When your clock-hands join palms together, it is 31st December midnight. The Gregorian calendar trumpets the beginning of the 2012 ledgers. Nations kiss goodbye to the old, relatively pale 2011. There is excitement as usual but also there is presentiment lurking in the back of most people’s mind. The presentiment which creates fear and trepidation among many men emanates from mainly Mayan prophecies. The prophecies tell us that a date in the imminent year remains in hiding when the world ‘as we know it’ will end.

To measure the magnitude of the people’s fear, you surf the net. It brings you up over seven million hits now. More than 6,500 video posts about the apocalyptic day have been posted on YouTube and there are countless books written on the topic. A few polls even reveal that up to 18 per cent of the people have pieced together the tidbits of information on the doomsday. ‘Ask an Astrobiologist’, a NASA public outreach website, has received over five thousand questions from the people on the topic since 2007. The dominant questions are whether people should kill themselves, their children or their pets. Many contemporary fictional references to the year 2012 refer to December 21 as the day of cataclysmic event, including the bestselling book of 2009, Dan Brown’s ‘The Lost Symbol.’

The 2009 disaster film ’2012′, inspired by the phenomenon, became one of the most successful of its year, grossing nearly $770 million worldwide. Lars Von Triers 2011 film ‘Melancholia’ features a plot, making several references to the 2012 doomsday phenomenon.

It has also inspired successful pop music hits including 2012 (It ain’t the End) performed by Jay Sean and (Till the World Ends) by Britney Spears.

However, the prophecies thousands of people are scratching their heads about need to be explained first.

Ancient Mayan societies, known for their advanced mathematics and astronomy, followed a ‘long count’ calendar that lasts 5,126 years. When their charts are translated to the Gregorian calendar, the international standard used today, time runs out on December 21, 2012. Experts, however, have differing views. Some illustrate that the Mayans must have had pre-knowledge of a worldwide catastrophe while others think that the calendar currently in use just ends on the particular day and will then start over without event.

But, in addition to the predictions of the Mayan Shamans, the prophecies of the Incan and Egyptian pre-historic races as well as the prophecies of Nostradamus, Edgar Cayce and the I Ching, Hopi Indians have further shaken the people’s belief. They all indicated that the apocalypse would occur on December 21, 2012. Edgar Cayce said that the earth axis would slightly tilt. As a result of this, the earth will be broken up in the western portion of America and the greater portion of Japan must go into the sea. Nostradamus predicted a great comet, Nibiru, which would impact the Mediterranean on December 21, 2012.

What the astronomers throughout the world have said as media reports have it, have only added to the confusions of the people. Most of them said that the sun would be aligned with the centre of the Milky Way for the first time in 26,000 years on December 21, 2012. Experts warn that the alignment of the sun with the centre of the Milky Way might disrupt the energy flow to the earth, or that the high rate of sunspots or sun flares that the NASA has predicted for the year 2012 could affect the earth magnetic fields.

What the Bible states is all the more striking: the mankind reaches the gates of the end of this era. The prophecy, however, does not refer to an ‘end of the world’ but the end of the time of the gentiles or as a few have referred to it, the end of the Christian era. The prophecy states that there would be signs on earth and in the heavens, which could be reference to the issues mentioned above. Many believe that the rapture of the church is the next part of this prophecy to be fulfilled. But contrary to the popular belief, the Bible’s assertions kept mum about the date when the Lord (Jesus Christ) would appear to take his own ‘out of the way’. The Bible reads, ‘But of that day and hour knoweth no [man], no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only’ (Matt. 25:13). So the Bible assertions reduce people’s confusion to some extent, by rejecting the 2012 phenomenon. The Bible, however, does not rule out possibilities of cataclysmic events the world might face. It says that after the rapture of the church occurs, there would be major catastrophes across the globe. As a result of this, one-third of the world’s population would be destroyed. This would give cause to the rise of anti-Christ.

The Jewish experts, however, came heavily upon those resting faith on the foretelling of the Mayan shamans. They questioned the veracity of the predictions the Mayans left for the posterity. They argued that while the Mayans’ prophets set a date for the end of the world, the end for them came hundred of years ago—not in that 2012 future time. The Jewish experts rather claim that the prediction of one of their famous prophets, Isaiah, came true. They asked the people throughout the world to see how the Jews were back from their nomadic life, under the same name as a nation-Israel as predicted by Isaiah. ‘Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem. And that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it’ (Zech. 12:1-3).

Unlike the Mayans, the Hebrew prophets gave no dates for the end of the world. Actually the Bible says the world would never end. It would be remade by holy fire. ‘…we according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth the righteousness’ (2 Pt. 3:13).

However, when ominous sounds of the 2012 rumble in the ears of the people of this generation, in the other world the Chinese people, which constitutes one-fourth of the world’s population, appear not at all worried. Rather they are preparing themselves to celebrate the advent of the Dragon year.

It is because of the Chinese Zodiac that tells the year 2012 is the Year of Dragon, which begins on January 23, 2012 and ends on February 9, 2013.

Legend has it that in ancient times, Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on Chinese New Year. Twelve came, and Buddha named a year after each one. He announced that the people born in each animal’s year would have some of that animal’s personality. So those born in Dragon years share certain characteristics: innovative, self-assured, brave and passionate. They find pleasure in helping others, and you can always count on their help. Their generous personalities give them the ability to attract friends. Dragon people tend to take thrilling risks, and burn the candle at both ends so they are fortunate to be blessed with good health. It is also suggested that they have true and sincere love, which comes from the depths of their hearts.

Usually, in preparation of the great fiesta, the people in China clean and decorate their houses. Their buying list includes red cloths which they wear on New Year’s Day, and food ingredients to prepare most cherished dish, which, what they believe, would bring good luck and prosperity. Children will get red-coloured envelops with ‘lucky money.’ Red symbolizes fire, which according to legend, can drive away bad luck. There will be a dragon dance. The dragon, stretching a hundred feet long, is typically made of silk, paper and bamboo. Traditionally the dragon is held aloft by young men who dance through the streets. But this year, the most striking and amazing information is thousands of parents who have waited passionately for the Year of Dragon are going to have chances to be blessed with dragon children. May the celestial dragon bring good luck to them.

However, thousands of people throughout the world do not believe in any of the issues mentioned above. They say this would be utter madness to believe that either the world is going to end in 2012 or the specified year could bring any good luck to the mankind. There is no single scrap of real evidence for the end of the world and the lucky breaks. They further say that the 2012 disasters and dragon stories would allow only movie makers to make a lot of money from the ignorant interested people. Those phenomena give the con artists to make lots of fortunes—just as the good old days of Y2K.

Belief in Judgement Day is one of the fundamental pillars of Islamic faith. It is the day when everyone is to get reward and punishment for one’s work and has to go to heaven or hell according to one’s deeds. This is the reason each and every Prophet warned his people of the Day of Judgement.

As for the knowledge of the time of Qiyamah (End of the World), it has not been given to any angel or Prophet (PBUH). Nobody besides Allah knows when the final hour is.
In Surah Luqman the Quran states, O Prophet the infidels ask you about the time of Qiyamah. So tell them that it’s knowledge is with Allah only.

However certain events are going to take place prior to the coming of the final hour. These events are known as the Signs of Qiyamah. All the Prophets informed their people of the signs of the final hour. Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) being the last and the seal of Prophets, knowing that Doomsday is to come upon this very ummah, explained clearly and in considerable detail the signs of the final hour to the extent that sometimes he (PBUH) would lecture his companions all day on this subject.
Abu Zaid (R.A.) says, ‘The Holy Prophet (PBUH) sat down on the pulpit after Fajr Prayer and began a deliver a long sermon until the time for Zuhr prayer came. After saying the Zuhr prayer he (PBUH) again sat on the pulpit and began the sermon, which continued till Asr prayer. After the Asr prayer He (PBUH) resumed the sermon so much so that the sun set. He (PBUH) related whatever happened in the past and also related in detail whatever is to happen in the future. Those amongst us who had good memories retained many things.’ (Muslim)

The signs of the final hour can be divided into two groups.
1) Minor signs

Minor signs are events of normal nature prophesised by our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) to take place before Qiyamah like the consumption of alcohol, lifting of knowledge and prevalence of ignorance and immorality and signs of this nature. The majority of the minor signs have appeared while some are occurring and some will appear with major signs.

2) Major signs

Major signs are events of extraordinary nature prophesied by our Prophet (PBUH) to take place before Qiyamah like all the events mentioned in the following hadith narrated by Hudhaifa ibn Usayd that the Prophet (PBUH) said, ‘The last hour will not arrive till  you have seen ten signs. He (PBUH) then mentioned the Smoke, Dajjal, Beast, Rising of the Sun from the place of it’s setting, the Descent of Isa, Ya’juj Ma’juj, Three Landslides, one in the East , one in the West and one in the Arabian Peninsula after that a Fire would spread from Yemen and drive the people to their place of gathering.’ (Muslim)

Three sentences from an old holy Book will conclude this write-up:  ‘For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their etching ears want to hear. They will turn their eyes away from the truth and turn aside to myths.’

oshairhat is the 111th municipality of Bangladesh but the first municipality was undoubtedly Dhaka. Today’s tremendously commercial, industrial, financial, sporting and cultural Dhaka was not the same in 400 years back. Politically very powerful, the capital city, the administrative headquarters of the Bangladesh is still growing though not healthily. It has grown all around, covering an area of some 360 square km and having a population of over 9.1 million. A considerable number of the inhabitants are very rich, thanks to capitalistic concentration of wealth. It is also home to the rising number of ‘Bangladeshi’ rich people. Most of the 28,000 crorepatis live here. No need to articulate that the creation of the independent state of Bangladesh in 1971 bestowed on Dhaka the glory and prestige of the capital of a sovereign country. This led to Dhaka’s phenomenal growth though not in a very planned way.
Dhaka has a comparatively long history. Its continuation in the pre-Muslim period is cumbersome to trace with certainty. But it grew as an urban centre in the Sultanate period and rose into prominence in the Mughal period when it enjoyed the position of a provincial capital. In 1800 and onward, Dhaka was a place of some importance especially in the pre-Mughal period, but it came to the limelight of history under the Mughals. The city then was a beautiful one, with greens available, dozens of canals, lots of playgrounds, open spaces. At the second phase, the turn down of the political power of the nawabs of Bengal and the rise of the East India Company led to the diminishing of the administrative importance of Dhaka in the late 18th century. In addition, the commercial and manufacturing policies of the East India Company wrecked the financial bases of the city. This naturally led to the shrinking of the physical extent of the city to such a degree that by the beginning of the 19th century Dhaka was a shadow of its former self. Its administrative importance, its trade and manufactures were virtually gone. Likewise its cultural and social activities dwindled greatly.
In the Mughal era Dhaka developed rapidly due to its advantageous geographical setting and its political and administrative significance as the capital. And later as the sub-capital of a very wealthy and ingenious province its prospered internally and externally. Trade in famous manufactures, especially the Muslin went up. At its climax during the Mughal period, the city with its suburbs was said to encompass a population of some 900,000. The population comprised graciousness, high officials, business people, soldiers, manufacturers, traders and service people of various kinds. The inhabitants were of different races and religions. The city proper stretched seven to ten miles along the Buriganga and up to two and a half miles inland. The suburbs extended from the Buriganga to the Tongi Bridge, fifteen miles to the north, and from Mirpur-Jafarabad on the west some ten miles east to Postogola. The administrative importance of Dhaka further grew dramatically during the years 1905-11 when it was made the capital of the new province of East Bengal and Assam. The superstructure of a provincial administration was introduced with different departments and various high and middle-ranking officials.
Thirty six years ticked by. There was no movement, visible development. If we look further, after 1947 the Dhaka municipal government underwent from the contradictory demands of political pragmatism and administrative efficiency. Following the dawn of Pakistan in 1947, Dhaka became the capital of the new province of East Bengal. And thus this rise in the status of the city did not straight away modify the status of its local government, which was a metropolis. The municipal government of Dhaka set up in 1864 was suitable for the type of urban centre which then it was a small divisional headquarters. It then covered vicinity comprising approximately some 8 square miles with a population of some 52,000. In view of the prevailing disordered circumstances soon after the partition and the movement of population the ordinary activities of the then Dhaka Municipality suffered much and the administration could not be carried out in the old manners. Even the periodical election of the municipal commissioners and chairman and vice-chairmen could not be held because of the mammoth change in the electoral roll and other inconveniences. This situation lasted until 1958 when the country came under the military rule and municipal bodies along with other local bodies were perched on the brink and senior civil servants and other local officers were entrusted with the job of running the municipal bodies.
Although the city grew in physique and in population in the succeeding years, it developed spectacularly only after the departure of the British in 1947 and its becoming the capital of a new province. In 1947 the cities enlarged up to 12 square miles with a population of some 250,000. Subsequently Dhaka’s importance grew over the later years. During the Bangladesh period, the urban local bodies operating as the legacy of the past were formally dissolved and official administrators were appointed to each one of them under the President’s Order No.7 of 1971. Again by the President’s Order No. 22 of 1973 municipalities underwent marginal changes in the composition but the functions remained more or less the same as before. In 1977 a new Paurasabha Ordinance was promulgated without substantially altering the portfolio of functions. Under this act Dhaka also became a Paurasabha but the administrative and political significance of the place necessitates a broader skeleton of local government predominantly for people’s representation on the municipal government and for levying of taxes. Hence the demand for augmentation of the Dhaka Municipality began to come from various quarters. In 1983 thus a new form of municipal body named the City Corporation was formed for Dhaka under a separate Ordinance.
By 1983 Dhaka had grown phenomenally. Its population had increased to some 3,440,147 and the area to some 400 square km. Over the years the ward divisions of the city had also greatly increased from its 1947 number of seven. It was thus overdue that the local government of the metropolis must act in response to the changed situation. The 1983 Ordinance, called the Dhaka Municipal Corporation Ordinance, made the city of Dhaka a Corporation to be called the Dhaka Municipal Corporation.
Having known about the history of Dhaka and Dhaka City Corporation, We would know now the importance of this city as a unified one. The unified Dhaka city corporation has huge importance. The Buriganga (Budiganga) and her mother river Dhaleswari (Dhaleshvari) connect Dhaka to the great rivers and through them with almost all districts of Bengal. The old city of Dhaka was miniature, centering round Pakurtali (modern Babubazar area), but on becoming the capital of the Mughal Subah the city was extended along the bank of the river from the fort in the west to modern Sadarghat in the east. Once made the capital, Dhaka was intended to grow up. Administrative requirements and expansion of governmental activities must have led to an expansion of the city. The names of different localities in Dhaka, which stick with even today, put it to somebody how the city grew and developed with its great significance.

Political Significance
As it nurtured administratively, the political connotation of unified Dhaka also increased simultaneously. Indubitably the city’s role in the political life not only of Bangladesh but also of the entire subcontinent during the last two centuries has been much checkered. In the 19th century it was one of the imperative centres of the first War of Independence against British colonial rule, the Sepoy revolt of 1857. The Sepoys of the Bengal army stationed at Lalbagh Fort refused to go along with the effort of the British administrators to neutralize them, warning the revolt of the local army in other parts of the country. The event proved a turning point in the history of the city, the British administrators taking brutal measures and the local population maintaining a profound sense of umbrage against the colonial rulers ever since. The place where the Sepoys were hanged became a symbol of national confrontation. But the event also discovered the enormous loyalty and support for the British by the well-heeled local landlords and businessmen, particularly the Nawab family of Dhaka. With the groundwork of the Indian National Congress in 1885, the city became the centre of Congress activities aimed at garnering support from the whole of eastern Bengal. But the political character of the city during the early twentieth century was critical in bringing about the partition of the province in 1905, being a symbol of a victory for the cause of the Muslims of East Bengal. The part played by the Nawab of Dhaka, Sir Salimullah, in this connection was very significant. From 1905 Dhaka also became a winner for the cause of the Muslims of the subcontinent. It was Sir Salimullah who again took the scheme in founding in Dhaka, in 1906, the first political party of the Muslims of the subcontinent Muslim League which, as opposed to the Indian National Congress, aimed primarily to serve the Muslim interest. The partition of Bengal also led to the Nationalist or swadeshi movement and extremist activities by Hindus opposed to the partition. Dhaka became the centre of all these activities and the stronghold of one of the extremist groups, anushilan samiti. In the following years Dhaka played an important role in the independence movement against the British.
The creation of Pakistan however did not accomplish the hopes and aspirations of the people of East Pakistan, especially of its educated middle class. The declaration of the rulers of Pakistan that only Urdu shall be the state language of Pakistan aggravated a sharp reaction from the East Pakistanis, who took immense conceit in their language and cultural heritage. Dhaka became the chief centre of the language movement, which also gave rise to a nationalistic feeling among East Pakistanis. The Language Movement became the predecessor of the freedom movement of Bangladesh, in which Dhaka played the most imperative role. The movements for parity, the People’s uprising of 1969, the historic speech of Bangabandhu on 7 March 1970 and the launching of the War of Liberation – all started from this city. It was also in this city that the surrender ceremony of the Pakistan Army took place at the Ramna Race Course on 16 December 1971.
Today Dhaka also houses the national and metropolitan chambers of commerce and other institutions of the business people and industrialists. In short, all the country’s trade and commerce, import and export trade are controlled from here. Just as the Bangladesh Bank looks after the public aspect of finance so do the various Chambers of Commerce protect the private business interest. The Stock Market, a recent growth, has added to the commercial life of the city. And all of these tell us the significance of unified Dhaka City Corporation.

Socio-cultural activities
Dhaka is one of the most important South Asian cities playing a momentous role in the political, economic, social, cultural and sporting activities of the region. It has developed into one of the most key cultural centres of Asia, clinging to national and international art, music, cinema, theatre, dance and literary conferences and festivals. Western-influenced theatrical performances started in Dhaka from the middle of the nineteenth century and later the appearance of female performers on stage created a consciousness among the traditional sections of Dhaka society. Today theatre is one of the most popular entertainments in the city though the organizers, performers and audience are typically from the educated middle class. The hub of these activities is the Segun-Bagicha, Ramna and Shahbag area – an enclave which has been indeed very recently designed as the Dhaka Sangskrtik Balay or the Dhaka Cultural Enclave.
The decision of the government to split the Dhaka City Corporation into two corporations, one dealing with the northern and the other with the southern part of Dhaka city would be harmful for the future of Dhaka. The citizens would not be benefited since the government has taken the decision because of political considerations. The Cabinet, in its weekly meeting on October 17, decided to divide the DCC into two corporations by amending the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009. A capital could not be divided without giving rise to administrative complexities and waste of time. The government was trying to reduce the present mayor’s control by taking such an irrational step. Splitting the corporation into two will increase the waste of money and the level of violence in the city, if one city corporation failed to serve the city dwellers then two city corporations would only produce a chaos. The government should strengthen and delegate more power to the existing corporation of the service-providing agencies of the city like the Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited, and Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Limited and should be placed under the corporation to ensure centrally coordinated service delivery by them. We hope peace and prosperity of our city which is also the spirit of our liberation. Splitting the Dhaka city corporation would put hindrance to the peace and prosperity of this city. Let us hope for a prosperous city with its unified nature to fulfill the desire of its citizens delegating sufficient power to it rather that diminishing.
However, Dhaka has been caught up in a sudden spree of development and growth, without proper planning and no real control over the haphazard growth. The never ending migration of people from the countryside and district towns often without any jobs is creating tremendous pressure upon the city with its meager housing and other facilities. Thus the city is passing through a period of uncertainties. If things are not taken proper care of, unforeseen developments might overwhelm the place, especially because of the lack of water supply, health hazards and political and social unrest. But it does not mean that this city needs to be divided rather it needs a comprehensive and pragmatic plan to ensure its development. The split of the city would incur huge economic loss and it would also bring political chaos as it is mostly politically driven without concerning the interest of the general people. n

Who hasn’t heard of cerebral celebrity Noam Chomsky, orientalist Edward Said or Arabic pop singer Latifa and Tony Blair’s sister in law Lauren Booth? They are none but a handful few who were deprived of the Western privileges they could have enjoyed. It happened not because all of them were Muslims but because they voiced concern on the oppression of the Palestinians. Noam Chomsky, an American activist writer and an icon for the journalists, is a Jew by religion, Edward Said a Palestinian-American Christian, Lauren Booth, a British Christian turned Muslim and Latifa Bint Alayah Al Arfaoui is a Tunisian-Egyptian singer Muslim. Geniuses of their stature undoubtedly could have enjoyed more than that what these guys have. But they didn’t. Supporting the cause of the Palestinians they were either vilified and denied of entry into Palestine or deprived of medals. As far as we know no pro-Palestinian on the earth got Nobel Prize but Swedish Nobel Committee has awarded dozens of pro-Israelis the prestigious prize. All through life they voiced concern over the torture and oppression of the Palestinians and more importantly advocated for their statehood, supporting two-state solution to Israel-Palestine conflict. Hoping for an end to pangs of the Palestinians and dreaming their homeland what was reality in the last century, grandma and grandpas are telling children about the full state where there will be no scarcity of food, construction materials, water and medicines. Nor will be any constant threat of war on the people living in tents. An independent state, a free nation like 193 other nations, an identity with honour, a territory with pre-1967 border and nothing else.

A champion of the Palestine cause Avram Noam Chomsky, born December 7, 1928, is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is a Professor (Emeritus) in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the “father of modern linguistics” and a major figure of analytic philosophy. His work has influenced fields such as computer science, mathematics, and psychology.

Chomsky is credited as the creator or co-creator of the Chomsky hierarchy theorem, the universal grammar theory, and the Chomsky–Schützenberger theorem. Chomsky is known for his critiques of US foreign policy, and he has been described as a prominent cultural figure. His social criticism has included Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media (1988), co-written with Edward S. Herman, an analysis articulating the propaganda model theory for examining the media.

According to 1992 Arts and Humanities Citation Index, Chomsky was cited as a source more often than any other living scholar from 1980 to 1992. He is also the eighth most cited source of all time, and is considered the “most cited living author”. Chomsky is the author of over 100 books.

If Palestinians’ UN bid for statehood succeeds in September or  November to push for statehood, it will coincide with death or birth months of Edward Said. Said, a Palestinian-American literary theorist and advocate for Palestinian rights was a Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University and a founding figure in post-colonialism. Robert Fisk described him as the Palestinians’ “most powerful political voice.”

Said is best known for his book Orientalism (1978), which catapulted him into international academic fame. Said contended that Orientalist scholarship was and continues to be inextricably tied to the imperialist societies that produced it, making much of the work inherently politicized, servile to power, and therefore suspect.

Drawing on his own experience as a Palestinian growing up in a Palestinian Christian family in the Middle East at the time of the creation of Israel, Said argued for the creation of a Palestinian state, equal rights for Palestinians in Israel, including the right of return, and for increased pressure on Israel, especially by the United States. He also criticized several Arab and Muslim regimes. Said made a documentary film about Palestine for BBC named In Search of Palestine. BBC was unsuccessful in getting it on US television. Greatly contributing to the movement for a Palestinian state he has turned into an icon.

In his Culture and Resistance (2003), Said likened his situation to that of Noam Chomsky: “It’s very similar to him. He’s a well known, great linguist. He’s been celebrated and honored for that. But he’s also vilified as an anti-Semite and a Hitler worshiper.” Said went on to explain:

For anyone to deny the horrendous experience of anti-Semitism and the Holocaust is unacceptable. We don’t want anybody’s history of suffering to go unrecorded and unacknowledged. On the other hand, there’s a great difference between acknowledging Jewish oppression and using that as a cover for the oppression of another people.

In a 1997 revised edition of his book Covering Islam, Said criticized what he viewed as the biased reporting of the Western press and, in particular, media “speculations about the latest conspiracy to blow up buildings, sabotage commercial airliners, and poison water supplies.”

Another champion of the Palestinian cause Latifa Bint Alayah Al Arfaoui began her career at a very young age as a prodigy at the age of six. In 1983, shortly after her father died, Latifa and her family took a trip to Egypt to rest and mourn. During that time, she met composer Baleegh Hamdi, who advised her that she ought to move to Egypt for the sake of her career. So she quit college in Tunisia and joined the Arab Academy of Music in Egypt, from which she earned her bachelor degree. She is preparing for her master’s degree. She has lots of popular album of Arabic and French songs.

You might have already known 43-year-old broadcaster and journalist Lauren Booth — former British first lady Cherie Blair’s half-sister — travelled to Gaza by ship from Cyprus, along with 46 other activists, to highlight Israel’s blockade of the territory. She is another champion of Palestine cause. She was subsequently refused entry into Israel and even into Egypt. In 2006 she was a contestant on the ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity .  .  . Get Me Out Of Here! donating her fee to the Palestinian relief charity Interpal. Recently she reverted to Islam and started wearing hijab and avoiding wine.

The quartet is representative of the people all over the world who tried to champion the cause of the Palestinians. Hats off to the truth diggers. Irrespective of their cast creed and society they have fought against the oppression on the Muslim children, women and even the Christians. When nations after nations got independence in the last century from British, French and Portuguese colonies, Palestinians are the only nation which failed to gain independence. Israel unilaterally declared independence the day before the handover of power by the British colony. The Israel rose from the Palestinian ashes after 1948 war. Palestine died when Israel was implanted on its land. In the peak season of liberty when dozens of countries including India became independent, the tiny Arab nation became dependent. They lost Jerusalem with right to pray in Al Aqsa mosque. Gaza turned out to be the greatest prison on earth with 1.5 million people, particularly the women, and children, languishing under open sky. Probably there’s no place on the planet but Gaza where humanitarian activities are prohibited. No aid worker, be a doctor or a philanthropist, can send food, medicine and other essential and life-saving materials.

Palestinians are seeking UN recognition of their state from the UN. Deluded by the discussion between Israel and Palestinian Authority, people want recognition for them as full member of the UN General Assembly replacing the observer position. Not long ago East Timor got independent from predominantly Muslim Indonesia, South Sudan had no problem in winning the heart of the powerful nations to secede from the predominantly Muslim North to become the 193^rd nation of the world. But Palestine has been struggling for over 60 years to get independent. Israel, and India, born in a space of few months, failed to give independence to Palestine and Kashmir respectively. Israel wants to come up from the hoaxes of negotiations brokered by the US. Frustrated by the Middle East Peace Process, which is initiated by the Pro-Israelis, of the pro-Israelis, for the Israelis, secular Mahmud Abbas initiated the process to gain support from 132 states for nationhood. The Palestinian issue is no more a bilateral issue. It is not only the issue of the Arab world and of the 150 crore Muslims of the world but of the downtrodden people of the planet. It is a cause of humanity.

Turkey and Egypt were two prime patrons of Israel having diplomatic and other relations with friendly governments in these countries. In the wake of AKP being in Turkey’s power and fall of Hosni Mubarak regime in Egypt, Ben Ali in Tunisia, thanks to Arab Spring, the scenario has changed tremendously. Situation became favourable for the whole humanity particularly for the Arabs to voice concern over Israeli oppression on the peoples of Palestine, Syria, Lebanon and more recently on Turks and Egyptians. Israel killed some border guards of Egypt and eight Turkish aid workers one US citizen on Gaza Flotilla. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threw his weight in September 13 behind a Palestinian bid to win recognition of their state at the United Nations. “Recognizing the Palestinian state is not an option, it is an obligation,” Erdogan told a meeting of the Arab foreign ministers at the Cairo-based headquarters of the Arab League. “Before the end of this year, we will see Palestine at the United Nations in a very different situation,” he said.

Erdogan went to Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, visits seen as part of Ankara’s effort to assert its growing role in the Middle East and pile pressures to isolate Israel. Arab foreign ministers met in Egypt to marshal support for the Palestinian bid for a fully-fledged Palestinian state despite the US veto threat.

Recently a protest march towards Israeli embassy in Cairo led to diplomatic tension between these countries. As people in Egypt have observed the state terrorism inflicted on Palestinians by Israel, so they have become angry with the Zionist and anti-Islamic policy.

The United States has threatened to veto the Palestinian bid at the UN Security Council. If so, the Palestinians can ask the General Assembly to elevate their UN status from an observer to a “non-state member.” Washington has no enough support to block a vote by the General Assembly, which is expected to overwhelmingly support the Palestinian bid. The change would pave the way for the Palestinians to join dozens of United Nations bodies and conventions. It could also strengthen the Palestinian ability to pursue cases against Israel at the International Criminal Court.

Opinion polls all over the world show that common people want recognition for the Palestinians. The majority of citizens in Germany, France, and the UK support the planned Palestinian statehood bid in the United Nations, a new poll indicated recently. The opinion poll published in September shows that a majority of people in Germany, France and Britain – three countries that are critical votes in the battle over the Palestinian bid for statehood – all want their leaders to vote in favor of a UN resolution to support recognition of a Palestinian state when it’s discussed in New York.

The survey, which was carried out online by YouGov in Britain and Germany, and Ifop in France, on behalf of the global political web movement Avaaz – which is conducting an online petition in support of a Palestinian state – shows that in Germany 84% supported Palestinian statehood and 76% believed Germany should act now to recognize; in the U.K. the figures were 71% and 59%; and in France the figures were 82% and 69% respectively.

Ricken Patel, Executive Director of Avaaz, said in a statement: “The overwhelming majority of the British public have spoken – now David Cameron must listen.”

“The Prime Minister has a clear choice: stand with the British public, and 132 other nations to support a Palestinian state and a new path to peace, or side with the US government which continues to push a failed status quo,” Patel added. Avaaz says it is planning to deliver more than 913,000 signatories backing what it describes as “this new opportunity for freedom” to the European parliament.

Spain is openly backing the recognition, with Sweden, Portugal, Norway, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg seemingly leaning in that direction. France and Britain in turn have both said they would prefer to see meaningful negotiations on the basis of the pre-1967 borders with agreed land swaps, but have hinted they may vote for enhanced status for the Palestinians without such a prospect.

Germany, like Italy, Holland, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria has said they oppose the move.

Last but not the least statehood is a birthright of the Palestinian Muslim and Christians. No one can deny this. Injustice to the Palestinians is one of the major root causes of ‘terrorism’ worldwide. Justice must be meted out or there will be anarchy. Stateless Palestinians are helpless, oppressed, tortured, evicted from their ancestral property, living on the relief and in need of a state to call their own. Let not the deafening call fall on the deaf ears of the US and Israel.

Ifrith Islam

That hygiene is very important for both the rational and irrational creatures is known to all. For the irrational creature the act of cleaning its body is a natural process but the rational creature has to exert effort to attain it. Nature is beautiful and law abiding, so are the animals. They are part of the nature, leading never an unhygienic life. With the first glance you might have loved to touch and stoke a puppy or a kitten while passing it. But have you ever seen them smeared in shit? Probably won’t, barring a few exceptions. Human even love to stoke a cub of ferocious animal like tiger, because it is not harmful and at the same time not usually filthy and dirty. Such creatures of nature which keep them neat and clean on their own are called irrational creature by us. Not only their young ones but also the adults lead a very hygienic and clean life, following their creator’s command without any deviation.

Have you ever known about a human baby who has never bed-wetted or soiled its clothes? I am sure the answer is ‘no’. A human child, who is born the feeblest, is the ablest and champion among the 18,000 species to inflict pain on its mother. Kicking and fisting, which it started against wall of its mother’s womb, crying, screaming, sometimes waking midnight and getting up from sleep too early or too late. A human baby often wets bed, soils clothes and sucks from its mother whenever necessary and will play with and even eat its own shit if left uncared for. On top of that a baby makes its parents filthy and unready for prayer, either soiling or wetting their clothes forcing them to change repeatedly.

So human needs toilet, urinal, commodes, water, toothpaste, toothbrush/meswak, perfume and other sort of sanitary articles. From cradle to grave they need them as they become unclean and impure either after defecating or sexing. Apart from all these, the women’s sense of beauty and men’s smartness have prompted them alike to invest a lot in their toiletry, bathroom and its articles.

As long as man did not have an established home, he did not have a toilet attached. He excreted or relieved himself wherever he felt like doing so. When he learnt to have a fixed house, he moved toilet to courtyard and then within his home. Once this was done, it became a challenge to deal with bad smell and the need was felt to have a toilet which can intake human wastes and dispose these of out of the house instantly and, thus, help maintain cleanliness which is next to godliness. Man tried various ways to do so i.e. chamber pots, which were cleaned manually by the servants or slaves, toilets protruding out of the top floor of the house or the castle and disposal of wastes in the river below, or common toilets with holes on the top and flowing river or stream underneath or just enter the river or stream and dispose of the waste of the human body. While the rich used luxurious toilet chairs or close stools the poor defecated in open place, in the jungle or straight into the river, posing threat to hygiene and environment.

Hygiene: past and present

Brushing teeth, paring nails, washing hands, sauna bath and hot showers are necessity in today’s world where these hygienic rituals are performed daily. One would be gawked at if they were to come to work covered in grime and grimaced at by co-workers if they left the bathroom without washing their hands. Though hygiene is an important duty to protect oneself and others from sickness, back in ancient times, the nature of our ancestor’s hygiene could be seen as dubious.

Due to the expense of indoor toilets affordable only to aristocrats, commoners had to make do with the 150 public latrines sprinkled around ancient Rome. These public latrines usually were also situated or connected to public baths, sensible since they shared the same water supply. These latrines contained numerous buckets called dolia curta. The dolia curtawas the ideal urine pot, but also was easily transported when fullers (laundry cleaners who used urine in large vats) bought them. An amusing tidbit in Roman public latrines was that it acted as a popular loitering spot. People would sit there, talk to others, and ultimately hope to get invited to dinner!

Cleaning clothes during this time was never a truly essential chore. People were used to the smell, grime, and dirt. Though the cleaning that did occur would either be a quick rinse in a river, or hiring a fuller to soak and scrub their clothes in large vats of urine which acted as ammonia.

With the advent Islam bathing and other forms of ablution evolved in the Middle Ages into a more thorough, and comfortable affair. It was not uncommon for a family to have a portable tub, which was padded and lined with cloth. Aristocrats were able to afford rudimentary models of the bathrooms we have today. It would be tiled, and surrounded by bath mats. Even though bathing was easier during this time, it was still not an everyday affair. Usually every few days, one would just shave, clean the face, hands, and feet.

Soon etiquette books on hygiene were being published informing the public that it was rude to blow their nose on their hands and not wipe it on their clothes (obviously germs were not acknowledged during this time), that one should keep their nails clean, one should brush their teeth every morning, and that one should wash their face daily.

Aristocrats during this time considered hand-washing mandatory before a meal and it was carried out ritualistically. There would be two bowls placed before the hand-washer, one bowl filled with scented water and another one that was empty. The aristocrat would extend his hands over the empty bowl and rubbed them together while a servant poured scented water over top of them, the water falling into the empty bowl. Then a second servant would dry the aristocrat’s hands with a dry towel.

Cleaning clothes had also improved in technique. To achieve a fresh scent and cleanliness, people would bundle their clothes with sweet smelling roots and boil it in a pot of water. When storing away the clothes, it was popular to sprinkle dried flower petals on them to help keep a sweet scent.

Evolution of toilet

Hygiene without a hygienic toilet is impossible. Though little explored due to social taboo the toilet today has got a long history. The chronology of toilet’s evolution is given below…

2500 BC: In Mohenjodaro, there existed highly developed drainage system where waste water from each house flowed into the main drain.

1000 BC: In the Bahrain Island in the Persian Gulf, flush type toilet was discovered.

69 AD: Vespasianus (Ottoman Empire) for the first time levied Tax on Toilets.

610 AD and afterwards: Islamic culture emerges

1206 AD: The Arab inventor, Al-Jazari, invented a hand washing device incorporating the flush mechanism now used in modern flush toilets. His device features an automaton by a basin filled with water. When the user pulls the lever, the water drains and the automaton refills the basin.

1214 AD: Construction for the first time of public toilets manned by scavengers in Europe.

1596 AD: JD Harrington invents Water Closet.

1668 AD: Edict issued by Police Commissioner Paris, construction of Toilets in all houses.

1728 AD: Architect JF Brondel argues that attached toilet is ideal.

1738: A valve-type flush toilet was invented by JF Brondel.

1739 AD: First separate toilet for men and women appear at a ball in Paris.

1775: Alexander Cummings invented the S-trap, still in use today

1777: Samuel Prosser invented and patented the ‘plunger closet’.

1778: Joseph Bramah invented a hinged valve or ‘crank valve’ that sealed the bottom of the bowl, and a float valve system for the flush tank. His design was used mainly on boats.

1824 AD: First Public Toilet in Paris.

1852: JG Jennings invented a wash-out design with a shallow pan emptying into an S-trap.

1857: The first American patent for a toilet, the ‘plunger closet’, was granted.

1858: The first flush toilets on the European continent may have been the three “water closets” installed.

1859 AD: Toilet of Queen Victoria is decorated with gold.

1883 AD: First Ceramic Toilet by Thomas Turiferd for Queen Victoria.

1889 AD: Sewage Treatment for the first time in the world.

1959 AD: All Surface Toilets abandoned (Paris).

1970 AD: Sulabh International is established by Bindeshwar Pathak, as a non-profit NGO in Bihar.

1980 AD: Installation of Auto – control Public Toilet.

1885: The first modern pedestal ‘flush-down’ toilet was demonstrated by Frederick Humpherson of the Beaufort Works, Chelsea, England.

Public toilets

In each society from time to time the government felt the need to provide public toilet facilities to those who could not afford to have individual toilets. The public toilets have a long history in number of countries and most of which were constructed and managed by municipalities. But there was total disgust with their poor maintenance, vandalism and lack of basic facilities. The Mughal King Jahangir built a public toilet at Alwar, 120km away from Delhi for use of 100 families at a time in 1556 AD. In the mosques where Muslim women and men say prayers always accommodated separate toilets and ablutions systems since the advent of Islam and most probably these toilets were the first separate toilets in the world.

Rulers of high hygiene sense

Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, as the ruler of Islamic state headquartered in Madina, never stayed impure. He always performed wadu whenever he had defecated, peed or winded. Four caliphs of Islam followed his sunnah. In the subcontinent we also see some rulers were very sincere in performing ablutions. Sher Shah (Death 852 AD) was one of them who used to bath in the third quarter of night. Emperor Aorangajeb performed ablutions whenever peed, defecated or farted. He stayed never without purity or wadu.

European tradition of hygiene

In Medieval Europe, hygiene fell into neglect and water was even regarded as dangerous. The Plague in the 16th century fuelled this mistrust, at a time when popular belief held that water “seeped through” the skin’s pores to deposit the germs it carried. With bathing anathematised, cleanliness and hygiene were sought in white linen. Those were the days of dry body cleansing.

Linen absorbed perspiration, sebum, and purified the body – and hence became a sign of its wearer’s sophistication and cleanliness. During this period, notables and middle-class members of society owned a great number of shirts, in order to change them often. The 17th century saw perfumes enjoying widespread esteem alongside white linen. Until then, fine clothes had only concealed the grime. Now fragrances were used to veil the smell. The 18th century saw water somewhat reconciled with the body; baths once again became acceptable, water regained its rightful place, and soap appeared. 19th-century medical treatises stressed the role of hygiene. Yet it was not until the middle of the 20th century that running water installations became commonplace – accompanied by the elementary notions of hygiene. Personal hygiene then once again became central to healthcare and well-being.

According to Hiroshi Umino, European culture blossomed forth after contact with Crusaders from the East. These crusaders were none but the Muslim Mujahids. From these Muslims they learned many things including cleanliness. Washing hands for example before food also became popular. Sometimes they used chamber pots, cesspools and close stools. So were the toilets protruding out of the castles and the excrements from which fell into the river.

Islamic tradition of hygiene

As Islam attaches much importance to cleanliness, the period between 500 to 1500 AD it was an era of cesspools, inn and bathrooms. Muslims, wherever they spread on the planet, maintained the hygiene standard set by Islam. The whole world then was in the dark in absence of revelation and prophet. The light of the Holy Quran enlightened many parts of Roman, Persian empires and Indian subcontinent. Umar Radiallahu Anhu ruled half of the world. Rich man’s housing and forts in India had protrusions in which defecation was done and the excrements fell into the open ground or the river below. The forts of Jaiselmer in India and big houses on the banks of rivers bear testimony to this fact. It was around 1900 that the institution of bathroom came in vogue in Europe. In India Gushalkhanas (bathroom) were established by the Mughal Kings in 1556. Oppressed by the heat and dust the Kings constructed luxurious bathing and massage facilities. But this was only for the rich. Whatever little information is available about history of toilets in India, it was quite primitive. This practice of covering waste with earth continued till the Mughal era, where in the forts of Delhi and Agra one can see remnants of such methodologies to dispose of human waste.

In India it is very common to use water for ablution. However, the hand one uses varies in various parts of India. In the Muslim Spain roadside inn or sharai khana could be found where a tired traveller could relieve, wash, bath and take refreshments. On first visit to Muslim Spain these arrangements surprised many Europeans.

There is some difference between eastern Spain and the kingdom of Granada. The chief object of the Granada water supply system was not the irrigation of crops only but the distribution of water to the fountains and baths of the capital. In Granada the system is still “to an exceptional degree” the same as it was in the time of the Arabs, and we find undisturbed the institutions practiced by the Arabs themselves. An acequia, flowing toward Granada from the spring in the village of Alfucar in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada, was first built in the 13th century and is still flowing today.

Emergence of soap and oil shave

Some Islam-bashers claim that the present civilization didn’t fully flourish during the early days of Islam but you need not to be a rocket scientist to understand the fact that this civilization humanity didn’t attain overnight. The foundation of the civilization must have been built by the Muslim scientists. The emergence of soap is credited to the Celts of Gaul. Made from animal fat, or sheep tallow, soap proved to be more effective than olive oil and coarse salt. Hair care during this time was strange, and painful. Men especially did not want hair on them. In public baths it was not unusual for other men to shave one another. Excess hair to them was “dirty” attracting lice, and hair removal was almost like a pastime. Akin to the nail filer of today, Rome’s popular hair remover was a chilling tool called a strigil. The blunt tool’s handle was usually made of ivory, and it was shaped like a flattened rectangle curving so one could grip it. Oil was rubbed on the part that was to be shaved, and instead of washing it off, oil had to be scraped off, resulting in sometimes painful shaves. Emperor Augustus of Rome was said to have a face ridden with sores due to excessive use of the strigil.

Toothpaste

Over the history humanity has come to know that our mouths contain one or more of 500 types of microorganisms. As far as we know the development of toothpaste began 300/500BC in China and India. According to Chinese history, a learned man, Huang-Ti, studied the care of teeth and claimed different types of pain felt in the mouth could be cured by sticking gold and silver needles into different parts of the jaw and gum. It was theories such as these that led to the development of dental cream.

First attempts at tooth cleaning included using abrasives such as crushed bone, crushed egg and oyster shells, which were used to clean debris from teeth. Tooth powders were the first noticeable advance and were made up of elements like powdered charcoal, powdered bark and some flavouring agents. This would be applied to teeth using a simple stick.

Toothpowder or dentifrice was first available in Britain in the late eighteenth century. It came in a ceramic pot and was available either as a powder or paste. The rich applied it with brushes and the poor with their fingers.

Modern toothpastes were developed in the 1800s. A dentist called Peabody was the first to add soap to toothpaste in 1824. Chalk was first added to toothpaste by John Harris in the 1850s. In 1873, toothpaste was first mass-produced into nice smelling toothpaste in a jar. In 1892, Dr. Washington Sheffield of Connecticut was the first to put toothpaste into a collapsible tube. Sheffield’s toothpaste was called Dr. Sheffield’s Creme Dentifrice. Advancements in synthetic detergents (after World War II) replaced the soap used in toothpaste with emulsifying agents such as Sodium Lauryl Sulphate and Sodium Ricinoleate.

The 1960′s saw the introduction of fluoride into toothpaste. This development was followed in the 1980′s with the addition of soluble calcium fluoride to fluoride toothpastes. It is therefore within the last thirty years that toothpastes contains the two ingredients – calcium and fluoride. Nowadays, there are controversial views on the effectiveness and safety of fluoride toothpaste. For those who are safety conscious, the use of natural toothpaste might be a better choice. Fluoride reduces the sexual power of males. Prophet Muhammad Sallahu Alaihi Wasallam suggested using meswak of jaitun or neem like tree branches.

Toothbrush

Various forms of toothbrush have been used. Indian medicine (Ayurveda) used the twigs of the neem or banyan tree to make toothbrushes and other oral-hygiene-related products for millennia. The end of a neem twig is chewed until it is soft and splayed, and it is then used to brush the teeth. In the Muslim world, chewing miswak, the roots or twigs of the Arak tree (Salvadora persica), which have antiseptic properties, is common practice. Rubbing baking soda or chalk against the teeth has also been common practice in history.

In 1223, Japanese Zen master Dōgen Kigen recorded on Shōbōgenzō that he saw monks in China clean their teeth with brushes made of horse-tail hairs attached to an ox-bone handle.

For the origin of modern toothbrush, according to a Library of Congress website, the Chinese have used the bristle toothbrush since 1498, during the reign of the Hongzhi Emperor (1487–1505) of the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644). It is thought that the Chinese version of the toothbrush spread to Europe, brought back from China to Europe by travellers. This is the origin of modern toothbrush. Library of Congress website also adds that the toothbrush was not mass-produced until 1780, when they were sold by a William Addis of Clerkenwald, England.

The first patent for a toothbrush was by HN Wadsworth in 1857 in the United States, but mass production in the USA only started in 1885. The rather advanced design had a bone handle with holes bored into it for the Siberian boar hair bristles. Animal bristle was not an ideal material as it retains bacteria and does not dry well, and the bristles often fell out. In the USA brushing teeth did not become routine until after World War II, when American soldiers had to clean their teeth daily.

Hairbrush

A comb is used for caring for human hair and cleaning other fluffy stuff like fiber. The etymology goes back to ancient Greece and Sanskrit meaning tooth or to bite. Among tools perhaps it is the oldest. Exquisite combs have been found digging up the ancient Persian Empire going back about 5000 years and at the time of the first Indo-European migrations. Many of the historical combs can be seen in museums. In the Hermitage Museum there is an exquisitely carved comb belonging to the Scythian period ca 400 BC termed the Salokha comb. On the head are depicted three human figures, one being on horseback, about to kill an animal.

Combs were not always used for cosmetic purpose. It was used to comb out hair parasites like lice that took shelter in human hair. If you share combs then you have to share parasites also. Parasites love traveling from scalp to scalp via the comb route. Parasites travel in groups with families and eggs. Thus a comb is extremely popular with lice, fleas, mites and fungus. Sometimes the matter becomes serious because the comb is said to have been a carrier for the Black Plague, that finished off nearly one third of Europe in the Middle Ages. There are special nit combs and flea combs to tackle the menace of macroscopic vermin. Prophet Sallahu Alaihi Wasallam always kept a hairbrush with him and once rebuked one for keeping his hair unkempt.

Perfume

The word perfume used today derives from the Latin per fumus, meaning “through smoke”. Perfumery, or the art of making perfumes, began in ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt and was further refined by the Romans and Persians.

Although perfume and perfumery also existed in India, much of its fragrances are incense based. The earliest distillation of Ittar was mentioned in the Hindu Ayurvedic text Charaka Samhita. The Harshacharita, written in 7th century in Northern India, mentions use of fragrant agarwood oil.

In 2005, archaeologists uncovered what are believed to be the world’s oldest perfumes in Pyrgos, Cyprus. The perfumes date back more than 4,000 years. The perfumes were discovered in an ancient perfumery. At least 60 stills, mixing bowls, funnels and perfume bottles were found in the 43,000-square-foot (4,000 m2) factory. In ancient times people used herbs and spices, like almond, coriander, myrtle, conifer resin, bergamot, as well as flowers.

The Arabian chemist, Al-Kindi (Alkindus), wrote in the 9th century a book on perfumes which he named Book of the Chemistry of Perfume and Distillations. It contained more than a hundred recipes for fragrant oils, salves, aromatic waters and substitutes or imitations of costly drugs. The book also described 107 methods and recipes for perfume-making and perfume making equipment, such as the alembic (which still bears its Arabic name).

The Persian chemist Ibn Sina introduced the process of extracting oils from flowers by means of distillation, the procedure most commonly used today. He first experimented with the rose. Until his discovery, liquid perfumes were mixtures of oil and crushed herbs or petals, which made a strong blend. Rose water was more delicate, and immediately became popular. Both of the raw ingredients and distillation technology significantly influenced western perfumery and scientific developments, particularly chemistry.

Islamic cultures contributed significantly in the development of Western perfumery in both perfecting the extraction of fragrances through steam distillation and introducing new, raw ingredients. Both of the raw ingredients and distillation technology significantly influenced Western perfumery and scientific developments, particularly chemistry.

As traders, Islamic cultures such as the Arabs and Persians had wider access to different spices, herbals, and other fragrance material. In addition to trading them, many of these exotic materials were cultivated by the Muslims such that they can be successfully grown outside of their native climates. Two examples of this include jasmine, which is native to South and Southeast Asia, and various citrus, which are native to East Asia. Both of these ingredients are still highly important in modern perfumery.

In Islamic culture, perfume usage has been documented as far back as the 6th century and its usage is considered a religious duty. Muhammad said:

“The taking of a bath on Friday is compulsory for every male Muslim who has attained the age of puberty and (also) the cleaning of his teeth with Miswak (type of twig used as a toothbrush), and the using of perfume if it is available. (Recorded in Sahih Bukhari).”

Such rituals gave incentives to scholars to search and develop a cheaper way to produce incenses and in mass production. Thanks to the hard work of two talented Arabian chemists: Jābir ibn Hayyān (Geber, born 722, Iraq), and Al-Kindi (Alkindus, born 801, Iraq) who established the perfume industry. Jabir developed many techniques, including distillation, evaporation and filtration, which enabled the collection of the odour of plants into a vapour that could be collected in the form of water or oil.

Al-Kindi, however, was the real founder of perfume industry as he carried out extensive research and experiments in combining various plants and other sources to produce a variety of scent products. He elaborated a vast number of ‘recipes’ for a wide range of perfumes, cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. His work in the laboratory is reported by a witness who said:

“I received the following description, or recipe, from Abu Yusuf Ya’qub b. Ishaq al-Kindi, and I saw him making it and giving it an addition in my presence.”

The Persian Muslim doctor and chemist Avicenna (also known as Ibn Sina) introduced the process of extracting oils from flowers by means of distillation, the procedure most commonly used today. He first experimented with the rose. Until his discovery, liquid perfumes were mixtures of oil and crushed herbs, or petals which made a strong blend. Rose water was more delicate, and immediately became popular. Both of the raw ingredients and distillation technology significantly influenced western perfumery and scientific developments, particularly chemistry.

Mirror

One a farmer while working on his farmland got a glossy thing. He turned it up and down, right and left and came to see a picture. He took it to home and put it in his custody. He took it out often and see the picture what he liked very much. His wife, finding her husband to do so repeatedly, wanted to see it herself. He refused at first but finally gave the thing to her. She also turned it up and down, right and left and came to see a picture of a beautiful woman. She came to think that her husband sees the same woman in the thing. She became furious but didn’t express though. The other day when her husband asked her to return the thing she said, ‘How did you get the woman in the thing?’ ‘Do you love her more than me?’ ‘Who is she?’ she continued to deliver questions after questions. But her husband was surprised at the deluge of questions and denied all the allegations outright. She challenged him to validate his claim of innocence. He said, [2] Another was patented in 1872, by Silas Noble and J. P. Cooley.

Nowadays other means of dental hygiene are preferred such as dental floss and toothbrushes.

‘Give the thing to me’. She handed over it and arched over him to see if the woman’s picture was there or not. To her great wonder came to discover that it was their own faces and ultimately discover mirror.

Anyway it was merely a story to tell but read what the archaeologists say about the discovery of mirror.

The first mirrors used by people were most likely pools of dark, still water, or water collected in a primitive vessel of some sort. The earliest manufactured mirrors were pieces of polished stone such as obsidian, a naturally occurring volcanic glass. Examples of obsidian mirrors found in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) have been dated to around 6000 BC. Polished stone mirrors from Central and South America date from around 2000 BC onwards. Mirrors of polished copper were crafted in Mesopotamia from 4000 BC, and in ancient Egypt from around 3000 BC. In China, bronze mirrors were manufactured from around 2000 BC, some of the earliest bronze and copper examples being produced by the Qijia culture. Mirrors made of other metal mixtures (alloys) such as copper and tin speculum metal may have also been produced in China and India. Mirrors of speculum metal or any precious metal were hard to produce and were only owned by the wealthy.

Toothpick

The toothpick is known to predate the arrival of early modern humans. The skulls of Neanderthals, as well as Homo sapiens, have shown clear signs of having teeth that were picked with a tool.

It is the oldest instrument for dental cleaning. Toothpicks are well-known in all cultures. Before the toothbrush was invented, teeth were cleaned with hard and soft dental woods. Toothpicks made of bronze have been found as burial objects in prehistoric graves in Northern Italy and in the East Alps. It was also well-known in Mesopotamia.

There are delicate, artistic examples made of silver in antiquity, as well as from mastic wood with the Romans.

In the 17th century toothpicks were luxury objects similar to jewelry items. They were formed from precious metal and set with expensive stones. Frequently they were artistically stylized and enameled.

The first toothpick-manufacturing machine was developed in 1869, by Charles Forster.

Matters used for cleanliness

The rich people used wool or hemp for ablution while the poor used grass, stone or sand or water depending upon the country and weather conditions or social customs. Use of newspaper was also common. In Russia the subordinates even stamped the toilet paper with imperial arms for use of the Czar. But it was termed as sacrilege. The final solution to the problem of ablution was found when in 1857, Joseph Cayetty invented the toilet paper in the USA. Chinese people claim that they invented toilet paper much before Joseph Cayetty. This invention has enabled human beings to have a tissue paper, which is convenient to use, is absorbent, as well as compact and within reach while defecating.

Toilet Poets

Now we will name some poets who wrote poetry on toilets. Irrepressible poets in many countries despite social stigma attached to their professional work were writing poetry on defecation habits, farting and heavenly qualities of night soil. Chakrian in India, Euslrog de Beaulieo Gilles Corrozal and Claude le Petit and Piron in France, Swift in England were all enjoying themselves at the technological impasse which human beings were faced with in disposing of what they excreted.

Toilet water waste

On an average a person uses 35 litres of water for toilet flushing, 30 litres for cooking and drinking, 30 litres for bathing and 12-20 litres for using a shower. The average daily total per person is 140 litres and an average family uses 480 litres of water a day. Experts opine that flush toilets particularly the high commodes consume larger amount of water. A pre-1994 flush-toilet or gravity-fed toilet uses 13 litres or more per flush. The improved products are generally identified as high efficiency toilets (HETs). HETs possess an effective flush volume of 4.8 litres or less. Moreover doctors opine that comparatively high commodes are not conducive to clearing bowels fully.

Toilet Museum

Museums as repositories for the preservation and exhibition of the objects of historical, scientific and cultural interest are found all over the world. But rare are the museums that display the evolution of toilets and their various designs.

Dr Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, envisioned the need for the setting up of a museum of toilets in the sprawling campus of his central office at Mahavir Enclave, Palam Dabri Road in New Delhi, India and has consultative status with Economic and Social Council of the UN. The idea engaged his mind for long, eventually leading him to make hectic worldwide search for minutest details of the evolution of toilets, as also of various toilet designs used in different countries at different points of time.

Hats off to those who greatly contributed to human hygiene but we have still a lot to do to ensure cleanliness for 6.5 billion people of whom 1.2 billion go to bed hungry and 2.8 billion others eke out life merely with 2 dollars a day. Most of the resources are being consumed by a handful number of multinational corporate owners, thanks to WTO, World Bank, IMF, ADB and slogans of gobalisation and power decentralization in poor countries. One lakh dollar is being pocketed by the multinational giants a day, leaving four job-dependant families to struggle to survive. Most of the people in the world can’t eat three meals a day let alone construct a concrete hygiene toilet. Unholy alliance of the WTO, World Bank, IMF, ADB are endangering the very existence of the humanity. In fact human hygiene hinges on holiness of body, holiness of mind, holiness of soul, holiness of education, holiness of orientation, holiness of aim in life and holiness of your existence.

Have you ever thought that what is the most unending love in this world? Which is the very couple, always love and flow parallel in their way of life but never and ever can cross each other? Can’t you answer? Ok the most unending love is the love between two slippers of a railway and this is the very couple. Once a poet was walking in a solitary railway and asked them, “why don’t you marry?” They answered simultaneously, “our love helps to bear and build this civilization, and if we get married it would be tough for this civilization to come to this stand.” “How?” the poet asked. Then they started unfolding their unending love story to the poet in a solitary afternoon.

It was 26 July 1803, when Jessop opened the Surrey Iron Railway in south London; we met each other for the first time. Truly speaking it was a love at first sight. We both were not too smart then and used to supporting horse-drawn crafts. We were not like today’s modern railway then because we would provide service like a turnpike road. There were no official services. Anyone could bring a vehicle on the railway by paying a toll.

Modernization began in 1820 when the modern rail transport started out in England utilizing steam locomotive and steel rails that connected rural farming communities with the urban markets. Thus we started adding fuel to the machine of this civilization.

“Hey poet, do you feel bored?” asked the slippers.  “No, keep going”, the poet answered. It was dusk; the talkative slippers were speaking as if they couldn’t speak for a million of years. But there was a magical flow in their speaking for which the poet had been spellbound on them. He totally forgot about his earthly duty. Talkative slippers started again their love story.

We were always fond of traveling. We were very curios to know the unknown and to see the unseen. We had heard about Indian subcontinent and started our journey towards it. After crossing seven seas and 13 rivers we came to India in 1836. We were very tired then because the transportation system was not too much developed then. That is why in that year we started our journey experimentally near Chintadripet Bridge (presently in Chennai) in Madras Presidency and it was the first railway of India. We can never and ever forget the St. Thomas Mount because for the first time in India we walked a 3.5 mile long way holding our hand between Red hills and stone quarries near St. Thomas Mount in 1937. But the most interesting fact about the Indian was that they could not take us easily. They feared and felt astonished at the sight of train. They thought that it had been a magic. We still laugh when we recall Indians’ first experience about us. “Please keep silent for a while; we feel a sound in our heart. O Oh, Perhaps a train is coming. Hey poet, wait just a minute we have too many interesting things to share with you.” Two slippers now take a short break for supporting the upcoming train.

It was dark evening; the poet was waiting eagerly to hear the unfinished story of the slippers. A terrible sound came to poet’s ear, tearing the solitariness of that evening. Then the slippers started again. In July 1876, we went to China for the first time when Woosung Road (or Woosung Railway), had been introduced connecting Shanghai and Woosung (now Baoshan District). Sorry poet, before visiting China we visited Bangladesh your homeland. As we are getting old we can not recall our past orderly.

“Can you remember 15^th November, 1862?” one slipper asked the other. “Why not, in that very day we first walked for 53.11 kilometers in beautiful Bangladesh holding our hand between Darsana and Jagiti”. They started talking about their experience of Bangladesh. The next 14.98 kilometers 1,000 mm (3 ft 3 ³⁄₈ in) (meter gauge) way of us was opened for traffic on 4th January, 1885. In 1891, the construction of then Bengal Assam Railway was taken up by the British Government but that was later on taken over by the Bengal Assam Railway Company. On 1 July 1895, two sections of meter gauge ways of us were commissioned between Chittagong and Camilla with a length of 149.89 kilometers and between Laksam and Chandpur with a length of 50.89 kilometers respectively. Railway Companies based in England took up the construction and operation of our ways in middle and late 19th century.

However, at time of the partition of India in 1947, Bengal-Assam Railway of us was split up and the portion of the system, about 2,603.92 kilometers fell within the boundary of then East Pakistan and control remained with the central Government of Pakistan. Later with the effect from 1 February 1961, Eastern Bengal Railway of us was renamed as Pakistan Eastern Railway. Then in 1962, the control of Pakistan Eastern Railway was transferred from the Central Government to the Government of East Pakistan and placed under the management of a Railway Board with the effect from the financial year 1962-63 by the presidential Order of 9 June 1962.

However, as of 2005, the total length of railroad is 2,855 kilometers. Of that, 660 km are broad gauge tracks (mostly in the western region), 1,830 km are meter gauge tracks (mostly in the central and eastern regions) and 365 km are dual gauge tracks. The gauge problem is being tackled by adding third rails to the most important broad and meter gauge routes, so that they become dual gauge. A major road-rail bridge at Jamuna opened in 1998 to connect the previously detached east and west rail networks. On March 2008, the broad gauge reached Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh.

“Hey poet, do you feel drowsy?” the slippers asked. Then a hawker was passing through the railway raised sound “Ai cha”. Slippers took three cups of tea and started telling again. Though we visited China after visiting Bangladesh, Chinese people nurtured us more cordially than your people did. That is why China has the world’s longest high-speed rail network. In addition to its aim is to more than double its length by 2020.

Rail transport is the most commonly used mode of long-distance transportation in the People’s Republic of China. Almost all rail operations are handled by the Ministry of Railways, which is part of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China. By the end of 2010, the operating rail network traverses the length and breadth of the country, covering a total length of 91,000 km (56,545 mi), making only the rail networks in the United States and Russia larger in size. Now, Chinese Railway owned about 603,082 wagons, 49,355 coaches and 18,922 locomotives and ran more than 38,000 trains daily, including about 3,500 passenger trains. The network today serves all provinces, with the exception of the special administrative region of Macau.

Now electro-magnetic train, wonder of modern science, runs at a speed of 480 km per hour. The Chinese electro-magnetic trains are competing against aero plane.

In October 2008, the Chinese State Council approved a new CNY 2 trillion (US$ 292 billion) railway investment plan. The scheme will extend China’s railway from 91,000 km to 110000 km by the end of 2012. Growth in freight transport is thought to be one of the drivers behind the increased focus on rail, and the need to increase capacity to meet rising demand.

Now think about your people. What did they do with us? Present condition of us in Bangladesh is very much shameful. Trains break schedule time always; huge passengers but tickets are very limited; compartments are out of order; toilets are too dirty to use. Besides, Bangladesh railway is floating in an ocean of loss and loss. Table shows a snap shot of them:

Moreover, Bangladesh government loses more than 52, 00, 00, 000 taka each year because a large number of officers and employees of Bangladesh Railway are corrupt as they are being bribed by different bus companies. Not only that there a huge tracts of  land of Railway has been gobbled up by land grabbers which would provide TK52, 00, 00,000 each year as lease revenue. If this situation continues, we will be bound to leave beautiful Bangladesh.

It was about midnight. Slippers were tired speaking. One of them stared shedding tears silently another lost himself in nostalgia. “Men may come and men may go but we are going forever in an unending journey”. Poet did not hear anything more from them perhaps they fall asleep. But poet surprisingly discovered that a flow of hot tear came out from his eyes. Why, in what pain? It came out he did not know. He started roaming again perhaps it was a sleepless night of him.

The world, which sees over 100 crore people everyday going to bed hungry, is itself greatly hungry. The planet’s hunger is not for food stuff what human lives on. It is hungry rather for power and energy. One billion people starve not because they don’t produce any services or goods but for sure their resources are ripped off or gobbled up by a handful multinational corporates, their owners and their host countries. In the same way the world is going power hungry not because the mother earth doesn’t produce any energy or electricity but sure those multinational and giant corporate are failing the poor planet. In the name of human happiness these companies are producing billions of gadgets which are making the world power hungry. Easy phone, easy freeze, easy bike, easy TV, easy cars, easy jets are consuming electricity hugely, making the world unexpectedly uneasy for 6.5 billion people. The demand for power for operating the electronic and electric equipment is rising meteorically and there is none to harness. Fossil fuel is predicted to be dried out, coals almost mined or gassed, most though not all the hydroelectricity possibilities explored, gas reserves nearly consumed and now it is nuclear energy. As the less potential fuels like solar and wind powers and bio-fuel are failing to cater to gargantuan human hunger for power, so the atomic energy with all its problems and prospects is the solution.

Ode to nuke energy:

Excluding Iran as many as thirty two countries are now operating over 440 commercial nuclear power reactors with 377,000 MW of total capacity, provide about 14% of the world’s electricity and their efficiency is increasing. Today, only eight countries are known to have a nuclear weapons capability. By contrast, 56 countries operate a total of about 250 research reactors and a further 180 nuclear reactors power some 140 ships and submarines.
Nuclear technology uses the energy released by splitting the atoms of certain elements. It was first developed in the 1940s, and during the Second World War research initially focused on producing bombs by splitting the atoms of either uranium or plutonium.
In the 1950s attention turned to the peaceful purposes of nuclear fission, notably for power generation. Today, the world produces as much electricity from nuclear energy as it did from all sources combined in 1960. Civil nuclear power can now boast over 14,000 reactors and supplies almost 14% of global electricity needs. Over 60 further nuclear power reactors are under construction, equivalent to 17% of existing capacity, while over 150 are firmly planned equivalent to 46% of present capacity.
Many countries have also built research reactors to provide a source of neutron beams for scientific research and the production of medical and industrial isotopes.
Seventeen countries depend on nuclear power for at least a quarter of their electricity.  France gets around three quarters of its power from nuclear energy, while Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Slovenia and Ukraine get one third or more.  Japan, Germany and Finland get more than a quarter of their power from nuclear energy, while in the USA one fifth is from nuclear. Among countries which do not host nuclear power plants, Italy gets about 10% of its power from nuclear, and Denmark about 8%. The rest of the 14 countries include UK, Canada, China, Pakistan, Brazil, India, Netherlands, Mexico, South Africa, Argentina, Romania, Russia, Spain, Armenia and Lithuania.
Dooms day in Sendai:
Those who were present during the repeated earthquakes followed by tsunami described the disaster as part of the dooms day. What a havoc Allah has wrought on the port on the day. Trains full of passengers on board went missing, cars were washed away by 30-feet high water wall, ships crashed against bridges and fell apart. Al Jazeera reported of a ship missing with 1000 passengers. The footages were unbelievable. As many as twenty thousand people were either killed or missing. Thousands of cars were burnt during the tsunami. Over 14.6 thousand buildings were while over 1.17 lakh damaged.
Fukushima disaster:
Apart from the natural disaster there was explosion in the three nuclear reactors Fukushima only to double the human misery. If anyone looks deep into the nuke disaster s/he will find the Fukushima crisis is the world’s worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. The earlier (partial, largely contained) meltdown at Three Mile Island (1979) pales beside it. The Fukushima reactors have spewed large amounts of radioactivity into the air. The vessel containing the core of Reactor 2, which fully lost water cover for hours, has been damaged. The fire in Reactor 4 released yet more radiotoxins. At the time of writing, only a miracle can prevent further radiation release.
The Fukushima disaster is the world’s first multi-reactor crisis; controlling it is more difficult, as Praful Bidwai writes. It also poses three special problems. Large quantities of spent fuel, containing extremely radioactive nuclear wastes, are stored in pools in the reactor building, following General Electric’s design. These are no longer being cooled. A spent fuel leak, spreading due to the flooding, could have unspeakably lethal effects.
Second, Fukushima reactors’ primary containment has been found by a US laboratory to be vulnerable to molten fuel burning through the reactor vessel, eventually breaking out. Third, Reactor 3 burns a mix of uranium-plutonium oxide (MOX). Researchers say mox generally increases the consequences of severe accidents with large radioactivity releases, resulting in a five-fold increase in latent cancer fatalities.
Even if the Fukushima crisis doesn’t worsen further, it highlights the inherent hazards of nuclear power, in which small individual mishaps can precipitate a runaway crisis. The reactors were shut down by the earthquake; and their still-hot cores were no longer cooled. The diesel back-up came on, but went out in an hour. The loss of coolant led to the explosions and radioactivity releases.
That this happened in industrially advanced Japan, with high nuclear safety standards, underscores the gravity of the generic problem with nuclear reactors. They are all vulnerable to a catastrophic accident irrespective of safety measures. Nuclear power generation is also bound up with radiation exposure, harmful in all doses, and radioactive waste streams, which remain hazardous for thousands of years.

Possible fallout of Fukushima on atomic power
Economists predicted the situation will have little overall effect on Japan’s economy, and may actually spur stimulus spending for reconstruction projects. World famous car companies — Toyota, Nissan and others — halted their production.
But an energy expert, Charles Ebinger, warned countries investing more and more in nuclear energy, may now stop those initiatives, and turn back to other energy sources. He said this could derail international efforts in terms of trying to limit potential climate changes.
“If China and India said we are not going to build nuclear and burn more coal, we might as well not worry about what we do on fossil fuel consumption because it will not make any difference. We will have climate change. And I do not think people have realized the degree to which you are not going to replace the nuclear plants with wind and solar in the near future. So you are talking about a fundamental change. You would see upward pressure on petroleum prices and it just would not be good for the world economy,” said Ebinger.

Anti-nuclear movement gets lift
Ebinger said it is clear that politicians in Germany, Italy, and Sweden already are trying to either phase out nuclear energy or eliminate new plans in the wake of the unfolding situation in Japan.

He says he believes the United States, which relies on nuclear plants for 20 percent of its electricity will see a slow downward trend in terms of nuclear reliance.
Ebinger, the director of the Energy Security Initiative at the Brookings Institution, said he believes there is currently an overreaction.

Possible overreaction
“I think a lot of people have not thought rationally about what the overall implications of using this incident as a death knell for nuclear power might lead us to.”
Exceptions where he believes there will be continued growth in nuclear plants include France, Belgium, Britain, and Baltic states in Europe, as well as Japan itself.
Japan’s government is continuing in its attempt to cool damaged reactors at the 40-year-old Fukushima-1 plant, where the tsunami knocked out diesel pumps that were used for back-up water power.

Worst-case scenarios considered
Many nuclear plants are located in coastal areas where it is easier to transport needed materials, but some experts are now questioning whether earthquake-prone areas should be avoided.
Outright opponents of nuclear plants say these type of accidents – where high levels of radiation leak out – have too much potential to harm the environment, fauna, food chain and human health.
Frantic efforts to prevent a dangerous radiation leak at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant on the eastern coast have dominated global concerns in the wake of the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami last week.
Japan’s nuclear agency hiked the accident level to seven scale of gravity for atomic accident, an admission the crisis had at least equalled the US Three Mile Island accident in 1979.
Some 200 kilometres (125 miles) to the north, those who lived through the quake and subsequent tsunami that left nearly 7,000 confirmed dead have struggled to make sense of the news coming out of the Fukushima plant.

Key dates in nuclear history
1942: Enrico Fermi initiates the first controlled nuclear chain reaction.
1957: The first U.S. nuclear power plant is built in Pennsylvania.
1976: California suspends approvals of new nuclear power plants.
1979: Partial meltdown of a reactor at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania casts pall over nuclear industry for decades.
1983-84: Commercial operation begins at San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station’s units 2 and 3.
1986: Disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear complex in Ukraine underscores dangers of atomic power.
1989: Voters close Rancho Seco nuclear plant near Sacramento.
1996: Watts Bar 1 nuclear plant in Tennessee becomes the last such facility to go online in the U.S.
2005: Energy Policy Act authorized federal loan guarantees for building nuclear plants.
2010: Obama administration backs nuclear power despite partial meltdowns in Japan.
2011: Fukushima disaster with blasts in three nuclear plants.

Cautions across the countries:
Japan’s nuclear crisis reverberated in atomic power-friendly countries Wednesday, with China saying it would hold off on approving new nuclear plants and French lawmakers questioning top energy executives about the safety of their reactors.
Some governments have put their nuclear future on hold, at least for now, as concerns grow even among pro-nuclear governments about reactor safety around the world. Japanese emergency workers are desperately struggling to cool overheating reactors after a series of explosions at a nuclear plant crippled after last week’s earthquake and tsunami.
China’s Cabinet said Wednesday the government will suspend approvals for nuclear power stations to allow for a revision in safety standards. The State Council said in a statement following a meeting Wednesday that it has ordered the relevant departments to conduct safety checks at existing plants and at those that are under construction.
The move will allow China’s communist leaders to allay any concerns among the public about the safety of nuclear power without derailing plans to double nuclear energy’s share of national power generation to high single digit by 2020.
A top Chinese official said earlier this week that Japan’s problems would not deter China from expanding nuclear power generation.
China has 13 nuclear power plants in use now and plans to add potentially hundred more. Beijing has been focusing on clean energy generation, including solar, hydropower, wind and nuclear, to reduce the country’s reliance on coal.
In France, the heads of both houses of parliament ordered a legislative investigation into “the future of the French nuclear industry.”
An emergency meeting scheduled Wednesday in the lower house of parliament was to include the chiefs of nuclear reactor builder Areva and Electricite de France, the world’s biggest operator of nuclear plants.
France was among the few countries to continue developing nuclear power after Chernobyl. It is more dependent on nuclear energy than any other country and its companies market nuclear technology around the world, including to China, Japan and the United States.
European Union energy officials agreed Tuesday to apply stress tests on plants across the 27-nation bloc and Germany moved to switch off seven aging reactors.
Sweden, which like Germany scrapped plans to phase out nuclear power quickly in recent years, said it would stick to its current nuclear policy.
Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren told The Associated Press that “domestic political issues” were behind the decision to temporarily take old plants offline in Germany, which holds regional elections this weekend.
“For us, the situation is different and we want long-term decisions when it comes to energy policy,” Carlgren said.
In Spain, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero told reporters that studies have been commissioned to determine how vulnerable his country’s six nuclear plants are to earthquakes or flooding.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the Japanese catastrophe has prompted him to call off plans he announced last year to develop nuclear energy. “It’s something extremely risky and dangerous for the whole world because despite the great technology and advances that Japan has, look at what is happening with some nuclear reactors,” Chavez said.
And in Chile, which suffered its own devastating earthquake and tsunami last year, the government was scrambling to preserve a nuclear energy accord that was supposed to be the highlight of President Barack Obama’s visit to the country next week. Officials said the still-secret accord focuses on training, not construction of what would be the country’s first nuclear energy reactors, but some lawmakers want Chile to discard the option altogether.
It took many countries a generation after the accidents at Chernobyl in then-Soviet Ukraine and Three Mile Island in the United States to get over worries about nuclear safety. In recent years governments around the world – especially in developing countries with rapidly growing energy demand – have again embraced the power of the atom.
Boosters say nuclear energy is an alternative to polluting fossil fuels, amid concerns about global warming and volatile oil prices. Critics have maintained that nuclear plants always pose safety risks and governments have yet to find a good solution to storing nuclear waste.
Ferhat Aziz, a spokesman for Indonesia’s Nuclear Energy, said four nuclear reactors planned near a volatile fault will be safe and more modern than the crippled Japanese plant. The plant was rocked by explosions that the International Atomic Energy Agency said were caused by a build-up of hydrogen.
The Indonesian reactors will be built on the island of Bangka, near Sumatra, the heavily populated island where a 2004 earthquake caused the massive tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen nations.
In the Philippines, however, Japan’s nuclear crisis has prompted President Benigno Aquino III to prioritize the development of non-nuclear sources of energy, spokesman Edwin Lacierda said.
In Washington on Tuesday, President Barack Obama defended the use of nuclear energy. The president told Pittsburgh television station KDKA that all energy sources have their downsides but that the U.S. – which gets 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power – needs to look at the full array of them.
The unfolding disaster at Japan’s Fukushima nuclear plant has divided Turkish experts, with some calling for a complete halt to plans to build nuclear plants in Turkey while others argue that nuclear energy is essential for the future.
“[Turkey] must halt its existing plans for the construction of nuclear energy,” Hasan Saygin, a nuclear engineer and vice-rector of Istanbul Aydin University, told the Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review on Thursday.
The third-generation technology to be used for the construction of the nuclear power plant in the Mediterranean province of Mersin’s Akkuyu town – for which Turkey has already signed a contract with Russia – has never been tested before, Saygin said, adding that a similar plant was being constructed in St. Petersburg. “[Another] similar plant was built in Armenia, and it is experiencing many problems.”
Touching on Turkey’s ongoing negotiations with Japan to construct a nuclear plant in the Black Sea province of Sinop, Saygin said he did not believe Japan would finalize the nuclear power plant negotiations with Turkey. “Will they tell us they don’t know [what would happen in the event of a natural disaster]?”
In Bangladesh, a country aspiring to get nuclear power plant, people are divided over the issue particularly in the wake of Japanese nuclear blasts. But govt has proceeded significantly in the process. Bangladesh signed an agreement with the US in 2000. Under that agreement, Bangladesh was given nod to run and support its Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. Before the agreement, Bangladesh had signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and ratified the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) as an attempt to gain US’s confidence about the peaceful use of uranium enrichment. In addition, Bangladesh adopted a national Nuclear Power Action Plan in 2001. In June 2007, the IAEA officially set the goal of helping set up a new nuclear power plant in Bangladesh by 2050. Hence, Bangladesh’s government revived its project for building a nuclear power plant with a generation capacity between 700 MW and 1000 MW to meet electricity shortages at previously selected Rooppur in Pabna district that involves an estimated cost of about $1 billion. The country already had a standing offer from South Korea to help install the plant.
Put aside the debates on the energy policy. It is important to go green about fuel burning. But going green doesn’t mean pursuing bio-fuel at the cost of another billion people’s food. Bangladesh needs power to sustain its growth in the centuries to come. But it must be unfailingly safe because such plants involve lots of environmental, financial and nuke accident risks in a densely populated country like Bangladesh.

Source: Internet

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