The legacy of Hugo Chavez: part 4
Mr Chavez placed a great emphasis on providing financial and medical aid to the rest of Latin America, bolstered by the profits produced by the Venezuela oil industry. In the first eight months of 2007 alone, Venezuela spent $8.8 billion in doing so, something which was simply unprecedented for a Latin American country in terms of scale. In 2007 when…
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The legacy of Hugo Chavez: part 3
The foundation stone of Mr Chavez’s presidency was the Bolivarian Revolution: his ambitious plan to turn Venezuela into a socialist state. His sincere dedication to improve the miserable condition of the poor people, traditionally ignored and marginalised by Latin American politicians, made him a hero among a large sector of the population. As a resu…
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The legacy of Hugo Chavez: part 2
Mr Chavez spent two years in prison before being granted a pardon. In 1997, he re-launched his party as the Movement of the Fifth Republic and made the transition from soldier to politician. In 1998, riding a wave of popular resentment at the traditional political elite, he caused a seismic tremor in Venezuelan politics to win the presidency. Since th…
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The legacy of Hugo Chavez: part 1
THE charismatic leader of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, died last Tuesday after a long battle with cancer. He was only 58. The former army paratrooper first came to prominence as a leader of a failed coup in February 1992, to overthrow the government of president Carlos Andres Perez amid growing anger at economic austerity measures. He and a group of fello…
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Environment in distress
For the last three decades scientists and world leaders have been trying to cope with the consequences of exponential growth in human numbers and the increasingly frantic demands for the resources that only nature can provide. They have been working to save threatened species from extinction and to give the natural process of our world the chance to …
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Women’s Bank
The goals of VISION 2021, joining the ranks of middle-income countries by the 50th anniversary of independence of Bangladesh, cannot be achieved without emancipation of women. The government has given priority to women empowerment in all the development programmes. One of such efforts is the introduction of the National Women Development Policy 2011. …
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The hidden danger of climate change
Climate change is just one of the destructive forces to blight south-western Bangladesh. Naturally occurring events (which are independent of climate change), and poor governance, are also weighing heavily on this troubled region. In order to effectively combat the destructive processes that combine to shape this corner of South Asia it is crucial th…
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Ensuring Women's Rights
International Women's Day was celebrated in the country on Friday (8th March) aiming to promote and ensure the rights of women. This year the theme of the day in Bangladesh is "Women's right to information, commitment to build up a digital Bangladesh." President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Kha…
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Developing tourism
Among the neighbouring and adjoining countries of Bangladesh, excepting Nepal, the amount of foreign exchange earned from tourism by India, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, etc. is few times more than our entire export earnings. The developed countries of the world such as United States, Canada, The United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, etc are…
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Christian weddings
Christians believe that marriage is a gift from God, one that should not be taken for granted. It is the right atmosphere to engage in sexual relations and to build a family life. Getting married in a church, in front of God, is very important. A marriage is a public declaration of love and commitment. This declaration is made in front of friends and …
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Rights of women in Islam
Mankind consists of men and women. Both of them have contributed to the development of human civilization throughout ages. Before the advent of Islam women were in a very low position. They were treated like animals. It was considered that women are created only to serve men. Islam raised women’s status from chattels and playthings to respectable huma…
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Holi: The festival of colours
Holi is the Hindu festival that welcomes the spring and celebrates the new life and energy of the season. Although Holi has religious roots, not much religious activity is involved in its celebration. Holi is the most energetic Indian festival, filled with fun and good humour; even the strict rules of separation between castes are abandoned. Holi is…
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International Women's Day
The idea of an international women’s day was first put forward at the turn of the 20th century. In 1910 the first international women’s conference was held in Copenhagen by the Second International and an international women’s day was established by German Socialist Clara Zetkin. In 1911, International Women’s Day was marked by more than a million pe…
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Gender inquality in Bangladesh
Gender inequality is the most pervasive, since it is common among the people belonging to all ethnicities and religions. Half of the country’s total population, after all, is women. The multifarious discriminations against women are being manifested in various forms, such as under representation in the policymaking bodies of the political parties, di…
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Democracy and equalities
Democracy, theoretically, is all about equality — political, economic and cultural — and, that too, of all citizens irrespective of their ethnic, religious and gender identity. While we sporadically hear some generalised talks of inequalities between the rich and the poor, Bengalis and non-Bengalis, Muslims and Hindus, and even men and women, at some…
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Prosecuting wartime sexual violence crimes under the 1973 Act (Bangladesh)
Section 3(2)(a) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 lists rape, enslavement, torture and other inhumane acts (which might be considered as sexual violence crimes too) as “crime against humanity.” The 1973 Act does not, however, mention rape or sexual violences in its list of “war crimes” contained in section 3(2)(d), but does leave r…
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Prosecuting sexual violence crimes: The international law context
Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, related to the protection of civilian persons in times of war, explicitly prohibits wartime rape and enforced prostitution. These prohibitions were reinforced by the 1977 Additional Protocols to the 1949 Geneva Conventions . The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court , 1998 gives the Inte…
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Prosecuting 1971 rapes and other sexual violence crimes
In 1971, between 200,000 and 400,000 women were raped by members of the Pakistan army and its local collaborators. Many Bengali women were taken away by them and made to become sex slaves of the officers and soldiers for the duration of the war. These women received cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment. Also, rape and sexual slavery committed by th…
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Violence against Women
As we commemorate International Women’s Day, we must look back on a year of shocking crimes of violence against women and girls and ask ourselves how to usher in a better future. One young woman was gang-raped to death. Another barely survived but later committed suicide out of a sense of shame that should have attached to the perpetrators. Young teen…
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A Railway Porter
A railway porter is a familiar figure who usually carries the luggage of the passengers. He generally look very strong and self-confident. He usually wears a uniform, blue or red in color. He always bears a piece of cloth to support the load on his head. His activities are confined to the railway stations. He becomes active when a train arrives at the rai…
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May Day
May day is a glorious day in the history of the labourers worldwide. First day of the month of May is observed as the May Day. It is observed to show respects to demands of the laborers. The history behind it is very sorrowful. On May 3,1886, some workers gathered in demand of a minimum wage, safety laws, and eight hour work hours in a working day. Police…
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Study Tour
Study tour is a part and parcel of our educational life. Seeing of something with our own eyes fulfills our practical knowledge. Study tour gives us a better knowledge of different places of the world. It widens the horizon of our mind and broadens our outlook. During the last summer vacation I and some of my classmates planned to go to a study tour to Co…
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Bangladesh
Bangladesh is our motherland. The constitutional name is People Republic of Bangladesh. She got her independence in 1971 through a long bloody War of Independence. Bangladesh was a province of Pakistan. Then it was called as East-Pakistan. The people of Bangladesh were valiant and tried to free their motherland from the discriminatory treatment of the…
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Women at work in Bangladesh
Half of the total population of our country are women. In the near past women were confined to household chores. But things are changing rapidly. Now women are coming out and working in various fields. Education is the key of every success. So to be a successful human, education is needed for women also. No doubt, still women are not getting enough o…
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Women's contribution to the development of our country
Half of the total population of our country are women. In the near past women were confined to household chores. But things are changing rapidly. Now women are coming out and working in various fields. Education is the key of every success. So to be a successful human, education is needed for women also. No doubt, still women are not getting enough opport…
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A Journey By Boat I Made
A pleasant journey is always enjoyable to us. A journey by boat is specially very pleasant and enjoyable to me. It was the month of December . Our annual examination was over. So we have enough time to make a journey by boat. We decided to go to the Sundarban from Bagherhat. We were very happy and excited. We were six in number. We hired a beautiful, bi…
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The National Memorial
The national memorial is situated at Savar in Dhaka. It has great significance for the future generation. Our descendants will learn about the liberation war and its glorious achievement from it. It symbolizes the nation's respect for the martyrs of the War of Liberation. Arithmetically, It stands 150 feet tall. But every martyr it symbolizes stands mu…
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Mother Teresa
Mother Teresa was a great personality. She was a great saint, who was in charge of a missionary at Kolkata in India. She was born in the then Yogoslavia in the early of the 20 th century. But she settled in India and also died there. Her profession was serving humanity. For serving wretched humanity she travelled different countries. She did …
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Victory Day of Bangladesh
Victory means the rebuilt of self-immolation of 30 lacs people. The 16th December is the victory Day of Bangladesh. Bangladesh got her freedom sacrificing the lives of 30 lacs people. It is a red letter day in the history of Bangladesh. In 1971, Bangladesh discloses herself as a new country and gets a place in the world map. On the 16th December we pompou…
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A Hartal Day
A hartal day is a symbol of non-violent protest. Everything ramains closed on a hartal day. Generally the people who are deprived of their demands. When dissatisfaction grows among a group of people or political parties, hartal becomes a way to show that. Hartal is democratic but nowadays, it has become very frequent. Recently we have experienced a lot of…
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