A few years ago, I collaborated with a friend to write about the double standards young girls face in Bangladesh.

The two-day summit of the exclusive but informal club of G20 comprising of the big industrial and developing countries, held between July 7-8, ended with the issuance of a Communiqué, a ritualistic outcome of such events.

I have associations with Bangladeshi writers and publishers who have published a number of my essays, poems and translations. The Nepal Academy's attempts are good but my experience says they have established more ceremonial than serious contacts so far with academies in the region.

Everyone hates a free press.” That was the best quote from a legendary journalist whom I admired. He was incarcerated for many years, labelled as a communist or worse, but he never wavered in his belief that a free press is the bedrock of any democracy.

In the era (2000-2015) of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Bangladesh had achieved outstanding success in both poverty eradication and human development.

The authorities' total denial of IS presence will not help. Whatever the reason behind the refusal—political or tactical—it is undermining gravity of the problem. The denial coupled with the complacency may again create ground for re-emergence of extremism.

On the anniversary of the audacious terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery, Bangladeshis may ask two questions: “Are we safer today than we were a year before?” and “Where do we go from here?”

Our challenges to make peace the overwhelming reality on a global level are immense. However, we should be able to see the opportunities within those challenges.

What to do when millions of people, not able to grow or buy sufficient food, become chronically undernourished? What to do when millions of people put on so much weight that they become obese?

Dhaka is the most populated city in the country. It is also one of the most populated cities in the world with a density of 23,234 people per square kilometre within a total area of 300 square kilometres.

The prime minister is a woman. The main leader of the opposition is a woman. The speaker in the Parliament – the citadel of democracy – is also a woman.

In a world dominated by self-proclaimed specialists and intellectuals, the potency of judgemental verdicts, private attitudes and predisposed notions tend to outweigh the strength of facts, statistics and empirical knowledge.

Picture a schoolyard, students standing in a circle around a girl or boy, being mocked for his or her clothes and possibly being shoved

There are obvious and big differences between the socio-economic and political conditions of Bangladesh and the US and the extent of their Right to Information (RTI) experiences.

As a child, I had an oddly funny nickname - “Buchi”. Somehow my nose, a tiny part of my face, ended up determining my whole

Bangladesh's stunning victory over New Zealand, coming back from an almost impossible position, was the most magnificent batting performance I have ever seen and the greatest fightback in one day cricket ever.

This isn't a book. It's not even a chapter. It's definitely not a survival guide. I don't know what this will be till I am done writing it. For now, it maybe a refugee's paean to her lost home.

The Spelling Bee is a cherished American institution. For those unfamiliar enough to wonder what kind of bee would that be, it's a nationwide spelling contest, where tens of millions of kids from all over the US compete. The cut-off age for contestants is the 8th grade.

Teaching history has always been tricky. I have been examining how history is taught in architecture programmes in Bangladeshi

Sitting in an Afghani restaurant called Bamiyan Kabob in Toronto, I was chit-chatting with a couple of my teammates at the end of a