May 5 marks the International Day of the Midwife, with this year’s theme being “One Million More Midwives.” For Bangladesh, this is a call to complete a journey that began with great promise.

Over more than five decades, Bangladesh has progressed reasonably well in socioeconomic terms compared to many of its peers among the least developed and developing countries.

A plateful of rice may be considered an unhealthy overindulgence for those of us with sedentary lifestyles. Yet the Bangalee spirit cannot be satisfied in any other way.

Bangladesh remains imprisoned in a conversation about exam centres and grade sheets.

Is there any immediate prospect of reviving meaningful revenue sector reforms under the new government?

“The classroom remains the most radical space of possibility in the academy,” Gloria Watkins (more widely known as “bell hooks”) used to say.

The issue of abnormally high costs in metro rail construction in Bangladesh has long been a subject of discussion and criticism.

The Election Commission faces legitimate, serious questions, but it is mitigated considerably by the fact that at the end of the day, West Bengal elections were held relatively peacefully, a huge achievement given the state’s torrid record.

Concerns over freedom of the media are not new in Bangladesh. There has been debate, criticism, and international assessment for many years. Bangladesh’s position in various global indices has also come up repeatedly, with the latest World Press Freedom Index putting it at 152th place out of 180 countries.

The primary goal of reserving seats in Bangladesh’s parliament was to ensure women’s representation and voice in parliament.

The attic of my thoughts is peopled by figures whom I never thought would gather to murmur in my head; these are the voices of people who should never have to meet like this.

Do you feel exhausted trying to find reliable facts about everything happening around you?

It’s good news that a special parliamentary committee has been formed to address the energy crisis by offering recommendations on the legal, institutional, and operational issues arising from it.

The United Arab Emirates has announced that it is leaving the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

May Day today is not just a commemoration. It is a checkpoint.

A fact that we don’t discuss much, and seem to have taken as a given, is the politicisation of our various professions.

Bangladesh’s economy remains highly susceptible to price volatility in the international energy market.

Recently, the Police Headquarters issued a nationwide alert about possible militant attacks.

The widespread social acceptance of corporal punishment indicates how violence has become normalised in child-rearing.

Every day, thousands of trucks carry containers, raw materials, and export goods along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway, alongside rising passenger traffic.