editorial editorial acting editor & publisher : jobaer alam telephone: +8802-9104683-84, fax: 9127103 e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com thursday, march 29, 2018 colossal loss and stresses from traffic jams t raffic congestion in dhaka eats up around 5 million working hours every day and the average speed of vehicles during rush hours has come down to 5kmph, according to the accident research institute (ari) of buet. the congestion causes an annual loss of between tk 20,000 crore and tk 55,000 crore, says ari, citing findings of organisations working on the issue."however, about 50 to 70 percent of the losses can be avoided through proper actions," ari director prof moazzem hossain told a roundtable last week."sixty percent of tk 37,000 crore [half way between tk 20,000 crore and tk 55,000 crore] can be saved by those actions," he said, in july last year, a world bank analysis had said in the last 10 years, average traffic speed in dhaka dropped from 21kmph (kilometres per hour) to 7kmph, which was slightly above the average walking speed.the speed may drop to 4kmph by 2035, slower than the walking speed, it added."congestion in dhaka eats up 3.2 million work hours per day. this cost the economy billions of dollars every year," said the analysis. dhaka, a city of over 15 million and bangladesh's biggest city in terms of population, is noted to be a specially long suffering one by its residents for the traffic jams they always face on its roads. thus, it was hoped that the present government with its pledged enthusiastic approach to many issues of major public interest, would move with particular speed and effectiveness to address this long lingering issue of traffic jams that take a huge and regular toll from stressed nerves and health, costlier operations of transports and other forms of losses. but the traffic scene in this city has been turning only worse and people are desperate for a deliverance. according to reports, progressively traffic movement conditions in the city have been turning worse and worse. in many places and most of the time, traffic gets held up motionlessly for more than half an hour or so without any plausible explanation for the same. thus, a destination to be arrived at in twenty minutes needs at least one and half hours or more to be reached. the horrendous traffic jams are creating great hardships. many people are known to be falling ill as a result. if the traffic situation is so bad, how severely it would stress them during the coming ramadan month when their coping strengths would be understandably at a lower level from fasting, the sufferers wonder. traffic department officials on being asked say many things ranging from inadequate roads in the city and the absence of a sufficient number of infrastructures such as flyovers and expressways. but only more devoted traffic management by traffic policemen or their doing their job with enthusiasm and care, can much alleviate the traffic related agonies suffered by the city's residents. as it is, the traffic policemen are seen doing a very sloppy job specially at intersections with their hand signalling althoughsignalling lights were set up for doing this work at great costs. but media reports say that most of these lights are out of order. why the lights should be inoperative and whose responsibility is it to operate them in support of easing traffic jams ? traffic policemen hold up traffic for unreasonably long periods of time with their manual signalling that lead to long queus of transports forming and creating jams. proper use of the automatic signalling lights can much reduce this malaise and speed up traffic movement. then the policemen also do nothing to buses stopping not at bus stops but arbitrarily anywhere on the roads to allow passangers to embark or disembark. but this practice holds up other vehicles on the rear creating jams. real estate developers and others keep construction materials heaped up on roads but nobody obliges them to keep the roads free and clean from such encroachments. traffic policemen turn a blind eye to rickshawpullers not moving in a single file or in lanes on roads earmarked for them but in a most carefree manner. the rickshaws, thus, get in front of engine driven vehicles and create tangles that force the latter to slow down and add to the jams. transports are also allowed to be parked similarly carelessly that lead to constricting of roads spaces hindering easier traffic movement. the roads are in tatters in many places. traffic movement over these crumbled or pot-holed roads automatically become too slow. only repairing them can quicken traffic movement. according to experts, only introducing one way movement in some sections such as in the rampura road will very significantly add to ease of movement between the central and relatively newer parts of the city. all of the above reasons and more for traffic jams do not call for building costly infrastructures . just more caring and efficient traffic policing can mean so much of a difference for the better in traffic movement in the city. thursday, march 29, 2018 4 trading places syed bakhtiyar kazmi poor, or took them for granted, in the noble pursuit of commercial and technological development... it's not illegal to have a business plan to get richer. while the movie does correctly depict that trade without physical exchange of underlying goods is primarily speculative in nature and akin to gambling, it counterfactually promotes, once again, the absolutely winning, the ruled would have a hopeless existence which would ultimately result in chaos. arguably, as far as providing hope for the underdog goes, democracy is perhaps the true claimant to the throne. and if making movies closer to real life where the underdog always gets kicked in the nether regions is fatal for cinema, legislators' selling their votes during on the other hand, perhaps hollywood's obsession with victorious underdogs, and also that of all other similar "woods", may have to do with the fact that their audience primarily is the underdog. cinema is the poor man's entertainment; it allows him to dream and have hope. imagine, in a world devoid of any illusion of the underdog winning, the ruled would have a hopeless existence which would ultimately result in chaos. false notion that underdogs can win; in the real world they never do. on the other hand, perhaps hollywood's obsession with victorious underdogs, and also that of all other similar "woods", may have to do with the fact that their audience primarily is the underdog. cinema is the poor man's entertainment; it allows him to dream and have hope. imagine, in a world devoid of any illusion of the underdog senate polls is an existential threat for democracy. for if the ecp's notice of horse-trading allegations in the senate, pursuant to all major parties levelling accusations against each other, results in incriminating findings, that might be, in substance, democracy's obituary, signed sealed and delivered. if at all hundreds of crores were responsible for the election of the chairman, senate, then rationally speaking, the argument that all this money was spent with the honourable objective of getting an opportunity for serving the nation is, at best, amusing. righteous men, for whatever reason, are not known to trade their conscience. further, admission that the precious one vote is a tradable commodity, consequently provides credence to the notion that democracy is comparable with trading places of the genre satirised here and hence another opportunity for the rich to get richer; such an admission can potentially bring down democracy's house of cards! and let's not even go down the proof of corruption path. so, isn't it baffling that the electronic media, a key beneficiary and hence an ardent supporter of democracy, provided, thoughtlessly i might add, camera eye and hence credibility to all the rumours relating to trading of horses in the senate? on a lighter note, a little horse, well because birdies stand discredited already, has informed me, based on credible sources that horses may be contemplating a dharna at d- chowk to protest against defamation. they do have a point. spending money to buy votes in the senate does not strictly fall in the definition of political horse-trading which term is simply indicative of complex and shrewd bargaining and reciprocal concessions; a bit of horse sense is required! source : dawn lovers movie from my generation can probably recall the movie, trading places; in essence a tragedy but deceptively depicted as a comedy, starring eddie murphy and dan aykroyd. the storyline in brief is that the duke brothers, influential and respected commodity traders, have bribed someone, which happens all the time in business, to get a government report in advance on oranges, pursuant to their business plan of making a killing on the commodities market and getting richer. and obviously, there is nothing illegal with having a business plan to get richer. the reality is that across the globe today, income inequality is simply accepted as collateral damage for growth; the rich need to get richer so that they can create more employment for the poor! the horrendously, villainous ungrateful employees of the dukes, characters played by messrs eddie and dan, steal - which is a criminal offence - and substitute the report - thereby conning - another offence, the dukes into betting on the wrong side of the market, and the poor chaps end up losing their shirts. and this dastardly deed is supposedly done in the name of revenge, pursuant to a personal bet between the duke brothers, who are simply trying to find answers to an intellectual riddle; nothing wrong with that. history is replete with instances where the rich experimented on the strawberry generation': the time for activism is now zyn ang m y fellow teenagers, our generation has caught flak for many things. we are "too loud." "too narcissistic," "too lazy" and "too sheltered." we are the "strawberry generation" - characterized by our easily bruised self-esteem, inability to weather hardships, and over-reliance on the shelter of our parents. as tech natives born in the unique time where we remember life with phones and feel more at ease with a touchscreen than a keyboard, we've been subjected to endless "when i was your age…" lectures that seeming attachment to our iphones and our lack of exposure to the "real world." berate our we are easy targets, and i can find many faults with us myself. case in point: by most measures, we are the most educated yet entitled generation in history. however, i don't think we should be too disheartened just yet - we have something the adults don't. our "weaknesses" have morphed us into a force to be reckoned with. our "weaknesses" have morphed us into a force to be reckoned with before you get too excited, the power to make change isn't a special ability isolated to just our generation. look to any era and you'll find dynamos that changed their communities, and history, forever. in the 1950s and 60s, student committees played an essential role in the civil rights movement in the united states, fighting for blacks to gain equal rights under the law. students were involved in all levels of the movement, for desegregation of schools to the organization non-violent protests, and were instrumental to its success. from pushing of helped motivate america's withdrawal from vietnam in 1973. the arab spring of 2010 could never have occurred without the involvement of and fearless youths. frustrated with endemic systemic injustice, government oppression and a mangled economy, youths took to the streets to protest tyrannical regimes. while youths corruption, furious the arab spring of 2010 could never have occurred without the involvement of furious and fearless youths. frustrated with endemic corruption, systemic injustice, government oppression and a mangled economy, youths took to the streets to protest tyrannical regimes. while youths were not the only ones carrying out mass demonstrations, it is widely acknowledged that they were vital in sparking the protests. the movement in america against the vietnam war was started by a small but passionate group of left-leaning students on a college campus. as public dissent over the war grew, over 100,000 students marched, conducted sit- ins, and agitated against the war. there were casualties from the violent protests, but ultimately, the pressure from the protests were not the only ones carrying out mass demonstrations, it is widely acknowledged that they were vital in sparking the protests. on march 24, the march for our lives movement held a rally of 800,000 people in washington, dc to campaign for stricter gun control measures. was spearheaded by five 17-year-old survivors of the marjory stoneman it douglas high school shootings, which claimed 17 lives. these youths were tired of the "thoughts and prayers" often sent by politicians and demanded tighter gun control. these youths from the 1950s until now are proof that we have it in us to do more for our communities. they show us that our young people are an asset to society. we have wider social circles, a better grasp of new media, more fewer considerations that hold us back, and more chances to take risks and upend the status quo - let's take advantage of that. time, deep within you, there must be an idea that makes your heart race with excitement, an aspect of your community that makes you furious, or a policy that you think can be improved. find that cause within you and act on it, so that you can enrich your life with a purpose greater than yourself. i believe that a life that has purpose is one well lived. our youth has equipped us with invaluable skills that will make us formidable change-makers. create that petition. call up that organization. campaign for that cause. source : asia times america first’ attitude damages international order united states president donald trump is getting serious about translating his disregard for the international system into concrete policies. his decision to impose $50 billion (dh183.9 billion) in punitive import tariffs on many chinese goods could severely disrupt global trade. and while he made a last-minute decision to exempt european union (eu) goods from such tariffs, europe may yet end up in the line of fire. trump's "america first" approach will not, it is now clear, leave the rules-based international order unscathed. the united states developed the post-war order, and has enforced its rules for decades. but that is no longer the case. indeed, trump's recent actions are not just about trade, but about america's departure from pax americana itself. few countries are more connected to the post-war order than germany, which, like japan, owes its economic resurgence after 1945 to the rules-based trading system. germany's economy relies heavily on exports, which means that it is acutely vulnerable to trade barriers and punitive tariffs imposed by major trading partners. trump's protectionist policies thus challenge the entire german economic model as it has existed since the 1950s. the fact that trump has repeatedly singled out germany, one of america's closest allies in europe, is no small matter. while optimists will say that trump's bark is worse than his bite - that his pronouncements on trade, like his threats towards north korea, are simply part of a negotiating strategy - pessimists can respond with a reasonable question: what if trump really does mean what he says? joschka fischer in germany, there should be no illusions about what a transatlantic trade war would mean. despite belonging to the eu and its single market, germany would be one of the biggest losers, owing to its trade dependencies and the current state of transatlantic power relations. to be sure, eu member-states that have accused germany of arrogance might view this outcome with a quiet chuckle. but a weakening of the eu's largest foolishness of german policymakers who chose to ignore long-standing criticism of the country's persistently high current- account surplus has been laid bare. had the last german government reduced the surplus - which reached a new record high last year - by boosting domestic investment, germany would be in a far better position now to respond to trump's threats. when thinking about the possibility of a transatlantic trade war, we trump's protectionist policies thus challenge the entire german economic model as it has existed since the 1950s. the fact that trump has repeatedly singled out germany, one of america's closest allies in europe, is no small matter. while optimists will say that trump's bark is worse than his bite - that his pronouncements on trade, like his threats towards north korea, are simply part of a negotiating strategy - pessimists can respond with a reasonable question: what if trump really does mean what he says? economy would have immediate negative effects on the entire bloc. and now is hardly the time for disunity. the united kingdom's withdrawal from the eu is already causing political dissonance among member-states, and anti- european populists have just won a combined parliamentary majority in italy. making matters worse, neither germany nor the european commission, which deals with trade issues on behalf of eu member-states, is currently in a strong position to stand up to trump. the should also recall the saying, usually attributed to mahatma gandhi, that, "an eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind". a tit-for-tat transatlantic trade war would produce losers on all sides, and could usher in a new period of isolationism and protectionism. if it goes far enough, it could even lead to a collapse of the global economy and the disintegration of the west. for this reason, the eu has no choice but to negotiate, however grudgingly. one foreseeable consequence of trump's trade revolution is that it will push europe closer to china, which is already reaching out to the eu through its belt and road initiative of investment and infrastructure projects across eurasia. as eastern-oriented to transatlanticism increase in the years ahead, striking the right balance between east and west will be one of europe's most difficult challenges. europeans now have to worry not just about russia, but also about a new chinese superpower. alternatives destroying or disturbing transatlantic trade relations is in the interest of neither us nor europe. chinese leaders are probably privately celebrating the trump administration's promise to "make america great again", because, so far, it has merely undercut us interests and promised to help make china great again. indeed, notwithstanding trump's just- announced tariffs on china, in response to its alleged intellectual property violations, one could be forgiven for thinking that trump's main foreign-policy goal is to aid the chinese in their bid for global influence! upon taking office, one of trump's first moves was to withdraw the us from the trans-pacific partnership, a trade deal that would have created a bulwark against china in the asia-pacific region. now, china has a chance to set the rules of trade in an area comprising some 60 per cent of the world economy. likewise, the effects of trump's import tariffs on steel and aluminium will mostly help china, while hurting america's european allies. if the chinese seek to capitalise on their unexpected windfall, one can hardly blame them. source : gulf news