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...
THEY haven鈥檛 a clue about diplomacy on the big stage nor about getting along, leave alone being popular, with the neighbours. Hindutva and its leaders are all about a parochial and violent quest at home they want to fulfil by tearing up a centuries-old social fabric, a challenge in which they will likely never succeed. Their USP was their anti-communism. The West...
ON THE footpath outside the National Press Club, nearly 2,000 women have sat in for more than a month. They are information officers, or tathya apa, employed under a government project aimed at 鈥榚mpowering women through ICT鈥� across rural areas. As the second phase of the project comes to an end, so do their jobs, too. They demand regularisation of their job...
THE ceasefire between Iran and Israel 鈥� declared hastily and with much fanfare by the US president Donald Trump 鈥� is already beginning to look less like a diplomatic victory and more like a strategic illusion. What was sold as a decisive end to hostilities may turn out to be a temporary lull before the next eruption. And the consequences of that miscalculation may be far...
BANGLADESH鈥橲 journey towards a knowledge-based economy will remain incomplete without meaningful reforms across all levels of education. Recent proposals such as the Bangladesh Nationalist Party鈥檚 pledge to enhance the economic and social standing of primary school teachers, alongside expanded training, deserve serious policy attention. International research...
THE Legal Aid Act 2025, which mandates mediation before filing certain types of cases, is a significant reform aimed at alleviating the severe backlog in the justice delivery system. The government鈥檚 rationale is to promote speedy resolution, reduce costs and enhance the effectiveness of legal aid services, citing that a high percentage of disputes can be resolved...
THE banking sector has for decades been grappling with persistent challenges that have left it teetering on the edge of credibility. Despite being a vital pillar of the economic growth, the sector remains marred by corruption, poor governance, political interference, and a weak regulatory framework. As a result, public trust has eroded significantly and urgent reform is necessary to prevent a deepening crisis...
WHILE much of the world is extremely vexed, and rightly so, over the ongoing genocide in Gaza and the prospect of renewed US-Zionist blitz of Iran, it is hard to imagine either of these two crises flaring into a global conflagration.