Ironic is the word that comes to mind when we look at the report published recently by Bangladesh Bank (BB) titled “Role of Bangladesh Bank in the govt success for the last 10 years.”

With the plans for the immediate repatriation of Rohingya refugees deferred till 2019, Bangladesh and all the organisations working in Cox's Bazar need to come to some key decisions and a well-planned strategy.

Political and security experts on Saturday expressed their discontent with the Election Commission, saying that its performance so far was not satisfactory. The EC has been granted immense power by the constitution and the credibility of the upcoming parliamentary election, no doubt, depends considerably on the actions of the commission.

The government and non-state actors like NGOs have been trying to combat the scourge of violence against women in Bangladesh for decades but such crimes continue to cast a shadow on our development.

It is a mystery how a brand new fire station in Maheshpur, Jhenidah, inaugurated in December last year, should be fully equipped in terms of infrastructure and machinery but devoid of the staff required for it to operate.

The Daily Star yesterday revealed how a 158-acre area of Karnaphuli River in Chattogram was grabbed by individuals linked to the ruling party.

We would like to thank the Malaysian government for taking steps to bring all foreign workers under its Social Security Organisation (Sosco) from January 1, 2019.

We are quite shocked to learn that hundreds of people are catching migratory birds on a regular basis in several northern districts adjacent to Teesta and Dharla rivers. Such illegal poaching poses a dangerous threat to our ecological diversity.

In December 2017, the High Court declared charging of additional fees beyond that set by the government for SSC and HSC exams illegal.

According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), the number of people affected by dengue has hit 9,531, the highest in 18 years with 24 casualties so far this year.

Studies of some 30 countries in the Middle East, Africa, South and East Asia show that an overwhelming majority of women in these countries are victims of violent extremism and terrorism.

The finance minister recently told the chairpersons and directors of state-owned banks that those who highlight the sorry state of the banking sector—the culture of loan default, the flouting of set banking norms, etc—are all uninformed. Such a remark coming from him is disappointing, given the fragile state of the banking sector as a whole.

One doctor is clearly not enough in a dispensary where the number of patients coming in every day is around 40. And if that same doctor has to attend five other dispensaries in other districts, there is no question that the task is impossible.

The sight of children begging and sleeping on the streets in the capital has, unfortunately, become so common that it has ceased to arouse our collective conscience anymore.

Out of 28 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Bangladesh has the second highest educated unemployment rate. The report titled “Asia-Pacific Employment and Social Outlook 2018” also revealed youth unemployment in Bangladesh to have doubled between 2010 and 2017, in a short span of only seven years.

We are used to hearing from time to time comments varying from the sublime to the ludicrous from members of successive election commissions.

The falling rate of enrolment in government primary schools across the country should be a cause for worry, given the stress on education at this level, although the number of schools has increased during this time, according to a Directorate of Primary Education (DPE) study.

That the police is gathering background information about potential polling officials, who would oversee the forthcoming election, and their families, is surprising.

It is unfortunate that some of the worst incidents of communal violence that erupted in Ramu of Cox's Bazar in 2012 are yet to be brought to the notice of the High Court (HC) for hearing.

At a time when the government is continuously propagating its achievements in terms of the development works they have done, it is frustrating to learn that there are still villages in the country where there are no primary schools.