The first Secretary-General of the United Nations, Trygve Lie, remarked in 1948, “The United Nations may need to adjust to new realities and respond to unforeseen circumstances that the world is not aware of today—and thus it has to demonstrate its relevance to withstand the test of time.”

On May 9, 2020, the president of Bangladesh sanctioned the operation of virtual courts by the judiciary by passing the Adalot Kortrik Tothyo Projukti Byabohar Odhyadesh 2020 (roughly translated as the “Use of Information and Communications Technology in Court Ordinance 2020”).

In my professional career, I have taught in five universities in North America, have been awarded many national teaching and research awards but I’m yet to learn how Anisuzzaman sir used to control the class with his proverbial thick but calm voice. He’s an example of how one can get students’ attention without raising his/her voice.

One thing is certain, the recent US military pullback from Saudi Arabia will fuel a brewing arms race in the Middle East at a time when the region, struggling with the public health and devastating economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, can least afford it.

The coronavirus pandemic has revealed three alarming connections between us and nature.

The current Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in huge suffering and devastation for humanity, with almost five million people infected worldwide and experts fearing a deep global recession.

When Bangladesh is struggling to fight against the deadly coronavirus pandemic, another catastrophe is heading towards the country’s coastal areas in the form of super cyclone Amphan, bringing a double blow to the impoverished people as well as the economy of the nation.

In an opinion piece published in this newspaper on April 22, 2020, I discussed the future of our planet within the context of frontier ethics.

“We all knew that [Aung San Suu Kyi] was put on a pedestal or portrayed as the icon of democracy and human rights, but ever since [her party]

The fate of the 100 year old aviation industry now seems uncertain, with a global shutdown of flights owing to the impact of Covid-19. Consequently, people directly or indirectly engaged with this industry are facing great uncertainty in terms of job security.

The recent outbreak of Covid-19 is unprecedented. Given the novelty and the rapidly evolving contexts, data gathered from the field is the only path to attaining the true picture of the disease’s progress.

The world is reeling from the aftershocks of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic and the effects are being felt across all strata of society.

The coronavirus pandemic has bluntly exposed how a large number of people across the world are susceptible to health and economic shocks.

SARS-CoV-2 has so far infected more than 4,500,000 people in 187 countries and caused over 300,000 deaths, but no drug or vaccine is yet available. In Bangladesh, over 20,000 people have been infected and 250 died. Lockdown can provide a temporary solution but we need a sustainable solution for this.

Disaster resilience and climate change have been and continue to be high on the development agenda for Bangladesh.

Internet is keeping the world somewhat walking in the darkest hours of the Covid-19 pandemic. And mobile telephony is the tool that is keeping Bangladesh limping.

When did we last watch a formally-innovative Bangladeshi film that made a conscious attempt to confront and denounce a long-standing social problem of our country? And when did we last witness people’s huge enthusiasm to watch a film that did away with alluring ingredients and attempted to raise people’s sociopolitical consciousness?

Bangladesh has attained considerable development progress in the past three decades.

One of the institutional casualties of the global Covid-19 pandemic is people’s right to information.

Like most countries, Bangladesh is going through an unprecedented crisis following the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of both health and economic outcomes, with increasing number of infected cases and deaths from Covid-19, and severe economic losses in terms of production, exports and remittances, resulting in considerable unemployment, loss of income and rising poverty.