Bangladesh is developing the digital Infrustucture for the Nation .By 2021 the largest sector in Bangladesh is going to be information technology, not textiles and garments.

Globalization is must good for Bangladesh. Bangladeshi as a proud Nation Having the ultimate resources of Nature and human resource can make benificial Bangladesh resulting globaliszation competetion. Bangladesh put entry in the Information Highway.Now to see the better result- The sky is the limit for what can be achieved here

The government of Bangladesh has begun work on an ambitious new scheme to tackle poverty with the help of the internet. It plans to improve schools, hospitals, businesses and government services by linking them to the web by 2021.

At the moment, most villages – and even some communities in the capital Dhaka – do not even have access to electricity.

But the rapid spread of mobile phones to even the most remote and impoverished parts of the country in recent years, has shown what is possible.

“This will be a digitised nation depending on information technology, for information, for services, for all kinds of activities that individuals can do,” the finance minister, Abdul Muhith, told the BBC.

“This is a simple dream, and is really workable.

“It is the ideal solution for Bangladesh’s various problems. I’m sure that by 2021 the largest sector in Bangladesh is going to be information technology, not textiles and garments.”

Power cuts

This marks a big change with the past. Previous governments were suspicious of the internet, and imposed high charges on service providers.

Bangladesh is with a largely rural population, so relatively few people have ever gone online in their lives.

At the moment, the government’s plans are still vague and many Bangladeshis are sceptical of ministers’ boasts of the impending digital revolution, especially as power cuts are only getting worse. The country’s infrastructure is dreadful – gas and water supplies are also drying up – and the bureaucracy is famously corrupt.

But some organisations have already started connecting poor communities to the web, and begun to make a difference to people’s lives – which suggests that the government’s vision may indeed well work.

Aral Bazaar, a three-hour drive from Dhaka, is a typical small Bangladeshi town. Surrounded by paddy fields and banana groves, it is a sleepy place where the men gather to drink tea and the women stay at home to look after the kids.

But in its small row of shops, and sharing room space with a photo studio decorated with pictures of Bollywood actresses, Aral Bazaar now has its very own “Community Information Centre”.

It is one of 500 set up by Grameenphone, Bangladesh’s largest mobile phone provider, which was founded with the help of Muhammed Yunus, the Nobel Peace laureate and micro-credit pioneer.

“The sky is the limit for what can be achieved here,” says Mahbub-el-Elahi Prince, owner of the centre, which is little more than two computers connected to the web.

E-farmers

A consultation on the web, is better than a two-day trip to meet an expert face-to-face

“People can come and communicate with their relatives who live abroad, but most of my customers are farmers who want advice on their crops.”

Prince is able to connect them to a Dhaka-based website called E-Krishok (E-farmer).

Faruque Mia, for example, wanted to know what was wrong with his pumpkin plant. He brought two brown leaves and a diseased looking fruit into the centre, where Prince’s assistant took digital photos. He submitted these to E-Krishok, where an expert was able to examine them and then send back advice on treatment.

“We used to go to a government-employed agriculture officer for this kind of help, but he works a long way away and it sometimes took two days to get anything from him. The CIC is close to where we live – that’s why everyone prefers to come here,” he said.

A more dramatic success story is taking place in an anonymous-looking hospital for diabetics in Faridpur, half a day’s drive and a river ferry ride from Dhaka.

Many of its patients are too poor to make the journey to the capital to see a consultant, so this hospital simply connects them over the web, using video-conferencing technology.

Two doctors sit with the patient, taking notes and conducting tests if required, while the consultant asks questions. They can all see and hear each other on large TV screens.

“This has brightened the possibility of taking care of the rural population as we would take care of the affluent and urban population,” Professor Tofail Ahmed of the Bangladesh Institute of Research and Rehabilitation in Diabetes, Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders (BIRDEM), said. “It saves money, it saves time. It reduces all sorts of obstacles.”

According Zarina Begum, a patient with severely swollen limbs and face, she is now getting treatment that she would never have dreamed of receiving before.

“In my village we don’t have any good doctors. But fortunately I’ve been able to come here and see the Dhaka doctors anyway. My condition is now improving,” she said.

Bangladesh has been slow to benefit from the internet, but it is trying hard to make up for lost time.

According to the recent visit of Bangladesh Prime Minister .A cross-border electricity grid will be constructed within two years, officials said Friday after a daylong meeting discussing the details of cooperation between India and Bangladesh.

They signed two MoUs on power generation and distribution, and agreed to install a 130km power grid.

The decisions were taken at the second meeting of the Bangladesh-India Joint Steering Committee on Power Sector which had been formed during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Delhi last month.
Each of the units in the joint-venture power plant will have the capacity to generate 660MW of power using imported coal. National Thermal Power Corporation of India will carry out a feasibility study for the plant this month, and submit a report by July this year to the Bangladesh government while the timeline for finishing the project has been set between 36 and 48 months of issuing the work order.

Power secretary Abul Kalam Azad, who led the host team to the talks in Dhaka, said that the two countries had finalised the details on the grid, and reached a broad agreement on building a 1320MW coal-fired power plant.

The two-unit power plant (660MW each) will be based in Khulna and cost about $1.8 billion.

The connection will facilitate Bangladesh’s import of 250 megawatts, enough for Mymensingh zone (demand 200MW) or Sylhet zone (198MW) or Rangpur which burns 175MW.

The Indian power secretary, HS Brahma, said that his country was offering “the cheapest rates”– varying between Rs 2 and Rs 2.5 (Tk 3-3.5).

In Bangladesh, the household consumers currently pay about Tk 2.5 per kWh.

India’s National Thermal Power Cooperation (NTPC) and the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) signed the MoUs Friday night.

“The project requires 130km grid connectivity with 85km in India and 45km in Bangladesh,” Brahma said.

The two secretaries led the joint committee of officials, set up after the summit meeting in Delhi last month to thrash out the modalities of power cooperation.

The committee decided to call for tenders on Feb 28, and hopes to award a work order in July this year.

Experts say the project will take up to 24 months to be completed.

The goverment is serious to develop the power infrustucture of Bangladesh.Bangladesh is seeking $7 billion of foreign investment to boost its electricity generation, a shortage of which has slowed the country’s economic development, a government adviser said on Thursday.

“We invited foreign investors during a four-day road show in Singapore and New York as we need huge direct foreign investment to spur our economy,” said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy and power adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The two-day show in Singapore was held from Jan. 25, followed by another in New York from Jan. 28.

“About 25 globally reputed companies like Morgan Stanley (MS.N), Siemens (SIEGn.DE), AES Corp (AES.N), ConocoPhillips (COP.N), Caterpillar (CAT.N) and HSBC (HSBA.L) participated in the road show and showed keenness to invest in Bangladesh,” Tawfiq told a news conference.

Bangladesh also held a similar show last month in London.

Due to technical constraints and shortfalls of natural gas supply, Bangladesh can produce only around a maximum of 3,700 MW of electricity while peak hour demand reaches more than 5,500 MW, officials said.

Electricity demand has been growing by 7.50 percent annually since 1990.

Around 40 percent of Bangladesh’s 150 million population has access to electricity, one of the lowest levels in the world.

“Augmenting electricity generation is a key priority of the present government and we are committed to generate 5,000 MW by 2011, and 7,000 MW by 2013 and that will require an investment of $7 billion,” Tawfiq told reporters.

The government will float a pre-qualification international tender this month to set up four natural gas or diesel fired power plants with total capacity of 800 MW, he said.

He said another pre-qualification international tender would be floated in July this year for four coal-fired plants.

Tawfiq said foreign experts would visit Bangladesh in March to discuss liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports.

“We feel that it would not be difficult as the private sector investors both at home and abroad, along with our development partners including the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, expressed desire to play a major role in this, while the government will play the role of the catalyst,” he said.

Bangladesh also plans to import up to 1,200 MW of electricity from India by the middle of 2012.

Bangladesh has not sufficient amount of power for meeting demand.So, sometimes for meeting this demand it needs to depend on the other countries.

India will trade at least 500 megawatts of electricity to Bangladesh under an accord that Dhaka will sign with New Delhi during the prime minister’s tour to the Indian capital next month, officials said Saturday.

Power Development Board(PDB) chairman ASM Alamgir Kabir told, “the authorities are giving final touches to a plan to import the power by mid-2012 to meet the country’s soaring demand for energy. “

A memorandum of understanding incorporating the plan is going to be signed between Bangladesh and India when Sheikh Hasina will make her first visit to New Delhi in her second term as the premier.

“Initially we’ll buy at least 500 mw of electricity. It will cost us around US$200 million to bring the power across the border,” Mr. Kabir said, adding the import could double within the possession of the government.

The PDB will make the purchase while the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) and the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI) will jointly set up transmission lines to carry the power to the Bangladeshi grid.

The PGCB would get wheeling charges from the PDB for bringing the power from the Indian national grid, PGCB managing director Ruhul Amin told.

The charge would be fixed based on the quantity of electricity to be traded and the distances to the user ends, he said.

A six-member technical committee comprising top officials of the PGCB and the PGCI has already been constituted to determine how the power would be transmitted from the neighbouring Indian states, said the PGCB chief.

Several modes of funding options are now being considered to meet the $200 million investments required for establishing the electricity grid connections between the two South Asian nations, said a senior power ministry official.

Both the countries are planning to bear the inter-connection costs in their respective territories, while India is also weighing options to provide soft loans to Bangladesh to set up its connecting grid.

The Washington-based multilateral donor agency – World Bank – has also shown interest to fund the connecting grid – the first ever between the two neighbours.

Power ministry officials said initially they are planning import the power from the Indian state of West Bengal.

Electricity inter-connection between the Indian state of Tripura and Bangladesh’s eastern region is also under consideration.

There is also a plan for investment from Bangladesh for installation of a 740-mw combined cycle gas-fired power plant in Agartala, the capital of Tripura, said the official.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Bangladesh and India would be signed for bilateral cooperation in power sector during Prime Minister’s visit to New Delhi later this month.

Bangladesh requires additional electricity supplies as the country’s electricity generation is now hovering around 3,700 mw against the peak hour demand for over 5,500 mw.

The country’s electricity demand has been growing by 7.50 per cent annually since 1990.

Around 40 per cent of its population has access to electricity — one of the lowest in the world —, the power ministry statistics reveals.

As of June 2009, Bangladesh’s electricity consumer-base reached 11 million. The country has now 8,000 kilometers of electricity transmission lines, 256,000 kilometers of distribution lines.

Boosting electricity generation is a key priority of the Awami League government.

It has pledged to generate 5,000 mw of power by 2011, and 7,000 mw by 2013.

When we explore the fact of our infrustructure weekness ,we clearly find that electricity problem is the vital. So this is the first issue for Development.

Bangladesh plans to set up a fund that will invest as much as $10 billion in energy and power projects within the next decade to resolve an electricity shortage, a senior official said.

The 11-month-old government also is seeking to attract about $4 billion of investments in power plants and a liquefied- natural-gas import terminal, and will meet potential investors in London, New York and Singapore in December, said Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, 64, energy adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed who also holds the post of energy minister.

“The potential demand for electricity is maybe twice as much as we are producing now,” Chowdhury said in an interview in Dhaka yesterday. “It’s not just trying to meet today’s gap; it’s trying to stay ahead of the curve, which is going to be very difficult.”

Hasina has vowed to resolve an electricity crisis that has plagued the south Asian nation with a history of military coups since independence from Pakistan in 1971, by engaging the private sector and helming the energy and power ministry. The government needs to address its “acute power shortages” to attract more investments from abroad, the Asian Development Bank said in its 2009 report on the country.

The government has faced a “twin problem” of a shortage in the supply of natural gas, its primary fuel for power, and generation capacity since it came to power in January, Chowdhury said. Former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia did “very little exploration” when she was in power from 1996 to 2001, he added.

The nation of 162 million people, whose economy is half the size of Singapore, aims to add another 5,000 megawatts of daily power generation capacity in the next five years, Chowdhury said.

Demand exceeds the current capacity by about 1,000 megawatts at the “peak hour,” excluding “a lot of areas” in Bangladesh which don’t have access to electricity, he said.

Attracting Investors

The economy grew 5.9 percent in the year to June, faster than any southeast Asian nation and almost on par with India’s 6 percent expansion. It will grow 5.2 percent in the year to June 2010, the ADB said.

The government plans to set up the energy and power fund in the middle of next year, Chowdhury said.

“I’m hoping that in five to 10 years it will be a $10 billion fund,” said Chowdhury, who obtained a Ph.D. in economics and population from Harvard University in 1983.

The fund will invest in the equity and debt of coal, oil and gas companies as well as power projects along with companies, he said. The government is still working on the structure of the fund, including how it will be securitized and whether it will be traded, he said.

It is seeking to attract non-resident Bangladeshis, who send about $7 billion of remittances each year, as well as banks and insurance firms to invest in the fund, Chowdhury said. The returns will be “competitive,” he said.

Energy Saving

The government wants to attract foreign companies and investors, through the planned meetings in December, to build 2,000 megawatt coal-fired power plants and smaller ones, he said.

The LNG import terminal it plans to build near Chittagong port, in southeastern Bangladesh, will cost about $1 billion, Chowdhury said. LNG is gas that is cooled to a liquid for transport by ship to markets not connected by pipelines. The fuel is received at import terminals and converted back to a gaseous form so it can be piped to users.

The government, which has started discussions to start a nuclear power plant, is also exploring prospects for renewable sources of power, including wind and solar energy as well as small hydroelectric projects, Chowdhury said.

It will distribute 15 million energy-saving bulbs to households for free in February, and another 16 million later, a move Chowdhury said would help free up about 300 megawatts to 400 megawatts of power capacity.

The nation introduced daylight saving in June, shifting the clock earlier by an hour, Chowdhury said in his office, where the air-conditioning was off and the windows opened.

Hasina’s political alliance was swept back to power in last December’s national elections that ended two years of military- backed emergency rule in the country. Hasina had been ousted in 2001.

Dr. Dipu Moni, MP, Foreign Minister of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh undertook an official visit to India from 7-10 September 2009. During the visit, she held bilateral talks with the External Affairs Minister of the Republic of India Shri S.M. Krishna on a range of issues pertaining to India-Bangladesh relations. Dr. Dipu Moni also called on the Prime Minister of India Dr. Manmohan Singh, Union Minister of Finance Shri Pranab Mukherjee and Union Minister for Water Resources and Parliamentary Affairs Shri Pawan Kumar Bansal. She was accompanied during the visit by her spouse Mr. Tawfique Nawaz, Foreign Secretary Ambassador Mijarul Quayes, Director General ( South Asia ) in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Mr. Muhammad Imran and Private Secretary to the Foreign Minister, Mr. Jishnu Roy Choudhury.

The visit was marked by warmth and cordiality and a commitment to strengthen bilateral relations. Each side showed a keenness to respond positively to the concerns of the other.

During Dr. Dipu Moni’s call on the Prime Minister of India, the Prime Minister mentioned that India attached the highest priority to its relations with Bangladesh . He reiterated his invitation to H.E. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India at an early date. He expressed his hope that her visit would write a new chapter in India-Bangladesh relations.

During the official talks, the two Ministers noted the multifaceted nature of relations between the two countries and the historical and traditional bonds of friendship. They also noted that recent elections have provided both countries with a historical opportunity to take India-Bangladesh relations to greater heights. It was in this spirit that both Ministers discussed the entire gamut of bilateral relations and agreed on the following:

- Both sides recognized the need to expedite negotiations with a view to finalize an agreement for sharing of the waters of Teesta river. Towards this end, they agreed to mandate their respective Foreign Offices to meet and discuss the technical and other parameters of this issue. They agreed to immediately commence Joint Hydrological Observations on the river. They also agreed to undertake bank protection works, dredging of Ichhamati river and minor irrigation/drinking water schemes on Feni river.

- The Bangladesh side thanked the Indian side for the hospitality and cooperation extended to the Bangladesh Parliamentary delegation during their visit to the proposed Tipaimukh Dam site. In this context, the Bangladesh side welcomed India ’s reassurance that it would not take steps that would adversely impact Bangladesh .

- Both sides recognized the importance of bilateral and regional connectivity. In this context, both sides discussed designating Ashuganj as a new port of call under Article-23 of the Inland Water Transit and Trade Agreement as well as the use of Chittagong port by India . Bangladesh side agreed to provide access to Ashuganj Port to facilitate the transportation of the Over Dimensional Consignments for the Palatana Power Project in Tripura.

- Indian side agreed to facilitate Nepal-Bangladesh and Bhutan-Bangladesh connectivity.

- Both sides agreed to enhance cooperation in the power sector. India agreed to provide at least 100 MW to Bangladesh on a priority basis. Ahead of this, it will also undertake a feasibility study on power grid inter-connectivity for transmission lines, etc. from India to Bangladesh .

- Both sides agreed on the re-opening Sabroom-Ramgarh trade point as well as opening a land route at Demagiri-Thegamukh on the Mizoram border for bilateral trade.

- India agreed in principle to provide a Line of Credit for railway projects and supply of locomotives, coaches and buses. India offered to take up construction of Akhaura-Agartala railway link under Indian assistance.

- India also agreed to assist Bangladesh in the dredging sector.

- Both sides agreed to start Border Haats at the Bangladesh-Meghalaya border for mutual benefit of the people in these areas.

- Both sides agreed to movement of containerised cargo by rail and water for bilateral trade.

- Both sides welcomed the holding of the Joint Working Group on Trade last month and discussed broad economic issues with a view to fully activate all institutional mechanisms to promote two-way trade, initiate long pending trade facilitation measures and facilitate movement of businessmen and professionals. Bangladesh specifically raised the issue of duty free access to Bangladeshi commodities, removal of Non Tariff and Para Tariff Barriers and improvement of infrastructures on the Indian side. Indian side expressed its readiness to assist Bangladesh in strengthening the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute. It also requested for removal of barriers to Indian investments and port restrictions for specific commodities.

- Both sides agreed to comprehensively address all outstanding land boundary issues. Both sides expressed their intent to resolve outstanding issues relating to Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves and the Tin Bigha Corridor. Both sides also recognized the need for electrification of Dahagram and Angarpota enclaves as a humanitarian gesture.

- The two Ministers reiterated their resolve to strengthen bilateral co-operation to deter the recurrence of terrorist incidents. Both sides also reiterated their resolve not to allow the use of their territories for activities inimical to each other’s security interests.

- Both sides agreed to conclude the following three agreements:

a. Agreement for mutual legal assistance on criminal matters,

b. Agreement of transfer of sentenced persons,

c. Agreement on combating international terrorism, organized crime and illegal drug trafficking.

The two Ministers reiterated their conviction that opportunities for fruitful collaboration between the two countries in furthering mutual interests were enormous and resolved to remain engaged to expeditiously address all bilateral issues.

source : www.energybangla.com

Power is the key factor for any development because its the key element of activating production.
The port city and its suburbs continue to suffer from acute power shortage despite the move to increase power generation in two units of Raozan power plant by diverting gas there from the Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Ltd (CUFL).

The government indefinitely suspended the operation of the CUFL on April 26 to save 54 million cubic feet (MCF) gas to be diverted to the two units for smooth power generation. Each unit has the capacity of generating 210 megawatt (MW) power.

The Power Development Board (PDB) officials hoped that the move would help bring down the daily power shortfall to 150MW from 250MW in Chittagong city.

But power shortage in the port city and its adjoining areas now stands at 220 to 230 MW. Despite getting additional gas to generate more power since April, PDB has failed to reduce power outage in the city substantially.

Chief Engineer of PDB Chittagong (Southern Zone), Sujit Chakma admitted that despite getting additional gas at the two Raozan units, they were not able to generate power to capacity.

The PDB now gets around 405MW in off-peak time (day) and 410MW in peak time (night) against the daily demand of 500MW (day) and 630 to 640MW (night).

The PDB requires around 100MCF gas to run its five gas-fired units except the Kaptai plant but it now gets 80 MCF.

Meanwhile, CUFL officials expressed concern over the suspension of production at the factory with a capacity of producing 1,400 tonnes of fertiliser a day.

“Initially we were told that the factory would remain closed for two months. But now we hear that it will be out of operation till September. The factory incurs a loss of Tk 1.4 crore daily,” said a top CUFL official seeking anonymity

Related :
Nuclear fusion power plant.

DEMO (DEMOnstration Power Plant) is a generic name for proposed nuclear fusion power plants that intend to build upon the expected success of ITER. Whereas ITER’s main goal is to produce 500 million watts of fusion power for at least 500 seconds, the goal of DEMO will be to produce at least four times that much fusion power on a continual basis. This level of power production (2 gigawatts) is on the scale of a modern electric power plant.

While the final design of DEMO will depend to a large extent on the results obtained from the exploitation of ITER and other fusion experiments including IFMIF, it is envisaged that a programme of research and development activities in preparation for DEMO will be coordinated by ‘Fusion for Energy’ to perform studies, validate technologies, develop prototypes, etc.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has accepted a proposal of Bangladesh Power Development Board (PDB) to allow the organisation to increase 24.31 per cent power tariff at the retail level.

At an open meeting at BERC Bhaban here on Tuesday, PDB officials proposed the fresh tariff of power in different slabs, saying that to bail the organisation out of financial crunch, it needed to increase the tariff soon.

BERC will conduct a public hearing on the issue on October 6, Mukhlesur Rahman, acting chairman of the commission, said following the
   The consumer rights groups, during a public hearing in the matter convened by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission in its office in Dhaka , also demanded that the high PDB system loss should be checked by increasing its efficiency and improving customer services.
   In proposing the increase in power tariff, the power board’s general manager (commercial) M Jamalullah said the operation and maintenance cost of the board had increased with the increase in the salary of its employees and the increase in the cost of materials needed for power distribution.
   The difference between the power supply cost and the sales stands at Tk 0.87 a unit, which is 24.31 per cent higher than the billing cost, and the power board is incurring losses for because of low tariff, Jamalullah said. ‘This is why the board has proposed to increase power tariff by 24.31 per cent. We have no option but to increase power price.’
   Taking part in the hearing, the board’s chairman SM Mesbahul Islam said the board needed to increase the power price as the overall distribution cost had increased to a large extent.
   He also said the power board should have its own power generation units so that it would not need to buy electricity from independent power plants.
   Mesbahul admitted that the board had been faced with system loss of about 38 per cent.
   Rural Electrification Board member (finance) Rezaul Huq Bhuiyan said the board needed to survive first to provide consumers with services. ‘There is no option but to increase power prices for its survival.’
   Power price for household connections is now Tk 3.58 a unit on an average and the board proposed it should be increased to Tk 4.45.
   A number of rights groups and trade bodies, including the Consumers Association of Bangladesh, Consumers’ Group, Transparency International, Bangladesh , Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Law Dev ( Bangladesh ), during the hearing asked for elimination of corruption, increase in efficiency and improvement in services.
   Consumers Association of Bangladesh representative M Shamsul Alam said the board was incurring huge losses because of its unusual high rate of system loss, which is about 38 per cent.
   If system loss can be cut down to 10 per cent and corruption can be eliminated by increasing the efficiency in running the organisation, the cost of a unit of power will be around Tk 3.50, he said. ‘Why will the consumers pay for system loss and inefficiency of the power board?’
   Turin Afroz of the Law Dev ( Bangladesh ) argued the board’s proposal was in no way justified. ‘The board speaks only of tariff increase, but never talks about improving its services.’ She asked the power board to improve its consumer services.
   After the hearing, the acting commission chairman M Mokhlesur Rahman said the arguments of both sides were recorded and they would hear more arguments and on the issue in another session on October 6 before giving the judgement.
   He said interested organisations or individuals would need to their names with the commission by August 31 to take part in the hearing in power tariff increase.
   The Rural Electrification Board on July 8 also proposed to increase power prices by 11.52 per cent.

source : http://www.energybangla.com/index.php?mod=article&cat=PowerSector&article=1926