Wasim Bin Habib

Over 271,000 people in Bangladesh died from air pollution-related causes in 2023, according to a new global report.

It still feels like yesterday. It was a March evening in 2017. I stood outside the labour room -- anxious, restless, and counting the seconds.

Month after month, similar figures emerge, followed by assurances that things will change. Yet, the headlines barely differ.

They carry the nation’s most vital responsibility: shaping young minds and laying the foundation for future generations.

Bangladesh’s eastern coast, a key zone for development activities, is sinking faster than the central and western coasts amid rising sea levels, posing threats to infrastructure, vast swathes of farmland and the livelihoods of millions of people, warns a new study.

As of yesterday, 188 people had died and 44,693, had been hospitalised.

The global lender introduced a new condition for the next instalment of its $5.5 billion loan package

Nearly one in five Bangladeshis aged seven and above remains illiterate, despite Tk 4,000 crore being spent on literacy programmes over the past 34 years.

Bangladesh now has the highest non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in Asia, with defaults surging to 20.2 percent of total loans in 2024, according to a new Asian Development Bank report.

In a setback for the country’s primary education system, the school dropout rate saw a sudden rise last year after a steady decline over 14 years, according to a government report.

This year, DNCC proposed Tk 135 crore budget and DSCC Tk 46.50 crore for mosquito-control activities.

A mother’s grief exposes a broken education system

The acrid stench of charred wood and melted plastic still clung to the air as onlookers gathered around the Milestone School and College building in Uttara’s Diabari.

Toll may rise; around 170 injured, many critically; ISPR says ‘mechanical failure’ caused BAF training plane to plunge into Uttara school

The Asian Development Bank plans to provide $1 billion in budget support to advance Bangladesh’s banking sector reforms, contingent on 25 conditions including the creation of a financial stability fund for banks facing capital shortfalls.

The government has pledged a series of sweeping reforms to meet International Monetary Fund conditions for the next instalment of its $5.5 billion loan, including a public survey to measure corruption in tax administration and a phased reduction of subsidies on electricity, fertiliser, remittances and exports.

Bangladesh’s gross domestic product is projected to surpass the $500 billion mark for the first time in the upcoming fiscal year contingent upon exchange rate stability.

Standoff over Ishraque Hossain’s mayoral post halts civic services in half of Dhaka

The interim government is likely to introduce a transparent system for social safety net schemes in the upcoming budget, increasing the number of beneficiaries by around 10 lakh while slashing one-third of the existing programmes.

“Who will pick up the duck’s photo?” The moment Rafia Sonamoni posed the question to a group of 26 children, four eager hands shot up, accompanied by excited shouts of, “I will!”