Reform conversations about universities in Bangladesh tend to break down at the same point. Someone identifies a real problem.

In July 2024, a young woman in Dhaka stood in front of a police prison van, trying to stop officers from taking away a fellow male student.

On Friday, August 14, nine workers died after suspected toxic gas exposure at the shipbreaking yard of Ferdous Steel Ship Recycling Industries at Bhatiari in Chattogram’s Sitakunda upazila.

On August 20, for only the second time in our history, parliamentarians will have the opportunity to elect the president of the republic.

Bangladesh’s education system, from primary school to the HSC examination, has mostly been built around marks earned through memorisation. GPA-5 has largely become less a measure of understanding and more about how faithfully a student can reproduce a model answer, a formula or a paragraph learnt by heart.

While awaiting the completion of a government-initiated process to select the three information commissioners, following a prolonged vacancy that this column has lamented time and again, it may be useful to revisit the enduring value of right to information (RTI) in strengthening democratic governance.

Earlier this month, a national daily reported that at least 325 academic papers published by Bangladeshi researchers in international journals published between 2019 and 2026 had been retracted due to various irregularities, including plagiarism.

The question whether Mujib’s murder could have been avoided still remains.

How we treat our national currency reflects a broader issue of civic responsibility, financial culture, and respect for public property.

A retail store owner in any part of the country processes dozens of bKash or Nagad transactions an hour, pays suppliers every week by digital transfer, and never misses a utility bill.

The recent revelation of the retraction of at least 325 research papers (by Bangladeshi researchers) from international journals between 2019 and June 2026 is a cause of concern for the entire country, not just for the academic community.

A landmark study published in the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, led by Dr Fazle Rabbi Chowdhury and 29 co-investigators, deserves the attention of every policymaker, physician, regulator, and farmer in Bangladesh.

In 1976, Ziaur Rahman, then Chief Martial Law Administrator, established the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) by ordinance, bringing fuel marketing and distribution under one state roof.

After experiencing the tragedy of enforced disappearances, many countries have undertaken various legal and institutional reforms to prevent such crimes from recurring.

More than 40 percent Bangladeshis live in urban areas, 35 percent of whom reside in slums, according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics’ 2022 census.

The numbers from this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations tell a striking story about Bangladesh’s girls.

Bangladesh built its garment industry on scale, competitive labour costs, and the ability to supply large volumes of basic apparel.

The UGC has decided to centralise research grants that were previously allocated directly to public universities, arguing that a single funding mechanism will reduce duplication, improve accountability, and focus on national priorities.

Decades of systematic discrimination, statelessness, persecution, ethnic cleansing, and what numerous international bodies have described as genocidal acts have transformed the Rohingya into one of the world's most vulnerable populations.

Reading the news of Biman Bangladesh Airlines flying engineers and spare parts about 7,000 kilometres from Dhaka to fix a Dreamliner stranded at Rome Fiumicino Airport, one cannot help but wonder: does this make any sense at all?