A recent proposal to base primary school admission on tests has raised concern as critics argue that forcing young children—who are just starting to explore and understand the world around them—into competitive exams ignores the true purpose of education.

I worked with senior officials at Bangladesh Bank in developing the framework for the 2025 Bank Resolution Act, which is similar to India’s Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, and analogous frameworks in Indonesia and a few other comparable economies.

In Shahbagh, a group of friends sat at a tea stall on an otherwise unremarkable evening on April 10, somewhere between the rhythms of the city and the anticipatory hum of Pahela Baishakh.

The two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, brokered through Pakistan’s mediation on April 8, 2026, is now entering its most critical and precarious phase.

While global attention is on tensions involving the United States, Israel, and Iran, another crisis continues quietly in Bangladesh.

In discussions on legal and constitutional reforms in Bangladesh, the independence of the judiciary has long been a central issue.

One of the main reasons why the Awami League government was dethroned is the mishandling of the banking sector.

Unless the government’s request for deferment is granted, Bangladesh is set to graduate from the Least Developed Country (LDC) category in November this year.

On April 10 this year, the parliament approved a legislative amendment to the Bank Resolution Act, 2026, which may undo months of banking reform and painful adjustments. Under the revised act, former owners of troubled banks, including those who mishandled their respective institutions to the point of insolvency, may acquire the same institutions again by paying less than 7.5 percent of the amounts previously provided by the government and central bank.

Bangladesh’s online space today reflects a shift that was perhaps inevitable, but also difficult to manage.

The tendency to argue that Bangladesh needs an authoritarian leader—provided that leader is benevolent—remains a middle ground to which many retreat, especially when they believe voters lack sufficient literacy to make informed choices

Imagine a woman in Dhaka who has spent three years building a small textile business.

While Islamic banking’s significant market share and systemic importance within the banking system are often highlighted as notable achievements, a troubling reality undermines this success: a substantial portion of investments in several Islamic banks are non-performing.

Bangladesh has long recognised the value of acquiring advanced training abroad. Over the years, public funds have supported postgraduate study and research through a number of government-backed schemes, including science fellowships and overseas scholarships for university teachers.

While the fragile ceasefire and ongoing talks amid the Iran-US war offer some hope, the war has already driven up fuel costs and strained supply. For Bangladesh, this means rising prices, fiscal pressure, and a deepening energy crisis.

The war in Iran has sent shockwaves through global oil markets and triggered a severe worldwide energy crisis, amid which Bangladesh’s vulnerabilities have been starkly exposed.

In March alone, amid a sudden measles outbreak, some 229 patients died at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital (RMCH) awaiting ICU beds. Ninety-one of the deceased were children. Many died on waiting lists, never receiving the treatment they needed, and the numbers are still rising.

Every year, farmers in the haor wait anxiously for the harvest season. A flash of lightning in the sky or a cover of dark clouds can send waves of panic through them during March and April.

Some days ago, while passing through Panthapath on my way to work, I saw many people, including day labourers and rickshaw pullers, gathered with sombre expressions: the roadside food stalls they depended on for affordable meals had been removed.

Bangladesh’s maritime sectors, particularly shipbuilding and ship recycling, are entering a phase where future competitiveness will depend less on labour availability and more on skill intensity, safety compliance, and technological capability.