AFTER years of inertia and unfulfilled promises, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation has once again come under scrutiny, this time with a sharp nudge from China. Beijing鈥檚 recent remarks are not subtle: if SAARC has failed to function, then it may be time for South Asia to rethink its model for regional cooperation. The suggestion? Build something...
IT IS time to embrace a new era of medical science in which treatments are not based on a 鈥榦ne-size-fits-all鈥� approach but are tailored to a person鈥檚 genetic makeup. Personalised medicine, based on pharmacogenomics, the study of the effect of genes on drug response, has the potential to transform health care in Bangladesh. The use of personalised medicine...
FARMING in South Asia is standing at a crossroads: rising populations, erratic weather and a deep digital divide. As reported by Food and Agriculture Organisation (2017) in 鈥楾he future of food and agriculture: trends and challenges鈥�, global food...
MORE than 1.4 million lives were upended overnight by flooding in 2024. Now, heavy monsoon rain has lashed Patuakhali and Cox鈥檚 Bazar while Feni faces trouble afresh. The River Muhuri has surged 137 centimetres above the danger level, triggering...
IN TODAY鈥橲 Bangladesh, the role of teachers is more crucial than ever. As the nation aspires toward a future rooted in equity, knowledge and resilience, the path forward runs through our classrooms. Teachers do far more than transmit information.
BANGLADESH has emerged as one of the most promising economies in South Asia, often cited for its steady growth, robust remittance inflows and the export-driven success of its ready-made garment sector. However, this success has also created a structural dependence that increasingly appears to be a vulnerability. With over 84 per cent of the country鈥檚 total export...
PALESTINIANS are victims of most gruesome physical violence and are first-hand witnesses of death and destruction. Israel has illegally occupied their land and聽claimed it as its own. The Zionist state has been forcibly expelling indigenous Palestinians and threatening those who stay put with brutality and mass expulsion...
WHEN Sheikh聽Hasina鈥檚 16-year hold on Bangladeshi politics snapped during the student-led uprising in July-August, 2024, few in South Block were prepared for the geopolitical whiplash that followed. After she escaped to India, the interim government of Bangladesh demanded the extradition of Hasina, which India has so far rejected. This, along with hundreds of other...
ON SWELTERING streets of Dhaka, time does not tick. It melts. For the thousands of women who work in open market places, tin-roofed factories or city landfills, heat is not merely an inconvenience. It is a slow-burning threat that tightens its grip each summer. With soaring mercury and infrastructure that could not care less, Dhaka鈥檚 working women race against...
IN THE grand narrative of Bangladesh鈥檚 rise from a war-torn country to a development model for the global south, trade has always played a pivotal role. With exports crossing the $60 billion mark in the 2023 financial year, up from just $6.5 billion two decades ago, Bangladesh has showed how the strategic use of comparative advantage and an export-oriented...
RECENTLY I watched a K-drama series about a high school boy who loved studying and dreamed of college but unfortunately was stuck in a school ruled by bullies. The environment was so toxic that a gangster group 鈥� led by the biggest school bully 鈥� practically ran the school, manipulating not only the students but also the administration, thanks to his wealthy and...
AS MONSOON clouds gather over Bangladesh鈥檚 emerald paddies, a silent force shapes the fate of its 170 million people: water, and the shifting layers of earth beneath it. From the Brahmaputra鈥檚 mighty flow in the north to the deltaic veins in the south, Bangladesh鈥檚 geo-hydrology is both its strength and vulnerability. Yet, as climate change accelerates and urban...
BANGLADESH stands on the cusp of becoming a regional manufacturing powerhouse by 2035. To materialise this goal, the government plans to merge its various investment bodies into a unified one-stop entity , the investment promotion agency, to simplify processes and attract foreign investors. This vision is bold, but it contains a critical oversight: the possible...
PHARMACEUTICALS and personal care products which include antibiotics, painkillers, hormones, antiseptics, cosmetics, and fragrances have become serious environmental pollutants. These products, which we use every day, are now found almost everywhere in the environment. They are not only affecting soil and water but also entering into our food system, creating...
WHEN the stomach is full, everything feels under control. But the idea of hunger can be so painful that the renowned 20th-century Bengali poet Sukanta Bhattacharya once compared the bright full moon to nothing more than a loaf of chapati in an empty stomach. Eating is perhaps one of the most fundamental human rituals, something which we celebrate several times a...