Water is not only a public health issue, but a human rights issue The last thing the people of Dhaka need right now is a water crisis. Unfortunately, our capital has a storied history of water scarcity, with people taking to the streets and having their thirst be voiced in the form of protests being a frequent occurrence during the warmer periods of the year. But this problem is all the more inconvenient in the holy month of Ramadan. This time of the year also happens to be the hottest time of the year. Dhaka city’s traffic problem is particularly erratic this time of the year. Combined with the demands of fasting, a water shortage during Iftar and Sehri time is the last thing people need. That is not to say that steps have not been taken to tackle this problem, of course. Wasa recently introduced a 24-hour hotline for clients to file complaints, should they face issues with the water supply. Ad hoc solutions such as this can only go so far. Since a comprehensive, sustainable solution to the capital’s problems with water scarcity is nowhere in sight, the least the administration can do is to make the necessary preparations to tackle future water crises ahead of time. The government must ensure that water problems during Ramadan are kept to a minimum. Water is not only a public health issue, but a human rights issue, and it should be a priority to ensure we have enough of it for everyone. According to the ECB, it will ‘work closely’ with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and its own security experts over the coming months Hockey July 02, 2016 Mariner’s credentials were visible from the beginning of the season when they decided to form a stronger squad than the previous seasons Arts & Letters July 02, 2016 In this time and age when reading habits are being replaced by watching habits, children are naturally more exposed to movies and video games than to books. All those sleek gadgets or special effect-rich images of movies keep them occupied when they are not reading the textbooks. Ask any parent and they’ll tell you, “Where Arts & Letters July 02, 2016 A few weeks back, Arts & Letters received an interview with a Marine biologist who specialises in the whales. The interview was taken by a science writer who writes mostly in Bangla. In a note, the interviewer explained what interested her to go for this interview. She wrote, “ Very recently, I’ve grown a fondness for whales. While reading about them, I came across an interview of Asha de Vos, a whale researcher from Sri Lanka, who, facing all the challenges in a male-dominated profession, has become a new generation hero of the ocean. She has called upon the young Srilankans to love the sea and to preserve the treasures of the sea. In her interviews, she frequently refers to Sir Arthur C Clarke, one of the most celebrated science fiction authors, which piqued my curiosity further.” Arts & Letters is keen on giving space to science writing. So we decided to carry the interview to know more about Arthur C Clarke and the whale population in the waters of Sri Lanka. Asha de Vos is a TED Fellow researching on marine mammals. She got degrees from the Universities of St…