Geneva, 13 Apr (D. Ravi Kanth) – Attempts to finalize a non-binding outcome on investment facilitation at the meeting of G20 officials of the Trade and Investment Working Group (TIWG) in Berlin suffered a major setback after the United States…
Category: Op-Ed
Qawmi degree recognition BD govt’s timely decision
Masum Billah The government of a country means the guardian of all sections of people of that country. Hence, it is to take some decisions to satisfy the needs of all sections which may not please some sections. Still government…
How do progressives fight back against populism?
by Vivien Schmidt In recent years, the European Union has suffered through a cascading set of crises, including the Eurozone crisis, the refugee crisis, the security crisis, and Brexit. But rather than bringing the EU together, with concerted responses that…
Pope speaks of humanity’s shame
Thousands of people, including nuns, families with toddlers, and young tourists, endured exceptionally tight antiterrorism checks to pray at the Good Friday procession at the Colosseum, where Pope Francis expressed shame over humanity’s failings. Francis, wearing a plain white coat,…
Why Pakistanis are happier than Indians
The World Happiness Report, released by the United Nations on March 20, 2017 – to coincide with International Happiness day – has ranked India at the bottom of the pyramid, in terms of happiness of its citizens. India has been…
Pahela Baishakh celebrated amid traditional festivities
Dhaka, Apr 14 – Pahela Baishakh, the first day of Bangla calendar year, has started being celebrated on Friday amid traditional festivities and enthusiasm across the country . Different socio-cultural organisations and institutions have chalked out various programmes to mark…
Economic recovery crucial to sustainable development
More than eight years after the global financial crisis exploded in late 2008, economic growth remains generally tepid, while ostensible recovery measures appear to have exacerbated income and other inequalities. Yet, despite the G-20 group of the world’s largest economies…
Combined admission test for Universities!
There is no admission test for classes from I to class XI across the country. General people and their wards thus get a great relief from the rubbish burden. They had to attend coaching centres and memorise many things from…
Job opportunities through enabling environment
GOVERNMENT is constantly working towards ensuring that employment opportunities are made available through an “enabling environment”. This was highlighted by the Attorney-General and Minister for Economy, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum, at the 2017/2018 National Budget consultations for schools at the Vunimono Community…
Malala Yousafzai becomes UN’s youngest messenger of peace
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Apr 10 (IPS) – Pakistani education activist Malala Yousafzai has become the youngest UN Messenger of Peace with a special focus on girls’ education. During a designation ceremony, UN Secretary-General António Guterres selected and honoured Yousafzai…
India’s longest guest
Nava Thakuria Unfazed by China’s relentless opposition, Tibetan spiritual leader, his Holinessthe 14th Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, finally set foot on the soil of Arunachal Pradesh last week. The Nobel peace laureate, who was in Guwahati on April 1 where…
4 strategies for leveraging the next global disruption
by Shane Cragun & Kate Sweetman We suggest the only constant going forward is change. We’re talking massive, disruptive, and tumultuous change. It is beginning to look like radical change will be THE absolute going forward in the 21st century.
HRW asks Indonesia to release 2 gay men facing torture
Indonesian authorities should immediately and unconditionally release two men detained in Aceh province under a local ordinance that criminalizes homosexuality, Human Rights Watch said today. On the night of March 28, 2017, unidentified vigilantes forcibly entered a home and brought…
44 killed in Egypt Coptic Churches blasts
At least 44 people were killed in Egypt in bomb attacks at the cathedral of the Coptic Pope and another church on Palm Sunday, prompting anger and fear among Christians and leading to troop deployments and the declaration of a…
The Statue of Liberty was originally a Muslim woman
By Erin Blakemore The United States has debated immigration since the country’s founding, and the Statue of Liberty—a potent symbol for immigrants—is often invoked as an argument for why we should usher in those who seek safety and opportunity with…
Money migrants send home impact one-in-7 people
Perugia, 8 April – While migration issues draw political fire in Europe and beyond, the greater development benefit of the approximate half trillion US dollars that migrants send home each year to poor families and nations can’t be underestimated, according…
Strengthening Kenya’s resilience to disaster
By Miriam Gathigah Nairobi, Apr 7 (IPS) – Kenya’s lack of capacity to cope with wide-scale disaster has seen thousands of households continue to live precarious lives, especially in light of erratic and drastically changing weather patterns. If millions are…
Homosexuals fleering Chechnya
A Russian LGBT activist group says it has received more than 10 appeals for help from homosexuals in Chechnya seeking to flee the southern Russian republic, where local authorities are accused of targeting homosexuals in an “unprecedented” campaign of persecution.…
Bangladesh improves in Human Development Index
Bangladesh has gained three spots on the Global Human Development Index (HDI) 2015 ranking, placing 139th out of 188 countries, according to the Human Development Report (HDR) 2016. HDR 2016 was officially launched at the Planning Commission in Dhaka on…
Venezuela’s crumbling façade of democracy
On March 29, the Venezuelan Supreme Court effectively shut down Congress, the only key government institution that remained independent of executive control, making the incredible announcement that it would assume all legislative powers itself or choose some other institution to…
Trump campaign harvested 30 million facebook users’ data
In 2014, traces of an unusual survey, connected to Facebook, began appearing on internet message boards. The boards were frequented by remote freelance workers who bid on “human intelligence tasks” in an online marketplace, called Mechanical Turk, controlled by Amazon.…
US Congress Finds New Route to Attack Planned Parenthood
Yesterday, President Donald Trump said that, “Only by enlisting the full potential of women in our society will we be truly able to … make America great again.” Today, he sent Vice President Mike Pence to the Senate to help…
Democratic Debate Should Trump Presidential Ego
President Donald Trump’s latest Twitter rant about the New York Times’ coverage of his presidency saw him muse that it might be time to “change libel laws.” The implicit threat here may well be an empty one. But that doesn’t…
China: Major Tibetan Buddhist Institution Faces Further Demolitions
Chinese authorities should halt the expulsion and political re-education of monks and nuns from a major Tibetan religious institution, Human Rights Watch said today. According to a statement by an abbot of the institution, Chinese officials announced on March 12,…
a2i, BRAC to jointly coordinate vocational training
Dhaka 29 March – Access to Information (a2i) Programme of Prime Minister’s Office and BRAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at SSF briefing room of Prime Minister’s Office on Wednesday. The aim of the MoU is to coordinate technical…
US ready to sell your Internet browsing history
The Republican-controlled US House of Representatives on Tuesday repealed privacy rules that would have required internet service providers such as Comcast and Time Warner Cable to get consumers’ consent before selling or sharing their web browsing data with advertisers and…
Damaging Myths on Domestic Violence Alive and Well in the UK
What does the typical victim of domestic violence look like? Anyone with an ounce of common sense knows those abused by their partners come from all walks of life – just like their attackers. But this seems to have escaped…
What You Should Know About the Chocolate You’re Eating
Few things are better than biting into a good piece of chocolate. But melting into dark chocolate autopilot may be hiding a darker side of this sweet treat. Take a bite. Then take a minute to think. Have you ever…
Older Syrian Refugee Dies Waiting for Family Reunification
Fatima, 62 years old, fled persecution and the destruction of her city of Aleppo, Syria, with the dream of reuniting with her daughter and grandchildren in Germany. She survived the treacherous journey to Greece, but border restrictions in the Western…
Trump and Mussolini: 11 Key Lessons from Historical Fascism
I’d like to draw some comparisons and contrasts between our present situation and that of fascist Italy between 1922 and 1945. I choose fascist Italy rather than Nazi Germany because it has always seemed to me a better comparison. Nazi…