Views / Columns

Why is hilsa out of reach?

Why is hilsa out of reach?

The interim government's decision to increase food aid through vulnerable group feeding assistance during the lean days of ban on fishing to the fishermen families is a commendable move. Notably, the fishing ban comes on two occasions for 22 days between October 12 and November 2 to protect  m


Global FDI and Bangladesh

Global FDI and Bangladesh

The decline in global foreign direct investment (FDI) in the first half of the current year is not unexpected, even if it is undesirable. A tariff war initiated by US President Donald Trump has intensified global trade tensions in the first half of 2025. During the period, the world also went throu

Small businesses in a time of strain

Small businesses in a time of strain

It is hard to keep up with the dizzying pace at which the country is changing. Cityscapes are evolving every day. In almost every neighbourhood, new buildings have gone up in the last decade and, wherever space allows, more are still going up. These are the years of growth and modernisation that ha

Return back to Nature ensures survival of human race

Return back to Nature ensures survival of human race

Nepal has emerged as the most Nature-connected nation in the world, according to a research, first of its kind, conducted by academics from Britain and Austria. Involved with the ground-breaking research was Miles Richardson, a famed professor of Nature connectedness at the University of Derby. The

Is restoration of Dhaka's rivers elusive?

Is restoration of Dhaka's rivers elusive?

While rivers across Bangladesh face grave vulnerabilities-encroachment, pollution, siltation, and declining navigability-the situation is particularly dire for the rivers surrounding Dhaka. A couple of them are practically lifeless, having lost their channels altogether. Despite repeated calls for

Safety measures must to restore confidence in metro rail

Safety measures must to restore confidence in metro rail

It was a bright afternoon on October 26, 2025, when tragedy struck once again in Dhaka's Farmgate area. A bearing pad from the city's metro rail infrastructure fell from above, fatally hitting a young man named Abul Kalam Azad. He died on the spot-leaving behind a grieving mother, a devastated wife

Is the world closer to the doomsday?

Is the world closer to the doomsday?

As Trump directed his country's Department of War to what he said start testing their Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis in response to other countries' testing programmes, the world is going to enter the insanely competitive era of nuclear testing. Here, by other countries, he has evidently meant R

Bangladesh's struggle to make trade sustainable

Bangladesh's struggle to make trade sustainable

Can the trade and environmental policies interact? If yes, what will be its influence on climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, and global trade flows? The questions are not new, and the answer to the first question is a resounding 'yes': it is both possible and necessary to interact with tr

Who will take responsibility for the poor?

Who will take responsibility for the poor?

Over the last five decades, Bangladesh has seen governments come and go, each promising to position the country as a model of development or as the next rising economic star in the region. Certain governments have, to their credit, achieved notable progress, although in an inconsistent rather than

No room for independent media commission!

No room for independent media commission!

Old habits die hard. Reportedly, the information ministry essentially run by bureaucrats are once again up to the task of foiling the independence of media stipulated in the draft report submitted to the chief adviser. The reported striking off the independent media commission, the most important i

Factors affecting growth of industrial credit

Factors affecting growth of industrial credit

The modest surge in the disbursement of industrial credit in the last fiscal year may be considered as a sign of a rebound in the industrial activities in the country, as well as overall economic growth. Although many other economic indicators are already available, the central bank released the an

Putting a price tag on life

Putting a price tag on life

Regular loss of lives under most unfortunate circumstances has become a part of the city dwellers' precarious existence in the bustling megacity of Dhaka. The tragic death of 35-year-old Abul Kalam Azad from the bearing pad of metro rail pier falling on his head in Farmgate area has once again brou