This is just early summer and we are having power cuts every half an hour. I am dreading what may happen later this summer when it gets unbearably hot. I also want to know what is the government doing to set up new power plants. It is needed on a priority basis.
   I am sick of hearing generators go off and on all days; this is not a civilised way to live in a capital city. If the current administration wants to prove their worth and gain the support of the people, they have to do more than giving mere lip service. The masses care about day-to-day life — food, shelter, power. They need to invest in a decent transport system, invest in the roads and highways, give us electricity to work and live in a decent way; in short, they need to improve the quality of our lives.
   Bilal
   Chittagong

Bangladesh is a country of rich cultural heritage. Art and music forms an integral part of our life. Unfortunately, efforts to project the same to the music lovers and art connoisseurs have been frustrating so far. The people are deprived of entertainment. The tourists are totally disappointed and confused and leave our country with a poor image of our cultural standard. It may be mentioned that all the big cities, including those of the neighbouring countries, boast of regular cultural nights depicting their culture and tradition. Tourists travelling through those cities even for few hours are able to appreciate the rich cultural heritage of those countries. In our country, such shows are limited to some occasions only like Pahela Baishakh, Rabindra Jayonti or on anniversary of some academic institutes/socio-cultural organisations.
   May I take this opportunity to request the concerned ministry to arrange cultural nights on a regular basis at least in Dhaka? Similar shows may be arranged in Rangamati and Cox’s Bazaar initially on fixed days of the week. This initiative will also open windows to discover otherwise hidden talents. Such arrangements will also provide a wholesome relief in our monotonous life.
   S Ahmed
   On e-mail

Bangladesh should project a welcoming environment for foreign visitors. The government should implement simplified immigration policy, offer visa on arrival, issue multiple-entry business visa, and consider reducing visa fee to a nominal level.
   The government’s open sky policy in conjunction with simplified immigration procedures can easily play a significant role in creating a positive image of the country to the foreign visitors. Benefit of permanent open sky policy outweighs cost. The benefits are: (i) reduce cost of travel in and out of Bangladesh, (ii) encourage tourism and (iii) create healthy competition among the airlines, which in turn will improve customer service.
   Sherif Saeed
   Lawrenceville, NJ, USA

The AIG and the other failing banks and financial institutions in the USA have set new and absurd standards for executive privileges. They give guaranteed bonuses while the organisation reels under astounding losses. Funnily, it is the average US citizens, the taxpayers who give them this bonus; individual amounts of this bonus are more than the gross income of many US taxpayers.
   The US is indeed the land of milk and honey. These fat salaried executives get the honey of bonuses in these hard days of economic downturn and losses suffered, conveniently milked from poor taxpayers. This is the refined way of robbing the bank without guns and masks.
   The organisation makes loss but it doesn’t matter; the executives get bonus. If next year they survive to break even, they will get extra bonus for not having loss apart from their bonus which they get even for making losses or going bankrupt. Should they per chance make profit, they will have three bonuses: one any way as per contract (as they say), one for breaking even, and the last which is the most for making profit! Now one can realise why profit is a dirty word since loss making is fine as far bonuses go in American banks that naturally do not mind much going bankrupt!
   What a weird idea of management the US bankers have!
   SA Mansoor
   Dhaka

A timely and interesting write-up on the subject focuses on the load shedding phenomena and the associated excuses given fairly realistically on a regular basis.
   ‘System loss’ has been coined to cover and camouflage both corruption and transmission and distribution losses. Normally, transmission and distribution losses over five to six per cent is unimaginable. But in Bangladesh the unimaginable is the reality and sadly the authorities concerned do not bother or care about it.
   SA Mansoor
   Dhaka