Weekly Bangladesh Policy Outlook: Analysis, Truth, Debate.
Bangladesh cut its rural poverty rate faster than almost any country in the region. Pakistan cut its poverty rate too, then watched much of that progress unwind. The two stories look opposite but they are not. This article argues that both countries grew rural incomes the same way: by pulling more people into work, not…
Bangladesh’s private television news industry has expanded dramatically since the sector opened up in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Today, dozens of channels compete for viewers, advertising revenue, and political relevance. This growth has broadened access to information and diversified the voices available to viewers, but it has also raised persistent questions about editorial…
A recent Oniket Bulletin article, Zahir, F. (2026) “Beyond the Feast: Bangladesh’s Food Quality Crisis,“ made an important observation that deserves to be pushed further. It noted that the issue is not limited to roadside vendors, and that restaurant kitchens, including establishments that appear clean and professional from the dining area, may struggle with poor…
The true strength of a higher education institution lies not only in its research funding or physical infrastructure, but also in a transparent, accountable, and politically independent administrative system. Two recent developments at Jagannath University have brought this reality into sharp focus. On one hand, the university significantly increased research grants for postgraduate researchers. On…
What if the world’s perception of corruption and informality is only telling half of the story? Bangladesh and Nigeria are often judged by corruption rankings and headlines that portray them as economies crippled by graft and informality. However, beneath these narratives, both countries demonstrate economic dynamism, innovation, and adaptation. Their reality reveals that we cannot…
The purpose of this article is to examine why Bangladesh consistently hosts foreign culinary diplomacy initiatives but rarely promotes its own cuisine through equivalent platforms abroad. While international food festivals are often presented as cultural celebrations, they are also instruments of trade promotion, tourism marketing, and economic diplomacy. The article argues that Bangladesh’s position is…
Read More “One Way Table: Why Is Bangladesh a Host in Culinary Treaties but Never a Guest?” »
The recurrence of floods across northern and northeastern Bangladesh is not a surprise. It is an annual certainty with worsening intensity. The latest warnings from the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre forecast flash flooding over low lying areas of Sylhet, Sunamganj, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, Rangpur, Gaibandha, Kurigram, and Naogaon, arrived after communities had already suffered extensive…
Women’s representation in South Asian legislatures has long rested on a familiar mechanism: reserved parliamentary seats. Pakistan and Bangladesh, sharing a common colonial and constitutional heritage, both adopted this model as a corrective to entrenched gender exclusion. Yet as a recent analysis in The Oniket Bulletin argues, numerical inclusion without democratic legitimacy does not translate…
Bangladesh’s streaming industry has grown from a handful of experimental apps into a genuine segment of the digital economy in less than a decade. Local platforms such as Bioscope, Chorki, Bongo, and Toffee now compete alongside global entrants like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, vying for a market that industry estimates place at roughly one…
Clean air is the prime example of a shared public good. Yet, in two of South Asia’s most polluted cities, it is being treated as a waste dump for negative externalities. Dhaka and New Delhi are both capital cities defined by the deteriorating quality of their most life-sustaining asset: air. While the World Health Organization…
Read More “The Political Economy of Clean Air in India and Bangladesh” »
