Iftekhar Mahmud

Dhaka

Senior Reporter at The Daily Prothom Alo

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Articles

Rockefeller’s Enigma and Islam’s Clear Stance on Cannibalism

3 weeks ago | medium.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

Iftekhar Mahmud·Follow7 min read·--The disappearance of Michael Rockefeller in 1961 remains one of the most intriguing and haunting mysteries in contemporary history. Michael’s narrative, as the heir of the powerful Rockefeller family, should have been one of privilege, recognition, and prosperity. However, it is distinguished by an unusual and unresolved incident that has perplexed historians, journalists, and conspiracy theorists alike.
Rice prices continue to soar amid peak Aman season

Jan 7, 2025 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud |Shafiqul Islam

The Aman season is in full swing, and new rice is entering the market in abundance. However, instead of decreasing, rice prices have continued to rise. This is contrary to the interim government's expectations that prices would drop with the start of the Aman season. The price of coarse rice has seen the highest increase. According to the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the price of coarse rice has risen by three to four taka per kg in the past week alone.
COP29 falls short of expectations, ends in disappointments

Nov 23, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

The Baku Climate Conference was dubbed the Finance COP. Yet, after two weeks of discussions, over 200 countries were unable to reach a resolution. They even failed to produce the desired outcome from the closed-door meetings that began on Friday. Developing countries, including Bangladesh, have requested USD 1.3 trillion annually to cover their climate change losses. However, industrialised nations have agreed to contribute a maximum of USD 300 billion per year.
26pc people faced with extreme food insecurity

Nov 8, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

The prices of all varieties of coarse rice has risen again. The price of medium-coarse rice, popular among the middle-class, has increased by Tk 1-2 (8 per cent) per kg within a week. The prices of coarse and fine rice have increased by Tk 2 per kg (7 per cent) in the same time. As a result, the queues before the TCB trucks, a government initiative to sell products at fair prices, are getting longer in most parts of the capital, including Puran Dhaka, Mirpur and Mohammadpur.
Disruption of constitutional continuity may incite disorder

Oct 30, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | AKM Zakaria |Iftekhar Mahmud

Prothom Alo: Considering the activities of the government for the past two months, many people say the size of the government should expand and appoint new advisers. There are also some sectors that have no competent advisers. What are your thoughts on this? Hossain Zillur Rahman: The number of advisers might increase, but the main problem is the governance style of this government. At first, the government must give itself a big shake. They are turning it into a bureaucracy.
Govt should not take people's support for granted

Oct 28, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | AKM Zakaria |Iftekhar Mahmud

Prothom Alo: Overall, how do you evaluate the student-people's mass uprising on 5 August? Hossain Zillur Rahman: This must be considered as an unprecedented event in the history of Bangladesh. It was expected in one sense and it was unexpected in another sense. The past 15 years, especially the last 10 years, will have to be seen differently in the 53 years of the history of Bangladesh.
Saint Martin threatened by unrestricted tourism

Oct 26, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

Environment · There are 20 different risks including rise in temperature and salinity, deforestation, along with pollution. · The trees are being destroyed from white fly infestation. · Decision to limit tourist movement for four months since November. The only coral island of the country, Saint Martin is faced with at least 20 different types of dangers. These risk factors have been created in the last two decades.
Corruption in procurement of wheat worth Tk 40 billion

Oct 10, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

According to sources in the food ministry, Russian company Pradintorg got the exclusive monopoly of importing wheat in the public sector after Sadhan Chandra Majumdar became minister of food in 2019. There is no rule of presence of any agent in case of Government to Government (GTO) imports. But in this case, National Electric Group, a supplier of energy products, worked as a middleman. Mia Sattar is the chairman and his brother Amiruzzaman Sohel is the managing director of National Electric Group.
Tigers in the Sundarbans increase by 11, now 125 in total

Oct 8, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

The number of tigers in the country has increased by 11 over the past six years. The forest department found this figure by conducting a survey in the Sundarbans, the only habitation of tigers in the country. The number of tigers increased the most in Khulna district. Meanwhile, there has been a decline in that number in the Satkhira portion of the forest. People involved with the study believe that the number of tigers decreased in that area due to poachers and the decline in tiger prey (deer).
Russia trip of 17 govt officials raises questions

Sep 28, 2024 | en.prothomalo.com | Iftekhar Mahmud

The government has been procuring wheat from a controversial Russian firm at higher prices for two years while 17 officials of the Ministry of Foods and the Directorate General of Food, who are directly involved in wheat procurement, visited Russia during this period.