Does the Heart have eyes
Whither Commitment to Truth? How AI, Media, and Visuals Shape Our Sense of Threat
The social media takes advantage of the reward systems in the brain, especially the dopamine circuits within the basal ganglia and the prefrontal cortex. Using signals of micro-engagement, including the duration of time a user hovers over a video or the number of times a user rewatches a clip, algorithms develop a feedback loop that over time redirects the feed of a user to more intense or provocative content.
Mental Health in Schools and Colleges: An Ignored Chapter in Bangladesh's Education System
The loss of 403 young lives is a stark wake-up call for Bangladesh. Schools and colleges are meant to nurture dreams, not silently witness the suffering of students. A collaborative effort involving the government, educational institutions, and families is urgently needed. With empathy, awareness, and institutional support, many of these young lives can still be saved.
The Hormuz Lifeline: Why India’s Energy Security Still Runs Through A 33-Km Strait
India’s diversification strategy, often cited as a mitigating factor, provides only partial relief. The country now sources crude from over 40 countries, and in recent years has increased imports from Russia, the United States, and West Africa. In fact, about 70% of crude imports are now routed outside Hormuz, reflecting a conscious shift in sourcing strategy.
South Asia’s Cities Are Growing - But May Not Remain Livable
What is unfolding across South Asia’s cities is not just an urban crisis, it is a reflection of deeper tensions within development itself. Growth is happening, but it is not translating into stability. Opportunities exist, but they are unevenly distributed. Systems are expanding, but not fast enough to keep up with demand. Cities, which have long been seen as places where people come to improve their lives, are increasingly becoming spaces where people struggle to sustain them.
More on Open Forum
‘Inappropriate time’ to hold EU-Pakistan strategic dialogue, says EICC
Noting that it was the most “inappropriate time” for the European Union (EU) to hold the EU-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue keeping in view the violent anti-French and anti-European demonstrations in that country, the Europe India Chamber of Commerce (EICC), a Brussels-based non-profit organisation, has said that holding such dialogues are a “perfect example” of how some of EU’s policies have “boomeranged.”
A nail-biting US election show victory of democracy
Joe Biden has finally won the US presidency. This has been one of the most contentious US presidential elections in its history and a blot on a great democratic country
If Life was never-ending.....
For the Gods to receive my prayers
Let the Imagination run Wild
O, how pretty can barren be
US elections would be deemed irregular by standards of India, other nations
The way the United States conducts its presidential election would be considered irregular – and even illegal – in India and many countries
Affirmative action to help orphaned and abandoned kids become self-reliant
There are millions of orphan children across India, who lack the basic facilities required for survival. Having lost their parents at a very young age, they are not fortunate enough to receive encouragement or support and struggle to build their lives
Handling corona to tackling China, Modi has emerged as a global leader
It is only amidst critical hours that the capability will power, patience and presence of the mind of a leader is tested. In fact, the eight months long COVID-19 pandemic as well as China’s multiple intrusions along the Indo-China border or the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in April 2020 and consequent on-going standoff between the two armies had indeed created a tense situation in India
India has ably handled COVID-19 crisis; credit goes to Modi
When COVID-19 started in Wuhan in China and Beijing did not immediately share the information for some months and WHO also did not raise an alarm, as alleged, in not warning the world about the impending disaster, no one thought that the virus would shake the world to the extent that it has done now
Embracing the New Reality
At the six month mark of forced isolation
The Paths I Once Walked
I have never forgotten the paths I walked
Bangladesh and Rwanda: Two economic success stories in two continents underpinned by women
As the International Monetary Fund (IMF) released its World Economic Outlook for 2020, the report has drawn heated, but detailed and significant, discussions in India
Interludes of Joy and Sadness
Just interludes of joy and happiness
Handwashing one of the best defences against COVID-19, other diseases
Ten months into the pandemic, handwashing with soap remains one of our best defences against the virus, along with other public health measures such as maintaining physical distance, avoiding crowded places, practising cough etiquette and wearing a mask wherever recommended
A Mirage in the Mind
When we’ve lived our lives to the fullest
