South China Moring Post (SCMP):

• Members of Bangladesh’s LGBT community have welcomed the death sentences for six members of Ansar al-Islam who hacked to death gay rights activist Xulhaz Mannan five years ago. 

• But they say deeper societal change is needed to prevent the sort of discrimination that has caused many to flee the country. And the first step is amending a British colonial era law that criminalises homosexual acts.

Link: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3149180/bangladesh-lgbt-people-fear-extremists-and-british-era 

South China Moring Post (SCMP):

• Bangladesh has seen a sharp increase in child marriages as impoverished families marry off their daughters to survive, undoing years of social progress.

• Academics say the closure of schools has increased the dropout rate, which will have a huge economic impact on the country.

LINK: https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/lifestyle-culture/article/3143285/coronavirus-child-brides-bangladesh-teens-forced 

Bangladesh is exploring offshore wind power as a key solution for a country seeking energy diversification, but whose dense population restricts the land availability for renewable power. Masum Billah in Dhaka reports.

Link: https://knowledge.energyinst.org/new-energy-world/article?id=138242

Many handcrafts factories have emerged in Kishoreganj and Narsingdi upazilas – each of which employs hundreds of women who work from home, making products with water hyacinth and seagrass. 

LINK: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/how-harmful-water-hyacinth-creating-employment-thousands-women-595186 

The Sarails hound is believed to have descended from English greyhounds owned by colonial landlords. Today there's around 40 in existence. 

LINK https://www.vice.com/en/article/bvx3k5/two-bangladeshi-brothers-are-trying-to-save-this-dog-from-extinction 

Bangladeshi experts believe media speculation on deteriorating Bangladesh-India relations is overhyped. 

LINK: https://thediplomat.com/2020/09/is-bangladesh-growing-closer-to-china-at-the-expense-of-its-relations-with-india/ 

The only school, teaching about 100 children, on Kushahata Char in Rajbari, deep inside the Padma River, is a one-man initiative by Wazuddin in his yard. 

And only last month, the school found a tin-shed home

Link to detail: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/school-no-name-ray-hope-lonely-char-659614

Poison fishing – which can yield vast volumes of shrimp captured within an hour – has been a concern in the Sundarbans area and ponds in general. But it now spread to Padma River, Bangladesh's largest river

Link: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/poison-fishing-spreads-padma-river-711730 

It was a gold nose pin, round, spiked and heavy. Sharmin's mother was happy to put it through her daughter's newly-pierced nose. Sharmin, a 26-year-old young woman – an age considered too old for marriage in Padma's char area in Rajbari – was nervous. A bit elated too, probably. 

"Our daughter will be happy, she won't have to starve or struggle as the groom earns a lot from what we have heard. The gold necklace and the nose pin look heavy," Sharmin's paternal aunt said. 

Sharmin is getting married to an expatriate, a migrant worker in Singapore named Mohammad Ali, who came to Bangladesh after six years, for three months. Aftertying the knot he will fly again, probably to return after another six or seven years. "Everyone that is married to a 'bideshi man' [migrant worker] says the distance, for so long, feels bad. I will also have to go through this. I don't know yet how it is going to be," the new bride Sharmin said. 

While the bride was expressing her fears for the future, the groom had his stories to share. 

Link to details: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/migrant-kind-love-inside-long-distance-relationships-bangladeshs-migrant-workers 

The anti-harassment committees are charged with helping female Bangladesh garment workers avoid and prevent unwanted attention and approaches from male colleagues and managers.

However, a summary shared with Just Style ahead of full publication later this month (October 2023) said: “Women workers in RMG [readymade garments] are plagued with problems of different natures where harassment and violence of several forms significantly affect them… The gender-based violence (GBV) and harassment in this industry have multiple facets — verbal, sexual, physical, and psychological.” And it concluded committees were ineffective: “Except in a few cases, most of the committees could not provide any solid/robust example of solving issues/problems through the committee initiative,” said the shared summary.

 Link to details: https://www.just-style.com/features/tackling-ineffective-bangladesh-anti-harassment-committees/ 

After the tragic death of her husband Rafi during a trek, Borsha decided to carry on with his legacy, looking for catharsis by following in his footsteps

Link: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/trekking-past-tragedy-bleeding-embrace-eternity-he-whispered-her-name-842411 

The process of reintroducing Nilgais in nature is still in its infancy. However, the possibility exists, if dealt with appropriate care. But the question is: do we have a natural forest suitable for Nilgais anymore

Link: https://www.tbsnews.net/environment/nature/can-nilgais-walk-through-bangladeshs-forests-again-789254 

Link

Moqbul Hossain, a young security guard at an ATM Booth, was glued to his mobile screen, watching videos of religious sermons on YouTube. You could hear a preacher chastising his audience for not raising their voices loud enough.

"These atheists should be beaten like dogs. Hey young men, why don't you talk? Why are your voices so low?" preacher Eliasur Rahman Zihadi called on his audience to shout. A verified YouTube channel named 'Nice Waz', which has more than seven lac (0.7 million) subscribers, had uploaded the video titled 'Zihadi hujur against the atheists like a roaring tiger'.  

LINK to Details:  https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/how-religious-preachers-are-taking-hold-youtube-bangladesh-283744 

The stigmatised topic of sex allows the scope of a thriving, detrimental trade of medicines on the streets of Gulistan and elsewhere in the city. We dived into the mechanics of this unregistered trade, and also spoke to sellers - both on and off the streets - to learn the ways they manipulate consumers with sexual problems. 

LINK: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/how-cash-sexual-insecurities-men-505142 

In the bygone days when ganja cultivation was as legal as paddy, Naogaon was the most famous ganja-producing district in Bangladesh. The government banned ganja cultivation in 1987. Some of the former ganja farmers retell stories from their days of glory.

LINK: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/stealing-thyself-ganja-farmers-reminisce-old-days-485298 

The Doms have made huge contibutions to healthcare and forensics. But strangely, they continue to be socially discriminated for the work they do. As a result, fear, abhorrence and negligence stemming from the mainstream communities remain the lifelong companions of the Dom people. 

LINK: https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/doms-curse-being-untouchables-511462