Helemul Alam

It’s dead of night. There’s an eerie silence all around. In the limitless, cloudless sky above, millions of stars can be seen glittering. There’s the constellation and that one in the distant is the Orion -- all seem to be moving in a rhythmic and orderly way -- that too in an almost touchable distance!

Ten days after the Rupnagar gas cylinder blast in Mirpur, 13-year old Bishwajit can barely see in his left eye.

If you go to Motijheel and look for the proverbial “jheel” the financial hub of the capital is named after, you will be disappointed.

Did you know in the early days of the postal system, a “dak harkara” (runner/postman) -- attired in bright uniform with badges, satchel full of mail on his back, armed with a spear for self-defense, a lantern in hand to show the path and jingling bells or bugle to announce his arrival ahead of time -- was the protagonist in mail delivery?

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) is finally set to demolish the 15-storey BGMEA building later this week.

Despite the record spread of dengue fever this year, Bangladesh is yet to form a vector control centre and integrated vector guideline, both of which are essential to control vector-borne diseases.

Though the number of dengue patients has been declining for the last one month, the rain for the last one week is increasing the risk of further dengue spread, experts say.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has launched a survey in seven districts to measure the density of Aedes mosquito there.

For the last five months, Arabiya Afifa, a preschool student in Gandaria, has to walk for around 40 minutes on Dinanath Sen Road every day to go to and return from her institution.

Abdul Motaleb had never been a fan of wristwatches. Then again, watches were more of a luxury for the 75-year-old street vendor, which may have compelled him not to wear any.

The number of dengue infected patients outside Dhaka has seen a sharp rise this year, and in many cases the disease was transmitted locally -- becoming a matter of serious concern.

Cumilla resident Billal Hossain was brought to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in a critical condition after being stabbed by an auto-rickshaw driver recently.

Sobita, a nurse at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital is now handling more than 10 times the patients she used to at her previous job at the National Institute of Diseases of the Chest and Hospital.

The number of dengue patients this month surpassed the combined total of such patients in the last 19 years with experts warning about further spread of the virus in the next two months.

Doctors and hospital staffers are at a higher risk of being infected with dengue while treating patients and also due to Aedes mosquito breeding grounds in and around hospitals, healthcare professionals said.

Authorities will review the deaths of 89 people, amid confusion over the number of fatalities from dengue.

The number of dengue patients reported at hospitals has been decreasing over last three weeks, said hospital sources and health professionals.

There is no entomologist at any of the 12 city corporations in the country although their job of carrying out research and preparing action plan is vital for controlling mosquito popula-tion.

Hospitals at district and divisional headquarters are seeing a huge surge of dengue patients referred from upazila hospitals for better treatment. Civil Surgeon of Patuakhali Dr Hedayatul Islam said, “Many dengue patients are being referred to district hospitals from upazila health

Fifth year medical student Sujit Hossain recovered from dengue just a month ago.