Abrar Hussain: Indonesia was once again been struck by a massive earthquake yesterday. According to the US Geological Survey, both tremors struck off the coast of West Timor, about 100km (62 miles) southeast of Kupang, in the East Nusa Tenggara province. The quake struck at a depth of 6.2 miles (10km) and as of writing…
The Guardian: Chronic exposure to air pollution can cause detrimental harm to cognitive performance, a new study reveals. Researchers believe that the negative impact increases with age, and affects men with less education the worst. Over four years, the maths and verbal skills of some 20,000 people in China were monitored by the US-Chinese study….
Vladimir Terehov /NEO, Japan New Eastern Outlook has already reported on the notable political event: the parliamentary elections that took place in Malaysia, in South East Asia (SEA) on May 9 before. They resulted in the victory by the opposition, the Alliance of Hope, and the return to power of its leader, the 93-year-old Mahathir…
Abrar Hussain: China said yesterday that exerting pressure was ‘not helpful’ in resolving the issue of Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar after UN investigators determined Myanmar’s military had carried out mass killings. On Monday, a UN report marked the first time that the United Nations had explicitly called for Myanmar officials to face genocide charges over…
M Humayun Kabir: The Election Commission yesterday said that the upcoming 11th parliamentary election will be held in the last week of December. The EC is now taking preparation to introduce Electronic Voting Machine in 100 electoral constituencies, said its secretary Helal Uddin Ahmed, reports The Daily Star. Amid opposition from different political parties including…
Reuters: Five people were killed by an explosion at an aluminum plant in eastern China’s Jiangsu province on Tuesday morning, state-run China News reported, citing local authorities. The blast occurred at around 2 a.m. (1800 GMT) in the city of Jiangyin, at a plant belonging to a company named as Yize Aluminium, according to the…
Desk Report: The country’s rice production hit a new record of 36.2 million tonnes in the last fiscal year (FY), 2017-18, reports Financial Express. According to the official data, the output was 7.1 per cent higher than that of FY ’17. It was 34.7 million tonnes (the then record) in FY ’15 which declined to…
Dr Ahmad Al Kabir, Former Chairman, Rupali Bank: Bangladesh Bank and the banking sector should take a firm line to implement single-digit lending rate. The dilly-dallying of the banks in implementing single-digit lending rate is unexpected. The single-digit is supposed to come into effect from August 9. The banks have already slashed their deposit rates….
Desk Report: A group of youths in the town has taken a laudable initiative for helping people of the Hindu community to carry the dead bodies of their near and dear ones to the crematorium with ease, reports Daily Star. The townspeople, especially the poor ones, have been facing difficulty in carrying bodies to Sherpur…
Harvart.edu: In nature, cockroaches can survive underwater for up to 30 minutes. Now, a robotic cockroach can do even better. Harvard’s Ambulatory Microrobot, known as HAMR, can walk on land, swim on the surface of water, and walk underwater for as long as necessary, opening up new environments for this little bot to explore. This…