The World Bank Business report 2018 published on October 31 had mixed signals for Bangladesh. On the whole, we scored more points than the preceding year, but the increased costs associated with starting a new business and some other indicators cost Bangladesh one full point in the rankings.

Experts at an international conference held recently in Dhaka have identified the lack of professionals at the local government institutions as a fundamental barrier to planned urbanisation in the country.

While directing the higher command echelons of the police to take stern actions against its errant members, the Police HQ's refusal to take responsibility for misdeeds of any police personnel is surprising.

In what is sadly, no longer a surprising incident, Aziza, a student of class V, was allegedly set on fire over the allegation of stealing a mobile phone in Khainput village, Shibpur upazila, Narsingdi, on Friday night.

What took place at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) on Sunday can only be described as shameful.

The Myanmar government has reportedly begun harvesting 71,000 acres of rice paddy in Maungdaw, confirming an earlier report by Reuters, which said that the Myanmar government had made plans to harvest, and possibly sell, thousands of acres of crops left behind by the fleeing Rohingyas.

Targeting the motorcade of Khaleda Zia does very little to validate the government's tall talk about the flourishing state of democracy in the country.

Much to the dismay of preservationists, the century-old laboratory building in Dhaka's Khamarbari area is being demolished by the Public Works Department (PWD) as it is deemed to be a risky building. Strangely enough, despite it having historical value as it once housed the Cotton Development Board during the British-era, the building is not on the heritage list, a loophole that is being exploited for its demolition.

UNICEF has said on Friday that it found high levels of acute malnutrition among children in the Rohingya refugee camps.

We accept the premise that it is not the sole responsibility of the Election Commission to hold free and fair elections, but on its rests the primary responsibility of doing so.

Women constitute a big portion of our RMG industry workers, and it is their hard work that is bringing our country foreign earnings. Yet, the number of gaps that exist in our labour laws, policies and practices is stunning.

We have 70,000 inmates and only six doctors to look after them. Although there are 112 posts for prison doctors lying vacant, the state appears to be happy with the pool of just six doctors. Money literally talks in prisons.

If abuse of power is the worst of all forms of corruption, as some say, a section of our security forces is definitely making the most of it.

As per a report published in this daily yesterday, the Chittagong Outer Stadium, one of very few playgrounds available to children in the port city, is being used for other purposes.

Even bridges in Patuakhali and Barguna have collapsed and none has been rebuilt or repaired. And there have been casualties too. A five-year-old died falling into the canal and four others injured when the lone bridge on Sutabaria canal (in Dashmania upazila of Barguna district) collapsed on January 14.

The Indian External Affairs Minister's comments at the end of her brief visit to Bangladesh merit reaction on two major aspects of the Rohingya issue—the humanitarian and political.

In the midst of a chronic shortage of gas, the government disclosure of a huge reserve of gas in southern Bhola district is undoubtedly a welcome news.

We are quite taken aback by the remarks of the Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister at a seminar where he has said that the waterlogging situation was much worse in expanding cities like Kolkata and Mumbai, compared to Dhaka.

Amidst allegations of the question paper being leaked before the exams, the admission test results for Gha (D) unit of Dhaka University (DU) for 2017-2018 sessions has been published on Sunday.

No one can take issue with the statement of the Deputy Head of the Chinese Communist Party's International Department that foreign interference in the internal affairs of a country is counterproductive.