HOME AND ABROAD

The Nasty Spell of Winter

Lalmonirhat. The winter is difficult for everyone but it's unbearable for those living in the colder regions. Poor people, especially those living in the Teesta and Dharta river basin areas, are the most afflicted in this brutal weather as they are not able to afford clothes that can keep them warm. Hospitals and clinics are crowded with patients as cold-related diseases like fever, cough and cold, diarrhoea, dysentery, bronchitis and asthma see alarming rise. Over a thousand people including aged ones and children gathered as six volunteer youths from the town came to distribute 100 pieces of blankets at Baruya village of Kulaghat union in Lalmonirhat Sadar upazila on December 26.

Victory Crushes Violence

All over Bangladesh. Hartals may come and go but candidates of this year's Junior Dakhil Certificate exams have proven that they can achieve success against all odds. The JCD exam results show that 91.11 percent students have come out successful this year. The pass rate was 90.87 percent last year. This has set a record boost in the number of students achieving the highest GPA. show The number of GPA-5, the highest grade point average, achievers has increased by a large margin this year as well. As many as 19,211 students have secured GPA-5 this year, marking almost seven times higher over the last year. The figure was 2,784 in the previous year. The success rate of boys is 91.47 percent, while the pass rate of girls is 90.79 percent. Our children have truly shown us that with determination and hard work, we can truly overcome any obstacle.

The Story of an Unusable Road

Jalakathi. People of ten villages use the Goghata-Ashiar Thoulkhola road in the Sadar upazila, which is in need of serious repair work. However, the concerned authorities seem to have turned a blind eye to the sufferings of these people as this road has been in a terrible condition for years. The road remains unuasable almost all of the years but despite repeated pleas, authorities are yet to take any steps to improve the condition of the only road of the area and alleviate the suffering of thousands of people, which include school and college students. Md Phulkam Badshah Mia, senior assistant engineer of LGRD, Jhalakathi, said they already wrote to the higher authorities for fund but to no effect yet. This road was built around10 years ago across the paddy fields and LGRD built the culverts on it but people of the area are yet unable to enjoy the convenience of a proper road.  

Lesson Not Learnt

Pondicherry, India. It's been a year since the 23-year-old 'braveheart' of India lost her battle after she was brutally gang-raped on a moving bus in New Delhi. Despite the heavy protests and condemnation of the law and order system of the Delhi administration, reports of sexual assaults in the country keep making the headlines. Police arrested 10 people and charged six of them with allegedly gang-raping a 21-year-old woman on Christmas Eve in southern India.

Polio Activists Targeted

Peshawar, Pakistan. Even health workers are not safe from the wrath of militants.  Gunmen shot dead a health officer supervising an anti-polio vaccination campaign after storming a hospital where children were being immunised in Pakistan's troubled northwest Saturday, officials said. Nobody immediately claimed responsibility for the killing, but Taliban militants have been targeting health workers and security personnel during vaccination campaigns. The Taliban imposed a ban on polio vaccinations last year as they view inoculation campaigns as a cover for espionage. According to the World Health Organization, Pakistan recorded 72 cases of polio this year compared with 58 in 2012.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan

The Symbol of Corruption

Ankara, Turkey. The obvious purpose of a shoebox is to keep shoes in them. But for people in Turkey, this innocuous object has become a symbol of a corruption scandal after police earlier this month found $4.5 million stashed in shoeboxes in the home of an ally of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Pensioner Nurhan Gul was detained on December 30 after brandishing a shoebox in an anti-government protest over a sweeping graft probe that has ensnared allies of the Prime Minister. Gul said she was interrogated and then released pending trial. The Turkish premiere has faced a wave of demonstrations since the raids against several key allies, calling for him to step down after 11 years in power.

Bringing in the New Year

Hérault, France. Now this is quite the tradition! People take part in a customary sea bathing to mark new-year's end on December 31, 2013 on a nudist beach in Le Cap d'Agde in southern France.