India’s technology outsourcing industry faces a new challenge from Washington as U.S. lawmakers push the Halting International Relocation of Employment (HIRE) Act 2025. The bill seeks to impose a 25 percent tax on payments American companies make to foreign workers for services consumed in the United States, while also eliminating the ability to deduct such […]
The warning signs are unmistakable. The Arakan Army, an armed group based in Myanmar, has become a central player in flooding Bangladesh with yaba pills, creating a crisis that threatens not only public health but also national security. Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has confirmed that the group is pushing vast quantities of these highly addictive […]
Bangladeshi garment exports could receive partial tariff relief in the U.S. if more than 20 percent of their raw materials are sourced from American suppliers, a visiting U.S. trade delegation said Monday. Assistant USTR for South and Central Asia Brendan Lynch told the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association that the waiver would apply proportionally […]
Surveillance drones and armed teams are sweeping across Pakistan’s countryside as authorities intensify efforts to eradicate opium poppy fields. The government has committed at least $3.5 million this year to the campaign, officials said, deploying weedicide sprayers and rifles to uproot thousands of acres of crops. The crackdown comes after Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers banned poppy […]
For more than four decades, Afghanistan’s poppy fields fueled the world’s heroin trade. The crop spread across ungoverned pockets of Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan, thriving through the wars that began with the Soviet invasion in 1979 and ended with NATO’s withdrawal in 2021. Since retaking power in 2021, Taliban authorities have enforced a sweeping ban […]
Bangladesh police have introduced a new policy to select officers-in-charge (OCs) of police stations, setting strict eligibility rules in a bid to ensure transparency and curb political interference. The guidelines, approved by Inspector General of Police Baharul Alam, require inspectors to have at least three years’ experience, complete a management course, and maintain strong service […]
The quiet of Ashulia’s Narsinghpur neighborhood was pierced by unease on Sunday evening. A rented house, its door shut since morning, stood strangely still. Neighbors wondered, until one caught sight of a chilling scene through the window: a man’s body hanging lifeless inside. Police rushed in, breaking open the locked door around 7 p.m. What […]
Farida Parveen, often honored as the “Queen of Lalon Songs,” has become an enduring voice of Bengali folk music. Her performances embody the depth and mysticism of Lalon’s philosophy, blending spiritual themes with the cultural roots of rural Bengal. With her powerful yet soothing delivery, she has brought Baul traditions to both national and international […]
An earthquake measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale shook Dhaka and other parts of Bangladesh on Sunday evening. The tremor struck around 5:14 pm and lasted only a few seconds, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre. Its epicenter was located in Assam, India, near Udalguri district, with a depth of about 10 kilometers. Residents in […]
Frequent abductions of Bangladeshi fishermen by Myanmar’s Arakan Army have turned parts of the Bay of Bengal, especially near Teknaf and St Martin’s Island, into dangerous waters. Since early August, nearly 88 fishermen have been taken away, including 40 seized from five trawlers in a single afternoon. Families remain anxious as they wait for news […]
