The death of Begum Khaleda Zia yesterday, December 30, is an irreparable loss to the nation at a moment when it is at a critical juncture. In fact, this is no eulogy to her memory to say that Khaleda Zia was the first elected female prime minister of the country or that she was elected prime minist
The country's health sector has long been languishing due to chronic under-funding, weak governance and systemic inefficiencies, posing a formidable challenge to the new government as it seeks to honour its electoral commitments. Beyond fulfilling ambitious campaign pledges, the administration's fo
The outcome of the February 12 general election, according to the British-American Ratings agency Fitch Ratings, has assuaged to a large degree the growing political and policy uncertainties during the last leg of the interim government. A turnaround in the political arena marked by the Bangladesh
The proposed Family Card programme has become one of the most talked about policy initiatives of the present government, and for good reason. As reported, prime minister Tarique Rahman is going to formally launch the Family Card on March 10. With this first major move, the newly formed BNP go
As the regulatory body of the Bangladesh capital market, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has earned enough infamy. Instead of protecting the interests of investors, small investors to be more precise, it has served vested interest groups and at times is alleged to have coll
The global economy has been on a roller-coaster ride since US President Donald Trump, returning to office for a second term, sought to rewrite the rules of global trade by imposing sweeping tariffs on imports into the United States (US) from most countries. As the US remains the primary export dest
Bangladesh is one of the 10 most climate vulnerable nations in the world. And the prime mover of the climate vulnerability is human action. In fact, human-induced climate change is intensifying the phenomenon of extreme heat across the country. In Dhaka, rising temperatures aggravate air pollution,
The 21st of February is a powerful reminder of the unyielding will of the Bengali people who refused to let their identity be destroyed by the repressive machinery of the state. On this day in 1952, students and ordinary people stepped forward to demand recognition of Bangla as a state language, an
The statement by the newly appointed finance and planning minister that his immediate priorities are deregulation and lowering the cost of doing business is both timely and pragmatic. Speaking to the media shortly after being sworn in, he underscored that restoring momentum to the country's fragile
That a number of environmental organisations have been observing the Sundarbans Day each year on February 14 since 2001 is not widely known. The reason for this is the limited publicity the day's observance receives with the government yet to recognise the day officially. So, the environmental grou
