Badiuzzaman Bay

Bad news: The law that will dictate your digital life for the foreseeable future is finally here.

Uri Avnery, the Israeli activist-journalist who famously played chess with the Palestinian leader Yassir Arafat, died in Tel Aviv on August 20, at the age of 94.

As we mark the end of one month since a unique children-driven movement caused by a traffic accident stopped a city of 18 million, an 18th-century quote by the English poet Alexander Pope hits home.

It is said that cruelty is a many-faced demon that can take any form to serve its purpose. This week, we have had a glimpse of the demon through nurses, people we usually trust our life with when we are at our most vulnerable.

It would appear from the relative calm on the streets and in universities that the student movement, which has catapulted an entire generation of teenagers into adulthood in just a matter of days, is over.

For all the talk about change, the history of modern-day Bangladesh is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks that politics is an instrument of change and democracy a deliverer of justice. Bangladesh flirts with the idea of change but seeks accommodation with the status quo.

As we cruised into the Kirtankhola River near Barisal, the sun had just begun to rise. A faint outline of a long line of trees and structures appeared on the horizon. It was a welcome sight after a night in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, sailing through mile after mile of unknown waters.

On July 28, 2016, The Daily Star reported the release of the International Telecommunication Union's ICT Development Index that showed that Bangladesh had the lowest Internet penetration in South Asia, with just 14.40 percent of the population having connectivity to Internet.

And so, the long-anticipated election that has brought together familiar foes for yet another battle of wits and wagers is finally over.

I was in Bandarban towards the end of this April. An extended holiday weekend had just begun, with fatigued tourists crossing hundreds of miles from around the country to reach this dreamy south-eastern district of Bangladesh.

The curse of growing up with literature is that you find something to romanticise about even in the saddest human experience.

That's the title of a book published in 2005, by an Indian writer who has dedicated her life to fighting for labour rights and women's

At this time, in this city, on this land along the shore of the Bay of Bengal, the angel of death works double time. There is always someone to kill, someone to trap or exploit, someone to drive crazy, someone expendable. How else will you explain the seismic waves of tragedies, misfortunes and betrayals that are breaking on our shores every day? How else will you justify your existence in a country so self-righteously preening itself over its moral credentials when, clearly, it is being dominated by thugs, rapists, and misanthropes?

A society's culture can be broadly defined as its “way of life”—beliefs and customs generally shared by the people of that particular

Writers are not usually the most beloved of creatures to those who know them. The reason, as Samaresh Majumdar once explained, has something to do with how they source material for their writings. He said he collected material from real-life events, social gatherings and personal anecdotes confided in him, and used that in his novels, sometimes to the chagrin of his sources.

In a country known for its supreme indifference to the plight of people like her—disabled, poor, and female—Nasima is a shining example of defiance although her battle remains as arduous as the day it had first begun.

Like many millennials who grew up reading Muhammed Zafar Iqbal's coming-of-age novels Hatkata Robin, Dipu Number Two, Amar Bondhu Rashed and his sci-fi books, I was once fascinated by every word that he wrote.

As the Rohingya crisis enters its seventh month, chances of it ending in a peaceful manner are quickly evaporating.

"Our examinations hardly test the students' creativity; these are geared more toward testing their memory. Take the MCQ system. It's a quick and snappy way to judge the proficiency of students in a particular topic," says Syed Manzoorul Islam.

If you're a Harry Potter fan, you must have heard the simple past tense version of this heading. Harry, “The Boy Who Lived,” survived the Dark Lord's wrath with the mysterious powers of magic. The Deathly Hallows. Elder Wand. Invisibility Cloak. Yes, his mother's love, too, but a wizardly one at that. As fascinating as that reads on paper, the world of magic and miracles is not for mere mortals.