Shameran Abed, Senior Director of the Brac Microfinance and Ultra-Poor Graduation programmes, talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about Bangladesh’s progress in reducing extreme poverty and the challenges ahead, how Brac’s Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) programme has fundamentally changed how we look at the ultra-poor, the importance of innovation, women as agents of change, and what the Covid-19 crisis has taught us.

A report by The New York Times that US President Donald Trump did not pay federal income taxes has raised the question about how much impact it will have on the upcoming US election. Ali Riaz, distinguished professor of politics and government at Illinois State University in the United States and a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council, talked to Golam Mortoza of The Daily Star on the issue. The interview was taken before the presidential debate held on September 30.

First of all, Julian Assange’s US extradition case is a direct attack on the First Amendment by the US government. This is the first time the (US) Espionage Act is being used to prosecute a publisher.

Dr Ali Riaz is a distinguished professor of political science at Illinois State University (USA) and a Nonresident Senior Fellow of the Atlantic Council. In this interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, professor Riaz talks about the old and new challenges to democracy and whether democracy globally is on the retreat.

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.

Personal protective equipment (PPE) which comprise of gloves, masks, cover-all, etc. are all essential items in our fight against the coronavirus. However, they may also become contaminated after use and their disposal is a matter of grave concern. Dr Mubarak Ahmad Khan’s latest innovation, now at the conceptual stage—a biodegradable, non-toxic material to make PPE (cover-all) which can easily be discarded without causing any harm to the environment—is a game-changer.

Prof Serajul Islam Choudhury, a leading public intellectual and academic of the country, talks to Emran Mahfuz of The Daily Star about the government’s handling of the impacts of Covid-19, inequalities and injustices in society, future threats and the need for reforms. The following is a translated excerpt.

This week, in The Daily Star’s new interview series that aims to give readers an idea of what changes to expect in a post-Covid 19 world, Dr Quamrul Haider talks to Badiuzzaman Bay.

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.

Dr Zahid Hussain served as a Lead Economist in the Macro, Trade and Investment Global Practice of the World Bank. Since joining the World Bank in 1995, he has worked on several of the organisation’s flagship reports on Bangladesh. Prior to that, he was a member of academia, with 14 years of teaching experience in a number of universities in Bangladesh and abroad.

Researcher and scientist Dr Bijon Kumar Sil is a renowned name in the field of microbiology. In 2003, he invented the SARS coronavirus detection kit in Singapore.

The health crisis created by coronavirus has turned into an economic crisis now. It is not clear to me why the “stay at home” order has been called “holiday”.

In an interview last month, UN Special Rapporteur on Torture Nils Melzer said: “I speak fluent Swedish and was thus able to read all of the original documents [of the alleged rape case in Sweden involving Assange]. I could hardly believe my eyes:

The first female National Professor and Ekushey Padak awardee Dr Sufia Ahmed has had a long, illustrious career in academia and beyond.

You see, there is a most interesting story on this point. That evening, my house was surrounded by commandos and they wanted to kill me if I came out of the house, giving the names of my own people and saying that Mujib Rahman has been killed by the extremists of Bangladesh.

You co-authored a book some years ago called “Going Digital: Realising the Dreams of a Digital Bangladesh for All”. What is its central thesis?

Catherine Masud is an American-born filmmaker and road safety activist. Until her late husband-director Tareque Masud’s death in a road crash in 2011, they worked together to produce numerous award-winning documentaries and features.

It is most unfortunate that the situation of the Buriganga could not be improved much even after taking so many steps and projects.

The new transport law has been watered down quite a bit because of opposition from the transport owners and workers. Even so, the workers called a strike recently demanding amendments to the law. How would you evaluate the new law and the workers’ demands...

On July 29, 2018, a bus rammed into Dia Khanam Mim and Abdul Karim Rajib, both students of Shaheed Ramiz Uddin Cantonment College, killing them and injuring 12 others while they were standing on the pavement at a bus stop on Airport Road, adding to the stupefying statistics of people dying in road crashes.