The Khowai River at Rampur in Habiganj Sadar has been under serious threat from the dual attack of encroachment and pollution.

A recent research by ActionAid Bangladesh has confirmed what we already surmised – that most public places are not safe for women.

We are pleasantly surprised to know that the condition of the local water bodies of Hazaribagh have started improving following the relocation of the tanneries from the area.

A survey by the leading Bangla daily newspaper revealed some very interesting insights on how the youth are presently thinking and what contemporary issues concern them.

Who is to blame when a bridge, supposedly built to ease the suffering of locals, starts sagging and developing cracks mere days before it is to be formally inaugurated?

We are confronted once again with an oil spill of at least 50,000 litres of diesel and petrol in the Kirtankhola River in Barisal on July 14.

We are extremely disturbed by the police interference at an informal political meeting on July 13, called by Jatya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD)

In the wake of the reports that there has been year on year increase in the amount of deposits of Bangladeshi account holders in Swiss banks,

A photo published in The Daily Star on July 13 shows pitch-black sewage substances spread over the road near the Mayor Hanif Flyover in the capital's Donia area.

The flood situation has affected a large portion of the country.

Since 2007, Bangladesh has had more people of working age than non-working, known as demographic dividend.

The health minister has finally spoken on the chikungunya outbreak that has affected large parts of the city for the last two months.

For some odd reason, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) in Jessore has come to the conclusion that the best way to free up space to widen the Benapole-Jessore highway is to cut down 2,700 old trees.

It is not without reason that the finance minister disclosed the names of the top 100 loan defaulters in parliament. When we look at the figure defaulted upon, we are talking about more than Tk 1 lakh crore siphoned off the state-owned banks which has basically ruined the discipline in the financial sector.

We strongly condemn the brutality inflicted on our Rajshahi University correspondent by members of the Chhatra League while he was carrying out his professional duty. There is no justification for the student cadres of AL to mercilessly beat up Arafat Rahaman who had been taking photographs of them vandalising a bus. Even though he was wearing his press ID, the hooligans continued to hit him. The seriousness of his injuries speak volumes about the violent nature of these men and their total disregard for the law of the land.

The exorbitant rates which syndicates are charging for providing illegal lines of gas, power and water to inhabitants of Korail slum are staggering, and amount to extortion of the most marginalised in the city. A report published in this paper on Monday highlighted that at least 20 such groups were engaged in this business, earning them Tk 1.5 crore a month.

Let's face it: the proponents of flyover have, by and large, failed to deliver on the promises of a safe, quick journey for the commuters. And of late, it has become more of a bane than a boon, what with the flawed design of some flyovers, defective expansion joints, girder collapse, unplanned bus stands and stairs, and the often-deadly accidents.

Despite the law minister's repeated assurance that Section 57 of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) Act would be scrapped, the controversial section remains alive and well and is being increasingly used to file cases against journalists. Now it is reported that, while Section 57 will be removed from the ICT Act, it will be incorporated in the new Digital Security Act, 2016.

This is the third time that the mayor of Gazipur, MA Mannan, has been suspended since he was duly elected as mayor of that City Corporation on July 6, 2013. The order, however, has been stayed by the High Court. It has been more than four years that he was elected mayor, and regrettably, of these four years he has been suspended thrice, and spent 22 months in jail and only 18 months in office.

It seems that the ruling party cadres are a law unto themselves with no one to check their excesses. The fact that these activists feel it within their right to attack uniformed police is shocking. Precisely what sort of message are they giving out to ordinary people? We applaud the policemen, who are working under difficult circumstances, for nabbing one of the attackers and catching another later during a drive.