"I grew up as a young girl in Bangladesh, a post-war country at the time ravished by famine, and saw everyone trying to do their part to rebuild the country."

Earlier this month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced that the government will take steps to recognise the Dawrah-e-Hadith of Qwami madrasah education as equivalent to a Masters degree. The Daily Star talks to Professor Ali Riaz and Professor Salimullah Khan about the controversy surrounding the issue.

From the particular perspective of Bangladesh, two types of challenges impede her bilateral trade with India.

The Daily Star talks to three experts - a researcher, a labour activist and a development professional - about the progress Bangladesh has made and the challenges it still faces.

After the Rana Plaza tragedy, in July 2013, the government signed a plan of action on fire safety and structural integrity in the garment sector with the employers' and workers' organisations.

Why is Pahela Baishakh an important practice? Why is it still relevant today?

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to India from April 7 to 10 has raised our expectations of resolutions of various prickly issues. Engr M Inamul Haque, Chairman, Institute of Water & Environment, talks to The Daily Star's Naznin Tithi about the long awaited Teesta treaty and other water sharing related issues that should be discussed during this visit.

Group Captain (retd) Shamsul Alam Bir Uttam is a decorated Air Force freedom fighter who recently received the Swadhinata Padak 2017. Shamsul Alam Bir Uttam speaks to Mir Aftabuddin Ahmed about some key moments in his life leading up to Bangladesh's independence.

"It is absolutely wrong to say that there is no IS presence or that the Holey Artisan attack was carried by home-grown terrorists. There is nothing "home-grown" about that attack. The attackers did not reflect anything home-grown."

"They said that the divorce rate in Bangladesh is so high because women these days are getting too educated, which gives them the independence to leave their husbands when they are abused physically or refrained from an activity; this wouldn't be allowed in earlier times."

In 2014, Maryam Mirzakhani became the first woman to win the Fields Medal, considered the 'Nobel Prize of Math', for her contributions to the dynamic and geometry of Riemann surfaces and their moduli spaces.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Professor Shafiqul Islam, Director, Water Diplomacy Program, The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University, talks to Nahela Nowshin about the challenges of water governance.

In an exclusive interview with The Daily Star, Myles Allen, Professor of Geosystem Science at the Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, talks to Amitava Kar about Bangladesh's success in addressing climate change, smart ways of reducing

With the announcement of the 2017 edition of the Top 500 NGOs, NGO Advisor decided to launch a series of interviews with

This year, the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare's death prompted an outpouring of celebrations around the world.

Merely days after the Liberation War ended in 1971, the government of the newly formed Bangladesh, in a historically unprecedented move, termed women who were victims of sexual violence during the nine months of the war as Birangonas (war heroines). This, along with the state efforts of rehabilitating these women, has meant that unlike the conventional attitude towards wartime sexual violence, the issue is not mired in silence within Bangladesh

"We have to remember that human rights constitute the right to life, right to liberty, right to equality and right to dignity of a person. Cases of involuntary disappearance simply trample upon these basic rights."

"What I want to say is that the way the government is behaving with indigenous people now is violating their human rights.What is the solution? The government must provide them with protection. They must prosecute and punish those who are committing such crimes."

The vicious attacks on Hindu homes, establishments and temples since October 30 indicates an increase in the level of bigotry among certain sections of the society. The question is how did these miscreants get the courage to carry out these crimes? The Daily Star talks to some individuals who have been directly affected or are speaking out against these hate crimes.

A lifelong advocate of science, Shamima K Choudhury is a professor of Physics at the University of Dhaka and the Director of the university's Bose Centre for Advanced Study and Research in Natural Sciences. On a recent afternoon, Professor Shamima talked to