Jaishankar’s remarks on Bangladesh: A deeper understanding is necessary
India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar recently made some strong remarks about Bangladesh at the Delhi University Literature Festival.
27 February 2025, 02:00 AM
A turning point or a missed opportunity?
A reflection on Bangladesh's post-Awami League crisis and the need for unity and reform.
16 December 2024, 05:00 AM
Principles, party, power or politics?
The student movement’s ability to inspire people to stand up to a vicious oppressor was truly remarkable.
14 August 2024, 02:00 AM
The irresponsible remarks of our responsible persons
History and ordinary people in general will remember very well what happened over the last week or so.
25 July 2024, 04:00 AM
What options are left for us to fight unbridled corruption?
Unfortunately, all the mechanisms meant to address corruption seem to have been weakened, if not completely destroyed, one after another in recent decades.
7 July 2024, 10:00 AM
We need humility, not hubris, to turn the economy around
While a privileged minority, sitting in their high castles, continue to enjoy a larger and larger share of the fruits of “development,” it is becoming obvious that the vast majority are increasingly struggling.
13 June 2024, 03:00 AM
The many immoralities behind the scheme
Bangladesh truly is unique in the sense that its government keeps granting individuals the opportunity to whiten black money, despite its questionable record of success. An amount of Tk 78 crore was whitened in the 1977-78 budget, Tk 850 crore during 1987-90, Tk 1,000 crore during 2000-01, Tk 4,403 crore during 2005-06, Tk 9,683 crore during 2007-08, Tk 1,213 crore during 2009-10, and Tk 20,600 crore in 2020-21.
6 June 2024, 18:00 PM
The many immoralities behind the govt’s black money whitening scheme
What message is the government trying to send with its black money whitening facility?
6 June 2024, 10:50 AM
Rise of the executive and the decline of civil liberties
In the last decade at least, we have seen two things happening side-by-side globally. One is the rise of the executive branch of government—the significance of its role in the workings of government and society at large. The other is the decline of civil liberties—some of which, such as the right to privacy and free speech, people are now “willingly” compromising on, or no longer view as inalienable even.
15 May 2019, 18:00 PM
Martyrdom of Assange or death blow for journalism?
Aside from being nominated multiple times for the Nobel Peace Prize, including in 2019 by Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Mairead Maguir, Julian Assange has won countless awards for journalism
2 May 2019, 18:00 PM
The biggest barrier to our industrialisation
While inaugurating the first national industrial fair in the city, the prime minister, at the end of last month, said she wanted to discuss how to reduce the interest rate of bank loans which she thought had become the biggest barrier to the country’s industrialisation.
28 April 2019, 18:00 PM
After Sri Lanka’s terror attack: Questions we now must ask
The devastating series of suicide attacks in Sri Lanka on Easter Sunday that claimed at least 250 lives was noticeably well organised.
26 April 2019, 18:00 PM
The Fate of Julian Assange
Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Glenn Greenwald once described WikiLeaks as being “one of the very few, if not only group, effectively putting fear into the hearts of the world's most powerful and corrupt people.” But was that too outlandish of a statement?
18 April 2019, 18:00 PM
The fall of Baghdad 16 years ago
Three weeks into the invasion of Iraq, coalition forces led by the US army entered Baghdad and formally occupied it on April 9, 2003.
9 April 2019, 18:00 PM
Where public education has gone wrong
What is your reaction to the government doing away with all examinations for students of classes I, II and III from this year?
4 April 2019, 18:00 PM
Syria's struggle does not end with ISIS
Narratives shape our world. The deeper meaning of Orwell's words becomes clear when we know the true nature of Syria's crisis.
29 March 2019, 18:00 PM
This is how blockchain can radically reshape the future
According to the Fall 2018 issue of MIT's Sloan Review Magazine, “Blockchain technology is set to be a major player of the future digital economy.”
19 March 2019, 18:00 PM
What students saw and what they were told to believe
The recent Ducsu election, held after 28 years and for the first time since people's representation in government is said to have prevailed in the country, was another unfortunate nail in the coffin of our so-called democracy.
17 March 2019, 18:00 PM
'Tax the rich': Can it really solve the inequality crisis?
An article titled “Tax the rich” published in this daily on February 22, highlighted the astonishing rise in wealth and income inequality that we've witnessed globally in recent years, and rightly recognised it as a crisis that deserves the most urgent attention.
28 February 2019, 18:00 PM
Pitfalls of Junk Economics
According to a 2018 report by Oxfam International, “Eighty-two percent of the wealth generated last year went to the richest one percent of the global population, while the 3.7 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world saw no increase in their wealth.
28 February 2019, 18:00 PM
The military-industrial complex Eisenhower warned about
While most of the western mainstream media was shocked by Donald Trump's victory over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 US Presidential Elections, the same can't be said about all media outlets or pundits.
24 February 2019, 18:00 PM
The lack of youth participation that we see
Lately, I've had the chance to research a lot about the state of youth unemployment in our country. This included reading multiple reports released by a number of national
19 February 2019, 18:00 PM
Some ways to reduce youth unemployment
In a recent podcast interview, renowned particle physicist Brian Cox said that the scientific community was generally of the consensus that the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the recent breakthroughs in automation technology are likely to replace millions of workers around the world, primarily in jobs that do not require a high degree of skill.
16 February 2019, 18:00 PM
Human rights and civil liberties must take precedence above all else
In an interview with The Daily Star, Professor Ahmad speaks to Eresh Omar Jamal about the model of separation of powers for the governance of a state and why it is so important.
14 February 2019, 18:00 PM
Fixing the mess in our banking sector
When we look at Bangladesh's recent economic performance broadly, we see that it has done quite well having maintained a GDP growth rate of 7-plus percent from 2016 to 2018.
14 February 2019, 18:00 PM
'Real journalists act as agents of people, not power'
John Pilger, as foreign correspondent, covered Bangladesh's Liberation War. His front-page report 'Death of a Nation' alerted the world to the life-and-death struggle of the Bengali people. In an exclusive (electronic) interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, Pilger talks about his coverage of Bangladesh's Liberation War, the state of journalism today, and the current political shifts happening in the West.
15 January 2019, 18:00 PM
What they say, don't say and should say
In its manifesto for the upcoming elections, the Awami League has pledged to strengthen the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC), mass media and the judiciary.
24 December 2018, 18:00 PM
Liberalism vs Neoliberalism: How it connects the protests storming across Europe
Since November 17, protesters who have since become known as the “Gillets Jaunes” (Yellow Vests) have been pouring onto the streets of France in huge numbers.
18 December 2018, 18:00 PM