Syed Ashfaqul Haque

Too near, yet too far. Lionel Messi came so close to what was required to surpass Diego Maradona, the football god of his country. But the World Cup, tragically for the Albiceleste, remains elusive for a player considered one of the greatest of all time.

Politics in Bangladesh seems to have been possessed by the devil of late. It looks as though both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have lost their grip on the goings-on.

A dinghy waiting at the poolside and patches of green inside a Gulshan dwelling.  

Politics in Bangladesh seems to have been possessed by the devil of late. It looks as though both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia have lost their grip on the goings-on.

Rafiq Azam wanted to be a painter, just a painter and nothing else. At the age of only seven, he picked up paint and brush to try his hand on a canvass. He tried to capture what was in abundance all around him back then in the early fifties -- a green Bangladesh. In the eyes of the young boy, the land of rivers and six seasons appeared to be a mystic artwork of nature. So, he went on to capture it, pouring lots of green and light in his painting.

In a city of concrete mess, life is not what one wants it to be. Dream, love and passion for life get buried deeply somewhere in the ways of nonstop urbanisation and thoughtless building designing. Zest for life fizzles out just the way greens and waters disappear from this once beautiful city. So, you live a life in Dhaka without loving it.

Shaheena is finally out of the building, but not alive. Rescuers on Sunday made a frantic effort to pull out Shaheena from the rubble of the collapsed Rana Plaza.

The government wishes to get a grip on the unregulated business of the multi-level marketing and illegal banking of cooperative societies.

The wages of garment workers should be immediately readjusted in line with inflation and the consumer price index to quell persistent unrest in the industry.

An ever-growing China continues to offer a plateful of concern as well as curiosity to the world outside. Concerned, as this reformed communist country shows no respect for human rights, and its socialist market economy is ominously aggressive. Curious, as the strange Chinese system shows no signs of failing.

The world's top buyers of Bangladeshi garment products yesterday gathered in Dhaka to share their concerns over persistent labour unrest in the industry and to finalise an SOS message to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Buyers from about 19 leading brands, including Walmart and Gap, appear deeply troubled at the conditions of the garment and textile sectors and the prospects of their business in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh can learn a lot from China about tackling corruption and the role a clean government can play in executing a billion dollar-plus project like the Padma bridge. China, poised to become the world's largest economy, gives most of the credit for its amazing run of over 11.5 percent economic growth for a decade to its policy of zero tolerance for corruption.

Indications are strong for major earthquakes to strike South Asia, geological experts observed yesterday, a day after a 6.9 magnitude quake in Sikkim rattled the region, killing 71 people in India and Nepal.

Exactly one year back, he conquered the Mount Everest to become the toast of Bangladesh.

The trial of war crimes must be held to ensure justice, but politics should be kept at bay, observed Ian Martin, a former secretary general of Amnesty International and a witness to the beginning of Bangladesh's War of Independence on March 26, 1971.

The trial of war crimes must be held to ensure justice, but politics should be kept at bay, observed Ian Martin, a former secretary general of Amnesty International and a witness to the beginning of Bangladesh's War of Independence on March 26, 1971.

As we ring in 2011 and say goodbye to 2010, the last thing we want to do is bid a tearful farewell to a friend or a loved one killed in an accident caused by a reckless driver. The year 2010 passed with all its happenings--good and bad.

The much-publicised row between a ruling party lawmaker and local administration for the last one week over recruitment of only 12 low-ranked staff in the Pabna district has put the issue of good governance and credibility of the government on the line.

The much-publicised row between a ruling party lawmaker and local administration for the last one week over recruitment of only 12 low-ranked staff in the Pabna district has put the issue of good governance and credibility of the government on the line.

A shot of the popular Monika's Kitchen in Bangkok. Inset, Shefali sits near the picture on the wall in which Monika is seen receiving an MBA certificate from Thai Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn at a convocation on January 5, 2007.