INDIA鈥橲 Border Security Force pushing individuals into Bangladesh has continued at regular intervals, reinforcing suspicion that this is not incidental but a deliberate policy. At least 46 individuals were pushed in through border points in Moulvibazar,...
THIS is unacceptable that the government has not adequately addressed the grievances of thousands of teachers and employees of non-government secondary schools, madrassahs and colleges under the monthly pay order scheme regarding...
THE rape of a woman allegedly by a temporary railway employee on board the Rangpur Express on June 25 is yet another disturbing reminder of the unsafe condition that women face in public transports. The incident took place in the train鈥檚 toilet as it left Kamalapur station in Dhaka. The accused, an outsourced employee, was detained shortly afterwards. The woman...
THREE viral diseases, having similar symptoms of fever and body aches, raging at a time is worrying as it harms patient and hospital management. Whilst the Aedes mosquito is the primary vector of dengue and chikungunya viruses, Covid-19 spreads through small airborne droplets that the infected individuals discharge when they breathe, talk, cough or sneeze. Individuals...
THE dismal state of waste management, especially of plastic waste, can hardly be overstated. The limited recycling capacity appears to have exacerbated the situation. World Environment Day this year has placed special an emphasis on plastic pollution. Although Bangladesh has made some strides in recycling plastic waste, a substantial volume of plastic remains uncollected...
AN INCREASE in crimes that include murder, robbery, drug dealing, theft and, even, killing suggests that the law and order, which drastically declined soon after the August 2024 political changeover, has not yet been fully restored. The situation is worrying in view of the fact that the interim government, installed on August 8, 2024 after the overthrow of the Awami League...
THIS is alarming that despite employing more than 25 million people and comprising more than 99 per cent of industrial enterprises, small and medium enterprises remain largely absent from formal export policy. The sector accounts for 28 per cent of the gross domestic product and is estimated to account for a quarter of total exports. Yet, there is no dedicated export...
THE second interim report of the commission of inquiry on enforced disappearances, partially made public on June 23, suggests that the culture of impunity has still alarmingly been at play even in the political changeover that happened on August 5, 2024 with the fall of the Awami League government, which had governed the country for about a decade...
A GRADUAL loss of agricultural land poses a threat to food security. A Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics survey report says that farmland has been eroded by 3.75 per cent over eight years. The survey, covering 2015鈥�2023 and highlighting some critical environmental and climate issues, says that a lack of commitment to saving farmland and rapid, unplanned urbanisation...
THE former chief election commissioner KM Nurul Huda, who presided over one of the three controversial elections chiefly marked by ballot stuffing the night before the election day, was arrested on June 22 after a mob had detained him hours after the Bangladesh Nationalist Party鈥檚 filing a case with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar against the deposed prime minister...
The Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Rajshahi having cancelled the history second-paper question set for the forthcoming Higher Secondary Certificate examinations amid allegations of a leak from a police station in Naogaon suggests that the authorities have yet to ensure foolproof security to prevent question paper leaks. The set of questions was kept in a...
THE Bangladesh Railway keeps incurring a huge amount of losses although it has received large budgetary allocations over the years. In six financial years from 2019 to 2024, the revenue that the railway authorities could earn is Tk 91.29 billion against the target of Tk 134.28 billion. But, the authorities had to spend Tk 192.58 billion in the six financial years, taking the loss...
THE unregulated dumping of unsegregated waste on random locations and the acute shortage of landfill space pose a serious health hazard to residents of Rajshahi, a city acclaimed for its greenery and cleanliness. The Rajshahi City Corporation is...
SEVERAL villages came to be submerged in Feni after several days of heavy rainfall and the onrush of water from the upstream that breached river embankments at night on June 19. Embankments have breached along the River Muhuri at Phulgazi and...
A STUDY by the Environment and Social Development Organisation, supported by the European Environmental Bureau and BAN Toxics, reveals widespread contamination of popular skin-whitening creams in Bangladesh with mercury. The investigation...