A FUNCTIONAL independence of the judiciary should mean a judiciary independent of the legislative and the executive branch in all aspects. But this has not happened all these years. The independence of the judiciary was officially effected on November 1, 2007 from the executive and the legislative based on a 12-point directive that the Appellate Division issued on...
AS POORER nations spend about 6.5 per cent of export revenues servicing external debt, while world military and police spending skyrockets, it鈥檚 unlikely most countries will have the political will to shift priorities from social destruction to social care...
THE field of rehabilitation is undergoing a revolution. According to the World Health Organisation, rehabilitation is 鈥榓 set of interventions designed to optimise functioning and reduce disability in individuals with health conditions in interaction with their environment.鈥� Therefore, it is not only about medical treatment; it focuses on improving functioning, participation...
A CAREFREE swim at the world鈥檚 longest sea beach should never end in tragedy. Yet for too many families visiting Cox鈥檚 Bazar, waves of joy have turned swiftly into waves of grief. A father and son drowned while enjoying the sea. A group of students lost a friend within minutes to the current. A tourist, laughing with friends, was swept away and never returned. Each of...
QUALITATIVE change in the political system is a reflection of the long-term hopes and dreams of a nation. But this change does not happen automatically or suddenly; it requires a path of continuous, well-thought-out and structural reforms. Recently, a wave of major change has been seen in Bangladeshi politics, which is an expression of the accumulated anger of the...
PUBLIC procurement is essential for governments to convert budget funds into public services and infrastructure. In Bangladesh, where public procurement constitutes a large share of government expenditure, inefficiency, politicisation, and institutional weakness often result in cost overruns, project delays, and corruption risks鈥攗ltimately eroding public trust and...
A report of the Road Safety Foundation has exposed an alarming reality. At least 314 areas across Bangladesh have become accident-prone zones where thousands of people are maimed or killed every year. The study has identified 21 鈥榟igh-risk鈥� areas, including parts of Dhaka, Gazipur, Tangail, Chattogram and Mymensingh, where road deaths are disproportionately high...
A DECLINE or stagnation in the number of students in general education and an increase in the number of students in madrassah education, beginning from the secondary to the tertiary level, in the past few years brings to the fore a couple of issues to think over for managers of national education. Official figures show that the number of students in general education from...
THE recently concluded Gaza peace summit, sponsored by US president Donald J Trump before a US-Israel-imposed 20-point Gaza peace plan championed by the fragile peace initiative, was signed by the United States, Egypt, Qatar and T眉rkiye, with a couple of other world leaders acting as 鈥榗heerleaders.鈥� This presents a look of an international consensus. However, this...
THE hills of south-eastern Bangladesh are famed for their breathtaking beauty. Yet beneath the lush greenery and terraced slopes lies a history steeped in marginalisation, militarisation and impunity. In late September 2025, the Chittagong Hill Tracts once again descended into turmoil, revealing the deep structural vulnerabilities that continue to define life for Indigenous...
DEMOCRACY is not only about elections, parliaments or written constitutions. Its strength lies in truth, trust and accountability. But in today鈥檚 digital world, the values are under a serious threat. The fast spread of false information, driven by social media, online echo chambers and artificial intelligence, has made it hard to know what true is. This raises an urgent question: can truth survive in a world ruled by algorithms?..
THE global discourse, as highlighted by the International Labour Organisation, has rightly recognised the 鈥榗are economy鈥� as a vital pillar for the future of decent work. This economy, spanning both paid and unpaid labour, from a nurse in a hospital ward to a family member tending to an elder, is facing a worldwide crisis of recognition, resources and rights. For...
RAMPANT food adulteration is a grave and persistent public health threat, with unsafe food turning what sustains life into a slow and silent agent of disease and death. Recent laboratory tests by the Bangladesh Food Safety Authority show how deeply the problem has penetrated the food chain. Of the 15 bread samples tested, 11 contained potassium bromate, a banned...
THIS is unfortunate that food losses post harvest and food waste at consumption account for a third of all the food produced in Bangladesh, as a recent World Bank report says, when insufficient food security forces 12 per cent of the poor to skip meals and about 9 per cent of the poor to pass a day without food, as a recent Power and Participation Research Centre...
FOR the last two years, my social media algorithm has been relentlessly dominated by Gaza, particularly by the voices of ordinary Gazans, displaying a blend of emotions that centres on two core principles: grief and defiance.
