HOME AND ABROAD

Murder for Money

Moulvibazar. Hakaluki Haor, one of the country's largest natural water bodies provide shelter to a beautiful bird called Hiron. There are many folk stories revolving around the bird of the wet lands but it seems like within a few short years the bird will become a part of myths and legends. Poachers are indiscriminately hunting and selling birds, especially herons. Poachers say they catch the birds that are in good demand for consumption, without facing restrictions from the authorities concerned although poaching is banned under The Wildlife (Protection and Safety) Act 2012. Environmentalists say that if the killing of birds continues, it will affect the ecological system of the huge marshland.

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A Helping Hand

Dhaka. Even today women are reluctant to seek help from the police. In order to encourage women to approach and seek assistance from the police, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police decided to set help desks, especially for women in three police stations in the capital and 12 others in Jamalpur, Sylhet, Cox's Bazar and Patuakhali, said a home ministry joint secretary. According to Violence against Women Survey 2011, only 11.3 percent of married women facing domestic abuse filed police reports in that year. We can only hope that the new strategy to motivate women to seek police assistance will help them get justice.

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Shifting Responsibility

Dhaka. The government might think that handing over the power to issue driving licences to a group of individuals will be more effective than entrusting a board dedicated to the very issue. But, fortunately, our judiciary system thinks differently. The High Court on Monday stayed a government order that empowered vehicle inspectors to issue professional driving licences for drivers and to renew these licences in place of the Driving Competency Test Board (DCTB). In response to a writ petition, the court also issued a rule upon the government to explain in two weeks why the circular issued to this effect should not be declared illegal. Bangladesh Road Transport Authority on December 31 last year issued the circular saying that the vehicle inspectors will hold examinations and tests for giving and renewing driving licences in place of the DCTB. Now the DCTB will hold test and examinations for issuing and renewing driving licences for drivers as it used to, following the HC order, said Mazill Murshid, the lawyer for the petitioners.

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Gassy Cows Blamed for Explosion

Berlin, Germany. Gassy cows can be dangerous. Police in Berlim said that flatulence from 90 cows in a German barn sparked a methane gas explosion that damaged the building and left one cow slightly injured. Local police of the two of Rasdorf stated that methane built up for unknown reasons in the barn of 90 dairy cows, and was probably ignited by a “static discharge, exploding in a darting flame.” Parts of the roof cover were slightly damaged, while a fire crew rushed to the scene and a gas field crew later measured methane levels.

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Student Kills Teacher, Policeman

Moscow, Russia. Students are not supposed to carry arms to school and yet this scene seems to be on replay in different countries over the world. A 10th grade student armed with two rifles burst into his school in Moscow on February 3 and killed his geography teacher and a policeman before being taken into custody, police said. The boy's father played a key role in helping to free students being held as hostages and prevent further violence, the city police chief said. None of the children in School No. 263 at the time were hurt, said the police. The student gunman also seriously wounded a second police officer who had responded to an alarm from the school. The armed teenager entered the school after threatening the security guard, who managed to hit an alarm before following the student to his classroom, the spokesman for Russia's main investigative agency said. The boy, who would be about 16, was apparently an excellent student, stated spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin. 

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Goodbye Philip Seymour Hoffman

New York, USA. One of the greatest character actors of Hollywood, Philip Seymour Hoffman, was found dead in his Manhattan apartment on February 2. The New York Post reports that Hoffman was found dead on his bathroom floor of an apparent drug overdose by his friend, screenwriter David Katz, at 11:30 in the morning. It was reported that a syringe was found in the actor's arm at the scene accompanied by what appeared to be an envelope. “It's pretty apparent that it was an overdose," confirmed a police official. "The syringe was in his arm.” The acclaimed actor is best known for his outstanding performances in films like “The Master”, “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire”, and “Capote”, for which he won an Oscar for Best Actor in 2005, is survived by his longtime partner Mimi O'Donnell and their three young children.