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When the night loses its lanterns

ONCE, in the villages of Bangladesh, the night air shimmered with tiny golden lights. Fireflies, the living lanterns of the countryside, would drift through paddy fields and hover over darkened rivers, their glow guiding the imagination of poets and the steps of night-time travellers. Bengali literature even gave us the image of ‘a boat in a dark night finding its way...

Authorities need to be stringent about firework ban

THE failure of the authorities to enforce the ban that they imposed on fireworks, crackers and sky lanterns in New Year celebrations is unacceptable. The city police on December 31 issued 10 instructions to keep law and order and ensure public safety in Dhaka on New Year’s Eve and in New Year’s celebrations. The instructions included a prohibition on the use...