Editorial

Prof. Dr. Ahmad Kamruzzaman Majumder :Lead (Pb) is an elemental heavy metal found naturally in the environment as well as in manufactured products. Lead can be released directly into the air, as suspended particles. Lead poses a severe threat to human health and the environment. Many populations have been exposed to environmental lead from paint, petrol, and mining and smelting operations in Bangladesh.Major sources of lead air emissions were motor vehicles and industrial sources. From July 6th 2000, lead has...

Leaving rubbish on roads Recently the city corporation has done a very good job by repairing the streets and constructing new drains and footpaths in the Mohammadpur area. The city corporation deserves appreciation for this.But with much concern I have noticed that rubbish is still being heaped by the side of the roads. One more thing, whenever the city corporation cleans the sewerage lines, they leave the sewage just by the side of the manhole, which eventually spreads around the...

It is shocking to know that 50 Hindu devotees died as an engine-run boat capsized in Karotoa River at Aulia Ghat in Madea union of Boda, Panchagarh on Sunday. Moreover, dozens of devotees who were on the boat are still missing. Apparently, since the water vessel was overloaded beyond its capacity, the tragedy happened. The vessel could take only 50 people, but there were actually more than a hundred people on it who were going to join the Mahalaya festival...

Anisur Rahman Khan :Bangladesh was endowed with the numerous rivers crisscrossed over its geographical area from time immemorial, but with the passage of time many rivers have disappeared due to climate change, siltation and increased man-made activities.The water flow in the existing rivers is decreasing every year as many of the trans-border rivers — Padma, Teesta and Surma — are not getting enough water to keep its navigability round the river as the upper riparian country India is diverting water...

Dr. Forqan Uddin Ahmed :In the entire imperialist world capitalist system, the most severe and deepest economic recession has fallen and is running towards the great depression since the Second World War. Conflicts between imperialist countries, currency war, spatial-territorial wars are expanding and increasing the danger of the third world war. The most significant partner in the US ‘war on terror’ in the Middle East is the worst terrorist fascist state of Israel. The issue of Israel’s terrorist activities is...

E-pollution We must educate ourselves and our youth about the cautious use of cyberspace. Our careless and redundant resorting to social media and e-communication apps enhances cyber traffic and causes digital pollution. It must be ingrained in our minds that unbridled use of anything triggers its auto-destruction.It so happens very often that posts are shared at the drop of the hat without checking their validity, authenticity and originality. We are hellbent on being noticed, liked or commented upon. The following...

Garment factories, apparel dyeing and washing facilities mushroomed in Tongi over the years have ruined the rivers, canals and other water bodies. Effluent released from countless factories in the area has turned the river’s swollen drain and filthy. A newspaper reported that the municipality authorities built a drainage system through Shilmon village for the factories to discharge untreated waste into the Hyderabad canal. Even the factories of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) area discharge water in the canal...

Md. Arafat Rahman :The silk saree is a symbol of wealth, civilization, traditional beauty and cultural independence of the Bengali woman. Different patterns and designs of silk have special names in Bengali such as Garad, Matka, Banarasi etc. However, silk is a natural protein fiber of which some types are used in textile weaving. The most common type of silk from the cocoons of silkworm larvae called Bombyx mori. A type of thread is obtained from the cocoons of a...

Impose strict ban on polythene It is a matter of pain that the ban of polythene has no effect whatsoever on the everyday use of polythene bags for grocery shopping. Someone says that there is no alternative use of polythene but if we can use all of our jute to produce Sonali Bags, then we can meet one-fourth of the global demand. So, it is a foolish to say there are no alternatives.Since September 2002, using and producing polythene is...

It is very worrying that Faidpur’s Padma and Madhumati rivers are swallowing farmlands and houses, leaving hundreds of villagers in the relevant areas in hardships and panic. According to a report in this newspaper yesterday, the homeless people in the region who had earlier received houses under the government’s Ashrayan project are now afraid of losing their houses again due to river erosion.River erosion, the natural consequence of overflowing of rivers, wreaks havoc in Bangladesh each year washing away everything...