Erosion of savings
The drop in both domestic savings and national savings, as the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) estimates, is certainly a cause for concern but hardly surprising. Fixed-income people---salaried and wage earners---have in most cases found their income where it was before or if increased at all, failed to match the...
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Preventing fires in dry season
Spring, a season of renewal and joy, brings with it a paradoxical challenge in Bangladesh. While the blooming flowers and pleasant weather uplift spirits, this season also marks the driest period of the year, accompanied by a distressing surge in fire incidents. Every year, devastating fires wreak havoc across the...
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USAID freeze: how does it affect world?
Trump administration's freeze on USAID funds has shocked the world of aid. Shutting down of USAID, which last year covered 47 per cent of all humanitarian aid that flowed to the regions of the world in need of food, health and disaster relief, is no doubt bad news for the...
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Informal economy under stress
In the bustling lanes of Dhaka's Karwan Bazar, Rina Begum, a 42-year-old street vendor, arranges fresh vegetables on her wooden cart before sunrise. Her business-unregistered, untaxed, and absent from official GDP reports-is part of Bangladesh's informal economy, a vast network of small-scale, unregulated ventures that employ millions. Globally, the informal...
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Ensure media freedom
The media is the mirror of society. Ensuring media freedom is the key to upholding the public's right to information and reinforcing the foundation of democracy. Its freedom is essential for maintaining democratic balance in a country. However, biased reporting by some media outlets, restrictions on journalistic professions, threats, pressure,...
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