According to a Global Innovation Index report published in July 2018, Bangladesh is ranked 116th out of 126 nations, the lowest score in Asia—below India ranked 57th and Pakistan ranked 109th.

Private university student Sumon (not his real name) had already gone to bed when the police came to his bachelor pad, last month. The cops were on a “block raid”—a security exercise that Dhaka Metropolitan Police executed over several areas in the city in the aftermath of the Safe Roads movement waged by student protestors.

The local e-commerce industry in Bangladesh started booming as a proper ecosystem around 2012, with the advent of faster internet connections in the country and legalisation and approval of online payment by Bangladesh Bank in several stages.

Md Nasir Uddin, an employee of a private company, has been using shared motorbike rides through ride sharing apps regularly since September 2017. His rating with Uber and Pathao, two popular ride-sharing apps operating in Bangladesh, is 4.9 out of 5 and 93 percent respectively.

The momentous growth in the digitalisation of the finance industry over the last decade(s) has transformed the sector to a point where an increasingly wide variety of financial services are now becoming available to more and more people, faster than ever before.

The score of the Bangladesh team in the first match of the Asia Cup was not enough to win but it did show the immense patriotism and strong commitment of Tamim Iqbal.

Nowadays we can judge a person easily by their social media activities. It seems as if we are being controlled by devices—whether it be a family gathering or a vacation with friends—as we are busier sharing the best moments on social media to let people know what we are doing rather than enjoying the trip or spending time with family.

Self Photographic Position by Mahmuda Tuli

I had originally tried my hand at learning to speak French but failed spectacularly. So, I turned to Spanish, a seemingly more manageable language, where I could, at least, pronounce the words I was reading.

The case of the Dhanmondi-8 public playground is emblematic of the problem with Dhaka's open spaces, parks and playgrounds. De facto taken over by Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, it has, for years, been used exclusively for its trainings and practices.

In terms of ticket sales and admissions, it holds the bragging rights for the biggest annual film festival in the world, but the Berlin International Film Festival—or Berlinale, as it is better known as—is not just about its numbers.

Nostalgia is not an 'old person' sentiment anymore. It's real and it's hovering above us every minute of the day. Do you ever find yourself going through letters, post cards and old birthday cards received from friends and family members living all over the world? What about catching a movie or a TV show re-run that you grew up

More than 700,000 Rohingyas, who fled the genocidal military operations of Myanmar a year ago, are still living under constant threat of attack. Sheltered in 30 refugee camps in different parts of Cox's Bazar district, they are not vulnerable to Myanmar army's raid anymore. This time, they are being threatened by their own people.

A three-day international conference on the Rohingya crisis, which came to an end earlier this week, was organised by the Department of Criminology at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban at Dhaka University. It was entitled: “Rohingya: Politics, Ethnic Cleansing and Uncertainty.”

"NO excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness''—Aristotle. In a particularly distraught moment, I logged on to my Facebook account and reached out to all my friends who I knew battled with one or the other form of mental health issues. Some were going through troubled marriages, some disappointing their parents, some struggling adults, some unable to go to grad school and all battling their minds.

After 47 years of independence, Bangladesh is yet to embrace freedom of expression in the real sense. Free speech, under Article 39 of its Constitution, remains a highly qualified right and is subjected to restrictions.

Rahima Khatun tries to cross the busy Mirpur 10 circle, with her four-year-old daughter in her arms. She waits for a while and when the traffic slows down, she runs across the road.

As you enter one of the inner rooms of Shilpakala's Gallery-1, you notice a television with a tap attached to its screen.

A multitude of languages can be heard around the refugee camps in Cox's Bazar. There are the Rohingya refugees themselves who speak Rohingya; some also speak Burmese.

The last two years have witnessed thousands of Bangladeshi female workers, who were tortured, abused or cheated, return home from the Middle East with painful memories.