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During my trip to Dhaka last month, I was confounded to see a locally-made soft drink branded ‘Urocola’. I wondered whether the manufacturers ever pondered about the meaning of the word and what it actually implies. According to several well-known dictionaries (Websters, Oxford, Macquarie, etc.), ‘uro’ is a word element (a prefix) which relates to ‘urine’. Thus, the word ‘urology’ is that branch of medical science dealing with urinal diseases.
   So what does ‘Urocola’ signify? The answer is obvious and need not me interpreted here.
   I hope this letter draws the attention of the manufacturer and the name of the product or at least the spelling is changed before consumers understand its real meaning.
   Ellen Khan
   Sydney, Australia

We are deeply troubled by the recent events of our country. What happened on May 5, 2006 at Demra is a glaring example of the troubled time. The people are suffering due to the scarcity of water, power and gas. We sympathise with the suffering people and demand of the government that the problems are solved urgently. But at the same time the demonstrators should be careful not to become unruly. On that fateful day of May 5, thousands of passengers got stranded on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway. A group of people, I am sure, none of whom were genuine demonstrators, damaged many vehicles, a petrol and a CNG stations, looted goods and cash, etc. These sorts of acts are not acceptable; no one has the right to destroy public and private properties.
   Nur Jahan
   Chittagong

Everyday the whole nation is witnessing unhealthy games of politicians that are played with only one aim in mind: eliminate the rivals. The recent incident of mysterious fire at the Baridhara resident of former president and Bikalpadhara Chief Professor AQ M Badrudozza Chowdhury is the latest example.
   This incident has made us all dumbfounded. We urge the government to probe the whole incident immediately and bring the culprits to book at once as there is no scope for ignoring such a serious thing that might give birth to many such incidents.
   Asif
   Hatkhola Road, Dhaka

Every morning I cross the bridge over Karnaphuli River on the way to my workplace. The smaller buses, the most convenient mode of transport here, use this bridge which is made of wooden planks and supported by steel structures. As the bus reaches the bridge, I can hear the deafening noise produced by those planks clattering against one another. There are some holes in-between the planks which pose a serious threat to the safety of the passengers. Looking
   through the window of the bus, I can see some workers busy repairing worn-out planks.
   However, there is another bridge over the river –– the rail bridge which is a century-old structure. Apart from the trains, bigger buses use this bridge. The fact remains that we do not have a bridge over the river which could have facilitated our journey to the southern part of Chittagong.
   I hope that the government would act promptly and do something to mitigate the plight of the commuters who use this road bridge over the Karnaphuli.
   Md Zabed Wali
   Patya , Chittagong

We live in a chaotic world where capitalism in its most aggressive form seeks nothing but global dominance. In the name of globalisation, which is another name for ‘global westernisation’, the G8 countries and their associated global agencies are pursuing political, economic, cultural and military policies to plunder public wealth and to change the course of livelihood everywhere.
   Writer and activist Arundhati Roy wrote ‘difference between Iraq and Argentina is, in Iraq they used gun, in Argentina they used paper (money)’.
   Against this latest version of capitalism (neo-liberal economic policy) the entire South America is in revolt. From Venezuela to Argentina, the populist front is winning people’s support.
   Today we are confronting, globally, the biggest terrorist campaign against the humanity led by the USA and its allies. It’s quite natural that the resistance against this violent cultural and political aggression would also be global. As NY Times editorially observed ‘there may still be two superpowers on the planet: the United States and the world public opinion’.
   It’s the time when we all need to intensify our efforts to search for and find an alternative global order and establish human rights, democracy, peace and social justice everywhere for everybody.
   Murshadul Hakim (Shuvro)
   On e-mail

During my trip to Dhaka last month, I was confounded to see a locally-made soft drink branded ‘Urocola’. I wondered whether the manufacturers ever pondered about the meaning of the word and what it actually implies. According to several well-known dictionaries (Websters, Oxford, Macquarie, etc.), ‘uro’ is a word element (a prefix) which relates to ‘urine’. Thus, the word ‘urology’ is that branch of medical science dealing with urinal diseases.
   So what does ‘Urocola’ signify? The answer is obvious and need not me interpreted here.
   I hope this letter draws the attention of the manufacturer and the name of the product or at least the spelling is changed before consumers understand its real meaning.
   Ellen Khan
   Sydney, Australia