In Bangladesh, although primary education is free and the government provides the textbooks, more than 4.3 million children aged 6-15 years are not in school.

It is difficult these days to go anywhere or do anything without thinking or hearing about inflation – what is less obvious is what to do about it.

Today – June 23 – marks the 87th birthday of Serajul Islam Choudhury.

Years ago, when I was about eight-years-old, I heard a teacher say that a woman’s lungs are stronger than a man’s.

From a small village-level local government election to the larger parliamentary polls, every election is a learning opportunity – that’s the beauty of a working democracy.

Well-known civic rights activist Mizanur Rahman’s narration of his harrowing experience of being picked up by police and tortured under custody, published in this newspaper’s online version on June 15, gives us some disturbing snapshots of the unlawful actions of our law enforcement agencies.

It was pitch-dark when I entered Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital on Saturday afternoon. The ground floor was submerged in knee-high floodwater. I climbed up the stairs to the first floor to find an elderly patient named Ana Miah lying on the floor.

We have not seen such devastating floods in the country since 1988. Every year during monsoon, the haor areas of Sylhet and Sunamganj districts experience flooding – but it has never been this catastrophic.

A power shift in Myanmar and the subsequent polarisation among major powers triggered a new geopolitical flashpoint in Bangladesh’s strategic backyard, which the latter cannot afford to ignore.

The budget for FY2022-23 is filled with rhetoric. But its credibility is poor because of its contradictions between the priorities and the actual allocations for education, agriculture, health, and the vulnerable population.

The just completed Cumilla City Corporation election was a “test case” for the newly formed Awal Commission.

The government has declared the national budget at a time when the world is still reeling from the Covid pandemic.

Flawed environment decisions and resulting failures are not new in the policy context of Bangladesh. And yet, they thrive.

It is not just anti-corruption HRDs who fear being targeted in Bangladesh.

India is in hot water both home and abroad since two leaders of BJP, the ruling party, publicly said derogatory remarks about Prophet Muhammad.

The rainy season has just set in, and we have already started to experience waterlogging in many parts of Dhaka.

A "smoking zone" in the middle of an otherwise smoke-free area does not protect people from second-hand smoke.

As authoritarianism creeps in across the world, the ideals of participatory democracy and representative governance have taken a back seat once again in many countries.

I probably won't be too wrong in saying, there is nothing likeable about the rainy season if you happen to be a Dhaka resident who have to be out and about, rain or shine.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed to withdraw the existing 5 percent supplementary duty on all types of polythene bags, plastic bags (including oven plastic bags) and wrapping materials made of polyethylene.