Columns

Taxation is usually discussed as a matter of rates, exemptions and revenue targets. Rarely is it discussed as a matter of information, of whether the people setting policy are sufficiently informed about the markets they are taxing. Too oft...

The news that 36 per cent of regular students enrolled for completion of higher secondary education have not even registered for this year's ongoing Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations is alarming. Two years back about 1.5 milli...

The implementation of the ninth pay scale, raising basic salaries by 100 to 130 per cent, from July 1 along with a proportionate increase in allowances in the next fiscal year, is good news for government employees. It comes as a huge relie...

One of the areas where a technology-driven system has long been felt most urgent is land management. Although the slogan of "Digital Bangladesh" has occupied a prominent place in public discourse for years, the reach of digital technology i...

The global transition to clean energy is often presented as an environmental imperative. For climate-vulnerable countries such as Bangladesh, however, it is something far more fundamental: an economic necessity, a development strategy and,...

In Bangladesh, food security is structurally synonymous with rice security, as the crop serves as the foundational backbone of the nation's nutrition, rural economy and agriculture. Rice constitutes a staggering 94 per cent to 97 per cent o...

It was 51 years ago that the Bangladesh government, for the first time in the country’s history, demonetised the Tk 100 banknote. The decision to invalidate the banknote, the highest-value note at the time, was driven by the urgency t...

There is no better gauge of an investment climate than the willingness of foreign investors to risk their own capital. By that yardstick, Bangladesh has long fallen short. Grand promises, smart investment summits and promotional campaigns h...

The Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Rankings for the year 2027 released on June 18 last once again presents a poor showing by the universities---public or private--- in Bangladesh. As usual the University of Dhaka (DU) is leading...