The terror attack on July 1, 2016 hurt Bangladesh in a way no other incident has—it left us bare and wounded, stripping away our confidence, our image as a peaceful, hospitable nation in the eyes of the world.

In a recent article in the Eid Magazine of the daily Prothom Alo, titled 1/11, written by Mohiuddin Ahmad,

And so, the long-anticipated election that has brought together familiar foes for yet another battle of wits and wagers is finally over.

In Satyajit Ray's 1980 dystopian film Hirok Rajar Deshe (Kingdom of Diamonds), a diamond miner accused of tax evasion is brought to the court of the king. The miner pleads for the king's mercy, as he confesses that he is too poor to pay taxes.

Bangladesh has prioritised “disability” as one of the major thematic areas of its development agenda. The country has already put necessary policy frameworks in place to ensure disability-inclusive development.

Along with deepening the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), China has also accelerated its cooperation with the rest of the world in recent years.

In May 2018, I concluded my first visit to Bangladesh in my official capacity as Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Whenever there is a discussion on the budget for education, it inevitably boils down to the amount of money allocated.

FIFA World Cup is undoubtedly the most covered media event throughout the world. While American media covered football matches here and there, one particular story dominated the media for the past few weeks: separation of children from their parents in the US-Mexico border.

USD 66,600 or approximately Tk 56 lakh—that is the difference between the yearly salary of the highest graded women cricketers of India and Bangladesh. Indian cricketers receive a daily payment, for their participation in domestic cricket, of Rs 12,500. Bangladesh's cricketers, on the other hand, get paid Tk 600 as match allowance in domestic leagues. That is basically what cricketers who aren't in the national contract play for.

A budget is an accounting of incomes and expenditures for individuals or families. However, it is much more than that for a country. A national budget conveys clear messages for the future direction of the national economy. What messages has the budget placed recently by the finance minister in Parliament conveyed?

"We want to get into power—why? What are the problems we are going to solve? What we want to attack is inequality, violence and corruption.”

Budget implementation capacity of Bangladesh has been falling consistently for the last seven fiscal years, exposing poor capacity of government agencies, The Daily Star reported on June 4, 2018. Despite a sustained increase in GDP growth rate for over a decade, the implementing capacity has dropped from 97 percent in 2010-11 to a mere 78 percent in 2016-17, it further adds.

The courts in the subcontinent including our Supreme Court had held in a number of decisions that in case of sexual offence there is no illegality in convicting the accused on the sole testimony of the victim. But in reality, the courts have hardly applied this rule in a rape prosecution, particularly in Bangladesh.

It felt like I was in the Ladyland of Sultana's Dream. In Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain's famous feminist utopian story, women go about doing their daily work with much ease and face no risk of being harassed or abused by men because men are kept indoors. I felt a similar sense of security when for the first time in my life I got onboard a bus exclusively for women. The experience was rather surreal.

In the days before May 25, email users all over the world were bombarded with a barrage of electronic messages updating them on something called the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR). Observers claim that the number of messages dispatched by businesses throughout the world on the occasion might have surpassed those sent during Christmas or New Year. On that day, Europe became subject to the GDPR, a law aimed primarily at bringing outdated personal data laws across EU up to speed with the fast-moving digital era. GDPR has an impact far beyond Europe.

I was in Bandarban towards the end of this April. An extended holiday weekend had just begun, with fatigued tourists crossing hundreds of miles from around the country to reach this dreamy south-eastern district of Bangladesh.

Two groups are now engaged in a passionate discussion regarding Bangladesh's LDC graduation and the march forward. One group clings to the idea that this changeover might prove to be way too challenging—the other group to the idea that the transition will be seamless and almost inevitable. Interestingly, both of these groups share a common handicap: too much reliance on the present, and too little reflection on the lessons of the past.

There are two prominent themes of contemporary development discourses, both lacking a consensus, as reflected in academic research and in their popular versions in bestseller books.

It is hardly a subject that is discussed in the public domain nowadays, but one recalls “Digital Bangladesh” being the centrepiece of the ruling party's electoral campaign in 2008 and onwards. The aim was to transform the bureaucracy-ridden system, making it faster, more efficient and of course less prone to graft. But such a grandiose mission, till now, remains largely unaccomplished.