Noted actress, lawyer, playwright, TV show host and director Tarana Halim has conquered many territories in the world of art, culture and politics. As a member of the parliament, she has set out to conquer the anomalies, discrimination and corruption that pervade our society and politics. Recently she shared her thoughts with The Daily Star [...]

The Prime Minister’s Adviser for Economic Affairs Mashiur Rahman, middle, speaks at a roundtable on ‘Policy support to CSR in the context of Bangladesh business and economy’ at Dhaka Sheraton Hotel yesterday. From right, President of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industries Annisul Huq, Editor of The Financial Express Moazzem Hossain, President of [...]

A woman councillor of Chittagong City Corporation yesterday filed a defamation case against Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury here on charge of misbehaving with her at a meeting on Tuesday.

When women tried to join the bench on Egypt’s top administrative court, the uproar from its judges was fierce. Women are too emotional, they insisted and who will take care of the family if the mother is busy with the arduous tasks of the courtroom?

“I won against Pakistan but lost to poverty” said Kakat Heninchita. Few Bangladeshis have heard of this valiant freedom fighter, known to the villagers as Kakon Bibi. Carrying ammunition to the Mukti Bahini in a ‘kolar bhela’ this poor Khashya woman from Shunamganj helped blow up a bridge in 1971. She fought with the Mukti [...]

Recipients of Ananya Top Ten Awards 2009 pose for a photograph with Foreign Minister Dipu Moni and other guests at the prize giving ceremony at Poet Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the National Museum in the city yesterday

by Rahnuma Ahmed But we must ask ourselves whether we have learnt to respect the spirit of the language movement, or whether the language movement, Bangla bhasha, and Bengali nationhood, which were once rallying cries against oppression, have become tools of oppression themselves. When the Santals of Bangladesh sing ora amar mukher bhasha kaira nite [...]

by Nurul Kabir … the people of a country cannot make any substantive progress with its vast majority, including women, who constitute more than 50 per cent of Bangladesh’s population, remaining subjugated politically, economically and culturally. And of the vast majority in a political oligarchy like Bangladesh, women remain the worst victims, as they are [...]

A lot of women are getting into crime, even serious ones, like carrying our killing missions. They say there are three reasons why thugs recruit women. The first is to hoodwink the law enforcers. They are not in the least hoodwinked as they know most of the criminals and their ‘sisters’. But they cannot do [...]

THE link between vanishing coconut groves and shrinking fish catches or the disappearance of rainbow-winged dragonflies and declining harvests may appear tenuous, improbable, even a flight of fantasy. But these are observations from the ground and help us piece together that elemental jigsaw called climate change. As climate scientists do their maths to defend their [...]

The government will revive the National Women Development Policy 1997, which was formulated by the previous Awami League government, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury told the House today. While replying to a query of AL lawmaker Junaid Ahmed Palak, she said the previous government of Sheikh Hasina formulated the national [...]

Boring? Predictable? Women’s tennis has been written off as a spectacle in recent times, but the US Open has proved otherwise. While the men’s tournament stuck mainly to the script, the women’s singles was a roller-coaster of upsets, incidents and talking points. Kim Clijsters topped the bill winning her second title at Flushing Meadows, just [...]

Bangladesh Jatiya Hindu Mohajot Friday staged a demonstration against the attempt to change the Hindu family law at Muktangon in the city, said a press release. They also declared for holding a grand rally of the organization in this context in October this year. Speakers said Hindus are living peacefully under the existing Hindu family [...]

How do you judge the progress of a society? This query raises another question: what is the status of women within the society? Treatment of women mirrors a society. It implies that the yardstick of judging a society is to measure as to what extent women enjoy rights as equal as men in all spheres [...]

Women working in different sectors in Dhaka City and other parts of the country are routinely subjected to inhumane forms of exploitation, including physical and mental abuse. Women working at different emerging sectors including apparel have expressed their anger over the sexual harassment they often face in their working zones. Talking to this correspondent, a [...]