Where are all the orders and instructions and directives of the authorities that lay down specifics of how women victims, particularly those that have suffered sexual abuse and violence, should be treated and how their cases should be handled?

The sudden strike and counter-strike called by workers and then owners, shutting down waterways which carry thousands of people all over the country,

The failure of the city corporations to prevent the frightening outbreak of dengue has prompted the High Court to intervene and summon

In a new directive to vehicle owners, the High Court on July 23 instructed them to collect fitness certificates for their vehicles within two months. The HC also said that vehicles without valid documents will not be allowed to ply the roads after September 30. The directives are very timely, given that unfit vehicles are one of the major reasons for road accidents across the country.

Although the railway top boss would like us to believe that his ministry is in no way responsible for casualties occurring at unauthorised level crossings, we beg to differ.

It is outrageous that the Jahangirnagar University authorities have decided to cut down over 1,100 trees to construct six dormitories—three for male and three for female students.

The government presented to us, on July 21, two decade-long master plans to protect five rivers in Dhaka (Buriganga, Turag, Balu, Dhaleswari and Pungili) and two in Chittagong (Karnaphuli and Halda) and their tributaries.

The investigative story on human trafficking published on the front page of this daily yesterday only goes to show the adaptability and shrewdness of criminals and gangs involved in trafficking, who will apparently go to any length to conduct their business.

We appreciate the High Court’s timely directive to the government to prepare a masterplan to address Dhaka’s traffic congestion.

In another blow to the interest of farmers and also honest millers, it has been discovered that nearly a third of registered millers in Lalmonirhat are not genuine. And yet, these fake millers are still selling rice to the government, robbing real millers and farmers of their share of the rice market at a time of great strife for the latter.

Reportedly, five people have been beaten dead recently and 10 hurt including several policemen and four mentally challenged persons. Even a mother who had gone to a school to inquire about the admission process was beaten to death, suspected of being a child kidnapper. It is abhorrent and disguting to see people falling victims of public lynching in several parts of the country over a period of several days. While there cannot be any scope or ground or justification for resorting to mob “justice”, what makes it even worse is that in this instance, the victims were merely “suspected” of being child-snatchers.

The flood situation in Bangladesh has adversely affected the lives of some 2.1 million people in 24 districts (99 upazilas) and allegations are being made that authorities are not reaching the affected people.

We are dismayed that despite dengue becoming a formidable menace for months, the Chief Health Officer of Dhaka South City Corporation is now talking about forming 57 committees in 57 wards of the city in order to destroy mosquito breeding grounds.

The High Court (HC) observed on July 17 that the two city corporations have failed to tackle the outbreak of dengue infestation and that it has already cost the lives of more than 20 people. During the hearing of a writ petition by a rights organisation, the HC stated that the

A report was submitted to the LGRD ministry on July 18 by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and we understand that the ACC has found systemic corruption taking place in eight projects undertaken by Dhaka Wasa. The anti-graft watchdog body has made a 12-point

We are shocked to know that despite Bangladesh’s progress in terms of food security, there are still 24.2 million Bangladeshis who are

We are happy to learn that the pass rate of this year’s HSC exams has increased by a significant margin—from 64.55 percent last year to 71.85 percent this year.

We have had to witness a spate of deaths and injuries of people in recent times at authorised and unauthorised rail crossings across the country. If we look at the data, there are some 1,412 legal level crossings (approved by Bangladesh Railway) of which only a third is manned. Then we have some 1,085 illegal level crossings and about 87 percent of these are unmanned. Why do we have so many illegal level crossings?

It has been finally confirmed that the milk which we are consuming contains lead and cadmium, another heavy metal with equally dangerous potentials. This goes for both pasteurised and packaged milk being sold in the open market. Six government and non-government organisations with established credentials have carried out the tests and the results we feel are incontestable. We cannot but be concerned at the grave risk that people are being exposed to, children in particular.

The findings of the first-ever study on the level of mercury pollution in Bangladesh are alarming, to say the least. The one-year-long study, done by the Department of Environment (DoE), has found dangerous levels of mercury in both our air and water. According to