Updates
Engineer, Innovator, visionary
Dr Mohidus Samad Khan, is one of the select few who has accomplished this feat due to his excellence in the field of Biochemical and Biotechnological Engineering and Research.
A team of researchers at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology has invented such a paper, making checking uric acid levels much easier.
Mohidus Samad Khan, the lead researcher said, he had the opportunity to work on bio-active papers during his PhD at Monash University and post-doctoral research at McGill University when he worked with two top research groups.
Bangladesh’s Beximco is latest ZDHC contributor
“By becoming a ZDHC Contributor, Beximco will be able to cast a wider engagement in relation to chemical usage and waste management in the global textile industry to ensure sustainable and circular textiles. For the betterment of the global environment, Beximco would like to get involved with supply chain partners for effective collaboration and partnership,” says Dr. Mohidus Samad Khan, chief sustainability officer at Beximco Limited.
Beximco Health signs production and quality consultation agreement with Japan’s K2 Logistics
Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Naoki Ito attended the signing ceremony. The ceremony was attended virtually by Salman F Rahman MP, private industry and investment adviser to the prime minister, according to a press statement. The ceremony, hosted by Beximco Group Chairman ASF Rahman, Beximco Group Director and CEO Syed Naved Husain, and Dr. Mohidus Samad Khan, Executive Director of Beximco PPE Ltd.
BUET team visits Beximco, shows interest in its initiatives
A delegation team comprising with the Vice-Chancellor of Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET) Professor Satya Prasad Majumder, visited Beximco’s Vertical Leeds Green Certified Industrial Park on Thursday (March 24), and took a great interest in Beximco initiatives on value addition and innovation using Advanced Technology, Education and R&D as key drivers. Dr. Mohidus Samad Khan, the Executive Director & the Head of Beximco Health PPE Plant, was present to show them all the PPE manufacturing facilities inside the Beximco Health PPE Industrial Park.
Banned sweetener found in sugar
Mohidus Samad Khan, associate professor at Buet’s chemical engineering department, said long-term consumption of sodium cyclamate may upset gut health and instigate tumor formation. It may also cause metabolic problems, which is related to obesity, he added.
Cattle antibiotics entering food chain
The presence of high-concentration antibiotics above acceptable limit in dairy products may accelerate development of antibiotic resistance in human bodies. It also makes consumers vulnerable to bacterial diseases, says Mohidus Samad Khan, associate professor at Buet’s chemical engineering department.
Dhaka rivers under onslaught
Dr Mohidus Samad Khan, a teacher at the chemical engineering department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, who has been working on checking industrial pollution, said “Even if all the polluting industries operate ETPs and discharge the liquid into the river after treating it as per the law, still it will pollute the river. Because, the standard as per the rules of our Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act is not up to the mark,” he said. He said while the average Biological Oxygen demand (BOD) is around 5mg per litre, as per the Bangladesh Environment Conservations Rules (1997), industries are allowed to discharge wastewater up to 50 mg per litre. Samad said as per their research, garments industries will discharge 20, 300 crore litres of waste water into the rivers flowing around Dhaka by 2021. Tannery and other industries are not included here, he said.
Heavy Metals in Soil: Food chain exposed to contamination
Mohidus Samad Khan, associate professor at Buet’s chemical engineering department, said the current situation could become acute due to industrial growth and pollution. Noting that polluted floodwater from upstream could be a possible source of contamination, he said, “These heavy metals may contaminate food cycle, water bodies and aquatic life cycle.” It is difficult to neutralise contaminated soil, he added. “It is a long-term process and may require a series of treatments.”
Lead, pesticides in milk
“Regular consumption of milk contaminated with pesticide residues may cause pancreatic cancer, breast cancer, leukaemia, skin sensitisation, allergic reaction and rash,” said Mohidus Samad Khan, associate professor at Buet’s chemical engineering department. He also said excessive use of antibiotics like enrofloxacin and cyprosin in cattle feeds may cause antibiotic resistance, which reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of antibiotics on bacterial infection and diseases. “Antibiotic resistance is one of the biggest threats to global health, food security and development today. Heavy metals in milk or any edible items may cause a wide range of health effects including cancer.”
Worry is not over
Fruit traders in Dhaka and Chapainawabganj yesterday called off their strikes after assurances from the authorities concerned that they would not be “harassed” and their goods would not be destroyed.
Metal venom in dental amalgam
Dr Mohidus Samad Khan, assistant professor of chemical engineering at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), said there are two different global chemical safety standards: one maintained by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN and the WHO, and the other by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Plastic chokes Dhaka’s drainage
Mohidus Samad Khan, who teaches chemical engineering at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), said, “Polymer leachate could be toxic and hard to digest for fish and water birds.”
“On an average 24,000 tonnes of solid waste is produced in major cities of the country every day, with 10% of it being plastic waste, up from 7% a few years ago,” Iftekhar Enayetullah, director of the NGO Waste Concern, told thethirdpole.net. “The worrying fact is that only 50% of the waste is recycled. Being non-biodegradable, poly packaging materials pollute both soil and water. Urban flooding has become a major concern for Bangladesh and plastic waste is the main reason for this.”
প্রান্তিক মানুষদের করোনায় সচেতন করতে হবে
প্রান্তিক পর্যায়ে কোভিড-১৯ সংক্রান্ত বিষয়ে সচেতনতা তৈরিতে সরকার এবং এনজিও গুলোকে অনেক বেশি কাজ করতে হবে। এবং সেটা করতে হবে প্রান্তিক পর্যায়ে কোভিড-১৯ ব্যপক ভাবে ছড়িয়ে পরার আগেই। শহরে বা গ্রামে অনেকেই ফেস মাস্ক পড়তে চান না। অনেকেই কোন ধরণের ফেস মাস্ক পরবেন সেটা বুঝতে পারেন না। ফেস মাস্ক কেন পড়তে হবে বা কিভাবে পড়তে হবে সেটা নিয়ে ব্যাপক জনসংযোগ এবং জনসচেতনতা তৈরি করতে হবে। এখন পর্যন্ত কোভিড-১৯ সংক্রমণের বিপরীতে ফেস মাস্ক এবং সাবান দিয়ে হাত ধোয়াই সবচেয়ে বেশি কার্যকরী হিসেবে গন্য। সর্বসাধারণের জন্য মেডিক্যাল পিপিই তৈরি বা ক্রয়ে শতকোটি টাকা ব্যয় না করে তার কিছু অংশ ফেস মাস্ক পড়া এবং সাবান দিয়ে হাত ধোয়া সংক্রান্ত জনসচেতনতা তৈরিতে ব্যবহার করলে তার ফল অনেক বেশি সুদূর প্রসারী হবে।
পিপিই বৃত্তান্ত
প্রায় দুই মাস ধরে আমাদের দেশে একটি বহুল চর্চিত শব্দ হচ্ছে ‘পিপিই’। মূলত দেশে কোভিড-১৯ সংক্রমণের পর থেকে দেশজুড়ে এই শব্দটির চর্চা বেড়েছে। শব্দটি ছড়া, কবিতা এবং কার্টুনের মাধ্যমে ঢুকে পড়েছে সামাজিক যোগাযোগমাধ্যমে। এর আগে অনেকে হয়তো এই শব্দটি ভাসা–ভাসা জানতেন; আবার অনেকের কাছেই এটি সম্পূর্ণ নতুন একটি শব্দ। তবে কিছু কিছু পেশার মানুষ আগে থেকেই এই শব্দটির সঙ্গে পরিচিত।