‘There should be a central coordinator to oversee flood management’
Mohammad Abdul Qayyum, former National Project Director of the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) and adjunct faculty at Dhaka University, talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about the weaknesses of our flood management efforts this year as well as the importance of stronger coordination and better flood forecasting.
5d ago
‘Reforms are crucial to strengthen the Election Commission’
Nothing can make the electoral system foolproof because it does not depend fully on the EC
1m ago
'Any vice-chancellor or teacher is expected to stand by students'
Professor Gitiara Nasreen talks about ways to end the current stalemate in our public universities and the reforms needed to ensure a better educational environment with The Daily Star.
1m ago
'No political decision should be taken without students’ input'
Zonayed Saki, chief coordinator of Ganosamhati Andolon, talks with The Daily Star about the current political situation of the country.
2m ago
‘Violence against women is a violation of human rights’
Our society still considers violence against women to be a women's issue and holds the view that only women should talk about it or protest it.
10m ago
Road crash victims deserve a better compensation scheme
Questions have been raised by road safety activists as to whether a human life can be valued at only Tk 5 lakh.
12m ago
Will I ever be able to breathe fresh air in Dhaka?
As soon as we got onto Mirpur Road, I felt suddenly unable to breathe properly
1y ago
Air pollution is not for only one authority to tackle
Md Ziaul Haque, the director of Air Quality Management at the Department of Environment, talks with Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about the factors behind severe air pollution in the country and why concerted efforts are needed from all ministries and government agencies concerned to fight it.
1y ago
September 17, 2020
‘Commercialisation of education will only increase inequality in society’
Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about the spirit of the 1962 education movement, the current state of our education system, and how commercialising it helps create further inequality in society.
September 1, 2020
Passing new laws is not enough for road safety
Two years after the countrywide road safety movement, many of us feel a sense of frustration and disappointment as the much-expected changes are yet to occur.
July 30, 2020
‘We need to use water to our advantage and learn to live with it’
Marina Tabassum, a seasoned architect who won the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the Jameel Prize for designing the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, talks to The Daily Star’s Naznin Tithi about the future of housing in flood-prone and coastal regions as well as the importance of local knowledge for a sustainable solution to housing.
July 2, 2020
‘A home-school approach with feature phones can benefit most vulnerable children’
Dr Safiqul Islam, Director, BRAC Education Programme, shares his thoughts with The Daily Star’s Naznin Tithi about the challenges associated with school reopening, ways to recover children’s learning loss over the extended break from school, and BRAC’s education model for this crisis situation. This interview is part of an interview series by The Daily Star that aims to give readers an idea of what changes to expect in a post-Covid-19 world.
June 13, 2020
‘Not a single person should be left undetected’
Prof. Muzaherul Huq, former adviser, South-East Asia region, World Health Organization (WHO), and founder, Public Health Foundation of Bangladesh, talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about the way forward in our fight to contain the spread of Covid-19.
May 29, 2020
Education crisis will be more severe after reopening of schools
The government has decided to keep all educational institutions closed until June 15. Earlier, the PM said that schools might remain closed till September, if the situation did not improve. If schools remain closed for a long period, how will it impact our primary education sector?
March 8, 2020
Should women alone bear the burden of unpaid work?
For Nasima Begum, a 40-year-old who works as a domestic help in the capital’s Mirpur area, balancing between her paid and unpaid works has become a daily battle ever since she came to Dhaka in search of a livelihood.
February 21, 2020
Protibha Mutsuddi: An Indomitable Spirit
It was March, 1948. A 13-year-old girl in a remote village in Cox’s Bazar would often hear her seniors at school talk about the extent of discrimination the people of East Pakistan faced everywhere.
February 7, 2020
Improving Dhaka’s liveability
Every morning, as I step out of my home to go to work, I am faced with the same nuisances: the dilapidated road in front of my house which has been like this for as long as I can remember, the piled up garbage here and there, the open manholes spreading obnoxious smells, and the nonchalant vendors selling vegetables (and even fish) taking up half the space of the road.
December 20, 2019
Saving our Rivers: “There are several laws which remain largely unenforced”
It is most unfortunate that the situation of the Buriganga could not be improved much even after taking so many steps and projects.
X