POLITICAL parties appear to have made little or no progress in within-the-party practice of democracy or reforms in that direction whilst the government has been busy forging means to effect democratic reforms in state governance by holding dialogues with the political parties. Some political parties have even appeared to be rhetorical about such a democratic practice. It...
YET another train collision in Lalmonirhat lays bare the appalling state of railway safety, constrained by mismanagement and institutional negligence. Two air-conditioned compartments of the Lalmoni Express derailed after it had collided with the Burimari鈥揚arbatipur commuter train in the BDR Gate area on July 28. The incident left at least eight passengers injured, two of...
ROAD safety has continuously been put at bay as the number of fatal accidents has only increased for seven years since the road safety movement in 2018 after a bus killed two college students in Dhaka on July 29 that year. The government made the Road Transport Act 2018 in September that year. Police data show that 2,635 died in road accidents...
DHAKA appears to be hurtling towards an ecological disaster as its last remaining trees and water bodies are being wiped out in the name of development. A recent Change Initiative study shows that in 44 years, the capital has lost a half its tree cover and 60 per cent of its water bodies. The research shows that green coverage fell from 21.6 per cent in 1980 to 11.6 per cent in...
THIS is unfortunate that the interim government, which assumed office after the overthrow of the Awami League government on August 5, 2024 in an uprising that began on July 1 that year as student protests against civil service job reservations, has yet to comprehensively enlist all who died and became wounded at the hand of law enforcers who were aided by the...
THE interim government鈥檚 instituting a national pay commission to decide on an increase in the salary of public servants in six months has come as a surprise to economists, especially amidst a chronic revenue shortfall, growing government borrowing and increased inflation. The pay commission has come in less than a month after the interim government introduced...
THE continuation of extrajudicial killing and custodial death during the tenure of the interim government, which was installed after a political changeover that promised meaningful changes in governance, is worrying. Right group Odhikar in its latest report, published on July 24, says that at least 29 people were extrajudicially killed between August 9, 2024 and this June 30...
THE death of Bangladeshis continues at the hands of India鈥檚 Border Security Force, with at least 34 having died, after being shot or tortured by the Indian guards, during one year of the interim government. Rights group Ain O Salish Kendra says that 15 died in firing and from torture by the Indian guards in January鈥揓une. Two were killed in January, one in February, three in...
A PERSISTENT decline in private-sector credit growth is concerning as it has direct, adverse impact on industrial expansion, investment and job creation. Bangladesh Bank data show that private-sector credit growth fell to 6.40 per cent in June 2025, the lowest level...
THE police arrested former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque at Dhanmondi in Dhaka in the morning on July 24. A court in the evening sent him to jail in connection with a case filed on July 6, 2025 with the Jatrabari police for the murder of a young man, shot dead...
ACADEMIC activities continue to remain stalled at the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology after the students assaulted their teachers in February. An absence of the vice-chancellor has only added to the academic stalemate, putting teachers, general students and their guardians in trouble. This appears so as academic activities had been stalled for more than...
THE legacy of filing cases against hundreds of unnamed people, as has been by successive governments, including the authoritarian Awami League government, regrettably persists. After the Awami League regime was toppled in an uprising, it was expected that the abuse of legal devices would end. But the legacy, unfortunately, continues apace. In the recent examples, the...
THOUSANDS of people living in the Muhuri basin in Feni recovering from socio-economic losses of the flash flood earlier in July are now faced with similar uncertainty again as the transboundary river swelled by 11 feet in three hours with no warning on June 20. It rained moderately to heavily on the catchment area spreading between India鈥檚 Tripura and Bangladesh...
AN INCREASE in dengue incidence, both in and outside Dhaka, raises grave concern, calling for early and effective intervention. At least four died of dengue while at least 319 others were admitted to hospital on July 22, Directorate General of Health Services data show. With this, at least 27 died in the first 22 days of July, the highest monthly death toll so far this year. In total...
THE Bangladesh women鈥檚 U-20 football team鈥檚 emphatic 4-0 win over Nepal in the title-deciding match at the Bashundhara Kings Arena in Dhaka on July 21 to retain their SAFF Under-20 Women鈥檚 Championship crown is a feat worth celebrating. Bangladesh had earlier secured their maiden SAFF U-20 title in the tournament鈥檚 inaugural edition in 2023. While Bangladesh...