Column by Mahfuz Anam / 250 years of US independence: Do Americans know or care about their founding principles?
7 hour(s) ago
THE THIRD VIEW
The World Cup: One month of shared humanity
9 July 2026, 16:10 PM
Views
‘Unequal rural load-shedding is a symptom of a deeper structural crisis’
9 July 2026, 09:00 AM
Interviews
Bangladesh should enter carbon markets on its own terms
9 July 2026, 11:00 AM
Views
The budgetary test of moral leadership
9 July 2026, 12:00 PM
Views
How Bangladesh is leaving tobacco tax revenue on the table
9 July 2026, 08:00 AM
Views
Bangladesh must prepare for the new era of development finance
8 July 2026, 08:00 AM
MACRO MIRROR
Tribute to Abul Quasem Fazlul Haq: A beacon in the classroom and beyond
8 July 2026, 00:00 AM
Views
What dying mangroves tell us about coastal governance
8 July 2026, 12:00 PM
Views
Venezuela’s deadly earthquakes are a wake-up call for Dhaka
8 July 2026, 09:00 AM
Views
Before another education reset, let schools catch up first
Many of the new ideas being put forward, such as expanding technical education, introducing a third language, reducing high-stakes exams, and promoting skill-based learning, are not intrinsically flawed.
12 May 2026, 09:00 AM
How Israel is using women and children as weapons of war in Gaza
More than 22,000 women and 16,000 girls have been killed in Gaza in this genocide with two women and girls dying every hour.
11 May 2026, 14:45 PM
Bridging the financing gap in Bangladesh’s renewable energy transition
The energy crisis born of the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran has revealed a critical reality: Bangladesh has never been adequately prepared to deal with such external shocks.
11 May 2026, 13:00 PM
Good teaching still matters, but it’s no longer enough
Student satisfaction is still one of the most widely used indicators of education quality, shaping expectations for what effective teaching must deliver.
11 May 2026, 11:00 AM
Online child safety needs age assurance, not age policing
Bangladesh’s digital child protection policy still rests on a dangerously comforting illusion: that harmful online content can be managed by blocking websites.
11 May 2026, 10:00 AM
Why Bangladesh-India relations keep resetting without settling
In a repeat of past experiences, India’s ties with Bangladesh, its immediate neighbour and strategic partner, are now entering another phase of recalibration.
11 May 2026, 09:00 AM
When AI enters the intimate sphere
When a person asks a chatbot how to apologise to a partner, how to reply to a painful message, how to survive loneliness at night, or whether someone still loves them, AI is no longer simply helping with “tasks.” It is entering the emotional sphere of life.
10 May 2026, 15:24 PM
Credit isn’t enough – farmers need assets to build income
Bangladesh has built a considerable rural credit system. Each year, tens of thousands of crores are supplied to the countryside.
10 May 2026, 13:00 PM
How to solve the street vendor crisis sustainably
Often in urban Bangladesh, footpaths are cleared of street vendors so that pedestrians can move about comfortably.
10 May 2026, 12:00 PM
What we can learn from Sweden’s rethink of digital classrooms
While smart technologies can make classrooms more engaging, they cannot replace skilled teachers or structured instruction. Traditional teaching allows for a slower, more gradual learning experience that helps students engage with ideas while also fostering direct, face-to-face interaction with teachers.
10 May 2026, 11:00 AM
Freight belongs on rail, but how can we make it work in practice?
In a previous article, I argued that Bangladesh must rethink its reliance on a road-based transport system along the Dhaka-Chattogram corridor and move towards a more energy-efficient model.
10 May 2026, 09:00 AM
How policy gaps exclude the visually impaired from work
Despite the existence of laws and policies, due to a lack of implementation, bureaucratic complexities, and structural limitations, visually impaired individuals are still unable to enter the mainstream workforce.
9 May 2026, 13:00 PM
Who profits from Bangladesh’s heritage?
A weaver in Narayanganj spends months creating a single Jamdani saree. Each motif is placed by hand, each thread carrying generations of knowledge.
9 May 2026, 12:00 PM
West Bengal's saffron turn and the new reality facing Dhaka
For 75 years, West Bengal told itself a story: we are the land of Tagore and Vivekananda, of Bankim and Bose, of Amartya Sen and Abhijit Banerjee, of coffee house Marxists and high-minded bhadralok secularism. We are too refined for the politics of mandir and masjid.
9 May 2026, 11:00 AM
Mohammadpur and the reality of urban crimes in Dhaka
There is something quite catchy and seductive in the way Mohammadpur is branded as the “City of God.” The phrase is loaded with a Brazilian flavour, conjuring cinematic memories of gang fights in narrow alleys, muggers on motorcycles, the prevalence of narcotics among frightened residents, territorial youth gangs, occasional police raids, and political protection.
9 May 2026, 09:00 AM
How did the BJP gain a stronghold in West Bengal?
The result of the just-concluded West Bengal legislative assembly election is significant not only because of the change of power but also because it marks the emergence of a new structural phenomenon in eastern India and, in addition, a new variable for Bangladesh-India relations.
8 May 2026, 13:00 PM
We must make thalassaemia treatment widely accessible
Thousands of families across Bangladesh are quietly battling a lifelong condition known as thalassaemia.
8 May 2026, 12:00 PM
Why our education reform keeps missing the mark
To kick-start education reform, a high-level expert task force should be appointed.
8 May 2026, 10:00 AM
Why is the judiciary failing to check arbitrary detention?
When we speak about arbitrary arrest and detention, the discussion usually focuses on holding law enforcement agencies, especially the police, accountable.
8 May 2026, 09:00 AM
The auto-rickshaw dilemma: Last-mile lifeline or grid-draining liability?
A 2025 study of MRT users in Dhaka found that around 43 percent of passengers rely on informal rickshaws as their primary transport to stations.
7 May 2026, 17:01 PM