gurumia.com » Bangladesh http://gurumia.com Intellectual for Economy Growth of Bangladesh. Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:38:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 BANGLADESH: ‘Floating farms” new era of Argiculture http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/bangladesh-floating-farmsc-new-era-of-argiculture/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/bangladesh-floating-farmsc-new-era-of-argiculture/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 17:47:59 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5847

In face of floods and climate change, Bangladesh is turning to floating farms

As swollen monsoon rivers and rising sea levels threaten to engulf more land across Bangladesh, NGOs are training thousands of farmers in traditional soil-less farming on water.

Agriculture accounts for almost a quarter of Bangladesh,s gross domestic product and provides work for 62 percent of the labour force.

Yet in a country frequently flooded and recognized as one of the most vulnerable to climate change, floating vegetable beds have become a fruitful farming alternative. The process is similar to hydroponics, which uses a non-biological growing material like gravel, whereas floating farms use beds made of water hyacinth, bamboo and other aquatic plants.

The productivity of this farming system is 10 times higher than traditional land-based agricultural production in the southeast of Bangladesh,said Papon Deb, project manager for the Wetland Resource Development Society (WRDS).

WRDS is one of several NGOs – along with CARE, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Practical Action – working around the country to train thousands of farmers.

Bangladesh has had floating farms for hundreds of years, primarily in low-lying areas in the south where land is submerged most of the year.

Soil-less agriculture evolved through people,s initiative for adaptation to an adverse environment,said A.H.M. Rezaul Haq, a WRDS researcher. It has been a part of the indigenous form of cultivation since our forefathers.

Hyacinth and bamboo

Floating farms are 10 times more productive than land-based farms, experts say

The plant bed, built using several layers of water hyacinth and bamboo, is typically 15-50m in length, 1.5-2m wide and 0.6-0.9m thick. Semi-decomposed aquatic plants are then added to the mix and left to sit for several days before it is ready to be seeded. The beds can be prepared in any depth of water. Farmers can stand on some of them or manoeuvre around them in boats.
The floating beds are anchored to prevent them from drifting out into larger bodies of water, and covered in netting to keep out ducks and other fowl that might eat the crops, said Faruk Ul Islam, head of organizational development for Practical Action, which is training farmers in 600 villages in the north on this practice. Some farmers have to swim out to retrieve beds that have strayed into open water.

Many villagers use the previous year,s decomposed bed as organic fertilizer. These new beds are kept intact thanks to bamboo poles on the sides.

Islam says the floating garden set-up is virtually free, with water and water hyacinth widely available in the waters of Bangladesh. The cost of setting up the floating bed for the growing season might be as little as US$3 for seeds and labour, or as much as $9 if a farmer has to also buy bamboo and netting.?

Haq??s team said villagers in Chandra have grown 23 different types of vegetable and five types of spices on floating beds, including okra, cucumbers, bitter gourds, eggplants, beans, tomatoes, cauliflowers, turnips, radishes, carrots, ginger and garlic.?

Several research and development organizations are now working with thousands of farmers across the country to implement floating garden projects. While the practice is common in the south – where huge floating farms look like land masses from the air – development workers are now teaching people in northern areas more recently prone to flooding.?

The southwestern village of Chandra long ago famed for its mango, jackfruit and dates, is one area where water levels rise more than two metres during the monsoon rains and remain high for 2-3 months.?

??We had land very near the river, part of which got affected during floods and so we moved away,?? said Nasima, who belongs to a farming family. ??Most of us staying here have now taken up ??dhap?? [soil-less farming] as an alternative way to earn a living.???

??Around 300-400 villagers had land on the bank of the river, but they were made to shift due to the erosion of the river banks,?? said Deb of WRDS. ??Now, with this project, there are over 1,000 villagers involved and fewer people are migrating to the city

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/bangladesh-floating-farmsc-new-era-of-argiculture/feed/ 0 Bangladesh court bans religion in politics. http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/bangladesh-court-bans-religion-in-politics/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/bangladesh-court-bans-religion-in-politics/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:15:44 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5840 Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has reinstated a ban on Islamic political parties after striking down a key constitutional amendment, law minister Shafiq Ahmed told media on Thursday.

In a detailed verdict released late Wednesday, the Supreme Court scrapped the bulk of the 1979 fifth amendment, including provisions that had allowed religious political parties to flourish and legalised military rule.

“Secularism will again be the cornerstone of our constitution,” Ahmed said.

After independence from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh’s first constitution made secularism a key pillar. Following a 1975 coup, the army-led government amended the constitution’s guiding principle to “faith in Allah” in 1979.

Religious parties, which were banned in the original 1971 constitution but legalised by the 1979 amendments, are now banned again as the “faith in Allah” provision has been thrown out, said Ahmed.

“Islamic parties cannot use religion in politics any more,” he said.

In 1988, a second military-led government made Islam the state religion in the Muslim-majority nation and incorporated Koranic verse into the constitution. Neither of those changes are affected by the court verdict.

“But following the scrapping of the fifth amendment, these later amendments can now be challenged in court,” Ahmed said.

In the verdict, the Supreme Court declared the 1975-1990 military rule illegal, and recommended punishing military dictators, Ahmed said.

Since the Awami League’s landslide election win over the Islamist-allied Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 2008, the government has cracked down on Islamic groups and political parties.

The new government outlawed one Islamic party in October last year, accusing it of destabilising the country.

Four other Islamist organisations, including the Jamayetul Mujahideen Bangladesh, were earlier banned after they carried out a series of nationwide bombings that left 28 people dead in 2005.

This week, the four leaders of the country’s largest Islamic party, Jamaat-e-Islami, were arrested by the country’s fledgling war crimes court, set up to try those responsible for atrocities during the 1971 independence war.

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/bangladesh-court-bans-religion-in-politics/feed/ 0 A happy and Prosperous Bangladesh . http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/a-happy-and-prosperous-bangladesh/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/a-happy-and-prosperous-bangladesh/#comments Thu, 29 Jul 2010 04:28:25 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5834 We can turn Bangladesh into a happy and prosperous country within few years, if we work with patriotism, honesty and sincerity.-President Zillur Rahman

Bangladesh Should reform the Goverment organizations Work out style and goverment have to open More tranning session for Goverment organizations to work out a better Management .the initiative of Digital Bangladesh by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina??is appecited on basis of ?better management, better reporting —gurumia

The main objective of the War of Liberation was to build a happy, prosperous and dignified country. We achieved independence of our country through sacrifices of many lives four decades ago under the leadership of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

But, he regretted, this goal of the war is yet to be achieved even after four decades.

The main aim of the government is to improve the living standard of the people.

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/29/a-happy-and-prosperous-bangladesh/feed/ 0 Bangladesh hikes wages for garment workers @ Tk 3000 http://gurumia.com/2010/07/28/bangladesh-hikes-wages-for-garment-workers-tk-3000/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/28/bangladesh-hikes-wages-for-garment-workers-tk-3000/#comments Wed, 28 Jul 2010 16:25:59 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5831 DHAKA ? Bangladesh raised the minimum wage for its millions of garment workers by 80 percent on Tuesday, following months of violent protests over pay and conditions, an official said.

An emergency wage board committee of government officials, garment manufacturers and union leaders announced the minimum monthly wage would rise from 1,662 taka — the lowest industry salary worldwide — to 3,000 taka (43 dollars).

“The wage board has said the minimum wage will be set at 3,000 taka, which will include medical and housing allowances,” Iktedar Ahmed, head of the government minimum wage board, told reporters after the board’s final meeting.

For months, Bangladesh’s workers, who make clothing for leading Western brands, have taken to the streets for protests that have seen factories ransacked and led to clashes with police.

On June 22, hundreds of thousands of workers closed the key Ashulia export area, which produces for brands such as Wal-Mart, H & M and Marks & Spencer, a major blow for an industry aiming to steal contracts from Chinese competitors.

Some workers’ unions have agreed to the wage hike, Habibur Rahman Siraj, a union representative at the wage board, told AFP, while others rejected the deal as insufficient.

“We do not accept this, it is not enough to ensure a decent standard of living for workers and we will organise protests,” said Mosherafa Mishu, head of the Garment Workers Unity Forum.

“This is an 80 percent rise — but the cost of living has gone up more than that since 2006, we want 5,000 taka,” she said.

The previous minimum wage of 1,662 taka was set in 2006 after months of violent street protests.

Garment manufacturers, who have staunchly resisted any significant wage increase, say implementation of the new pay deal should be delayed as it will affect the price of current orders.

The powerful industry, which last year accounted for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s total exports, had not yet signed off on the wage hike — although their approval is not necessary for the proposal to become law.

“We have to sort out a few issues, we have called an emergency meeting of garment manufacturers for Wednesday,” said A.K.Azad, the head of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

After the wage board announced its decision, garment manufacturers rushed to lobby Bangladesh’s Labour Minister, who is expected to make a formal announcement on the hike Thursday.

“The minimum wage will not be reduced below 3,000 taka but we must reach a consensus with the factory owners,” Labour Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain told reporters after the wage board meeting.

“We are going to announce the full details of the wage hike on Thursday,” he said.

The garment industry enjoyed record sales last month, with Bangladesh shipping 1.72 billion dollars of goods in June, the highest monthly export in the country’s 40-year history.

Even though the government has guaranteed workers a wage hike, enforcement is likely to be difficult.

A quarter of Bangladesh’s garment factories do not comply with current mandatory standards on pay, working hours and conditions, commerce ministry spokesman Faizul Haque told AFP last week.

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/28/bangladesh-hikes-wages-for-garment-workers-tk-3000/feed/ 2 Bangladesh stocks bounced back http://gurumia.com/2010/07/27/bangladesh-stocks-bounced-back/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/27/bangladesh-stocks-bounced-back/#comments Tue, 27 Jul 2010 04:04:51 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5808

Bangladesh stocks bounced back on Monday following relaxation market-cooling measures by the regulator, a day after the market suffered the steepest drop in 14 years.

The decision of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to raise the exposure limit of brokerage houses to individual investors to Tk.100 million helped the market to return to a positive territory, market operators said.On Sunday, the country??s capital market watchdog decided to increase the single-client borrowing limit to BDT 100 million )US$1.44 million) from BDT 50 million (0.72 million) for stockbrokers and extend the deadline for adjusting the margin loan for those clients whose credit exposure is over BDT 100 million ($1.44 million) to September 30 this year from August 31.

Turnover at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), however, continued to slide on Monday, totalling at BDT 1 2.86 billion ($186.3 million), down over 11 percent over the previous working day.

On the other hand, the benchmark DSE General Index (DGEN) shot up by 125.56 points or 2.02 per cent to end at 6325.76, recovering from previous session when it plunged 3.19 per cent or 204.75 points — its highest single-day drop since November 6, 1996.

On Sunday, Bangladesh??s stocks nosedived with the DSE suffering the highest single-day fall since the 1996 crash because of the regulators’ market-cooling tightening of credit.

Chittagong stocks marked a sharp rise on the day with the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index increasing 1.91 percent to 12,13

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/27/bangladesh-stocks-bounced-back/feed/ 0 FDI :Bureaucracy is the major problem for investment http://gurumia.com/2010/07/26/fdi-bureaucracy-is-the-major-problem-for-investment/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/26/fdi-bureaucracy-is-the-major-problem-for-investment/#comments Mon, 26 Jul 2010 03:38:38 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5800 Bangladesh is loose attraction and service standard for foreign Investor .(sources)As Unctad released its World Investment Report for this year, a few curious things emerged.

The first — Bangladesh scored quite low as a foreign direct investment catcher in South Asia, even much lower than Pakistan. And the second, the comments of the Board of Investment executive chairman who found not energy but red tape as a determining factor for investment decisions.

It was a shock that foreign investors still prefer Pakistan as their destination rather than Bangladesh. In Pakistan, suicide bombings no more elicit any shocked look from observers, as it does not for Afghanistan or Iraq either. Pakistan is today torn by sectarian strife. Whether it will be run over by the Taliban any time soon is a current speculation, and world leaders are rather more concerned with what will happen to its nuclear arms –whether those will fall into the hands of militants.

Bangladesh, in comparison, offers a far greater safe place for investment. It did not suffer from a terrible anti-insurgency fight like Sri Lanka did, and for which Sri Lanka’s FDI flow also dipped sharply. The remnants of the militant bands in Bangladesh are on the run and the government is firmly committed to fight extremism. Bangladesh’s economic health is also quite stable in the region, and it has made reasonably commendable advancement in social index. And yet we scored low — we need to think hard about it.

Why countries like Pakistan and Nigeria — you would find it hard to book a ticket to Lagos because of passenger pressure — are still preferred by investors, needs to be looked into carefully. It is the policies, opportunity to make money, and image that matter most.

When Bangladesh passed a new telco law that threatens stringent punishments such as Tk 300 crore fines (which is much higher than the capital of many telcos), and arrest without bail for delinquency — it sends the wrong signal to investors across the board. And a country’s image is built up on such signals put together.

Then there are the Board of Investment chief’s comments. Since he took over as the board’s boss, Dr SA Samad has been repeatedly denying the fact that energy crisis is a big deterring factor for investment. It may be a conscious denial from him, since he once sat at the energy ministry, and knows very well what a crucial role energy — both electricity and gas — plays in investment. He also must have realised that the Awami League-led government in fact wasted its first one and a half years regarding the energy front, and that energy will emerge as a crucial issue for Awami League in the next election about three and a half years away.

Any entrepreneurs’ gathering, be it formal or informal, is replete with talks of how their businesses are suffering due to load shedding and gas crisis. An investor, who runs a big dyeing factory in Gazipur, was recounting only last night how judicious he was to have his factory shut down because of gas crisis.

“I am lucky. I paid off my bank liabilities earlier, and so it was an easy decision to shut,” he said.

The person sitting next to him claimed he is even luckier. His factory’s gas supply came through the same line as that of a BNP leader’s. The BNP man’s connection was snapped as he defaulted on bills. That boosted gas pressure for his sari factory which is now running at full steam. Others around him are not that lucky, he said.

So, downplaying a problem would not help the situation, as the BoI chief is trying to do. Rather it might send wrong signals to policymakers, and the government’s efforts in solving the energy crisis might slacken.

The second comment the BoI chief made is even more curious. He said bureaucracy is the major problem for investment. True. But then the question comes, what the government has done to reduce red tape? The Regulatory Reforms Commission has been let to die only because it was conceptualised and formed during the caretaker government. And so is the fate of the Better Business Forum. The recommendations these two platforms made remain largely unimplemented. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, in his first budget, after the Awami League-led government came to power, promised that a new body would be formed to push through regulatory reforms.

That promise is forgotten today.

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/26/fdi-bureaucracy-is-the-major-problem-for-investment/feed/ 0 Bangladesh now member of Unicode Consortium http://gurumia.com/2010/07/25/bangladesh-now-member-of-unicode-consortium/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/25/bangladesh-now-member-of-unicode-consortium/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:16:22 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5772 Bangladesh has become the institutional member of Unicode Consortium, an organisation that enables people around the world to use computers in any language.

On being a member, Bangladesh has achieved the voting power to make necessary additions of Bangla letters to be used in various devices of science, information and communication technology (ICT) and to develop the language standard.

Unicode is an internationally recognised system by which any language can be used in different digital devices like mobile phone and computer.

Earlier, only India had the voting right in the consortium about the Bangla language.

The ICT ministry with the personal interest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the initiative of being a member of the consortium last year.

Bangladesh was declared an institutional member on June 30 this year following an application by the ministry on March 18, 2009.

The Unicode Bangla text has already been initiated in many government offices under the supervision of `Accesses to Information (A2I)’ programme, operated by the Prime Minister’s office.

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/25/bangladesh-now-member-of-unicode-consortium/feed/ 0 ICT facilities to be expanded to all UPs by December http://gurumia.com/2010/07/25/ict-facilities-to-be-expanded-to-all-ups-by-december/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/25/ict-facilities-to-be-expanded-to-all-ups-by-december/#comments Sun, 25 Jul 2010 01:53:43 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5768 In line with the present government’s vision to build `Digital Bangladesh’ by 2021, ICT facilities will be expanded to all 4,484 unions in the country by this year to reach such facilities to the doorsteps of the rural people.
“Against the backdrop of tremendous success in 102 unions, the information and communication technology (ICT) facilities will be expanded to all 4,484 unions by December this year to build Digital Bangladesh, envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” a review meeting on the activities of Digital Bangladesh.
The meeting arranged by the UNDP-funded Access to Information (A2I) Programme under the Prime Minister’s Office also took a decision to bring all government offices at the upazila level under computer and internet network.
Besides, decisions were undertaken to arrange `digital innovative fair’ in all divisional cities in the country from October to December and to introduce unicode Bangla typing in all ministries.
Adviser to the Prime Minister HT Imam was the chief guest at the meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office.
With Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office M Abdul Karim in the chair, the function was addressed by Cabinet Secretary M Abdul Aziz as the special guest.
National Project Director of A2I Programme Mohammad Nazrul Islam Khan gave answers to various questions as the coordinator of the function, while secretaries of all ministries and `e- governance focal points’ were present.
Speaking on the occasion, HT Imam called upon the government officials to work hard for raising literacy rate to implement Digital Bangladesh envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
“Without increasing the country’s literacy rate, implementation of Digital Bangladesh will not be possible as both are related with each other,” he said.
HT Imam urged the secretaries to work with a service- oriented mindset and undertake programmes to reach the digital services to the doorsteps of the people speedily and at a low cost.
The PM’s adviser also asked the government officials to take the next steps after evaluating the progress of the earlier programmes.
The meeting reviewed the progress of 53 `quick-win initiatives’ innovated by the 53 ministries and government departments to reach digital services to the doorsteps of the people. Besides, 39 `quick-win initiatives’ were identified.
At the meeting, all ministries and government departments were reminded to present these new innovations to the divisional innovative fairs as the digital services. It also discussed in detail the issues of cyber safety and ICT Polic

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/25/ict-facilities-to-be-expanded-to-all-ups-by-december/feed/ 0 Bangladesh can Meet 80pc Power Demand using Renewable Energy : expert http://gurumia.com/2010/07/24/bangladesh-can-meet-80pc-power-demand-using-renewable-energy-expert/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/24/bangladesh-can-meet-80pc-power-demand-using-renewable-energy-expert/#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 15:45:05 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5764 Power is the most thrusty infrustucture seek of Bangladesh, A good report on power prospect shows the most sustainable way of power geration for Bangladesh. Bangladesh can meet about 80 percent of her power demand using renewable energy including solar and wind power systems.
Dr Sajed Kamal, a scientist and teacher of Brandeis University, Massachusetts in USA, made the opinion at a seminar titled ??Solar Energy Resource: Bangladesh??s Un-utilizing Energy Storehouse?? at Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) in the city on Friday.
In his speech, Dr Sajed Kamal said: ??Germany and the Latin American countries including Cuba are now planning to generate 80 percent of their power by setting up renewable energy systems and we should consider these methods to address our ongoing power crisis??
As keynote speaker, Dr Sajed Kamal in a power point presentation displayed the technology used by the western countries for generating power from renewable sources.
He said: ??The entire world is now giving attention to generate power from renewable sources. It is high time for us to make immediate plans to generate power from renewable sources.??
He added: ??Bangladesh has a great potential. We??ve huge solar and wind energy, but we never consider using these sources of energy to address our power demand.??
Mentioning the reason for global warming, Dr Sajed Kamal said the global temperature has been rising gradually due to the use fossil energy all over the world.
He suggested using renewable energy including solar and wind power to permanently address the country??s power crisis and also contribute to reducing global warming.
The expatriate scientist urged the government to take a long-term plan to set up renewable energy system in the country.Bangladesh Poribesh Andolan (BAPA) organized the seminar, which was chaired by former adviser of the caretaker government and BAPA vice-president Advocate Sultana Kamal.
Prof Dr Saiful Haque and Prof MM Akash of Dhaka University, and Engr Dr Khursedul Islam also spoke at the seminar
Sources :

]]> http://gurumia.com/2010/07/24/bangladesh-can-meet-80pc-power-demand-using-renewable-energy-expert/feed/ 1 Laws To Curb Pollution in Bangladesh http://gurumia.com/2010/07/22/laws-to-curb-pollution-in-bangladesh/ http://gurumia.com/2010/07/22/laws-to-curb-pollution-in-bangladesh/#comments Thu, 22 Jul 2010 17:23:50 +0000 guru http://gurumia.com/?p=5752 Bangladesh, the nation that is in the danger of extinction from global warming and sea-level rising, has put up a new initiative to curb its pollution.

Reuters reports that with this initiative, any citizen will be allowed to file a case against polluters, and the Prime Minister’s press secretary said that offenders can be punished with jail time of up to five years and fine of half million taka (equivalent to $7,000). But because this is mostly directed towards the owners of major industries and businesses, the price that they have to pay may not affect them much.

Called the Environment Court Act 2010, if effective it could not only change practices that lead to climate change in Bangladesh, but may help save the Buriganga river found in the heartland of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. This river has been endangered through pollution as it’s effectively been used as Dhaka’s sewer dump and 80% of the toxic waste poured into it is untreated.

A World Bank report claimed that Bangladesh receives 1.5 million cubic meters of waste water every day from 7,000 industrial units, and 0.5 million cubic meters a day from other sources. Putting controls on this waste may help combat the premature deaths that occur among Bangladeshi children because of pollution.

“The Cabinet gave the final approval to the draft law to help take stringent measures against the polluters of environment. Many persons took lease of vast lands in the name of rubber cultivation, but made cottage for their luxuries. Prime Minister directed concerned authorities to stop such practices,” Abul Kalam Azad, Press Secretary to the Prime Minister told journalists at a press briefing.

The mobile courts throughout the country would be in charge by the hierarchy held in Dhaka, so that anyone who has seen any misuse of land through pollution can report to the government at any time.

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