Not only is it Bangabandhu’s birthday – that political giant of a man, the taller of the tallest heroes, who triggered independence for Bangladesh back in 1971.
Category: Op-Ed
Are High-Ranking UN Jobs Political Birthright of Big Powers?
developing countries, comprising over two-thirds of the 193 UN member states, are complaining they are not being adequately represented in the higher echelons of the world body.
Everything one can imagine is real
For the generation riding on social media bubble, being on a high seems their ultimate goal with any consequences therefrom being of little consequence.
Extent of Violence Against Women During Pandemic Exposed
COVID-19 restrictions exposed women and girls to heightened abuse – revealing the conditions in which gender-based violence became the shadow pandemic.
Seven countries urge WTO DG to hold direct talks with Big Pharma
A group of seven countries – Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway, Turkey, Chile and Colombia has urged the WTO Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala to conduct discussions directly with vaccine developers and manufacturers.
Malawian Youth removes Unemployment Tears with Agribusiness
After getting tired of searching for employment for seven years, Feston Zale from Chileka area in Malawi decided to venture into agribusiness.
Blood for Oil
Thirty years ago, when the United States launched Operation Desert Storm against Iraq, I was a member of the Gulf Peace Team.
Down in Hell
The lack of oxygen and dust make it hard to breathe. I have no idea how deep this shaft goes – hundreds of feet? More? If there is a Hell this must be what it feels like.
Green Growth Falls Short sans Addressing Gender Inequality
if gender differences are not incorporated into climate change plans, women will be unable to access the co-benefits that arise from concerted climate action.
Protecting Indigenous Languages is Protecting Biodiversity
The extinction of one million species feels rather abstract. We do not know how to speak of the scale of such extinction, except as a mere number: one million!
A Guantanamo Bay Prisoner, Has a Message for President Biden
The US is currently paying $13.8 million a year just to keep me here, so he could save a lot of money by just letting me go home. I am just a taxi driver from Karachi, a victim of mistaken identity.
A memorable day with Syed Abul Moqsud
The day he died Syed Tipu sultan set off for New York. I recall it was great that we spend a day together on the 3rd of February. After 20 days it was all memory.
Money Laundering: Darker Side of World’s Financial System
That’s the insidiously darker side of the world’s financial system – with millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains finding safety in offshore banks.
The News Today, Oh Boy !
Really think, on how to avoid both reading and watching news for a happier, calmer, and wiser life.
Pupil receives 282,000-tk after assault by teacher
Corporal punishment has been kicked about and given another well-deserved beating. This time it was put on the rack, held up to ridicule, and tortured by the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka.
UN Environment Assembly Calls to Make Peace with Nature
Its time for the world to radically change our ways if we are to make peace with the planet and create the environmental conditions so that all of humanity can thrive
UN Blueprint Could Solve Earth’s Triple Climate Emergencies
Making Peace with Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies’ lays out the gravity of Earth’s triple environmental emergencies of climate, biodiversity loss and pollution but provides detailed solutions too.
Suu Kyi in Closed-Door Court sans Lawyer, Protests Continue
Myanmar’s top generals have begun the process to prevent Aung San Suu Kyi – the country’s popular civilian leader – from ever holding political power. Both she and President Win Myint were arraigned in a closed-door court session via video link Tuesday, Feb. 16.
Military coup in Myanmar
Claiming allegations of election fraud as a basis for a coup the military has detained top civilian leaders of the former government, including the State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi who was head of government and the President, Win Myint.
India Glacier Disaster: How much climate change responsible?
on February 7 the glacier-fed Rishi Ganga river started rising. Two hours later, swollen with rock debris and snowmelt, its waters rose 53 feet — the height equivalent of a five-storey building.
A Tribute to King Hussein
M ZAHIDUL HAQUE The people of Jordan on February 7 marked the 22 nd death anniversary of Late King Hussein who passed away due to cancer on February 7, 1999, at the age of only 63 years. King Hussein is…
Europe’s ESG Opportunity
By Olivia Grégoire and Bertrand Badré PARIS – Finance is evolving in a more sustainable direction, and just in time. Pension funds, insurance companies, and sovereign wealth funds have made multiple commitments on climate change, biodiversity, and economic inclusion. In…
Transition to Digital Economy Must Ensure Access to All
By Samira Sadeque It is crucial to ensure that any transition to a digital economy has mechanisms in place that are non-digital to avoid “double exclusion”, according to Shahrashoub Razavi, director of the social protection department at the International Labour…
China and Russia Throw Protective Arms Around Myanmar
By Thalif Deen UNITED NATIONS, Feb 4 2021 (IPS) – When million-dollar arms sales knock on the door, human rights violations and war crimes fly out of the window. As the United Nations grapples for a reaction to the military…
Myanmar Looks Back in Fear and Anger after Military Coup
Yangon, Myanmar, Feb 3 2021 (IPS) – As night fell on Tuesday, the second day of the military coup in Myanmar, two familiar scenes were being played out on opposite sides of the world.
Myanmar Coup’s ‘Message: Military won’t Tolerate Dissent’
by Nalisha Adams BONN, Germany, Feb 1 2021 (IPS) – Responding to reports this morning that Myanmar’s military has seized control of government in a coup on the eve of the country’s opening session of its new parliament, rights group…
A decade after junta’s end, Myanmar military back in control
Bangkok, Feb 2 (AP/UNB) — The man installed by army leaders as Myanmar’s president after Monday’s military coup is best known abroad for his role in the crackdown on 2007 pro-democracy protests and for his ties to still-powerful military leaders.
The landscape of contradictory impulses
Delhi may have been slowly forgetting its past but the Ridge, the green lungs of the sprawling megapolis remain living fossils in the history of its making.
Pandemic gives us opportunity to protect the world
‘No Going Back’ to that world because it was heading towards the end of human existence on this planet — as a result of global warming, the process of extreme concentration of wealth in a few hands, and invasion of artificial intelligence to make human beings redundant in the world.
Is the COVID-19 Vaccine a Potential Biological Weapon in Reverse?
Is the heavily-publicized Covid-19 vaccine in danger of being weaponized when over 159,000 Palestinians who have tested positive in Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) are being denied treatment during a deadly pandemic?