Letters
Buses on the Flyover
The flyover situated over the rail crossing of Mohakhali, connecting Mohakhali and 'Jahangir Gate' is supposed to bear the weight of vehicles such as private cars, jeeps or, at most, micro buses. It was meant to ease the traffic, which it has to an extent, making it easy for people to commute. Unfortunately, these days, huge buses use it as a shortcut while driving in their usual unruly manner. Before, they used to do it late at night or very early in the morning but now it has become a common affair, making the whole area dangerous for other vehicles on the flyover. Last week I saw something new -- some taxi cabs were waiting for passengers and had created a 'taxi cab bay' sort of situation?
As a normal citizen with limited knowledge, even I know that heavy vehicles should not be plying on the flyover. The government and we the taxpayers have spent a huge amount of money to build it. I would request the authorities to look into the matter and stop this risky practice. Who will take responsibility if a mishap occurs.
Lima Choudhury
DOHS Baridhara
Dhaka
Public Transport or Private Cars?
Many people accuse private cars of contributing to traffic jams in the city, but the question is, is public transport a better alternative? The answer is a most definite no. Public buses are overcrowded, broken and dirty and there is always the risk of there being pickpockets. Even getting on and off the buses with people hanging from the doors is an ordeal. With the advent of CNG, private cars are less expensive to maintain and there is always the comfort of one's own space, not to mention that they are faster, safer and there is no hassle of long lines and irritable drivers. Rickshaws too are slow and are not allowed on all the roads. So why would someone sacrifice their comfort when there are no initiatives towards development of the transport sector? According to a report published in The Daily Star on February 7, 2010, only two roads have been built in the last 20 years, while the number of cars compared to their carrying capacity is six or seven times higher. We cannot simply blame private car owners. Until better alternatives are available in terms of public transport like buses, taxis and scooters, we will not be able to win the war against traffic jams.
Md Mahbubur Rahman
A private university student and resident of Old Dhaka
Banglabazaar, a silent contributor to Enlightened Bangladesh
Banglabazaar, the oldest and largest book market, has been playing a vital role in enlightening our nation from the British period. Despite many difficulties, publishers and sellers are carrying on their family tradition of book publication businesses. To get a handsome return from investment in book publication is not easy, rather, frequent fluctuation of paper prices makes the publication business very risky. The electronic and print media contribute to creating book readers and buyers but only in the month of February, the rest of the year, publishers face stiff competition. Corruption at the government level makes it possible to get textbooks published by foreign publishers, depriving indigenous publishers. I would request the government to wipe out this type of corruption and to solve the traffic problem in order to ensure smooth and quick transfer of publication materials.
Muhammad Anisul Islam
University of Dhaka
Dhaka
Where is the University of Chittagong?
Being a student of the University of Chittagong (CU), I have become frustrated at not seeing the name of my university in the list of the report of 'Consejo Superior De Investigacion Cientificas' (CSIC), the largest public research body in Spain which, every year in January and July, publishes a report on the Ranking of World's Universities. The institute published a list of 12,000 universities from 20,000 on July 10. The ranking is conducted particularly to show the web presence of the respective institutions and their scholars. It actually helps those universities promote web publication, open access initiatives, electronic access to scientific publications and to other academic material. It also indicates that if the web performance of an institution is below the expected position according to their academic excellence, university authorities should reconsider their web policy, promoting substantial increases of the volume and quality of their electronic publications. It is a great pity that in Chittagong, CUET, IIUC and IUB have secured positions in the first 12,000 universities while CU is not even on the list. What are our scholars doing? Is the government not providing financial support to the university? If necessary financial support is being given then where is the problem? It is a matter of great shame that despite having reputed scholars at our university, we have not been able to make the list, while institutions established only a few years ago, have. It should be noted that, established in 1966, CU has failed to ensure free internet service for students of the science faculty, let alone other faculties. Being a student of the arts faculty, I have never been able to use the internet as our computer lab is closed due to financial constraints. Where is our research budget? I would like to request all our students and university authorities to play a vital role in this respect. I want my university to make its place on the list in a few years and to be regarded as a renowned university of the world.
MdMohiuddin Mizan
University of Chittagong
Chittagong
Submission Guideline:
Letters to the Editor, Star Diary and Write to Mita, with the writer's name and address, should be within 200 words. All articles should be within 1,200 words. A cover letter is not necessary, but every write-up should include the writer's name, phone number and email address (if any). While The Star welcomes unsolicited articles and photographs, it cannot accept the responsibility of their loss or damage. The Star does not return unsolicited articles and photos. Response time for unsolicited write-ups ranges from three weeks to two months. All articles submitted are subject to editing for reasons of space and clarity.
All materials should be sent to: The Star magazine, 19 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Fax: 880-2-8125155 or emailed to: <thestarmagazine@gmail.com>
It is recommended that those submitting work for the first time to The Star take a look at a sample copy beforehand. Our website is: http://www.thedailystar.net/magazine
Copyright (R) thedailystar.net 2010
