Author: Asian Bangla

“Are you interested in spiritually inclined younger men?” My recent tinder match asked. This question is still going around in my mind. I installed Tinder because my friends insisted that I should experience the wonder of digital dating. They lured me, so much so that I came out of my bubble, and attempted to find the “perfect match” with this wonder app. So I installed Tinder, and made my profile with a beautiful photo of Virginia Woolf and some other fictional details. I was hoping that no one will be interested. I would wake up and just delete the app.…

The historic announcement of March 7 by Bangabandhu was, in fact, the call for the independence of Bangladesh. The speech inspired the Bengalis all through those months of the Liberation War. Many a lives that were involved in the sacred war of freedom, sacrificed themselves for their motherland. The 7th March speech was supposed to be aired by the Dhaka Betar (radio), and the broadcasting had begun too at the scheduled time, but it was suddenly put to a stop by the Pakistani Army. In protest, the Bengali staff of the Betar walked out of the station. As a result,…

One of Bangladesh’s premiere dance talents, Pooja Sengupta has been invited to participate at the Philippine International Dance Workshop and Festival 2018, along with her team Turongomi as a part of their “National Dance Week”. This is one of the numerous times she has represented Bangladesh internationally. “We are happy, honored and overwhelmed to be a part of this enormous artistic celebration. It is always amazing to represent my beloved country,” said Pooja to Star Showbiz.

The arrival of Syrian refugees, as well as thousands of asylum seekers over the United States border, along with the global growth in anti-immigrant sentiment have barely moved the positive attitude most Canadians have toward new arrivals, a study has found. Six-in-10 Canadians chose “disagree” when asked the question “Are immigration levels too high?” in the February survey by the Environics Institute for Survey Research – a finding that has remained relatively stable for a decade. Eight-in-10 said immigrants have a positive economic impact. Compared with last year’s survey, more respondents believed that immigrants adopt Canadian values. Most of the…

Over 90% of men and women in Bangladesh aged from 15 to 24 years are now considered literate The literacy rate in Bangladesh has risen remarkably over the past decade to an all-time high of 72.76% in 2016, according to data from the Unesco Institute for Statistics (UIS). The figure marks an increase of 26.1 percentage points from 2007, when the literacy rate was a mere 46.66%. Over the same period, the literacy rate for females has risen from 43.74% to 69.90%, and for males from 49.83% to 75.62%. The literacy rate for men and women aged between 15 to…

Serena Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, continues her comeback on Wednesday following the arrival of daughter Olympia when she takes on Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the first round of the Miami Open Caroline Wozniacki says it would be “impossible” for her to follow Serena Williams’ lead and return to tennis after giving birth. Williams, the 23-time Grand Slam champion, continues her comeback on Wednesday following the arrival of daughter Olympia when she takes on Japan’s Naomi Osaka — winner of the Indian Wells title on Sunday — in the first round of the Miami Open. Williams is certainly up…

In the global push to end child marriage, Japan looks set to join the movement. A proposed revision of Japan’s Civil Code would set the minimum age of marriage at 18 for both women and men. At present, people must be 20 years old to marry without parental permission; with parental permission, men can marry from 18, and girls can marry as young as 16. If passed, the law, which the government supports, would take effect in 2022. This step is long overdue. Different marriage ages for women versus men violate Japan’s obligations under international human rights law not to…

Bangladesh’s export sector will face tougher competition in the global market after losing duty-free market access and preferential trade benefits when it graduates from LDC status and officially joins the ranks of developing countries. The Committee for Development Policy, a UN panel, on March 16 announced Bangladesh’s eligibility for the developing country category as it has met the three prerequisite criteria in terms of National Income per Capita, Human Assets Index, and Economic Vulnerability Index. But the country will have to pass two more reviews in 2021 and 2024 to get rid of the Least Developed Country (LDC) tag. Upon…

DHAKA : For well over a decade, Monir-Uz-Zaman had a business that imported toys from China and sold them in his wholesale shop in a busy market here in Bangladesh’s capital. But in 2004, his nephew, who had lived in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou for two years to help Zaman with purchasing, asked his uncle, “Why don’t you start manufacturing toys here [in Dhaka] instead of just importing?” For Zaman, it was a literal million dollar question, and one he had thought about before. This time, however, it seemed worth trying. In the wake of the Sept. 11,…

The BNP has announced fresh protest programmes after the Supreme Court stayed bail for BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in a graft case on Monday. On Mar 20, the party will demonstrate across the country while on Mar 29, it will hold a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka, as per an announcement by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. While addressing the media at BNP’s Naya Paltan office, Fakhrul said: “Protests will be carried out in Dhaka metropolitan and all other districts tomorrow. “On Mar 29, we will hold a public rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan. We are…