Essay BCB

BANKING CAREER IN BANGLADESH
ESSAYS FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING

in the COMPETITIVE EXAMINATIONS
015
2014
"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be
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Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. Most
importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They
somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is
secondary.'' - [STEVE JOBS]
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1. Workers’ safety in Bangladesh
Bangladesh, one of the third world countries, is going ahead with the development of its
Industries and factories. Almost in every scale of Development, Bangladesh has enough
achievements to notice itself .We are preparing to stand up more strongly on Social and
Economic sector of the world. In last two decades, our country has achieved the maximum
economic growth. According to any justification, this story of success is not uncared for. But
besides this positive achievement, the workers who are the fundamental improve- maker of our
country are almost neglected from modern facilities and services, even there is a great lack of
their safety.
Name Of Industry Real Scenario Of Death

RMG 112 workers perished in the Tazreen fire last November '2012, 65 workers
died in the Spectrum tragedy in 2005, 7 lost their lives in the January 2013
Smart Fashion Tragedy, and in Savar tragedy over 1100 garment workers
died in 2013.
Ship Breaking During the years 2009-11, 31 labours were killed in accident and the actual
numbers may be much higher.
Construction According to ‘Safety and Right Society’ there were 149 deaths in 2012, 183
deaths in 2011, 73 in 2010, 56 in 2009, 100 deaths in 2008
Transport According to the report of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies
(BILS), the highest number of workplace accident deaths occurred in the
transport sector in 2012. It says at least 249 workers died in transport
sector
The economy of Bangladesh is jointly depends upon Industry (Cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea
processing), Agriculture (Rice, jute, tea, wheat; beef), and Exports (Garments, jute and jute goods,
leather, frozen fish and seafood).And almost all of the workers of our country are related to those
occupations. Even though nation gets its source of income, our workers are not in a safe zone still
now. It’s a stigma for nation that fire in Garments, collapsing workers building, discrimination in
getting salary is escalating day by day in our country. Threat of the Workers’ Safety is of 3 kinds:
a. Physical lack of security of workers.

b. Economic lack of safety of workers.
c. Social lack of safety of the marginal working class.
In Bangladesh there are also some studies on this issue by the foreign agencies but not the foreign
buyers. Most of the foreign studies suggest the following:
a. Investment 10% more in labor salary increases 13.5% production.

b. Invest 10% in labor health increase the production 11.6%.
c. Invest 10% in social safety net give dividend in production of 11.07%.
Child labor Issue:
Bangladesh in rural and urban areas with about 10% of children between age 5-14 in the work
force and about 7% of the children between age 7-14 attending school and working.

Bangladesh passed the Human Trafficking deterrence and suspension act 2012 which makes
human trafficking (including labor trafficking ) a capital offense, developed and fully funded a
Child labor related data and began implementation of US $9 million child labor project.
Compliance:
Five deadly incidents from November 2012 through May 2013 brought workers safety and labor
violations in Bangladesh to world attention putting pressure on big global clothing brands such as
Primark, Loblaw, Joe Fresh, Gap, Walmart, Nike, Tchibo, Calvin klein, and tommy Hilfiger, and
retailers to to respond by using their economic weight to enact change.
Political Uncertainty:
For the political unrest 62% of the industries could not ship their order to their European and
American countries. Even, due to more than 130 days hartal and 67 days road blockade in recent
months most of the workers of our country have been failed to attend their working sector and it
is a curse to Bangladesh, a developing country.
Lack of infrastructural facilities:
It is a vital sector for all workers of Bangladesh especially for Garments labor. But after 40 years of
independence, if we compare our basic infrastructures with our any neighboring countries, we
must say that our standard is not enough to be considered even. Also Rana Plaza Tragedy, which is
collapsing of an eight-story building in Savar, Dhaka causing huge number of death,reminds us
how low our Industry infrastructures’ condition is.
Lack of skilled workers:
WB has said by analyzing labor survey, Bangladesh has about 5 crore 67 lakh labor and within it 2
crore and 32 lakh or 41% are not educated at all, one crore and 30 lakh couldn’t pass the primary
level, and from the rest only 3.7% have degree from university and 0.2% have degree from
technical Institute.
Lack of Social safety:
In almost all of our Industries and small industries, Workers especially women do not get enough
social safety due to lack of consciousness and indifference ofowner of industries or government.
Recommendation for labor securities:
So far we’ve discussed the problem prevailing in our industry sectors, but we could not be
hopeless to learning all this things. We must remember that problem and prospects walk
together. So to cope up with the problem the following steps can be taken.
1. Increase better managed Infrastructure. All buildings including extensions to the factory must
meet legal standards and electrical equipments should be properly maintained.
2. Managers, supervisors and workers should be properly trained in fire and safety procedures
and take responsibility for ensuring the safe exit of the building during or following an accident

3. Child labor should not be employed in any sector of industry and government should provide
necessities of these children.
4. Take new approach to law and Order.
5. Govt. should arrange the loan for small and medium industries.
6. Change attitude and respect women workers.
7. Especial take care on Garments Sector.
8. Change salary structure and give more opportunities to workers.
9. Arrange more seminar or workshop for getting more skilled workers and improve especially on
technical sector.
Time has come to renovate, reorganize the whole working sector of our country. For getting the
favor, we must look for competitive and effective labor market in future otherwise we will
envisage with serious trouble.
2. Women Empowerment in Bangladesh.
Introduction:
Empowerment the process of giving power of authority to the powerless. Empowerment of
women is a process through which women in general and poor women in particular get the
opportunity to join the workforce and contribute to family income and interfere on family as well
as social affairs.
Women’s position in the past:
In past women were segregated from out of home productive work. They were kept within the
four walls. The hearth became the place for them. So cooking, cleaning, washing, giving birth and
rearing children became their jobs. Men became the wage earners and all other activities became
their responsibilities. In Bangladesh position of the women is very humiliating. Women are the
worst suffers.
Necessity of women’s empowerment:
Women are nowadays as important as men in society. They co-constitute nearly half of our total
population. So, there are can be no denying the fact that they too possess equal rights and duties
as men. They have noble missions to fulfill as men. If they get opportunity, their genius and
capacities will bloom fully. No nation can make the real progress keeping a full of its population in
the dark. So women’s empowerment is essential.
The Bangladesh Case:
Bangladesh has always had a history of women’s emancipation since the days of Begum Rokeya to
women’s active role in the war of independence and through today’s Shahbagh movement.
Nationally, the Government of Bangladesh took up the ‘education for all’ campaign with a strong
focus on girl children’s education. The stipend programmes for girl children at first in the primary
level and then for secondary and higher secondary levels are considered a global best practice
that achieved dramatic results in gender parity of education. Also important, over the past four

decades, the government has implemented targeted social safety net programmes with strong
focus on vulnerable women and their families.
One of the major milestones in Bangladesh’s history in women’s empowerment was the
enactment of the Local Government (Union Parishad) Second Amendment Act in 1997 that
provided for direct elections to reserved seats for women in local level elections. The 6th Five Year
Plan (2011-2015) of Bangladesh which is the national medium term development plan committed
to transforming Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021, considers women’s
engagement in political and economic activities. Women’s employment in non-agricultural sector
is currently around 25% whereas the target is 50%. In another instance, while Bangladesh had
done remarkably well in reducing maternal mortality rate by 40% in the last nine years and is on
track for the MDGs of a 75% reduction from 1990-2015.
Educate a woman, educate a nation:
Bangladesh was the first country in South Asia to achieve gender-parity in primary education.
Achieving this milestone is a result of effective public policy, resource allocation and strong
commitment from public and non- government sectors. Yet, education has not been the ‘magic
bullet’ we have long depended on to create a level playing field for women in the developing
world. As we see in the case of Bangladesh, social stigmas, gender-based violence and institutional
barriers to entering higher education institutions and labour market. Sexual harassments of girl
children on their way to school or at school are serious barriers to access to education. In recent
times, the alarming number of suicides committed by young girls shook the nation, questioning
the safety and security of girls attending school and colleges.
Women’s present position:

During the last few decades women’s status has been changed greatly. Today women are playing
important role in all spheres of life. We find a new generation of women elected officials who are
now respected and seen as figures of authority in their local areas. Experiences of various
programmes and projects show that level of corruption is generally lower in areas that have
female local representatives. In the last general election, out of the 69 female members of
parliament (MPs), 50 were appointed through reserved seats and 19 directly elected, including
the Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition, speaker of parliament. While it is imperative to
ensure reserved seats for women in the national parliament, female MPs have voiced their
concerns on the lack of election financing and overall party support. We find similar stories of
work place discrimination from female officers, holding various posts in the government. They are
working hand in hand with men in all spheres of work i.e. from garments workers to pilots,
doctors, engineers, teachers, administrators etc.
85% of 4 million workers of RMG that is account for 76% export earnings are women. A total of
46,230 Bangladeshi women went abroad for jobs till October last year, up by nearly 24 percent
from the same period of 2012, according to BMET [Bureau of Manpower, Employment and
Training.
The Ministry of Education and The Ministry of Primary And Mass Education apply a quota system
for recruiting women teachers: 30% for government higher secondary schools. 40% for private
higher secondary schools, madrasas and colleges within pourashava, 20% for institutions outside
pourashava, and 60% for primary school teachers.

Women account for 46% of the health workforce, including 26% of doctors and 90% of nurses.
The position of nurse has been upgraded from class 3 to class 2 in 2009 and nurses are currently
being recruited for 2,500 vacant posts
In Ministry Of Commerce, 20.5% of the overall workforce is women. In Ministry Of Planning,

33.3%, 17.8%, 24.6% and 27% of class 1, 2, 3 and 4 positions respectively is women. In Ministry of
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, 25% of officers and employees. In
Ministry Of Information, 25%, 26%, 28.5% and 13.6% respectively of class 1,2,3 and 4 positions; in
Ministry Of Cultural Affairs, 26%, 38%, 5% and 9% respectively of class 1,2,3 and 4 positions; in
Post and Telecommunication Ministry, 30% of officials are women.
Finally, it has come to the realization to all that if we want keep pace with the challenge of the
millennium; both men and women should work side by side. In this regard, the government along
with, with the people from all strata of life should come forward to extend their whole hearted
cooperation.
3. Violence Against Women in Bangladesh

Incidents of sexual harassment and rape have marked an alarming rise across the country.
We see the reflection of this horrific situation in the newspapers every day. In the prevailing socio-
economic, cultural and politico-religious settings women cannot play an assertive role in
development activities, either in the family or in the state. They are still treated as the weaker
segment of the society and are subject to various social and domestic repressive measures.
Violence is a product of social, cultural, religious and traditional value systems which perpetuate
patriarchal attitudes at different levels of society and restrict female empowerment.
Factors of Violence against Women:
• Domestic Violence
• Wife beating
• Abduction
• Trafficking in women and children
• Rape
• Acid Attack Burn
• Homicide
• Psychological abuse
• Sexual exploitation
• Dowry related violence
• Violence during pregnancy
• Forced prostitution

Reasons of Violence against Women:
• Lack of gender equality
• Lack of awareness and knowledge about rights
• Poverty
• Low educational level
• Women’s lower position
• Socio-cultural restrictions
• Tendency to coercively control women
• Polygamy
• Misinterpretation of Religion
• Misapplication of Religious belief
Rape violently asserts masculinity in a patriarchal society, which assigns women a subordinate
position. Masculinity is associated with traditionally ‘male’ traits such as boldness, manliness,
bravery, muscularity, machoism etc. A woman is what a man is not, if men are expected to
dominate and women refuse to submit, ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’ will be disturbed. Unlike sex,
masculinity or femininity is not biological. Both are social, cultural traits. Our society is male-
dominated and denies women any identity other than that of a wife, mother daughter or sister.
Women are ‘objects of enjoyment’. Discrimination against women is pervasive. Girls will get less
food, medical attention and education than boys. Most will never experience adolescence. From
girls, they suddenly become wives and mothers without a right to free will. Rape in Bangladesh is
not an individualistic issue, but social, political or pathological part of pervasive gender violence.
A woman is molested every 12 minutes, burnt for dowry every hour and raped every 21 minutes.
805 females were raped during the period between January 2012 and December 2012. While the
number of such victims was 711 in 2011, 559 in 2010 and 456 in 2009.
Of last year’s 805 rape victims, 299 were women, 473 were children below 17 years and the age of
33 victims could not be ascertained. Of the women victims, 101 were gang-raped and 31 were
killed after rape. Of the child victims 39 were killed after rape, 84 gang-raped and 10 children
committed suicide from mental stress. In the month of January 2013 violence occurred in
numerable instances.
Some of the cases were published in the daily news papers. Most of the cases occurred without
our knowledge. The gang-rape of a girl in Tangail District was a blatant example of how women
still fall victim to violence, both in houses and on streets. We are yet to provide proper security to
our women so that they can move freely without any fear. A female student of Eden College was
severally injured by a group of youths. They were not satisfied only with brutal act alone; they also
burnt her body with acid. On January 19th 2013, a 10-year-old girl was raped and killed in the
third floor of the Tropicana Tower.

Ninety-five cases of sexual harassment happened within the third week of January 2013. As the
legal system is too soft on sex offenders, sexual violence continues unabated and the culprits get
encouraged to commit such crimes as they remain unpunished in most of the cases.
How can these people claim themselves to be human beings when they do not hesitate to attack a
girl who did not do any harm to them? But unfortunately, there are many such brutes among men
like animals in our society. We are living with them and our women are falling victim to their
inhuman attacks.
Occurrence of domestic violence varies little in terms of urban-rural divide. A ICDDR,B study
shows that among ever-married women, 40% of those in the urban area and 42% in the rural area
reported physical violence by their husband (ICDDR,B,2006). However, sexual violence by husband
is more prevalent in rural areas (50%) than urban areas (37%), according to the study.
According to an another study of ICDDR,B conducted in 2011, 89% male in rural area and 83%
male in urban area think that they have the right to beat up their wives for betterment of family.
98% male in rural area and 93% male in urban area think that to be manly, they must be rigorous.
And 65% male in rural area and 50% male in urban area think that to continue marital
relationship, women must endure the violence against them.
Economic Context:
• Women’s day long household activities have not been included in national statistics.
• Employment rate of women is 22.9% in comparison with 68.3% to that of men
• Though almost all women are engaged in agricultural activities but 73% of them are unpaid
family labour( Country position paper Bangladesh, 2003).
• Women fill only about 7% of officer ranks, 10% of staff position, 5% at low level workers position
(ibid).
Recommendations:
1. Encouraging the adoption and implementation of policies for preventing VAW and protecting
victims by enhancing the capacities of the government, improving information and providing
support to NGOs and civil society.
2. Changing attitudes and behavior of men, women, boys and girls to reduce VAW and
discriminatory practices such as dowry, early marriage and trafficking.
3. Protecting survivors of gender-based violence with immediate care, relief and rehabilitation
through a comprehensive package including the expansion, renovation and improvement of the
existing shelter system.

4. Unemployment Problem of Bangladesh
Unemployment is a great concern in Bangladesh. Every year hundreds of thousands student are
coming out from college and universities. According to BBS, the unemployment rate in
Bangladesh stood at 4.5%, which approx 26 lacks as per the report from the survey. According to
a survey on South Asia by Intelligence unit of The Economist, at present 47% of graduate in
Bangladesh is unemployed. Whereas in Afghanistan- 65%, India- 33% and Pakistan- 28%.
According to World Bank, unemployment rate in BD is 14.2%. If employment rate is increased by
2%, the GDP growth rate can be increased to 8% and as a result we can be medium income
country by 2021. According to Bangladesh Economy Society, every year 22 lac people enter into
job market for job but only 7 lac get job. According to ILO, now total unemployment in BD is 3
crore. If this rate continues, by 2015 it will be 6 crore. Among 20 countries experiencing uplifting
trend of unemployment, Bangladesh is 12th.
Economic relation division of UNDP termed also unemployment is the main obstacle to
development of most of the South Asian countries including Bangladesh. Though it is one of the
major responsibilities of the govt. to provide job to those young generation but the govt. is failed
to meet the job demand among the population. Only a tiny portion of the total jobless is managed
by different organization but major potion remain unemployed.
Reasons behind Unemployment problem:
1) The first and for most cause is over population. Her population growing is very rapidly.
After independence the population has been double. The country can not provide job
opportunity to this huge population base.
2) In Bangladesh there are plenty of natural resources. But they are not properly used. This
also create new problem. There are few mill-factories. Besides every year two to three mill
are closed due to economic loss. Thus scope of unemployment is narrowing.
3) Our education system is defective which give fuel to unemployment. Because present
education system is not fit for practical life. Professional & vocational training are absent
here.
4) Besides our student nourish a false sense of self dignity. They are not keen to do manual
labor.
5) Our education budget is below 2% where as South Korea spends 6% of their total budget
for education. South Korea spends 4-5% of their GDP for research and development (R&D)
where as our budget for R&D is only 1%. First of all we have to allocate more budgets for
education and research.
This growing problem has spreads its evil clutch all over the country. The effect of unemployment
is many. Drug addiction, Kidnapping, snatching & various social crime are the consequence of
Unemployment. Depression is going throughout the country. The country is lagging behind.

Measures To be taken:
If we look at sector wise employment generation we will see agriculture is still at the top with 47%
employment generation rate followed by service sector which is 37% and industrial and
manufacturing sector- 14%. We are clearly lagging behind in terms of industrial and
manufacturing sector borne employment. Our manufacturing sector has been experiencing robust
growth. The leading manufacturing sectors are garment, pharmaceuticals, IT, shipbuilding and so
on. Some new manufacturing industries are coming up with huge potentials: hospitality and
tourism, cultural industry including performing arts, creative writing etc.
We have total work force of about 85 million. And 42% among them are young people. Creating
employment opportunities for such a large number of work force is indeed a daunting task.
Universities have the primary onus of educating their students properly so that they can find good
job and flourish their potentials. Industries will create employment opportunities for them and
develop them further. And that’s why we need cooperation between industries and universities.
In our country, there are very few platforms for university-industry collaboration. We want to
create such a platform where universities will understand the need of industries and industries
will find research and resources for further development. Our young graduates will be able to get
the best of this partnership. We want to establish a platform for this endeavor.
The following measure can be prescribed to solve the problem.
1) Firstly, all should be educated in proper sense. Vocational training should be introduced in our
education system.
2) Secondly, more and more mill and factories should be established. Bangladesh would have
emphasized on increasing productive capacity and maintained economic stability in future to
eliminate unemployment. Govt. should be emphasized on bringing change in existing
administrative stricture of Bangladesh to expedite the process elevating unemployment.
3) Thirdly, Emphasized on domestic resource mobilization along with getting official development
assistance international communities. Natural resources should be properly used and national
wealth should be distributed equally.
4) Fourthly, outsource work is a great source to reduce unemployment rate.
In fine we can say that, the youth have a change their outlook to develop themselves
economically and most importantly generate revenue for the country because fate of country
depends on its young generation. For this govt. should come with crash program which must
implement promptly with courage and passion. Otherwise all the progress and effort will go vain.

5. Tourism Industry of Bangladesh
A country’s touristy appeal depends largely on its history, archaeology, natural beauty and old
palaces. From this point of view, Bangladesh can claim to be a historic country as it was known as
Gangaridai meaning Nation on the River Ganges. Bangladesh's tourist attractions include,
historical and monuments, resorts, beaches, picnic spots, forests and tribal people, wildlife of
various species. Ministry of Tourism and The Civil Aviation Ministry designs national policies for
the development and promotion of tourism. The Ministry also maintains the Beautiful Bangladesh
campaign.
The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC) reported in 2013 that the travel and tourism
industry in Bangladesh directly generated 1,281,500 jobs in 2012 or 1.8 percent of the country's
total employment, which ranked Bangladesh 157 out of 178 countries worldwide. Forty years has
elapsed of Bangladesh’s tourism industry, yet we still see it in a nascent position in comparison to
our neighboring countries. Despite having all the potential to flourish, tourism in this country has
been growing at a very slow pace. Bangladesh is not known as a tourist destination in the
international tourism market. Only 3 lacs foreign tourists came to Bangladesh in 2010, of which
more than 70 percent came for business and official purposes. The contribution of the earning
from tourism to the country’s GDP is less than 1 percent. The sector got recognition as an industry
in 1999. But it never received attention from the government to become a vibrant industry.
Whereas many countries which started much later than Bangladesh, for example – Maldives,
Malaysia, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos PDR - have developed their tourism industry much faster than
this country. In 1998 Bangladesh received 171,961 tourists and Cambodia received only 96,000
tourists. After 11 years in 2009, Bangladesh could attract only 267,000 tourists and Cambodia
more than 2 million tourists. This comparison indicates discrepancy in the degree of initiative by
two different countries within a same span of time.
Problems of Tourism Industry:
The lack of development of the tourism industry of Bangladesh can be attributed to multiple
reasons like less-prioritization of tourism by all previous governments, lack of budgetary allocation
and scarcity of trained people in the industry. There is also a lack of publicity and marketing
activities. We lag behind in projecting our attractions to international tourists through
advertisements in international print and electronic media, as our neighboring countries do. We
have to do this for enhancing the positive image of our country and for introducing our prime
tourist attractions as well as our vibrant culture. But, there is a lack of sufficient budgetary
allocation. We need to develop an effective brand name for tourism. We have never tried to
understand that branding not only helps tourism of the country, it encourages foreign investment
as well. A tourism branding campaign called ‘Beautiful Bangladesh’ has been developed, but
according to the tourism stakeholders of the country it does not wholly reflect the tourist
attractions of the country. Tour operators who bring foreign tourists are raising demands to mend
it. Bangladesh, which has so many positive aspects, needs to rebuild its brand as a country. Apart
from the meager budgetary allocation of the government, appropriate plans and programs for
tourism development - short term, long term and medium term - was absent before 90’s.
Furthermore, in the planning process there were lots of discrepancies.
Due to the absence of proper planning, even some infrastructure developments that require a
small budget could not be accomplished. For attracting more foreign tourists, we need to turn
tourist attractions into tourism products i.e. finished products to sell. Appropriate infrastructural
development, super-structure development, introduction of waste management systems and
sustainability of the tourist attractions for our future posterity are most essential.
We name Cox’s Bazar as our tourist capital but recreational activities on the beach are very
scanty. Tourists do not find any night-life activities, after spending the day at the beach, but to
sleep in hotel rooms. We should understand that tourists do not come here to sleep idly in a
hotel. They love to remain busy through experiencing different memorable activities. We need to
make the tourists busy in different activities all the time and bring out money from their pockets.
Tourists come to spend money not take it back. On the other hand, whatever development has
taken place at Cox’s Bazar is unplanned and uncontrolled. Appropriate regulation is absent there.
Still there is no proper water and sewerage system; gas connection is absent; only a limited
number of flights land there. Kuakata – a second priority beach for tourists – cannot be reached
very easily. Though road communication has improved from before, tourists tend to avoid going
there more than once, due to the lack of standard facilities. The archaeological sites in the north-
west of Bangladesh are also popular with tourists. But, due to the absence of interpreters and
facilities, tourists do not make overnight stays. Every year many domestic and foreign tourists visit
Paharpur – a world heritage site. They can reach Paharpur in the late afternoon by starting very
early from Dhaka. But after a short while at Paharpur, the sun sets. So they become worried
where to make a night halt, because there are no hotels at Naogaon or Joypurhat district town. At
the other famous archaeological sites, proper interpretation signage and educated guides are not
found. Sufficient numbers of litter bins are not installed along the sites.
Steps that should be taken:
Infrastructure development is sine-quo-non for the sustainable tourism development of any

country and Bangladesh is also no exception. Tourism friendly infrastructure is required for
smooth and free movement of tourists of all ages, and even for the physically challenged tourists.
In view of this, Bangladesh needs to develop accommodations, eateries, good communication and
transportation systems, toilet facilities, parking facilities etc. near the tourist spots of the country.
It needs to develop international standard facilities at all the tourist spots of Bangladesh.
For promotional campaigns and the marketing of Bangladesh tourism abroad, we need to provide
guidelines to the economic councilors and visa officers of the foreign missions of Bangladesh so
that they can encourage foreign tourists to visit Bangladesh. Or, we can establish tourism offices
in the tourist generating countries like China, UK, USA, Japan, Australia, because these countries
produce more than 70 percent of the world’s outbound tourists. We lack a marketing strategy
which causes the absence of proper marketing initiatives for tourism products of the country.
We need to diversify our tourism products to attract tourists and encourage them to make
repeated visits. We can segment our tourism regions in different categories, so that tourists can
be interested to visit many different places. We need to develop tourism products based on
archaeology, culture and monument, river, tea garden, indigenous culture etc. We may develop
MICE tourism as has been developed by Singapore, Korea, China and other countries of Asia.
Many multinational companies of Bangladesh hold their AGM and other meetings in those
countries, as well as organize recreational activities there. In this regard, we need to develop
many condominiums, international convention centers etc in Dhaka and Cox’s Bazar. If we can
ensure them these facilities, they won’t fly to other countries.
Prospect of Tourism Industry:
There is a great potential to promote sports tourism in Bangladesh. We can develop venues and
infrastructure in the country. Some cricket venues have already been developed. But, more
venues need to be established in various places of the country like Cox’s Bazar (the world’s
longest sea beach), Kuakata, Comilla, Barisal, Dinjapur etc. For the development of sports tourism
we can seek both local and foreign investment. This way we shall be able to reap benefits. Also, by
developing sports tourism we can help develop many backward linkage sectors in the country.
Besides, this will help the creation of many informal jobs like tea vendors, food corners, betel
shops, hawkers etc. A policy framework is necessary to be developed, and strong coordination
amongst the concerned departments is required.
Bangladesh should also take initiatives for eco-tourism development in the country especially in
the naturally and culturally rich areas. Sylhet and Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT) regions of Bangladesh
are paradises for eco-tourism activities. On the other hand, Sundarbans is the gold mine for eco-
tourism. It is the single largest mangrove forest in the world. It has been designated as a world
heritage site since 1997. The world’s second largest mangrove forest is Mastang in Malaysia,
which is only one-tenth the size of the Sundarbans. To develop eco-tourism in the Sundarbans, we
can install some world class cruise vessels to take tourists to the forest. But we should keep in
mind that the eco-system of the Subdarbans is not disturbed. We can also develop eco-tourism at
St. Martin’s island which will help protection of the island. Eco-tourism development will help us
preserve our rich cultural heritage for the benefit of our future generations. Different policy
approaches are required in this regard. Controls of visitors, enforcement of tourist movement
guidelines and waste management facilities are required for eco-tourism development.
Safety and security of the tourists should be given the utmost priority. Forming only tourist police
cannot solve the problem. Proper orientation should be given to police so that they can behave
properly with tourists. The local people have to be involved in this process. When local people
would find benefits from tourist activities, they would safeguard the tourists as well as the tourist
attractions. Local people at tourist sites have always been neglected. We see that local people get
little benefit from the tourism activities in their own areas. For instance, the indigenous and
ethnic minority people of Rangamati or Bandarban get very little trickle down benefits from the
tourism activities over there. They were never included in the tourism planning and development
processes. They have not been properly informed of the value of the tourism resources or to take
pride in their own areas. When local people get involved with tourism activities in their localities,
a sense of ownership of the tourist attractions grows in them. They become aware of the need to
protect and conserve the attractions.
We must know that, in this era of economic globalization, tourism is considered to be one of the
fastest growing and ever-expanding industries and also demonstrates a resilient character. We
should follow the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism set by the UNWTO.
6. The Spirit of Liberation war of Bangladesh
Introduction:
Bangladesh is a proud nation as it emerged through a glorious freedom fight. Though we have got
the freedom the spirit of the freedom fight is yet to be established. OVER the last year we have
been commemorating the 42th year of Bangladesh's independence. In these 40 years Bangladesh
has registered many gains for which we should feel proud. We have established a globally
competitive garment industry moved ahead of India in particular areas of human development
and gender parity, extended micro-credit to 25 million women and drastically reduced aid
dependence through an explosive growth in remittances by our hard working migrants. We have
furthermore held four reasonably free and fair elections where incumbent regimes have been
replaced by opposition parties through the ballot box.
Previous history of freedom fight:
Bangladesh lost her independence to the British when Nawab Serajuddola was defeated in the
battle of Palassey in 1757. In 1947, the British divided India into two sovereign states, India and
Pakistan. Pakistan was created but the people of Bangladesh were in majority in Pakistan, They
were deprived of all the powers Bangladesh was made o colony of West Pakistan. As a result the
people of Bangladesh could not tolerate this and started a strong movement for their release.
Background of the Liberation War:
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and some patriot of Bangladesh raised their voice of protest. In 1968,
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and some other Bengalese were charged with a false case known as
Agartola Conspiracy Case, but the people of Bangladesh started a strong movement against this
case. Ayub Khan was compelled to release them. Then came Yahia Khan and he declared general
election in 1970. The party of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman got absolute majority in the National
assembly. But Yahia did not hand over the power and he stopped National Assembly. As a result,
Sheikh Mujib started non-violent, non-co-operation movement. Yahia started a false dialogue with
Sheikh Mujib and he began to increase the strength of army.
Freedom struggle of 1971:
March 25 is a black day in the history of Bangladesh. On that night the army began to attack in the
unarmed people of Bangladesh. Sheik Mujib was arrested and taken to West Pakistan. The
independence of Bangladesh was declared. As the liberation war started, freedom fighters took
birth overnight and faced the well-trained occupying forces to Pakistan fearlessly. At Mujib Nagar
the government of the people republic of Bangladesh was formed on 17th April, 1971. But the
Pakistan went on committing genocide to horror of the world. Women were raped and killed. The
world press believed the atrocity of the of the occupying forces exceeded all limits. Millions of
innocent Bengalese fled across the border in fear of their loves. So when their crimes were full,
the Pakistanis came under direct attack of the combined forces of India and Bangladesh. The 16th
December: The final stage of the war took a couple of days only. On the glorious day of 16th
December, the Pakistani army surrendered. Our victory day confirmed the birth of Bangladesh on
the world map.
Spirit of liberation war and present situation:
Bangladesh was not born because of an historical accident. Nor was it the gift of a departing
colonial power grown weary of bearing its imperial burden. Our nationhood emerged out of a long
process of struggle which culminated in a bloody war of liberation. To move large numbers of
ordinary people to pledge their lives for a separate existence we needed to inspire them with a
vision for a better world than the one they were repudiating. This inspiration was what came to
be known as the spirit which inspired the liberation war, what we popularly term Muktijuddher-
chetona. This is a phrase which is used so frequently and so casually as to be rendered almost
devoid of meaning. We invoke this spirit as a ritual incantation and rarely bother to ask ourselves
what this spirit embodies.
I would argue that the spirit of the liberation war is adequately captured in the four principles
which have guided our constitution: Democracy, Nationalism, Secularism and Socialism (which has
later been elaborated to mean social justice). In my presentation before you, I will discuss why
these pillars of our constitution capture the spirit of the liberation struggle, how far we have
departed from these guiding principles and where we need to travel in order to restore meaning
to the spirit of the liberation war.
Our emergence as a separate nation-state was the direct outcome of the persistent denial of
democratic rights to the people of Bangladesh by the Pakistani ruling class. In 24 years of shared
nationhood never once was central power in Pakistan exercised through the outcome of a free
and fair election. In 1990 when the Ershad autocracy was overthrown through a mass mobilization
the nation experienced the excitement of a second rebirth of democracy. But who would have
imagined that within 17 years of this renewal of democracy our confrontational style of politics
would have reached a point where the military were once again provided with an opportunity to
intervene in the political process through the process of Emergency Rule.
There is no evidence that we have learnt the right lessons from our most recent malfunction of
the democratic process. The politics of confrontation and intolerance appears to be once again
permeating our political culture. The political opposition, over successive regimes, has been
marginalized, partly as a result of its own political immaturity in boycotting parliament thereby
violating its democratic mandate. As a result of these endemic boycotts four successive
parliaments have been rendered virtually dysfunctional in their incapacity to discharge their
primary mandate of keeping the executive accountable to the will of the voters. The
malfunctioning of our democratic institutions remains compounded by the continuing inability to
strengthen democracy in our principal political parties. The principal political parties, in turn,
reflect the gradual ascendance of money and muscle power as the driving force in democratic
politics.
In such a distortion of the democratic process every institution of governance tends to be

compromised. Our administration has become ineffective where both recruitment and
advancement have been politicized and divorced from performance or norms. As a result virtually
all public services as well as law enforcement have become partisanised and commoditized to a
point where the machinery of government has lost virtually all capacity for functioning as an
instrument of public service.
The last remaining bastion of the rule of law, the judiciary, is now under threat. Over the years,
the lower judiciary has degenerated into a politicised instrument of the ruling party. The once
independent upper judiciary, which served as a bastion of our democratic freedom, is being
exposed to a process of creeping politicisation.
The appointments to the Election Commission (EC) had been similarly politicised upto the tenure
of the last elected government. It remains to be seen how far the new appointments to the EC,
who are expected to preside over the next round of elections to parliament in 2014, will be
selected on the basis of merit and consensus. The integrity of the very institutions to safeguard
the democratic credentials of our electoral process needs to be protected.
The last recourse of democracy, the free media, is demonstrating considerable resilience. But the
security of journalists has been periodically endangered and the independent press itself faces a
constant struggle to secure itself from both state pressure and private terror. Here again, people
with money and state patronage are making inroads into the media and are investing both in the
print and electronic media with the expectation of "managing" the news in the service of partisan
and private gain. That our institutions of democracy and governance should have degenerated to
a level where the very sustainability of the democratic process is endangered is particularly
distressing when we consider our long and painful struggle for democracy.
Conclusion:
Though we achieved our independence through much bloodshed, we still are not emerging as a
powerful nation. We seem to have forgotten the supreme sacrifice we made in 1971. So our main
duty should be to build up the country.
7. The Annual Development Programme (ADP)

The Annual Development Programme (ADP) is an organised list of projects in different sectors and
allocations for them for a year as prepared in line with the government's development policies,
programmes and investment plan. The ADP is prepared on the basis of the year's development
budget approved by the parliament. The Planning Commission prepares the list of ADP projects of
the government of Bangladesh in the light of basic objectives and goals of Five Year Plans. The
draft is then placed before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) for
its approval. While preparing an ADP, fields and projects related to national economic
development get more priority. Funds are allocated to implement the development projects
included in the ADP.
Both internal (domestic) and external (donor) funds are used to finance projects. The availability
of required funds often becomes a major consideration in preparing the ADP which has
historically remained dependent on foreign aid.

The practice of preparing an ADP within the framework of a Five-Year Plan and implementation
thereof started with the First Five-Year Plan (1955-60) of the provincial government of East
Pakistan. The ADP size in 1962-63 under the Second Five-Year Plan (1960-65) of the government
of East Pakistan was Rs 1,358.33 million. The ADP for 1962-63 was divided into three parts, each
contained projects of a group of sectors. The Part-I included projects of 10 sectors, namely, Water,
Power, Health, Social Services, Agriculture, Housing and Settlement, Education and Training,
Roads and Communications, Industries, and Manpower and Employment. Projects in the Part-II
covered large industries such as the East Pakistan Industrial Development Corporation and the
Pakistan Eastern Railways, and the Part-III comprised schemes transferred from the central
government of Pakistan.
The government has a practice of revising the ADP almost every year and the main reason is the
delay in disbursement of foreign aid in an environment of poor foreign aid utilization. Sometimes,
the government changes the ADP by including new projects or excluding some listed projects in
the mid-year. More often, delays in approval of projects or in creation of appropriate
infrastructure facilities for them cause such revisions.
Other causes for revision include procurement-related problems and the shortage of funds in
Bangladesh taka's counterpart currency for the projects.
There are cases, when the ADPs are revised by increasing allocations in response to claims of the
implementing ministries/agencies for additional allocations both in local and foreign currencies.
A part of such additional demand for funds is met from the head of unexpected expenditures in
the annual budget.
An ADP, however, does not include all development projects of a year. Some projects are kept
outside the ADP and are implemented with funds allocated from the revenue budget. Monitoring
of the use of funds allocated under an ADP is done by a set of specific rules issued by the Ministry
of Finance.
Latest ADP:
The government's spending on its annual development programme dropped 5 percentage points
year-on-year during July-January of the current fiscal year mainly due to political unrest.
Low utilisation of the fund earmarked for the Padma bridge project also caused a decline in such
expenditure.
In this backdrop, the Finance Division has advised the planning ministry to bring down the size of
the ADP by 18 percent. Various ministries and divisions spent Tk 21,857 crore during the seven
months, the amount being 33 percent of the total allocation at Tk 65,872 crore, according to the
Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED). However, during the same period in
the previous fiscal year, 38 percent of the total allocation was spent. Though ministries and
divisions often blame their poor ADP performance on a slow disbursement of donors' funds, this
time they are lagging much behind in using the government's money. During the period, they
spent only 35 percent of the government's resources though the amount was 42 percent in the
same period a year ago. On the other hand, utilisation of foreign funds was 31 percent, against 32
percent in the same period last year.
The worst performer this year was the Bridges Division, which got the third highest or 9 percent of
the total allocation among 10 big ministries and divisions. But in the first seven months, the
Bridges Division spent only 4 percent or Tk 260 crore against a total allocation of Tk 6,888 crore.
Almost the entire allocation, Tk 6,852 crore, was for the Padma bridge project. A planning ministry
official said the Finance Division has now proposed allocating Tk 1,500 crore for the project in the
revised budget. But the Bridges Division did not agree with the proposal, saying some payments
would have to be made in advance to the contractor if the contract for the main bridge is finalised
by June, according to the official. Other poor performers are the Power Division, housing and
public works ministry, Energy and Mineral Resources Division and the education ministry.
The IMED has identified seven reasons behind the low utilisation of the ADP funds. These include
political unrest, delay in land acquisition, absence of procurement plans, delay in bid invitation,
and a lack of training of project officials on procurement guidelines of the donors.
The IMED also said the government usually pays contractors in May and June and so the rate of
project implementation gets a boost at that time. More funds will be needed in the revenue
budget this fiscal year as the government employees will get 20 percent dearness allowance,
which has also slowed down the ADP utilisation. In this context, the Finance Division has proposed
to cut the ADP size by Tk 11,872 crore and set the revised outlay at around Tk 54,000 crore, the
planning ministry official said. However, all the ministries are against bringing down their
allocation, instead they want more funds, the official said.
8. Suspension of GSP: Its Impact and Possible Deeper Reasons.

On June 27th, the US suspended Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for Bangladesh. It will
be effective after 60 days. It seems it was a “bolt from the blue” for the Bangladesh government.
On June 4, Foreign minister Dr Dipu Moni had told a press briefing: “The review of the GSP facility
for Bangladesh in the US market is continuing. The hearing on it has concluded. A Bangladeshi
team comprising officials from the foreign ministry, labour and employment ministry, and
commerce ministry have discussed the issue with the US authorities. I am hopeful that the USTR
will take a positive decision on this.”
The US Secretary of State John Kerry was scheduled to visit for six hours in Dhaka while visiting
New Delhi from 24th June for three days. The visit to Dhaka was cancelled abruptly without any
reasons. There was a premonition in many quarters that that GSP would be suspended for which
Kerry’s visit was cancelled.
Suspension of GSP and a road map to restore it
Announcing the suspension of the trade benefits, US president Barack Obama said, “I have
determined that it is appropriate to suspend (GSP facility for) Bangladesh because it’s not taking
steps to offer internationally-recognised rights to workers in the country.”
The decision also puts American companies on notice as they must take meaningful steps to
improve conditions for Bangladeshi factory workers, Senate Foreign Relations Committee
Chairman Robert Menendez said in a statement.
“No one will want to wear clothing that is ‘Made in Bangladesh’ if it is made with the blood of
workers. It’s time for the American industrialists to show leadership and work with their European
counterparts on a global standard for safety,” he stated.

The AFL-CIO labour federation had filed the petition in 2007 with the US Congress to withdraw the
facility for Bangladesh. Federation president Richard Trumka said the decision was an important
message for countries that receive duty-free access to the US market under the generalized
system of preferences (GSP) programme.
It is reported that the US has provided a “roadmap” to regain the GSP for which Bangladesh has to
the following steps: (a) enforcement of building code, (b) labour law reform, (c) upgrading law for
EPZs, (d) union registration and (e) end to harassment and arrest of labour leaders and workers
and activists.
Bangladesh government described it as “unfortunate” and “harsh” calling it an outcome of a

protracted negative campaign. The Foreign Office statement stated “Indeed a section of people,
inside both Bangladesh and the USA, had long been campaigning to this effect. Bangladesh was
absolutely “respectful of a trading partner’s choice of decisions” but “expresses its deep concern
that this harsh measure may bring in fresh obstacles in an otherwise flourishing bilateral trade”.
Impact
The suspension does not directly affect the country’s multi-billion-dollar clothing exports to the
US, because they do not come under GSP. However it affects nearly other 5,000 products which
Bangladesh can export to the US without duties, such as golf equipment, plastic bags, bone china,
porcelain kitchenware, headgears, spectacles and tents. Bangladesh earned from such exports
$35 million in 2012.
The suspension is not so much of an adverse effect on Bangladesh total exports which stands at
about $25 billion. It is less than 1% of Bangladesh’s exports to the US ($4.9 billion). However it is
the image of Bangladesh to international community which is being damaged.
Although EU has expressed that it may not follow the US, the EU Trade Commissioner has
convened a meeting in Geneva on 8th July to know what steps Bangladesh government and other
stakeholders (BGMEA & BKMEA) will take to take care of safety and improved working conditions
of workers. It is noted the garment industry employs some 4 million people in Bangladesh, 80
percent of them women, thus empowering young women in the country.
However other countries such as, Canada and Australia did not take such harsh action against
Bangladesh, rather their garment buyers are cooperating with the owners of garment factories in
Bangladesh in their efforts in improving safety and working conditions of workers.
Analysts say the suspension of GSP does not affect the export of garments to the US market as it is
not covered by GSP. The garments can continue to be exported to the US by paying duties of
15.3% and in 2012 it is reported the US earned $749.7 millions on export of $4.9 billion of
garment exports from Bangladesh.
Why did the US suspend the GSP for Bangladesh?
It seems obvious that under pressure from AFL-CIO, the US administration found a loophole in the
safety and working conditions of workers and the deaths of thousands of workers following the
collapse of Rana Plaza and fire at Tazrin garment factory have highlighted the poor safety record
and working conditions of workers all over the world.

The powerful trade union of the US– AFL-CIO –favours protectionism in trade. Since US products
cannot compete with products from abroad, they want to protect the jobs in US factories for
members of the trade unions by restricting the entry of foreign products in the American
market. The stance of AFL-CIO is against the trade policy under WTO. As a result they deny the
American consumers the best and cheapest foreign goods as they are generally unconcerned
where they come from when they buy products.
At the hearings at the office of the US Trade Representative concluded in early June, Bangladesh
government senior officials stated that the government was taking all appropriate steps including
a new labour law to address all the issues relating to workers. Given this back ground, many
analysts question whether the poor safety record of workers appears to be the real reason for the
suspension of GSP by the US.
What could be the other reasons?
Many analysts argue there are some strains visible in Bangladesh-US relations, despite the
bilateral partnership- talks at the top officials-level. For example, during the tenure of four and
half years, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina could not make a bilateral visit to the US to
meet with President Obama, while she was able to pay an official bilateral visit and meet with
Russian President Putin this January.
They further argue the suspension of GSP is only a manifestation of its displeasure with the
Bangladesh government and some of the reasons could be as follows:
• The US attaches great importance to good governance, rule of law and makes great efforts
against corruption. It seems on these issues, the US is disappointed with the current government
in Bangladesh. The cancellation of the World Bank’s loan for Padma Bridge on the allegation of
“conspiracy of corruption” is not gone unnoticed by the US.
• Democracy is more than just elections. It’s about ensuring that people can have their voices
heard peacefully. The mass arrests of top leaders of BNP without bail for some weeks are seen
contrary to the spirit of multi-party democracy and did not help the democratic image of the
government.
• US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton during her visit to Dhaka in May 2012 reportedly expressed
concerns on “disappearances” of citizens and on “violent demonstrations which “exacted a heavy
toll on poorest people”. She urged “all political actors to work together for good of this
country.” Violence on the streets and political instability in the country provide an opportunity
for extremist elements exploit the situation and they may raise again their ugly heads, according
to the US.
• The US wants an inclusive, fair and credible 10th parliamentary election (to be held on any date
between 26th October and 24th January next year) and the failure of the government to resolve
as yet this issue with the BNP through political process does not augur well for democracy,
according to the US. The US may have found streak of authoritarianism of the government in
dealing with major opposition parties and with some media.

• The government’s treatment with Professor Yunus who received the highest honour from the
US President and the US Congress, to put it mildly, has not gone down well with the US
administration.
• The failure of prosecution of the alleged murderer of labour leader Aminul Islam has infuriated
the AFL-CIO and the US Ambassador several times urged for thorough investigation leading to
detection and punishment of the culprit.
The US has only suspended (not cancelled) the GSP facilities and put a road map to get it
restored. US ambassador Dan Mozena reportedly mentioned that the suspension would be
withdrawn if the labour environment improved. “Bangladesh has to show that incidents like Rana
Plaza and Tazrin Fashions would never happen again,” Mozena told reporters after a function at a
city hotel. The suspension appears to be signal to the government to lift up their game consistent
with democratic principles and practices.
Why Bangladesh is important to the US?
Despite the suspension of GSP, the US has been appreciative of this government’s strong action to
root out the terrorist elements from the soil of Bangladesh and as part of the effort, the
government has continued to address the problems of money laundering and weak border-
controls to ensure that Bangladesh does not become a terrorist safe-haven. Its normalization of
relations and connectivity with India is fully supported by the US.
Which ever government is elected in Bangladesh, the country is strategically important for the US
because of its geographical position. Bangladesh shares borders with India and a rising reformist
Myanmar and is close to China. The country stands as a bridge between South Asia and South East
Asia.
Furthermore Bangladesh has access to the Indian Ocean through the Bay of Bengal which is
commercially and strategically important. The US companies are interested in exploring the off-
shore blocks in the Bay of Bengal.
Bangladesh is a good market for American goods and 60% of its economy is connected with global
economy. In recent years there has been the convergence in broad economic policies, namely
encouragement of private sectors and de-regulation, among major political parties.
Bangladesh nationals have settled in America in thousands and as of 2012 there are about
150,000 Bangladeshi-Americans in the US and most of them are skilled and professionals. In
Michigan State one Bangladeshi-American was elected in the State Assembly.
Bangladesh provides the largest peacekeeping personnel at the UN conflict zones and is well
appreciated internationally for their performance.
Many strategists suggest that the US is interested to constitute a kind of security (not military)
alliance to confront North East Asia’s instability and China’s supremacy in the Asia-Pacific region
with India, Australia, Philippines and Japan. Bangladesh and Myanmar could also be included in
the loop.
Therefore for all these reasons, it is not difficult to see why the US will seek a partnership with
Bangladesh now and in future.

9. Students Politics and Bangladesh.
Education is the backbone of a nation. But most of the time our political leaders forget this truth.
They favour their rough political game over education. Instead of pens, they favour guns for
students. Thus, today our educational institutions are oriented not to education and talent rather
guns and gatherings. However, our students have a glorious history when they played leading part
in making the nation free from foreign occupation, repression and in establishing the rights of the
people. Then student organisations were oriented to students' interests as well as the greater
welfare of the nation. But with the passage of time, they became the front associations of the
political parties. Today our political leaders are playing double game. When in government they
want the students to keep themselves aloof from politics. When in opposition, on the other hand,
they want them to take a leading part in politics. The present controversy over banning students'
organisations/institutions is also the result of the double standard of our politicians.
Compared to pre-liberation student's politics, the nature and characteristics of our present day
students' organisations has changed a lot.
Firstly, student politics is considered as an important basis of political power in national politics.
Students are now powerful not only in their own organisations/academic institutions but in their
parties also.
Secondly, nowadays students politics is neither people oriented nor education oriented rather it is
oriented toward personal interest and power. Their movements are not for the students but only
to strengthen their position on the campus. They are not the student leaders rather power elites
of our society.
Thirdly, in the past, the students were to protest against oppression, repression and injustice.
They were to move for humanity against brutality. Unfortunately, such character of our students'
organisations has changed. The kind of our present day student politics is mercenary, rent-seeking
violence and crime loving.
Fourthly, another important trend of our student politics is confrontation between rival student
organisations to take control of a specific region on institution. For this, even they do not hesitate
to kill their opponents. The most devilish of their activities is that they sometimes kill their own
cadres only to create a troublesome situation in their respective institutions.
Fifthly, all the terrorist groups of students are booked by politicians who use them to perpetuate
their position in and outside the party.
Sixthly, the students at large matter little to the leaders who capture halls, manipulate business
bids and hoard benefits and climb the socio-economic ladder, including even seats in parliament.
So, various student fronts are just a reflection of the main political parties whose immediate goals
are more to do with grabbing power and enjoying it while it lasts.

The arguments that are generally put against students' taking any interest in politics because
students are immature and it is likely that they will be easily misguided by clever agents of
political parties. Even the present status of student politics in our country is enough to prove such
claim. Through active participation of students in politics, students are being derailed and today
the educational institutions of our country have become the fighting grounds. Students are more
familiar with guns than books. Thus if we fail to make the education free from politics, we would
remain backward in this ever-changing world. Those who support the banning of students politics,
they argue that student politics is the source of many socio-political crime and disorders in the
country. It has become a threat to the right development of our country.
Overall, a student is expected to devote his time and effort in studies, rather than involve
himself/herself in the rough and tumbling way of politics. Studies and politics are in fact
diametrically opposite attributes and they are but incompatible. It is, however unfortunate, that
money and power attract the youth to it. This is for, in the words of G Bernard Shaw, a person
with political aspirations "knows nothing and he/she thinks he/she knows everything. That points
clearly to a political career."
Politics is no longer a noble service that it used to be. It was associated with social service and a
political worker was first and foremost a social worker, or reformer. During our struggle for
independence it was these social workers that spread our patriotic leaders' message throughout
the length and breadth of the country. They were also in the forefront for unifying the country
and reforming the society, by educating the public on the social evils like child marriage,
untouchability etc. Ever since independence politics has vitiated the political atmosphere of the
country, with the morality and ethics touching an all-time low. It is now a full-fledged profession,
where the power and pelf of office turns one's fortune overnight, by resorting to corruption.
It is unfortunate to see the students being increasingly exploited by political parties, for their own
selfish interest. They exploit the young blood, for their dirty work by using them to promote their
divisive and petty politics. At times they also exhort them to violence, for their perceived or
drummed up grievances to get political mileage. Quite often many a promising youth's career is
ruined, because of their mechanisation. This is a very dangerous sign, for the impressionable mind
of the student can be easily led astray. The students should, therefore, not take part in politics.
The political parties should behave responsibly and not involve students in their dirty work. They
should desist from doing so, for it portends a great danger to the youth, who are the future of the
country.
On the other hand, students' indiscipline is another burning problem. Students' indiscipline is
something ailing to our cultural ethos. Our rich cultural history is proof of the high regard that
students had for their teachers and the teachers had in turn for his students. The problem has
assumed gigantic proportions and threatens to vitiate and destroy academic atmosphere of the
institutions. It is quite common to see students resorting to strikes, boycotting examinations and
even taking law into their own hands, for sometimes real, but quite often imaginary grievances.
They behave more like industrial and political workers, rather than as students. To understand this
metamorphosis; we shall have to examine the causes for this radical transformation.

Students today are a more pampered by their parents. This makes them at times get
unreasonable protection for them, thus distorting their value system of right or wrong. To add to
this, we have excessive external influence of powerful people, to safeguard the interest of
misguided elements.
There is, however, a remedy for this ill, but it requires a strong resolve and a political will to
address the problem, before it becomes unmanageable. As a first step there is need for a clear
education policy, stressing more vocational and professional education. This will ensure that only
serious students go for higher studies, while the non-serious ones can opt for vocational and
professional training. It will reduce the strength of students in colleges and universities and help in
safeguarding the sanctity of these institutions. The vocational training at the same time will help
other students, by preparing them better for life, taking care of their frustration.
The government should show the political will, in banning party politics by students and teachers;
moreover these educational institutions are the temples of learning and should be left to
academicians. There should be minimum interference by administration or any other external
authority.
There should also be periodic parent-teacher's interaction so that the parents are apprised of the
performance of their wards. The last but the most important is the role of teachers. They should
restrain from ungentlemanly acts, like going on strikes, practicing unfair means to accumulate
wealth etc. These are highly unbecoming qualities of a teacher. They should be a real guru, in the
true sense of the word, setting an example for the pupils to emulate.
This is the only panacea which can help us to get rid of indiscipline of students. It, however, calls
for a determined effort on the part of all of us, to appreciate the gravity of the problem. We must
rise above our narrow selves, political interest and restore the sanctity of the educational
institutions. This would make the students law-abiding and disciplined citizens, worthy of being
torch-bearers of the nation.
We must not forget that the principal duty of the students is to mind their lessons and not to take
part in public affairs. They are to acquire knowledge to train up their mind and to prepare for the
duties of life. It they take too prominent a part in political affairs, they cannot but deflect from
their main occupation. However, there is a demarcation between taking an intelligent interest in
politics and taking part in public affairs. This line should never be crossed.

10. Measures to Improve Bangladesh Cricket
Cricket is undoubtedly a glorious chapter of Bangladesh now-a-days. Bangladesh cricket team is
achieving success in recent times. But the successes are not coming at a rate what is expected
as they are playing cricket at the highest level since 2000 when they got test status. It’s not only
the players who are behind the reasons. If the whole cricket structure works properly and well
then it is sure, Bangladesh will be able to do better in the years to come.
Since Bangladesh is an emerging country in cricket context, it is high time for them to dream
much more advancement day by day and prepare their plans effectively to be succeeded.
Proverb says, man can do what man has done. So, why shouldn’t Bangladesh be able to do the
same like Australia, England, South Africa or even India or Pakistan? To be Successful in cricket,
first of all, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has to be a rigid one. It should be democratic in its
operation and decision making, free from any political influence and must upgrade its
managing system avoiding old traditions.
It is acknowledged that, better coaching is the important factor to upgrade, gear up, improve
and enrich a team. In this competitive cricket world, it is must to have specialized coaches in
every part of cricket game. Cricket teams at various levels must have specialized batting,
fielding, fast bowling and spin bowling coaches. By the touch of specialized coaches cricketers
can enhance their cricketing skills. For this, Bangladesh will have to manage some best coaches
of the world anyhow. Besides quality coaches even psychologist can be appointed for the
cricketers for building their mental strengths, as sometimes it is said cricket is more a game of
mental ability than skills.
Moreover, it is also necessary to make more training schools like BKSP (Bangladesh Krira
Shiksha Protishthan). At least 7 branches of BKSP should be urgently established in 7 divisions
where 7 under 13, under 15, under 17 and under 19 teams will take regular training. This
process will generate more skillful and talented players. Besides, regular age level tournament
should be organized regularly where these players will have the opportunity to test their skills.
This process is seemed to be fruitful for Bangladesh cricket since players like Shakib Al Hasan,
Mushfiqur Rahim, Mashrafee Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal and so on have come into action from this.
Besides, Bangladesh should continue High Performance Unit campaign regularly. It works as a
strong linker between the national team and cricketers in pipeline. Since Bangladesh is
underperformer in test cricket and sometimes question arises about Bangladesh’s test status,
they should emphasis in playing more lists a matches of 4 days. Various leagues should be
arranged regularly while cricket authority is guilty of not arranging 4 days matches regularly.
One of the challenges for Bangladesh cricket is the absence of quality fast bowling wickets
where ball swings and bounces. These are the conditions the Bangladesh team tends to
struggle with when they go overseas. So, Bangladesh should concentrate on making quality fast
and bouncy wickets and start programs like “pacer hunt” for getting new faces who can bowl
fast. Later proper training should be given to them for becoming a good fast bowler. Cricket
authority should also be dynamic in cricket diplomacy with the ICC (International Cricket
Council) and other cricket boards and arrange more matches for Bangladesh. Regular
competitive cricket with them will definitely benefit Bangladesh cricket. Moreover, nationwide
cricket competition of various types should be arranged every year. Inter-district, inter-city,
inter-club, inter-college/university/organizations cricket competitions should be patronized
properly with government and private sectors combined guidance.

11. Social Safety Nets Program
Social Safety Nets (SSN) are currently selected throughout the developing world including
Bangladesh to address poverty and deprivation. Bangladesh has a wide range of Social Safety Net
Programmes (SSNPs) which addresses various forms of perils and vulnerability in an attempt to
lessen poverty through direct transfer of wealth to the poor. Spending of SSNPs is increasing also.
Bangladesh started the social safety net programs in the early 70's.
Social safety nets, or "socioeconomic safety nets", are non-contributory transfer programs seeking
to prevent the poor or those vulnerable to shocks and poverty from falling below a certain
poverty level. Safety net programs can be provided by the public sector (the state and aid donors)
or by the private sector (NGOs, private firms, charities, and informal household transfers). Safety
net transfers include:
•Cash transfers
• Food-based programs such as supplementary feeding programs and food stamps, vouchers, and
coupons
• In-kind transfers such as school supplies and uniforms
• Conditional cash transfers
• Price subsidies for food, electricity, or public transport
• Public works
• Fee waivers and exemptions for health care, schooling and utilities
On average, spending on safety nets accounts for 1 to 2 percent of GDP across developing and
transition countries, though sometimes much less or much more. In the last decade, a visible
growing expertise in various areas of safety nets has taken place.
Safety nets are part of a broader poverty reduction strategy interacting with and working
alongside of social insurance; health, education, and financial services; the provision of utilities
and roads; and other policies aimed at reducing poverty and managing risk.
Safety net programs can play four roles in development policy:-
• Safety nets redistribute income to the poorest and most vulnerable, with an immediate impact
on poverty and inequality
• Safety nets enable households to make productive investments in their future that they may
otherwise miss, e.g. education, health and income generating opportunities
• Safety nets help households manage risk, at least offsetting harmful coping strategies and at
most providing an insurance function which improves livelihood options
• Safety nets allow governments to make choices that support efficiency and growth
• The safety net as a whole should provide coverage to three rather different groups:-

• The chronic poor:
Even in "good times" these households are poor. They have limited access to income and the
instruments to manage risk, and even small reductions in income can have dire consequences for
them.
• The transient poor:
This group lives near the poverty line, and may fall into poverty when an individual household or
the economy as a whole faces hard times.
• Those with special circumstances:
Sub-groups of the population for whom general stability and prosperity alone will not be
sufficient. Their vulnerability may stem from disability, discrimination due to ethnicity,
displacement due to conflict, "social pathologies" of drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence, or
crime. These groups may need special programs to help them attain a sufficient standard of well-
being.
In Bangladesh, helping the distressed people is really a challenging task. Recent data proved that
around 30 per cent of the poor are still outside the safety net (HIES, 2010). The government has
introduced a few safety net programmes through Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF), Vulnerable
Group Development (VGD), allowances for widows and disabled as well as elderly people. On the
other hand, non- government organizations (NGOs) are also providing the distressed people with
several benefits.
Launched in 1972, SSNPs now account for 2.13 per cent of GDP (FY 2013-14) ,11.40 percent of the
budget. However, since around 30 per cent of Bangladeshi households live in poverty, the
programmes leave out 16.36million poor people. To implement various programmes under social
safety net, a total allocation of Tk. 222,491 crore taka has been made in the budget of FY 2013-14
which represents 11.40 per cent of the total expenditure. Government and Non-government
Organizations (NGOs) launch different programmes to provide job opportunities for the poor
(Economic Review: 2012).
Social safety nets programs in Bangladesh are
Old Age Allowance, Allowances for the Widow, Deserted and Destitute Women, Allowances for
the Financially Insolvent Disabled, Maternity Allowance Programme for the Poor, Lactating
Mothers, Honorarium for Insolvent Freedom Fighters, Honorarium & Medical Allowances for
Injured Freedom Fighters, Grants for Residents in Government Orphanages and Other Institutions,
Capitation Grants for Orphan Students in Non-govt. Orphanages, General Relief Activities, Block
Allocation for Disaster Management, Non-Bengali Rehabilitation, Allowances for Distressed
Cultural Personalities/Activitists, Pension for Retired Government Employees and their Families,
Ration for Shaheed Family and Injured Freedom Fighters, Stipend for Disabled Students, Grants
for the Schools for the Disabled, Housing Support, Agriculture Rehabilitation etc .and in total 47
sectors.

New Development Projects has also been taken which are -Reaching Out of School Children, Child
Sensitive Social Protection, Urban Primary Health care Services Delivery Project, Extension of Palli
Daridra Bimochon Foundation (PDBF), Activities for Poverty Alleviation and Self Employment,
Integrated Support to Poverty and Inequality, Reduction through Enterprise Development.
Almost two-fifths of our population appears to be poor in the sense that the resources at their
disposal do not meet their basic needs. This volume is roughly similar at the time of independence
in 1971. A variety of SSNPs have existed in Bangladesh for decades-- employment generation
schemes, food subsidies, targeted health and nutritional support programmes etc. As we know,
SSNPs are a significant component of Bangladesh's antipoverty strategy. PRSP documents identify
social protection strategies as one of the pillars of poverty reduction, which include: (i) ensuring
macroeconomic stability to ensure pro-poor growth; (ii) improving governance for sustaining
growth and poverty reduction; (iii) investing in human development to enhance human
capabilities; and (iv) implementing social protection programmes to reduce vulnerabilities and
improve income-generating opportunities.
12. Share market crash and the reasons behind the disaster.
The 2010-12 Bangladesh share market scam is part of the ongoing share market turmoil in the two
stock exchanges – the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and the Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE). The
crash is deemed to be a scam aggravated by government failure. The stock market was in
turbulence throughout much of 2009, with the long bullish trend starting to turn grim. An abrupt
crash of the share market in 2011 had sparked violent protests from the investors. It was the
biggest one-day fall in the Bangladesh stock market's 55-year history. It is estimated that over 3.5
million people – many of them small-scale individual investors - had lost their money because of
the sharp plunge in share prices.
When there is more than 10 per cent loss within a few days in the market, it is called stock market
crash. "Stock market crash is a sharp and unexpected decline of the market prices for a very short
period of time, usually accompanied by the decline of many other assets' prices." It causes
significant capital losses to investors and speculators. The market participants become panicked
which leads to more losses.
The market turmoil began this time with the entrance of GrameenPhone into the capital market,
when the index rose by 22 per cent in a single day on November 16, 2009. DSE General Index
soared to its highest levels from October to December 2010, with the peak on December 5, 2010
at 8,918 points. DSE's index on January 3, 2010, was at 4568.40 and went up at a staggering 4,350
points - a 95.23 per cent increase! On January 10, 2011, trading on the DSE was halted after it fell
by 660 points, or 9.25 per cent, in less than an hour - the biggest one-day fall in the 55 years of the
bourse. CSE also met the same fate.

Reasons behind share market crash:
Different analysts found different factors affecting the stock market crash. The reasons of the
crashes pointed out by market analysts, economists and different organizations are summarized
below.
1) Margin call and Liquidity

2) Scarcity of reliable information
3) Insider Trading and dishonest regulation
4) Faulty Software and surveillance program
5) Playing foolish rule by BB and SEC.
6) Not punishing to gamblers who do fiduciary activates time to time.
7) Lack of proper knowledge about this sophisticated market among investors.
Investors took to the streets in protest. Immediate measures were taken by the regulatory body,
Securities and Exchange Commission and Bangladesh Bank, which relaxed its conservative
measures, to pacify the fall. Within December 2010 and January 2011, the DGEN index fell from
8,500 by 1,800 points, a total 21 per cent fall, sending the market into further turmoil.
Investigation committee finds massive manipulation in share market:
A high-powered committee investigating the stock market debacle found heavy manipulation in
the stock market and has blamed the market regulator for failing to oversee the situation.
Some suggestions for market improvement:
1) Sponsor-directors' mandatory holding of 2.0 per cent shares individually and together 30 per
cent shares and book building method in IPO have been developed.
2) Adoption of software and surveillance team to monitor overall trading activities, trustworthy
IPO approval process, and actual book building process should be introduced with offloading
government shares.
3) Margin loan decision should be taken by broker houses and merchant banks, not SEC.
4) Insider trading should be strictly prohibited. Tools for regulators should be suggested that
prevent this kind of crashes in future.
5) Regulators should perform their job honestly and sincerely and SEC needs honest officials.
6) Insider trading should be prohibited; omnibus accounts should be converted into BO accounts.
7) The govt. should announce incentives through SEC to attract companies to the capital market.
8) Actions should be taken against those who were involved in the recent stock market crash.
9) Improvement in security laws and penalty for breaking those, balancing of demand and supply
of shares, and protection against any kind of manipulation should be ensured.

13. Shadow of Communalism
Attacks on the minority communities across the country over the last few months have brought
shame and ignominy for the country. Murder, loot, arson and even rapes that are being reported
from across the country have shattered the façade of communal peace and harmony that we had
long nurtured. These despicable acts, perpetrated by some criminal elements of the majority
Muslim community on the religious minorities, have seriously tarnished the image of Bangladesh.
While normalcy has returned to national life after months of political agitation and violence, the
attacks on the minorities, especially on the Hindu communities, are going on unabated. A year-
long political violence followed by the communal disturbance has taken the nation down few
rungs on the Failed State Index (FSI). All that the nation gained over the last few years in
international respectability was lost in a violent frenzy. While the administration promises
punishment for the perpetrators, the minority communities continue to suffer physically,
economically, and emotionally. Their religious freedom too is violated regularly with the
destruction of their temples and idols. If the state cannot guarantee their security, the minorities
will have no option but to migrate to India, which many of the perpetrators of violence want and
which might further damage the already tarnished image of Bangladesh. Communalism's multi-
headed hydra had been dormant for a long time within society. Especially over the last two
decades or so, the poison of communalism has been infecting the Bengali Muslims as never
before.
Despite religious, cultural and economic differences, the Hindus and Muslims, along with a tiny
Buddhist and Christian minority, had been living in harmony and peace for centuries in
Bangladesh. However, communal harmony started deteriorating rapidly by the third decade of
the 20th century with the Indian National Congress represented largely by the Hindus and the
Muslim League (ML) demanding a separate homeland for the Muslims. The British, through its
insidious policy of divide and rule, widened the gulf between the two major religious
communities. The partition plan for India gained huge popular support in Bengal. The reason
behind Bengali Muslim's support for Pakistan movement was not so much for a separate Muslim
nationhood, as for the land reform (Bengal Tenancy Act) that the Muslim League promised to the
battered peasantry of Bengal. Bengal's Muslim peasantry saw in Pakistani state a hope to get rid
of the absentee landlords and usurious money lenders, who were mostly upper-class Hindus living
in Calcutta and other urwban centres. It is a little known fact today that the scheduled caste
Hindus of Bengal, led by their leader Jogendra Nath Mondol and his political party “Tafsili
Federation” supported the partition plan and the creation of Pakistan in 1947. With the support
of the Scheduled Caste members of the Bengal Legislative Assembly, Muslim League formed the
ministry in Bengal. Thus, on the eve of the partition in 1947, Bengal was the only Muslim majority
province where ML was able to form a majority government; it was not so in the Punjab, Sind,
NWFP or Baluchistan, which constitute Pakistan today. Jogedra Nath Mondol, who developed a
personal friendship with Mr. Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was made the first Law minister of
Pakistan and was for some time heading the constitution sub-committee of the Pakistani
Parliament. Jinnah promised a secular Pakistan where every citizen would be treated equally,
irrespective of his/her religion, race or ethnicity. These promises were soon shelved with the
death of Mr. Jinnah in September 1948. Pakistan was to be an Islamic Republic, an experiment
that proved to be disastrous for not only the minorities in Pakistan, but is now leading Pakistan
into the abyss of darkness. A disheartened man, Jogendra Nath, resigned from the cabinet and
migrated to India in 1951. The exodus of the Hindus started, in fact, from 1946, when serious
communal disturbances occurred in Noakhali, Narayangonj, Khulna and other parts of Eastern
Bengal, mostly as an aftermath of communal disturbances in Bihar. Extremist elements within ML
fanned communal frenzy in Bengal with the aim of displacing the Hindus from the landed
properties and ultimately grabbing the same for themselves. The migration process intensified
with the partition in August 1947. It may be recalled here that according to census in 1941,
minorities, mostly Hindus, were almost 30% of the population of what now constitutes
Bangladesh. The percentage kept declining in every census; they were down to 23% by 1951,
19.6% by 1961 and 14.6% by 1974 when the first census of Bangladesh took place. The trend
continues even today; in the census of 2001 the minorities were 10.3% and in 2011 census they
were down to 9.4%. The decline of percentage of minority population indicates that there is an
outward migration. Most of the elite Bengali Hindus have left Bangladesh over the last 60 years,
leaving a sense of hopelessness prevailing among the minority community. The departure of
Hindu teachers, doctors, lawyers and business entrepreneurs since partition had left a void that
was difficult to fill in a short term. The minority community, mostly lower caste Hindus, left
behind in Bangladesh, was virtually leaderless and increasingly marginalized.
In the early years of Pakistan, the progressive elements of the then East Bengal set up a political
opposition aiming to establish a secular society in which the minorities would be treated as equal
citizens. Thus, in the first provincial election in East Bengal in 1954, a coalition of secularist,
progressive parties under the banner of United Front trounced the ruling Muslim League, giving a
new ray of hope to the minorities. Incidentally, this was the election that gave 27% of the seats to
the minorities, exactly the same number as their percentage in the country. However, this
election was a short-lived fantasy; the United Front government was soon dismissed by the
central government of Pakistan, dominated by the ML. Next big setback for the Hindu community
was the communal riots in January 1964. As a consequence of the theft of a holy relic from a
Muslim shrine in Indian Kashmir, the migrant Muslims from India, commonly referred to as the
'Biharis', who had settled in various urban centres started revenge attacks on the Hindu
community. They were encouraged by some of the ML leaders and local musclemen who were
looking for an opportunity to grab Hindu properties. The trouble started in Khulna at the
instigation of Mr. Khan A. Sabur, then a central minister. The riot soon escalated to other cities,
often aided and abetted by the ML functionaries. Progressive political elements and civil society
formed Danga Protorodh Committees to resist communal forces. Leading newspapers came out
with editorials and a poster titled “Purbo Pakistan Rukhiya Darao” (East Pakistan rise up in
resistance) that urged Bengali Muslims to stand beside their Hindu brethrens was widely
circulated in the community. On 15 January 1964, Mr. Amir Hussain Choudhury, a prominent
citizen of Dhaka, was stabbed to death by the rioters while he was engaged in relief activities in
Hindu localities of old Dhaka. Similarly, Father Richard Novak, a respected teacher of Notre Dame
College was killed in Narayangonj while trying to help the Hindu community there. These incidents
triggered a shock that soon snowballed into a possible riot between the Bengalis and the
Biharis. Leading Bengali Muslim leaders of the time such as Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ataur
Rahman Khan, Tofazzal Husain Manik Mian etc played a prominent role in calming down the
situation and restoring peace in the province. Yet many, including Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, were
arrested on charge of anti-state activities for printing and distributing the poster “Purbo Pakistan
Rukhiya Darao”; the authority saw the poster as an attempt to subvert the integrity of Pakistan.
Riots in 1964 created a new bondage between Bengali Muslims and Hindus hitherto unseen.
Despite the best efforts by progressive forces, the communal clash in January-February 1964
resulted in migration of about half a million Hindus into India; many were settled in central Indian
forest of Dandakaranya, where they lead a pitiable life of poverty.
In September 1965, Pakistan's misadventure into Kashmir backfired. In the war that lasted 17
days, Indian forces made advances on to the outskirts of Lahore and Sialkot and threatened
Pakistani heartland. Almost as a reprisal, the Pakistani authority targeted the Hindus in East
Pakistan. Many were arrested as Indian agents, their business houses closed and their properties
confiscated. A law titled “Enemy Property Act” gave the government sweeping power to take over

Hindu property. The Hindus were again migrating to India or elsewhere. Then came 1971, when
the Hindus were once again targeted by the Pakistan Army for genocidal killing. Members of the
right-wing political parties, such as Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim League, collaborated with the Army in
their killing spree, often acting as a guide to pinpoint the Hindu houses. Of the ten million
refugees that reached India, a large proportion of those were Hindus. After the war was over in
December 1971, there was a sense of security for the first time among the Hindus of Bangladesh;
they felt that they are now in a land that they can call their home.
However, with the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975, the
communal forces again raised their heads and the minority communities were once again facing
an uncertain future. The country moved away from secularism to Islamism, however cosmetic it
might have been. The successive military governments in order to gain legitimacy sought the
political support of the rightist forces. Parties such as Muslim League and Jamaat-e-Islami which
had been outlawed since Liberation were allowed again as a counter to secular forces. While
President Zia brought in some superficial amendments to the constitution to make it look more
Islamic, President Ershad made Islam the state religion. Ershad's regime saw a phenomenal
growth of Madrassas, especially the Quomi Madrassas, across the country. These madrasas
produce thousands of graduates each year who are the vanguard of the Islamisation process.
Although President Ershad was pushed out of office through a mass upsurge in December 1990,
the Islamisation process that he started continued to gather force. As a consequence of the
destruction of Babri mosque in India on 6 December 1992, there was a flare up of communal
violence in Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. Inquilab, an Islamist newspaper, ran highly
inflammatory headlines to incite communal riot in the country. Many Hindu houses, temples and
business concerns were looted and burnt. The government appeared to be vacillating in curbing
violence. For the first time, the progressive elements within the Bengali Muslim community
appeared to be cowed down in front of religious extremists. Over the last two decades, we have
seen a gradual rise of the Islamist forces and a consequent rise in communal violence. The attack
on the Buddhist temples in Ramu on 29-30 September 2012 was particularly horrendous because
the victims identified their long-time Muslim neighbours as the perpetrators. The spate of
violence against the minority community is still continuing as I write this paper at the end of
January 2014. While most attacks are blamed on the religious fanatics, one cannot discount the
hands of the local goons in terrorizing the minorities to occupy their landed properties. It is time
to take a deep look at the communal situation in the country. Police and legal actions, while it
must be prompt and stern, are never enough. We need to look into the social fabric that has gone
violent and communal. Our education system, especially Madrassa education is long due for a
major overhaul. We need to bring back the inter-communal harmony that we cherished so long.
Why the Muslim neighbours are not resisting the mob attacks on the Hindu community? Why are
we not able to produce people like Mr. Amir Hossain Choudhury who gave his life for the defence
of the minorities? Why have the Islamic scholars not been raising their voice against
communalism? Why don't we see mass demonstration of solidarity on the streets? These are the
questions we need to ask ourselves. A democratic society must accommodate the minority –
political, ethnic and religious. The minorities are already demanding proportionate representation
in the Parliament, cabinet and administration. An analysis of the composition of parliamentary
seats and the cabinet portfolios over the decades will reveal that the minorities remain
underrepresented. Their representation in administration, especially in the law enforcement
agencies and defence forces, needs to increase. We need to address the genuine concerns of
those who are economically disadvantaged, politically marginalized and socially ostracized. We
need to hear the voice of the religious and ethnic minorities. It is time for introspection.

14. Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant
Atomic Energy Commission in joint venture with ROSATOM. Ruppur Nuclear Power Plant is a
proposed 2,000 megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant of Bangladesh. The objective is to ensure
cost effective and environment friendly production of electricity in the country. It is hoped that
the nation would get rid of the present burning power crises very soon. Ruppur Nuclear Power
Plant is the first nuclear power plant that is under construction by Bangladesh
The proposal was first raised in 1961. Government took 253.90 acre of land of current place at
that year to build the plant. In 1963 the plant was approved. Discussions took place with the
Canadian government in 1964 and 1966. Since then a number of feasibility studies were
conducted, each of which established that the project was technically and economically feasible
.Discussions with the governments of Swedish and Norwegian were also going on in those years.
However, no real progress was achieved. After independence of Bangladesh, the Government of
Bangladesh started discussion with the Soviet Union in 1974 however, it did not see light. Finally,
in 2009 the Bangladesh government again started discussion with Russian government and on 13
February, the two governments signed a MoU(Memorandum of Understanding). In February
2011, Bangladesh reached an agreement with Russia to build the 2,000 megawatt (MW) Ruppur
Nuclear Power Plant with two reactors, each of which will generate 1,200 MW of power.
The nuclear power plant will be built at Ruppur, on the banks of the Padma River, in the Ishwardi
subdistrict of Pabna, in the northwest of the country. The RNPP is estimated to cost up to US$2
billion, and start operating by 2021.
Although hopeful the plant would help curtail the country’s power shortage, many were confused
about how the plant would develop. The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant (RNPP) will be constructed
within a kilometer of the Lalon Shaha Bridge on the River Padma. The project site falls under the
Pakshi union, and the plant authority has acquired around 260 acre of land.
RNPP might cause health issues likes skin diseases for the locals, or in the case of natural
calamities such as an earthquake, it might blow up altogether. A power plant like this might give
job opportunities to the people of the area. It will also provide better electricity supply, which will
be a great thing for local residents.
Abu Sayeed Mohammad Feroz, Chairman of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission (BAEC), said
nuclear power is an environmentally-friendly and cost-effective option for electricity generation.

“In this process there is no emission of carbon-dioxide, which is a major factor for global warming
and climate changes. Nor does it produce any harmful chemical that causes disasters like acid rain
or the depletion of the ozone layer, affecting bio-diversity. That is why this option is safe. Scientist
also claims that Nuclear power generation would bring a revolutionary change in the economy of
the country and improve the standard of life of its people. They said presently there are 437
nuclear power plants in 31 countries around the globe from where 14% of the total electricity is
produced. Bangladesh plans to produce 1,000MW of electricity by June 2017 and another
1,000MW by 2022 from the RNPP. The tenure of the plant would be 60 years, with options to
extend it by another 20 years.
15. RMG Sector of Bangladesh.

Introduction:
The RMG industry has been Bangladesh’s key export industry and a main source of foreign
exchange for the last 25 years. As a result of an insulated market guaranteed by Multi-Fibre
Agreement (MFA) of General Agreement Tariff and Trade (GATT) and supportive policies of the
Government of Bangladesh (GoB), it attained a high profile in terms of foreign exchange earnings,
exports, industrialization and contribution to the GDP within a short period. In less than a decade
it increased its exports, foreign exchange earnings, and contribution to the GDP by 4.39 %. In
2011-12 Bangladesh was the world’s second largest exporter of apparel and registered $19.1
billion of ready-made garments exports, a total which accounted for 13% of the country’s GDP.
The industry currently provides employment for an estimated 3.6 million people. United States of
America is the largest importer of Bangladeshi RMG products, followed by Germany, United
Kingdom, France and other European Union countries.
Background:
The export-oriented readymade garments (RMG) sector in Bangladesh, started its journey in late
1970s as a small non-traditional sector of export. Bangladesh exported RMG worth only US$ 69
thousand when Reaz Garments exported its first consignment to USA in 1978. The progress since
the early 1980s has been simply phenomenal. It has by now become a colossal industry, earning
the lion's share of the country's foreign exchange and providing the nation's women with the
largest formal employment.
Contribution to Economy:
 RMG roughly covers 76 per cent of the total export of the country and is the highest
earning industry in the economy.
 RMG export constitutes more than 16% of GDP.
 More than 25 million people are directly or indirectly dependent on this sector for their
livelihoods.
 Generating employment and contributing to property alleviation.
 Accelerating industrial growth through exports and leading growth of ancillary industries.
 Enhanced trade which has helped Bangladesh to shift to a trade dependent country from
an aid dependent country.
Strengths:
 Low wage/cheap labor

 Price advantage
 Diversity
 Capacity
 International standard quality control process
 30 years experience in garments manufacturing
 Quick learning and dedicated workforce at competitive cost
 Resilient and entrepreneurial spirit
 Rapidly moving toward higher end of market
 Adoption of environment friendly and green concepts
 Rapidly developing backward linkage industry
 Policy support
 Financial and bank support
Problems and Issues:
• Low wage
• Irregular payment
• Forceful overtime
• Poor working condition
• Physical and sexual harassment
• Accidents and deaths for safety and security failures
• Lack of marketing tactics
• Absence of on-hand easily middle management
• A small number of manufacturing methods
• Labor unrest/strike
• Political instability
• Lack of training organizations for industrial workers, supervisors and managers.
• Autocratic approach of nearly all the investors

Prospects:
 The Government of Bangladesh has always been concerned about the sector's growth and
has played an active role as a catalyst to solve various complexities, whenever intervention
was necessary.
 The cheap but disciplined and regimented workforce has been key for the success of this
industry.
 The entrepreneur class has been dedicated and motivated to the country's economic
prosperity.
 The quality of the manufactured apparel, which has been increasingly recognized by our
international buyers and end users all over the world.
 Buyers' response has been encouraging through repeat orders. The industry has been
producing all sorts of apparels for all seasons and has managed to get repeat orders for
every season.
 The import policy of Bangladesh has been flexible and friendly for import of accessories.
 Although there are accountable anomalies, the financial institutions, both nationalized and
private, have been serving to assist this sector.
 Readymade garment industries have managed to maintain the confidence of the buying
class and others in the business.
 Although the backward linkage textile industry is not adequate for the needs of the RMG
industry, it has been supporting regular manufacturing and supply systems to some extent.
Recommendations:
 A reasonable wage should be fixed for workers by the government.

 Payment of workers should be released regularly.
 Working conditions should be improved and initiatives should be taken to improve safety
and security issues.
 Training programs should be arranged with a view to developing a skilled and well trained
team of personnel.
 Govt. should regularly monitor the working conditions and safety and security issues of
garments factories to check whether owners of garments factories are concerned about
welfare of their workers.
Conclusion:
Bangladesh RMG industry has come across a long way. It was not only for `cheap labor'.
Entrepreneurship, work ethics, diversity, capacity and policy support also played a major role
here. Buyers look for several types of garments from here in Bangladesh. It is one of the few
countries among the peers who are producing for so many brands like- Wal-Mart, TESCO, GAP,
Nike, PUMA, Adidas etc. Despite lot of bottlenecks, Bangladesh has come up with the branding tag
line of `yet, we deliver'. This is what will keep Bangladesh going.

16. Remittance Flow to Bangladesh
Remittances
Year/Month
In million US dollar In million Taka
2013-2014* 8023.32 526597.86
2012-2013 14461.14 1156460.78
2011-2012 12843.43 1018827.79
2010-2011 11650.32 829928.90
2009-2010 10987.40 760109.59
*: data up to month of January of financial year 2013-2014.
THREE MAJOR COUNTRIES:
KSA + UAE + USA:
2009-10 -- 3,427 (31%) + 1,890 (17%) + 1,451 (13%) = 6,768 (61%)
2010-11 -- 3,290 (28%) + 2,002 (17%) + 1,848 (16%) = 7,140 (61%)
2011-12 -- 3,684 (29%) + 2,404 (19%) + 1,498 (11%) = 7,586 (59%)
2012-13 – 3,829 (26%) + 2,829 (20%) + 1,859 (13%) = 8,517 (59%)
CONTRIBUTION OF REMITTANCE:
1. Used for import,

2. Meeting international obligation,
3. Mitigating unemployment problem,
4. Make balance of payment stable,
5. Import boosted by remittances is a source of additional revenue collection in the form of vat
and import duties,
6. Contribute to exchange rate stability and even to some exchange rate appreciation,
7. Remittance in rural area boosts consumption,
8. Help to expand business in agriculture products and construction materials,
TOOLS FOR INVESTMENT OF REMITTANCE:

The government is offering different savings instruments for the non-resident Bangladesh to
attract remittance that will boost the local economy. The government is offering following savings
instruments:
1. Non-resident foreign currency deposit
2. Resident foreign currency deposit
3. Non-resident investors take account
4. Wage earner development bond
5. US dollar investment bond
6. US dollar premium bond

Both male and female migrant workers contribute to the economy of Bangladesh by sending
remittances. They also bring back new knowledge, skills and technology. Recent studies have
shown that left behind members of migrant families and the return migrants contribute more
compared to non-migrant families in modernizing agriculture by using mechanized equipment,
high quality seeds, insecticide and ensuring adequate irrigation. Migrant families are also
contributing in creating the new trend of rejuvenation of rural economies through cash crop
production, fisheries, poultry etc. Through their improved purchasing power they directly
influence the rural market places.
Besides, over the last nine years Bangladesh could maintain the status of a country with surplus
balance of payment due to constant flow of remittances. Net foreign exchange earning through
migration is 3.3 times higher compared to that from the RBG and 7 times more than the foreign
aid received by the country. Migration is indeed the golden deer of Bangladesh. This piece makes
an assessment of the achievements and concerns in the area of migration in 2013.
Since 2000, in the face of demands from civil society organizations, successive governments of
Bangladesh have taken measures to better govern the sector. Reform of 2006 Overseas
Employment Policy, enactment of 2013 Foreign Employment and Migrant Welfare Act,
decentralized system of online registration of workers are some of the important steps taken by
the government in 2013. However, 2013 is particularly a year of concern for those who monitor
trend of labour migration from Bangladesh. This year the flow of labour migration has reduced
significantly. However, an upward trend of migration from other sending countries to concerned
destinations where Bangladesh sent workers continued.
17. Real Scenario of Corruption in BangladeshPresently

Corruption continued to cause huge loss to the economy and unbearable burden to the common
people. We also saw how corruption killed people. Corrupt forces gained more influence and
power in the policy and governance structure. It unleashed a shameless picture of questionable
accumulation of wealth of people in positions of power inconsistent with legitimate sources of
income. Ever-increasing premium of holding power reinforced the zero-sum game of politics. To
cap it all, indicators of kleptocratic state capture have taken deeper roots.
The right to information act 2009 was passed in the first session, followed by the protection of
information disclosure act in 2011. If effectively enforced, these could go a long way in corruption
control. Among other positive initiatives were anti-corruption training of officials in institutions
funded by public money; second generation Citizen's Charter in public service delivery institutions;
local level IT-supported information centres; and introduction of e-procurement, limited though.
These could have opened opportunities for corruption control in service delivery in relevant
sectors.
Consistent with commitment as a State Party to the UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC),
the anti-money laundering capacity was strengthened, which helped Bangladesh's membership of
the Egmont Group. For the first time a success has been achieved in repatriation of stolen assets.
The National Integrity Strategy has been adopted raising expectations that key institutions of
accountability could move to higher levels of accountability.

However, prospects of genuine results have been severely damaged by corruption-friendly acts
and initiatives that weakened the national integrity system. Independence, integrity and
effectiveness of administration, law enforcement agencies and justice system have continued to
be undermined by partisan political influence. The government has shown just before the end of
their tenure that it was committed to underperform against their own election pledge. The Anti-
corruption Commission Amendment (2013) bill has imposed a mandatory provision on the ACC to
secure prior government permission before filing any case against public officials including judges,
magistrates or public servants for alleged corruption. Imposition of this unconstitutional and
discriminatory provision in a deceitful way that included securing the President's consent in the
darkness of night has practically converted the ACC into a toothless and clawless fat cat.
According to the annual corruption perceptions index of Transparency International, Bangladesh

received 27 points this year in a scale of 0-100, one point higher than last year, which is the same
as in 2011. No room, therefore, for complacence, especially when we remain far below the global
average score of 43, indicating the corruption continues to be a critical challenge for Bangladesh.
More disappointingly, although our ranking has improved from 13th from below in 2012 to 16th,
we have remained the second lowest among South Asian countries, better than only Afghanistan.
On the other hand cost of corruption has continued to grow alarmingly with a particular bias on
the common people with modest means. The National Household Survey 2012 released on
December 28, by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) showed that 63.7% of the surveyed
households have been victims of corruption in one or other selected sector of service delivery.
Most important service delivery sectors affecting people's lives such as law enforcement, land
administration, justice, health, education and local government, remain gravely affected by
corruption.
In terms of implications measured by the amount of bribe, the situation has worsened. In 201,
cost of bribery in the surveyed sectors was estimated at 1.4% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or
8.7% of annual national budget, which has risen now to 2.4% of GDP and 13.4% of annual budget.
The survey also shows that while corruption affects everyone, the poorer sections of the society
suffer more. Cost of petty corruption was estimated to be 4.8% of average annual household
expenditure. More importantly, for households with lowest range of expenditures the rate of loss
is much higher at 5.5% compared to higher spending households for whom it is 1.3%. In other
words, the burden of corruption is more on the poor.
That corruption adversely affects development prospect has been a commonplace wisdom. It is
also well-known that corruption undermines democracy and deprives people of fundamental
human rights. Pervasive corruption erodes trust in leadership and democratic institutions.
Corruption has continued to make access of the poor and disadvantaged to the whole range of
basic services and entitlements like education, health, and nutrition and safety-net conditional
upon their capacity to make unauthorized payments. For public sector employment seekers
bribery and/or partisan political linkage have become more important credential than merit,
experience and expertise, which has caused deep frustration and despair in the society. Especially
for the job-seeking young generation bribery has become the key challenge.

18. Public-Private-Partnership
Public-Private-Partnership is relatively a new concept for Bangladesh. During its first forty years,
the country has gone through rigorous nationalization followed by vigorous privatization. With
taking power by the new government that believes in “Change” or “Din Bodol”, time has come to
try the third dimension, the Public-Private-Partnership. Public Private Partnership is a business
relationship between a private-sector company and a government agency for the purpose of
completing a project that will serve the public. These schemes are sometimes referred to as PPP,
P3 or P3.
Under the PPP initiative the government and public pay contracted prices or fees to the private
sector for purchasing services of the infrastructure that is financed, built, managed, and
maintained by the private sector with the approval and support from the government. Some of
the characteristics of PPP are as follow:
* Private sector arranges resources to build infrastructure.

* Private sector bears the cost of building the infrastructure.
* Private sector bears both the fiduciary and safety related risks related to the construction.
* Government and public avails the service by paying appropriate prices or fees.
* Private sector cannot raise the prices, fees or charges unilaterally.
* PPP initiatives are usually long term (15‐30 years) in nature.
Different PPP Implementation Models:
Different countries are implementing different PPP implementation models. The type of the
model depends on the relevant sector (education, health, transportation) and on the type of the
project itself. Some of the widely used models are:
BOO: The private sector manages the infrastructure belonging to this model on
build‐own‐operate basis.
BOT: The private sector manages the infrastructure belonging to this model on build‐
operate‐transfer basis, i.e. the private sector manages it until a specified time, after which the
government is responsible for management.
BOOT: This is an extended version of the BOT model. Under this model the ownership and
management belongs to the private sector until a specified time.
The Benefits of PPP Initiative:
The government, the private sector investors, and public can all benefit if private sector can be
enticed into infrastructure development under PPP. The likely benefits to the relevant three
parties are as follow:
a) Public Sector:
* Maintaining Economic Stability:

* Gains from Private Sector Innovation and Expertise
*Logical Estimate of Expenditure during the Lifecycle of the Infrastructure

b) Private Sector:
*Expansion of Business
*Innovation
c) Public/Users:
*Accountability
*More Responsible Government
*Guarantee of Safety
Risks Associated with PPP Implementation:
There is no apparent fiduciary risk if infrastructure is developed under public‐private partnership

as government does not invest or invests very little in such schemes. However, there might be
some other risks as follow:
* Loss of ownership of public properties

* Approval of inflated costs
* Overlooked public interest when pricing the services
* Dysfunctional Infrastructure once ownership is handed over to the government
It is possible to reduce risk by formulating appropriate rules and regulations, establishing required
institutional framework, including relevant conditions in the contracts by experts, and monitoring
and supervising on a regular basis.
Bangladesh and PPP:
Bangladesh is the latest country that has entered into the new investment paradigm - the Public
Private Partnership (PPP) over last four years. On one hand, the government has shortage of funds
and on the other the country's infrastructure is required to be developed a lot. So, the
government has taken initiatives to go for attracting private investments from home and abroad.
Bangladesh welcomes PPP investment in the following areas:
* Transport Infrastructure (roads, rail, ports, airport and water transport)

*Power and Energy
* Pure Drinking Water and Sewerage
* Information Technology
* Air Transport and Tourism
* Industry
* Education (particularly secondary and technical) and Research
* Health and Family Welfare
* Housing etc.
In the last three years since 2009-10, the government has allocated total tk. 85 billion funds for
implementing different schemes. But not a single penny was spent. In the FY 2009-10, when the
PPP was included in the development budget for the first time, no money out of tk. 25 billion
allocation was spent. In the following FY 2010-11, the government allocated tk. 30 billion, but
failed to utilize for its planned 15 projects. It has also failed to spend funds from the tk. 30 billion
outlay in FY 2011-12 budget despite inclusion of 16 PPP projects in the development budget.

Legal basis for the PPP in Bangladesh:
The current Government will undertake 5 strategic actions in order to transform the present PPP
framework to a fast and attractive PPP initiative which will ensure extensive participation of
private sector in infrastructure development. They are:
• Reforming the guidelines and institutional framework stated in the present PSIG ‐ 2004
• Setting up a dedicated unit for PPP budget formulation and implementation
• Significant budgetary allocation for the PPP
• Provide tax incentive to investors
• Extensive and continuous publicity of the new PPP initiative.
Present situation of PPP in Bangladesh:
Quoting case studies, Mr Khan said one project out of four major ones taken under the PPP
initiative, came out successful. "Only Meghnaghat 450mw power project was successful, while
Patenga seaport project was cancelled, Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover was distressed, and Sonamasjid
land port was unsuccessful."
He said lack of long-term financing instruments in the PPP projects has emerged as a key
challenge. Foreign currency risk and lack of hedging instruments are also responsible for failure of
many projects. From the view of analyst, local development analyst Mr Zaid Bakht has identified
three major reasons behind the failure in PPP project implementation in Bangladesh. First one is
the failure in identifying priority projects and the second is the lack of proper framework including
institutional, legal and administrative. The third factor relates to the fear of public fund
misappropriation by the private party for the PPP schemes.
Recommendations:
*PPP projects predominately are capital-intensive. A fruitful match among assets, liabilities and
cash flow is crucial.
*planning Commission should be associated with the entire process in a meaningful way.
*It is required to establish a comprehensive policy and regulatory framework for competitive and
transparent bidding
*The legal framework should be able to lay down obligation to private sector partners, keep
provision for cost recovery and address the issue of comprehension.
*There is lack of charity and hesitation regarding how the government will finance infrastructure
development through PPP initiative. There is a need for legal framework for pooling of finances
from various sectors.
*Like many other successful governments of different countries, our government should make the
Ministry of Finance for the in-charge of PPP projects.

19. Parliamentary democracy in Bangladesh
The concept of democracy originated from the Greek words 'demos' and 'rates' which means
people and power respectively. Democracy thus means the power of people. Democracy is a
system of rule by temporary majorities. And parliamentary democracy is the rule of majority
where minority has the right to criticise the ruling party or coalition party.
PD has been being practised in Bangladesh since her birth. Moreover, after few years of
practising, BD went through serious political instability. In the process, by thru courtesy of military
dictators, the govt. Was changed to presidential system. Again in the early nineties as the
democratic political forces got themselves united and succeeded in their fight against the longest
serving dictator, H M Eased, holding of a free and fair election under a neutral caretaker
government paved way for amending the constitution to revert to the parliamentary form of govt.
In 1991.
Four parliaments 5th, 7th, 8th, 9th were elected through popular voting under non partisan
caretaker govt. System and another short lived parliament, the 6th one, was elected amidst
boycott by all mainstream political parties and very low votes turnout.
During the lives of Fifth, Seventh, Eighth and Nine Parliaments, the Opposition, which is an
indispensible component of the system, led by Awami League (AL), Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP), respectively have missed 34%, 43%, 60% and 83.38% of the working days of parliamentary
sessions by boycotting it (CPD-CMI Work Paper-2 and TIB’s Parliament Evaluation Report).
1. The role of the speaker is crucial in the house. He has to protect the of all sections of the house.
As an umpire, he has to see that rules of the house are observed by all. The speaker is bound to go
by constitution and rules of procedures of the parliament to run the business of house.
2. The leader of the house is entitled to act as the safeguard for the ruling and opposition
lawmakers though she is elected from the ruling party.
3. The leader of opposition is considered the chief of the shadow govt. consulting with the house
leader and whips, she will also give guidelines
4. Parliament members are responsible for promulgating and changing laws and policies
5. The committees system is the effective way of ensuring the executive accountability to the
legislature. There are 51 committees; among them 39 are parliamentary standing committees.
Each committee is headed by a parliament member.
BOTTLENECKS:
1. Intolerance, violence and autocratic tendency of rolling party

2. Boycotting the parliament
3. Hartal
4. Lack of consensus and trust
5. Lack of democracy in party
6. Excessive power of the executives branch
7. Lack of democratic behaviour inside the parliament
8. Lack of diversity of professions among parliament members
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. The relationship between the house leader and the opposition leader should be developed
2. The speaker should strict impartiality
3. The standing committees and public accounts committees must have the opposition lawmakers
proportionately
4. Political culture should be enriched
5. Major political parties should abide by their party constitutions
6. The politics of hartal should be banned constitutionally.
20. Mobile Banking In Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a third world country with an under developed banking system. Mobile Banking is a
process of no branch banking which provides financial services to unbanked communities in both
urban and rural area at affordable cost. The aim of the service is not to destroy branch banking
but to bring those people under the umbrella of banking service that are away from banking
facilities. Government thinks it has a great prospect as it is a new technology in digital Bangladesh.
Through M-banking one can avail various services i.e.; utility bill payment, Fund Transfer,
Shopping, Cash Withdrawn from selected ATM or Cash point and many more exciting facilities.
But in Bangladesh many people think traditionally, because they cannot think it has any facility to
use of mobile banking.
More than 70% of the population of Bangladesh lives in rural areas where access to formal
financial services is difficult. Yet these are the people who are in most need of such services,
either for receiving funds from loved ones in distant locations, or to access financial tools to
improve their economic condition. Less than 15% of Bangladeshis are connected to the formal
banking system whereas over 68% have mobile phones. Mobile banking is a new technology in
Bangladesh, started from 31st March 2011. Dutch Bangla Bank Limited pioneered in mobile
banking services in Bangladesh. Most people informed about it but 52% of them are not eager to
use it as they are happy in using traditional e-banking system.
In 31st December, 2013 is that out of 28 banks that got permission from Bangladesh Bank, 19
banks are delivering MFS services. At the beginning of the year 2013 total number of agents was
59,559 and at the end of the year the number has become 1,88,647. In April 2013, the number of
Mobile Financial Services customer was 5 million and then in 11th November, 2013 it crossed the
milestone of 10 million. In December 2013 it has reached at 13.18 million, which demonstrates
the growing popularity of the service. In January, 2013 total number of transactions and total
amount transacted was 95,74,382 and BDT 2320.02 crore respectively. At the end of the year total
number of transactions and total amount transacted stood at 3,13,62,895 and BDT 6642.61crore
respectively. It is observed that person to person money transfer, `Cash in` and `Cash out` are the
most popular types of transactions. In terms of amount transacted the growth was 186% and the
growth of customers was 262% in the previous year.

Mobile Financial Services (MFS) comparative summary statement of November, 2013 and
December, 2013:
Serial Description Amount (in Amount (in Change in
no. November, 2013) December, 2013) percentage
1 No. of approved Banks 28 28 -
2 No. of Banks started to convey 19 19 -
the service
3 No. of agents 1,71,566 1,88,647 9.96%
4 No. of registered clients 115.45 lac 131.80 lac 14.16%
5 No. of active accounts 57.73 lac 65.44 lac 13.36%
6 No. of total transaction 2,67,89,580 3,13,62,895 17.07%
7 Total transaction in taka 5,533.60 Core BDT 6,642.61Crore BDT 20.04%
8 No. of daily average transaction 8,92,986 10,45,430 17.07%
9 Average daily transaction in taka 184.45 Core BDT 221.42 Core BDT 20.04%
10 Additional information Amount (in Core BDT) Amount (in Core BDT)
a Inward Remittance 3.77 4.87 29.18%
b Cash In transaction 2,333.63 2,796.17 19.82%
c Cash Out Transaction 2,210.72 2,630.41 18.98%
d P2P transaction 942.13 1,147.46 21.79%
e Salary Disbursement (B2P) 20.12 32.01 59.10%
f Utility Bill Payment (P2B) 1.60 4.11 156.88%
g Others 21.63 27.57 27.46%
Mobile Banking is new in our economy. Only a few banks are now offering this service. Through
Internet Banking Most of the banks are offering only balance information. Actual fund transfer
and fund disbursement is not possible in all the banks that are offering internet banking services.
So this product will enjoy the benefit of a first mover. It is cheap both for the banks and the
customers. The bank will be able to lower down the overhead costs and make more profit out of
it. The customers will be able to save time as well as money for their transaction needs. Mobile
Banking an Emerging Issue in Bangladesh Many poor people already have access to mobile
phones. A positive aspect of mobile phones is that mobile networks can reach remote areas at low
cost. The poor often have greater familiarity and trust with mobile phone companies.
The system will have a problem with the identification of the individual who is initiating the
transaction. In Bangladesh, the identification of an individual is not yet supported digitally. So
there may be a problem in moving toward mobile banking era.
It has been elaborated that the adoption and use of mobile phones is product of a social process,
embedded in social practice. Nowadays millions of inhabitants of Bangladesh are within a network
through mobile network coverage. M-banking technology, the latest generation of electronic
banking transactions has become one of the most familiar banking features, opened up new
window of opportunity to the existing banks and financial institutions. So in the commercial
sectors like banking, m-banking technology will bring banking facilities in hand’s grip which will
make life easier, robust and flexible. It is an urgent need to set policies and strategies to reverse
gaps in terms of regulatory and legal issues.

21. Millennium Development Goal and Bangladesh
Bangladesh is set to get UN recognition as one of the first countries that have achieved the most
fundamental millennium development goal (MDG) — halving the incidence of hunger —
well ahead of the target year 2015. The population below the poverty line dropped from over 58
percent in 1990 (the MDG base year) to 31.50 percent in 2010. And on Wednesday, FAO declared
that Bangladesh succeeded in halving hunger, in other words, the population below the poverty
line has further dropped to around 29 percent. In a press release issued from Rome on June 12,
FAO declared that 38 countries have met internationally-established targets in the fight against
hunger, achieving successes ahead of the deadline set for 2015.
Bangladesh is among the 20 countries which have satisfied millennium development goal no.1
(known as mdg-1), to halve the proportion of hungry people. Their progress was measured
between 1990-92 and 2010-2012, against benchmarks established by the international
community at the UN General Assembly in 2000.
From South Asia, the Maldives is the only other country that will share the laurel alongside
Bangladesh for achieving MDG- ahead of schedule. Eighteen other countries were congratulated
for reaching both MDG-1 and the 1996 World Food Summit (WFS) goal, having reduced by half
the absolute number of undernourished people between 1990-92 and 2010-2012.
The countries achieving MDG-1 alone are Algeria, Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Brazil, Cambodia,
Cameroon, Chile, Dominican Republic, Fiji, Honduras, Indonesia, Jordan, Malawi, the Maldives,
Niger, Nigeria, Panama, Togo and Uruguay. The countries achieving both MDG-1 and the WFS are
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cuba, Djibouti, Georgia, Ghana, Guyana, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Nicaragua,
Peru, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Sao Tome and Principe, Thailand, Turkmenistan,
Venezuela, and Viet Nam.
Bangladesh is among the 16 countries which had earlier received UN recognition for being on
track to achieve MDG- 4 by significantly reducing prevalence of child mortality.
In attaining MDG-2 (that is achieving universal primary education), Bangladesh already achieved
95 percent in terms of primary school enrolment back in 2011.
As far as MDG-3 (promoting gender equality and empowering women) is concerned, Bangladesh
also achieved gender parity in primary and secondary education, and remains on track with
respect to percentage of women employed in agriculture sector.
On MDG-5 (improving maternal health), a un agency report in 2011 highlighted that by scaling
down maternal mortality rate at 194 per lakh, Bangladesh showed a major turnaround, and was
steadily moving ahead to achieve the goal by 2015

22. Merits & Demerits of TICFA
It is reported that Bangladesh has signed the Trade and Investment Co-operation Framework
Agreement (TICFA) with the US in Washington DC on November 25. Bangladesh Commerce
Secretary and Deputy USTR Wendy Cutler signed it on behalf of their countries. The Bangladesh
cabinet endorsed TICFA in June after negotiating with Washington for almost a decade.
It cannot be denied that Bangladesh seeks trade and investment from the US and other countries.
Most economists say that investment up to 34% of GDP (currently GDP of Bangladesh stands at
$130 billion) is needed in the next three to five years to cut poverty and to become a middle-
income country by 2021. In this respect, private international capital flows, particularly foreign
direct investment (FDI) are vital complements to national development efforts.
During the last forty two years, as per the latest Bangladesh Bank survey report, foreign direct
investment (FDI) from the US stands 7th position with $25.6 million in January-June 2012.
Majority of the FDI came in the gas and petroleum sectors ($13.5 million) followed by banking
($8.9 million).
Legal status of TICFA
The TICFA is not a binding contract. It is a framework for establishing a forum between the US and
Bangladesh to tap business and investment potentials of both countries. Bilateral meeting will be
held once a year between the two governments under this institutional platform.
Merits
To promote trade and attract investment from the US, it is desirable to have an institutional
bilateral forum in which both sides at least annually can sit to explore the potentials for furthering
trade and investment in Bangladesh. They also argue that they have established such bilateral
forums with many countries including Sri Lanka.
According to some economists, the TICFA will
• Work to remove impediments to bilateral trade and investment

• Increase US investment
• Promote technological know-how in Bangladesh
• Promote labour rights according to ILO standards
• Make efforts to curb corruption
It is amply demonstrated that Bangladesh can negotiate with the US since 2002 on this issue and
the US had to change the name of TIFA to TICFA to suit Bangladesh. Therefore they argue that the
US cannot impose unilaterally on Bangladesh as it wishes. With regard to trade with the US,
during the fiscal year 2011-12 the bilateral trade volume was reported to be $5.8 billion with the
second-highest position with a trade surplus of $4.4 billion, constituting 25% of total exports and
imported from the US goods worth about $1.09 billion. The balance of trade is heavily in
Bangladesh’s favour.
Despite being a LDC, it is noted Bangladeshi garment exporters continue to pay about 15.3%
duties to the US. It is reported that in 2012, these tariffs have yielded Washington $749.7 million
from Bangladesh which pays more to the US as duties than it gets aid annually from the US. China
and France pay much less tariffs (5%) for their goods to the US. It sounds illogical but it is true.
Demerits
Any agreement between unequal powers raises many concerns and suspicions about the
intentions and objectives of the stronger power. Furthermore, the party which provides the draft
agreement has always the edge over the other party in negotiating an agreement. In this case
both apply to TICFA agreement.
The word “Trade” occurs in the TICFA title, but it seems the US has given more emphasis on
services sector in which the private sector of the US is interested to invest in Bangladesh. Service
sector includes banking and insurance. This remains a concern to Bangladesh investors. In
Bangladesh economy services sector plays a significant role and at present this sector constitutes
49% of the economy.
Although the government argues that Bangladesh can raise the matter on entry of quota-free and
duty free ready-made garments from Bangladesh under TICFA to the US as the US has allowed
African and Caribbean LDCs, critics say that the US administration cannot provide these facilities
and only the US Congress (law-making body) has to pass a law and given the priorities of the
Congress, it may not come at all.
The GSP facilities which the US suspended for Bangladesh in June over the issue of workers’ rights
will come up for decision in the US in December but some say given the existing situation of the
amended Labour Law of 2013, GSP suspension may continue until the Labour Law is further
amended to meet the demands of the US.
The TICFA has not exempted Bangladesh, being a LDC from the obligation to enforce TRIPS (Trade
Related Intellectual Property Rights) under the WTO rules, for which Bangladesh got relaxation
until 2021 under WTO Agreements.
Critics argue that the enforcement of TRIPS under TICFA will adversely affect the pharmaceutical
and ICT industries in the country with the result that costs of medicine and IT items will increase.
Consequently it will curtail access of healthcare and ICT facilities to majority of people in
Bangladesh.
TICFA will be able to protect the intellectual property rights (IPR) for the US companies in the
country. In its absence, the US companies have been losing profits through piracy of copyright
In agriculture many genetically modified seeds will be eligible to be exported to Bangladesh under
TICFA threatening the seed industries in Bangladesh. The US will able to export cotton to
Bangladesh market which was not possible until now because of non-tariff barrier.
Critics allege that Bangladesh has signed TICFA this time to please the US and it is a politically
motivated decision ahead of the polls in the country. However the Commerce Minister of
Bangladesh rejected this allegation to a media saying that it was delayed “because of the Foreign
Ministry’s dilly dally”.
Finally in the TICFA, there is a provision that either party has the right to opt out of the Agreement
after giving 180-daysl notice in writing. If Bangladesh suffers under TICFA, it may terminate the
agreement. But some say that Bangladesh may not be able to do it because of adverse impact on
bilateral relations with the US.

23. Manpower Export
In general, man Power means Total supply of personnel available or engaged for a specific job or
task. In Economical prospective men power is the Total labor force of a nation, including both men
and women. There are a number of foreign countries that are in need of importing manpower
from labor surplus countries like Bangladesh. In this context, Bangladesh is being increasingly
considered by the Foreign Employers as one of the major sources to cater to their growing
manpower needs. Amongst the manpower exporting countries of the region Bangladesh offers
the most competitive salary, terms & conditions of service. The Bangladeshi workers are
proverbially loyal, religious, disciplined, and hardworking and have rare quality of adaptability to
new situations. With the advancement of science & Technology all over the world, the need for
professionally & technically qualified people also increased. The availability of manpower in
Bangladesh is in excess of its national needs. There is a need to find employment abroad. ,
manpower export sector is giving a positive signal for Bangladesh.
MANPOWER CAN BE EXPORTED:
Unemployed labour force of Bangladesh is entitled to be about 15 million. Beside a huge number
of un skilled labor force, skilled, semi skilled and professional man power is also available for
foreign employment:
1. Technical manpower;
2. Medical manpower;
3. Engineering manpower;
4. Industrial manpower;
5. Computer personnel;
6. Power station, petroleum, and fertilizer manpower;
7. Road transport workers;
8. Manpower for financial institutions, insurance, audit and accounts;
9. Port and water transport workers;
10. Agricultural, animal husbandry, fisheries, livestock, horticulture experts, technical and farmers;
11. University, college, school teachers
12. Administrative and defense personnel;
13. Hotel management and catering staff;
14. Marine crew;
15. Photographers, printers, printing technicians, journalists, translators, musician, tailors, sewing men,
barber, shoe makers, domestic servants, housekeepers, cleaners etc.
Data released by a government agency showed 52,929 Bangladeshis were hired by foreign
nations during the month of September. The figure is a 24-month high and maximum recruitment
are in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Oman and Singapore. Over 7.0 million Bangladeshis now
work abroad. They sent home a record $11.65 billion in the 2010-11 fiscal year that ended in June.
According to the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training (BMET), 401,168 Bangladeshis
have now found jobs abroad in the first nine months of the year, up more than 37 per cent over
the same time last year.
In 2012, 607798 workers went abroad for employment. In 2013 up to 22 December only 373409
workers have gone abroad. Compared to the previous year it is more than 30 percent less, and the
flow is nearly one third compared to 2008. Last year Bangladesh also has been unsuccessful in
reentering its traditional largest market-Saudi Arabia.

In September 2012, UAE imposed restriction on migration on Bangladeshis. Hardly any success
was experienced in withdrawing those restrictions except in case of unskilled women workers.
With a genuine objective of reducing high cost of migration the government of Bangladesh
pursued recruitment of workers through government to government arrangement with Malaysia.
There was a great expectation that over the next few years four to five lakh workers would
migrate to Malaysia under the new arrangement. Unfortunately, under the G2G system, over the
last one and half years, government could send about 1000 workers only, whereas migration to
Malaysia from Myanmar and Nepal accelerated in a major way. This year Oman is the largest
migrant receiving country of Bangladesh, followed by Singapore and Qatar. A close scrutiny of the
destination countries of 2013 shows that a section of migrants have gone to countries such as
Iraq, Libya and Sudan that are not politically stable. This year female migration increased
significantly. 13.74 per cent of those who went abroad are women.
Another major issue of concern of migration trend is reduction in migration of skilled workers. In
2010, 40 percent of those who migrated were skilled workers. In 2011 and 2012 the figure came
down to 40.34 and 34 percent respectively. This year it slid further to 20.08 percent of total
workers. Almost all the labour sending countries who took part in short term contract labour
market made conscious decision to reduce migration of unskilled workers as exploitation and
violation of rights are higher in the unskilled labour market. Although the overseas employment
policy of Bangladesh targeted promotion of skilled migration as one of its major objectives, one
witnesses hardly any action plan to achieve that.
THE SHORTCOMINGS OF MIGRANT WORKERS:
1. About 48 percent of the five lakh Bangladeshis who migrate abroad a year—particularly to the
Middle East—are less-skilled or unskilled. They do not have enough training to compete with the
workers of other countries, such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal and the Philippines.
2. The majority of the 48 percent have very little or no educational background, 33 percent of the
workers are semi-skilled while only 19 percent are professionals.
3. Bangladeshi workers have to work in risky environment and get poor wages as the majority of
them get involved in construction and farming. But workers of other countries get better jobs and
receive higher wages than Bangladeshis.
4. Bangladeshis are also lagging in achieving language skills—part of the criteria for increasing the
employability of the workers in the job market.
Irregular migration from Bangladesh continued to be a major concern. Migration from Teknaf to
Malaysia through sea, migration attempts to Europe through Iran, Libya, Morocco and Tunisia
have hit news headlines many a time in 2013. Migrants are taking high risk when they take part in
irregular migration. Cheating, fraud, extortion and death are the outcomes that were reported. A
large number of Bangladeshi workers were deported from Saudi Arabia and Malaysia this year.

Many of them are in jail and detention camps of receiving countries. The group which sends
irregular migrants through sea to Malaysia has been identified by the media but the government
has not taken any action against such illegal recruiters.
Working conditions of male and female migrants in destination countries are major areas of
concern for RMMRU and other national and international human rights organizations. Of course,
working conditions of some of the companies in the receiving countries are quite good, yet low
wage, non-payment of wage, contract substitution, unregulated working hours, risky work
environment, unhygienic living condition, insecure movement, particularly of women garments
workers, and absence of collective bargaining system characterize majority of the employers in
the Middle East and a section of the Southeast Asian countries. Bangladesh, like most other origin
countries, did not deal with these issues effectively in 2013 out of fear of losing the market. In
recent times, different regional migrant and human rights forums have taken up these issues
seriously. The concerned government bodies of different ministries of Bangladesh still work under
the bureaucratic compulsion of avoiding these organizations rather than providing them with
information on violation of rights of migrants.
Cumulative effect of reduction in the number of migrants has already become visible in
remittance figure. After decades of significant growth of remittance receipts, 2013 saw a
significant decline. In 2012, US$14.163 billion was transferred to Bangladesh by its migrant work
force. Up to November 2013, Bangladesh received US$12.621 billion as remittance. This is ten
percent lower than last year's flow. The effect of negative growth of remittance will be witnessed
in both macro and micro economic areas. If the trend continues then it will have a major impact
on maintenance of current account surplus, and payment of import bills. Food intake, nutrition,
hygiene, education, elderly care--all will be affected in the migrant families. Reduced purchasing
capacity of migrant families will affect the local market. Community service and philanthropy
towards poor relatives and villagers will also be reduced.
The government requires being serious about expansion of the manpower export market. This is
the single most sources that earn the highest amount of foreign exchange. Further increase in
remittance flows can be achieved by an assortment of policies in different sectors and not alone
by setting up remittance houses abroad. While the latter can be a useful step, other policies do
need to be pursued for augmenting remittance flows.
The export of skilled manpower including workers and professionals can lead to higher earnings
and hence higher remittance flows because their wages would be substantially greater than those
of the unskilled workers. But people in large numbers will require training for the purpose and this
need can be met if the government operates a sufficient number of skill training centers across
the country. The training can be imparted free of costs and those who receive such training will be
able to pay gradually for their training costs, once they get jobs abroad and start earning.
The government does need to form a regulatory standing commission to expedite the manpower
export and ensure the rights of the migrant workers. If this is done, the manpower sector — which
was the highest foreign exchange earner — can help boost up the country’s economy to a large
extent.

24. Large population- Burden or Power for our economy
Demographers & economists have much interest in the relations of population growth to
economic development. Economists are of the view that the population growth may have both
positive & negative effects on the process of economic development. A good amount of
developed human resource is the prerequisite for economic development. But unplanned growth
of population may deter the economic growth of country. So, both overpopulation & under
population is stand as an obstacles to economic development. But a reasonable size of population
with appropriate skill mix is essential for smooth economic growth. Although Bangladesh is
abundantly rich in human resources, this huge reserve is virtually untapped; its contribution to the
economic development is obviously poor. A large number of active labor forces are unemployed
of which most live in rural areas.
The growth & development of our population and economy:
The fastest growth of population during the past decades has frustrated the development efforts
in Bangladesh. Bangladesh is a small country. The total land area of Bangladesh is 1, 47,570 square
kilometers. But it is densely populated. It is the eighth largest country of the world in population.
Its population is over sixteen cores. About 981 people live per spare kilometer. In the1971, the
population of the country was around 7.5 crores which rose to about 163,654,860 today. The
growth rate of population is 1.59% per thousand. It is a high rate. It our population grows at such
high rate, it will surely is double will need many additional things. They will need food, clothes,
houses, schools, hospitals etc. But Bangladesh cannot afford to meet all these additions things.
Present infant mortality rate is 47.3 per thousand children & the growth rate is 6.7%.
We think that Malthusian theory of population is working badly behind our population explosion.
The theory states that population increases at the geometrical progression while food production
increases at the arithmetical progression. It means that the population in Bangladesh is increasing
at a rate more than that of food production. It is undoubtedly eating into the vitality our national
economy seriously. This unprecedented growth has some serious consequences are-
 The present density of 981 persons per square Km. will be increase

.
 Under the constant rate of fertility, the number of school going age will grow rapidly. The
existing educational facilities need to be double to maintain even current level of literacy.
On this context large population is burden to our economy. Science our economy is poor, capital is
scare and labor is abundant, population growth has been directly or indirectly supported at the
cost of economic development. There is a comparative advantage of labor in our economy and
labor is cheap in our country. Having this our economy is still poor and weak. If we look at other
countries such as China and India we see that having huge population their economy is strong or
developed. The main reason behind this they use their huge/large population in a proper way. In
the last decades the fastest growth rate is of China proof that large is not a burden to the
economy of any country. It depends on how use this large population by any country.

Population is an asset to any country but in our country this large population is a problem of
economic development. The problems are following:
 Population & per capita income:
The impact of the present rate of population growth on per capita income in Bangladesh is
unfavorable. This growth of population tend to retard the per capita income in three ways-
i. It increases the pressure on land.

ii. It leads to a rise in cost of the consumption of goods because of the scarcity of
complementary factors to increase their supplies.
iii. It is causing a decline in the accumulation of capital. Because, with the increase of
family members, consumption expenses increase.
 Population & employment:
A rapidly increasing population plugs the economy into mass unemployment and
underemployment. As population increases, the portion of workers to total population
rises. But in the absence of complementary resources, it is not possible to expand jobs.
According to LFS 2010-11, the unemployment rate is 4.50% in our country.
 Population & labor force:
The labor force in an economy is the ratio of working population to total population. A large
percentage of lower age group of 1-15 years in the labor force is the heavy burden in the
economy of Bangladesh as well as wastage of potential resource.
 Population & Capital formation:
As population increases, per capita available income decreases and people are required to feed
more children with the same income. Besides, over population is leading to an increase in imports
and reduce the export which deteriorate the balance of payment position and then the
government is forced to curtail the importation of capital goods and this is adversely effecting the
investment programe in the economy and thus retarding physical and human capital formation.
Female labor force participation:
There are 49.35% population are female in our country and most them are unemployed and do
not want to work outside the home. This part has little contribution to the development of the
economy of our country. The number of female participation in the labor force should increase.
i. Restructuring the education system:
Development is the outcome of effective usage of two types of resources men & materials. In
order to render material investments worthwhile, it is necessary to synchronize human resources
development with overall economic planning. Hence, the present education system must be
restructured.

ii. Technical vocational education:
Technical vocational education should be introduced as a part of both formal and informal
education. Technical vocational training must aim at turning out more technically trained people
at the intermediate level than at the higher level.
iii. Rural bias in education:
Education in Bangladesh is a passport to get away from the villages. This simply cannot be allowed
to continue any longer.
iv. Redistribution of population:
In some areas in Bangladesh are densely populated and some are thinly populated. So, people
should be induced to move from denser areas and settle in the area with spares population.
However, its scope is limited.
v. Equitable distribution of national income:
Access to national wealth must be equitably distributed. Fair distribution of real income will not
only benefit the poor people who are the absolute majority of the nation, it will also help rapid
economic growth as the propensity to consume will go up.
vi. International migration:
The government should undertake an articulated programe to help emigration to economically

advanced countries. This will reduce the population pressure on our economy.
vii. Social security:
Present security net should be enlarged so that people feel secured in their social life. Care for
aged people, poverty alleviation programs and role of women in the society should be
strengthened.
viii. Public awareness:
Government, NGOs and our civil society must be active in public awareness building programs and
this programs should enlarge more and more.
Conclusion
After above and related discussion we may come to the conclusion that large population is a great
constraint in the way of progress and prosperity of the economy. There is no alternative to make
the people aware about the adverse consequences of overpopulation in national life. Of this huge
population should be used properly to make our economy strong.

25. Industrial safety in RMG Factories in Bangladesh.
1. STRUCTURAL ASPECTS:
Most buildings that are used as factories are not designed as RMG factories. They are designed as
commercial or residential buildings and rented out. Factory buildings are designed with a higher
factor of safety. Generally, commercial buildings are designed with a factor of safety of 2.
Garment factory buildings are designed with a factor of safety of 3 to 5. The live loads (weight of
moving/moveable objects) of storage areas or warehouses are designed with due consideration.
The live load of such areas may be up to 5 times more than that of ordinary office buildings. The
machines also produce vibrations that are taken into consideration.
2. FIRE SAFETY:
The garment industry is labor-extensive. Provisions are made for emergency egress in case of fire,
earthquake or any other emergency. Emergency routes and especially stairs are of crucial
importance given the fact that the raw materials are highly flammable.
3. ELECTRICAL SAFETY:
The electrical systems are designed to adjust to the changing requirements of the production
floor. Properly designed electrical systems and proper components are crucial to prevent failures
that may lead to fire hazards.
4. AIR QUALITY:
For RMG factories, large floor plates enhance production flow and provide the flexibility required
to allow for changes in machine layouts necessary for different types of apparel. But buildings
with large floor plates are not easy to ventilate using natural means. Indoor air quality is often
compromised in such factories. Fans and vents are a must in such situations. This poses significant
long term health risks and fatigue.
5. ROLE OF GOVT:
As for Rana Plaza, the government has failed to ensure that the building owners adhere to
approved plans. The local municipality has little power to ensure that the influential elite of the
area stick to plans. This is true for almost all planning/permission agencies from the capital to the
suburbs. A dearth of competent code enforcers or inspectors adds to the nexus of undue
politicking and corruption.
Rescue efforts also show the inadequacy of the disaster management agencies. The efforts of the
common people show us once again who the real heroes are.
6. ROLES OF BUILDING OWNERS, FACTORY MANAGERS:
The workers were forced to work on that fatal day despite cracks that appeared on some columns
the preceding day. After the building collapsed, the owner was rescued by the local lawmaker
himself, according to press reports. The Spectrum, Phoenix and Tazreen incidents all have a
common thread — the blanket impunity of the management. What makes the Rana Plaza tragedy
more disturbing is that its owner felt that he could get away with anything as he is an active
member of the ruling party. In the recent past, the owners of Spectrum, Phoenix or Tazreen
simply got away with manslaughter. The apparel association of the prized $13 billion industry also
acts with almost similar impunity for the owners of the buildings that failed. The workers simply
do not have a voice.

26. ICC World T20 World Cup.
Cricket is one of most popular game in the world and its popularity is increasing gradually day by
day. Though the origin of this exciting game about 200 years ago but the advent of the T20 cricket
is a few years before and it brings a new breed of aggression on the cricketing field.
Already this newest version of cricket finished its 4th world cup tournament.ICC T20 World cup
has brought up surprise through its winners and the format of the games such that the
tournament seems improbable. This is evident from the fact that all the four T20 world cup
tournaments have seen different winners. India won the inaugural edition hosted by South Africa
while the runners up of the 1st t20 world cup Pakistan won the trophy of the next world cup 2009
in England. In 2010 England won their 1st ICC trophy in the history of the game. The last ICC T20
World cup 2012 hosted by Srilanka and West Indies won the trophy. The 5th T20 World cup 2014
would be hosted by an Asian country and it is in Bangladesh. Four cities Dhaka, Chittagong, sylhet,
cox's Bazar are selected for the venue of the world cup. For the 1st time as many as 16 teams
would be competing to get the title champion. The 5th T20 World cup will be held in two format
as the qualifying sound and the Super Ten.The 8 high T20Ranking countries India, Pakistan,
Srilanka, Australia, South Africa, Newzland, England, West indies will play direct In Super Ten.
Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Afghanistan, Nepal, Hongkong Ireland, UAE and Netherland have to be
played qualifying sound for super ten.
Cricket is not only a game it is the emotion of Bangladesh. It is the only issue which can make the
nation smile wholly. Its victory flooded up with joy and its failure comes out our tears. At present
cricket is not only the entertainment it also has commercial importance too. It will enhance the
commercial activity of the venue area. We will be ale to represent our natural beauties to the
world to attract the foreign visitors. Though some of the Ex great cricketers are criticizing T20
cricket saying harmful for cricket it is going ahead. We hope Bangladesh will successfully arrange
this event and Bangladesh cricket team will bring great success.
Impact on Economy:
Work has begun on developing infrastructure and beautifying Dhaka city to get the capital ready
to host the upcoming ICC T20 World Cup in March.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved 13 development
projects involving Tk 7,735 crore, including Tk 115 crore to give the capital a facelift ahead of the
T20 World Cup Cricket. 13 development projects involving Tk 7,735 crore were approved of the
total cost, Tk 3,588 crore will come from the government while the remaining Tk 4,147 crore in
project assistance.
Under the project of ‘Improvement of road infrastructure and beautification work around Mirpur
Sher-E-Bangla National Cricket Stadium and Major roads of Dhaka City for ICC World Cup T20
Bangladesh, 2014’ infrastructural development of the adjoining roads of two international cricket
stadiums and other major roads of the capital would be completed. Besides, beautification works
and smooth traffic movement would be ensured under the project.
Local Government Division will implement the project spending Tk 115 crore taking Tk 92 crore
from GoB fund and Tk 23 crore from Dhaka North City Corporation Fund.
Infrastructural development of about 23 km roads, electrification and setting of street light, traffic
sign and marking on 23.50 km roads and beautification and bright lighting of 20.50 km roads have
been included in the project.
The DNCC has started widening the road from Mirpur 12 to Kalshi main road, and also
constructing the central reservation and footpath for a Tk 18.26 crore cost; the development and
repair of roads, footpaths, drains from Mirpur 10 to Mirpur 12 bus depot, and the T&T office at
Mirpur 2 to Proshika Bhaban at cost Tk 20.86 crore.
Development and repair of roads, footpaths and central reservation is also taking from Mirpur 10
to Taltola bus stop, Senpara Parbata Falpatti area, link road in Barobagh, and the main road in
Kachukhet that stretches from Mirpur 14 to Ibrahimpur at a cost of Tk23.61 crore.
Earlier, the DNCC finished repairing key Mirpur roads, including the road between Mirpur 10 to
14, ahead of its project deadline of June this year.
The city corporation has also started developing and repairing roads, footpath and drains from
Banani rail crossing to to Bijoy Sarani for Tk21.64 crore, and developing footpath and drains from
Bijoy Sarani to Shahbagh via Banglamotor for Tk9.53 crore.
The DNCC is also beautifying traffic sign, road markers, paint of central reservations and road
islands, installing street lamps, and colorful lightings at a cost Tk20.73 crore.
On January 19, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved
Tk115 crore to give the capital a facelift ahead of next month’s T20 World Cup.
Under the project, the city corporation has also started improving and beautifying the roads
surrounding the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium and Bangabandhu National
Stadium. The two city corporations and the Dhaka Metropolitan Police are also recovering
footpaths from grabbers to ensure smooth traffic movement.

27. Good Governance in Bangladesh Perspective
The concept of "governance" is now most used word in the study of society and development. The
concept is being used mostly in developing countries like Bangladesh to achieve sustainable
development management.
According to UNDP, “Governance is viewed as the exercise of economic, political and

administrative authority to manage country affairs at all levels. It comprises mechanisms,
processes and institutions, through which citizens and groups articulate their interests, exercise
their legal rights, meet their obligations and mediate their differences”.
Good governance means an ideal governing system that is inevitable for political, economic, social
and cultural development of a country. It is the ideal orientation of a state that works best to
achieve self-reliance, sustainable development and social justice.
A country cannot reach its cherished goals, achieve its success and solve its multi-furious
problems for want of good governance. The problems of governance have occupied the centre
stage of national debate in Bangladesh since independence. Still, the attainment of good
governance in our country has been a far cry.
Good governance can be identified through some of its basic principles, which are as follows:
1. Legitimacy and voice - All men and women should have a voice in decision-making either
directly or through legitimate intermediate institutions that represent their intention.
2. Direction - Leaders and the public have a broad and long-term perspective on good governance
and human development, with a sense of what is needed for such development.
3. Performance - Institutions and processes try to serve all stakeholders and institution produce
results that meet needs while making the best use of resources.
4. Accountability - Decision-makers in government, the private sector and civil society

organizations are accountable to the public.
5. Fairness - All men and women have opportunities to improve of maintain their well being and
legal frame work should be fair and enforced impartially, particularly the laws on human rights.
6. Rule of law- The rule of law implies that all citizens irrespective of their race, religion, sex and
political affiliation are equal in the eye of law and are entitled to Equal legal protection.
7. Transparency- Transparency means that the government must share information with the
people and ensure its wide dissemination to them.
But there exist some major problems for ensuring good governance in Bangladesh. These are
corruption, inefficiency of bureaucracy, political interference in administration, nepotism,
improper and non-observance of the rule of law, improper use of resources etc. Furthermore,
over population and limited resources, high illiteracy rate, acute poverty are some more obstacles
to gain proper management in public services and governance. To promote good governance in

Bangladesh these challenges have to overcome. And, democracy must be practiced in this
purpose.
Though an electoral democracy, Bangladesh lacks in many of the components of good

governance. A democratic culture is yet to take its root in Bangladesh. Politics has been
confrontational instead of being consensual. State machinery is characterized by pettiness, ill will
and use of resources in personal and party interests. Transparency is poor and accountability is
almost non-existent. The administration is dubbed corrupt and inefficient. The civil society is
fragmented. Corruption in all arenas of Bangladesh is the main reason for its failure. For this
reason, Bangladesh has got top position two times in the rank of corruption. People of ruling party
always deprive the right of general public abolishing the rule of the country.
The lack of good governance is responsible for the present crisis of our country. Our country has
not achieved her expected independence not even after 42years. The spirit of our great
independence had been violated by the rape of our supreme constitution, promotion of militancy
in 1975, rehabilitation of war criminals and religious zealots, criminalization of politics,
institutionalization of corruption and violence, emergence of discrimination, lack of transparency
and accountability and the sway of black money. Clearly, lack of good governance is behind all
these hazards in our country.
Good governance can be assured only by the active participation of all the organs of the society.
In a democratic system, parliament is the key point to ensure good governance. The
accountability of the executive power is ensured by the parliament. In Bangladesh, the role of
parliament is most important. The parliament exercises its power to control over the government.
The ministers along with the prime minister are accountable to the parliament for their actions.
This accountability ensures the transparency of the government. Moreover, the opposition parties
can criticize the actions of the government and can take part in the decision making process. This
is why, in a democratic system, parliament can play a significant role to improve the quality of
governance. Parliamentary debates are strong way to justify a decision whether it is good for the
nation or not.
Decentralization is another important point for good governance in a country. But in Bangladesh
government centralizes all power and dominates over governmental institution. The
constitutional act 70 should be amended urgently to free the parliamentary members elected by
general public from the domination of government.
Civil society is a strong actor in the field of democracy. The civil society can play prominent role to
ensure proper management system of the public services. The organizations and the media are
part of civil society and they have influence on public policy as they can motivate peoples to
support or to oppose a public decision. But it is a matter of great regret that the civil society in
Bangladesh is divided for own interest. The neutrality of media is necessary to provide the people
with the information. Political culture of Bangladesh is not in favor of the factor. However, a
change is being happened over years. Peoples are now more conscious about their rights and
responsibilities.

The private sector also can play an active role for friendly governance. Corporate bodies and
business houses can set clear and enforceable policies against corruption. The positive
environment in business and economy can attract foreign investment. The private organizations
also have influence on major reforms of the government. They can express their opinion to
promote good governance. .
Institution can guide the society and the power of the state toward gaining good governance. For
this, existing institutions should be strengthened by laws and regulations and should be more
independent. Political appointment destroys the independence of the institutions like the Human
Rights Commissions, Anti-Corruption Commission, Law commission, Media and Press Commission.
Media is now a strong actor in Bangladeshi social and economic culture. The media can prevent
corruption by naming and shaming the individuals and organizations. The media is strong enough
to generate outrage among the people and can use the power to control and eradicate corruption
and maladministration. There is of course chance to use the power in wrong way. However, it is
proved that the role and power of media in the society is essential for establishing good
governance.
To conclude, Bangladesh is a newly independent country. The time is not sufficient for better
democratic system. Although some progress can be found in past, but the process is very slow. In
the circumstances, the hope of good governance needs struggle of all organs of the state including
political parties, civil society, mass media, NGOs. Awareness among the citizen is required as they
should have strong demand for good governance. The initiative to promote good governance in
Bangladesh should be speed up.
28. Globalization
The term globalization has been increasing use since the mid-1980s and especially since the mid-
1990s. In 2000, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) identified four basic aspects of
globalization: trade and transactions, capital and investment movements, migration and
movement of people and the dissemination of knowledge. Further, environmental challenges
such as climate change, cross-boundary water, air pollution, and over-fishing of the ocean are
linked with globalization. Globalizing processes affect and are affected by business and work
organization, economics, socio-cultural resources, and the natural environment
In light of advanced technology, higher demands from markets and faster turnaround times,
globalization has become a staple for world commerce.
In the U.S., the term globalization often has negative connotations. For many, it represents a
threat to their jobs, livelihood and way of life.
Though many Americans think of it as a dirty word, "globalization," actually has been a catalyst for
positive change as well.

Here are four ways that globalization has had a positive impact on the world economy:
1. More efficient markets
Efficient markets should be what every economy strives for. Essentially, the sign of an efficient
market is where there is an equilibrium between what buyers are willing to pay for a good or
service and what sellers are willing to sell for a good or service.
2. Increased competition
Anytime that you have multiple producers competing for a hold of the economy, that’s a good
sign for consumers, as the quality of goods and services often goes up as a result.
3. Stabilized security
When your economy depends largely on another country’s economy, it is hard to imagine either
one of the countries attacking the other. In a weird sort of way, globalization helped heighten
world security.
4. More wealth equality throughout the world
Although many Americans contend that their standard of living has gone down because of
globalization, the flip side to this is that hundreds of thousands of people around the world now
have jobs, have started their own businesses and can provide comfort for their families.
The Effects of Economic Globalization on Developing Countries:
Financial and industrial globalization is increasing substantially and is creating new opportunities
for both industrialized and developing countries. The largest impact has been on developing
countries, which now are able to attract foreign investors and foreign capital. This has led to both
positive and negative effects for those countries.
Increased Standard of Living
Economic globalization gives governments of developing nation’s access to foreign lending. These
funds are used on infrastructure including roads, health care, education, and social services, the
standard of living in the country increases.
Access to New Markets
Globalization leads to freer trade between countries. This is one of its largest benefits to
developing nations. Homegrown industries see trade barriers fall and have access to a much wider
international market.
Widening Disparity in Incomes
While an influx of foreign companies and foreign capital creates a reduction in overall
unemployment and poverty, it can also increase the wage gap between those who are educated
and those who are not.

Decreased Employment
The influx of foreign companies into developing countries increases employment in many sectors,
especially for skilled workers. However, improvements in technology come with the new
businesses and that technology spreads to domestic companies.
Foreign Direct Investment: Foreign direct investment (“FDI”) tends to increase at a much greater
rate that the growth in world trade, helping boost technology transfers, industrial restructuring,
and the growth of global companies.
Technological Innovation: Increased competition from globalization helps stimulate new

technology development, particularly with the growth in FDI, which helps improve economic
output by making processes more efficient.
Economies of Scale: Globalization enables large companies to realize economies of scale that
reduce costs and prices, which in turn supports further economic growth, although this can hurt
many small businesses attempting to compete domestically.
Some of the risks of globalization include:
•Interdependence: Globalization leads to interdependence between nations, which could cause

regional or global instabilities, if local economic fluctuations end up impacting a large number of
countries relying on them.
•National Sovereignty: Some see the rise of nation states, multinational or global firms and other
international organizations as a threat to sovereignty. Ultimately, this could cause some leaders to
become nationalistic or xenophobic.
•Equity Distribution: The benefits of globalization can be unfairly skewed towards rich nations or
individuals, creating greater inequalities and leading to potential conflicts both nationally and
internationally as a result.
•Cultural Dominance
While cultures are becoming less distinct, this is not necessarily an equitable shift. Rather, it is an
increase in the influence of wealthier Western cultures at the expense of other cultures. This
means that cultural globalization is really a matter of Westernization, with more people speaking
English and following American ideals. While cultural distinctions are eroding, they are also being
consumed, which is a negative effect of globalization.

29. Garments Sectors Challenges of Bangladesh
Undoubtedly the most rejoicing matter after the independence of the country is the success story
of ready-made garment (RMG) sector which could uplift the fates of millions of Bangladeshi
people over three decades. The journey of the sector which started in early 80′s of the last
century is still on its full momentum for a steep growth. Broadly, the sector could make thousands
of successful entrepreneurs, millions of skilled workers and the sector helped put the economy on
a firm footing through contributing 80 percent in the national export basket.
Having such a steady and robust export growth, grabbing more market pie globally the World
Trade Organization (WTO) declared Bangladesh as the second largest apparel supplying country
worldwide in 2010. Bangladesh now claims 4.8 percent of the global RMG trade of $412 billion.
According to McKinsey & Company, an international management consulting firm, Bangladesh’s
apparel exports will reach $36 billion by 2020.
But the sector is still facing some challenges. Some of the major challenges as follows:
1. The first victim of confrontational politics is the garment sector as the exporters face challenges
in production, marketing, distribution of raw materials, destruction of factories by the enraged
political party supporters. Even, during the latest spell of shutdown, almost all 5,500 garment
factories suffered shipment hassle as the goods laden trucks could not go out of the factories for
violent political situation across the country.
2. Poor road communication and a messy traffic system have made the sector vulnerable. The
Dhaka-Chittagong highway, through which country’s 80 percent exports and imports are carried
out, is still is a bad shape.
3. Three decades old garment sector is now suffering from 25 percent shortage of skilled workers
as the country could not arrange vocational and technical education system for the workers.
According to industry insiders currently 3.5 million workers are directly employed in the sector
where 80 percent are women. Grooming a strong mid-level management for handling such a big
sector is another big challenge for sustenance.
4. Many local and foreign investors are not getting adequate land for establishing industries for
scarcity of land even at higher prices. It will be very difficult to get a suitable industrial plot in the
Dhaka-Mymensingh, Savar, Ashulia, Narayanganj and Narsingdi industrial belts for setting up new
industrial units.
5. The prices for per dozen garment items remained stuck at $26.50 over the last three years
although the cost of production increased nearly 15 percent year-on-year.
6. Chittagong port is the most vital link for businesses in Bangladesh. Until now, this port cannot
attain the global standards in operation. The ships have to wait for long days for unloading for
inefficient port management. Automatic system should be introduced in the port for quickening
the export-import businesses.

7. Bangladesh is totally dependent on imported raw cotton and yarn as the country does not
produce the two basic items for garment manufacturing. In 2010, the local cotton importers had
to import this white fibre at $2.50 per pound which was sold at $60 cents earlier for decades.
8. Nowadays it is acknowledged by all that strong economic diplomacy means strong businesses.
Until now many Bangladeshi missions abroad fail to achieve the target in export of Bangladeshi
products. It happens so only for inefficient economic diplomacy. Not only this, the government’s
right foreign relationship in right time helps to gain advantages in overseas trade.
9. Introduction of new fashion is called the heat of garment products. But, unfortunately,
Bangladesh does not have skilled manpower in this important segment of garment production.
10. Very often, the zero-duty benefits under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) issue
comes under attacks from different countries. Currently, the GSP in the US market is under threat
on labor standard.
11. Compliance is very important factor in garment business now. The products will have to
produce following the internationally standard compliances, like ensuring workers’ welfare, timely
payment, production protecting the environmental degradation.
12. Tariff, Para-tariff and non-tariff barriers are major challenges for garment trade. Some
countries have high tariff, for which the exporters cannot gain the benefit from the export. Like
South Africa and Russia have higher tariff on export of garment items from Bangladesh.
13. Finding new destinations is really a big challenge for Bangladeshi garment items. All markets
are considered as new destinations excepting the US, the EU and Canada. Bangladesh has a lot of
potentials in India, South Africa, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Japan, New Zealand, Australia,
Russia and Turkey. But challenges remained in exploration of those markets.
14. Corruption is a major challenge for Bangladesh. The corruption in garment sector is also a
major challenge like Hall-Mark loan scandal. The company has embezzled Tk 2,600 crore the
Sonali Bank branch at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel with showing fake documents. As a result, the other
commercial banks are not showing interest lending money to the entrepreneurs. Higher bank
interest rate is another major challenge for garment sector in Bangladesh.

30. Formalin in Foods
Formalin, a 37 percent water solution of formaldehyde, is poisonous and can cause cancer.
Traders use this chemical as a preservative and to make fruits and vegetables look fresh for longer
periods. Formaldehyde is a naturally occurring substance in the environment made of carbon,
hydrogen and oxygen. Natural processes in the upper atmosphere may contribute up to 90
percent of the total formaldehyde in the environment.
Formaldehyde can be found naturally or sprayed in food including fruits and vegetables, meats,
fish and other dried and preserved foods. The body can metabolize formaldehyde quickly and the
substance is converted into formic acid. However, if ingested in huge amounts, formaldehyde is
highly toxic especially to a person with weak liver or kidney. The widespread use of formalin, in
preservation of fish, fruit and other food items is posing a threat to public health. The chemical
used as a solution in water keeps fish fresh and makes fruits like mangoes attractive. This
chemical, usually used to stop dead bodies from rotting, is now being used to preserve edible
items.
Formalin inside?
Fish. The fish will be stiff, have rubbery meat, hard scales, red gills, clear eyes, doesn’t have the
“fishy smell” and no flies flying around.
Squid. Very rubbery consistency. Unable to break the meat by hand, which you usually could, only
can be cut by a knife.
Other sea products, including dried salty fish. Formalin will make the fish become stiff, whitish and
odorless. Even when cooked, i.e. fried, it will still be stiff.
Tofu. Its consistency is more rubbery than usual, the surface tends to be hard, won’t spoil after 24
hours. Normally after 24 hours, tofu would become slimy, brittle and sour. If it is steamed,
submerged in cold water, or kept in the fridge, it may last longer.
Wet noodles. Has yellowish color, tends to be elastic, with a drug-like odor or ash-like odor when
boiled or mixed with hot water.
How to avoid food with formalin?

Fish, especially sea fish. Press the fish, if it feels tender, it should be free of formalin. Choose fish
which still has its fishy smell. It’s best to buy live fish.
Avoid dried salty fish.
Tofu. Choose one with smooth surface and consistency. It’s safer to consume egg tofu or water
tofu (also known as Japanese tofu), though this product can’t last long and is very brittle.
Wet noodles. Try the less attractive colored ones.
A study has found excessive formalin in seasonal fruits like mango, litchi and blackberry sold at
shops in different areas of the capital. Even shops with signboards reading “chemical-free fruits”
sell fruits soaked in formalin. Save the Environment Movement (SEM) revealed the findings of the
study, after running formalin tests on fruits from shops in 26 areas on June 1-10, 2013. It found
that around 94 percent of the mangoes and 100 percent blackberries and litchis are formalin-
tainted. Litchi orchard owners use 20 times more pesticide than required. They also use a
hormone to make litchis bigger. Both of these are harmful to human health. After using pesticide,
fruits or vegetable should be sold 15 days apart for safety. But traders sell them immediately.

Meanwhile, the environmental group Paribesh Bachao Andolan (PABA) disclosed horrific findings
last month on the use of formalin, after collecting 263 samples of fruit and traditional iftar items
from different parts in Dhaka. The group found 100% of vermicelli and citrus fruit, 95% of grapes,
91% of bananas and 90% of noodles were contaminated with formalin and other harmful
chemical preservatives, as well as 82% of mangoes, 77% of dates, 75% of tomatoes, 60% of
eggplant, 59% of apples and 20% of cucumbers. The Pure Food Ordinance, 1959 and the
Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2009 prohibit putting chemicals in foods.
14 children died last year in Dinajpur after eating pesticide contaminated litchi. There is a long-
term effect of the chemicals and pesticides which may cause cancer or other chronic diseases like
liver cirrhosis and kidney failure.
The BSTI director claimed that food adulteration had been brought under control, because of the
mobile courts. Formalin is imported mainly from India, China, Hong Kong, Korea, Iran and the US,
commerce ministry sources said. According to the Bangladesh Bank (BB), import of formalin has
drastically declined in the recent years. The BB officials were puzzled to note the fall in its import.
They apprehended that either formalin was entering the country through its porous borders, or it
is being produced locally. Tk. 19.04 crores worth of formalin was imported in 2007-08, while only
Tk. 73 lakh of formalin was imported in 2009-2010, a BB official said. Prof. Dr Yakub Ali of the
Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University said that the import of formalin could not be
banned, because of its legal use in thousands of laboratories, including pathological labs and
hospital mortuaries.
31. Foreign Direct Investment In Bangladesh

FDI plays a dominant role in the economy of Bangladesh through accelerating Gross Domestic
Product (GDP), export and domestic investment followed by overall economic goal. So it is vital for
a developing country like Bangladesh to carry out effective measures in protecting the prospective
foreign investors so that they can get a congenial atmosphere to invest their capital.
FDI is an important category of international that shows a long term relationship between direct
investor and the enterprise. It indicates the influence of the inventor on the management of the
enterprise. Direct investment relates the initial transaction between the management and the
enterprise.
FDI and growth:
It is revealed in review of various literatures available on FDI that foreign investment is still viewed
as a matter of debate. Opinions are still divided in deciding that whether FDI is Boom or bane for
host countries economic growth and development.FDI has its own merits and demerits. Many
scholars argue that developed nations may try to invade the sovereignty of host country through
FDI. In order to earn quick profit they may exploit the natural resources at the faster rate and thus
leave the host country deprived in the long run.
Present FDI status of Bangladesh:

According to the Centre for policy dialogue (CPD), Net foreign direct investment increased by 9.15
per cent to $1.30 billion in the last financial year from that of $1.19 billion in the same period of
the FY12.But econometrists forecast that the Foreign Direct investment may decline in this fiscal
year.
Impediments of FDI in Bangladesh:
There are many obstacles which impact FDI in Bangladesh. Some of main face described below in
a convincing manner:
Complicated Bureaucracy: the country has a bureaucracy system that is not at all
compatible with an investment environment, the concrete implementation of investment
related policies are prolonged almost static to obstruct both local and foreign investors.
Political instability: The political look in Bangladesh is extremely Vulnerable because of the
continuous hostility political parties, which in turn pollutes the entries environment. It is
unfortunate that Bangladesh is an exception where most of the political violence based on
industries. Even EPZs are not exempted by any means.
Corruption: culture and society have become corrupted through narrow politics. The
bureaucrats and regulatory bodies are steeped in corruption. For business enterprise,
corruption works as taxation or lubrication cost.
Frequent power failure: Bangladesh faces a serious system loss often more than 40% of
the gross power generation problem with the lowest per capita power consumption and
network coverage of electrification among developing countries. this immense
discouragement and dissatisfaction for investment in the power intensive industries.
Absence of Autonomous: Government control and management has been extremely
ineffective and inefficient, the country is suffering from inefficiency of state-owned entities
in power, telecommunication, energy, ports, aviation, communication and many other
important sectors. All these inefficiencies posh the total cost of local and foreign
businesses extensively high.
Legal absurdity: the system of legal suits and actions prolonged over the years puts
business investors in a dilemma about placing their precious capital in businesses in
Bangladesh.
There are many other problems such as-

-Lack of professional personnel
-High inefficiency cost
-Lack of commitment on the part of local investors
-Poor leadership quality
-uneducated and unskilled labor forces.
How to overcome these impediments:
By improvement of law and order situation: Law and order situation needs to be
ameliorated through appropriate reforms in law enforcement and introducing other
measures. A social Conesus is needed to establish the rule of law, avoid political
confrontation, and reduce corruption.
Development of infrastructure: Both the government and private sector need to look
forward to investing in infrastructure development.
Modernization of business law: It is important for Bangladesh to modernize and revamp
all laws relating to business and investment keeping in view the international practices
and requirements of globalization.
Accountability and Transparency: In Bangladesh politics volatile in nature, pushes the FDI
to downstream. The politician desire seemed to capture the governing power of the
country only rather serving the nation. this evil desire has been ruining the country since
many years in every aspect. Thus political reformation is a requisite if time for Bangladesh.
Setting up new EPZs: the government may come up with a phased program of setting up
new EPZs in order to extend facilities to export oriented investors. The private sector may
also be encouraged to set up new EPZs.
Thorough quality of bureaucracy and governance: Appropriate reform measures are
needed in the country’s administrative system to address the existing problem. The
bureaucracy needs reorganization in order to bring about a perceptible improvement in its
efficiency and productivity.
Conclusion: FDI is viewed as a major stimulus to economic growth in developing countries as it

brings prosperity to the recipient countries through technology in developing countries as it brings
prosperity to the recipient countries through technological transfer, increasing volume of exports,
enhancing job opportunities and increasing government revenue, Realizing the importance of FDI,
Bangladesh offers one of the most liberal regimes for FDI in south Asia and these policies are
producing results in terms of increased inward investment.
32. Food Waste

Food and food waste has been an emerging global problem for the past few years. With
accelerated economic growth and increasing production, food waste will be a matter of grave
concern also in Bangladesh sooner or later. Bangladesh, being the ninth most populous and
twelfth most densely populated country in the world will surely bear consequences of both food
scarcity as well as food loss if food wastage problem is not addressed.
According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), every year 1.3 billion tons of food is
wasted. This is equivalent to the same amount produced in the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. At
the same time, 1 in every 7 people in the world go to bed hungry and more than 20,000 children
under the age of 5 die daily from hunger. Approximately 98% of the world’s hungry live in
developing nations.
Food, food waste and the environment are inextricably linked. Food that is thrown away when it
could have been sold or eaten is wasted. But it is more than just the food itself. It is also a waste
of all the natural resources that are used to produce, harvest, transport, process, and package and
distribute the food product. When wasted food is thrown away and breaks down in landfill,
together with organic materials, it becomes the main contributor to generation of methane a gas,
25 times stronger than carbon dioxide at trapping heat in atmosphere.

Bangladesh being an agrarian economy should be more proactive in handling pre-consumption
food wastage as food system represents a great part of our carbon footprint. According to Waste
Database of Bangladesh (published by Waste Concern), food and vegetable waste comprises
approximately 67.75% of urban solid waste. From Year 1991 to Year 2005, per capita waste
generation rate in urban areas have been increased from 0.31 to 0.41.It has been further
projected that by the year 2025, per capita waste generation rate in urban areas will increase to
0.60. With waste generation increasing in direct proportion with GDP and population, food waste
will be a challenging issue indeed. Pre-consumer waste is generated at many points in the food
supply chain including manufacture, processing, storing and retailing. Traditional farming practices
like clearing, cultivating, irrigating, spraying, fertilizing and cropping can impact our environment
and combined with the introduction of pesticides and occurrence of, soil loss, dry land and salinity
intrusion, have changed our landscape for worse.
Other than food supply chain, pre-consumer food waste may also result from overproduction,
spoilage, products not meeting the demands of food retailing and wholesaling sectors (size and
aesthetic) and food preparation. Although half of the country’s population is still below poverty
line, the urban upper class group and the emerging dominant middle class is a contributing group
to food wastage.
If current trend in our consumption pattern continues in such wasteful manner mentioned above,
Bangladesh will need to produce about twice as much food by 2050 in a changing climate with
higher prices for energy, water and fertilizers.
33. Food Security and Bangladesh

One of the fundamental rights of the citizens stipulated in the Bangladesh Constitution is food
security for all. Food security exists when all people, at all times, have access to sufficient, safe
and nutritious food to maintain healthy and productive lives. The key elements of food security
are:
a) Availability of enough food from domestic production and/or imports to meet the demand,
b) Access of the food to all people at all times through enough incomes and affordable prices,
c) Proper hygiene and sanitary practices and safe water for utilization of food to have optimum
impact on health and nutrition, and
d) A regulatory framework in place and its proper implementation for controlling contamination
to ensure food safety
AVAILABILITY OF FOOD:
Availability of food depends on both domestic production and imports. Major items of food
production in Bangladesh include rice, wheat, potato, pulses, oilseeds, sugarcane and vegetables.
These food items account for almost 80 per cent of total calorie and protein intake.
Of these, rice and wheat alone contribute to 74 percent and 57 percent of total per capita calorie
and protein intake respectively.

The Bangladesh economy has made respectable progress in rice, tripping production from 11
million tons in 1971 to 33 million in 2012. The per capita rice production has increased
substantially over the level at independence because of higher yielding crop varieties.
Bangladesh used to receive substantial amount of wheat, the secondary staple food, as food aid
from developed countries. Commercial import of wheat has however increased despite growth in
domestic production. The import has recently exceeded 3 million tons.
Notable progress has been achieved in the production of potatoes and vegetables. The growth
has been particularly impressive in the last decade. The production of most other food crops –
pulses, oilseed and sugarcane – has either remained stagnant or has declined. The dependence of
Bangladesh on the world market for the availability of pulses, edible oil and sugar and milk has
been growing, along with wheat.
Bangladesh has rich biological resource base for fish production. In terms of nutrition, fish
occupies a significant position in the dietary habits of the people. The growth in fish production
was sluggish in the 1970s, it picked up in the 1980s, and was very rapid (7% per year) in recent
years due to the expansion of pond aquaculture. The growth in the production of meat and milk
has remained unsatisfactory despite the expansion of the poultry industry. The growth in livestock
and poultry farming is constrained by lack of feed, risk imposed by avian flu and other animal
diseases, and poor processing, storage and marketing infrastructure.
ACCESS TO FOOD:
In a market economy, the access to food depends on four elements:
a) production-based element that depends on ownership of land,

b) trade-based entitlement that depends on market prices of food,
c) labor-based entitlement that depends on the employment and wages, and
d) transfer-based entitlement that includes gifts, remittances from relatives, and relief and
subsidies obtained from the government.
In Bangladesh, 70 percent of the people live in rural areas where agriculture is the major
occupation. Almost 60 percent of the rural households are engaged in farming. But almost 30
percent of the households do not own any land and another 30 percent own only up to half an
acre.
The income growth per year has accelerated since 1990, reaching 6.5 percent in recent years.
Bangladesh has also achieved respectable progress in population control. But, the income is highly
unequally distributed and the disparity has been growing. The Land Reform in 1984 stipulated a
minimum wage equivalent to 3.5 kg of rice at the prevalent market price. The rice equivalent
wage had increased from about three kg in 1990 to nearly 8 kg in 2011.The hike in food prices
after the food crisis in 2007 has had a negative impact on the real wages and access to
food. Bangladesh is often at the mercy of natural calamities such as floods, droughts and cyclones.
Riverine Bangladesh also witnesses frequent land erosion causing thousands of people to lose
their land every year. The present government has given high priority to the safety nets for
ensuring food security. Currently nearly 2.2 percent of the GDP are allocated for safety nets and
social protection.

34. Effect of Global Warming in Bangladesh
Global warming can be defined simply as a rise in the average land temperature around the earth.
Currently, average temperature of the earth is roughly 13.89 degrees celsius. Since the late 1800's
the average temperature has increased about 0.3 to 0.8 degree celsius. There are three main
categories in which these rising temperature have an effect: glacial melting and water levels, plant
life, and human and animal health.
It is projected that, by 2020, from 500 to 750 million people will be affected by water stress
caused by climate change around the world. Low-lying coastal regions, such as Bangladesh, are
vulnerable to sea level rise and increased occurrence of intense, extreme weather conditions such
as the cyclones from 2007–2009. In most countries like Bangladesh, yields from rainfed agriculture
could be reduced to 50% by 2020. For a country with increasing population and hunger, this will
have an extremely adverse effect on food security. Although effects of climate change are highly
variable, by 2030, South Asia could lose 10% of rice and maize yields, while neighbouring states
like Pakistan could experience a 50% reduction in crop yield.
As a result of all this, Bangladesh would need to prepare for long-term adaptation, which could be
as drastic as changed sowing dates due to seasonal variations, introducing different varieties and
species, to practising novel water supply and irrigation systems. In essence, we have to identify all
present vulnerabilities and future opportunities, adjusting priorities, at times even changing
commodity and trade policies in the agricultural sector while promoting training and education
throughout the masses in all possible spheres
Leading scientists assert that rise of 3 degrees temperatures would cause famine and threaten
millions of lives. It would also cause a worldwide drop in crops of between20 and 400 million tons,
threatening400 million more people with famine and put up to 3 billion people at risk of flooding
and without access to fresh water supplies. The United Nations Intergovernmental panel on
Climate Change (IPCC) projects a rise in average global temperature of about 1 to 3.5 degrees
Celsius by 2100. A 1% rise in surface temperature could cause major disruptions in weather
patterns that could produce flash floods and unexpected droughts.
Global sea levels could rise by more than 20 feet if the ice shelves in Greenland and Antarctica
collapsed. IPCC projects that the world's oceans will rise anywhere from 15 to 95 cm by 2100.
Hurricanes and tornados will increase in speed, power and frequency.
Forests, home to two thirds of all species, temper climate and capture and store water. They store
40% of terrestrial carbon and can slow down build-up of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As a
region loses its forests, it also loses its ability to trap and absorb water, and so run-off from the
denuded woodland worsens the natural process of soil erosion. The result-- the world wears away
24 billion tons of topsoil a year.
Research reports made public in the year 2002 indicated that 36,000 sq km in Bangladesh out of 1,
47,570 sq km face an uncertain and grim future. This includes the Sundarbans and sea beach in
Cox's Bazar. The stark fact is that about 14,000 sq km in the coastal zone is just one metre above
sea level. One meter's sea level rise could displace nearly 15 million people in Bangladesh.
35. Earthquake Risk of Bangladesh
An earthquake also known as tremor, trembler is the result of a sudden release of energy in the
earth’s crust that creates seismic waves. The strength of the shaking is measured by Richter scale.
The magnitude is labeled as 3 or lower earthquake and crossing 7 high magnitudes that cause
serious damage over areas, population, buildings.
The location of Bangladesh in a technically active area at the delta basin facing Bay of Bengal is
strategic for all types of natural calamities like cyclone, tsunami, and earthquake. Despite not
being much bigger than England, Bangladesh is home to over 160 million people, and around 16
million live in Dhaka, the capital. In terms of natural hazards, Bangladesh is typically associated
with destructive, sometimes devastating, cyclones and floods. The last major storm to affect the
region was cyclone SIDR in November 2007, which killed as many as 10,000 people.
The observatory at BUET recorded 86 tremors of over 4 magnitudes during January 2006 - May
2009. Another four earthquakes took place with magnitude of over 5 during the period.
The Meteorological Department detected at least 90 earthquakes taking place in the country
between may 2007 and July 2008, nine of them above 5 on the richer scale and epicenters of 95
percent being within a 600 km radius of Dhaka city.
According to a seismic zoning map prepared by BUET, 43% areas in Bangladesh are rated high risk,
41% moderate and 16% low. High risk group includes zones of Chittagong, Dhaka, Rangpur, Bogra,
Mymensing, Comilla, Rajshahi, Sylhet.
According to a report of the UNDP- funded comprehensive disaster management programme,

some 72,000 buildings may collapse in dhaka city in an earthquake of 7 to 8 intensity scale, as
happened in 1897.
The Asia-Pacific region sees more than 70 percent of the world’s earthquakes.
The top ten largest earthquakes for Bangladesh and southernmost Himalayas, for which there are
records, includes earthquakes in Chittagong (1762, 8.0 M and 1865, 6.8 M), Eastern Bengal (1868,
7.5 M), Lower Assam (1897, c. 8.7 M), Srimingal (1918, 7.6 M), northern Bangladesh (1923, 7.1 M),
Dhubri (1930, 7.1 M). There have been no earthquakes greater than magnitude 7 since 1930 and
the country is holding its breath for the next one…
Besides relatively high levels of seismic hazard, particularly in the east of the country, vulnerability
to earthquakes is also high. General population increase, high levels of rural-to-urban migration,
competition for space and the drive to maintain economic growth are (at least partly) responsible
for rapid urban expansion, poor construction practices and the use of poor quality land.
Vulnerability is increasing and there is significant potential for a massive earthquake-related
disaster here.
A leading disaster watchdog has ranked Bangladesh as the world's 6th "high disaster risk country"
in terms of its exposure to typhoons, earthquake and tsunamis. The 15 high risk countries
respectively are Vanuatu, Tonga, Philippines, Solomon Islands, Guatemala, Bangladesh, Timor-

Leste, Costa Rica, Cambodia, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Madagascar, Brunei
Darussalam and Afghanistan.
Although Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to earthquake due to its geological location, the
government’s preparedness is too inadequate to address any of its aftermath, according to
experts, reported UNB. They noted that a single building collapse (Rana Plaza in Savar) killed
nearly 300 people while the government is struggling to carry out search and rescue operation.
But if a moderate tremor hits the country, thousands of buildings will collapse and it will be quite
impossible for the government to face the situation for lack of equipments in conducting rescue
operation.
“Bangladesh is urbanizing rapidly (around 35,000 people move to urban areas every week) and
almost no buildings conform to building codes, which are anyway weak. Dhaka is also sited on two
fault-lines and is vulnerable to earthquakes - several small quakes occurred over the last three
years,” said Gareth Price-Jones, Oxfam country director in Bangladesh. He said despite recent
efforts, Bangladesh still has a huge amount of work to do in preparing for an earthquake,
particularly in the major cities like Dhaka and Chittagong.
According to a CDMP study, some 78,323 buildings will be destroyed completely if a 6-magnitude
earthquake shakes Dhaka originating from Madhupur Fault, causing havoc in the densely
populated capital city.
In case of a 7.5-magnitude earthquake originating from Madhupur Fault (near Dhaka city), some
72,316 buildings in the capital will be damaged totally and 53,166 others partially. If an 8.5-
magnitude tremor from the plate boundary of Fault-2 hits the region, some 238,164 buildings will
be destroyed completely across the country.
36. New Global Challenges for Banks.

Banks are to facilitate all kinds of economic activities and finance many other needs of the people,
in both urban and rural areas. But overcrowding of the banking sector is not at all desirable as
this, instead of meeting those objectives, would create problems for the sector itself, particularly
the existing operators in the sector. This might even adversely impact the vital sectors of the
economy in the process. As the financial markets continue to evolve, financial institutions are
working to grow and maintain profits while adjusting to ever-changing regulations and the
downturn’s effects on profitability and performance. Successful institutions will need to reassess
their operating models and address the effects of regulatory reform, competitive dynamics,
evolving markets and increased expectations from stakeholders. The main challenges banking
institutions face nowadays can be categorized as follows:

Industry strategic challenges
The growing demand from the regulators to conform innovating new banking products that is
congruent with sustainable development. Asset management and investor services institutions
need to prepare themselves for significant changes in infrastructures, regulatory frameworks and
their competitive landscape. Institutions will have to improve their understanding of their clients
and re-examine the value and promotion of their products to ensure they remain competitive in
this new environment.
Changing Customers Demand
Today is the age of globalization; there are growing interrelation and interdependence among the
countries of the world. So there is a propensity to change the demand in one country by seeing
the things in another country. Today’s people are more concern about getting better and update
products from the banks. As businesses are expanding at an accelerated rate, banks are to open
new branches throughout the world; this is a big challenge, because there is a cultural diversity
and regulatory differences.
Industry regulatory challenges
The constant evolution of local and international regulations is a major driving force in the
banking and securities industry. The likely introduction of Basel III standards, as an example, will
have a major impact on the way institutions run their business. There is likely to be an increased
focus on capital efficiency. The introduction of new oversight rules and bodies may also have far
reaching implications for the industry. Implementing all these rules can be an issue, yet the real
challenge is more about optimizing your regulatory investments than merely complying.
Industry operational efficiency challenges
To appropriately address strategic and regulatory challenges, impeccable execution is a must.

Constantly improving operational efficiency has to be high on the agenda of bankers. Now more
than ever, institutions have to optimize their processes, control their cost structure, and explore
new operating models using all the tools now at their disposal. Analysing the opportunity to
mutualise operations or IT systems across entities or geographies, outsourcing non core activities,
improving risk management frameworks and tools; these are some of the areas where financial
institutions can find the levers to reach excellence.
Liquidity Challenge
There are four key challenges in effectively managing liquidity risk:
1. Moving from tactical stop-gap solutions to a long-term strategic model for risk
management, and cascading the new governance structure through all levels of
management.
2. Having clear guidance and requirements when global regulators are lacking alignment.
3. Integrating stress-testing (vs. using a siloed stress-test approach) when complications
arise between intra-day, short-term scenarios vs. longer term scenarios.
4. Projecting contractual cash flows for underlying transactions when some institutions
manage millions of transactions.
In this regard the following measures may be implemented:
 The banks should introduce new and innovative services and should scale up their
products for the sake of their existence.
 There is no denying that the quality of the sponsors largely influences the quality of
operation of banks as such sponsors play an important role in the decision-making. So, the
central bank will have to closely examine the track records of the sponsors and it must not
give in to political pressure of any sort on this issue. The quality of the bank directors
should be maintained scrupulously.
 The central bank must have to play the role of a watchdog in case of shopping the
investment clients of new banks from existing banks by approving the higher limit then the
present outstanding.
 The vital issue that deserves priority attention of both central bank and the government is
better banking coverage of the hitherto neglected rural areas. The new banks may be
asked to serve the rural people extensively to meet the financial inclusion policy.
 The Banks should have growing investment on research and development to continuously
forecast the changing customers demand. And they should follow the ‘Kaizen theory’- that
means continuous improvement in everything.
 The Bangladesh Bank and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) have to take
preparation on structuring the banks by training up the bankers. Time has arrived; the
possibility of merger of weak banks cannot be laughed away.

37. Economic Slowdown-Reason & Solution
The economy of Bangladesh is a rapidly developing market-based economy. Its per capita income
is currently US$1044. According to the IMF Bangladesh ranked as the 44th largest economy in the
world in 2012 in PPP terms and 57th largest in nominal terms. The economy has grown at the rate
of 6-7% per annum over the past few years. The growth potential of the economy has led to
Bangladesh's inclusion in the Next Eleven (N-11) of Goldman Sachs and the Global Growth
Generators countries. More than half of the GDP is generated by the service sector; while nearly
half of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector. Other goods produced are textiles,
jute, fish, vegetables, fruit, leather, ceramics, and leather goods, ready-made goods.
2013 2014
Selected Economic Indicators
ADO ADO
(%) – Bangladesh Update Update
2013 2013
GDP Growth 5.7 6.0 6.0 5.8
Inflation 7.8 7.7 7.0 7.5
Current Account Balance (share of GDP) 2.0 1.9 1.0 -0.5
Source: Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2013 Update; ADB estimates.
According to the ADB, the slowdown in economic growth in Bangladesh in the 2013 financial year
"is attributed to the erosion of business confidence and the effects of the Political unrest." The
projected recovery in 2013 rests on the assumptions that business confidence will return and
there will be "substantial external assistance" to mitigate the effects of the natural disasters. In
Bangladesh, the gross domestic product (GDP) in Fiscal Year 2013 (ended 30 June 2013) grew by
6.0%, higher than projected in the Asian Development Outlook (ADO) 2013 in April. Export growth
accelerated briskly, but imports were flat, such that net exports markedly contributed to growth.
Agriculture growth slowed to 2.2% because weather was unfavorable and rice prices fell. Industry
grew by 9.0%, with strong expansion in construction and small-scale manufacturing. Services
growth slowed slightly to 5.7%, reflecting stagnant imports and politically inspired strikes that
disrupted trade.

The causes of economic slowdown in BD:
Firstly, the severe political unrest took place in the country during the last part of the year. The
Centre for Policy Dialogue found that a single day’s shutdown shaves around 0.9 percent off the
gross domestic product a year at market price. The study, which quantifies the economic loss from
a day’s shutdown, also found that it causes exports to drop 2.4 percent and imports 0.8 percent.
The government also stands to lose 0.7 percent in revenue and its deficit would widen by 7.1
percent. The employment of labor declines by 0.9 percent, fixed investment 0.1 percent and
household consumption 0.8 percent, it says.
A day of shutdown causes a loss of Tk 1,600 crore. The country faces, on average, 40 days of
shutdown a year, which means the financial losses stand at Tk 64,000 crore or 6.5 percent of the
country’s gross domestic product (GDP), Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry said.
Secondly, Bangladesh is an agricultural dependent country; the sector is not developing

remarkably. In the financial year 2012-2013, according to a Bangladesh economic report,
agricultural contribution to GDP is 19.07%, whereas it slumped to 16.69% in the next fiscal year,
because there was a little investment in this sector.
Thirdly, decrease in foreign Investment; there was a very worst political situation in the last part
of year 2013, which discourage foreign investors. Cancellation of GSP facilities from USA damages
somehow the image of Bangladesh in the International market. Slow development in
infrastructure is also another reason of decreasing FDI.
Fourthly, a very colossal sector, RMG, is struggling due to various accidents (collapse of Rana
Plaza, Fire in Tazreen Fasions) occurred in this sector. Foreign buyers are going back as the
country is unable to provide enough security for the garment worker. Some renowned
international buyers have already stopped ordering products.
Fifthly, constraints of gas and electricity hamper industrialization and infrastructural and real
estate development and foreign Investment. There is a big gap between the demand and supply
of electricity in domestic market in Bangladesh.
Finally, As Bangladesh has already lost some big markets where it used to export its labor, like-
Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, UAE and other Middle East countries, which results decreasing remittance
inflow of wage earners from the past years.

Steps should be taken:
When confidence is shaken globally, countries should be alert because unpredictable things can
suddenly happen even though economic fundamentals are solid. Our policy makers should
therefore remain vigilant and carefully watch developments in and outside the country.
The government should implement the guideline provided by USA to regain the GSP so that there
will be a permanent change in RMG sector which is a must. When the workers minimum wage,
safety and security are ensured the productivity will of course be increased.
Similarly, emphasis should be given to generate more domestic investment alongside policy
efforts to attract FDI. To minimize the effect of the crisis on exports, stronger efforts will be
needed to diversify exports with respect to both products and destinations.
To keep the financial sector immune from external shocks, central bank regulations on banks and
financial institutions should be strictly enforced. Priority should be given to addressing the
prevailing banking sector deficiencies like capital shortfall and the increase in the volume of
classified loans. Likewise, the vigilance of the SEC should be increased to ensure smooth and
healthy operation of the country’s stock exchanges.
A constant monitoring of manpower exports and the inflow of inward remittances will also be
necessary. To prevent any adverse effect on the manufacturing sector, investment-friendly fiscal,
monetary and sectoral policies will be needed. To safeguard the interest of workers against job
losses, tripartite consultations among employers, workers and government shall be needed to
minimize job retrenchment in the private sector.

38. Disabled People and our Economy
In Bangladesh, the number of people with disability is 15 to 20 million, and the number is
increasing day by day. Recurrent incidents of road accident and factory fire are making the
situation worse.
We have to think about the employment of the persons with disability, seriously. It is assumed
that only 5% people are employed. Therefore, we need a proper planning to create employment
for them. They obviously need training. We have to coordinate our training modules with existing
market demands.
Disability and Poverty:
Poverty creates disability and disability creates poverty. People with disabilities are often among
the poorest of the poor. The World Bank estimates that disabled people make up to 15-20% of the
poor in developing countries. In Bangladesh most people with disabilities live in the rural areas.
They, and sometimes also their families, are often excluded both from their communities and
from development initiatives. The most vulnerable are women and children with disabilities.
Data on disability:
The number of people with disabilities in Bangladesh is high enough to merit special attention.
Based on an assessment of the available figures and estimates by WHO and World Bank for
developing countries, an overall disability prevalence of about 10% of the population remains a
valid working estimate. The prevalence of disabilities in children below 18 years can be estimated
to 6% and for the age group above 18 years the prevalence to about 14% or corresponding to 3.4
million children with disabilities and 10.2 million adults with disabilities.
We can include them in mainstream development through reducing social, environmental,
attitudinal and policy barriers. At first we have to make ourselves aware about our discriminatory
attitudes, ensure accessible environment and ensure disability friendly policies.
There are many talented people among disable and they could be mainstreamed with some
vocational training and close follow up. The govt had declared 10% quota for persons with
disabilities along with the orphans. But the 10% quota is not applicable for the entire govt sector
except for the 3rd and 4th class jobs only. So, the declared quota mast be adequately practiced in
all kinds of recruitment. RMG sector is one of the main wheels in our economy engine employing
around 3.6 million people. There are the larger opportunities at the RMG sector. Reasonable
accommodation and accessibility in the work place are the major factors for their employment.
People with disability, generally, have minimum information about their rights and entitlement,
especially in the rural areas. Once they are organised and get access to training offered by govt
and NGOs they can share information each other. It also helps increase their self-esteem and
confidence.
Still our access to to bank loans is limited. We get assistance from non-govt banks, MIS,
microcredit organizations to facilitate capital for the trained and persons with disabilities.

39. Digital Bangladesh
Digitization has become a buzzword in the new era of information technology. We can now learn
in an instant what is happening in the furthest corner of the world. The electronic transfer of
information via the internet has created an interconnected world of information.
Digital Bangladesh can be defined as “a happy, prosperous, educated population free from
discrimination, corruption, poverty and hunger – a people’s state whose driving force is the digital
technology”. It encompasses the hopes, dreams and aspirations of the people of Bangladesh and
is a vision for materializing the dreams of independence. It is a commitment for transforming
Bangladesh from a least developed or poor country to a technologically-advanced middle-income
nation within 2021. The objectives of a digital Bangladesh are to improve the underdeveloped
lifestyle of the citizenry phase by phase and transform Bangladesh society gradually into a
knowledge-based one.
In effect, it aims to convert to digital mode all undertakings at all levels of society including
people’s lifestyle, education, health management, work procedure, industries, trade and
commerce, production, economy, culture and governance.
The main theme in the philosophy of Digital Bangladesh is to ensure the empowerment of people
as well as uphold transparency and accountability through optimum utilization of information and
communication technology (ICT).
Country`s internet growth is not as satisfactory as voice call despite lowering of bandwidth price
to Tk 8,000 from Tk 1,27, 000. Currently, the country uses only 26 GB Internet out of 86 GB
capacity, according to the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL).
The bandwidth price is still high in Bangladesh compared to other South Asian countries. Internet
price for 1 MBPS is US$100 in Bangladesh while median price is US$ 25 in Jakarta, US$ 31in Kuala
Lumpur, US$ 38 in Mumbai and US$ 60 in Manila.
At present, two Wimax companies, some fixed broadband internet service providers and six
mobile phone operators are offering data service. Nearly 30 million people have access to Internet
communication. Of them, over 95 per cent is using mobile internet, BTRC sources said.
To establish digital Bangladesh, we need to make technological access everywhere. Educational

sector should be given first priority. Without education a nation can never be a developed
country. The video of good teachers should be spread all over the country so that students of
remote village can be beneficiated by enjoying this video. The class room should be digitalized to
capture the attention of students.
Bangladesh is an agro-based country in which 80% people depend on agriculture that needs a
mechanized method of cultivation for establishing digital bangladesh.
Administrative sector should have a technological access to provide security to the general people
by setting CCTV in all important places of Bangladesh.
Medical sector should be brought under digitalization to offer the blessing of medical science for
the general people. By using internet, we can receive prescription at an emergency time without
appearing before a physician.
Communication sector has not been digitalized yet in Bangladesh. By bringing transport under
digitalization system, Bangladesh can become a developed country.
Banking sector has advanced by applying e-banking system all over the country.
Bangladesh will solve most of our national crisis involving corruption, unemployment, illiteracy,
poverty and price-hike.
Even though without knowing Bangladesh has already gone through a bit of experience on
digitization through few national level of ICT projects, such as, Chittagong Customs Automation
System, selection process of teletalk mobile user through internet, project initiated by the
pervious government on machine-readable digital passport system and finally the successful
computerization of national voter ID.
Recently Bangladesh has entered into the phase of 3G internet facilities. The third generation
means it comes after GPRS and EDGE. The advantages of 3G services include faster data
connectivity which means one can download faster and web surfing will be a lot more fun.
It will give uninterrupted video streaming on phones, enable video calls and big MMS and be good
for data intensive applications. The new technology will ease high speed exchange of information
and enable individuals to hold video conferences at distant places and help traffic police avoid the
unwanted jam by observing movement of vehicles.
Challenges:
1. Deficiency in digital infrastructure, 2. Inappropriate practices in ICT system planning,

implementation and management, 3. Reluctant mind-set of the government employees, 4.
Serious lack of e-literacy, 5. High speed internet connection is still expensive, . 6. Power supply is
unreliable, 7. Monopoly of some service providers, high connection costs and non-availability of
networks, 8. Inadequate technology-friendly and high-quality science-based curriculum in
educational institutions 9. insufficient supply of skilled human resources, 10. Constant brain-drain,
11. Lack of awareness about IT/ITES services and industries
Courses of action:
1. The challenges and problems of infrastructure development must be solved immediately, 2. The
installation of second submarine cable connection should be expedited, 3. Internet connection
fees and bandwidth costs should be reduced, 4. The government should invite the private sector
and NGOs to expand broadband connections in rural areas 5. Necessary reforms should be
implemented in tax-related policies, 6. Easy access to the Equity and Entrepreneurship Fund, 7.
Monitoring and implementation of the Action Plans. 8. ICT Policy should be revised, 9. Adequate
IT training for teachers, 10. Special plans need to be drawn up for preventing brain-drain and to
provide incentives to meritorious IT graduates and young entrepreneurs;

40. Deep Sea Port in Bangladesh
Introduction
Sea Port refers to the establishment for loading and unloading of goods having anchorage facility
for ships and embarkation and disembarkation facilities for passengers. Seaports emerged as
immense economic important places for people of littoral countries. That explains why seaports
and cosmopolitan cities developed along the coastal belts since the ancient period. It is a place
along a coast that gives ships and boats protection from storms and rough water; a harbor.
Necessity of deep sea port in Bangladesh
In present context, requirement of a deep-sea port for the country is felt to cope with the trend of
open market economy. Economists think that, deep-sea ports can change the whole import and
export scenario of Bangladesh due to its geographical location. Sea ports are an economic
infrastructure with significant multiplier effects on the domestic economy. For Bangladesh there
are at least four significant reasons for establishing a deep sea port in Sonadia, such as:
 To facilitate uninterrupted coal supply for the power plants to be established in

Moheshkhali;
 To support the country’s growing seaborne trade needs of the future;
 To go along with the global shipping trend of moving towards larger tonnage; and
 To utilize our geographical advantage to become a regional access door to the sea.
The development of deep sea ports as an economic infrastructure assumes that like roads,
communications and other economic infrastructures, ports have a positive impact on the growth
and development of countries. The economic history of maritime powers such as Britain, Spain
and Portugal clearly documents the significant and critical role which ports have played in the
development of their economies.
Construction Proposal of deep see port in Bangladesh
In the 1960s a proposal of constructing of a deep sea port in Kutubdia channel was submitted to
the government. Still Bangladesh could not construct a deep-sea port. Construction of deep-sea
port was never appeared as a strong issue after independence. The governments after 1990s,
several times talked about deep sea ports, but no action was taken to materialise the issue. The
present government has started working regarding the construction of deep-sea port.
Selections of Sonadia as the best place for deep see port
Japanese specialists have suggested the Sonadia Island as a suitable place for deep-sea port
instead of Kutubdia. Because the amount of silt accumulated at Kutubdia per year is alarmingly
high and a lot of money will be required for regular dredging. In addition to that another 200
meters of channel need to be prepared to maintain proper navigation. Again for construction of
deep sea port in Kutubdia, a huge amount of people need to be relocated and that involves a huge
amount of money for acquiring land and payment of compensation.

Proposed project of Sonadia deep see port
Several countries including India, China and USA have shown interest in construction of deep-sea
port. According to the plan of present government, the project namely deep-sea port will be
accomplished in three phases within 2055. The government expects that the first phase of the
project will start within 2012. The estimated expenditure is assumed to be six hundred thousand
million taka. According to the shipping ministry, a project of 150 thousand million taka is included
in ADP as a first phase of construction of deep-sea port. 30% of the total expenditure of the port
will be sponsored by Chittagong Port Authority (CPA). It is expected that the rest 70% will come
from government and private participation (PPP). It may be mentioned that after the completion
of first phase, expected to be completed in 2019, the business and port activities will be facilitated
through 11 jetties and 8 berths. The second phase will start in 2020 and finish within 2035, during
that time another 25 jetties and berths will be added to this port. The work of third phase will
start from 2035 and continue upto 2055 to enhance the number of jetties and berths to 96. Then
total 96 ships will be able to anchor and will have the provision of loading and unloading of
cargoes at a time. Concerned specialists expressed that after the completion of first phase,
economy of the country will achieve 1.5% GDP. In addition 18% to 30% transportation cost will be
reduced in export-import business. This will have a positive influence on the price of the local
commodities. Thus general people will be benefited directly from deep-sea port.
Business opportunity of deep see port Sonadia

After construction of the deep sea port both Bangladesh and Haldia or Kolkata ports of India will
be benefited for cargo handling. Cost of export import and cargo handling will be saved so that
trading between their seven northern states of India will be enhanced. In addition transporting
cargoes to Myanmer and to Unan province of China will also be benefited. Economists think that
construction of deep-sea port will have a definite positive influence on local economy. Deep-sea
port construction will have positive influence on our GDP from different corners as seven days
lead-time will be reduced in export import business. The mother vessels which cannot enter the
Chittagong port at present will anchor at the deep-sea port. The present volume of 30 billion US$
export-import business will be doubled by 2020. The positive growth of foreign trades of
neighbouring India and China will be huge in future, and eventually the landlocked states of these
two gigantic countries (North East region of India and Southern region of China) will have to get
services of the deep sea port of Bangladesh. Deep-sea port will play a vital role for the economic
development of Bangladesh like Singapore, Hong Kong and Sri Lanka. China and other
development partners have already expressed interest in helping Bangladesh regarding a building
of deep-sea port.
Establishment of deep sea port and regional development
Impacts of regional port developments to the proposed deep sea port in Bangladesh When the
planned and proposed port developments in Hooghly River are implemented, transshipment
cargoes only from Nepal and Bhutan will be handled through these ports. This port cannot be
used as a hub port for serving the landlocked states of India, China and Myanmar.

The small amount of transshipment cargo to and from Nepal were handled at Bangladesh’s ports
more than a decade ago, however, in recent years no transit cargoes to and from Nepal have been
handled at Bangladesh’s ports. Therefore, it may be concluded that the impact of port
development in India is very limited on the future port developments in Bangladesh. A unique
opportunity for Bangladesh None of the deep sea port sites in the Bay of Bengal other than
Sonadia has the potential to serve the broader hinterland region lying behind. The geographic
position of Bangladesh could offer real opportunities to play a major role in regional seaborne
trade and act as a gateway for this region to the rest of the world by providing shortest land
connectivity route to the deepest water, saving thousands of kilometers transport costs and time.
The volume of traffic and revenue earnings of the deep sea port once established, with all
connectivity and political understanding with the neighbours, will have a direct link with
development activities of the seven-sisters and China. Without going into details, it may be
reasonable to expect that with a functional deep sea port in Sonadia, our GDP will be raised to a
higher single digit figure, if not double digits.
Potentiality and opportunity

A decision to build the port should be taken without any further delay. There is no doubt about
the potentiality and the opportunity that exist. The two ever rival political parties of the country
that could not reach any consensus on any national issue have surprisingly had a consensus on
this particular issue of a deep sea port. Both parties included the same point in their last election
manifesto. Furthermore, the Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus has also emphasised on the
establishment of the deep sea port in Sonadia. This country is a natural disaster-prone country
with limited natural resources to support an enormous population. The Sonadia site, with suitable
parameters to establish a deep sea port, is a rare opportunity to ensure a better living for the
people of this land from its own resource. We must act sensibly with vision and honesty.
Conclusion
Deep sea port development has positive effects on employment and revenue earnings of a
country. The positive trade and balance of payments effects of good seaports and harbours
cannot be denied. The cluster of activities in sea ports all over the world clearly show that ports
have significant economic impact both locally, regionally and nationally.

41. Comparative Analysis of Corporate Social Responsibility
CSR is a concept whereby organizations consider the interests of society by taking responsibility
for the impact of their activities on customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the
environment in all aspects of their operations. Simply, "CSR is about how companies manage the
business processes to produce an overall positive impact on society."
The Importance of CSR
The benefits of an effective CSR approach to an organization can include:
Stronger performance and profitability

Improved relations with the investment community and access to capital
Enhanced employee relations and company culture
Risk management and access to social opportunities
Stronger relationships with communities and legal regulators
CSR can play a role in building customer loyalty based on distinctive ethical values.
Business service organizations can benefit too from building a reputation for integrity and
best practice.
Bangladesh & CSR
Concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its practices in Bangladesh have a long
history of philanthropic activities from time immemorial. Such philanthropic activities included
donations to different charitable organizations, poor people and religious institutions. Until now,
most businesses in Bangladesh are family owned and first generation ones. They are involved in
community development work in the form of charity without having any definite policy regarding
the expenses or any concrete motive regarding financial gains in many instances.
CSR – as the concept is understood today i.e. including health & safety, human rights, child labor,
environmental and climate issues is relatively new but there are a number of signs that it is
becoming increasingly important in Bangladesh – in all businesses but particularly companies with
international business & export. CSR cannot be ignored because Bangladesh depends on its export
i.e. a global market.
CSR in Bangladesh can also contribute a lot to community. A focus on CSR in Bangladesh would be
useful, not only for improving corporate governance, labor rights, work place safety, fair
treatment of workers, community development and environment management, but also for
industrialization and ensuring global market access. By now, many CSR dimensions are practiced
in Bangladesh. The SMEs largely depend upon export. An Ideal example is the consumer boycott
imposed on purchasing Bangladesh Readymade Garments on the ground that these are produced
by under-aged child labor.
The corporate house can develop the community by creating employment, providing primary
education, contribution to infrastructure development like roads and highways and addressing
environmental concerns. This is more relevant to a country like Bangladesh where the
government interventions in these fields augmented by corporate alliance can go a long way in
developing the economy, society and environment.

CSR related initiatives in Bangladesh
The Bangladesh enterprise institute
The Bangladesh enterprise institute (BEI) which is a -profit, non-political research centre
established in October 2000.The Institute promotes issues of importance to the private sector and
seeks to initiate essential measures and influence policy for the development of a market-
oriented economy.
CSR Bangladesh (CSRB)
CSR Bangladesh was established in 2008 to facilitate, expand and encourage CSR practice in
Bangladesh. The CSRB is a non profit organization and its objective is to become the source of
information, resources and advisory services on CSR in Bangladesh.
CSR related Certifications in Bangladesh
There are a number of private consultants and NGOs offering advice on certifications related to
CSR for example: SA8000, ISO26000, GRI ma.
CSR practices in banks
The banking sector of Bangladesh has a long history of involvement in benevolent activities like
donations to different charitable organizations, to poor people and religious institutions, city
beautification and patronizing art & culture, etc.Out of forty eight scheduled banks in Bangladesh,
forty six had engagement in CSR practices in some form or other in 2009.Here are some banks which are
performing CSR:
Agrani Bank limited :As part of its CSR activities, the bank contributes greatly to the
nourishment of the country’s arts, crafts, culture and sports.
Bank Asia Limited : It considers socially responsible activities as an important part of its culture,
identity and business practice. So, it contributes to improve the livelihood opportunities of the
less fortunate, provision of facilities for education and health,protection of the environment, and
encouragement of cultural and social activities in the rural as well as urban areas.
BASIC Bank Limited :It is running on slogan “Serving People for Progress”. The slogan manifests
the commitment of the bank to comply its social responsibility. Recognizing the importance of CSR
and being a socially responsible organization BASIC Bank conducts its CSR
in two ways, one is policy driven to _finance and the other is by participation in the social work
directly.
Dutch Bangla Bank Limited :DBBL as a responsible corporate body has been playing apioneering
role in implementing social and philanthropic programs to help disadvantaged people of the
country. Education, healthcare, human resource development, conservation of nature, creation of
social awareness, rehabilitation of distressed people and such other programs are some of the
important areas where the bank carries out its social and philanthropic activities.

HSBC :The new strategy of HSBC Bangladesh emphasizes the current focus on education for
underprivileged children and supporting the environment. These two focus areas have been allocated at
least 75% of the budget while the rest are used to support the needy, disability issues
of the society and local culture.
Janata Bank Limited :The bank is aware of the responsibilities of corporate citizenship, as such, it believes
that it is its responsibility to help improve the living standard of the poor people, to try to alleviate poverty
from the society and to contribute in the _Field of education, health care, sports etc.
Prime Bank Limited :The bank is contributing to create an enabling environment for the underprivileged
and excluded-people to access the basic services they need and to minimize social injustice.
Pubali Bank limited :The bank is very much committed to its corporate social responsibility.
The bank believes that without awareness of social responsibility and keeping performance in accordance
to the need, no country can attain sustainable development. The bank shows its obligation for upliftment
of backward part of socio-economic segments.
EXIM Bank Limited :The bank’s CSR activities mainly involve contribution towards building up
an enlightened and prosperous nation. In view of it, it has taken patronization of education as its
core CSR activity, whereas disaster management and alleviation of poverty is much emphasized.
Sonali Bank Limited

As part of its CSR, Sonali Bank Ltd. is continuing donations to different organizations which
support social welfare.
CSR by private organizations:
CSR is an increasingly important tool to maximize the positive development impact of

corporations and commercial activity in the developing world. In Bangladesh, companies, civil
society organizations (CSOs)/NGOs, and development partners have adapted international
practices of CSR to the local context and are working in partnership to improve employment
opportunities and healthcare for excluded groups. Some private Organizations performing CSR are as
follows:
Grameen phone:
The CR initiatives is based on 3 main focus areas:

Health
Education
Environment
Some of the Key CR initiatives:

Proud sponsor of Bangladesh Special Olympics team
Employment opportunity to acid survivors
Scholarship for underprivileged meritorious students
Blood donation camps for underprivileged Thalassaemia patients
British American Tobacco Bangladesh
All their activities reflect the belief that ‘Success and Responsibility Go Together’. Therefore, they
have in place very robust CSR initiatives. Through such endeavours , they aim to achieve the
necessary balance of sustainable environmental, social and economic development.

 Afforestation
 Safe drinking water: ‘Probaho’
 Sustainable agriculture
PRAN Foods Ltd

 Community forestation:
 Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP
 Heat Recovery Boiler
Beximco
Free drugs during natural calamities and distribution of clothing during winter
A specialized institute that works for the holistic development of children with special
educational needs through different programs
Sponsoring events and national sport stars and teams
Official sponsor of the Bangladesh National Cricket team for the ICC Cricket World Cup
2011.
SQUARE Pharmaceuticals ltd. Bangladesh
Their Business Motivation is Being Good by Doing Well and to conduct transparent business
operations based on market mechanism within the legal, ethical & social framework with aims to
attain the mission reflected by their vision. They scale-up CSR activities to consider the interests of
their external & internal stakeholders like customers, employees, vendors, shareholders, society,
government etc. and ecological & ethical considerations in all aspects of operations.
Unilever Bangladesh
Public Health- Unilever Bangladesh (pvt.) limited implements many programs on public
health. They already have taken initiative for free dental check up. They create
consciousness among the rural people about Health by their many activities.
Arts and Cultural development- In Bangladesh for cultural development Unilever
Bangladesh (pvt.) limited has done many things giving sponsor to many cultural
organization.

42. Contribution of NGO to the Development of BD
A non-governmental organization (NGO) is a citizen based association that operates
independently of government, usually to deliver resources or serve some social or political
purposes. Thus, NGOs are not only non-governmental but voluntary also. So, it is referred to as
any agency that isn't controlled by govt. can be regarded as an NGO. The government of People’s
Republic of Bangladesh has established Bangladesh NGO Foundation to support the NGOs, with a
view to associate the non-governmental organization in the process of achieving millennium
development goal. The foundation is established for financing NGOs and other voluntary
organizations including community based organizations (CBOs) and providing basic social services
such as education, nutrition and health, sanitation support, safe drinking water and any other
services needed by the poor, women and children and the ethnic minorities.
After the independence of Bangladesh, the number of NGOs has increased drastically. The timing
of their approaches of intervention has also changed, i.e., from relief operations to self-reliant
development. in recent times, the NGOs approach to development is essentially to target group
approach. NGOs started their operations in Bangladesh as relief organization after the 1970
cyclone. Bangladesh has been regarded as a land of NGOs (World Bank, 1995).The mushroom
growth of NGOs in Bangladesh is partly due to the increase in foreign aid and humanitarian help
to cope with many natural disasters that Bangladesh often experience. So it is clear that NGOs are
those organizations which are one way or the other involved in the development or welfare
oriented activities.
The unique contribution of the NGOs isn't confined to the delivery of social services and pro-poor
advocacy. They have developed commercial ventures in order to link poor producers with input
and output markets, as well as to develop a source of internally generated revenue for the
organizations. Analyzing NGOs activity, the NGO sector and individual organizations within it stand
out bye virtue of their scale. There are an estimated 2000 development NGOs and a small group
of them are among the largest such organizations are BRAC, ASA, PROSHIKA, UN IN Bangladesh
etc.
#BRAC> It works with people who lives are dominated by extreme poverty, illiteracy, disease and
other handicaps. BRAC, receiving about three-fourths of donor resources and accounting for a
similar share of primary enrollment of in NGO schools. BRAC also franchises its model by
controlling 200 small NGOs to deliver non formal education programmes.
#Association for Social Advancement (ASA)> it provides microcredit financing. the founding
framework of ASA was aimed at empowering rural landless villagers from the 'bottom up' through
people’s organization.ASA has currently over 2.2 million members forming different groups with
special emphasis on saving practice and 8000 employees engaged in saving deposits. Since, it has
become a fully self-sufficient microfinance institution, operating mainly in Bangladesh and at
present, it offers a wide range of financial services to its clients, including microcredit, small
business credit, voluntary saving and life insurance, low cost system of organization savings,
management and credit operation.

#PROSHIKA> The activities of Proshika are structural poverty alleviation, environmental protection
and regeneration, improvement in women's status, increasing people's participation in public
institution, thus the network of activities in which proshika is involved links the poorest of the
poor with link-minded development actors worldwide. On average 1.3 members from each
household having 5.5 members, this translates into over 11.72 million programmes beneficiaries
of PROSHIKA. #UN in Bangladesh>the UN country team in Bangladesh comprises all UN agencies
based in Dhaka including UNDP,UNICEF,WFP,UNFPA,WHO,UNESCO,ILO and including the wider
UN family, the world bank, IOM and IMF works with poor communities to find lasting solutions to
poverty.
NGOs in Bangladesh like to manifest themselves as advocates of social change. For bringing
effective social change the priority is to eradicate all kinds of discrimination in the society. For
effective social change in Bangladesh, empowerment of women is the first thing to do. NGOs
would like to involve these women and enhance their participation in the development process. In
Bangladesh, for the development, NGOs are contributing by the humanitarian progress and
structural development of organization for rural poor, employment generation, organizing groups
and participation of the beneficiaries, providing microcredit, providing formal and informal
education targeting poor rural women as beneficiary, giving relief and rehabilitation projects,
providing health, nutrition and hygiene facilities, developing human resource, specific target
setting for poor, achieving speedier economic growth process, creating awareness and developing
leadership for the landless and less facilitated ones.
Contribution of NGO in the development of Bangladesh is based on the grassroots level activities
of the beneficiaries in the selected area of Bangladesh. The people who receive different benefits
from NGOs and become NGO members are more likely to undertake income generating activities,
raise their income and productivity, attain self reliance in meeting their socio economic and other
welfare needs them those of their comparable non beneficiaries. Beside these, some limitations
are observed in the NGOs for the shortage of efficient employees and high employee attraction,
lack of financial sustainability, low level of inter sectoral co-operation, lack of information and
relevant research, political pressure and political instability, inadequate training and low level of
true professionalism among employees, lack of job security etc. If NGOs can overcome this
limitation, then it can surely be hoped that they continue playing an important role in the
development of Bangladesh.
Challenges facing NGOs in Bangladesh work under many constraints and challenges. Some of
these challenges are: (a) lack of financial sustainability; (b) shortage of efficient employees and
high employee attrition; (c) inadequate infrastructure; (d) undue interference and control by the
government; (e) lengthy fund release process; (f) low level of inter-sectoral cooperation; (g)
inadequate training and low level of true professionalism among employees often aggravated by
lack of job security; (h) lack of information and relevant research; (i) religious conservatism and
militancy, and threat of terrorism; (j) political pressure and political instability; k) Unfavorable tax
regime; and (l) natural calamities.

43. Constraints to industrial development
Development of a country depends on its economic development. Bangladesh is a developing
country. Our economy is depends on agriculture, industry and trade, and service sector.
Bangladesh is mainly an agricultural country. Agriculture has always been given priority .As a
result industries have been ignored. Recently some ago-based industries and service-based have
given priority. GDP growth of our country has stepped up last years. In 2012, Agriculture
contributed 19.29%, industry and trade contributed 31.26% and service sector contributed
49.45% in our GDP growth. In this growth industry and trade sector’s growth rate was higher than
other sector. It was 9.66%. Government takes different steps to become an industrially developed
country.
There are some barriers which hinder the development of industry sector.
1. Rules of Government
Entrepreneurs have to face different formal steps and procedure before setting up their business.
This procedure takes lots of time.
2. Political instability:
A good govt. policy and political stability and precondition for industrialization. Unfortunately
political anarchy and instability has always been a common phenomenon here. Besides, no govt.
have planned or implemented an industry –oriented policy. Bangladesh has suffered severe
economic losses and distress from July 2013 to January 2014 as a result of political strikes and
blockades. The total losses during this 6-month period are estimated at Tk. 49,017.92 crore, an
amount which is equivalent to 4.7 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) (FY2012-13) .
3. Infrastructure:
Lack of infrastructural development, business cannot develop. Infrastructural facilities in our

country are also poor. Power supply, telecommunication, transport, gas, water supply etc. all
facilities are poor which have hindered process of industrialization in Bangladesh.
4. Investment:
Investment in business essential for industrial development. But lack of enforcement of law and
monitoring system, Investment in unproductive is increasing day by day. And higher cost of real
investment hinders the industrial development.
5. Transportation and storage:
Transportation is main object which help to expand a business. Large vehicles and trucks have to
maintain time and route to move. In Public transport like Rail, Air and water have to face booking
competition and lack of security and management. As a result raw materials or finished product
are not reached at factory or customer on time. In EPZ storage systems are world class. There are
few storage system outside of these area. As a result small and medium businessmen have to
count a large amount of loss each year.

6. Lack of safety working place:
Working place is most important portion of any business. A safe and healthy environment is
needed for worker and businessman. Last few year, our garments industry face different problems
like building demolishing, fire flaming etc. ILO provides a model instruction of safety working
environment.
7. Financial Institution:
Financial Institutions help in industry development. To control fake and fraud, they maintain a
high class security. As a result small, medium and new entrepreneur have to go through a critical
procedure to get business loan.
8. Lack of entrepreneurship:
Most of the people want to a service holder. There is no entrepreneurship mentality. As result a
47% of higher educated Business student remain unemployed.
10. Low literacy rate and trained worker:
Worker is the basic resource of any business. If worker are well trained and educated, they
become asset for business. But most of worker in Bangladesh are uneducated or low educated.
Because of them, sometimes business face cancelation of work order.
11. Corruption and lack of transparency:
Development of industry in Bangladesh is constrained because of corruption. Hallmark, Bismillah,

Destiny, GNG, Jubok etc. companies are done corruption .Transparency and accountability is most
important part of growth of business and capture customer’s trust. The National Household
Survey 2012 released on December 28, by Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) showed
that 63.7% of the surveyed households have been victims of corruption in one or other selected
sector of service delivery. Most important service delivery sectors affecting people's lives such as
law enforcement, land administration, justice, health, education and local government, remain
gravely affected by corruption.

44. Black Money and our Economy
The implications of black money for the economy are many — some of these remain apparent,
while the rest are hidden under the surface. Apart from obvious tax evasion, which reduces
government’s revenue, the vines of black money have spread across a wider spectrum of the
economy in many ways. Such a trend can have long-term implications for the economy.
The stockmarket is another terrain where the scope of whitening money is given. However, a
possibility remains that this can lead to an artificial inflation in the market as black money holders
would invest in the market and leave as soon as their money is whitened. Providing such
opportunities time and again may encourage many to remain submerged into the underground
economy. This may also create a disincentive for honest taxpayers. Currently black money holders
pay a tax of 10 percent to whiten money, if they invest in the stock market and infrastructure
bonds. An honest taxpayer, on the other hand, pays 10-25 percent tax. This not only reduces their
relative ‘after-tax’ income but also attributes to further income inequality. This can translate into
a disincentive for many to linger within the formal economy.
In the last budget of its tenure, the government extended the scope for whitening undisclosed
money in the housing sector without questioning its source, provided that black money holders
pay a certain amount of tax to avail themselves of the opportunity.
However, the provision will not be applicable for money derived from any criminal activities or
illegitimate source, according to the finance bill.
In fact, by making this allowance for the black money holders, the government is not helping the economy
in any way. Rather, it is encouraging them to go ahead with their illicit means to make more illicit money. Is
it then any wonder that the nether world economy has only grown bigger over the years! And according to
an estimate, the size of our underground economy has become as large as 82% of our Gross National
Product (GDP).
The policy think tank, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), showed that in four years between 2009 and 2013,
the government earned a paltry sum of Tk 38 crore as tax out of the declarations of total of Tk. 1305 crore
they made.
And since 1975 until 2013, the total amount of undisclosed money whitened stands at only Tk. 14,467
crore. Interestingly, about 57% of this total amount (Tk. 9682 crore) till date was whitened during the last
military-backed caretaker government of 2007-08. One may well recall that unlike the lenient approach of
the present or past elected governments, the caretaker government of 2007-08 did not treat the tax-
dodgers and black money holders with kid gloves.
A record amount of black money was whitened through such a provision of scope in 2007-08, when many
people legalised money following anti-graft drives. The BNP-led government had also offered the same
scope in its budget of 2006-07. The present government last year introduced a provision allowing a
company or an individual to whiten undisclosed money by paying fines.
According to the new provision, holders of undisclosed money can invest in the housing sector, through
paying taxes between Tk 750 and Tk 7,000 a square metre of floor space subject to the location.
If anyone buys more than one flat or a plot of land, the buyer has to pay additional taxes.

45. Bali Package and Bangladesh
The Bali-package is a trade agreement resulting from Ninth Ministerial Conference of the WTO in
Bali, Indonesia on 3-7 December. It is aimed at lowering global trading barriers and is the first
agreement reached through WTO that is approved by all its members. The package forms part of
Doha development round which started in 2001. The ninth Ministerial Conference of the WTO
(world trade organization) ended December 7 in Indonesa with the approval of significant “Bali
Package” a series of decisions aimed at streamlining trade, allowing developing countries more
options for providing food security, boosting least developing countries trade and helping
development more generally.159 members came to a consensus that would allow duty-free
access of countries export to all developed and developing countries.
“The benefits to the world economy are calculated to be between $ 400 billion and $1 trillion by
reducing costs of trade by between 10% and 15%, increasing trade flows and revenue collection,
creating a stable business environment and attracting foreign investment.” This is quoted from
draft declaration of “Bali package.” Actually, WTO is very hopeful of enhancing world business,
where LDCs like Bangladesh will get facilities to spread trade over the world
Bali-package incorporated four matters
1, Trade facilitation
This agreement emphasize on the measures will be taken to cut red tape and streamline customs
and port procedures to ease the movement of goods through national frontiers.
The International Chamber of Commerce estimates the feature will lower the cost of doing
business by as much as 10-15 percent and add $1 trillion to global output. Now world economy is
being centralized by different ways, but production procedures are being decentralized. Different
parts of a product are produced in different countries. These products are entered in the market
from different countries. To administrate this chain of marketing, trade facilitation is urgent. For
this purpose trade facilitation is very much essential for developed countries. This agreement
defiantly enhances the competition power of LDC countries but at the same time to implement
this LDC countries need technological and financial support.
2, Agriculture and food security in developing world
It has been decided to provide special benefit to the farmer of LDC countries in Bali Conference,
So that people can purchase food at a discounted price and at the same they are allowed to
reserve food.
3, Proposal for developing and least developing countries
Least Developed Countries (LDC) are the poorest members of World Trade Organization. They
comprise about 12% of world population but account for less than 2% of world GDP and about 1%
of world global trade in goods. Their participation in service sector is even less.
WTO members recognize that LDCs need special treatment and assistance to achieve their
development objectives. WTO agreements include provisions aimed at increasing LDCs’ trade
opportunities and allowing LDCs flexibility in implementing WTO rules. The WTO together with
other international agencies have also established special programs to support LDCs in enhancing
their participation in the global trading system.
It is expected that Ministers will be asked to adopt decisions concerning LDCs at the Ninth WTO
Ministerial Conference on 3-6 December 2013 in Bali. These decisions result from the proposals
made by the group of LDCs. The proposal contains four major elements:
a decision on the implementation of duty-free and quota-free market access for LDCs
a decision on preferential rules of origin for LDCs
a decision on the operationalization of the LDC services waiver
a decision in the area of cotton, covering both trade and development assistance aspects.
In addition, a revised WTO Work Programme for the LDCs, initially drawn up in 2002, was agreed
by WTO members in June 2013. The Programme looks at systemic issues of interest to LDCs in the
multilateral trading system. Also a decision to strengthen the accession guidelines of LDCs, which
were adopted in 2002, was approved by WTO members in July 2012.
4, Cotton export
Based on a proposal that the Cotton-4 countries — Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali —
submitted in October 2013, WTO members agreed on a draft decision focusing on both the trade
and development aspects of the cotton issue.
The draft decision reiterates members’ commitment to “on-going dialogue and engagement” to
make progress in the negotiations on cotton according to the 2005 objectives, which were agreed
at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. The draft also says members will meet twice each year
to study the latest information and to discuss the latest developments on market access, domestic
support and export subsidies for cotton, particularly from LDCs. These sessions will come under
the agriculture negotiations
Bali Package: Hope for Bangladesh
Bangladesh as a least-developed country (LDC) is entitled to both technical and financial support
to implement the feature, and the country could do well by taking the opportunity to enhance its
infrastructure and incorporate modern customs systems and behavior. As part of the LDC
package, one of the three pillars of the historic deal, Bangladesh is allowed preferential access to
richer countries’ services markets.
The ninth ministerial conference outcome document states that developed country members that
do not yet provide DF-QF market access for at least 97 percent of products originating from LDCs
“shall seek” to improve their coverage before the next ministerial meet. So Bangladesh has to take
step to take the full opportunity of DF_QF. Subsidies in agricultural products are necessary for
developing countries. Every developing country including India can subsidise any product to boost
up agricultural production to ensure food security. This will continue for the next four years, and
will expand if needed in future. So Bangladesh may subsidies agricultural products that are
imported from India on large scale. But there is a limitation on cotton production, which can raise
the price of apparel products in Bangladesh. After all, it will help to avoid trade dependency on
India and make Bangladesh a food secured country.
About the limitless public stockholding championed by India on grounds of food security in
developing countries, the think-tank said higher procurement by the neighboring country,
Vietnam or Thailand could raise food prices regionally and adversely affect Bangladeshi
consumers. The high stock piles “when needed may be dumped” in the international market,
which could have a dampening effect on global food prices. “Food exporting countries may be out
priced, but Bangladesh not being a net food importing country may stand to gain from it.”
Moreover, the stockpiling of food could result in ban on export of food (rice), which may have
adverse impact for Bangladesh during times of food crisis.
The Bali package also stipulates that a “monitoring mechanism” be set up with to review the
special treatment given to developing countries and LDCs, with the objective of improving the
beneficiaries’ ability to utilize them. “Such mechanism will provide opportunities for Bangladesh
to raise issues and flag difficulties faced in implementing the provisions,” the report said, while
calling for Bangladesh to take a more proactive role in this aspect.
There is 1 year to materialize the “Bali package” the WTO president said. In the meantime,
Bangladesh needs to take some preparations in this regard. First of all, it should maintain contact
with the other 48 LDCs to create pressure on rich countries to follow the decisions of Bali package.
Secondly, Bangladesh needs to regain GSP facilities to enhance trade. Another crucial challenge is
to ensure secure workplace for garments workers to avoid accidents like ‘Rana Plaza’ and ‘Tazreen
fashion’ to get facilities in US and EU markets. This will help to get priority in world market as well.
At the end of the day, it is clear that we need to go a long way for gaining these facilities.
Implementation depends on rich countries mostly.
46. Importance of Higher Education

Higher education, particularly in science and technology, is the most important prerequisite of
economic development. In fact, it is the prerequisite of all other developments, namely, political,
social and cultural etc. It is to be noted that economic development includes industrial,
agricultural, technological and all service sectors development. The graduates produced by both
public and private universities and colleges under National University (assuming that they get high
quality and relevant education and training) work as powerful engines of economic
development. The graduates of world class universities can provide the most important
ingredients of development, namely, required knowledge, skills, leadership, innovation and
changes. The higher the quality of education, the better is the performance of the graduates at
job situation. The universities and other institutions of higher learning are established to impart
top quality education and produce top quality graduates who stand out as professional leaders in
their respective fields. However, it is not the quality of graduates alone that is necessary for
economic growth and development; the quantity is equally important. The number of employable
graduates produced by the universities must be large enough to meet the requirements of all the
sub-sectors that contribute to overall economic development. The universities or the institutions
of higher learning are required to produce highly skilled manpower equipped with education and
training in all relevant disciplines. Economic development happens with inputs or services of
scientists including agricultural and medical scientists, engineers, IT experts, computer engineers,
economists, business executives, management experts, accountants, biotechnologists, teachers/
professors, etc. Economic development is synonymous with knowledge-economy. Here lies the
importance of higher education.
Need for Manpower Planning:
Bangladesh does not have a higher education system that supplies manpower in a planned way.
What we have is a supply-driven pool of human resources. The supply is a function of the
production capacity of the producers, namely, universities and colleges. Often supply (university
graduates) does not match the demand for graduates with qualifications the employers look
for. This happens due to lack of manpower planning. Our National Five Year Plans (FYP) indicates
the vision, mission, goals and targets of primarily economic, social and cultural development.
Bangladesh does not have a separate manpower plan. It is essential that Five-Year Plan includes a
separate chapter on a manpower plan. This plan needs to indicate the categories and number of
skilled manpower necessary to implement the FYP. Manpower planning exercise will indicate, for
example, how many computer engineers, IT experts /technicians and how many Universities of
Science and Technology and colleges will be required to produce the required number of skilled
human resources to implement a sustainable Digital Bangladesh program. Similarly, the export
potential of shipbuilding industry of Bangladesh is quite promising. The export of ships built in
Bangladesh is growing rapidly. The government can alert the universities of Engineering and
Technology to prepare themselves to produce an increasing number of shipbuilding engineers and
naval architects. Similar exercise may be carried out to meet the demand for engineers in the field
of power generation, transmission and distribution; and engineers of different specializations
keeping in view the construction of large bridges like Padma Bridge, and the network of flyovers in
major cities. Furthermore, to make our efforts successful to establish a sustainable food security
program, we need to strengthen the agricultural universities and research institutes so that they
can increase the supply of agricultural research scientists. The manpower plan under reference
should include projection of the categories and number of the scientists that will be required in
future. Similarly, for health sector, the demand for additional medical doctors of required
specializations should be estimated. These are only few examples. There are many more types of
manpower required for economic development for which estimates must be made. Then the
number of institutions of higher learning (general, sciences, medical, agricultural, engineering and
technical) with their capacities to produce graduates with relevant education will have to be
estimated. These institutions / universities will supply the required types and number of
graduates keeping in view the national manpower; otherwise, lopsided development of
universities will be unavoidable. Absence of such a manpower planning tends to lead to a
mismatch between supply and demand of human resources which may result in slowing down
economic progress.
Revisiting the Education System is Necessary:
In Bangladesh there are 38 public universities and 78 private universities. These universities
supply skilled manpower to man all economic activities. Until recently, public universities were
the sole suppliers of highly skilled manpower. Situation has changed with the emergence of
private universities. Graduates of some reputable private universities compete with those of the
good public universities. But mismatch between the demand and supply continues. This happens
because there is no coordination between national Planning Commission, UGC and universities.
This causes conspicuous lopsidedness in the development of higher education in
Bangladesh. Besides, in most cases quality of education is poor. There is no dearth of graduates,
but most of them are not suitable for the positions the employers can offer. The above implies
that the institutions of higher learning must impart relevant and high quality education and
training matching the national manpower plan. It is to be noted that higher education is one of

the three major components of the total education system, the other two being primary and
secondary. These three are interdependent. One cannot discuss the quality of higher education
without reference to that of the primary and secondary education because both secondary and
primary education forms the foundation of higher education. On the other hand, the quality of
education imparted at primary and secondary schools depends on the quality of education and
training the teachers of primary and secondary schools receive at the tertiary level. If these
teachers are not well educated and trained, most of the children (students of the primary schools)
do not attain the target level literacy. Consequently, the foundation of their basic education
continues to be weak. There are some other weaknesses that reduce quality at primary level
education. Often teachers do not complete the syllabi because many schools do not have
required number of class rooms or seating places, sometimes students do not have text books,
schools do not have required teaching aids, occasionally teachers remain absent and some
students do not attend the classes regularly. As a result, although the boys and girls pass the
school tests and spend five years in the schools, many of them are found not prepared to study at
the secondary schools. Quality of their education remains poor. When they are promoted to the
secondary level, they continue to carry the burden of inadequacies and weak foundation. As in
the primary schools, many of the secondary schools do not have well qualified teachers. On the
top of it, their number is less than required. The weaker students who come from the primary
schools continue to remain weaker at the secondary level as well. Excepting a smaller percentage,
the weaker students continue up to the college and university level and get their degrees. To be
sure, one must note that all schools, colleges and universities (public and private) do not provide
low quality education. There are very good schools, colleges and universities in Bangladesh.
Private Universities and Quality Improvement:
Given the above situation, an important question is: how to improve the quality of higher
education? I chose to discuss the quality assurance questions with reference to private
universities only, although quality of education imparted by the public universities and the
colleges under National University needs to be improved. In Bangladesh, higher education in
various forms is imparted by the degree colleges, university colleges, universities both public and
private, and also the government approved institutions of technical education and or training that
admit students who have completed 12 years of formal schooling. Here universities are mainly
focused. A well established university is a comprehensive research university that “integrates
three major functions, within a single institutional framework: teaching-learning, research and
public service”. At the initial stage, a university is likely to be exclusively a teaching-learning
institution. With acquiring increasing effectiveness in teaching, a university tends to add research
activities as its second major functions. The advancement of knowledge through research is an
essential function of all systems of higher education. Of the 78 private universities, about 60
universities do not provide internationally acceptable quality education. To meet the expectations
of the students and also for the benefit of the country, these universities are morally, if not
legally, bound to enhance the quality of education they impart. To provide high quality education,
a university must meet the following conditions:
1. To design and offer academic degree programs that are internationally acceptable and relevant
to the Bangladeshi economy and society. After the students successfully finish a program, they
should be employable both in Bangladesh and abroad. Those universities that want to be
internationally reputable must equip their graduates with the ability to compete in the
international job markets. This calls for substantial enhancement of quality.

2. To hire high profile professors and scholars who are sufficiently qualified to undertake research,
and teach the courses included in the degree programs.
In addition to internationally reputable professors, adequate number of associate professors,
assistant professors and lecturers should be recruited. Standard teacher- student ratio needs to
be maintained.
3. To admit highly promising young minds (brilliant students) who have demonstrated academic
achievements and leadership quality and will be able to complete the degree programs
successfully.
4. To ensure availability of necessary infrastructural facilities like well designed campus
buildings, class rooms well-equipped with computer terminals and power point facilities,
completely digitized libraries, computer centers, laboratories for relevant
disciplines, auditoriums, cafeteria, recreation centers for students and faculties, playground, etc.
that create academic atmosphere.
5. Research and publications should be made compulsory for all teachers. All teachers should have
a computer terminal and a designated computer equipped with latest internet facility and
software necessary to do advanced research.
6. All teachers should be provided with a Faculty Manual that states what the teachers are
required to do and what they cannot do. Deans and Chairmen of the departments should form a
team to monitor the performances of the teachers. Non-compliant teachers should be punished
and the compliant teachers rewarded.
7. Institutionalized best management practices and an over arching good governance system must
be in place. This is necessary to make happen all the things listed at # 1 through # 6 above.
47. Rampal Power Plant
NO doubt we feel proud of our Sundarbans, which is the largest single block of tidal halophytic
mangrove forest in the world. It was marked as a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1997, and also
contested for the New 7 Wonders of Nature in the world. However, the world’s largest mangrove
forest is under threat because of proposed construction of a thermal power plant at Rampal.
Although the government is arguing that the coal-based project will be constructed using modern
technology for minimising any ill effects on the Sundarbans, no one can ensure that there will be
no damage to the forest.Locals and environmentalists started to protest against the proposed
power plant from the very beginning, and are still determined to protect the Sundarbans because
it is our heritage, and also for greater public interest.
Bangladesh has a legal mechanism for protecting the environment for greater public interest. The
Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act, 1995 provides provisions relating to protection of the
environment. Section-2 of this Act defines environment pollutant as any solid, liquid or gaseous
substance which has harmful effect on the environment, and it also includes heat, sound,
radiation and hazardous substances whose chemical or biochemical properties are such that their
manufacture, storage, discharge or unregulated transportation can be harmful to the
environment.

Dr Abdullah Harun, Professor of Environmental Science Discipline of the Khulna University, has
prepared a report on Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) which says that nearly 220 tons of
different toxic gases will be emitted daily from the power plant. The authorities say that the toxic
gases will be properly treated before emission by using higher technology but, according to
environmentalists, that won’t be enough to protect the forest. These toxic gases can be
considered as environment pollutant and hazardous substance under Section-2 of Environment
Conservation Act, 1995. The ships coal carrying through the forest will emit toxic waste, which is
also restricted by Section-6 of the Act.
The Act also defines ecosystem as a balanced complex association of all components of the
environment which can support and influence the conservation and growth of all organisms. Thus,
because of the construction of power plant at Rampal the ecosystem will be largely affected due
to traffic movements, oil and chemical spillage and dredging.
It is pertinent to say that the power plant is being constructed for producing electricity for
betterment of the society, but the ill effects on the environment will lead to a worse situation.
Safety of the people is the supreme law and construction of Rampal power plant near the
Sundarbans will endanger the safety of the people living in the area by destroying the ecosystem.
So, construction of power plant near the Sundarbans is against greater public interest.
In City Sugar Industries Ltd. And others Vs. Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh and others
case (7 ADC 860,2010) Mr. Justice Md. Abdul Matin observed that public interest lies in protecting
the rivers from encroachment and pollution by all means, and said that the safety of the people
should be the supreme law. The project will use deep tube wells and water of the Posur River for
washing coal, which will push ground level water down and will completely destroy the ecosystem
of the river. The EIA report prepared by Dr. Abdullah Harun also shows that the project will draw
around 25,000 cubic metres of water every day, which is really a threat for the environment.
The Sundarbans plays an important role in the economy of the southwestern region of
Bangladesh and thus it contributes in the national economy. It provides raw materials for wood-
based industries, timber, fuel wood, pulpwood, thatching materials, honey, bees-wax, fish,
crustaceans and much more, and the coal-based power plant will endanger the lives and
livelihood of the people of the southwestern part of Bangladesh.
Justification:
The consultant went on to say how a most modern vessel would pump in coal through a funnel
into the bottom of the lighter age vessel and how fine water mist would be sprayed to contain any
dust pollution. In his view, only 1 percent of the total dust will spill out to the river which will sink
to the bottom causing no harm to the forest.
He was describing how 60 percent of the mercury produced by burning coal would be captured
and the rest would thinly disperse into air and how sulphur would be kept at a minimum.
Then he came to that indisputable argument that the Sundarbans is vanishing anyway as dirt poor

people will always harness the forest resources. The only chance to save it is by setting up the
power plants to generate jobs and to have the multiplier effect of mushrooming industries.
However, he put an asterix there. We need a strong monitoring team in place to ensure that
everything works as it should be. And then if you just sit back and have a long look, that small
asterix turns out to be a big question mark, probably the most important one for the Rampal
power plant.
Health hazards from coal ash:
The proposed coal-fired power plant at Rampal, situated 14 km from the Sundarbans, has become
a serious controversial issue. Environmentalists are rightly worried about the possible adverse
effects of flue gases from the plant on the Sundarbans.
When coal is burned in a power plant, it produces mainly three kinds of solid wastes, called coal
combustion waste (CCW). Fly ash is one of the by-products of coal ash that rises with the flue
gases and consists of 74% of the ash generated. Another by-product is the bottom ash that falls
below the furnace and consists of about 20% of the ash. The remaining ash is called boiler slag
that melts and also falls below the boiler.
Fly ash used to be released into the atmosphere in the past. Environmental regulations now
require the fly ash to be captured from the flue gases before release. Most of the fine solid
particles in the fly ash, about 95%, are now captured by electrostatic precipitators, bag-houses
and scrubbers. It is mixed with the bottom ash to form what is known as coal ash.
Coal ash contains toxic elements like sulfur, arsenic, mercury, lead, chromium and cadmium plus
some radioactive element like uranium, thorium and their decay products like radon and radium.
The toxins which would otherwise have been dispersed around the plant are now added to the
coal ash increasing its toxicity.
The Rampal Power Plant may use approximately 4.5 million MT of coal and produce about
450,000 MT of coal ash, which is likely to be stored in lined ponds and landfills. Coal has also many
uses. It can be used as a substitute for cement in concrete, for building embankments, bricks, and
for conversion of sewage sludge into fertilizer or bio-fuel.
The toxins in the coal ash are, however, likely to contaminate both river water and groundwater in
the locality and together with the radioactive elements may cause serious health hazards to the
plant workers and the local population. The radiation level in bottom ash and fly ash can be as
high as 7.7 and 9.7 pCi/g (pica Curie per gram) respectively.

48. Recent Scams in Banking Sectors
The vivid and true picture of the dirty game has not yet been unearthed. The amount that has
been taken away by Hallmark has not been correctly mentioned. The amount differs from one
media house to another. Different sums of amount have been mentioned and published in
different news papers. Let us talk here about the small figure of about Tk 2600.00 crore that has
been disbursed alone in the name of Hallmark by Sonali Bank, Ruposhi Bangla branch; but some
newspapers published the amount as being Tk 3665.00 crore or above, which includes the amount
taken by their sister concerns in the name of various spinning mills from other banks. According to
a Bangladesh Bank report, Bismillah Group swindled about Tk 11bn from state-run Janata Bank
and four private commercial banks – Prime Bank, Shahjalal Bank, Jamuna Bank and Premier Bank
– showing fake export documents, taking government’s cash incentive to open business firms
abroad and with accommodated bills through Letters of Credit (LCs).
The business group swindled Tk3.92bn from Janata Bank, Tk3.06bn from Prime Bank, Tk1.63bn
from Jamuna Bank, Tk1.48bn from Shahjalal Bank and Tk629.7m from Premier Bank. A Bangladesh
Bank inspection found many irregularities in four branches of state-owned Basic Bank —
Motijheel, Shantinagar, Dilkusha and Gulshan branches — that involved loans of nearly Tk
4,424.93 crore between December 2009 and November 2012. Of the amount, Tk 1,594.73 crore
was given by the Gulshan branch, and majority of the loans was issued without proper scrutiny.
Different groups to grab money from Bangladeshi banks by showing false paper .They are trying
this approximately may 2012. They approached different banks but failed to collect.They said that
they got 200crore pound as remittance and wanted to cash out . If any branch does not verify
their document they may collect this amount.
In banking, credit facilities are allowed under various mode of operation. Mostly these are
overdraft, demand loan, cash credit (pledge/hypothecation), local bill purchased/inland bill
purchased (LBP/IBP), foreign bill purchased (FBP), cash against documents (CAD), back-to-back LC
facility and many more. Since other banks are also involved in the scandal, I believe the Hallmark
group might have been enjoying many other facilities.
Sometimes banks employees can not take any strict action because of top level power like
director or chairman . In hall marks scam , a banker forbid to give loan, he got transfer out of the
capital . but now he is in jail.
Although the mode of disbursement has not been clearly brought to the people, the Local Bill
Purchased facility against fake Letters of Credit has been mentioned in many newspapers. No
matter in which way the disbursement has been made, the facts remain that the bank committed
gross irregularities. The responsible person or the group of persons should be taken under the
purview of laws as applicable to such criminal offences.
As per Bangladesh Bank guidelines, the single-party exposure is maximum 30 per cent (funded 15
per cent and non-funded 15 per cent) of the respective bank's paid-up capital. The present paid-
up capital of Sonali Bank is Tk 1125.00 crore. Therefore, Sonali Bank can extend credit facility to a
single party to the tune of Tk 168.75 crore as funded and Tk 168.75 as non-funded, Tk 337.50
crore in total. We fail to understand as to how Sonali Bank allowed Tk 2600.00 crore to a single
party as opposed to Tk. 337.50 crore breaking the single-party exposure limit as fixed by
Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country.
Taking out loans with forged documents is so easy in Bangladesh that fraudsters don’t want to
miss out on any opportunity. The bank gave loans to nonexistent companies and promptly
approved loans to clients instantly after they had opened accounts. Moreover, the bank’s board
sanctioned loans before the branch sent the proposal to the bank headquarters.
THE PROCESS OF HALLMARK- SCAM
Hallmark group has possibly managed to obtain a fake Letter of Credit (LC) from abroad and
submitted it to Sonali Bank's Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch for opening local back-to-back Letter of
Credit in the name their sisterconcerns, which maintain their account with other banks. The other
banks thereafter, submitted a fake and fabricated local bill to Ruposhi Bangla branch of Sonali
Bank for acceptance. After having obtained the acceptance from Sonali Bank, the respective banks
paid the bill amount to the beneficiary by debit to their IBP account. On maturity date of the bill,
the collecting bank availed the bill proceeds from the Sonali Bank and adjusted the IBP
outstanding accordingly. Without movement of any goods, Hallmark group may have snatched
away the public money in the name of fake spinning companies.
The management of Sonali Bank and the client in question are primarily responsible for this
fabricated, fictitious and abominable act of stealing public money. They are the ring leaders
behind the gross wrongdoing. Both of them jointly designed the plan and programmed it to pillage
the public money. At the same time, Bangladesh Bank cannot escape from its responsibility. The
above fraudulent activities resorted to by Sonali Bank have allegedly been going on at its Ruposhi
Bangla Hotel Branch since 2010, and the Bangladesh Bank Audit Team may have audited the said
branch several times.
Bank sanction loan to those who already made classified loan . They do not take action when the
loan are not timely repaid . Bank's top level managements give loans to the fake company or fake
purpose to get their benefit from those.
Similar types of fraud took place in the year of 2005, and that time Bangladesh Bank took a drastic
action against the banks involved in the grave offence including removal of four Managing
Directors of as many private banks at a time and barred them from seeking further job
opportunities in any bank in Bangladesh in the future. But in the case of Hallmark scam, till today
Bangladesh Bank did not take any action except writing a demy official letter to the Ministry of
Finance and requesting the ministry to recast the existing Board.
Usually, banks collect money from depositors and provide loan to business entities and other
borrowers. After this huge Sonali Bank scam common people might lose their trust in the banks.
They will not find it secure to keep their money in the banks. Many of them may even be tempted
to withdraw their deposits in fear of a collapse of the banking sector like the share market

collapse. If common people shy away from the banks this may cause shortfall of money in our
banking sector as well as other financial sectors like investment, trade and commerce. If people
withdraw money from banks then entrepreneurs would not get money from banks to invest in
productive sectors. Since banks are very important institutions in financial intermediation in
economic activities, the lack of trust in banks has a pervasive effect on the whole economy.
Banks give target to the bankers to give loan to customers , otherwise they will not get promotion.
This may be one of the reason for recent scams in Banking sectors. People who have experiences
in finance, economics, management of financial institutions and people who are not involved
directly in politics, not loan defaulters, and people with honesty and integrity, should be
nominated to the Boards of all the state owned banks as well as in the private banks. In some
cases directors are appointed under political consideration disregarding these requirements. Due
to such political appointments such scams may occur in the future too.
Bangladesh bank is an autonomous bank . But most of the time it had to obey the political power
of Bangladesh Government. Bangladesh bank recently wanted to make a central database of
customer. Any bank can use this database before giving loan.
In the recent time, when the income of most of the people of Bangladesh is considered
inadequate in terms of their cost of livings, and when people can hardly save money from their
income, the government has given permission to incorporate six new banks in Bangladesh. The
finance minister has said that he could do nothing but to give permission for these banks'
incorporation. The capital requirement for these banks is huge and there is a general assumption
that these banks will meet up their initial paid up capital requirement with the use of the funds
created by the owners of these banks previously from the earnings from some illegal source.
49. Safeguarding Gender Equality

Women Empowerment and Gender Equity is a core development objective in its own right.
Empowering women as economic, political and social actors can change policy choices and make
institutions more representative of a range of voices. Women's empowerment educates and
empowers women with the skills and confidence necessary to get a job, create a healthy lifestyle
and regain a home for themselves and their children. Empowering women to participate fully in
economic life across all sectors is essential to build stronger economies, achieve internationally
agreed goals for development and sustainability and improve the quality of life for women, men
and their communities.
The private sector is a key partner in efforts to advance gender equality and empower women.
The empowerment principles emphasize 1) Establishing high-level corporate leadership for gender
equality 2) Treat all women fairly at work –respect and support human rights and non-
discrimination 3) Ensure health, safety and well-being of all women workers 4) Promote
education, training and professional development for women 5) Implement enterprise
development, supply chain and marketing practices that empower women 6) Promote equality
through community initiatives and advocacy 7) Measure and publicly report on progress to
achieve gender equality.

UNDP co-ordinates global and national efforts to integrate gender equality and women's
empowerment into poverty reduction, democratic governance, crisis prevention and recovery,
environment and sustainable development. Through its global network, it works to ensure that
women have a real voice in all governance institutions, so they can participate equally with men in
public dialogue and decision-making and also influence the decisions that will determine the
future of their families and countries.
Women's Empowerment Principles of UN area set of Principles for business offering guidance on
how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. They are the result of a
collaboration between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of
Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact. Empowerment of women in
Bangladesh has been intensified by Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWCA) through
Department of Women's Affairs, JatiyaMohilaSangstha, NGOs and related women's organizations
by means of programmes and projects. These include the following: Social Safety-net programme
“Fund of Lactating Working Mother in Urban Areas” for the poor working mothers and the
children's nutritional development was undertaken for mother and child health and nutrition.
From 2010 till the present 77625 beneficiaries, received allowances for 2 years while 64
NGOs/CBOs and BGMEA/BKMEA provided training to those who were recruited in garment
industries.
Vulnerable Group Development (VGD) Programme was developed for food security and
empowerment of ultra poor women of rural areas. Training on awareness building, self-
employment and income generation activities are provided. 7,50,000 VGD women have received
rice and flour assisting their health and working capacities for earning.
Vulnerable Group Development Programme for Ultra Poor (VGDUP) implemented in 8 Districts
and 36 Upazillas provided 80,000 women Tk 400 per month along with different income
generating training and productive assets of Tk 7500 after training. Food and Livelihood Security
Programme (FLS) of ultra-poor and marginal farmers in 22 Upazillas of Natore, Naogaon and
Chapainawabganj received training for self-employment. Each ultra-poor women beneficiary was
given Tk 14,500 and each marginal farmer Tk 10,500 for income generation. Credit Programme for
Poverty Reduction, Oppressed and Destitute Women and Children Fund, Training Activities of
Women Training Centre at Districts and 136 Upazillas by Department of Women's Affairs have
assisted thousands of women towards economic empowerment through income generation.
Computer Training, Special Modern Trade Training, Skill Development, Development Programme
for Urban Marginalized Women, Launching of “Joyeeta” women's sale centre, Promoting Women
Entrepreneurship for Economic Empowerment Project by JatiyaMohilaSangstha have created
economic empowerment through entrepreneurship development. 7750 women entrepreneurs
were given support for increasing capacity, 5500 unemployed women given vocational training for
capacity building, 2250 given management and professional skill training in 6 divisions. “Shonar
Tori” established as Women's Sales centre.

Formulation of Laws and Policies as the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Act 2010,
Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Rules 2013, National Women Development Policy
2011, National Children Policy 2011, Gender Responsive Budgeting and extension of Maternity
Leave to six months by the government has created awareness of women's empowerment,
initiating prevention of discrimination against women.
The lives of girls and women in Bangladesh have changed dramatically over the past quarter
century as more girls and women are literate than ever before. E-service Activity and Digitalization
has been activated in 6 divisions, 51 districts. Department of Women Affairs, Jatiyo Mohila
Sangstha and Shishu Academy have their own web-sites, contributing towards the information
sharing for women's development.
Empowerment has been activated through government and NGO.
Credit programmes for poverty reduction has been successful by making rural destitute women
self-reliant through credits provided for self-employment, in 473 Upazillas of 64 districts.With all
the positive and marvelous achievements women have gained in life it is humiliating to note that the worst
degrading situation of women exists in their homes as reported by Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics,
(BBS).This survey revealed that 87% women faced various forms of violence by their husbands, amongst
which 81.6% was mental, 53.2% economic issues, 36.5% sex related, and 64.6% physical torture.
Unfortunately even in the last one year 77% women faced similar forms of violence and the worst was the
forced sexual attempts by the husbands. Eve Teasing, Child Marriage is on the rise along with rape and
sexual assaults both on women and also on girl children.(ProthomAlo 23.1.14).
Many untoward rape incidents have been faced by RMG workers, and other industrial units,
especially during overtime duties. Lack of proper women's toilets, insecurity at workplace,
improper lighting and lack of protective measures while returning home cause the indulgence of
physical assault on young female workers.
Research institutions report of 12% to 16% increase in violence against women in Bangladesh. The
increase in violence is identified but though the issue has reached the national level, yet no steps
have been taken to combat violence or to bring the culprits to punishment. 8.1% women victims
cannot take legal actions for fear of their husbands, 40.1% feel that no result will come out of
their attempts through legal action, 20.9% women keep silent lest people hear the news of their
tortures through violence, and also in order to hide the news, for the sake of the reputation of
their children. 16.5% victims keep silent for their own prestige trying to maintain their good image
in society and also for the preservation of the status and respect of their families.
AmartyaSen claimed that education, health and economic development in Bangladesh was
possible due to the excellent attainments through women's empowerment and progress in
Bangladesh. Yet today, violence against women is not only a gender issue but also a disgraceful
matter of human rights violation. Women feel unsecured at home, on streets, education
institutions and even with law enforcing agencies. (Salma Khan ProthomAlo 28.1.14).
Child Marriage has increased and so has violence against children, with forced prostitution,
abduction, rape and incidences of eve teasing along with its repercussions. Similar has been the
increase in violence against women's. Police Headquarters mention that the total cases of
violence against women reported in 2012 was 1,84,422, while it was 12,954 in 2001(NariPakkho).
BBS report that 85% women have no independence to earn by themselves and even if they earn
24% have no control over their income, especially in the rural areas. Surveys reveal that men are

the main source of income in 92%families, while only 2.2% families have females as main income
earners. Very few husbands give independence to their wives as income earners. Of them 93.19%
don't appreciate the issue of income for their wives.
Women don't get their Inheritance as provided to them at all places. Many families don't hesitate
to inflict physical torture on the family women, the pregnant don't get the desired food and
tolerance of sudden household accidents is dealt with harshness. Aged women are sent to old
homes, when sons find it hard to look after their old mothers.
Dowry exists as a great hindrance and burden to happy conjugal lives, as one-third women are
married through dowry demands by husband. The Muslim law of providing “DenMohar” (Bride
Price) is not practiced by more than 40% husbands. (ProthomAlo 24.1.14). BBS survey indicated
that ownership of land is 81% for men and 19% for women. Ownership of houses is 86% for men
and 14% for women. Women in Bangladesh still earn lesser wages than men for the same work.
With the existing female leadership at the highest level of the country, it is important to reach
similar situations at all levels. Women's empowerment is sure to create a prosperous Bangladesh,
paving the way for the future generations to stride forward hand in hand towards a glorious
tomorrow.
50. The Padma Bridge

The Padma Bridge will be the longest bridge of its type with 6.15 kilometre of length. This will connect the
south-western parts with the capital and is expected to save hundreds of thousands of working hours and
huge transport costs. The Padma Bridge is a high priority national project. It would change the economic
landscape of the south-western region and ultimately uplift the national economy.
The project covers three districts — Munshiganj (Mawa Point/North bank), Shariatpur and Madaripur
(Janjira/South bank). The total area of land to be acquired and required for its components is 918 hectares.
The requisition of land for the construction yard will be for six years on a rental basis. As per the new
design, an additional 144.04 hectares has been identified for acquisition, bringing the total to 1062.14
hectares. This additional land is required because project site lost significant land due to erosion, for
transition structures and due to a change in railway alignment.
The two-level steel truss bridge will carry a four-lane highway on the upper level and a single track railway
on a lower level. The project will include 6.15 km long and 18.10 m wide bridge, 15.1 km of approach
roads, toll plazas and service areas.
The Padma bridge project will require $2.1 billion in foreign currencies in five fiscal years as the
government looks to build the bridge by June 2018. Of the sum, around $200 million will be needed in this
fiscal year, $700 million in the next FY, $600 million in FY16, $500 million in FY17 and $100 million in FY18.
The forex reserve of the country is now over $18 billion.
According to the Bridges Division's estimate in 2011, the bridge will cost $2.56 billion, of which $2.1 billion
will be paid in foreign currency and the rest in local currency. The Bangladesh Bank will issue the
international consultants and contractors Letters of Comfort so that they do not feel insecure about the
payments, the Bridges Division decided in a meeting early this month.
The February 3 meeting discussed the management of the foreign currency required for the project and
the payments for the international contractors and consultancy firms. The bridge authorities would inform
the BB in advance the monthly requirement for foreign and local currencies, said an official of the bridge
authorities would inform the BB in advance the monthly requirement of foreign and local currencies, said
an official of the Bridges Division. Once built, the 6.15km long bridge will connect the country's southern
part with the capital and cut travel-time by at least one hour.
Originally, it was to be funded by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islamic Development Bank and
Jica. But the WB scrapped its $1.2 billion loan deal with the government in 2012 over alleged corruption
conspiracy involving former communications minister Syed Abul Hossain in hiring a Canadian consultancy
firm, SNC-Lavalin.
From the beginning the Padma bridge negotiation has been involved to corruption and conspiracy. The
World Bank stated that they found, "credible evidence corroborated by a variety of sources which points to
a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC-Lavalin executives, and
private individuals in connection with the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project."For the corruption, the
World Bank turned down to sanction the proposed loan for constructing the bridge. In these circumstances
World Bank imposed some conditions to continue the loan talk with the government. According to one of
these conditions Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain resigned, as he was found involved with
corruption.

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BANKING CAREER IN BANGLADESH

ESSAYS FOR SUCCESSFUL WRITING

Name Of Industry Real Scenario Of Death

a. Physical lack of security of workers.

a. Investment 10% more in labor salary increases 13.5% production.

Child labor Issue:

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Lack of infrastructural facilities:

Lack of skilled workers:

Lack of Social safety:

Recommendation for labor securities:

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4. Take new approach to law and Order.

6. Change attitude and respect women workers.

7. Especial take care on Garments Sector.

8. Change salary structure and give more opportunities to workers.

2. Women Empowerment in Bangladesh.

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Women’s present position:

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In Ministry Of Commerce, 20.5% of the overall workforce is women. In Ministry Of Planning,

3. Violence Against Women in Bangladesh

Factors of Violence against Women:

• Trafficking in women and children

• Acid Attack Burn

• Dowry related violence

• Violence during pregnancy

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• Lack of gender equality

• Lack of awareness and knowledge about rights

• Low educational level

• Women’s lower position

• Tendency to coercively control women

• Misapplication of Religious belief

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• Employment rate of women is 22.9% in comparison with 68.3% to that of men

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Reasons behind Unemployment problem:

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The following measure can be prescribed to solve the problem.

4) Fourthly, outsource work is a great source to reduce unemployment rate.

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Problems of Tourism Industry:

Steps that should be taken:

Infrastructure development is sine-quo-non for the sustainable tourism development of any

Prospect of Tourism Industry:

Previous history of freedom fight:

Background of the Liberation War:

Freedom struggle of 1971:

In such a distortion of the democratic process every institution of governance tends to be

7. The Annual Development Programme (ADP)

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8. Suspension of GSP: Its Impact and Possible Deeper Reasons.

Suspension of GSP and a road map to restore it

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Bangladesh government described it as “unfortunate” and “harsh” calling it an outcome of a

Why did the US suspend the GSP for Bangladesh?

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What could be the other reasons?

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Why Bangladesh is important to the US?

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