THAT a mobile court has caught four factories red handed in the act of producing poultry feed using waste material from tanneries is an exercise that must lauded. We have covered this issue in our paper previously and the health hazards caused in the human anatomy as a direct result of consuming poultry and fish that have fed on such fake and poisonous feed. Although the pre-Eid drive has confirmed existence of illicit activity by a section of producers,...

BANGLADESH Mahila Parishad has come up with a report based on collation analysis of facts published in newspapers that portrays a horrific picture of repression against women and children. The period covered is January 1 to June 30, 2014, and the revelation is startling. In those six months, the number of victims of repression stood at 2,208, averaging 368 per month. The incidence of rape is quite high at 431, of whom 84 were gang-raped and 45 killed after rape....

IN yet another case of brutal torture in police custody, a student of City College of the capital has been undergoing treatment with one of his legs damaged beyond repair at the burn unit of the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).  After arresting the student nicknamed Jisan on suspicion of involvement in the murder of a fellow student,  some members of the Dhanmodi police allegedly even threatened to kill the boy,  unless his family members paid them a...

THE local footwear industry is now worth Tk.7,000 crore per annum. What we are witnessing is nothing short of extraordinary, where small entrepreneurs are churning out good quality footwear which is competing with foreign brands in chic areas of the capital city and servicing the countrywide demand. We are witnessing local industry specialising in other products making investments in leather as the demand for footwear continues to post healthy growth. Besides already established brands, new entrants are taking on...

IN a welcome judgment a Dhaka drug court on Tuesday awarded the highest punishment under the law to a pharmaceutical company owner and her two staff members for manufacturing an adulterated drug for children. Being the first case of such conviction, the court has thus set the stage for holding to account other spurious drug makers, the deadly impact of whose products is yet to be unraveled.   The convicted drug manufacturer, as the case statement goes, was responsible for...

GOING by what the outgoing head of the EU delegation William Hanna has stated, the duty free access Bangladesh gets to the EU market has proved to be a tremendous opportunity for exports. Indeed, EU remains the country's single largest export market, with exports going up by a significant 57 per cent over the last three and a half years. It speaks volumes for the quality of our products and the RMG sector as a whole. That said, for...

THE government by having revoked the false freedom fighters' certificates that 35 public servants had been using over the years to illegally occupy different official positions and draw benefits illegally from the public exchequer has taken the first step towards holding these fraudsters to account. But considering the gravity of their offence, the government should not rest content with merely removing them from office.  They should be made to refund the money they have so far illegally taken from...

THE communications minister asserts that 80 per cent of the highways are in good shape adding that media has published three-year old pictures in an apparent bid to underplay the progress in the road repair work. We find Mr. Quader's statement unfortunately lacking in depth. If he is so sure that the media is reusing old photographs, let him furnish these as proof of such misrepresentation. Then media will admit its mistake. This is the least we could expect...

WITH Eid-ul-Fitr around the corner, retailers are rushing to meet the huge demand for apparels by opening new stores and keeping shops open for longer. Pre-Eid shopping is seen as one of the biggest revenue generating periods for our economy. This is when local retail outlets are buoyed both by the seasonal demand and the substantial inflow of remittance sent by Bangladeshi people living abroad for the purpose of Eid shopping. For this reason, it is a halcyon time...

ALONG with its regularly scheduled services, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) is adding to its fleet strength with repaired old vessels to meet the rush of Eid travellers. The BIWTC 's  reinstating some nearly eighty year old ships back into service highlights the inadequate fleet capacity of the state-owned corporation. More to the point, would the increased fleet strength, the way it's being done, upgrade the safety status overall? This question begs a satisfactory answer. Especially restoration of four...