They come handy to 60 percent of city dwellers of the capital by providing a relatively cheap mode of transport. Admittedly, they are the main cause of traffic gridlock in Dhaka and there is a huge gap in the official number of licensed rickshaws, a hundred thousand, and the actual estimated figure

REMITTANCE inflow is a major contributor to our economy, yet the plight of those whose backbreaking labour keeps the money

The report submitted by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) to the High Court (HC) recently states that there are some 458,000 unfit vehicles on the road nationwide.

We are horrified by the gruesome murder of Rifat Sharif, a 25-year-old man, in broad daylight in Barguna,

Eliminating child labour still remains a big challenge for Bangladesh as the country currently has 17 lakh children engaged in different forms of work, many of which are extremely hazardous. And without making implementable workplans, enforcing the relevant laws, revising the existing national policies as well as re-evaluating the list of hazardous work, ending child labour by 2025, which is an SDG goal, will not be possible. A recent roundtable by Prothom Alo has come up with these suggestions.

A recent study conducted by researchers at Dhaka University has revealed some shocking findings: detergent and antibiotics for humans in packaged milk. The DU study also detected a long list of health hazards, including textile colourant in turmeric powder.

It’s ludicrous that those in charge of making sure this country remains liveable need to be nudged into action for the most routine affairs, such as ensuring cleanliness and protecting residents from public health hazards.

The accident in Moulvibazar’s Kulaura upazila on June 23, in which four people lost their lives and over a hundred others were injured, points incontrovertibly to the abject lack of maintenance and oversight of the railway tracks and rolling stock across the country.

The High Court’s comments on Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution’s (BSTI) statement about unlicensed dairy farms and companies seem very logical, given that the organisation has been trying to shirk its responsibilities.

Among the myriad challenges lying ahead of the Bangladesh government, tackling rising inequality in society is one of them.

A report in this daily gives us startling revelations of the state of paediatric treatment in this country. Although childhood cancer is on the rise, the facilities available to treat it are very scarce and often too expensive for most people.

The finance minister’s revelation in parliament that half of all the defaulted bank loans in Bangladesh was held by 0.17 percent of borrowers, is simply astonishing. Total bad loans now stand at a whopping Tk 1 lakh crore and the number of total defaulters at 1.7 lakh.

We have time and again cautioned against the perennial danger of unsafe classrooms for schoolchildren—a blight on the face of Bangladesh’s much-vaunted primary education system. The latest proof that the authorities are not taking heed of this danger surfaced

The public has been so accustomed to hearing empty assurances from government servants and political leaders that the common man feels easily disposed to dismiss any new pledge out of hand, because as sure as not, in most cases such words in the past had

We are in concurrence with leading agricultural economists who have suggested at a seminar that a special fund be formed for farmers so that they receive price support during the harvesting period. The crisis of farmers remaining in debt and poverty, because they

PLAYGROUNDS and open spaces serve, quite literally, as a city’s lungs that give its residents a breathing space and its younger population an opportunity to grow in a healthy way. City-planners and architects at an event recently underscored this message before

We welcome, albeit with a pinch of salt, the formation of a special committee led by Dhaka South City Corporation mayor to remove illegal vehicles from the streets and free footpaths from grabbers,

It is a peculiar situation obtaining with regard to the pulled-down structures constructed illegally alongside the rivers and water bodies belonging to the government.

That 13 percent of all deaths of females aged between 15 and 49 occur due to childbirth-related complications, as found in a recent study, is shocking.

The High Court has rightly expressed concerns about the lack of oversight that emboldens pharmacies to sell expired drugs to unsuspecting patients.