Agricultural breakthroughs
August 3, 2010
Khamin writes about the researches that have made positive differences to our agriculture sector
Being mainly an agrarian economy with agriculture being the largest producing sector, the increasing performance in the sector in Bangladesh, has been fuelled by various scientific researches conducted over the past three decades. The fruition of the researches has Read more
Slums: Human rights live here
February 21, 2010
More than 1 billion people across all continents live in slums. These communities, characterized by inadequate housing, lack of basic services, overcrowding, and high levels of violence and insecurity, are also places where residents live, work, and raise their children. Yet, many governments are Read more
China’s 60th anniversary: from Mao’s ideology to iPhones
October 1, 2009
Four generations of women recall China’s decades-long swerve from revolution and trauma to pragmatism and creature comforts.
Beijing – Sitting on the sofa amid the middle-class creature comforts typical of modern city life in China, Guan Shulan is effusive about how fortunate she is. Surrounded by six daughters and a son to look after her, the great-grandmother is Read more
Educated and addicted in Bangladesh
June 28, 2009
Bangladesh, like Cambodia before it, is becoming a major new drug transit route from Asia into the west.
Cambodian teenager Ney Someta, who is studying in Chittagong, Bangladesh, talks about how she decided to look deeper into Bangladesh’s problem after becoming tempted by Read more
The power of microfinance
June 5, 2009
Through a series of special reports, Al Jazeera explores how the global recession is affecting the use of microfinance in both developing and developed economies.
There seems to me to be something almost spiritual about microfinance – as if the idea was handed down by a higher power for the greater good of mankind.
Can you think of another simple idea that satisfies so many human needs in one go?
A micro-loan helps poor people Read more
Poison River Threatens Millions in Bangladesh
June 5, 2009
It was once the lifeline of the Bangladeshi capital.
But the once mighty Buriganga River, which flows by Dhaka, is now one of the most polluted rivers in Bangladesh because of rampant dumping of industrial and human waste.
“Much of the Buriganga is now gone, having fallen to insatiable land grabbers and industries dumping Read more
Wi-Fi hits the highway
May 18, 2009
Despite its importance in daily life, Internet access is still mostly an indoor activity. Wireless routers might stretch the Web to your front yard. But once you hit the road, say bye-bye to Wi-Fi.
That is, unless you drive a Cadillac.
In April, the luxury General Motors division launched a branded Wi-Fi service in its CTS sports sedan, a model that spokesperson David Caldwell says is Cadillac’s Read more
India revels in acclaim for ‘Slumdog Millionaire’
January 25, 2009
Some see hope for change as the film, with four Golden Globe awards and 10 Oscar nominations, spotlights the desperation of slum life.
By Anuj Chopra
Oscar-nominated film "Slumdog Millionaire" has given hope to some residents of Dhavari, Mumbai, where more than 1 million people live in desperate poverty, that the world will take notice of their desperate situation. - Gautam Singh/AP
MUMBAI, INDIA – John D’souza hasn’t yet seen the much-feted film “Slumdog Millionaire.” But he is convinced the film has the power to transform Read more
Closing Guantánamo: Will Europeans take detainees?
January 25, 2009
Europeans, who have long pushed to close the controversial facility, are hesitant to take some of its inmates.
By Robert Marquand
Closing: Guards at Guantánamo’s Camp 6 detention center Wednesday. The war-crimes court has been suspended for review. President Obama has ordered the camp to shut within a year.-- Brennan Linsley/AP
Paris – On no single issue has Europe been more in disagreement with America than the Guantánamo detention center. The camp was a focus of anti-US protest here, synonymous with the image of a bullying world power using torture to obtain confessions from Read more
Rent-a-friend in Japan
January 17, 2009
In Japan, now back in recession, the economic situation has taken a sharp turn for the worse in recent months. But the Japanese still like to use their money to have fun, as Duncan Bartlett has been finding out.
Lola – or Rora – to give her a slightly more Japanese pronunciation – is a beauty and she knows it.
Customers pay by the hour for her company. Usually they just want to stroke her, but as a special treat for favoured clients, she will lie back in a chair, close her eyes and pose for photographs.
Lola is a Persian cat who works at the Ja La La Cafe in Tokyo’s bustling Akihabara district. It is one of a growing number of Cat Cafes in the city which provide visitors with short but intimate encounters with professional pets.
When I called, there were 12 felines and seven customers, mostly single Read more