Something is rotten in the state of Denmark”, lamented Hamlet. Though the context is different that's the pervasive thought of conscientious Bangladeshis irrespective of their economic status and social standing at the moment.

It would appear from the relative calm on the streets and in universities that the student movement, which has catapulted an entire generation of teenagers into adulthood in just a matter of days, is over.

I remember I was in the classroom of a high school in a small district of Bangladesh when several students appeared at the door, and sought permission from our teacher to say a few words before everyone.

Since its foundation, the Bangladesh Ready-Made Garment (RMG) sector has enjoyed rapid expansion, reaching an audience of international buyers and contributing to 83 percent of per annum exports, employing some 4.4 million people, and contributing over USD 32 billion to the economy.

For all the talk about change, the history of modern-day Bangladesh is a cautionary tale for anyone who thinks that politics is an instrument of change and democracy a deliverer of justice. Bangladesh flirts with the idea of change but seeks accommodation with the status quo.

The idea of globalisation and free trade has gained prominence in the world over the past three decades. Despite some limitations, globalisation and free trade regime are seen as beneficial for economic development, poverty reduction, and enhanced integration among countries.

Last week the teens of Bangladesh have written a new chapter for the annals of the democratic struggle of the country.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year on counter trafficking efforts, mostly on investigation and criminal prosecution, raids to "rescue" irregular migrants and sex workers who are thought to be potential victims and trainings to raise awareness among those who might possibly experience or encounter human trafficking.

With most public universities already fixing dates for admission tests after the publication of this year's HSC examination results, the battle of admission seekers for getting a seat at their desired university is about to begin.

A fundamental law of physics, also applicable to the social sciences, is that everything in nature is in a state of flux. The sage Heraclitus had said we never step into the same river twice.

Toronto is a city which wholeheartedly accepts inclusivity, diversity and progressive thought as the foundational norms of its everyday journey. This Canadian cosmopolitan city posits a wide array of multicultural settings—from the famous Danforth-Victoria Park region which houses a high number of Bangladeshi immigrants, to the globally acclaimed financial district in Downtown Toronto.

The present government has taken significant initiatives in setting the right vision and formulating policies and action plans for transforming the country into “Digital Bangladesh”. The focused government initiatives have resulted in an accelerated pace of growth of internet users, which in the last four years have more than doubled from 38 million (June 2014) to 88 million (June 2018). This is a tremendous achievement by any standard.

Eliminating economic hurdles to encourage women's participation in the workforce remains at the heart of any economy's development agenda.

No sooner had the results for the Higher Secondary and School Certificate (HSC) examination been published that strong deliberation regarding the problems and prospects of further education after HSC sprang up. Major print and electronic media covered the news giving utmost priority to the said issue.

As we cruised into the Kirtankhola River near Barisal, the sun had just begun to rise. A faint outline of a long line of trees and structures appeared on the horizon. It was a welcome sight after a night in what seemed like the middle of nowhere, sailing through mile after mile of unknown waters.

In the month of May, I was invited to represent Bangladesh at the Copenhagen Fashion Summit in Denmark. The Copenhagen Fashion Summit is the most influential summit on sustainability in the fashion world. More than 2,500 international visitors and more than 100 thought leaders discussed the challenges that the fashion sector and the value chain associated face today.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, the 19th-century American writer, physician, and dean of Harvard Medical School, once said, “If all the medicine in the world were thrown into the sea, it would be bad for the fish and good for humanity.

Abdul Karim was born in Banshkhali, Chittagong on June 1, 1928. He passed his school final in 1944 and intermediate in 1946 from Islamic Intermediate College, currently Haji Muhammad Mohsin College.

As one heads towards the elections in Pakistan on July 25, the main question in concerned minds is whether Imran Khan, the leader of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), is going to be Pakistan's next prime minister.

It is well-known that the minimum wage of Bangladesh's garment workers is one of the lowest in the world, but what is less well-known and discussed far less often, is that the productivity of the sector is also the lowest among apparel producing nations, largely due to the fact that Bangladeshi workers lag behind other nations in skills and suffer from a lack of skill development opportunities and facilities.