Md Shahnawaz Khan Chandan

On March 8, Thursday, when the entire country was looking forward to enjoying the weekend, things were quite different in the Sal forest of Gazipur district. A troop of at least 20 soldiers in camouflaged uniform and armed with assault rifles was seen blocking a road that passes through the forest. The roadblock was guarded by two heavily armed bunkers built on both sides. Suddenly, a group of armed rebels, yielding Kalashnikovs and machetes, were

Last Sunday (March 25, 2018), university students all over the country brought out a unique procession. Putting all their educational certificates around their necks, they took to the streets with mops and brooms. As the procession moved forward, the students started sweeping the streets. Hundreds of thousands of university and college students brought out this unique, peaceful demonstration all over the

On March 22, many organisations and leaders of Bangladesh widely celebrated Water Day. Ataul Karim, a Bangladeshi entrepreneur and owner of ABM Water Company, has conceptualised a way to face the challenge of the severe drinking water crisis in Bangladesh. He says, “At my locality in Sylhet, the drinking water has a high concentration of iron. At first, I didn't have the know-how, but, I started to explore the field of water resources. So, I studied

"The city wrapped in starlight, was in deep slumber. The night was as pleasant as a spring night in Dacca could be. The setting was perfect for anything but a bloody holocaust. At around 11:00 pm, the local commander [Dacca] asked permission to advance… everybody looked at his watch. The Operation Searchlight began with great cunningness, surprise, deception and speed combined with shock action…

It is rare for women to be at the top, period. And even rarer for that woman to have worked their way to the top—more commonly, those who hold privileged positions often inherit their family businesses. Here, we feature women in diverse industries who have worked their way to the top, in a man’s world.

In the first part of this series the Star Weekend revealed, how huge amounts of waqf (an endowment made by a Muslim to religious, educational or charitable cause) properties in Bangladesh have been completely grabbed by illegal occupiers. We found that 122,294 acres of endowed estates are now under illegal occupation and Bangladesh government's waqf administration has lost control over 90 percent of these estates.

In the early twentieth century, when Calcutta's political and social elites were protesting against the formation of a university in East Bengal, which would educate the “uncouth, working class”, the Nawabs of East Bengal came forward. Dhaka's Nawab Khwaja Salimullah donated 600 acres of land to establish necessary buildings for the university. The property also included Nawab's gardens and court buildings (now Madhur canteen and Shahbagh area). Syed Nawab Ali Chowdhury of the Nawab family of Dhonbari, Tangail even mortgaged a part of their estate to collect funds for the university.

A mysterious phenomenon rocked the southern coast of Bangladesh in the 19th century. It was a phenomenon which was experienced by

Mursalin Kabir, a child of only 11 years, attended three admission tests in the first two weeks of January. After completing his Primary School Completion exam from a primary level kindergarten school

"No, no, no, all rubbish. They are determined to bring Bangladesh down. They only find wrong in government policies. They don't see development in the country,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith in a burst of anger when

The neighbourhood around Dhanmondi Lake is a quiet residential area. On each side of the narrow roads, there are only residential buildings, a few grocery stores and the tranquil greenery of Dhanmondi Park.

Have you ever imagined what would it be like to not be able to see your surroundings, the faces of your loved ones, the pages of your favourite books? According to a 2011 study, there are at least 200,000 youths in Bangladesh

Just 50 years after the ascension of Jesus the messiah, Saint Thomas, one of Jesus's 12 apostles set foot on the Indian subcontinent to preach the prophet's holy words.

The tendency to change textbooks according to the ruling party's ideology and its own version of history has meant that millions of students have learned distorted, inconclusive versions of history.

Juboraj, the 19-year-old ailing lion is awaiting death in a cage at Comilla Zoo. His skeletal body and the rotting wounds on his back are stark signs of the extreme negligence that put him in this fatal state.

Bangladesh's towns and cities are infested with problems resulted from uncontrolled population growth and unplanned infrastructural developments.

Most of these madrasas, including the Government Madrasah-E-Alia, Dhaka have lost their foundational spirit of producing skilled manpower by providing unified education with religious knowledge.

Shoaib Hossain, a 26-year-old madrasa teacher, was well-thought-of by his neighbours for his honest and polite character. He was also venerated as a young hafiz (a person who has memorised the entire holy Quran) by the inhabitants of Charigram village under Singair upazila of Manikganj district.

With no psychosocial assistance, Rohingya refugees are vulnerable to life-long PTSD.

Sitting under the cool shade of the large chestnut trees by the playground of Notre Dame College, students read, chat and take some rest from their otherwise hectic day. When ripe chestnuts fall, they pick those up promptly, but they never shake these fruits from the trees. The giant Gagan Shirish trees, located opposite the Harrington Building of the college, are home to countless birds—living in an undisturbed, harmonious environment for generations. Every spring, hundreds of flowering trees such as plum, naglingam, magnolia, rose and Ixora bloom and adorn the beautifully landscaped premises. This is how the students, teachers and staff of Notre Dame College, for generations, have been paying respect to the college's natural aesthetics and to Professor Dwijen Sharma, the institution's former teacher and an eminent naturalist, botanist and writer who spent years designing the institution's beautiful landscape and planted most of the trees with his own hands.