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TO THE EDITOR
Set up more universities This refers to Lutfor Rahman's letter under the above title on 27 August 2008. 1 would like to add some more points to the letter. I can hardly support the opinion that increasing the number of universities in the country’s context is important. Undoubtedly, the number of certified students is increasing every year. It is also true that we have an acceptable number of government and private universitiesfgovt approved) in the country, though the number of high standard universities is very few. The undeniable fact is that we need some quality universities in our country. Every year these universities, especially private universities, are admitting a large number of students and producing some so called "graduates and undergraduates" , whatever their merit might be.
This crass commercialisation of higher education must be stopped. Md.Kamrul Islam Mishu Kutubi Dept, of English
International Islamic University Chittagong
Obama won't win!
Hillary Clinton losing the Democratic Party nomination for President, it could inadvertently lead to the Democrats losing our on the presidency! Obama, despite getting a very experienced Senator as Vice President nominee, is not likely to win the presidential race.
Despite all the big talks of democracy, the USA is basically a country where colour matters a lot, which deeply rooted in the hearts and minds of White Americans. They will not accept a non-White as President; more so as he is ancestrally related to Muslims! Despite all big talks, the Whites are fundamentally bigoted.
Further, many American women were disappointed at the defeat of Hillary as the Democratic Party nominee. Their notes may quietly switch over to McCain, to express their silent dissatisfaction over male chauvinistic feelings, which may have resulted in Hillary not being nominated. On top of that, Obama did not consider Hillary as his running mate. All these factors add to the subtle negative image of Obama, which will be reflected in.the ballot! .,
Most Americans are silently conservative, both in their overall and religious attitudes. In their hearts, they possibly do not prefer Obama, and in the privacy of the ballot their hearts could well overrule all logic and good sense, which will adversely affect Obama's chances, SA Mansoor, Dhaka
Traffic jam and pollution
Life in Dhaka city is both interesting and miserable. The man who actually lives in the city of Dhaka can realise how miserable the life is when he wants to go to any place by bus or any other vehicle. And then this is the most polluted city of the world.
So these are not the problems of general people only, the high-ups in society are also suffering. The decision makers should address the issue.
Md. Shobuj Chowdhury Dhaka
Akbar's article on
Zakir Naik
Mr. M.J. Akbar is a renowned and prolific writer. I am too small to comment on his views. But sometimes great people also make mistakes as the saying goes," To err is human". And in my humble opinion, M.J. Akbar is not above this since he made some objectionable observations in his article on the subject published in The Daily Star on August 4, 2008. While dealing with terrorism, he unnecessarily dragged in the name of Islamic thinker Dr. Zakir Naik, as if he is propagating terrorism. In his (Mr. M.J. Akbar's) word, " Zakir Naik,'a television evangelist who has a devoted following among the terror groups, gratifies Osama as the Ultimate Islamic Hero”.
The observation is objectionable on several counts.
To call him an evangelist is wrong. The Illustrated Oxford Dictionary defines evangelist as “ 1) Any of the writers of the four gospels, 2) Preacher of the Gospel, 3) Any lay person doing the missionarywork.”
In the above context and within the dictionary meaning, he is not the writer of the Gospel. He is not preacher of any Gospel. And he is not a lay person doing the missionary work, rather he is the most learned man well versed in the contemporary religions like The Judaism, Christianity, Hinduism and Islam. He is the preacher of Islam and peace. He also holds interfaith dialogues where the learned men of different religions participate. That fosters amity amongst various faiths and promotes peace. Those who have heard him over television or in
person would agree with me that he upholds the cause of peace and decries terrorism. Therefore, the question of his being popular among the terrorist groups does not arise. As said, he is not a layman doing the missionary work. He gives reasons for his arguments quoting authentic references from the Holy books of the Christians, Jews, Hindus and Muslims. He is the preacher of Islam and world peace.
Hope M.J. Akbar would realise his mistake.
Abu Imran
AzimpurRoad, Dhaka
Development of Khulna region
People of Khulna were very enthusiastically waiting to see the outcome of the adviser council meeting held in Khulna on 26 August, headed by the Honourable Chief Adviser.
The people of Khulna welcomed the meeting and made all efforts to make it a great success.
The outcome of the meeting has pleased the people of Khulna to a great extent, though the expectations were more in view of prolonged sufferings, deprivation and non-fulfilment of legitimate demands. Now we expect immediate implementation of the decisions made, ensuring availability of adequate funds to start with.
Unfortunately, two major and vital long standing demands have not been fulfilled. We don't understand why the issue of airport, the most important and basic element for the social and economic development, did not carry any importance to the advisers, while the government has been trying to make better use of Mongla Port, EPZ , along with developing the Sundarbans as a tourist spot. The people of Khulna would request the government to reconsider the issue without further delay.
Secondly, Khulna should have a television station to uphold the cultural events and activities of this locality and also to telecast various developmental activities in the region.
Nasar
One-mail
Corroded railway bridges
Steel structures, bridges or buildings, need protection against corrosion. Rusting of steel is a natural phenomenon. Oxygen from the ambient air while in contact of the exposed steel surface forms ferrous oxide which is called rust or corrosion that eats upon the steel surface, ultimately leading to failure of the structure.
To prevent this destructive natural process, steel surface is covered with paint covering, first a red-oxide primer and then one or two coats of weather resistant paint. But before application of the rust protecting paints, the surface must be clean and free from any trace of corrosion; else the applied coating will spill off in no time. The department responsible for erection of steel structures is also responsible for protection of those structures from corrosion with application of anti-rust paint on all the exposed surfaces as an essential part of regular maintenance.
Unfortunately, it's never done. Thus, the recent media report that Goo bridges of the Bangladesh Railway are on the verge of collapse posing threat to the lives of the millions of passengers passing over these bridges daily is very timely. I ; m sure that this will draw the attention of the higher authorities. I am also sure that these bridges have never been maintained after their construction. (To verify the veracity of this statement, one can have a look at the Ghorasal Rail Bridge over the Shilalakliya very close to Dhaka.)
Engr. Dr. M. H. Rashid F. ASCE Registered Professional Engineer of ^Queensland, Australia . , < ','
Former Faculty Member ofRUET and BUET
Banani, Dhaka
Education and vocational training This is in response to the write up of Mr. Avik Dasgupta.
I think he rightly portrayed the flaws in our education system.
It needs a complete overhaul, incorporating curricula based on practiced approach.
Moreover, we need more & more vocational training institutes so that students who drop out after their primary’ education can enrol themselves in those institutes & build their capacity and certain skills that match the jobs currently in demand in foreign countries. This will reduce the sufferings of our unskilled workers abroad.
This deserves a closer look from the authorities concerned.
Syed Muhammed Azim Chittagong Save our cottage industries
We have a great opportunity to earn more foreign currency through promoting the cottage industry. By using a little amount of money and little portion of land, we can establish a cottage industry. In case of rural people, it may be an effective source of income, besides their main occupation.
Moreover, we have an age-old tradition of our cottage industry. It should be noted here that once " Muslin" was famous for its fine quality.
It is a sad truth that we have lost this potential industry on account of the invasion of multi-national companies. Though we have enough raw materials in our country for cottage industry, the condition of these industry is decaying day by day. Our handmade goods can no longer compete with the machine made goods . Poverty of our people is also responsible for the poor condition of cottage industries.
This industry must be developed in order to develop our economy.
Rezaul Haque Mostafa Chowdhury
Dept, of Microbiology
University of Chittagong
Russia and USA today To the great surprise and disappointment of the USA and European powers, the former USSR (now Russia) developed atom bomb in 1949 within four years of the USA dropping two atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, killing and maim ing millions of Japanese.
Germany started World War I as well as World War II and carried out annihilation, holocaust, and destructions all over the world. Why did not the USA drop atom bomb on Berlin, the GHQ of the German hordes, but instead dropped two atom bombs on a less dangerous and weak Japan?
Immediately after World War II, the USA and the USSR, who fought shoulder to shoulder against the German forces, stood apart for their respective gains, socioeconomic and political ideology and military strategy.
The USA and some of its allies in Europe did not like the economic and scientific prosperity, rise in military power and the influence of the USSR in internationalaffairs.
The USA and its allies in Europe started conspiring and creating division, disunity and mistrust
among the Soviet leaders.
After the demise of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, forceful retirement of Nikita Krushchev in 1964, followed by the power struggle between Mikhail Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin, the USSR plunged Into darkness and disintegrated in 1990.
The great USSR was fragmented and sub-divided, Warsaw Pact was dismantled, Yugoslavia was cut into pieces and the former USSR, now Russia, lost its credibility as world superpower.
Russia (former USSR) and the USA have never waged war against one a> other but they have confronted disputed, criticised and condemned each other on many issues. They are good chess players in international political affairs
In the midst of Washington-Moscow charges and counter charges, we are afraid if long outstanding and explosive issues like US backed Israeli occupation of Palestine, US occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq, US “war” on terrorism, US-Iran tension, will further strain the relations between the two countries.
OH Kabir
Hare Street
Wari, Dhaka