The icddr,b study that has found 68 percent of coronavirus cases in Dhaka city to be of the highly transmissible Delta variant is no great surprise.

The alarmingly high countrywide positivity rate of 16.62 percent on Wednesday is, sadly, a reflection of how more districts (besides just the bordering ones) are experiencing higher positivity rates with each passing day.

We would like to echo the appeal of recruiting agencies to the government to immediately facilitate the inoculation of migrant workers with the Covid-19 vaccine, as many of them are ready to resume their old jobs or start new ones.

The Sal forest in Tangail has been shrinking at a speedy rate over the years, and there seems to be no way to prevent this tragedy under the present circumstances.

The finance minister’s recent comments on the state of the “new poor”—the proportion of the population that has been pushed into poverty due to the economic fallout of the pandemic—has left us stunned, not least because of his suggestion that the poverty data published by numerous organisations is “imaginary”.

We are shocked by the strange recommendation of the parliamentary standing committee on the Liberation War Affairs Ministry to replace female Upazila Nirbahi Officers (UNO) with a lower ranking male officer when a deceased freedom fighter is given the guard of honour.

Looking at how the Covid-19 pandemic has been handled so far gives one the impression that we have been constantly outrun by it. We have failed to be proactive.

The shocking murder of three people, including a child, by an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) in Kushtia town highlights the need for

We welcome with cautious optimism the news of the removal of Benjamin Netanyahu as Israel’s prime minister after a new coalition

Health experts had warned earlier that if the Indian variant of Covid-19 (also known as Delta variant) can make its way into areas other than the bordering ones, Bangladesh will likely witness more than 20,000 covid-19 cases a day in early July.

Going back on its plan to reopen schools and colleges partially, the government has once again extended the closure of schools and colleges to June 30. Earlier the education minister had announced that all educational institutions would open from June 12.

We are appalled by the cruelty of an employer’s daughter towards 18-year-old Miyasa, a house staff. The 27-year-old woman scalded Miyasa by pouring boiling rice foam on her causing severe burns. It is by sheer fluke that Miyasa was rescued by police after a 999 call they received.

We are dismayed at the sluggard progress of a government project (taken up over three years ago) aimed at taking children out of hazardous labour by 2020.

It is disheartening to know that despite the government’s stimulus packages for SMEs owned by women, the funds are not reaching them. Instead, many entrepreneurs are taking loans from microfinance institutions where interest rates are around three times higher than the banks.

In a gross violation of service rules, a huge number of civil servants are owning and running businesses on the side, according to a letter by the Anti-Corruption Commission.

We are befuddled at the finance minister’s refusal to accept data on the new poor, released earlier through surveys conducted by private research organisations to measure the effects of the pandemic-induced income losses.

The latest Economist Intelligence Unit’s ranking of liveable cities has placed Dhaka as the fourth least liveable city in the world. While we already know the challenges brought about by the pandemic that has affected every city in the globe, Dhaka included, there is little reason for us to hide behind the “pandemic” excuse.

What was supposed to be an “ideal town” to take some of the population burden off Dhaka city has so far been revised five times since its initiation in 1995, with its progress still a far cry from completion.

A police investigation into the rape and torture of a Bangladeshi woman in India has revealed a sinister network of human trafficking operating within the country.

Incidences of fire in the slums of Dhaka have taken frighteningly endemic proportions. In the last six months, fires have engulfed several large slums in the city, creating greater suffering for already marginalised and distressed populations.