IN 2013, the tragic Rana Plaza incident shook the whole country, killing thousands of workers. The tragedy turned the lives of thousands of families upside down. Structural cracks in the building were discovered the day before the incident, but factory owners made their workers come for work. Section 61 of the Labour Act, 2006, instructs that when a building is required...
CYBER-BULLYING in campus politics has become an organised assault on democracy that universities can no longer afford to ignore. In the lead-up to the Dhaka University Central Students鈥� Union election on September 9 and the Jahangirnagar University Central Students鈥� Union election on September 11, female candidates face a torrent of online harassment designed to keep...
THE findings of a multidimensional survey that the finance ministry has funded to assess how families coped with issues of income, employment, expenditure, financial resilience and digital participation in one year since the 2024 uprising are worrying. The poverty rate increased to 27.93 per cent in May 2025, as the survey that research and policy advocacy organisation Power...
THE statutory audit of financial statements 鈥� mandated by law 鈥� is a critical function to ensure transparency, accountability and stakeholder confidence. Globally, the right to perform statutory audits is restricted to professionals who meet rigorous legal, technical and ethical standards, often under a formal 鈥榗harter鈥� or licensing regime...
ISRAEL war of genocide is not about October 7; it is not about freeing Israeli captives. It is, first and foremost, about preserving a racist Jewish governing coalition and seizing a historic opportunity while a submissive administration in Washington looks the other way. The aim is to advance a biblical expansionist project and create the conditions for 鈥榮elf鈥� ethnic cleansing...
BANGLADESH鈥橲 artisan economy is not a relic of the past; it is a living industrial system spread across Narayanganj鈥揝onargaon鈥檚 Jamdani belt, Tangail鈥檚 saree heartland, Sirajganj鈥檚 handlooms, Rajshahi鈥檚 silk corridor, Rangpur鈥檚 shataranji, and shital pati weaving in Sylhet and Jhalakathi. Framing the Bangladesh Nationalist Party鈥檚 ongoing engagement with these...
EIGHT years after the military purge that forced over 700,000 Rohingya to flee Myanmar鈥檚 Rakhine State, the crisis remains unresolved. On 25 August 2025, refugees in Bangladesh will mark another year in limbo, with more than 1.15 million people still confined to squalid camps in Cox鈥檚 Bazar and the remote island of Bhasan Char. Bangladesh has displayed exceptional...
THE first hint is often a taste 鈥� tea brewed with brackish water, a sting on the tongue after a long walk home from the embankment. In Khulna, Satkhira and Barguna, families now measure seasons not only by rain and harvest but also by the creeping line where salt replaces sweet. Bangladesh鈥檚 coast, once buffered by mangroves and silt-heavy rivers, is becoming...
IN A bilateral meeting between Bangladesh and Pakistan on August 24, both countries agreed to boost trade and commerce and collaborate in regional and global forums but differed on the unresolved issues of 1971. The visiting Pakistani deputy prime minister expressed keen interest in enhancing ties with Bangladesh, which is visibly more pronounced since the ouster of...
THE government hosting a three-day stakeholders鈥� dialogue on the Rohingya situation in Cox鈥檚 Bazar, which began on August 25 with representatives from 40 countries, is welcome. Marking the eighth year since the influx of the Rohingyas into Bangladesh, the dialogue, organised as a preparatory event for a high-level conference in New York on September 30 on the...
AS ISRAEL ticks off its list of Nazi-like atrocities against the Palestinians, including mass starvation, it prepares for yet another 鈥� the demolition of Gaza City, one of the oldest cities on Earth. Heavy engineering equipment and gigantic armoured bulldozers are tearing down hundreds of heavily damaged buildings. Cement trucks are churning out concrete to fill tunnels...
