HOME AND ABROAD

Choosing Profit Over Humanity

Ishwardi, Pabna. A large number of birds are being trapped and killed in Ishwardi upazila as framers set nets to protect their crops. Birds caught in this way, especially migratory ones, are sold in the market. Farmers seem to continue trapping birds as they enjoy a hefty profit in selling them in the market. “Agriculture officials often inspire farmers to use natural means to protect their crop fields from birds. But many farmers are too unaware and use banned current nets for the purpose," said AI Shahin, development officer of the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE) in Pabna.

Insulting Education

Nilphamari. This doesn't come as a surprise. Politically motivated miscreants seem  to have lost all sense of right and wrong, as they continue attacks on the Hindu community as well as on education institutes across the country.  Twenty-one educational institutions, used as polling centres in Nilphamari-1 (Dimla) and Nilphamari-3 (Jaldhaka) constituencies for the January 5 elections, still bear testimony to the barbaric arson attacks by criminals on the polls day and the night before. The attack, committed apparently by anti-election activists, destroyed textbooks, furniture, laboratory apparatus, registers, MPO sheets and service books of teachers and caused damage to the schoolhouses. Teachers and administrations of the schools are trying to get things back to normal but it is a difficult task as even now, students are forced to sit on the floor during classes due to the lack of proper furniture.

Faking It

Lalmonirhat. Some phony herbal practitioners are giving a bad name to the whole profession. A section of fake herbal practitioners, locally known as kabiraj, have continued fleecing people in the name of treating paralysis patients in different areas of Lalmonirhat and adjoining districts, taking advantage of the blind faith of innocent villagers. As part of the treatment, a kabiraj touches the paralysed patients with different plants and leaves. While chanting of mantra and singing songs continue, little girls dance around the patients, locals said. The paralysed patients are also taken into holes dug on earth for giving another round of 'treatment' at midnight or early morning, when there is hardly anyone to see, they said.  Civil Surgeon Dr Jahangir Alam Sarker said, "There is no approval for such so-called kabiraji treatment and conditions of paralysis patients are likely to worsen if they receive it."

Women Power

Delhi, India. The newly-elected state government of the Indian capital Delhi hopes an all-female volunteer commando unit can form the front line of defense against sexual violence in the country's capital. Members of the unit will be trained by martial arts and military experts, and conduct night patrols in different parts of the city. The new voluntary unit is the brainchild of 26-year-old Rakhi Birla, Delhi's new Women and Child Welfare Minister and the youngest member of the state's government. According to The Telegraph, government figures indicate that the number of sexual assaults reported to the authorities in the ten months following the fatal bus gang rape increased more than three-fold.

A Hero's Death

Hangu, Pakistan. Aitizaz Hasan could have turned a blind eye to the suicide bomber outside his school. But the teenager decided to confront the bomber and lose his life in the process to save the lives of his friends and teachers of the school. According to witnesses at the scene, Aitizaz and his friends were outside their school when they spotted a man approaching with an explosive vest strapped to his body. Aitizaz first threw a rock at the bomber and then physically grabbed him, at which point the explosives detonated.

The Curious Case of Dead Cows

Copenhagen, Denmark. One doesn't expect cows to turn up on sea shores but that's exactly what happened in Denmark and Sweden, as carcasses of almost a dozen cows have washed ashore there puzzling police in the two countries. Since December 29, eight dead cows have been found by people strolling on beaches in southern Sweden and three in Denmark. All the animals had parts of their ears cut off. Investigators suspect this was done to remove the identification tags used to trace the cows. Dumping livestock like that is illegal in both countries. Veterinarians in Sweden found no traces of disease in the animals washed ashore there, Swedish police said.