ISSUES

ISSUES

Mamata’s counters move to share Teesta


West Bengal chief minister has taken up a counter move so as not to share the waters of river Teesta with Bangladesh. She may wax lyrical about her love for Bangladesh, but she ready for battle when it comes... More

Invisible tussle over India’s presidential polls

The schedule for India’s presidential polls has not been announced as yet, but an invisible tussle has already ensued between the ruling party and the opposition camp over the election. No one is revealing the candidates of their choice.... More

Separation of the judiciary and deft manipulations


Former Chief Justice Mustafa Kamal had drawn up the verdict of the Masdar Hossain versus the State, regarding separation of the judiciary. Justice Kamal passed away two and a half years ago, but about five years before he died... More

Couple’s abduction exposes risks along CPEC: Chinese media


The kidnapping of a young Chinese couple teaching Mandarin in Balochistan, the centre of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has set off alarm bells in the government, with the state-controlled media saying the abduction “highlights risks” of the project. The... More

Times of India survey brings out salient features of...


A survey conducted by the English and vernacular websites of the Times of India group on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s three years in office and his prospects in the next parliamentary elections in 2019, brings out some notable... More

Three years of ‘Big Bang’ politics


Narendra Modi has just completed three years as India's prime minister after he took the BJP-led NDA to power with a clear majority, the first time since 1984. Modi's three years have been marked by chest thumping triumphalism over 'surgical... More

Bangladesh economy: Projected growth not reflected in reality


When the new crop of rice enters the market in Bangladesh, price of food grain falls. At least that is how it has always been in the past. This boro season, however, prices have been escalating despite rice production... More

Chevron threatens to fire Bangladesh staff protesting asset sale


U.S. oil company Chevron has threatened to fire staff protesting against the planned sale of its assets in Bangladesh to Chinese investors, according to a letter seen by Reuters, in a row that could delay the estimated $2 billion... More

Indian RSS attempts to convert Nazrul!


Kazi Nazrul Islam, the national poet of Bangladesh, the pride of the Bengali nation, the revolutionary who stood up against the British colonialists, against religious hypocrisy, against class and caste discrimination, is now being used for all the wrong... More

National level prospects of Nepal’s opposition CPN (UML) hinge...


The Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist Leninist) led by former Prime Minister K.P.Sharma Oli, has come out with  flying colors in the first phase of the Nepalese local body elections held on May 14. Following the stunning performance,... More

Sheikh Hasina’s blunder: Bangladesh PM uses piety to mask...


Sheikh Hasina Wajed has inflicted many injuries on Bangladesh’s democracy. She has pursued a dogged vendetta against her main rival for the job of prime minister, Khaleda Zia, hounding her supporters and persecuting her party. She has picked on... More

Militant Buddhist extremism resurfaces in Lanka


After a lull following the election of the new Maithripala Sirisena-Ranil Wickremesinghe regime in 2015, the months of April and May this year has seen heightened attacks on mosques as well as inciting speeches against Muslims and attacks on... More

Heads roll and re-fixed in Lanka


In a move that has disgruntled some, and in the immediate aftermath of frantic eleventh hour overnight lobbying, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena on Monday, reshuffled his cabinet and appointed new ministers to nine key posts.  Some of the... More

India announces policy for strategic partnerships in defence


India on Saturday finalised a policy that would allow local private companies to work with foreign players to make high-tech defence equipment, in a boost to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's bid to cut reliance on imports. The policy, whose finer... More

‘Sub-conventional war’ threat makes India worry


A possible threat of ‘sub-conventional war’ has made India so worried that, in an unprecedented move, the country’s Chief of Air Staff, reportedly has written a personal letter to each officer of the Indian Air Force (IAF), asking them... More

Anti-Muslim militant Buddhism on the rise in Myanmar and...


Militant-political Buddhism is on the rise in Myanmar and Sri Lanka, both Buddhist-majority countries. It is exploiting the political vacuum existing in these countries due to weak governments, to build a strong political constituency with the aim of turning... More

Myanmar sees escalation of religious extremism


The spread of extreme Buddhist nationalism in Myanmar escalates by the day. Extreme nationalists are now preparing to protest against the country’s religious minister. Claiming that Myanmar’s government is failing to support Buddhism, they have begun a march to the... More

Bangladesh Islami Bank chair accuses his deputy of violating...


The chairman of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd yesterday alleged that the bank's vice-chairman violated his oath of office by spreading propaganda about the bank. Vice-Chairman Syed Ahsanul Alam, who is also an independent director of the bank, gave wrong information... More

Eight years after war, Lanka still struggles for reconciliation

On 18th May 2009 Sri Lanka’s protracted 30th year old war grinded to a bloody halt in Mulliwaikkal, a narrow strip of land between the Nandikadal lagoon and the Bay of Bengal in Mullaitivu district in North East Sri... More

Mamata’s China trip: Chinese consul hopeful


China has not given up on the proposed trip of West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, its consul-general in Calcutta Ma Jhanwu has said. Jhanwu told a media briefing on the OBOR conference in Beijing that Banerjee is keen on... More

India to deploy Rafale jets facing two-front war scenario...


The Indian Air Force (IAF) is to deploy its latest Rafale combat aircraft in Haryana and West Bengal after facing with a two-front war scenario against Pakistan and China. IAF thinks the plan to station the fighter jets in... More

COLUMN

F-16 manufacturing no big deal for India 

India's current dispensation is well versed in projecting defeat as victory and loss as gain. From demonetisation to Kashmir to Northeast to its relations with US, Modi's government has managed promotion of self-delusion to generate electoral capital in spite... More

A burning issue

On June 25, a day before Eid, an oil tanker carrying 40000 liters of fuel from Karachi to Lahore overturned when a tyre punctured attempting a sharp turn near Bahawalpur. Oblivious of the danger, hundreds of people from surrounding... More

Myanmar embraces responsible business

Myanmar’s economic performance is increasingly causing foreign investors to shy away from the country, while local businesses complain of government inertia. But the government insists that the country is on the verge of a major economic take off. “Myanmar is... More

Eid and the culture of the travelling classes

The local grocer asked me if I was going outside Dhaka for Eid. I replied that I was totally urban with no village home to visit and wish or means to pursue fun and shopping in Kolkata or Bangkok... More

Talent and sprit running wild

Precariously making the cut for the eighth and final spot on the ICC ODI rankings, Pakistan came into the 2017 ICC Champions Trophy tournament as rank underdogs. Routed by India in their very first match by a whopping 124... More

EDITOR'S CHOICE

By naming Salahuddin, is Trump mediating in Kashmir?

It was like an Eid gift from US president Donald Trump to Indian prime minister Narendra Modi. The Muslims of the sub-continent were celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr on the night of June 26, when the US administration,... More

Belt and Road helps Nepal diversify relations and expand trade ties

Despite a high amount of political pressure exerted by India, Nepal signed a Belt and Road initiative deal with China on May 12, three years after a preliminary agreement. It is believed that Nepal would... More

Dynamics of Afghan conflict

The United States has finally understood that it is not winning in Afghanistan and that it needs to forge a fresh strategy to attain its objectives. Its long-running objective has been to defeat the... More

Attack on Fakhrul sends ominous signal for politics

Having faced insulting comments and criticism from the ruling party, secretary general of the opposition BNP Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir had wanted to go and stand by the side of the suffering people of... More

MOST POPULAR

READER'S VIEW

Budget and the sales syndrome

When a store puts up a sign announcing ‘Sale! Sale! Sale! Grand Sale’, the ensuing rush is the manifestation of a self-deluding consumer society. Even if the shoppers realize that the prices have first... More

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