The Commonwealth's greatest prize lies beyond the Games

History has endowed our family of nations with shared language, legal traditions, institutional similarities, and diaspora networks that make commerce easier and cheaper.
23 July 2026

Plan well before introducing separate question sets for DU admission

Dhaka University is considering an important reform: introducing separate Science Unit (Ka unit) question sets for Bangla-medium and English-medium applicants so that each group is assessed in a way that better reflects its curriculum.
23 July 2026

‘Textbooks should not undermine girls' confidence or reinforce the beauty myth’

My first concern is that Home Economics itself has traditionally been treated as a highly gendered subject.
23 July 2026

What India’s ‘cockroach’ protest tells us about South Asia’s generation of discontent

When more than 10,000 young Indians marched from Jantar Mantar to the parliament in New Delhi on Monday—responding to a call by the youth-led Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) movement—police launched a crackdown on them with tear gas and batons, allegedly injuring about 150 protesters and detaining many others.
23 July 2026

How can we protect our children from being preyed on?

On June 7, a special court sentenced Sohel Rana, the prime accused, and his wife Swapna Khatun (who helped him escape) to death for the rape and murder of eight-year-old Ramisa Akter.
23 July 2026

How Islamic bank depositors can minimise sharing losses

When a bank loses money through bad financing, lending too much to a few connected borrowers, or fails to recover even normal loans, someone has to bear that loss. And, as per the mudarabah principle, customers would primarily bear that loss, with a few exceptions.
22 July 2026

Why death penalty won't end the drug menace in Bangladesh

Recently, parliament introduced new provisions to bring technology-driven narcotics offences under the Narcotics Control (Amendment) Bill 2026, under which even the maximum punishment—the death penalty—could be meted out for illegal drug trade conducted through cyberspace.
22 July 2026

To make e-buses work, Dhaka needs transport reform

Dhaka recently ranked as the world’s third least liveable city in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) Global Liveability Index 2026, for the second consecutive year.
22 July 2026

Good governance, not just incentives, will improve Bangladesh’s investment climate

An international airport is more than a transport terminal; it is the first demonstration of how a country organises itself.
22 July 2026

Rethinking Bangladesh's health sector reform after SWAp

The introduction of SWAp transformed Bangladesh’s health sector from a fragmented collection of donor-funded projects into a coordinated, government-led programme.
22 July 2026
21 July 2026

Building trust in vaccines starts with stronger regulation

When a mother brings her child for vaccination, she rarely thinks about the science behind the vial of vaccine or the regulatory checks completed long before that moment.
21 July 2026

What Bangladesh can learn from the Global Justice Report

Every once in a while, a document comes along that forces us to rethink the boundaries of what we believe is possible.
21 July 2026

Can the new Rohingya committee move repatriation beyond promises?

The formation of a national committee on the Rohingya crisis, headed by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, is an important political signal.
21 July 2026

The caretaker system can’t be left vulnerable to majority control

The Appellate Division’s July 9 order upholding the High Court’s partial invalidation of the 15th Amendment is a constitutional correction of enormous consequence.
21 July 2026

Disability itself is not a barrier. We must stop making it one

We must stop asking what persons with disabilities cannot do and start recognising everything they can.
20 July 2026

Could the new gambling law threaten citizens’ privacy?

Using technology and extensive police power to prevent gambling in Bangladesh should never come at the cost of our constitutional rights.
20 July 2026

A higher growth target without credible reform will remain elusive

Growth cannot be declared or budgeted into existence; it must be earned through credibility, investment, productivity, and institutional change.
20 July 2026

‘Waterlogging is now more a problem of governance than of rainfall’

Dr Efadul Huq, assistant professor of environmental science and policy at Smith College in the US, talks about the governance failures behind persistent urban waterlogging in Bangladesh.
20 July 2026

Banks’ proposed fee hike is unjust

The banks should ensure their internal management efficiency instead of imposing predatory practices on ordinary people.
19 July 2026