Author: Priya Saha

Two students at a western Iowa university are among those suing the U.S. Department of Education, alleging some private religious colleges are discriminating against LGBTQ individuals. The class action lawsuit argues the practice is unconstitutional because the schools receive federal funding. The lawsuit takes aim at religious exemptions issued by the DOE, which the plaintiffs argue give the schools cover to institute anti-LGBTQ policies and practices, leaving students open to expulsion, denial of housing and health care, harassment and severe social isolation because of who they are.When Lauren Hoekstra read in the Dordt University Student Handbook that her school expressly…

For a non-Bengali like me who loves Bengal deeply and has been staying in Calcutta for nearly a month to study the society and the politics in the state, the immediate question of interest is, of course, the same as what every Indian wants to know: will the prime minister, Narendra Modi, defeat the chief minister, Mamata Banerjee, in the ongoing assembly elections? The answer — ‘no’ — is by now clear to every knowledgeable poll observer. What interests me no less is how the party of Modi and Amit Shah has been bringing Bangladesh into its election campaign, with…

In the UK, people from all ethnic minority groups are now more likely to go to university than white British people. But does university education pay off when it comes to their future earnings? I looked at this question in a recent report, co-authored with Jack Britton at the Institute for Fiscal Studies and Lorraine Dearden at UCL. We found that the financial benefits from university are positive on average for all ethnic groups even after accounting for taxes and student loans. Gains are highest for South Asian students, middling for white students, and mostly lower for black students. The…

Bangladesh turned 50 last week and the country has much to celebrate. Having inherited a dismal GDP growth rate of -14 at its birth in 1971, Bangladesh’s most recent figures for the growth in the size of its economy (7.8 percent) edged out India (6.1 percent) and comfortably outdid Pakistan (5.8 percent). Bangladesh overtook India in per capita income last year. And of the 14 World Development Indicators measured by the World Bank — including fertility rate and life expectancy — Bangladesh is faring better than Pakistan in all but one (air pollution) and outranking India in seven. The country’s life expectancy average…

The most widely-reported highlights of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Bangladesh were his temple visits, one to the temple of Jessoreshwari in Satkshira district and the other to the birthplace of the Matua gurus, Harichand and Guruchand, in Orakandi. While the propriety of the head of government of a country constitutionally described as secular, on a state visit ostensibly to participate in the celebrations of the host country’s independence, making highly-publicised temple visits is definitely open to question, these visits bring to memory some vignettes of Bengal’s forgotten history. Interestingly, Pratapaditya, a nearly forgotten character from Bengal’s history…

People on both sides need to be aware of the sensitivities in India-Bangladesh ties too Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the war of liberation and the centenary year of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and his meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina showcased the deep history the two nations share, their future plans and the challenges ahead. At the events, which included an emotive ceremony in Dhaka, a cultural programme, India’s conferring of the Gandhi Peace Prize posthumously on Mujib, and a visit by Mr. Modi to the Bangabandhu (Mujib) memorial at his hometown…

(March 30, 2021 / JNS) Jews remained by far the most targeted religious group for hate crimes in Canada, according to the Canadian government’s annual survey of police-reported hate crimes. The report found that there were 1,946 police-reported hate crimes in Canada in 2019, up 7 percent from a year earlier. In particular, some 608 hate crimes targeted religion, down 7 percent compared to 2018. This number, however, remains higher than those recorded before 2017, when it hit its peak at 842 incidents. According to the report, Jewish Canadians were targeted 296 times in 2019—a 20 percent decrease from 372…

30 March 2021 Many Christian families lost their shelter and what little possessions they owned when fire engulfed a sprawling Rohingya refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, on 22 March. The United Nations refugee agency said 11 people died in the inferno and 560 were injured. Up to 45,000 refugees were displaced as the flames ripped through sections of the densely packed camp, destroying shelters. Smoke and flames filled the air as the inferno ripped through the tightly-packed refugee camp. Many Christians lost everything in the blaze Cox’s Bazar is home to nearly one million mainly-Muslim ethnic Rohingya amongst whom…

Tensions have been rising in Myanmar between armed ethnic minority groups and the military since the latter seized power in a coup last month, sparking massive anti-coup demonstrations across the country. Those ethnic groups have long fought the military in seeking greater local autonomy in the Buddhist-majority but multiethnic country. Now some of the groups are providing protection to the protesters or attacking military bases. Refugees from Myanmar’s Karen ethnic minority are pictured in Mae Hong Son province, northwestern Thailand, on March 29, 2021, after crossing the border by boat to flee airstrikes by the military. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo As pro-democracy…

Since 2014, the Chinese government has been committing cultural genocide by the violation and abuse of human rights of the Uyghur people amongst various other ethnic and religious minorities in the western region of Xingjian, China. For over a decade, the unrest has not seized, and over the last year, efforts from Canada, the United States and the Netherlands have publicly recognized the violence in China. From China’s point of view, the Uyghur people are extremely problematic for three distinct reasons: 1) they are located in the signature region for the Belt and Road Initiative—a massive infrastructure project that focuses…

Sainthia, Birbhum : : BJP #wbelections2021 | Public App LoginSainthia, Birbhum | Mar 29, 2021@chanda.news@chanda.news Your browser does not support JavaScript! Source link

Addressing gender issues has always been a component of Better Work Bangladesh Better Work Bangladesh has renewed its strategic focus on gender equality and women’s economic empowerment by integrating principles of gender equality and inclusion in all aspects of its work. The Better Work Bangladesh programme works to support the development of a competitive garment industry that provides decent jobs for workers, including women workers, good business for factories and brands, and economic growth for the country. It has recently outlined a new future framework for promoting gender equality in the Bangladeshi garment sector. “In a sector that is driven by women…