Yet there it is—an inescapable, undesirable truth. And it goes far beyond the silly jibes of how you didn't get your mother's buttery complexion or the delicate hints by the parlour assistant that a “fair polish” is in order to “brighten” your dark, dull skin.

A report titled “World Food Security and Nutrition Situation-2017”, brought out jointly by a number of UN organisations, estimates that some 25 million Bangladeshis, mostly women and children, suffer from malnutrition.

The recent succession of hurricanes in the Caribbean and floods in South Asia have taken the world over the tipping point in acknowledging that human induced climate change is not only real but is happening already.

This type of brainstorming is almost entirely absent in our bureaucracy. In most cases, you are a good officer as long as you can memorise the existing circulars and follow them to the T.

It is not always easy to travel back in time. For, we have a tendency to block the memories that generate emotional turbulence of some sort.

Urope's economic giant Germany is set to hold its federal election on September 24, 2017. All eyes are now focused on Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is seeking a fourth term. If elected, Merkel, the first woman ever to lead Germany, may match the records set by Konrad Adenauer (14 years) or Helmut Kohl (16 years).

I guess we have to come to accept that Aung San Suu Kyi is no longer a little girl with a little doll called the Nobel Peace Prize. She has matured into a seasoned and rhinocerine politician.

The reactions of some of our "very close" friends since the outbreak of the most recent Rohingya crisis have compelled me to ask myself as to where all our good friends have gone.

While he was still running to become President, Trump Tweeted that climate change was a Chinese hoax. Then after he was elected there was speculation that he might change his mind. This became especially acute when his daughter Ivanka held a high profile meeting with former Vice President Al Gore in which Trump also dropped in.

“Bangladesh is a disaster-prone country due to its geographical location. So, we've to live with the phenomenon with necessary plans to keep the extent of damages and loss of lives to a minimum during any disaster.”

Aung San Suu Kyi – what an impressive resume.

The principles of equity, justice and fairness are fundamental to understanding and addressing the challenges of global climate

Buddhism is a religion of peace; all religions are. Although we are born into a religion, many, mostly Westerners, influenced by the philosophical teachings of Siddhartha Gautama Buddha, have embraced Buddhism as a lifestyle; so powerful has been its all-inclusive ideology.

The situation on the Bangladesh-Myanmar border is extremely volatile. Thousands of refugees are streaming into Bangladesh following fresh crackdowns on Rohingyas led by the Myanmar army. Hundreds of Rohingyas have been killed so far.

The effect of the havoc that was wrought on this September day sixteen years ago still reverberates in most parts of the globe. The new world order that George Bush wanted to create, following the attack on a symbol of US might—a state of international politics where only the US writ would run, and no opposition to its power would be tolerated—had created disorder only.

“I'll miss you… may God be with you, etc.” Her response? A text with a single emoji, that of a crying face.

Donald Trump on August 21, 2017, by laying out America's path forward for Afghanistan and South Asia, has re-entered the new Great Game—reminiscent of the 19th century rivalry between Britain and Russia.

What we have today in the Rakhine State of Myanmar is a regime of ethnic cleansing. This latest round of pogrom of the Rohingyas is the result of the international community's abject lack of action.

The bottom line seems to be that we have already entered the era of the anthropocene, in which, human activities have cumulatively resulted in changing global weather patterns as well other global phenomenon such forest fires and sea level rise.

The expression “apartheid”, according to the Oxford Dictionary, means racial segregation, especially in South Africa. I am not sure if apartheid has, in real terms...