Why would microfinance institutions agree to use flexible repayment strategies? Simply because delivering a new product opens a new market, allowing the institutions to reach people who have irregular income flows, while maintaining their profit share.

I first visited Bashkhali in 1991, immediately after a deadly cyclone devastated the area. I could not walk without touching a dead body or its parts...

Just as we were about to forget the pain of the theft of Bangladesh Bank's dough, the pain returns with a stab.

The title "Where to Invade Next" is catchy. In the current political climate of the United States, where election fever has gripped the country...

How important is it to have an overall law for the education system and what can it do to solve the many problems in ensuring the management and quality of the system?

Initiatives for better child health can reduce healthcare burden on families and the state. Moreover, healthy and productive individuals can contribute to government's earning from tax.

Dr N. Paranietharan, the WHO Representative to Bangladesh since July 2014, in an email interview with The Daily Star, talks about the state of healthcare in Bangladesh, the role of WHO in combating major diseases and what we should be focusing on to ensure better health for our people. Dr Paranietharan is a medical doctor from Sri Lanka with a Master of Public Health degree and post graduate training in leadership and management from the Johns Hopkins University, USA.

It seems all those gushing about the game ['Heroes of 71: Retaliation'], when thinking about the Liberation War, focus on the 'war' and forget the 'liberation'-liberation from the communalism, colonialism and the repression by West Pakistan. We get too easily swayed by nationalistic pride of having won in 1971 to look at the issues of endemic rape, murder, repression and corruption that still plague the country.

Today, 99 percent of Bangladesh's girls and 97 percent of boys are enrolled in primary school.

Labour practices and the right to organise by workers have recently received a lot of attention in Western media, triggered by terrible industry accidents in India, Bangladesh and Pakistan.

ON the occasion of World Autism Awareness Day on April 2, I would like to share my experience in bringing up my son Aadil.

The first decade's history of Bangladesh is most consequential but often politically coloured. This historical commentary is different in two respects.

France's Women's Rights Minister Laurence Rossignol lashes out at women in hijab as being 'consenting slaves', akin to those in the American South of yesteryears. Really? What about the Royal Brunei Airlines flight with an all-female crew in hijab flying to Saudi Arabia, a country where women are not allowed to drive?

Close coordination between civilian and military communities is essential for numerous reasons. It speeds response and recovery by utilising the best and most appropriate assets where they will do the most good.

The Lahore park carnage is a grim reminder that we are far from decapitating the terrorist network. Their network is like a jigsaw puzzle and we are far from sorting out the full picture.

With the most optimistic aspirations, each taka spent toward formalising international migration through UDCs could produce Tk. 40 worth of benefits.

In northern rural Bangladesh, the autumn lean season is the most difficult time of year, especially in Rangpur, where close to half of the 15.8 million residents live below the poverty line.

The health, nutrition and population (HNP) sector of Bangladesh has achieved commendable success in recent years.

Forty five years ago, at zero hour on March 26, 1971, Pakistan Army launched one of the most heinous genocides in human history which could put Halaku and Hitler to shame due to the scale of the carnage.

Guidelines on Internal Control & Compliance for Banks were issued by the central bank on March 8, 2016, which recommended the commercial banks to take insurance as a risk mitigation measure. Such insurances are not over-the-counter products, and must be customised as per each bank's unique exposures.