AN ANTI-CORRUPTION agency that cannot rid itself of corruption risks becoming worse than useless; it becomes a shield for the very ills it is meant to fight. The revelations surrounding the Anti-Corruption Commission 鈥� an institution entrusted with protecting the country from the decay of bribery and abuse of power 鈥� are, therefore, as alarming as they are disheartening...
PUBLIC transports remains fatally unsafe for passengers as the interim government has so far kept the sector off its reform agenda. The Passengers Welfare Association of Bangladesh on September 13 reported that at least 86,690 people died and 153,257 became wounded in 62,619 road accidents in 11 years. The number of fatalities, however shocking, is not surprising as...
THE National Curriculum and Textbook Board, meant to provide about 40 million students with textbooks on January 1, when the academic year begins, could print about 410.5 million copies of textbooks for the current academic year and complete the distribution by March, three months after classes began. The failure earned the board criticism. The board could run into...
THE demand for a cyber safety policy for the campus before the students鈥� union elections in the University of Rajshahi is more than justified in view of the extent of cyber harassment that candidates in such elections in the University of Dhaka and Jahangirnagar University faced during campaigns. Women candidates in the Rajshahi University Central Students鈥� Union elections...
THE government鈥檚 initiative to put the task of printing pre-primary and primary textbooks, which the National Curriculum and Textbook Board has so far done, at the hands of the primary and mass education ministry appears problematic. The government has drafted the amendments to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board Act 2018 to transfer the responsibility for...
TRAFFIC in the Kuril area of Dhaka came to a halt on September 11 for more than four hours after apparel workers staged a blockade, demanding arrears and allowances. About 500鈥�600 employees of Eurozone Fashion Garments gathered on the Kuril flyover...
THE Finance Division has warned ministries and divisions of fund suspension in case they fail to comply with budget implementation measures. This is a step, which the Finance Division announced on its web site on September 11, aimed at...
The High Court鈥檚 order to halt the construction of the elevated expressway extension through Panthakunja Park and Hatirjheel, while directing the government not to block public access to the vital urban spaces, is welcome. The ruling follows a writ petition filed by green activists, university teachers and Bangladesh Tree Protection Movement members. It reaffirms what...
THE government鈥檚 allowing physicians of public hospitals to see patients in private sessions in respective hospitals after duty hours, which began in March 2023, has largely stalled in two years and a half. Health managers say that the plan was put into action in at least 170 hospitals, but the system somehow functions in only about 30 of the hospitals. The services closed...
THIS is a reminder of the silent crisis enveloping maternal health that nearly 77 per cent of pregnant women seeking healthcare services are found to suffer from depression or anxiety and two-thirds endure both the conditions simultaneously. An International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh study, based on data gathered in 2022鈥�2025, shows the alarming...
THE win of the right-wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student front of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, in the elections to the Dhaka University Central Students鈥� Union, the yearly event that took place after a gap of six years on September 9, which were by and large free and fair, is a defeat of the centrist and left student political organisations. This needs to be recognised...
AN ALARMING increase in motorcycle accidents and consequent fatalities suggests both lax enforcement of traffic regulations and motorcyclists鈥� proclivity to disregard them. The photograph that 抖阴精品 published on September 9 shows three teenagers, in school uniforms and without helmets, riding a motorcycle in the rain near the Teacher-Student Centre on the...
SILENT zones, or no-horn zones, in the capital of Dhaka have almost never been silent. They are, in fact, noisier than other areas where noise is usually high mostly because of a large number of vehicles honking horns. The interim government, after its installation on August 8, 2024 after the fall of the Awami League鈥檚 regime amidst the July uprising, declared the...
BANGLADESH observed International Literacy Day on September 8 without having any accurate statistics on the literacy rate in the country. During the Awami League regime, the government had manipulated the literacy rate on a number of occasions to falsely claim its success in the education sector. During their three consecutive terms, the literacy rate increased...
THE home adviser to the interim government finally admitting that the country鈥檚 law and order situation has deteriorated is a positive step, particularly as the government has so far persisted in denying any such decline. The adviser made the admission on September 7 while addressing the media. In his speech, he stated that there had been a 鈥榮light deterioration in law...