From the beginning of summer this year, a sizzling record-breaking heat wave grabbed the attention of all. Indoors, outdoors - it was impossible to miss or to avoid. It even grasped the attention of the international media because Bangladesh is known worldwide for its temperate climate and this hea
Waves of protest by university students from the United States have now shaken not only the campuses of highest seats of learning in that country as well as Europe and Australia but also the world conscience that went into hibernation or has long become moribund. The protest against Israeli genocid
Two similar events occurred in two neighbouring countries within two weeks. In India, the Bombay High Court issued an order in the third week of April that unauthorised hawkers cannot permanently take over Mumbai footpaths and public roads. Again, last week, the High Court asked the government bodi
It is a story narrated by a senior journalist, who was once a Chhatra League leader of the Rajshahi region and claimed to have been present when it took place. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the then Prime Minister of the newly-born Bangladesh, was staying at the Uttara Ganabhaban during one of
City residents had to put up with a lot of hassle in terms of dust, pollution and dug-out roads or overlapping barricaded medians while the first metro rail (MRT-6) was being built. There long delays and the project had dragged on for years, but residents put up with all the problems associated wit
'How universities are cracking down on a swell of tension months into student protests over Israel's bombardment of Gaza'. This sentence is the heading of a CNN report of April 28 on campus unrests in the USA. The mentioned CNN heading makes it clear that the university authorities are not listeni
It is an emotion-packed suicide note. The writer is a teenager named Israfil Hossain aged 17. Now deceased, the teenager betrothed his sweetheart Rokeya Khatun only 15 years old, whose suicide apparently prompted him to take his own life. Based on the suicide note, at least the police suspect that
Justice is blind. That means it is impartial and objective, and all citizens are equal before the law. And access to justice is neither charity nor mercy, but a basic human right. The right to a competent, independent, and impartial tribunal is articulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Righ
What should have been a time for rejoicing over the primary export sector of Bangladesh, is turning out to be a bitter pill. The readymade garments (RMG) sector has seen its share of its products in the two main markets- the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) fall in both value and volu
A pilgrim in Dhaka received a phone call a couple of months later following his return from Hajj. The caller, introducing himself as a staff of the religious ministry, provided the pilgrim information regarding the already refunded Hajj money. Under the government arrangement, all pilgrims under th
The dispiriting results of the imposition of the floor price on stocks apparently have failed to dissuade the 'overenthusiastic' capital market regulators from opting for unmerited curbs. Before fully withdrawing the floor price, which was imposed around two years ago to keep bears hibernating igno
The national board of revenue (NBR) is slated to overhaul the individual income tax regime in the upcoming national budget. According to a report published in this newspaper, it is understood that the government is to introduce higher rate of taxation ---up to 30 per cent from the current rate of 2
Politics on the educational campuses, or student politics, in short, has often been glorified in the political history of the country. Especially, in the second half of the last century, the universities of the country turned into the battlegrounds for socio-political movements for change. Historic
