With a burgeoning urban population, Dhaka's residents are finding it increasingly difficult to afford housing and the demand for low-cost housing is soaring. Irteza A Khan, Managing Director, Meridien Finance & Investment Ltd, talks to Syed Mansur Hashim, Assistant Editor, The Daily Star, about why lower and lower-middle income groups in the country do not have access to permanent housing and why non-bank financial institutions are focusing on dormitory style housing for industrial workers.

Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 is aimed at ensuring food and water security and coping with disasters through water resource management. Could you please elaborate on how this mega scheme is going to achieve those goals? If this plan is implemented, will our rivers get back their natural flow?

Sabrina Zarin, Barrister-at-Law, (Hon'ble Society or Lincoln's Inn, UK) and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, Partner in FM Associates, talks to The Daily Star's Moyukh Mahtab about needed reforms in sexual violence and harassment laws in Bangladesh and the importance of raising awareness, especially among children.

The new finance minister, Mustafa Kamal, has vowed to address the longstanding concerns regarding increasing non-performing loans in banks. Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled, a noted banker and former deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, talks to The Daily Star's Nazmul Ahasan about the issue.

John Pilger, as foreign correspondent, covered Bangladesh's Liberation War. His front-page report 'Death of a Nation' alerted the world to the life-and-death struggle of the Bengali people. In an exclusive (electronic) interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, Pilger talks about his coverage of Bangladesh's Liberation War, the state of journalism today, and the current political shifts happening in the West.

Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue, talks to Nahela Nowshin of The Daily Star about the recent demonstrations of RMG workers and the underlying reasons behind them.

Prof Syed Manzoorul Islam, retired professor of Dhaka University, who currently teaches at ULAB, shares his impressions about the election with The Daily Star's Aasha Mehreen Amin.

Former Election Commissioner Brigadier General (Retd) M Sakhawat Hossain talks to Shakhawat Liton of The Daily Star about the deployment of army personnel and the role they are expected to play during the election.

Sharmeen Murshid, Chief Executive Officer of the election observation group “Brotee”, talks to Shakhawat Liton of The Daily Star about the importance of election monitoring and recent developments ahead of the election.

Naomi Burke-Shyne, Executive Director of Harm Reduction International, and international NGO “dedicated to reducing the negative health, social and legal impacts of drug use and drug policy”, talks to The Daily Star's Moyukh Mahtab (over e-mail) about the global failure of wars on drugs, and how a health-based approach to drug policy could save lives and promote the well-being of citizens.

Stefania Maurizi is an investigative journalist working for the Italian daily La Repubblica. She has worked on all WikiLeaks releases of secret documents and partnered with Glenn Greenwald to reveal the Snowden Files about Italy. She has authored two books—Dossier WikiLeaks: Segreti Italiani and Una Bomba, Dieci Storie. In an exclusive (electronic) interview with Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star, Maurizi talks about the continued arbitrary detention of Julian Assange, why powerful governments see WikiLeaks as an existential threat, and the implications for global press freedom if Assange is prosecuted for publishing secret government documents.

Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), established by renowned educationist and philanthropist Khan Bahadur Ahsanullah, with the motto of providing humanitarian service, has come a long way since its inception 60 years ago.

Bangladesh's recent impetus on cracking down on drug abuse and trade has led to some divisive results—while there is no doubt that this is an issue that needs to be addressed, the approach taken by the authorities has been questioned.

Sultana Kamal, lawyer and human rights activist, member of CPD board of trustees, former Executive Director of Ain o Salish Kendra, and former advisor to the caretaker government of Bangladesh, talks to Eresh Omar Jamal of The Daily Star about the upcoming national elections and the state of human rights in Bangladesh.

Eminent thinker and writer Professor Serajul Islam Choudhury, in this interview with Badiuzzaman Bay of The Daily Star, outlines his views about the current state of leftist politics, the upcoming election, and the future of politics and youth leadership in Bangladesh.

On the occasion of the National Road Safety Day today, noted filmmaker Catherine Masud talks to Nahela Nowshin of The Daily Star about her own journey of navigating the justice system, what the recent student-led road safety movement has achieved, and the shortcomings of the recently passed Road Transport Act 2018.

Ayesha Khanam, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about the importance of increasing the number of reserved seats for women in parliament and holding direct elections for those seats.

How far do you think Bangladesh has progressed in terms of protecting its Intellectual Property (IP) rights? Why is it important for a country?

Shojag is working to end gender-based violence in our garments industry. It is a coalition of five organisations—Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST), the Human Rights and legal Aid Services (HRLS) Programme of BRAC,

Iqbal Habib, Member Secretary, Urbanisation & Governance Programme, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (Bapa), talks to Naznin Tithi of The Daily Star about why lack of coordination among the agencies concerned is the main barrier to solving Dhaka's waterlogging problem and how this issue should be addressed.