State should investigate all deaths in custody
A sense of injustice being perpetrated against them by state actors is increasingly building up among the common people.
20h ago
The joke is really on us
Moody’s, one of the big three global rating agencies, downgraded its outlook for Bangladesh’s banking sector from “stable” to “negative.”
1w ago
Iran-Saudi détente: Has a major shifting of the sands begun?
Hostility between the two sectarian rivals has dominated Middle Eastern politics in recent years, spreading into Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, and Yemen.
2w ago
Let me speak my mind
Mushtaq might have been the worst victim of the DSA, but he was not the only one.
‘The danger of an all-out world war is ever present’
Famed war correspondent John Pilger discusses the Russia-Ukraine war.
Creating conditions for our youths to prosper
Despite overcoming its many economic challenges, one obstacle Bangladesh continues to struggle with is creating enough quality employment opportunities for its young population.
‘Unpredictability has become the new normal’
Unpredictability has become the new normal in a world afflicted by the forces of deglobalisation amidst rising geopolitical tensions.
‘When people with integrity begin to rise, corruption fails’
Narayan Adhikari (Nepal country director and co-founder) and Sanjeeta Pant (programmes and learning manager) of Accountability Lab speak with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star.
On-field glory, off-field controversies: The World Cup so far
From a neutral point of view, this world cup has also given us great moments that resemble David overcoming Goliath.
How WikiLeaks revolutionised the world of journalism
Stefania Maurizi, an investigative journalist working for the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano, speaks to Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star.
Destroying the economy to save the thieves
An unholy nexus of powerful people are protecting those who've stolen thousands of crores.
What modern states can learn from Ancient Rome
Many economists today believe we are committing one of the biggest economic blunders, which has brought ruin to countless past societies.
Revisit process of policymaking, not just the policies
The burden of imported inflation and supply-side implications of reduced imports will have adverse implications for economic growth and welfare, particularly of marginalised people.
Global economy showing warning signs
“It’s going to get ugly, the recession,” and there will be “a financial crisis,” Roubini said.
How can Bangladesh circumvent the global oil war?
Bangladesh should immediately get into negotiations with energy-exporting countries to come up with favourable arrangements.
Load-shedding in Bangladesh: Are we living in 2022 or 1984?
The lack of transparency in the energy sector is costing the nation dearly.
Energy prices should be consciously regulated by the government
When global prices dropped, we did not see the energy prices go down in Bangladesh. Why is that?
Only the guilty need indemnity laws
The national energy crisis is a direct result of the corruption and nepotism encouraged by the indemnity law.
Pelosi’s Taiwan visit: Overstepping China’s ‘red line’
US-China friction over Taiwan likely to have worrying impacts on global stability.
Debacle of National Household Database
Once again, the public must pay for the government's failure.
‘We can’t afford any further depletion of our forex reserves’
Ahsan H Mansur of Policy Research Institute talks about Bangladesh’s current economic crisis with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star.
The two economic problems we can’t seem to overcome
There are two major economic problems that have been plaguing Bangladesh for a long time: Rising non-performing loans (NPLs), and money getting laundered out of the country.
The indigenous experience is similar, be it in Bangladesh or Canada
Researching the plight of Indigenous people is a passion of mine because I am Indigenous.
‘There’s a disconnect between the proposed budget and reality’
Dr Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), discusses the proposed national budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star.
Be careful with ‘over-optimism’ for megaprojects
One important but oft-ignored thing is that design and implementation mistakes delay the revenue-generation phase of megaprojects.
Make the national budget relevant again
The number of risks that our economy currently faces because of all the global instabilities is perhaps unmatched since the early days of Bangladesh’s independence. Amid this reality, the government is set to present the new budget early next month.
The Ukraine conflict is much more serious than you think
The war in Ukraine is, in reality, a proxy war being fought between the West and Russia. Unlike its portrayal in the Western media, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was neither unprovoked nor unpredictable.
Why I’m all for Elon Musk buying Twitter
If we are to have an inclusive society, we can’t simply “cancel” those who we don’t agree with.
Pain and anger in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka is known as the country of smiling people because of their friendliness. But recently, the island nation has been experiencing an explosion of pain and anger.
A deadlier pandemic lying on the world’s and our doorsteps
While Covid-19 captured the attention of the world for the last two years or more, another pandemic has been silently killing countless numbers of people around the world.
Pre-election promises, post-election disappointments
According to a recent report, due to the insistence of lawmakers, the government is going to repair religious establishments and build new bridges across the country at a cost of Tk 5,132 crore.
‘Inflationary pressure higher than what official figure suggests’
Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), talks about inflation and the discrepancy between official and real data in a conversation with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star.
‘Political will is the missing catalyst for quality education’
Dr Manzoor Ahmed, professor emeritus at Brac University and vice-chair of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) Council, talks to Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star about a new book, of which he is a co-author, on the political economy of education in South Asia.
Our youth are craving opportunities
In a first-of-its-kind study, the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the finance ministry found that around 1.6 million young people lost their jobs and about 20 million youths faced income loss due to the pandemic.
Is Bangladesh Bank’s new decision good for the banking sector?
Over the years, experts have identified two major problems in Bangladesh’s banking sector.
‘Prosecuting Assange will have a devastating impact on press freedom’
Stefania Maurizi is an investigative journalist working for the Italian daily Il Fatto Quotidiano. She has worked on all WikiLeaks releases of secret documents and partnered with Glenn Greenwald to expose the Snowden Files about Italy.
In a climate of exploitation, marginalised groups are easy pickings
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), speaks to Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star about the discrimination faced by marginalised communities and the rise of fundamentalism in Bangladesh.
‘There can be no excuse for not formulating the EC law’
Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar is global vice-president and country director, The Hunger Project, and secretary of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan). In this interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, he talks about the constitutional obligation of formulating a law to establish the Election Commission and why politicians so far have ignored it.
‘Mental health has always been a neglected issue’
Dr Mehtab Khanam is Honorary Professor, Department of Psychology, Dhaka University, and a renowned psychotherapist. In an interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, Dr Khanam talks about the state of mental health awareness in Bangladesh and how much it affects general well-being.
Development for whose benefit?
When we ask the question, “Who should development benefit?”, the answer should be quite straightforward: “the people.” But in reality, that is not often the case.
Time to address the growing wealth gap in Bangladesh
In a recent report, the World Bank stated that better targeted social protection programmes and reallocation of existing transfers to the poorest segment of society could reduce poverty from 36 percent to 12 percent in Bangladesh.
Winners and losers of the West’s ‘forever wars’
Today marks 20 years of the 9/11 attacks on the US masterminded by Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and a bunch of “ragheads” (as angry racist US soldiers called them) sitting in some cave in Afghanistan, as per the West’s dubious official narrative of what transpired on this day.
From the graveyard of empires, the US retreats
Twenty-years after 9/11 and the invasion of Afghanistan by US and NATO forces, the US is on the cusp of withdrawing its forces from the proverbial “graveyard of empires”, with the US military claiming its withdrawal is more than 90 percent complete.
Iran nuclear agreement and the future of US-Iran relations
As of now, the US and Iran are yet to conclude their talks in Vienna “on the terms of Washington return(ing) to the [Iran nuclear] agreement,” according to The Guardian.
Have we done enough to address the problem of drug abuse?
On May 27, The Daily Star reported that detectives had claimed to have seized LSD, an extremely potent hallucinogenic drug, for the first time in the country during a raid in Dhaka.
What does and doesn’t happen when money changes colour
On May 19, the finance minister said, “The scope [to whiten black money] will be there as long as undisclosed incomes will be there.” (The Daily Star) Before commenting on this statement, let’s take a step back and think how we got to this point.
Our health sector is ‘sick’ because of government apathy
In a report published on May 1, this newspaper revealed that according to a recent study, the Covid-19 treatment cost is abnormally higher in private hospitals compared to public hospitals.
The pandemic has exposed our existing vulnerabilities
The ongoing pandemic has caused huge economic losses for the world. In 2020, growth in South Asia contracted by 5.4 percent, which does not capture the whole story of how terribly its people have actually suffered—but it is an indicator of how the region has struggled over the last year.
April 7, 2021
Government must have a clear vision to ensure better healthcare
For this year’s World Health Day, the World Health Organization wanted to highlight the importance of building a fairer and healthier world. In terms of fairness, how do you rate our healthcare system? And when it comes to ensuring a healthy population, how would you rate its performance?
March 29, 2021
Solving the power sector’s overcapacity problem
One of the less talked-about downsides of the pandemic-induced lull has been the increasing financial stress on the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB). According to a study last year by the Ohio-based Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis,
March 6, 2021
Issues that demand inclusion in the development debate
The reason behind the creation of the concept of Least Developed Countries (LDC) by the UN in the 1960s was to identify a set of nations whose development struggles were not solely based on their own shortcomings, but due to other structural constraints.
February 27, 2021
Our financial system is just broken
It was good to hear the High Court blasting a section of Bangladesh Bank officials for their alleged connection with financial scams involving People’s Leasing and Financial Services Ltd (PLFSL), a non-bank financial institution (or NBFI) that is now in the process of liquidation due largely to the infamous PK Halder and his associates.
February 11, 2021
Transforming Bangladesh into a stable success story
After liberation in 1971, Bangladesh faced massive economic and humanitarian challenges right from the get-go. The country was born through struggle, but the struggles were nowhere near over as its economy was quite simply in tatters after the war—and even from before.
January 16, 2021
Main reasons why the government’s recovery effort has fallen short
Bangladesh is no stranger to disaster management. Since independence it has dealt with numerous natural disasters as well as political unrest and overhauls.
January 2, 2021
A year when poverty increased, and so did misery
The year 2020 has been like no other in recent history. Even the biggest doomsdayers could not have predicted what was to occur, and how the Covid-19 pandemic was to derail millions, if not billions, of dreams and aspirations.
November 29, 2020
Is there no one to speak up for Palestine?
On the occasion of International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Bangladesh, Yousuf S Ramadan, talks to Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star about some recent major developments concerning the longstanding occupation of Palestine by Israel and the forces that are contributing to the denial of Palestinians’ human rights.
November 22, 2020
How Bangladesh can benefit from China’s economic recovery
As the nation holds its breath in anticipation of a potential second wave of Covid-19, five countries including Bangladesh have decided to strengthen sharing of information and coordination of policies and actions to cope with its probable impacts.
November 14, 2020
Covid-19 And The Economy: Where on the path to recovery are we?
The year 2020 has been a disappointment due to the Covid-19 pandemic. And just one of its many downsides can be seen on the global economy which, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is set to contract by 4.9 percent in 2020—with the IMF saying in its June report that this “baseline projection rests on key assumptions about the fallout from the pandemic.”
X