Himu's Window

রাজশাহী মেডিকেল কলেজ হাসপাতালে (রামেক) ২ বছরেরও বেশি সময় ধরে দেড় কোটি টাকা দামের একটি অত্যাধুনিক নিবিড় পরিচর্যা ইউনিটের (আইসিইউ) অ্যাম্বুলেন্স অযথাই পড়ে আছে। কর্মকর্তারা বলছেন, পরিচালনার জন্য দক্ষ কর্মী না থাকায় অ্যাম্বুলেন্সটির এ অবস্থা। রামেক কর্তৃপক্ষের তথ্য অনুসারে, ঔষধ প্রশাসন অধিদপ্তর ১ কোটি ৫০ লাখ ৪৪ হাজার ৮৫৫ টাকা ব্যয়ে অ্যাম্বুলেন্সটি কেনার পর, ২০১৯ সালের মে মাসে এটি রামেকে পাঠানো হয়। তারপর থেকে গত বৃহস্পতিবারের আগ পর্যন্ত শীতাতপনিয়ন্ত্রিত এ অ্যাম্বুলেন্স একজন রোগীও বহন করেনি। সমালোচনা এড়াতে হাসপাতাল কর্তৃপক্ষ বৃহস্পতিবার রোগী বহন করা শুরু করলেও, সেখানে জরুরি যন্ত্রপাতি পরিচালনার জন্য কোনো দক্ষ ডাক্তার বা নার্স রাখা হয়নি । রামেকের পরিচালক ব্রিগেডিয়ার জেনারেল শামিম ইয়াজদানি দ্য ডেইলি স্টারকে বলেন, আইসিইউ অ্যাম্বুলেন্সটি ও এর সরঞ্জাম পরিচালনার জন্য একদল দক্ষ ডাক্তার-নার্স এবং একটি পরিচালনা নীতি প্রয়োজন। তিনি বলেন, 'করোনা রোগীদের নিয়ে ব্যস্ত থাকায়, আমরা প্রয়োজনীয় দল ও নীতি প্রস্তুত করতে পারিনি।' এ ছাড়া, সময়মতো অ্যাম্বুলেন্সের ডাক্তার-নার্সদের ভাতা বা অ্যাম্ব

আগস্ট, ‘২১ মাসের তৃতীয় সপ্তাহে রাজশাহীতে পদ্মা নদীর মধ্যে বালির বস্তা ফেলতে দেখেছিলাম। উজান থেকে ঠেলে আসা ঢলে নদী যখন কানায় কানায় পূর্ণ সেসময় নদীর মধ্যে বালির বস্তা ফেলা কতটা কার্যকর হয়? এই সংক্ষিপ্ত ভিডিও ডকুমেন্টারীতে সে প্রশ্নের উত্তর খুঁজে দেখা হয়েছে।

When Rajshahi Medical College Hospital authorities felled a tree on Saturday afternoon, it still housed a couple of nests for Asian open-bill storks. The tree felling was part of an RMCH project, which has plans to chop down around 50 trees to clear space for constructing a garage and a drain to solve waterlogging in the area. But the development work comes at the cost of avian lives, as nearly a hundred of the Asian open-bill storks and their offspring died in the aftermath. Nests from neighbouring trees also started getting damaged by the wind. Photo: Star On Saturday afternoon, some 30 storks and their chicks died after falling off the felled tree, witnesses and hospital officials said. Later, labourers and locals picked up around 30 more storks and took them home, while some 20 storks were slaughtered on the spot. More than 20 others were seen lying dead around the tree, locals said. Ornithologists -- zoologists who specialise in birds -- said this indiscriminate felling

This article first appeared on The Daily Star The yield was good, the weather was favourable for harvesting Boro paddy and the prices too were acceptable, if not fair, to farmers. Still, the harvest failed to bring smiles to the faces of most small and marginal farmers in the Barind region as they can only expect to take less than one fifth of their harvest home after paying off loans and the landowner's share. Alfaz Uddin, for example, harvested Boro paddy from 1.34 hectares of land at Kashimpur Beel. He owns only 0.27 hectares of it and the remaining 1.07 hectares he took on lease. "My share of paddy is very little," the 50-year-old farmer told The Daily Star, while gazing at the heap of ripe Boro paddy on his land. A small farmer, Alfaz hoped the total production would be around 8.21 tonnes from the land. "But I will be able to take home no more than 1.5 tonnes of paddy after paying all the expenses including loans and the landowner's share,"

With over 50 per cent of mangoes yet to be harvested, the nationwide lockdown beginning yesterday has upended the normal marketing system, upsetting the already disappointed farmers of Rajshahi region. Mango prices that were already low over the prevailing lockdown in Rajshahi region dwindled further after the nationwide lockdown, the farmers said. The mango variety Fazli has appeared in local markets early this week and started selling at Tk 25 per kilogramme against prices of around Tk 40 per kilogramme during the lockdown last year. Fazli prices went down to Tk 17 per kilogramme yesterday. Quality mango varieties like Himsagar, Khirsapat and Langra that are still available, are selling better yet at lower than normal prices. Green mangoes of these varieties that sold at above Tk 60 per kilogramme a few days ago went down to Tk 55 per kilogramme. Ripe ones that were sold at Tk 37 per kilogramme two days ago went down to Tk 32 per kilogramme. At normal times, these varieties wo

How employees of a Rajshahi mobile phone shop staged a Tk 33 lakh mugging Police unravel the mystery in nine hours ‘The mugging was staged’ Three employees of a mobile phone shop who stole Tk 33 lakh held The mugging took place in broad daylight. A mobile phone sales representative was robbed in Rajshahi city's New Market area on Thursday morning, while he was on his way to deposit Tk 33 lakh to a bank. But something was not right about the story; at least that's what the law enforcers sensed. And nine hours into the incident, through their investigation, police found out that the mugging was actually staged. Three sales staff of Vivo Mobile Phone plotted the incident and stole the money, Boalia police of Rajshahi said in a press conference yesterday. Police arrested them from different spots of the city and recovered Tk 32 lakh from their possession. Noticing a heightened sale of smartphones amid the pandemic, they, driven by greed, decided to steal the money, said

Boro Harvest: Labour crisis worries farmers Anwar Ali The labour shortage created by the current shutdown is worrying farmers ahead of the Boro paddy harvest, despite different measures taken by the government to ensure maximum crop yield. Although the agricultural ministry is making special arrangements for transportation of labourers from different districts to the country's granaries, labour leaders are unwilling to leave home fearing coronavirus infection. Even the ministry's sanctioning of Tk 110 crore to help farmers buy harvester machines at a subsidy might do little to ease the crisis as small and marginalised rice producers, especially in the haor region, cannot afford such investments. read more here