BANGLADESH is a land of rivers, tides, and storms. Women here have always moved with the pulse of the delta 鈥� planting rice before dawn, carrying water through monsoon rains, leading classrooms and communities, raising voices in the streets. Their dignity was never measured by the width of a scarf or the color of a cloth. And yet today, a simple piece of cloth...
IN BANGLADESH where agriculture is the backbone of the economy and livelihood, a pivotal moment has arrived, not just to grow more but to grow differently. From the soggy rice of the Barind Tract to the fertile alluvial soils of the Meghna basin, the traditional model of high-input farming is increasingly showing its cracks: soil degradation, nutrient imbalance...
THE latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report, released on October 29, offers a paradoxical picture of food security landscape. The number of people facing acute food insecurity has fallen from 23.5 million in 2024 to 16 million in 2025. The figures reflect a systemic neglect and fragile governance. In a country of 165 million, nearly one in 10 citizens is still...
THE chief adviser to the interim government, Muhammad Yunus, on many occasions has said that his government assumed the responsibility to run the affairs of the state on three mandates: reforms of the state, justice and accountability for the crimes committed by the Awami League government and general elections. The issues of reforms in the state governance...
ARTIFICIAL Intelligence has been one of the most hyped topics worldwide over the past few years, and Bangladesh is no exception. Yet thoughtful analysis and meaningful discussion on this subject have remained limited. In Bangladesh, where the romanticisation of any new concept tends to take off easily, fuelling viral posts, boosting social media viewership, and...
DURING the 1990s and afterward, with the widespread introduction of computers in the media and the use of satellite TV and radio, a vast number of people have entered the field of journalism. The development of technology in newsrooms brought information to people鈥檚 doorsteps. Today, social media platforms have become the fastest and most widespread...
ACROSS continents and cultures, a generational tremor is shaking the foundations of old politics. From the streets of Bangladesh and Nepal in South Asia to the island nation of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean and across the Pacific to Peru in South America young people, mostly in their late teens and twenties, are rising to challenge authority, corruption and...
THE sectarian tension created over the staged abduction of an imam underscores the significance of a proactive approach to law and order before the forthcoming national elections likely to be held in February 2026. Mufti Muhammad Mohibullah Miaji of Gazipur was reported missing on October 22 and the next day, he was rescued by local police in Panchagarh...
THE road map to implement 48 constitution-related reform proposals contained in the July national charter 2025, which the national consensus commission submitted to the interim government on October 28, appears to have stripped the very essence of 鈥榗onsensus鈥� as it disregards all notes of dissent expressed by different political parties and imposes the...
A MAN lost his life October 26 after a bearing pad from Dhaka Metro Rail fell from an elevated pier, another headline, another tragedy, another moment when Bangladeshis are forced to ask themselves: Can we trust the systems built to carry us safely home?...
THE recent US government military surge vis-a-vis Venezuela, including the USS Gerald R Ford and the most advanced warplanes, has generated fears of a potentially dangerous escalation. President Donald Trump has said the operation was aimed at cracking down on drug trafficking and alleged that Venezuela is a conduit for such activity. Drug trafficking is...
WHEN a nation builds, it envisions progress. Roads are not merely concrete stretches but arteries of economic mobility and public hope. Yet, when those arteries are choked by inefficiency, corruption and ignorance disguised as expertise, what emerges is not progress but paralysis. The Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project from Gazipur to the Airport stands today...
ELECTRONIC waste, or e-waste, is fast becoming one of the most pressing environmental and social challenges of our time. It encompasses discarded electrical and electronic equipment, from refrigerators and microwaves to computers, mobile phones, televisions, and cameras. Some components, especially computer CPUs, contain toxic substances such as lead, cadmium...
WHEN the July Uprising swept across Bangladesh, it was the workers, the invisible pillars of the nation鈥檚 economy, who paid the highest price. They marched for justice, raised their voices for dignity and faced tear gas and bullets in the hope of change...
AFTER five decades of growth driven by export-orientated manufacturing, remittances and public investment, the economic model shows signs of rising inequality, persistent unemployment and sluggish private investment. Economists, business leaders and policymakers at the Economic Reform Summit 2025 in Dhaka on October 27 unanimously emphasised structural overhaul...
