Nazmul Ahasan

As global concerns continue to rise with 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags being produced every year around the globe, a number of eco-friendly companies come up with a seemingly wonderful idea: biodegradable bags.

“Why don't you tell the truth?

The issues of growing income inequality and unequal distribution of wealth between the rich and the poor have lately gained traction across the west. Oxfam's yearly inequality report serves as the most damning indictment of this rise in disparity. Eighty-two percent of the entire global wealth created last year, the report estimates, went straight into the pockets of the richest one percent of the world's population. The poorest 50 percent, on the other hand, received zero percent of that wealth.

The student protests that swept the country weeks ago were not just about the quota system in public jobs. As a whole, they should be interpreted as a major symptom of a much more complex disease: soaring youth unemployment that can have serious implications for the country's future.

Less than a month after Bangladesh's cabinet approved the 'Digital Security Act 2018' in late January, Human Rights Watch, a top rights group, published a strong response in its website. Pointing out the vagueness of Section 31 of the draft act, which would criminalise posting of information that “disturbs or is about to disturb the law and order situation,” HRW said, “Almost any criticism of the government may lead to dissatisfaction and the possibility of

The Spectrum factory building collapsed on April 11, 2005. I remember, I was returning to Dhaka from Rajshahi. No one was prepared for a disaster of such a devastating magnitude. The army was called in immediately for the rescue operation. In the meantime, almost 73 people were killed, with a few hundred others injured.

The Cambridge Analytica scandal has put the issue of fake news into spotlight again. It has also renewed conversations as to how best prevent fake news peddlers from manipulating democracies.

When his mother asked him to collect fodder for their cattle, Yahin went to play with his friends, instead. The venue happened to be an embankment. While they were romping around, a part of the newly constructed dam was slightly damaged. Incensed, Odud Miah, a local political leader and the head of a committee in charge of building the dam, took it upon himself to teach them a lesson. He caught Yahin while the rest of the kids managed to flee.

In yet another “apprentice-style” dismissal, US President Donald Trump fired Secretary of State Rex Tillerson—his 20th dismissal as

Since I left home to pursue higher studies, I have been visiting my parents, in the village, two to three times a year.

By the time Muhammad Shahidullah was old enough to begin his secondary education, he already knew five languages. Besides his mother tongue of Bangla, he not only learnt Urdu, Persian and Arabic—perceived to be the languages of Muslims—but he also became proficient in Sanskrit, the primary liturgical language of Hinduism.

European leaders are not unfamiliar with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's gate-crashing. For example, he invited himself to

The recent fiasco at Dhaka University (DU), involving a tussle between Chhatra League (BCL) and the protesters against sexual assault, stems from a grossly wrong-headed and reckless administrative decision.

Last week, a video went viral on social media of a protest rally by a group of students at MH Samorita Medical College. They were protesting against the alleged fee hike by the college.

According to media reports, Tabith Awal remains as BNP's man in the Dhaka North mayoral polls, while Awami League is set to choose Atiqul Islam as its candidate.

Former US President Barack Obama has recently joined a growing chorus of critics of social media.

DEVASTATION IN THE WAKE OF FLOODS

In October 2016, one particularly astute professor (let's call her VC-aspirant A) received an intel “through reliable sources” that the government would soon appoint a pro-Vice Chancellor at Rajshahi University,

The year 1979 was probably the first time when the word “disappear” was used as an intransitive word. The New York Times Magazine wrote, “While Miss Iglesias 'was disappeared,' her family's writ of habeas corpus, filed on her behalf, was rejected by the courts.”

Contrary to popular belief, the idea of establishing Bangla Academy predates the language movement.