The Japan Times: There is no hot water in Odairajuku, no gas-powered stoves, no fridges and — most importantly — no internet. The nearest supermarket is an hour away by car, and so is the nearest place to get a signal on your phone. But what this tiny village in southern Nagano Prefecture does offer…
Rajib Bhowmick, Head of media and external relations at BRAC & Shamim Iftekhar, Team lead of BRAC’s communication for development programme/BRAC Some said the children would die if they were given diphtheria vaccination. Some said they would become Christians if they took the shot. Others said women are not allowed to go out with their…
BBC: Smokers looking to quit as part of the annual Stoptober campaign are being warned not to go “cold turkey”. Government health officials have said smokers stand a much greater chance of succeeding giving up by using official NHS support or turning to e-cigarettes. Research has shown only 4% of those who go “cold turkey” remain…
Desk Report: Two new local rice varieties, developed at the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI), remain ready for release in the coming months, said officials, reports The Financial Express. The high-yielding varieties (HYVs) of paddy are Brridhan-88 and 89, they disclosed. The new varieties have already generated a great deal of interest among farmers and…
Klaus Jurgens, Political analyst, journalist/Daily Sabah, Turkey Four weeks from today President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will travel to Germany on an official state visit. That will be a grand occasion indeed, highlighting the amicable level of Turkish-German relations. Are there issues at stake? Of course, but sorting it out is what friends do. In this…
BBC: A fleet of robotic jellyfish has been designed to monitor delicate ecosystems, including coral reefs. The underwater drones were invented by engineers at Florida Atlantic University and are driven by rings of hydraulic tentacles. The robots can squeeze through tight holes without causing damage.One expert praised the design but warned that the man-made jellyfish might…
Desk Report: Police arrested a leader of pro-BNP youth organisation Jubo Dal with 223 yaba pills in Chattogram city’s Sadarghat area early yesterday, claiming that he was running a yaba business with an aim to collect funds for carrying out subversive activities, reports The daily Star. Arrestee Bappu Kumar Das, 27, is general secretary of…
Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director of Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)/ Daily Pakistan If one asks owners or chief executives of companies and organisations to single out one difficulty that they face, a chorus of voices will respond in unison: lack of skilled human resources. On the other hand, if one investigates into the one prominent…
Sumit Kumar/WION News The recent decision by China to allow Nepal to use all its ports for trade is a move that will be viewed by India with some concern. According to the agreement inked between Kathmandu and Beijing, Nepal can get access to the facilities at Chinese ports of Tianjin, Shenzen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang….
Desk Report: Grameen Nippon, the Japanese version of Grameen Bank, has recently been launched in Tokyo of Japan aiming to reduce the economic gap in the society. Masahiro Kan, the founder and President of Grameen Nippon, is the former Executive Director for Japan at World Bank and former executive director of African Development Bank.