United News of Bangladesh

Amid concerns over adulterated honey in the market, Saddam Hossain, a young entrepreneur from Chhupria village in Sadar upazila of Satkhira district, is pursuing an unusual dream — placing a beehive in every home so people can enjoy naturally collected, pure honey. Over the past decade, Saddam has turned his passion for beekeeping into a small but growing business, installing 200 wooden beehive boxes on house rooftops, mosque ledges, institutional buildings and beside gardens across different parts of Satkhira. Using small bees that naturally nest in tree hollows and crevices, he collects honey from the boxes, bottles it and sells it through his enterprise, 'Moumachi Kutir', established with approval from the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC). His venture now earns him around Tk 3.5 lakh to Tk 4 lakh annually. Alongside running the business, he is training 10 young people in beekeeping to help them become self-reliant. “My main goal is to raise awareness about pure honey and make it available to every household. If each home has a beehive, family members can collect natural honey for their own needs,” Saddam said. He believes the initiative can do more than provide a source of nutritious food. Expanding bee populations can also support pollination, help maintain ecological balance and create income opportunities for rural communities. Inspired by Saddam's work, around 80 people have already installed beehive boxes at their homes and institutions. They collect honey for their families, reducing their dependence on commercially available products. For Saddam, the idea of a beehive in every home is not simply a business ambition. It is an effort to reconnect people with nature and encourage them to take responsibility for the quality of the food they consume. Many consumers find it difficult to distinguish pure honey from adulterated products. Saddam's approach allows people to observe honey collection directly and gain confidence in its natural origin. Several people, including government officials, have visited his beehives, watched the collection process and purchased honey after tasting it. Mizanur Rahman, Officer-in-Charge of Kalaroa Police Station, said he had never previously witnessed honey being collected directly from a beehive. He purchased honey along with a beehive from Saddam for his family. Such experiences, Saddam hopes, will encourage more families to adopt small-scale beekeeping and understand the value of bees in the natural environment. Saddam's initiative is also creating opportunities for young people seeking alternative sources of income. Young trainees said they were learning beekeeping to become financially independent and eventually establish their own ventures. By combining practical training with commercial production, Saddam hopes to spread the practice beyond his own business and build a community of small-scale beekeepers. Gourab Das, deputy manager of BSCIC in Satkhira, described Saddam's work as an exemplary initiative that demonstrates the potential of small-bee farming in the district. Around 600 registered beekeepers are currently operating in Satkhira, he said, adding that beekeepers are receiving support through training and access to loans. Gourab also stressed the importance of expanding beekeeping in coastal Satkhira, where climate change and environmental risks make the conservation and growth of bee populations increasingly significant. An initiative is being considered to promote beekeeping, training and public awareness in several coastal districts, including Satkhira, he said. Despite its potential, Saddam's initiative faces resistance from some orchard owners. He said many owners of jujube orchards in Satkhira were reluctant to allow beehive boxes near their gardens because they feared the bees might damage flowers or reduce fruit production. Saddam believes the opposite is true: bees play an important role in pollination and can contribute to improved agricultural productivity. He has called for coordinated efforts by researchers, the agriculture department and relevant authorities to dispel misconceptions among farmers and encourage cooperation between orchard owners and beekeepers. Jamal Uddin, additional deputy director of the Satkhira Department of Agricultural Extension, said bees were beneficial to flowers and crops. He noted that some mustard and jujube growers, due to a lack of awareness, sometimes destroy beehive boxes or cause losses to beekeepers. Agricultural field officers have been instructed to raise awareness among farmers about the benefits of bees, he said. According to Jamal Uddin, more than Tk 2 crore worth of honey is collected annually in Satkhira from mustard and jujube flowers alone. The activity generates income for beekeepers, creates employment and can improve crop production through pollination, he added. While demand for pure honey is growing, unscrupulous traders are taking advantage of consumers by producing and selling adulterated products, leaving buyers vulnerable to fraud. BSCIC officials have advised consumers to inform the administration if they have specific information about the sale of adulterated honey. Saddam believes that encouraging household beekeeping could help build greater awareness of natural honey and reduce people's dependence on products whose authenticity may be difficult to establish. For him, the ultimate measure of success will not be the number of boxes he owns or the income his business generates, but the number of families that embrace the idea. With 200 beehive boxes already in operation and dozens of households inspired by his work, Saddam is steadily moving towards his goal. His dream is simple: one day, every home will have a beehive, every family will have access to naturally collected honey, and more young people will find a sustainable livelihood by working with nature

The government has taken a series of reforms to the bonded warehouse system, customs procedures and export incentives to reduce business costs, simplify import and export operations, and help diversify Bangladesh’s export base beyond readymade garments (RMG). According to the budget document, the measures aimed to extend bond facilities to more export-oriented industries, reduce regulatory hurdles for compliant businesses, speed up customs clearance and encourage investment in new export sectors. The bonded warehouse system, which allows export-oriented industries to import raw materials duty-free for producing goods for export, has played a major role in the growth of the RMG sector. The government now wants other promising industries to benefit from similar facilities. Under the reforms, existing bond-related rules will be amended to allow all export-oriented sectors to import raw materials under bond facilities and export finished products. To ease compliance requirements, the government has taken initiatives of withdrawing the annual bond audit requirement for fully export-oriented compliant RMG enterprises. It has also taken moves for extending the validity of general bonds for fully export-oriented leather goods, footwear, towel, linen and home textile enterprises from one year to three years. The changes would allow units located within 60 kilometres of their principal establishments to come under the Continuous Bond facility, irrespective of commissionerate jurisdiction. The government also plans to remove the limit on the quantity of raw materials that can be stored at bonded warehouses at a time. Another initiative seeks to simplify the transfer of bond licences by abolishing the requirement for both the outgoing and incoming owners to appear in person before customs officials for interviews. The deadline for bonded enterprises to obtain Utilisation Permission (UP) before the expiry of a shipment period would be relaxed from 48 hours to 24 hours. The government has also moved for allowing fully export-oriented enterprises without bond licences to procure raw materials duty-free against back-to-back letters of credit. To promote export diversification, a new notification is proposed under the bonded warehouse system to allow duty-free imports of raw materials for jewellery production and the export of jewellery manufactured from those materials under transparent and compliant procedures. In another major step, 10 new sectors would be allowed to import raw materials without bond licences, subject to bank guarantees. The sectors are motorcycles, speedboats, fish processing, handicrafts, diversified jute products, diapers and sanitary napkins, crockery, tents, recycled cotton bags and terry towels. The government has also taken steps for abolishing the legal requirement for a minimum 30 per cent value addition on goods produced using duty-free raw materials imported against bank guarantees without bond licences. To encourage more businesses to benefit from the Authorised Economic Operator (AEO) programme, the rate of goods clearance under the system-based self-assessment method is proposed to be doubled. The requirement for compliant businesses to submit updated audit reports when applying for AEO benefits would also be withdrawn. The measures further seek to reduce delays in customs clearance by allowing imported goods to be tested at private laboratories recognised by the Bangladesh Accreditation Board and meeting ISO standards, alongside government laboratories. For local pesticide and agrochemical manufacturers, annual entitlement-based certification from the Ministry of Agriculture would replace the existing invoice-based certification requirement for importing raw materials under concessional facilities. The government has also taken measurers for abolishing the minimum fine of Tk 50,000 for inadvertent general deviations involving small, low-value consignments arriving through postal or courier services. The reforms are intended to reduce procedural complexity, improve the ease of doing business and create opportunities for a wider range of domestic industries to compete in export markets.

A rice field showcasing a wide range of rice varieties has opened up a new opportunity for farmers in Sunamganj to compare different varieties and select the ones best suited to their land and local conditions. The exceptional “Rice Garden” has been developed at Sadarpur village in Shantiganj upazila under the initiative of the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). The demonstration, established during the current Aman season with funding under the LST project, aims to familiarise farmers with rice varieties suitable for haor areas and encourage them to adopt improved varieties. Located beside the Sylhet-Sunamganj regional highway, it features high-yielding, short-duration, zinc-enriched, aromatic and improved cooking-quality rice varieties. The display also includes varieties tolerant of drought, floods and waterlogging. Nameplates placed beside each variety allow farmers to directly observe differences in plant growth, height and panicle characteristics, helping them choose varieties suitable for their own land. Farmer Sahel said he had never seen so many rice varieties together before. “I have not even heard the names of many of these varieties. Now, I can see how they grow in front of my eyes. From here, I will choose the variety that is best and high-yielding for my land,” he said. Other beneficiary farmers also said they previously cultivated mostly familiar rice varieties but are now getting the opportunity to learn about new ones. “By seeing which variety gives better yields and which is suitable for our area, we will be able to make better decisions. If we can select good varieties, yields will increase, and we will also benefit,” one of the farmers said. Alongside the display of rice varieties, the BRRI Sunamganj regional office is also working on disease and pest management, balanced fertiliser application, bio-coated urea and the use of solar-powered light traps. It is also showcasing the use of rice transplanters, weeders and combine harvesters to help address labour shortages in agriculture. Farmers are also being provided with training, advice and support in obtaining seeds. The rice varieties displayed in the garden include BRRI Dhan-112, 111, 110, 109, 103, 95, 94, 93, 91, 90, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 73, 72, 71, 70, 66, 62, 57, 51, 52, 53, 54, 56, 49, 46, 44, 38, 39, 40, 41, 37, 34, 33, 32, 30 and 31; BINA Dhan-25, 23, 22, 11, 10, 5, 4 and 3; and hybrid rice varieties 4 and 6. Increasing rice production while coping with natural challenges is a major challenge in haor agriculture. Against this backdrop, showcasing different rice varieties in a single field and demonstrating modern technologies are creating new opportunities for farmers. Encouraging farmers to select suitable varieties and follow improved cultivation practices can help increase rice production in haor areas while reducing cultivation costs. Dr Md Rejwan Bhuiyan, head and principal scientific officer of the BRRI Sunamganj Regional Office, said farmers will be able to select varieties suitable for their areas from the Rice Garden featuring different rice varieties. “Research is also underway on various technologies, including fertiliser application, weed and pest management,” he said. Rejwan expressed hope that the initiatives will contribute to increasing rice productivity in haor areas and play an important role in ensuring food security in the country.

Travelling along a 40-kilometre stretch of the Cumilla-Sylhet highway has been a test of patience for commuters for around 24 years, with potholes, damaged pavement, roadside encroachment and persistent traffic congestion turning daily journeys into an ordeal. The stretch, under the Cumilla Road Division, is part of the highway that serves as a vital transport link for several eastern districts. Of the roughly 54 kilometres under the division, around 40 kilometres remain in poor condition, leaving passengers and drivers struggling. At some places, the pavement is riddled with large potholes, while the asphalt has peeled off at others, said locals. Rainwater accumulates in damaged sections, further worsening the road surface. Encroachment on the highway at markets and unauthorised parking of auto-rickshaws add to the congestion, while ongoing repair work has brought further disruption. A visit to at least 20 kilometres of the highway covering Mainamati, Kangsannagar, Jafarganj, Kalikapur, Phulgachhtala, Debidwar, Pannarpul, Bhinglabari and Companyganj, revealed extensive damage at several points. Buses, trucks, covered vans, CNG-run auto-rickshaws, microbuses and motorcycles are navigating the broken road with risk and at Kangsannagar and Jafarganj markets, roadside trading and auto-rickshaw parking further narrow the carriageway. For passengers, the consequences are often hours of wasted time. Drivers said a single vehicle breaking down on the damaged stretch can bring traffic to a standstill, leaving motorists stranded for three to four hours. Syed Khalilur Rahman Babul, a resident of Debidwar town, said people have been suffering on the Cumilla section of the highway for nearly 24 years. “Sometimes we suffer because of traffic congestion caused by encroachment, and at other times because of the damaged road. The problems never seem to end,” he said. He called for more manpower to expedite the repair work and stronger traffic management to reduce public suffering. Truck drivers Jamir Uddin and Mehedi Hasan, along with bus driver Md Liton, described the highway as a major source of daily hardship for road users. The road is full of potholes and damaged sections, and traffic congestion is a regular occurrence, they said. When a vehicle breaks down, the resulting congestion can leave other vehicles stuck for three to four hours. The prolonged delays affect not only passengers but also goods transportation, increasing travel time and making journeys more difficult for transport workers. Jamil Ahmed Khandaker, president of the Cumilla Motor Association, said the Cumilla-Sylhet highway is one of the key routes for communication and goods transportation across several eastern districts. He stressed the need for durable, quality repairs rather than temporary fixes, alongside the speedy completion of ongoing work.  “Given the importance of this highway, the authorities must ensure sustainable repairs that can withstand regular traffic. The work also needs to be completed quickly to ease the suffering of passengers and transport workers,” he said. Mohammad Shafiqul Islam Bhuiyan, sub-divisional engineer of the Cumilla Road Division, said repair work is underway on around 20 kilometres of the damaged highway. “We expect to complete the repair work by June. Work on the remaining 20 kilometres may begin next year,” he said. He said the department is carrying out repairs on one side of the road while trying to minimise public inconvenience as much as possible. However, with only part of the damaged stretch currently under repair and work on the remaining section yet to begin, commuters continue to face uncertainty over when their long-running ordeal will end.

Small and marginal farmers in Sirajganj are increasingly turning to early winter cucumber cultivation, expecting a bumper harvest and better profits as hybrid varieties have already started arriving in local markets with encouraging prices. Farmers across the district, particularly in the riverine char areas along the Jamuna, have begun cultivating local and hybrid varieties of cucumber during the Kharif-II season. With production costs relatively low and market prices favourable, many growers are optimistic about earning good returns this year. According to agricultural sources, a target has been set to cultivate early winter cucumbers on around 300 hectares of land across nine upazilas of the district. Farmers have already planted seeds on nearly 200 hectares, with sowing expected to be completed by the first week of November. The crop is being cultivated extensively in Ullapara, Tarash and Raiganj, known for their agricultural production, as well as in Kamarkhand, Kazipur and Sirajganj Sadar. Farmers have also started growing cucumbers on char lands and along rivers, canals, wetlands, homesteads, pond banks and other fallow plots. In the Jamuna basin, farmers in Chauhali, Belkuchi, Shahjadpur, Kazipur and Sirajganj Sadar began planting early cucumbers nearly two months ago. Hybrid cucumbers grown in these areas have already started reaching the markets, bringing relief and renewed optimism to growers. The cucumbers are currently selling at Tk 60 to Tk 80 per kilogram on average, making early cultivation particularly attractive to farmers. Traders are purchasing the produce directly from growers and supplying it to Dhaka and other parts of the country. Farmers say the combination of relatively low cultivation costs and good market prices has encouraged them to expand cucumber farming. Many now expect early winter hybrid varieties to generate higher profits than other seasonal crops. Women are also playing an important role in tending cucumber fields, contributing to crop care and cultivation in different parts of the district. Agricultural officials said char areas have traditionally produced good yields of early hybrid cucumbers, and they expect the trend to continue this season. Jerin Ahmed, additional deputy director of the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), said farmers had been receiving advice on early winter cucumber cultivation, as in previous years. She said cultivation was particularly widespread in Tarash, Raiganj and Ullapara, including areas of the Chalan Beel region, as well as in various char areas across the district. Ahmed added that fresh hybrid cucumbers had already begun entering local markets and farmers were pleased with the prices they were receiving. With cultivation expanding and early produce fetching encouraging prices, growers are hopeful that the season will bring a bumper harvest and improve their livelihoods.

Rangpur has been waiting for a second industrial estate under the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) for decades, with repeated proposals for new land failing to secure approval from the relevant ministry. The prolonged delay has left aspiring entrepreneurs struggling to find industrial plots, limiting the expansion of small and cottage industries, hampering job creation and pushing many educated and less-educated job seekers to migrate to Dhaka and other major cities in search of work. BSCIC began its operations in Rangpur in 1967, acquiring 20.68 acres of land in the city’s CO Bazar area and dividing it into 83 plots for industrial entrepreneurs. The existing estate now houses 25 industrial establishments, including Rangpur Foundry Limited (RFL), GFL, Khan Foundry Limited, Chowdhury Ice and Cold Storage Limited, Bismillah Metal Industries, Nine Jute Mills, Himadri Cold Storage, Rangpur Flour Mills, Northern Timber Industries, Phoenix Chemical and Plastic Industries, and Milk Vita. Of the 25 establishments, 22 are currently operational, according to Rangpur BSCIC sources. Around 75 percent of the plots are occupied by RFL, further limiting opportunities for new entrepreneurs. The estate has 13 plots in category A, 39 in category B, 16 in category C, 14 in category D and one special plot, classified according to their size. Industrial units operating in the estate benefit from facilities such as access to loans on relatively favourable terms, electricity and road connectivity. The estate has also created employment opportunities for local people. However, the number of available plots has failed to keep pace with rising entrepreneurial interest, particularly since Rangpur became a separate administrative division in 2010. An initiative to establish a second BSCIC industrial estate was taken in 2002. A 50-acre site at Damdama, beside the Rangpur-Dhaka highway, was selected, and an application was submitted to the Industries Ministry seeking permission to acquire the land. The proposal, however, did not progress. More recently, on April 30, 2024, the then deputy commissioner sent a report to the relevant ministry identifying 100 acres of potential land in Haridebpur and Ramanathpur mouzas under Rangpur Sadar upazila. The report included estimated land prices and sketch maps for establishing the proposed industrial estate. No decision has yet been communicated on the proposal, leaving the initiative stalled, local sources said.

The government has planned to introduce a 30-day deadline for processing applications to repatriate profits from lawful foreign investments, alongside a series of financial reforms aimed at reducing business costs and strengthening investor confidence. The proposed measures, outlined in a budget document, seek to address administrative bottlenecks affecting foreign investors while making banking services, foreign trade transactions and access to financing more efficient. The document says coordination among banking verification, tax-related documents and approval processes will be strengthened to ensure timely processing of profit repatriation applications. The government has also simplified the repatriation and reinvestment of proceeds from shares or securities purchased through a Non-Resident Investors’ Taka Account (NITA). The requirement for an auditor’s certificate has been withdrawn, allowing such proceeds to be credited directly to the relevant NITA. This will enable repatriation and reinvestment within one working day and reduce compliance costs. Share transfers and capital repatriation involving unlisted companies will also become easier. No valuation report will be required for transactions worth up to Tk 1 crore, while repatriation of transaction proceeds of up to Tk 100 crore will be allowed without prior approval from Bangladesh Bank. For larger transactions, licensed valuation firms will be introduced to ensure more neutral and acceptable share valuations. It is also considering a certification board comprising representatives from Bangladesh Bank, the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA), the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC), the National Board of Revenue and the private sector. Acceptance of reports from approved valuation firms could reduce repeated verification and delays in capital repatriation. To cut the time and cost of foreign trade, the government will consider gradually relaxing the mandatory use of letters of credit for reliable importers and low-risk goods. The use of Documents against Payment (D/P) and Telegraphic Transfer (TT) will be expanded where appropriate. Companies registered in Bangladesh will also be able to obtain loans in taka against foreign bank guarantees or Standby Letters of Credit (SBLC), regardless of their ownership or control structure, subject to applicable rules. The requirement for separate prior approval for each loan from an Offshore Banking Unit (OBU) will be reviewed. However, existing provisions on Credit Information Bureau reporting, single-borrower limits, loan classification and provisioning will remain in force. The approval process for renting, leasing, renewing and relocating bank branches and business centres has also been simplified. Within prescribed region-wise rent ceilings, banks may take such decisions with approval from their boards of directors. The government has further simplified the process of obtaining a Sukuk Investor ID (SIID) for investment in government Sukuk by determining the required application forms, documents and fee structures. To expand digital financial services, Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) will be made more effective, with faster payment and settlement arrangements among banks, mobile financial service providers and other payment platforms. The document says the introduction of digital small loans, or e-Loans, has been permitted. Loans of up to Tk 50,000 may be provided for 12 months through a fully digital process to improve access to credit and reduce customers’ time and operational costs. Pre-suit mediation has also been encouraged for recovering defaulted loans to reduce court-related delays and expenses and improve recovery efficiency. The government has relaxed lending rules for environment-friendly vehicles and personal financing. The maximum auto loan for electric and hybrid vehicles has been increased from Tk 60 lakh to Tk 80 lakh, while the debt-equity ratio has been raised from 60:40 to 80:20. The ceiling for unsecured personal loans has been doubled from Tk 5 lakh to Tk 10 lakh, while secured personal loans may now be provided up to Tk 40 lakh. Credit card limits have also been increased. The maximum limit for unsecured credit cards has risen from Tk 10 lakh to Tk 20 lakh, while the limit against securities has increased from Tk 20 lakh to Tk 40 lakh. Banks may introduce new credit cards with approval from their boards of directors without obtaining prior approval from Bangladesh Bank. The document says the measures are intended to reduce administrative complexity and costs across investment, foreign trade, banking and lending, while strengthening investor confidence, financial inclusion and the growth of the digital economy.

When 13-year-old Ishiyat Shahriar Oprotim, the son of a university teacher, left home in Cumilla on September 18 with his mother’s iPhone to take photographs, his family had no reason to fear that he would never return. Nearly 24 hours later, his body was recovered from a secluded area of the Lalmai hills. Police arrested four people in connection with the killing who said  Oprotim was taken there in an attempt to snatch his phone and was beaten to death during the incident. The killing sent shockwaves across the country and brought a growing concern into sharp focus: why are some adolescents becoming involved in violence, extortion, robbery and even murder, and what can be done to prevent children from entering criminal networks? Police intensified operations against suspected members of teenage gangs, while Police Headquarters began collecting information on juvenile gang members and their activities across the country following the killing. According to police data, 3,844 juvenile gang members were arrested nationwide between September 21 and 30. A separate police review examined 424 cases recorded between 2020 and September 2026 across the country’s eight police ranges, eight metropolitan police units and the Railway Police. The review covered 2,625 members of 307 juvenile gangs and identified 23 categories of offences, including assault, extortion, theft, robbery, snatching, attempted murder, murder, kidnapping, rape, sexual harassment, drug-related offences, arms-related crimes, cybercrime and offences involving explosives and pornography. Behind the crime statistics lies a more complicated social problem involving peer pressure, family relationships, educational disengagement, the desire for status, access to drugs and weapons, social media and the influence of adult criminal networks. Experts say that tackling the problem requires more than periodic crackdowns. It demands early identification of vulnerable children, stronger family and school support, community-based intervention and a juvenile justice system capable of combining accountability with rehabilitation. How teenagers enter criminal networks Md Rezaul Karim Shohag, chairman of the Department of Criminology at Dhaka University, said adolescent bonding often develops around shared interests, online popularity, fashion, hairstyles and activities such as motorcycle stunts. Social media can intensify competition for followers and attention, encouraging some young people to adopt increasingly risky behaviour to establish their identities within a group, he said. “Among school dropouts, smoking and subsequent drug use may further strengthen ties within certain peer groups, making it easier for individuals to become connected to criminal networks,” Shohag said. He described a possible progression from petty theft to robbery and physical violence, with some adolescents eventually becoming involved in more serious offences. Adult criminals can also draw children into such activities by manipulating them or exploiting their vulnerability. This progression is not inevitable, however. Most adolescents who seek peer acceptance, use social media or experiment with risky behaviour do not necessarily become offenders. Identifying the circumstances in which these behaviours escalate is therefore essential to prevention. Family neglect, frustration and the search for status Experts identify weak family supervision, harmful peer influence, status anxiety and limited opportunities for positive engagement as potential risk factors. The Dhaka University professor said changing family structures and weakening extended-family ties have left some children with less adult attention and guidance. “Parents may not know whom their children associate with, where they spend their time or whether their friends are involved in harmful activities. This can leave adolescents more susceptible to pressure from older peers or individuals already connected to criminal groups,” he said. Adolescents who see their peers possessing expensive smartphones, motorcycles and fashionable clothing may feel compelled to compete, even when their families cannot afford such items. When these feelings of inadequacy are combined with weak supervision and exposure to criminal influences, some may seek money, recognition or a sense of power through unlawful means, he said. The vulnerable years of adolescence Adolescence is a period of rapid physical, emotional and social development. The desire for independence, acceptance and respect can become particularly powerful, while the ability to assess long-term consequences is still developing. Prof Dr Md Omar Faruk of the Department of Criminology and Police Science at Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University said, “The tendency to engage in criminal activity often began around the age of 15, with ages 16 and 17 being particularly vulnerable.” He said nearly 70 percent of adolescents involved in crime became involved during those two years. According to the Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2025, conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in collaboration with UNICEF, 33.9 percent of children of upper-secondary-school age were out of school. The survey also found that 85.7 percent of children aged 1–14 had experienced violent discipline in the month before the survey. The UNICEF data also show that only 50.8 percent of children of upper-secondary-school age were attending school at the adjusted net attendance rate in 2025, highlighting the importance of retaining older adolescents in education. Beyond arrests: keeping children engaged Experts say prevention should begin well before a child comes into contact with the police. Parents need to maintain regular communication with their children, understand their friendships and daily routines, and respond early to unexplained changes in behaviour, school attendance or social relationships. Monitoring should be accompanied by trust and support, rather than relying solely on punishment or surveillance. Schools can play a central role by identifying repeated absenteeism, behavioural changes, bullying, substance use and signs of disengagement. Teachers, counsellors and guardians should work together to help vulnerable students remain in education or return to it. Prof Faruk said children need access to sports, cultural activities, recreation and other constructive ways to spend their time. “When children do not have healthy avenues for recreation, this lack of positive outlets can push them towards negativity,” he said, describing how some adolescents may seek excitement and recognition through drugs, gang activities, harassment or the use of weapons. He warned that influential individuals could exploit adolescents’ desire for belonging and power, drawing them into activities that serve other people’s interests. Schools and families can provide close support to children who remain enrolled, while local communities must also reach those who have dropped out, he added. Bangladesh’s response must also address weaknesses in the system responsible for children who come into conflict with the law, said Prof Faruk. He said inadequate police training, limited rehabilitation capacity and weak follow-up after counselling or placement in a Child Development Centre undermined efforts to prevent reoffending. Faruk also called for reviewing the legal framework and improving enforcement, arguing that Bangladesh’s juvenile justice system needs to respond more effectively to serious offences while addressing the circumstances that draw children into crime.    

Hundreds of farmers in Roumari upazila of Kurigram are facing despair as the Brahmaputra River has swallowed their cropland just as paddy plants began producing panicles, forcing many to settle for half-ripe crops in a desperate attempt to salvage something from their losses, or minimise them. In some fields, paddy plants have only begun to develop panicles, while in others the half-ripe grains have started turning golden. With only a few days left before harvest, farmers in the Sukhervati and Madhyapara areas of Char Shoulmari union have watched their expected harvest disappear into the river. With no way to protect their land, impoverished farmers are cutting down half-ripe paddy plants, hoping to use them as cattle feed. Locals said at least 10 acres of farmland in the areas had been washed away by the Brahmaputra over the past two days. Another 200 to 250 bighas of cropland are now at serious risk of erosion. Without urgent and effective protective measures, farmers fear losing not only this season's Aman paddy but also their farmland permanently. Jelhok, a farmer from erosion-hit Sukhervati, said the riverbank began collapsing suddenly over the past two days. “The paddy plants had just started producing panicles when the erosion began. Nearly one and a half acres of my land have already gone into the river. With no other option, I am now cutting the half-ripe paddy plants. At least the cattle will have something to eat,” he said. Farmers Nagar Ali and Sabur Naia of the same area said they had borrowed money to buy paddy seedlings and spent heavily on fertilisers, pesticides and fuel for irrigation. They had hoped to sell the harvest, repay their debts and cover their families' expenses throughout the year. The river, however, has shattered those hopes, leaving them worried about how they will feed their families next year. Locals said the Brahmaputra had swallowed hundreds of acres of cropland and more than a hundred homesteads in the past year. Several areas of Shoulmari union, including Charipara, Boyatipara, Shekher Bazar and Char Khedaimari Government Primary School, are also facing severe erosion risks. Tanmay Hasan Tota, another erosion victim, said his family alone had lost around 40 acres of farmland to the river over the past year. “Erosion has been continuing in Sukhervati and Madhyapara for a long time, but the administration has taken no effective measures. Sandbags have been placed in neighbouring Char Khedaimari, but we have seen no government initiative to protect our areas,” he said, expressing frustration. AKHM Saidur Rahman, chairman of Char Shoulmari Union Parishad, said severe erosion had been continuing along the Brahmaputra for the past two days, badly affecting wards 6, 7 and 8 of the union. The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) has placed a limited number of sandbags to protect the area, but they are being swept away by the strong river current almost immediately, he said. BWDB Executive Engineer in Kurigram Rakibul Hasan said a lack of funds had prevented the agency from undertaking immediate protective work in the char areas. “Without a budget, we currently have no scope to carry out protection work in the chars. We have to give greater priority to protecting the main riverbanks,” he said.

The Bretton Woods institutions were back in Bangkok for the first time since 1991, as the Thai capital hosted this year's Annual Meeting of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.  The Annual Meetings of the two Washington-based organisations serve as the premier global forum, at least in the Western paradigm, for “international economic cooperation, policy coordination, and formal governance”. Bangladesh has been a development hot spot since birth, recognised early on in its existence as “the test case for development.” As such, successive governments in Dhaka have been forced to pay due importance to these meetings. Indeed, the outcomes frequently play a part in determining the country's economic trajectory.  The notable milestone of the Bangkok meetings, held October 12-18, was the unveiling of the ‘Bangkok Blueprint,’ a collaborative framework forged between the Bank of Thailand, the IMF, and regional financial regulators.  It establishes strict protocols for cross-border digital fraud intelligence sharing, reinforcing the cybersecurity posture of emerging banking sectors, and building consumer trust in fintech ecosystems. The ‘Bangkok Dialogue Notes’, released at the end of the summit, outline core principles for global resilience—focusing on people-centered growth, reducing internal and cross-border fragmentation, measuring the quality of investments by local capacity building, and leveraging middle powers as "Trusted Connectors". Yet how these overarching commitments impact on individual countries can often be hard to tell.  UNB spoke to two of the country's most respected economists, Professor Selim Raihan, Executive Director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) and Professor of Economics at the University of Dhaka; and Dr. Zahid Hussein, a former Lead Economist of the World Bank’s Dhaka office, regarding the implications for Bangladesh of some of the outcomes of this year's meetings.  Reflecting on the IMF’s warnings regarding fiscal slippages and revenue collection, Professor Selim Raihan emphasized that Bangladesh can no longer afford to delay deep-seated structural reforms. "The messages coming out of Bangkok are not entirely new to us, but the urgency with which they have been communicated should serve as a rude awakening for our policymakers," Professor Raihan told UNB. "Bangladesh continues to grapple with one of the lowest tax-to-GDP ratios in the entire developing world—hovering stubbornly around 8 to 9 percent. Without fundamentally overhauling the National Board of Revenue (NBR), separating its policy-making and tax-administration functions, and widening the tax net beyond salaried classes, we will continuously scramble for foreign loans to service past debt." Professor Raihan also underscored the danger of poorly targeted subsidies, particularly in the energy sector. "For years, we have sustained massive fiscal deficits by propping up universal subsidies that disproportionately benefit the affluent rather than the vulnerable. As the IMF and World Bank rightly noted, subsidies must be smart, targeted, and temporary. Protecting the poor through direct social safety nets while allowing energy prices to reflect market realities is a bitter pill we must swallow if we are to achieve macroeconomic stability." Weighing in on the employment crisis and the World Bank’s stark warnings about the youth demographic deficit, Dr. Zahid Hussein pointed to a profound structural mismatch within Bangladesh's domestic economy. “Ajay Banga’s warning about the global jobs deficit applies doubly to Bangladesh, where a massive youth bulge is colliding with an education system that produces parchment rather than productivity," Dr. Hussein remarked.  "Our general unemployment rate may hover around 3.5 percent on paper, but youth unemployment and graduate joblessness—which recently touched nearly 14 percent—tell a truly alarming story. We are witnessing an economy where low-skilled remittance earners sustain our external account, while our domestic industries struggle to absorb university graduates because of critical skill gaps,” he said.  Dr. Hussein added that the rapid integration of artificial intelligence and automation, heavily discussed in Bangkok, poses a double-edged sword for Bangladesh’s primary export earner: the readymade garment (RMG) sector.  "Automation, smart manufacturing, and AI-driven supply chains are transforming global retail at lightning speed," Dr. Hussein warned. "If our RMG factories rely indefinitely on cheap, low-skilled manual labor without pivoting toward digital upskilling, smart automation, and product diversification, we risk losing our competitive edge to more technologically agile competitors like Vietnam. The Bangkok meetings rightly highlighted that human capital development and tech readiness are no longer optional—they are matters of economic survival." The AI Disruption and the 'Bangkok Blueprint' One of the most forward-looking themes dominating the technical panels in Bangkok was the disruptive dual nature of Artificial Intelligence. While AI offers unprecedented leaps in productivity, precision agriculture, and financial inclusion, it presents acute macroeconomic hazards—chief among them structural unemployment and cybersecurity vulnerabilities. AI threatens to displace entry-level administrative jobs, routine coding, and customer service roles, compressing the traditional job ladders that developing nations used to climb out of poverty. Furthermore, the exponential rise in digital transactions has triggered a surge in cyber threats and financial fraud. For Bangladesh—a country aggressively promoting a "Smart Bangladesh" digital vision plagued by recurrent banking sector vulnerabilities, digital financial fraud, and data governance deficits—adopting the principles of the Bangkok Blueprint is particularly important.  Financial sector analysts in Dhaka have repeatedly stressed that digital expansion without robust regulatory frameworks and institutional autonomy will only invite systemic instability. Energy Vulnerabilities and the Green Transition Energy security formed another major intersection between the Bangkok agenda and Bangladesh's domestic policy battles. The global deliberations laid bare how geopolitical shocks in the Middle East and fluctuating LNG spot markets can instantly derail the balance of payments in fossil-fuel-dependent importing nations. In Bangladesh, where over $4.12 billion in extra energy expenditures were recorded over eight months due to external supply disruptions, the lesson is clear: indigenous energy exploration and aggressive investments in renewables are existential necessities. While the interim government has initiated bold steps—such as kickstarting onshore/offshore gas exploration, courting foreign direct investment through chambers like FICCI, and pushing for a 10 GW solar expansion over the next few years—the execution pace must match the macroeconomic urgency. The World Bank and IMF reiterated that green financing facilities must be unlocked for developing nations at concessional terms. However, international financiers consistently demand policy predictability, transparent regulatory frameworks, and robust anti-corruption guarantees before deploying climate funds at scale. Bangladesh's upcoming negotiations with the IMF will undoubtedly scrutinize how effectively Dhaka is transitioning away from costly fossil-fuel dependency toward a sustainable, diversified energy mix. Policy Imperatives Ahead The upcoming bilateral reviews between Bangladeshi technocrats and IMF-World Bank mission leads will not merely be exercises in ticking compliance boxes; they will test the current administration's political will to implement structural reforms that past governments shied away from. To transform the sobering diagnostics of the Bangkok meetings into a constructive roadmap, experts agree that Bangladesh must prioritize four foundational pillars: 1.Revenue Mobilization & Fiscal Discipline: Accelerating the separation of NBR's tax policy and collection wings, eliminating leakages, expanding the digital tax-payer database, and rationalizing non-development government expenditures. 2. Subsidies Rationalization: Phasing out generalized, regressive energy subsidies in favor of targeted cash transfers for low-income households, thereby shielding the national exchequer from external commodity shocks. 3. Reorienting Education toward the AI Era: Overhauling public education curricula to embed technical vocational training, digital literacy, and data analytics, ensuring that the country’s demographic dividend is not squandered on jobless growth. 4. Institutional and Financial Governance: Restoring discipline in the banking sector through stringent asset-quality reviews, punishing willful defaulters, and insulating monetary policy from political capture. The Bangkok meetings reaffirmed that while global uncertainties will continue to buffet developing economies, the primary determinants of resilience lie within domestic governance. For Bangladesh, the choice is stark: leverage this moment of transition to enact deep structural medicine, or risk being left behind in a rapidly automating, fiercely competitive global economy.