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
Three years ago, Bangladesh and India agreed to settle part of their bilateral trade using their respective currencies. The currency swap mechanism to bypass the US dollar, however, did not progress. Instead, it was decided that only a small portion of exports and imports would be settled in Indian
The organisation that collects, compiles and disseminates official statistics on socio-economic, demographic and environmental issues actually functions as the brain trust of a government. From that point of view, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) should have been able to play that critical
Bangladesh's regression from a successful child vaccination country has been marked by the current outbreak of measles which has claimed 41 lives of children until Sunday last. The country launched its Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) as early as 1974 and has successfully eradicated polio a
The war in the Middle East has entered 2nd month, and there is no end in sight. All sides are claiming that they are winning, but only one outcome that is certain is global economic recession and suffering of ordinary people both in the conflict-affected zones and beyond. While people in Iran
The news that Iran had named Bangladesh among a handful of "friendly nations" whose vessels might be granted safe passage through the blockaded Strait of Hormuz had, for a brief moment, offered a significant relief. That prospect, however, has been swiftly overtaken by subsequent developments. Iran
As was the case during past Eid-ul-Fitr holidays, the incumbent BNP-led government, too, had no shortage of assurances, nor goodwill, to ensure a safe Eid travel home and back for Eid holidaymakers this year. True, security measures were apparently beefed up, strong monitoring was mounted, addition
The long-debated proposal for bifurcation of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) appears, at least for now, to be at a crossroads. What once seemed like a decisive reform initiative has slowed as policymakers pause to reconsider whether the groundwork has truly been laid. The finance ministry's rec
This year the nation observes its Independence Day against the backdrop of an insane war away from this country's shore in the Middle East. As the shockwaves of the Israeli-American war reverberates all across the world primarily because of the energy crisis made acuter by the near closure of the s
The idea of constructing the Padma Barrage was originally conceived in the 1960s as a strategic response to the Farakka Barrage built by India across the Ganges River (called Padma in Bangladesh) to divert its water into the Hooghly-Bhagirathi water system. The purpose of Farakka Barrage was to flu
