A Closer Look
International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists / A moment for self-reflection
Journalists today must be both defenders of truth and advocates for change within the profession and in the wider society.
Opinion / Unbridled corruption and a minister’s reckless comment
The ruling regime should focus less on talking and more on actions, to create a conducive environment that truly eliminates corruption.
Civil war in Myanmar: Bangladesh should revisit its national security strategy
It is high time Bangladesh revised its national security strategy and worked in close collaboration with the other key regional players.
Biman’s frustrating legacy of misadventures
That Biman is a highly corrupt institution that thrives on shameless plundering of public money is no secret.
FY2024-25 Budget / Whitening black money, raising taxes won’t fix our economic ails
These measures are a slap in the face of honest taxpayers who diligently pay taxes on their legitimate income every year.
Children must be protected from abuse and torture
We have become a society in which children have become a tool to satiate the filthy desires of the stronger
How are electrolyte drinks regulated in Bangladesh?
Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) has recently sued the owners of seven companies for selling five popular brands of electrolyte drink without necessary approvals.
Dhaka's toxic air: An invisible killer on the loose
Dhaka's air did not become unbreathable overnight, nor is there any instant solution to it.
The exodus of the helpless
Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh, the country’s flourishing economy had taken a hit. With the government-announced general holidays leading to closures of businesses, offices, educational institutions, shops, eateries, factories and other livelihood-generating opportunities—both formal and informal—life came to a halt in the nation.
From the Archives: PK Halder and the incredible landscape of our financial system
Prashanta Kumar Halder’s financial misadventures and subsequent escape from the country with Tk 3500 crore, which made the headlines recently, has brought into the fore Bangladesh’s struggles with systemic irregularities in its financial sector.
Delinquent youths of a delinquent society
Children, like adults, can get embroiled in conflicts with the law. When juveniles commit criminal offences, they are placed in Juvenile Development Centres (JDC) rather than jails, where constructive counselling is supposed to be provided so that they realise their mistakes and come out of these centres better human beings. The reality of these JDCs, as perhaps one would expect, is pretty different.
Our heritage sites need our help to stem the ravages of time and negligence
The dilapidated condition of the lonely ruins scattered across the country can be attributed to many reasons.
A tale of a tragedy and a farce
For the people of Lebanon, it was business as usual on Tuesday, August 4, 2020. Post-Eid holidays, the desperate people—struggling to feed themselves and their loved ones—were out in search of livelihood and subsistence. As the day neared its end, little did they know that it was going to be the last for many of them.
How do we address human trafficking during a pandemic?
Bangladesh has recently been rocked by several international human trafficking scandals, one of them involving a lawmaker trafficking individuals to Kuwait.
Caught in the middle of nowhere
The British Court of Appeal has recently ruled that “ISIS bride” Shamima Begum should be allowed to return to the United Kingdom to challenge the revocation of her British citizenship.
What do we do with the refuse of our Covid-19 afflicted healthcare system?
Management of medical waste has remained a persistent problem for Bangladesh. Proper disposal of these wastes—general, infectious, hazardous, radioactive, and often containing pathogens—has never seemed to be taken seriously by the authorities, resulting in rampant mishandling by all concerned.
In search of refuge
Hundreds and thousands of refugees and migrants are preyed upon every year by human traffickers with false promises of a better future, a home.
Covid-19 has increased children’s exposure to traffickers
With Covid-19 bringing economic activities across nations to a halt, more and more people are being pushed into poverty. Job losses, business losses and farming losses, leading to economic stress, are pushing many to the fringes of poverty. And as families are being rendered helpless, the worst sufferers are invariably the children.