The success of Dhaka as a productive, vibrant and resilient city is vital to Bangladesh's future. Home to 18 million people, Dhaka is the main hub of economic activity in the country, generating a fifth of national GDP and nearly half of all formal jobs.

Friends come in all shapes and sizes, as the saying goes. But a true friend is one who sees us more clearly than we see ourselves. They see our flaws, our good sides and bad sides, and are willing to say the things that most people won't say.

It used to be said that “the pen is mightier than the sword,” but in these days of ever-increasing reach and power of the social media, the image has usurped the written headline as the number one medium for grabbing the reader's attention, with various reports showing that 85 percent of social media users respond to an image as opposed to the written word.

On the evening of September 18, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held video conferences in Delhi and Dhaka respectively.

Is India's main opposition Congress party treading a path of soft Hindutva policy to counter the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in the coming national elections? Is it the right path to counter another and the more hard-line brand of Hinduvta of its main rival BJP?

America has had a fairly inscrutable history. Haven to the oppressed in the European continent, its early settlers, while relishing the fruits of freedom, pretty much exterminated its indigenous inhabitants.

Establishing a business can be life-changing. Particularly for women in developing countries where it's a passport to financial independence: a means of breaking out of poverty. More women in employment gives families financial security.

In 2016, I attended a political science workshop at Wroxton College in Oxfordshire in the UK on parliamentary issues (the field is known as legislative studies). At the workshop I presented a paper describing the role and responsibility of Members of Parliament (MPs), as part of a research project administered by University of London, SOAS.

Today [Wednesday, 26 September], Heads of State will meet at the United Nations for their first-ever meeting dedicated to ending Tuberculosis as a public health threat.

Early in June this year, a women-only bus service named Dolonchapa was launched by Rangs Group in Dhaka with a view to giving women a “safer” and “easier” travel option (The Daily Star).

It is not very often that we hear about groundbreaking scientific advances in Bangladesh. So, reports in The Daily Star on two successive mornings about two exciting discoveries were very special.

It is quite evident that Bangladesh will be playing a prominent role at the 73rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) this year since the Rohingya crisis will be one of the dominating agendas for not only Bangladesh but also many other countries.

The discussion on the revision of minimum wages in Bangladesh's apparels sector over the last eight months has ended with a partial announcement of minimum wages by the Minimum Wage Board (MWB) on September 13, 2018.

Bad news: The law that will dictate your digital life for the foreseeable future is finally here.

According to the recent Global Innovation Index 2018, published annually by Cornell University and the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), Switzerland is ranked as the world's most innovative country while Bangladesh ranked 116th, the lowest in South Asia.

In the past week, a few interesting things happened. For one, a report by a New York-based research firm was published, which found that Bangladesh topped the list of countries with the quickest growth of ultra-wealthy individuals.

After almost three decades, the election of the Dhaka University Central Students Union (DUCSU) may be held under pressure due to public demand and nudging by a rule of the High Court.

Are developing countries under-utilising a wealth of diaspora resources? Can more be done with diaspora capital, expertise and connections?

Each morning at 6am, across from the American Embassy in Dhaka, hundreds of day labourers wait in hopes of finding an employer. Garments, domestic, and hospitality workers walk on either side of the street toward factories, homes, and hotels.

The ready-made garment (RMG) sector in Bangladesh has enjoyed rapid growth, with the country now well established as the world's second largest supplier of apparel and with the industry accounting for 83 percent of Bangladesh's exports, employing some 4.4 million people.