M Zahidul Haque AFTER a long break, universities world over are preparing to re-open their campuses for the students, teachers and other auxiliary staff. In some cases, halls/dormitories have also been unlocked for student’s entry. Universities in Bangladesh are also…
Category: Columns
Women’s Bodies, COVID-19 and Male Chauvinism
By Jan Lundius STOCKHOLM / ROME, Dec 11 2020 (IPS) – COVID-19 has in some nations been converted into a noxious, political issue. One of many worrying examples is the rhetoric of Brazil´s president.
We All Deserve Protection From Covid-19
By Adaora Okoli NEW ORLEANS, US, Dec 11 2020 (IPS) – When I contracted Ebola virus disease in August 2014 while working as a medical doctor in a well-known private hospital in Lagos, Nigeria, I was denied access to a…
Urgently Needed Deficit Financing No Excuse for Fiscal Abuse
By Jomo Kwame Sundaram and Anis Chowdhury KUALA LUMPUR and SYDNEY, Dec 8 2020 (IPS) – Fiscal and monetary measures needed to fight the economic downturn, largely due to COVID-19 policy responses, require more government accountability and discipline to minimise…
High price at harvest would sustain rice production
Prof. Dr. Md. Jafar Ullah Along the last three years, farmers have been getting agonized from serious deprivation of fair price as rice price in the market got down starting since August 2016. This drastic price decline discouraged many of…
Human society and the biosphere
by John Scales Avery Mass extinctions due to humans activities According to a recent United Nations report, more than a million species of plants and animals are currently threatened with extinction because of human activities. Rates of extinction today are…
China’s Path to Net Zero
By Erik Berglöf BEIJING – China is aiming to halt the rise in its carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. If it succeeds, the country will have gone, in less than 40 years, from…
Europe’s Green Opportunity
By Ann Mettler and Cyril Garcia BRUSSELS – The COVID-19 crisis has presented Europe with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to launch a new era of economic growth. If the private sector and governments across the European Union work together on bold,…
Corona helped learn new English words
M Zahidul Haque PERHAPS an ordinary villager in Bangladesh never knew or used to an English word ‘Lockdown’. Well, with the invasion of coronavirus the word ‘lockdown’ become popular among the people not only in Bangladesh but the world over.…
Does WFP Deserve the Nobel Peace Prize?
By Jan Lundius ”If I am not for myself, who will be for me? But if I am only for myself, who am I? And if not now, when? That which is hateful to you, do not do to your…
Millions of New Poor Are on the Way – Who Cares?
By Roberto Savio ROME, Nov 26 2020 (IPS) – The recent meeting of the G20 – scheduled to take place in Riyadh but held virtually due to the Coronavirus pandemic – has been an eloquent example of how the world…
Farmers will (again) feed the world
By Danielle Nierenberg NEW YORK, Nov 23 2020 (IPS) – Wealthier countries struggling to contain the widening COVID-19 pandemic amid protests over lockdowns and restrictions risk ignoring an even greater danger out there – a looming global food emergency.
Barrelling towards the ‘Brexit’ cliff edge
by Paul Mason on 23rd November 2020 The most frightening thing is not the UK government’s end-game strategy, Paul Mason writes. It’s that there isn’t one.
How Public Development Banks Can Help Nature
by Elizabeth Mrema, Carlos Manuel Rodriguez MONTREAL/WASHINGTON, DC – This week’s Finance in Common Summit will mark the first time that leaders of the world’s 450 public development banks (PDBs) come together to discuss how to reorient investments toward sustainable…
Europe and China Take the Climate Reins
by Laurence Tubiana PARIS – In the space of just a week during this year’s United Nations General Assembly, representatives of the world’s largest single market and the world’s second-largest economy each laid their climate cards on the table. One…
Trump Is Gone, But Trumpism Remains
By Roberto Savio ROME, Nov 11 2020 (IPS) – Now it is clear that Joe Biden is the new president of the United States. It is unlikely that Donald Trump’s legal manoeuvring will change the election results, as when a…
Is deal with Israel sans Palestine resolution justifiable?
By Askiah Adam Some fifty-three years ago, in 1967, in Khartoum, Sudan, the Arab League met. Then the League adopted the moral high ground “The Three No’s”: no peace with Israel; no recognition of Israel; and, no negotiation with Israel.…
How Did Trump Get this Far?
By Joaquín Roy MIAMI, Nov 10 2020 (IPS) – To believe that Biden’s triumph is the end of the drama that has unfolded since January 2016 is an example of a mirage with fatal consequences. Pretending that those more than…
The Problem Is Not Trump
By Joaquín Roy MIAMI, Nov 7 2020 (IPS) – The election tie, whatever the end result, that has been revealed is not a temporary phenomenon. The protagonist of Trump’s resistance is not the tenant of the White House of the…
Minimising Covid-19 Impact on Food System
M Zahidul Haque RECENTLY the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres announced a new plan to transform the world’s food systems. Emphasizing the importance of food system he said that the issue will be culminated in a major summit scheduled to…
Food Systems need to Mimic Nature
By Samira Sadeque UNITED NATIONS, Oct 16 2020 (IPS) – Despite the World Food Programme (WFP) being awarded the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize for its work in addressing global hunger, sustainable food systems expert Emile Frison believes a lot more…
Why We Need Trees to End Poverty – Landmark Report
By Alison Kentish NEW YORK, United States, Oct 15 2020 (IPS) – With extreme poverty (living on $1.90 a day) projected to rise for the first time in over 20 years, a new study has concluded that global poverty eradication…
Egg – Cheapest Source of Protein
M Zahidul Haque Every year the ‘World Egg Day’ is celebrated for creating awareness about the importance of egg and its great value in human nutrition. This year the day has been celebrated on Friday, October 9!
Moving Nature to the Heart of Decision-Making
By Ana María Hernández Salgar BOGOTA, Colombia, Sep 30 2020 (IPS) – This week, Heads of State and Government from 64 countries announced one of the strongest pledges yet to reverse the loss of biodiversity and nature’s contributions to people…
‘Populist’ Macroeconomic Policy
By Vladimir Popov and Jomo Kwame Sundaram BERLIN and KUALA LUMPUR, Sep 22 2020 (IPS) – ‘Ethno-populism’ has emerged and spread in recent decades in response to the mixed consequences of neoliberal globalization. It appropriates nationalist rhetoric for narrow ethnic,…
A Third World War – Many Feared — Has Been Avoided: UN Chief
By Antonio Guterres UNITED NATIONS, Sep 22 (IPS) – The ideals of the United Nations – peace, justice, equality and dignity — are beacons to a better world.
The Environmental Consequences of Political Repression
Henry Munangatire HARARE – Zimbabwe was once Africa’s rising star. Boasting robust human capital, considerable natural-resource wealth, and modern infrastructure, it was the continent’s leading producer of crops such as maize, wheat, and soybeans. Agricultural exports earned it the moniker…
Meat Is Mayhem
Inka Dewitz and Christine Chemnitz BERLIN – The industrial meat system is out of control. Not only does it contribute to the destruction of the climate, biodiversity, soil, and forests, but it also poses a direct threat to human health.…
The Neglected Water and Sanitation Crisis
Kevin Rudd SUNSHINE COAST – The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the importance of access to clean water, sanitation, and hygiene. As we all know now, hand washing is one of the best frontline defenses against the virus. Yet three…
Factors leading to vulnerability of women during disasters
Factors that Determine the Vulnerability of Women during Natural Disasters in Bangladesh Iffat Ara Jasmin Climate change is a non-traditional security issue that has global implications around the world. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presented scientific findings in…