The Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa’s visit to Bangladesh—to join celebrations marking the golden jubilee of Bangladesh’s independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman—comes against the backdrop of a devastating pandemic and thus an increased awareness on both sides of the need for deeper engagement to combat its economic fallout.

The eagerly awaited Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2021 has finally begun—delayed by almost a month and a half because of the pandemic. Having the book fair in March, however, has its own relevance as this month will mark 50 years of the nation’s independence and the birth centenary of Bangabandhu the Father of the nation.

A report published by Swiss-based air quality information company IQAir on March 17, 2021 has termed Bangladesh as the most polluted nation and Dhaka as the second-most polluted city in the world regarding air pollution.

We strongly condemn the attack on at least 75 Hindu houses by several hundred Hefazat-e-Islam supporters in Sunamganj’s Noagaon village on the morning of March 17.

For Bangladesh to be celebrating its golden jubilee at a time when it has achieved remarkable economic growth, despite all the hurdles and challenges of the first few decades of its existence, is no mean feat. After gaining independence at the cost of millions of lives and the trauma of unbelievable violence,

We are shocked and saddened by the deaths of three patients after they were shifted from Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) dedicated for Covid-19 patients when a fire broke out in the ICU facility. The patients died when they were shifted to the CCU from the ICU.

The people of Myanmar have been protesting the Myanmar military’s unlawful seizure of power since the beginning of February.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has said he will work with President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to strengthen the complementarities between two development strategies, advance Belt and Road cooperation, and take the strategic partnership of cooperation to a new height.

On the morning of March, 18, 1971, Major General Khadim Hussain Raja, then general officer commanding of 14 Division in East Pakistan, and Major General Rao Farman Ali,

On the morning of March 17, the Mujib-Yahya talks resumed. Today was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 51st birthday. Bangabandhu reiterated his demand for the withdrawal of martial law and the immediate transfer of power to elected representatives.

Are we living in the Middle Ages? The report carried in this paper yesterday about a helpless woman divorced and thrown out on the streets for giving birth to a girl child suggests that we are.

In a move unprecedented in Bangladesh’s economic history, the government has decided to use 524.56 million euros (Tk 5,417 crore) from the foreign exchange (forex) reserves for the dredging of a channel for Payra Port in Patuakhali, as part of a plan to use the reserves for high-priority development projects.

The High Court on Sunday observed that students cannot be tortured, intimidated and pressurised, physically or mentally, as per an earlier directive of the court, and we are in full agreement with this.

The recent accident during the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line-3, which injured six workers, seem to be because of the rush to finish an already delayed project.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman met President Yahya Khan this morning. He arrived at the President’s House in a car flying a black flag to mourn the death of those killed during the ongoing non-cooperation movement. It was an hourlong discussion.

The rivers of Bangladesh are so crucial to its existence that they have been recognised as “living entities” or “legal persons” with their own set of rights by the High Court, and the National River Conservation Commission (NRCC) has been appointed as the legal guardian of all rivers in the country.

No sooner had the virus reached a trough than we see a spike in the number of infected cases in the country. Some countries have been so badly infected, like Italy, that they have gone into another countrywide lock down.

President Yahya Khan arrived in Dhaka today. No local political leader went to the airport to meet him. All the entries of the airport were heavily guarded. Siddiq Salik, then public relations officer in the Pakistan army in Dhaka, recounts,

We warmly welcome the government’s plan to build 30,000 homes for those of our valiant freedom fighters who are insolvent, and for the families of deceased and martyred war heroes.

The UN’s decision to send a delegation to visit Bhasan Char, where the government has built a housing facility for around one lakh Rohingya refugees, is a welcome one.