For decades now, Rohingya refugees have been crossing the border into Bangladesh as unrest worsened in their native Rakhine, Myanmar.

According to a 2018 report by Oxfam International, “Eighty-two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth.

The sky turns grey as soon as the bullock-cart reaches the village lane. Rain shatters nature's luminosity, ruining the journey of the three friends through the rough backwoods. The jagged pillar of lightning is hidden behind dense dark fluffs of cloud.

Baagh Nama

February is synonymous with a string of cultural events, but none perhaps as iconic as the Ekushey Boi Mela, a month-long commemoration of the 1952 Language movement that takes over Suhrawardy Udyan and Bangla Academy.

Below the waters of the Bay of Bengal, roams a fish unlike anything you have seen before. With its long, somewhat bizarre-looking, saw-like rostrum, the Sawfish is a reminder of a prehistoric time, dating back to the Late Cretaceous period. The Sawfish roamed our seas when real, live dinosaurs walked our earth.

On January 27, 1922, in the wake of Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement and the Khilafat movement, hundreds of thousands of peasants, artisans and traders from the entire North and North-West Bengal gathered at a place called Salanga, now located in Bangladesh's Sirajganj district.

Baagh Nama

QUOTABLE QUOTES FROM 2018

The dark clouds over my head got even darker as I got off the Hovakab. Even though this new part of our old capital city—named dhakaX without much thought—had recently been declared the area with most skyscrapers per square foot in the world, one is still able to see the sky when looking up.

The knights of the heroic king had come to the village. “Have no fear! We will liberate you from the forces of evil!” they cried, as they rode in with the dawn's light.

I've been working at the Capacity Building for 10 years. I'd like to say that nothing surprises me anymore but then again, I live in Bangladesh.

It was the hour of waking on Winter Solstice and yet a radiant sun was rising on the already bustling borough of Colony. From the first glimmer of sunlight on the shortest day of the year, the citizens of Colony would take the Choice, till the World were momentarily plunged under the cover of darkness. Once the sun rose on the new season, a new Commandant would be named.

22 events that defined 2018 and which have or will have far-reaching consequences for the country.

With the 2018 election at our doorstep, various kinds of polarisation and reconfiguration of political forces are taking place. Among them, the role of Islamists has drawn substantial attention. Islamists have not enjoyed as much prominence in previous elections as they have in 2018.

One of the biggest concerns this election is regarding observers, or more specifically, the number of observers participating. 25, 920 local observers have been cleared to monitor the polls, the lowest number of observers (barring the 2014 elections which saw even fewer numbers and was largely dismissed as a one-sided affair) going back to 1991.

In the end, the votes alone will count. Or so we hope. And in around 48 hours from now, we'll know. For all that it is played up as an act of civic duty, it does offer a delicious chance at subversion, voting.

The 11th parliamentary election has sparked some age-old questions which remain unanswered till today. It is said that vote is for change but what change are we talking about?

Contrary to popular belief, you can, indeed, vote without your National ID. What you do need to carry is your voter slip (which should have been sent to your permanent address) containing your name, the name of your polling station and your voter serial number. Not acceptable if you have it written down on the back of a receipt from Babul's Departmental Store.

The manifestoes of different political parties came one after another over the last three weeks, and to the dismay of women's rights activists, promises made ahead of the 11th general elections lack any determination to even try and establish a fair, equal society for women.