Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The government decision to reimpose 25 percent customs duty on rice import in a bid to protect growers is likely to fall short of expectation as most of the small farmers have already sold their produce to middlemen.

If you visit the Kalsi canal in Mirpur, you are bound to mistake the canal for a landfill owing to it being chock-a-block with a thick layer of plastic waste.

A number of senior BNP leaders are seeking to retain control over the party's city units by incorporating local leaders loyal to them in the committees.

A long, winding queue of Rohingyas starts to form near the only working tubewell before daybreak. As the small hours go by and the sun begins to glare, the thirsty people leave their 5-10 litre water containers in the queue and wait nearby.

Water scarcity in the capital of South Sudan is so acute that the city dwellers have to depend on the water of the Nile. The White Nile flows by the eastern edge of Juba.

The BNP will keep a close eye on the Gazipur city polling stations the night before the voting day and try to assemble party men outside to guard the centres during polling as part of its new strategy for the June 26 mayoral polls.

Today marks the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. Behind every Bangladeshi army personnel deployed in UN peacekeeping missions, there is a story of sacrificing the comfort of family life in favour of keeping the people of a distant country safe. For female army officers, it's often more than that.

More than physical discomfort and even mortal danger, Bangladeshi peacekeepers in Africa appear to be most haunted by their craving for Bangladeshi cuisine.

Bangladeshi peacekeepers have been working relentlessly to restore normalcy to the war-torn South Sudanese capital Juba and other parts of the country four times the size of Bangladesh.

Road communication is key to growth and development. But they are much more than that in South Sudan, which has been embroiled in a bloody civil war since its independence in 2011.

Seven years into its independence, the youngest country in the world still remains one of the most violent.

Major Hossain Mohammad Maruf of the Bangladesh Army had to leave for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as part of the Bangladesh contingent with the UN peacekeeping mission only 17 days after his first child was born.

When one walks through the entrance to the Bangladesh Rapidly Deployable Battalion headquarters in Bunia of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the first thing that catches the eye is a huge plaque that says "Peace begins with a smile".

As children, some of them learned to take “rapid action” in emergencies like cyclones and flash floods. No wonder they are now on duty in a faraway country that often requires such rapid action.

The BNP faces a tough challenge ahead of the Gazipur City Corporation election as many of its leaders and activists in the city have gone into hiding following the filing of a vandalism case against them.

It was perhaps one of the luckiest days for Osman Haider Chishty and Sanjida Luna, as they welcomed their baby girl on April 10, 2005. They named her Sirajum Munira Punni.

National issues have been dominating the election campaigns of the Awami League and BNP mayor candidates in the Khulna and Gazipur city polls.

The topi-clad man is holding a placard reading a three-word sentence, simple but sharp like a piercing bullet. "We want justice". Coming from a member of the world's most persecuted people of our time -- the Rohingyas.

Bangladesh government has urged the visiting UN Security Council delegation to keep pressure on the Myanmar government to speed up the repatriation process and to recognise the Rohingya situation as a crisis.

Bangladesh looks forward with optimism as the UN Security Council delegation begins a visit to Bangladesh today, eight months into