Bishakha Devnath

Hospitals breach disposal rules

Many healthcare facilities across the capital have been breaching their legal obligations on safe disposal of medical waste, but a decade-old system is failing to hold them accountable.

How liquid waste causes health risk

A 250-bed hospital in Dhanmondi produces about 4,000 litres of liquid waste a day. The liquid is treated to ensure that it doesn’t spread infection when disposed of.

Safety takes a back seat

A worker hacks away at a pipe-like object at a small scrap shop in Old Dhaka’s Islambagh. The sound of his hammer crashing against the pipe is instantly followed by bits of plastic flying off in all directions. Flecks of yellow and red tint the air.

The shady ‘recycle-man’

He is an apparent big shot in the black market of medical recyclables. Probably in his late thirties, the man keeps close supervision over his business and is careful to leave no footprints behind.

Medical Waste: 2 treatment devices stay idle for 4yrs

At a time when safe disposal of medical waste is a nationwide concern, two waste treatment devices have been sitting idle since 2015.

Communal Attacks Over FB Posts: Instigators still on the loose

It is always the same story – a Facebook image, post, or message hurting religious sentiments, an outpouring of rage both on social media and on the streets, ending in attacks on minority communities.

Testing Fish Feed: Importers cash in on legal loopholes

A battle between the Chattogram customs and fish feed importers over the jurisdiction of the port authority to check hazardous substances in imported consignments has laid bare loopholes in the import policy.

Checking eyes from miles away

Samira Begum’s eyes were itchy and watery for a few days when she finally decided to get a check-up at the Puthia Upazila Health Complex of Rajshahi on September 17.

Legal complications stall narcotics cases

Mohammad Saju has been behind bars since March in a drugs-related case and he does not know when the court will resume hearing his case giving him an opportunity to seek bail.

Hounded out of Saudi Arabia

Kabirun Nahar sat on a luggage trolley as she got out of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka yesterday. She had nothing with her bearing signs of her life overseas, apart from her right leg bandaged from above the ankle to her toes, the doing of her Saudi employer.

Lifesavers on the beach

As the sun lights up the horizon, Osman Goni starts patrolling the Cox’s Bazar sea beach. While waves crash at his feet, his eyes keep searching the distance for anyone who might need help. A team of 26 lifeguards stands ready for his order to rescue people lost in the waves.

ENSLAVED in Oman

Shaheen Alam heard his mother’s voice crack on the other end of the phone, as she pleaded with him to rescue her from the torture by a trafficking network in Oman. She had gone there in May after being promised a decent job as a hospital cleaner. It was a trap.

Dengue Prevalence: Upscale areas more prone

Dengue infections and Aedes mosquito prevalence are higher in areas with too many multistory buildings and shiny infrastructures adorned with decorative greeneries, although there are a few exceptions, analysis of two government surveys shows.

Dengue spreads to 50 districts

Dengue has spread to 50 districts with a record 1,096 patients having been diagnosed with the viral disease yesterday alone.

Tk 500 max for dengue diagnosis

Showing symptoms of dengue, Kazi Jabunnahar, 29, went to a nearby private hospital from her Banasree house about two weeks ago.

Waste no time, seek treatment

Dengue may be fatal for those who had already contracted the disease before, with doctors suggesting immediate treatment at the first sign of a fever for everyone.

NHRC should rethink its strategy as a rights defender

When human rights are violated, the job of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is to provide the victims with legal aid. It can even stand by the victims in courts. The rights body also has the authority to recommend compensations to the victims, or their

Going the extra mile for children with cancer

Rohan let out frequent shrieks of pain, his eyes fixed on the ceiling with teardrops rolling down on the pillow. Curtains were drawn, lights switched off. The ceiling fan was on full speed and his mother was rubbing his arms and legs, waiting for the morphine to kick in.

Corruption in Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant

Immense power, little application

Contrary to popular belief, the National Human Rights Commission is armed with ample power to help ensure justice and even compensation for victims of rights violation.

NHRC sitting on draft rules for a decade

Even after a decade spent discussing, drafting and re-drafting, the National Human Rights Commission has not yet formulated a set of rules, which is supposed to outline the detailed procedure of how it will address human rights violations.

Want to beat bone loss? Change your lifestyle!

When frequent painkillers stopped bringing much relief, Radhika Saha went to see a doctor for severe back pain. That was when she found out her bones were weakening, and that if they were not taken care of, the symptoms might lead to fracture.

Children with Cancer: In silence, they perish

Mohammad Kabir Hossain, 43, had dreamt of building a house for his family using the money he saved from an overseas job. That dream, however, took a backseat when his third child was diagnosed with cancer. Kabir used up all his savings, sold whatever land he had, along with his grocery store, for his child’s treatment.

Two get life term under human trafficking act

In a rare precedence, two people of an organised ring involved in stealing infants have been found guilty in court and handed down the highest punishment -- life imprisonment -- under the Prevention and Suppression of Human Trafficking Act, 2012.

Needle for middle class

Afsana Rahman’s maternity leave is about to end, and so baby formula milk will soon have to substitute breast milk for her second child. As she and her husband are both job holders with fixed income, she now has to adjust her monthly expenditures to make ends

Viewers turning away from local TV channels

It is one of those intense moments when you immerse yourself in the television and follow every move of the actor; his grimace makes you frown and speculate what would happen next. Right then, the broadcaster fills half of the screen with an ad of what to use to be fair, if not fairer.

Mother’s Day: Teach your sons to respect women

Mothers, who have overcome all challenges to become successful professionals and be role models to their sons and daughters, say that teaching sons to share their familial and social space equally with girls is the first step for removing the double standards that have been instilled in generations.

From streets of Dhaka to London

Running between ministries, passport office and court is over. Fifteen-year-old Jesmin Akter and seven other children are now excitedly ready -- with all their documents -- to fly to the UK tomorrow to play cricket.

Beggars’ Rehabilitation: Govt failure writ large

Feroz, 13, leaves Habib from time to time in his makeshift wheelchair outside the High Court Mazar gate and disappears into the distance. The young boy was hired seven days ago to wheel around Habib -- who earns his living by begging.

Street kids continue to be exploited

Rabeya boarded a launch for the first time when she was eight. As she arrived in Dhaka from Barishal, her grandmother abandoned her. Thus began Rabeya's life as a victim of sex exploitation.

Care services need to be recognised, valued: ILO survey

Globally, 45 percent women are employed, far less than their male counterparts -- 71 percent. This gender gap can be reduced by

Linking women to empower women

Dulali Khatun loves to introduce herself as one of the “Kallyanis” -- someone who tries to improve people's lives by offering goods, services and access to digital information.

Suspended in name, ‘blacklisted’ for life

Arif Hossain* has been worried about his future since his name and photo was put on a list of “suspended” workers outside his garment factory in Ashulia in the middle of January.

Battling to keep mother tongue alive

About a decade ago, Bivuti Chakma and his companion Jyoti Chakma pondered on how to penetrate the digital world with their native language. Far away from them, Manik Soren, from the Santal community, embarked upon doing the same.

Int'l Childhood Cancer Day Today: Love will keep us alive

Seven-year-old Rohan complains of being confined to a bed all day long. At the assurances of his caregivers that he will recover soon enough, Rohan's youthful, wide eyes dart between their faces and the tubes protruding from his arms and leading to a saline drip, placed next to his bed.

Reporting of adverse drug reaction crucial

A 15-year-old boy died in 2005 following intake of Levofloxacin that is prescribed to treat bacterial infections. He had suffered severe forms of adverse drug reaction, but it was too late by the time it was diagnosed.

Murder, not suicide

Depending entirely on the autopsy report, detectives had been claiming that Nilufa Akhter died by suicide in February 2016. The focus of Nilufa's case had shifted to suicide from murder after police got the forensic results.

Medical Exam of Rape Victims: Police not following HC directives

Shaila, 14, came out of the garment factory she works for in the capital's Mohammadpur Beri Bandh area and saw her ex-boyfriend Billal, employed at the same RMG unit, waiting outside.

Risha murder trial sees the light at last

The trial of the sensational Risha murder case can finally resume as the Children's Act, 2013, has been amended plugging loopholes the defence exploited to stall the proceedings.

Left candidates' eyewitness accounts of polls

The administration together with the law enforcement agencies played a role to influence the December 30 polls outcome in favour of the ruling Awami League, the Left Democratic Alliance candidates have alleged.

Where are the women in the manifestos?

The manifestoes of different political parties came one after another over the last three weeks, and to the dismay of women's rights activists, promises made ahead of the 11th general elections lack any determination to even try and establish a fair, equal society for women.

Social challenges hold back women's economic participation

Social challenges have held back women's economic participation over the last decade, despite headway made in education, training, entrepreneurship, and jobs overseas.

Election brings back trauma for survivors

It has now been over a month that Bhajan (not the real name) travelled to Munshiganj with his family. He doesn't get enough work to make a living there, but he feels it is safer than his home in Monirampur of Jashore ahead of the upcoming national election.

A case of sheer negligence

Mazkura Ayub, once an active homemaker, is now leading a life limited to watching television and taking occupational and physiotherapy at a rehabilitation centre. Neither the 63-year-old can walk with ease nor can she move three of her fingers on the left hand.

Pollution by 'plastic' campaign

Plastic banners are everywhere -- on lampposts, walls, flyover pillars and footbridges. Politicians use them for their publicity.

The challenges of childhood diabetes

Three-and-a-half-year-old Ashfia Waniya slumped over a desk at the children's ward in a city hospital on November 4, her legs swinging below. She was waiting for her turn to come for a diabetes checkup.

When outrage becomes selective

It is with both despair and indifference that I have witnessed the episodes that have unfolded following the TV talk show in which barrister Mainul Hosein insulted journalist Masuda Bhatti by saying she was "choritroheen" (immoral), when asked tough questions.

Term over, not 'punishment'

There were three Ripons in the same friend circle. That's why one of them was given the nickname Sipon. That name, affectionately tossed out, cost the man 16 years of his life, following a murder in the Old Dhaka area where he used to reside with his family.