We all are already in the prison. The whole country is like a big prison where we can get killed or disappear any day.

Researchers at Northeastern University in Boston have discovered an unusual method of producing antibiotics from bacteria that live in dirt. According to the researchers' report published in the journal 'Nature', the new powerful antibiotic-the Teixobactin is capable of controlling severe infection without getting resistant.

This refers to the report, "Nepal changes Everest climbing route" (Feb.19). Safety should be the prime criteria for any policy on routes to climb Everest.

Nowadays online harassment is increasing at an alarming rate. BTRC's recent initiative in this regard deserves appreciation. If anyone gets harassed through Facebook or internet, he/she can go to the nearest police station to file a general diary with that link and submit the copy of GD to BTRC. Then BTRC will identify that IP address and catch the culprit.

Wal-Mart has announced that it will raise its minimum wage to $9 an hour in April and $10 next year, in a move that will impact about half a million low-wage workers.

Recently Prof. Amartya Sen visited Dhaka where he attended a public lecture in Krishibid Institution. In that programme, Professor Rehman Sobhan termed Nobel Laureate Professor Sen as a 'true renaissance mind'. We don't consider this as a mere friend's praise; Professor Sen truly deserves this accolade. He is the pioneer of economic development with a strong human content and democracy with liberty and free discourse.

She will not surrender before the court and also disobey the law; but she often demands and expects the government to surrender to the ongoing terror acts of hurling petrol bombs and burning innocent people to death. Hope the rule of law will always be upheld.

On two consecutive days, February 24 and 25, both The Statesman of Kolkata and The Daily Star of Bangladesh have published two writings on Mamata Banerjee's visit to Bangladesh. The two dailies have painted contrasting pictures and have different perspectives. The two articles in the editorial page of The Daily Star debated the purpose and outcome of the visit. In fact, TDS has taken a holistic view of the relationship between the two countries and it seems Bangladesh views the future relationship with optimism.

We strongly condemn the heinous killing of Avijit Roy. It is reminiscent of the attack on Humayun Azad on the February of 2004. He drew the ire of the fundamentalists for his writings. Similarly Avijit also came under the wrath of the fanatics for his writings in blogs and also for his published works. It seems the forces of darkness are still active.

I got a birth certificate for my daughter from the Gulshan office of DCC with the headline reading: “People's Republic of Bangladesh.” Looking further down, I found that there are four such strange characters associated with apostrophe (father's and mother's name and nationality).

It appears that our law enforcers have become totally busy chasing the opposition political leaders and activists. Therefore, they have little time to spare for other responsibilities. This may be one of the other reasons why these sensitive incidents are not properly handled by them.

The government has the authority to search for anything, anywhere, provided that it has valid ground of suspicion. But it seems to us that this move has been taken just to harass the BNP leader.

After the murder of blogger Rajib Haidar, another independent voice was silenced in Dhaka the other day. Liberal blogger Avijit Roy was brutally hacked to death while his wife was critically injured -- all in the presence of police and dozens of onlookers who recorded the murder on their cell phones.

I have really enjoyed the article on Nepali politics by Mr. Shashi Tharoor published in your daily on 17th February 2015. His writing is lucid and very clear.

Islam strictly prohibits the killing of innocent beings. These extremists deliberately ignore the example of the Holy Prophet (PBUH), who, despite suffering the worst insults and humiliation during the early days of Islam, forgave his tormentors.

This informative BSS report from Rajshahi was published by an English daily a few days ago. It pointed to a potentially endless source of organic fertiliser that is more useful and better for the soil than the usual chemical fertilisers now being used. It uses human excreta, which after proper composting can be used as a fertiliser.

Bangladesh is in the grip of a serious epidemic called political insanity. It has affected most of the politicians irrespective of their party affiliation. The initial symptoms are mild and almost unrecognisable.

After a long time Saudi Arabia has reopened its manpower market to Bangladesh. But the agreement was only for recruiting female workers who will work in households.

Abdul Jabbar, the 1971 wartime killer and criminal seems to have got away lightly. Looking at the five charges and corresponding punishments tabulated in your daily on 25th February 2015, he deserved the harshest punishment. But the ICT-1 sentenced him to imprisonment until death considering his old age. Makes one wonder, how he could get a 'Jatiyo Party' leadership berth!

Hartals have become a regular phenomenon nowadays, thanks to BNP-Jamaat! But the general people rarely observe hartal as those calling hartals are not present on the streets. Dhaka shopkeepers are enjoying almost a normal life, keeping their shops wide open and selling their commodities as usual.