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Wildlife markets are hotspots for illegal wildlife trade, with traders operating as a result of weak monitoring and law enforcement. Knowledge of species traded, sources, and routes used for transport is needed to identify illegal wildlife trade markets and intervene to stem trade. We conducted surveys in 13 wildlife markets across Bangladesh every month during January-December 2019 to assess the abundance and diversity of wildlife taxa traded and the factors driving this trade. Passeriformes, Columbiformes, Psittaciformes, Artiodactyla, Carnivora and Testudines were the most traded orders. Wildlife markets were also centres of trade for high-value species, including the tiger Panthera tigris , crocodile Crocodylus porosus and tortoises. In hill markets and peri-urban markets the most commonly sold species originated from nearby forests, whereas urban markets included both native species and exotic species sourced internationally. Market type, road links to the market, the presence of law enforcement agencies, proximity to a port and form of sale (live animals or byproducts) all significantly influenced what is being traded. Trade of mammals, reptiles, high-value wildlife species and threatened species was less common in markets proximal to law enforcement agencies. Markets close to seaports or airports were more likely to sell mammals, threatened species and high-value wildlife. Based on our results, we recommend a set of interventions to help reduce market-based wildlife trade in Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Forced displacement generates resettlement issue but the contestation between migrants' aspirations and the host society's policies makes the issues more complicated. • The paper rearticulates people's perception of (re)settlement in redressing the Rohingya crisis at the interface of repatriation and relocation initiated by Bangladesh. While the resettlement of displaced people often denotes rehabilitation in one way or another, the paper illuminates the paradox of resettlement between repatriation and relocation with the case of Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. The Rohingya, considered the most persecuted ethnic minority in the world at present as per the United Nations (UN), are an ethnolinguistic and religious minority of Myanmar but at present most of them are living in Bangladesh as refugees. About 750 thousand Rohingyas fled a deadly genocidal attack perpetrated by the Myanmar security forces in 2017 and took refuge in Bangladesh. Combining with the previously living ones, Bangladesh now hosts more than 1.3 million Rohingyas as refugees in 34 temporary camps in Ukhia and Teknaf, two south-eastern sub-districts of Cox's Bazar. This massive Rohingya presence has heavily impacted the local lives and resources and thereby the local community gradually became reluctant, though not yet hostile, to host them anymore. To accommodate the local pressure, Bangladesh made two consecutive repatriation attempts (the first one on November 15, 2018, and the second one on August 22, 2019) to send the Rohingya back to Myanmar but failed since none willingly returned to their 'homeland'. The refusal was interpreted as non-cooperation of the international community, and non-preparation on Myanmar's part to accept the Rohingyas back and let them resume their lives safely in the Rakhine state where they used to live. Since the repatriation attempt did not work and local pressures started mounting, Bangladesh initiated a program to relocate a few thousand Rohingya families to Bhasan Char, a newly emerged island located in the Bay of Bengal under Noakhali district. Empirical data reveal that the physical facilities of Bhasan Char seem far better than the same of Ukhia and Teknaf. Still, Rohingya refugees remain reluctant to move due to their entrenched fear of cyclones, floods and tidal surges which, they believe, could wash them away anytime. The entire process of Rohingya relocation to Bhasan Char has created huge debates about whether the Island is safe-liveable for the Rohingya people since it is a twenty-year-old island and there was no experience of people living there. Still, it does not appear to be a convincing plan to resolve the displacement problem of the Rohingya refugees. Given the background, what the Rohingya people articulate their aspiration in the name of resettlement is completely missing in the entire planning and action to redress the Rohingya crisis. Empirical findings show that the majority of Rohingyas are willing to return 'home' if three conditions are met: legal recognition amid conferring citizenship, social safety through the deployment of UN peace troops, and human dignity so that they can enjoy all forms of human rights. So, the Rohingya perception of resettlement is repatriation with aforesaid conditions. Therefore, the paper argues that beyond the populist idea of resettlement in the form of rehabilitation or relocation, the whole discourse of resettlement could come up from the bottom and people's perspectives which could be both crucial and instrumental in policy framing and action planning. The Rohingya refugees desire dignified repatriation with legal recognition and social safety which is largely absent in the activism of the human rights bodies and the action of the international communities as well as the state-level movements. Given the matrix of relocation and repatriation, resettlement takes a central point of discussion and debates whether resettlement could settle the Rohingya crisis in the place of migration. The paper with the experience of decade-long ethnographic research intends to rearticulate the people's perception and ground-level view of (re)settlement to redress the Rohingya crisis in the interface of repatriation and relocation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of rabies in the community are essential for developing post-exposure behavioral treatment and for understanding current prevention and control policy on rabies. This was a cross-sectional study in Gaibandha Sadar, a northern district of Bangladesh, investigating the level of KAP about rabies. Materials and methods: A total of 368 interviewed respondents, of whom 280 (76.09%) were male, and 88 (23.91%) were female. A structured questionnaire was used for the data collection from respondents on socio-demographic information and KAP regarding rabies. The data analyzed with STATA-IC-11.0 and the association of independent variables with rabies KAP scores were calculated using Pearson's Chi-square. Results: Most respondents had adequate KAP levels and positive thoughts on rabies prevention. The KAP scores were strongly associated with education and employment status (p < 0.05). Most respondents said that stray dogs are a headache in the area and believed that control of the dog population in Gaibandha is essential. Conclusion: These outcomes also revealed that there is an information gap about rabies that might improve by developing an education program for awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the application of solar energy and the role that solar energy can play to enhance information and communication technology (ICT) usage in coastal areas in Bangladesh. The empirical data were collected using interview and focus group discussions (FGD) in two unions on the coastal island of Kutubdia. The results of the analysis indicate that coastal areas have witnessed an accelerated shift towards solar technology to meet the gap between the demand for and the supply of electricity, along with other energy sources. The access to ICT tools in local communities has risen, with infrastructure which has completely changed the coastal way of life. It concludes that the use of ICT-based devices has opened a new window for remote communities, where solar energy has made great contributions. Therefore, a comprehensive approach is needed for people across the country to encourage and support them to use solar-based electricity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reconsidering the trend in anthropology to conceptualize the multifaceted nature of the state and to focus on the local social dynamics beneath the institutional framework of the state, we argue that "state" is not a single governing entity but rather a multilayered body of practices at various levels of the society. We configure "state" as constructed, imagined, and negotiated by people in their everyday life in four dimensions: zones of limited statehood depicted as "peripheries," "local state" by which the center governs locales, "public discourse" that represents dominant notions of "stateness," and ambivalent positioning of political elites who represents state in the margin. This argument is substantiated with the reference to the case of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a southeastern part of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development is conventionally understood in various ways including economic growth, increase of gross domestic product (GDP), rise of per-capita income, improvement of social facilities, political stabilities, and women's empowerment and many other issues, but it finally means bringing positive changes in the life of people. However, development is always contextual because the notion and nature of development often varies from society to society depending on the context of local–societal dynamics. Therefore what is regarded globally accepted model of development can be challenged by the local discourse of development, since local-level perception could contest the universal model. This article addresses such a case of development which is conceptualised from the social and cultural point of view amid everyday experiences of ordinary people's lives. The article contextualises its argument with specific reference to the Khumi people living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the formation of an ethnic category and its relations with the marginalisation of ethnic minorities in the context of upland–lowland relations in Bangladesh. Three central concerns are highlighted. First, it examines the political and historical trajectories of the South Asian subcontinent which has laid down various identities for groups of people such as the Pahari living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh. Second, it critically discusses how colonial policy has continued in the postcolonial era, particularly in dealing with people of different cultures living in the same state’s territory. Finally, the article argues that identity formation is closely linked with the politics of marginality, with particular reference to the Pahari people of the CHT. The article is based on comprehensive data collected through ethnographic fieldwork undertaken at different times from 1997 onwards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]