Sifat Afrin Shams

We Bangalis have our own unique sense of humour and are very famous for it. Making jokes about almost everything and anything in subtlest to not-so-subtle and lamest ways is part of our characteristics.

For the last three years, the air quality in Dhaka remains consistently unhealthy during the dry season according to the Department of Environment (DoE). DoE states that 58% of the particulate pollutants responsible for the smog in the air of Dhaka city comes from the orthodox brick kilns around and inside Dhaka.

The long and arduous year, that is 2016, is finally over and now we can look forward to all the cinematic treats 2017 has in store for us.

Let us look back at the passing year to remind ourselves why we should be glad that it’s over.

In Bangladesh we still live with our parents when we are in our twenties. We are either in the last years of our universities or looking for jobs after freshly graduating. But mostly wondering what we need to do or how far we need to go to fulfill the growing list of expectations of our parents and the society.

We can see a goat drinking from a cup of tea with much flair standing on its two legs in the video captured at a road side tea stall in Mymensingh by a morning walker, Shamsul Alam.

When somebody dies, how many ways does s/he still remain alive in? People say the person remains alive in the memories of the near and dear ones. Some say they remain alive in the names of the descendants. Science says they remain on the surface of the world in another form of matter.

Shaheed Shafi Imam Rumi, a guerrilla fighter who fought valiantly in the Liberation War of Bangladesh will always remain 19 in the eyes of people of the country who know the history of sacrifices of a mere teenager and his family for this country.

January 27, 2016 is the 260th birthday of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, one of the most prolific, influential and genius composers and pianists of all time.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest philanthropic organisation, has in the past given away money, much of it to fight infectious diseases. Now it has a new strategy of investing in technologies that can make goods and services affordable to the poor.

It’s a good time to be alive while history is being written. As we bid adieu to 2015 we realise the year was a roller coaster ride! It was a year of aggression and violence that carved the world for many new beginnings. Let us take a stroll and reminisce the achievements of the past year in various arenas that molded the nation to take on 2016.

With great reverence we remember Tareque Masud, the “Cinema Feriwalla”, a leading Bangladeshi independent filmmaker, film producer, screenwriter and lyricist who was born on this very day in the year of 1956.

Humayun Ahmed is the most celebrated writer of contemporary time and one of the best story tellers in the history of Bangla literature.

November 7 was the birthday of French Nobel Prize–winning philosopher and novelist Albert Camus, the great contributor to the rise of Absurdism.

In remembrance of Sukumar Ray, the great Bangalee poet, story writer and playwright Bangla literature will forever be indebted to.