Tamil cinema superstar Vijay Thalapathy is shaking up Tamil Nadu politics within just 18 months of launching his political party ‘Tamizhaga Vettri Kazhagam’ (TVK). The name means ‘Victory of the Tamil People’; but the question is—will he stop at creating a stir, or will he truly change the rules of the game? Let us try to understand that today.
After the mass uprising, some leaders and activists of a few political parties, along with a section of emerging young leaders, seem to think that all power has now fallen into their hands. As a result, they have launched into widespread occupation and extortion.
Almost 1200 years ago, in the 9th century, a Digambara monk named Jinsen composed an extraordinary epic. His work, known as the Adi Purana, was based on the life of the first Jain Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha, and the stories of his two sons, Bharat and Bahubali. This was not an ordinary tale; it was a remarkable saga of conquering pride and attaining spiritual liberation. In it, we witness the journey of a warrior who becomes a supreme sage.
The killing of people through mob beatings on the basis of false accusations is spreading in Bangladesh almost like an epidemic. Despite widespread discussion and criticism, this form of extrajudicial killing is not stopping in any way. According to news published in the media on Saturday (23 August), three people were beaten to death in three districts of the country after rumours were spread against them on Thursday night and Friday. According to the information received, one was a teenager and two were youths. Two of the victims were beaten on suspicion of theft, and one on the allegation of extortion. Police suspect that two of these incidents were premeditated.
The 2024 student-people’s uprising was a spontaneous mass uprising. Some try to call it a revolution; but there is no scope to call it a revolution, it was simply a mass uprising. The uprising began with protests against quota discrimination in jobs. When the government tried to suppress that anti-discrimination movement in a fascist manner, it carried out the July Massacre. As a result, the anti-discrimination movement first turned into the ‘Nine-Point’ and later into the ‘One-Point’ movement. In this mass uprising Jahangirnagar University played a very significant role.
Cinephiles in Bangladesh are enjoying a week that comes once in a blue moon. It is not often that multiplexes screen several big-budget, ambitious films at the same time—each managing to win over audiences as well as critics. Currently, four highly anticipated films of different genres are running in the country's multiplexes. These films have not only created a stir at the box office but have also received excellent ratings from audiences and critics alike. Let's find out more about these four films.
Senior journalist and columnist Bibhoranjan Sarkar has left behind a message of grief for honest journalists in Bangladesh, which may be called his self-written epitaph. That epitaph has become a grim document of the miserable state of professional journalism in Bangladesh.
America's semiconductor industry, once the pride of Silicon Valley, suddenly found itself in the midst of fierce competition in the 1980s. Japanese companies were surging like an irresistible wave. One silent but important hero in this story was Hewlett-Packard (HP) executive Richard Anderson. He set strict criteria for which memory chips HP would buy. Therefore, the fate of semiconductor vendors depended on his decisions.
Many of us may not know what kinds of irregularities take place in various government offices in the capital, Dhaka. Allegations of corruption sometimes appear in the media through which we learn a few things. But there are many crimes that go on day after day, which we never get to know about. Take the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), for instance. It is because of this department that the Farmgate area is known as Khamarbari. The DAE is responsible for the expansion of modern agriculture and crops across the country. The surprising fact is that, in this important government office, the dominance of various associations and organisations of officials and employees has been going on for years.
Some death news envelops people like a dense, cold fog. Some death news makes the rhythm of breathing longer and heavier. Some death news gathers steam inside the chest and truly makes it heavier. The news of journalist Bibhoranjan’s death felt much like this for Bangladeshi journalists. On Friday evening, before hearing the news of the death of this accomplished journalist, I was carefully reading his last ‘open letter’. In that letter, he laid bare a cruel picture of Bangladesh’s journalism. At the farewell of ending his life, he pointed out with his finger at how this world is full of brotherhood illusions, hollow, over-emotional, and unprofessional. Where, bit by bit, the lives of many journalists are being destroyed.
It was a little past 8:15 pm. In a quiet corner of the bustling city, one entered through an old gate and was greeted by a heartwarming sight—children and teenagers engrossed in dance and song. Their laughter and rhythm painted a fragment of a dream. Sitting nearby, the founder of the organization watched proudly, though his face betrayed an undercurrent of worry. With his hand on the tabla, the president tried to keep pace with the music, making every effort to keep the spirit of the group alive. This was the Bogura Youth Choir.
Dhaka College and City College—two neighbouring educational institutions in the capital—seem to have a relationship like that of snake and mongoose. Day by day they appear to be turning into “eternal enemies”. Why they clash every now and then is something not only the general public but even the law enforcement agencies reportedly do not know. Yet their clashes continue in succession, which is a matter of concern for the country’s education.