Martin Swapan Pandey

Every time he extends his hands to seek alms, Sohrab Hossain, 63, looks embarrassed. Begging has never been his livelihood; it is now.

When much of the camp around her is still fast asleep, Radia, 12, wakes up at 5:00am and quickly buries herself in her Quran study. Throughout the day, she spends as much time as she can -- eight to ten hours daily -- memorising the Arabic texts.

The Canadian police investigation in the Padma bridge corruption conspiracy case was essentially flawed and the allegations were based on nothing more than “gossip, speculation and rumour”.

Slamming the door shut on innocent people fleeing murderous men and machines from parts of the world which, in President Trump’s own words, is “in a horrible mess” defies everything America stands for.

Even a decade ago, child mortality rate in the WHO South-East Asia region was the highest and maternal mortality rate second highest among the six regions of the world health body.

In its fight against neglected tropical diseases (NTD), Bangladesh remains on track in terms of treatment and elimination of Kala-azar and lymphatic filariasis, but it remains a potentially risk country for leprosy in the 11 nations of WHO South-East Asia region.

For over a decade now, there have been class boycotts, exam cancellations, cases and counter cases, and even violence on the streets, but none of these has solved the accommodation problem of Jagannath University students.

Panna Akter remembers only one date of her life. She can't recall the date of her birth or marriage, and she isn't sure on which dates her two sons aged around five and six were born. “These dates are written in a diary,” she says, and springs from her seat to bring it.

Successes are many. But Bangladesh still struggles in its fight against tobacco with at least 156 people dying and another 1,095 becoming disabled due to smoking in the country every day. Tax increase and other government interventions to cut tobacco consumption seem fruitless, as production, export, import and consumption of cigarette and smokeless tobacco are on the rise.

"When I woke up just after dawn on September 28, 1928, I certainly didn't plan to revolutionise all medicine by discovering the world's first antibiotic, or bacteria killer,” Sir Alexander Fleming would later say famously, “But I suppose that was exactly what I did.”

Health services are not always as safe as they could and should be. Patient safety has become a great concern of today's healthcare, because as interventions are becoming complex with time, patients are more at risks of medical errors.

Ananta Das is dead and cold alright. Yet because man is what he stands for and believes in, something tells me it's not him that is dead. Rather, those of us who have failed to save his life are.

Promising jobs in Malaysia, transnational human traffickers held about 2.5 lakh Bangladeshis captive in Thailand...

It was beauty all around. Fathers walking their daughters taking in the many colours of life. Mothers holding their infants trying to make sense of the world. Friends moving shoulder to shoulder.

So the BNP shocks the nation's collective conscience once again.

The issue came to the fore in recent years after food adulteration reached alarming proportions.