who…
Maoist rebels kill 24 Indian Paramilitary soldiers
Maoist rebels killed at least 25 Indian paramilitary soldiers and injured six others in their stronghold in central India on Monday in one of the worst attacks on the country’s security forces in recent years, police said. The rebels fired…
Prove Indian uranium water mixed with Haor water:PM
Throwing a challenge to BNP, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday asked the party to prove its claim that uranium-contaminated water coming from India got mixed with haor water in Sunamganj. “It’s just an unnecessary propaganda. What type of proof…
Call to global brands from Rana Plaza survivor
“Sometimes I just can’t sleep without pills. I keep remembering how many people died that day.” Shabana, her name changed to protect her privacy, survived three days buried in the rubble of Rana Plaza, an eight-story building with five garment…
Why France’s presidential contenders should embrace HR
With five days to go until the first round of the French presidential election, it is clear that human rights, along with major issues of foreign policy, are having great trouble carving out a place in the campaign. Ten days…
In a world of worst case scenarios
The tiny island-nation of Antigua and Barbuda has made an impassioned plea for support from the international community to deal with the devastating impacts of climate change. Urging “further action”, Environment Minister Molwyn Joseph said the Paris Climate Agreement must…
European shares surge on French election relief
In morning trading on Monday, the Paris CAC 40 index shot up 4.1 percent to 5,267 points, while Germany’s DAX 30 jumped to a new all-time high of 12,417 points before falling back to below that historic level. London’s FTSE…
Chevron announces sale of Bangladesh companies
Chevron Corporation CVX, +0.77% announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Chevron Global Ventures, Ltd., has entered into an agreement to sell the shares of its wholly-owned indirect subsidiaries operating in Bangladesh to Himalaya Energy Co. Ltd. Chevron Bangladesh operates Block 12…
4 years after Rana Plaza: Many victims’ families yet to get compensation
Even after the fours years, the families of many of the Rana Plaza victims who were killed during the tragedy are yet to get any compensation from the authorities concerned due to identification crisis. The families of some 150 people,…
Flood affected Haor families to to get 30 kilo rice Tk 500
The government will provide 30 kgs of rice and Tk 500 cash every month under a 100-day scheme to each affected family of disaster-hit haor areas, said Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya on Sunday. “The government…
The ugly side of getting rich
In one photograph, the German-born, Harvard-educated hedge fund manager Florian Homm, who made and lost a personal fortune of more than $800 million, poses in a German brothel that he once co-owned. In another, Imelda Marcos, the former first lady…
Save the Ganga – Sully the Ganga
On March 20, the Uttarakhand High Court declared the Ganga river as a “legal person”, creating many hopes, but also leading to many complex questions. What does the declaration mean? How could one now use this opportunity to empathise with…
Environmentalists slam power plant near Sundarban
Mumbai. More than 70 environmental groups have warned the construction of power plants near the Sundarbans in Bangladesh, a mangrove forest that is home to the Bengal tiger, would damage the environment and affect the livelihoods of millions. The coal-fired…
Deserving students should get stipend assistance: PM
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday emphasised the need for providing stipends and the money of education allowance to deserving students. “The government puts the highest importance on education as only education can free the nation from the curse of…
Maldivian student Raudha killed in a planned way – Mother
Mohammad Athif, father of Maldivian medical student Raudha Athif, on Sunday claimed that her daughter was killed in a planned way and the authorities concerned of the college and the physicians are trying to hush up the matter. “Raudha was…
Stocks end week flat
Both the share markets– Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange –have ended the week with a flat performance on Thursday. DSEX, the benchmark index of the premier bourse, shed over 33.43 points or 0.60 percent, finishing the last day…
NGOs launch relief for flood victims
BRAC will carry out month-long emergency relief activities to help the people in the haor (low-lying wetland) area hit by flashfloods, resulting from continuous rainfall for about three weeks now. Under the initiative worth Tk 15 crore, BRAC will support…
Early floods bring disaster to agriculturem in BD Northeast
The government will take steps for arranging alterative jobs for the recent flashflood victims in haor areas alongside providing them with food support. Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya came up with the announcement while exchanging views…
Brands must reveal where their clothes are made
More apparel and footwear companies should join 17 leading apparel brands that have aligned with an important new transparency pledge, a coalition of unions and human rights and labor rights advocates said in a joint report issued today. The pledge…