Naznin Tithi

In the early hours of December 24, the deadliest launch fire in Bangladesh’s history wreaked havoc on the launch MV Abhijan 10, burning so many people alive; as of December 28 afternoon, the death toll from the tragedy stood at 42, with more than 50 people still missing.

We are not really aware of how much we use plastic materials in our day-to-day lives.

There is hardly any positive news about our female migrant workers employed in the Middle East or those who have returned home from there.

In yet another sign of rapid deterioration in the quality of life in Dhaka, a recent study, published by the US-based scientific journal PNAS, has found the city to be the worst-affected around the world due to extreme urban heat.

The other day, I was listening to this popular song by Kafil Ahmed, one of the few gono sangeet artists of our time.

Prof Siddiqur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Education and Research (IER) at Dhaka University and member of the National Education Policy 2010 formulation committee, talks to The Daily Star’s Naznin Tithi about the challenges we may face in implementing the new school curriculum, the outline of which was recently approved by the prime minister, and how we can solve them

Professor Dr Kazi Shahidullah, chairman, University Grants Commission (UGC), former chairman, department of history, Dhaka University, and former vice chancellor, National University, talks to The Daily Star’s Naznin Tithi about how universities can recover from learning loss as they are resuming in-person classes and why our universities should continue with online education alongside classroom education.

Being someone who is keen on watching films that were made on our Liberation War in the early seventies—and the films that made an impact on our nation’s movement for freedom—for me, Zahir Raihan is a legend.

January 20 is observed as Shaheed Asad Day. On this day in 1969, Amanullah Mohammad Asaduzzaman, an MA student of Dhaka University and a leader of the East Pakistan Students’ Union, was killed by the Pakistani police forces while students were holding processions against the repressive regime of Ayub Khan, breaking Section 144 of the constitution imposed by the government.

As I ordered a Hoya and a Dischidia, two beautiful trailing house plants, from a seller online, I was elated to think how easy it has become nowadays to buy plants from various Facebook groups and online shops.

He made it clear at the very beginning that he was passing extremely hectic times and that it would not be possible for him to talk for long.

After years of wait, we are finally going to get the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) 2016-35 for Dhaka. Yet, there is nothing to be happy about it.

Monsur Ahmed Chowdhury, Founder Trustee, Impact Foundation Bangladesh, and Member, Executive Board, Disability Council International, talks to The Daily Star’s Naznin Tithi about how to ensure an inclusive environment and society for persons with disabilities.

It is hard to believe that three children still die of pneumonia every hour in Bangladesh, according to a recent Prothom Alo report.

Recently, Dhaka South City Corporation has brought some changes to its waste collection system, unfortunately creating more dissatisfaction among its inhabitants than relief.

Shameran Abed, Senior Director of the Brac Microfinance and Ultra-Poor Graduation programmes, talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about Bangladesh’s progress in reducing extreme poverty and the challenges ahead, how Brac’s Ultra-Poor Graduation (UPG) programme has fundamentally changed how we look at the ultra-poor, the importance of innovation, women as agents of change, and what the Covid-19 crisis has taught us.

I can’t stop thinking about Lovely—the 14-year-old adolescent girl who used to work at our house and became a full-time companion of my four-year-old son. She first came to our house with her aunt in search of a livelihood. Hailing from a disadvantaged family in Mymensingh, Lovely studied till grade IV and then was sent to the city by her parents to earn a living.

Mujahidul Islam Selim, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about the spirit of the 1962 education movement, the current state of our education system, and how commercialising it helps create further inequality in society.

Two years after the countrywide road safety movement, many of us feel a sense of frustration and disappointment as the much-expected changes are yet to occur.

Marina Tabassum, a seasoned architect who won the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture and the Jameel Prize for designing the Bait Ur Rouf Mosque in Dhaka, talks to The Daily Star’s Naznin Tithi about the future of housing in flood-prone and coastal regions as well as the importance of local knowledge for a sustainable solution to housing.