Author: Sumon Admin

Shirshobindu News Desk: People gather around a basket full of bananas by the rail track after its owner was hit by a train at Karwan Bazar in the capital on Thursday. Vendors and hawkers selling their goods on the rail lines are a common scenario all over the country. Photo: Anisur Rahman Three persons including a banana trader were killed and six injured as a train ploughed through a crowd which gathered on the rail track near the Karwan Bazar kitchen market in Dhaka this morning. The accident took place around 8:45am when two trains -- Karnaphuli Express and Jamuna Express -- were passing by the area from opposite directions, Abu Ahmed, a gateman of Karwan Bazar rail crossing, told The Daily Star. Many pedestrians were on the rail track as the trains neared the point. Mohammad, who...

Why adulterate food, fruit Profit, more profit Helemul Alam and Jamil Mahmud with Robin Gazi: Traders and growers spray chemicals on mangoes to increase their shelf life before they are shipped out to the market. If they do not taint the fruits with toxic chemicals, the fruits would stay good a few days less that's all. The photo was taken in Meherpur. Photo: BSS It is mainly the wholesalers who are to blame for food adulteration. If not at equal level, growers and producers are also indulging in such unlawful and criminal activities. Not many retailers use chemicals like formalin and calcium carbide in food items, but they all know which items are chemical-free and which are not. Experts and safe-food campaigners put it all down to the wholesalers' insatiable greed for profit. They...

Great cities for outdoorsy people Cities that capture the best of the outdoors For many, exploring a big city is all about the culture and food scene – after all, why go to a city if you’re wanting rural pursuits? But there are some cities that offer the best of both worlds – they’ve got the museums and restaurants, but they’ve also got plenty of natural beauty and activities to keep the outdoors-minded happy. Whether it’s a case of hopping in a kayak, slogging your way up a mountain or learning to surf – these cities have an energy of a different kind…

Ebola is surging in places it had been beaten back Liberia’s Treatment Centres Struggle to Contain Ebola Epidemic International Business Times  0:58 Ebola outbreak in West Africa Health workers, attend to patients that contracted the Ebola virus, at a clinic in … CONAKRY, Guinea (AP) — Doctors Without Borders shuttered one of its Ebola treatment centers in Guinea in May. They thought the deadly virus was being contained there. The Macenta region, right on the Liberian border, had been one of the first places where the outbreak surfaced, but they hadn't seen a new case for weeks. So they packed up, leaving a handful of staff on stand-by. The outbreak was showing signs of slowing elsewhere as well. Instead, new cases appeared across the border in Liberia and then ...

Non-banks hit a rough patch Fierce competitive, low demand put their profitability at stake Sajjadur Rahman: Profitability of non-bank financial institutions is shrinking though their management strives to extract profits from a dull market this year, industry insiders said. The situation is getting aggravated further due to early payoffs of loans by relatively good corporate clients. “Banks, which are facing a dearth of business, are taking away our clients (credit lines). We cannot compete with banks as our cost of fund is higher than that of banks,” said Asad Khan, managing director of Prime Finance. Khan, also the president of Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies' Association, said some of his company's borrowers paid off loans worth around Tk 100 crore so far this year. Alm...

The city with zero environmental impact The impressive Binhai Eco City in the north of China aims to have little or no effect on its surroundings       Every new building that's constructed is planned with its environmental impact in mind, but few projects are as climate-conscious as the new Binhai Eco City, slated for a site near Tianjin in the north of China. The country has to balance huge commercial and economic growth with its ongoing pollution and congestion problems, which is why Holm Architecture Office (HAO) and Archiland International (AI) have come up with a series of buildings that are self-sustaining and have virtually no impact on the surrounding environment. These concept plans have just won the first prize in a competition run jointly by the gove...

New vista of Tokyo-Dhaka partnership Speedy follow-up and implementation key News Desk: The major elements of the Joint Statement on the outcome of the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo  Abe to Bangladesh sound clearly target-specific, programmatic and visionary. As these spell out shared  intent, understanding and decisions  at highest  political level   the rhetoric phase enters the substantive one.Now these fall squarely  on  the bureaucracies and private sector leaders   to follow through ,coordinate and  implement   the decisions. We  have often made a good start   but  when it came to follow-up measures we would be found wanting .The speed and competence with    which we meet our part of the bargain can make all the difference between  a  half-way house and a  fully  gainfu...

'Meteorite' smashes into Nicaraguan capital AFP/Presidencia - El 19 Digital/AFP - A Nicaraguan soldier checks the site where an alleged meteorite struck, in Managua, on September 7, 2014 A mysterious explosion that rocked Nicaragua's crowded capital Managua, creating a large crater, appears to have been caused by a small meteorite, officials said Sunday.Amazingly, in a sprawling city of 1.2 million people, the impact near the international airport did not cause any known injuries, but it did leave a crater measuring 12 meters (39 feet) across and was felt throughout the capital late on Saturday.Nicaraguan authorities believe it was a piece of the small asteroid dubbed "2014 RC," which passed very close to Earth on Sunday and was estimated by astronomers to be about 20 meters ...