QUOTE

 

 DATA 4 FOCUS WRITING

FOCUSWRITING

 

FOCUS WRITING

 

BRANCH STATISTICS

Period	Fully Online				Partially Online			Offline			Total Branch
	Urban	Rural	Total		Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total
January'22	5701	5237	10,938	99.9%	1	0	1	0	0	0	5702	5237	10,939
January'19	4900	3633	8,533	82%	421	709	1130	53	568	621	5374	4910	10,284

ATM, POS, CDM AND CRM STATISTICS

Period	ATM			POS			CDM			CRM
	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total
January'22	8947	3917	12864	85707	7955	93662	1194	505	1699	1031	230	1261
January'19	7423	2944	10368	47864	1207	49071	929	410	1339	121	11	132

 ISSUED CARDS AND TRANSACTION STATISTICS _{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	No. of Issued Cards (Net)			Debit Card Transaction		Credit Card Transaction		Prepaid Card Transaction
	Debit	Credit	Prepaid	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
January'22	2,55,74,668	1888923	1198452	27109022	24,701.0	3429392	2138.4	441746	233.1
January'19	1,52,44,328	1336018	263327	18032004	13,245.1	1925238	1113.6	193842	110.8

ATM, POS, CRM AND E-COMMERCE TRANSACTION STATISTICS BY CARDS _{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	ATM Transaction		POS Transaction		CRM Transaction		e-Commerce Transaction		Total Transaction
	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
January'22	22129938	20,761.8	4044432	2014.1	2219053	3744.6	2916211	821.2	31309634	27,341.7
January'19	16353612	12,822.5	2545903	1537.9	127794	125.4	1314624	193.5	20341933	14,679.3

INTERBANK TRANSACTION STATISTICS _{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	MICR Cheque		Non-MICR Cheque		EFT		RTGS
	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
January'22	1955693	2,17,192.2	21317	258.6	5055122	42,053.2	578766	3,15,990.2
January'19	2149993	2,12,521.5	14759	511.4	2404297	17,187.5	129030	1,13,707.0

INTERNET BANKING STATSTICS _{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	Internet Banking Customers	Transaction
	No.	No.	Amount
January'22	45,54,785	4552127	18,623.2
January'21	33,19,668	2373928	8,543.4
January'20	25,16,685	1699566	6,669.6
January'19	20,04,891	850892	4,788.1

MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES (MFS) STATISTICS: PART-1

Period	MFS Agent			MFS Female Account			MFS Total Account
	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total
January'22	607988	527225	11,35,213	20015118	30834715	5,08,49,833	50792662	63258640	11,40,51,302
January'21	545922	498665	10,44,587	15337136	32891520	4,82,28,656	37988707	62565124	10,05,53,831
January'20	518621	462916	9,81,537	11763135	27989257	3,97,52,392	30362199	50553328	8,09,15,527
January'19	462725	436353	8,99,078	9502619	22477593	3,19,80,212	26066498	41221935	6,72,88,433

MOBILE FINANCIAL SERVICES (MFS) STATISTICS _{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	All Transaction		Merchant Payment		Salary Disbursement		Utility Bill Payment
	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount	No.	Amount
January'22	345358719	73,393.3	11420433	3,156.9	4036586	2663.6	12940464	1157.2
January'21	299234698	57,289.1	8361081	1,924.7	3321748	2189.6	7586144	803.1
January'20	230091053	42,101.0	4625884	625.5	2007742	1083.6	3316038	472.0
January'19	214621317	34,621.1	3026527	462.5	1764771	747.5	1485238	282.5

AGENT BANKING STATISTICS: AGENT & OUTLET INFORMATION

Period	Agent			Outlet			Total Account
	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total
January'22	2124	11957	14,081	2672	16724	19,396	2965406	11450821	1,44,16,227
January'21	1604	10441	12,045	1992	14124	16,116	2257523	7816587	1,00,74,110
January'20	989	6991	7,980	1339	10082	11,421	1360384	4374643	57,35,027
January'19	492	4701	5,193	667	6611	7,278	810107	1803228	26,13,335

 

AGENT BANKING STATISTICS: TRANSACTION STATISTICS_{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	Deposit Balance			No. of Transaction			Amount of Transaction			Loan Disbursement
	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total
January'22	4855.2	19147.9	2,4003.0	3189309	11594439	14783748	10756.9	41,415.9	52172.8	167.7	287.8	455.5
January'21	4386.6	11954.7	1,6341.3	2313528	8346839	10660367	7564.4	26,514.2	34078.6	69.6	110.4	179.9
January'20	1963.4	5762.4	7,725.8	1519461	5058371	6577832	4396.2	14,188.0	18584.2	27.7	42.8	70.6
January'19	824.7	2384.7	3,209.4	928672	2209776	3138572	2403.3	5,151.5	7554.8	4.9	7.6	12.5

SCHOOL BANKING STATISTICS _{(Amount in TK. Crore)}

Period	Male Account			Female Account			Total Account			Deposit Balance (Tk. in Crore)
	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total	Urban	Rural	Total
January'22	870703	694475	15,65,178	637110	649448	1286558	1507813	1343923	2851736	1621.5	585.0	2,206.4
January'21	894128	621119	15,15,247	592583	538285	1130868	1486711	1159404	2646115	1468.9	472.1	1,939.1
January'20	741477	469953	12,11,430	501252	388489	889741	1242729	858442	2101171	1227.0	390.1	1,617.1
January'19	581823	353102	9,34,925	411156	272452	683608	992979	625554	1618533	1100.9	333.2	1,433.9

 

 

 

 

 

FINANCIAL INCLUSION

 

“Financial inclusions helps lift people out of poverty and can help speed economic development.”

Sri Mulyani (Indonesia)

With a view to building a sustainable economic infrastructure of the country and realising the importance of financial inclusion, Bangladesh Bank has been engaged in the exploration and promotion of innovative and successful policy initiatives to bring the financially excluded marginal population under the umbrella of financial inclusion. The major policy initiatives taken by Bangladesh Bank to promote financial
inclusion are as follows:
· To include the under-privileged and financially excluded population in the formal banking services, BB has taken initiatives to open bank account with minimum deposit of Tk.10/50/100 for the People from various classes and professions such as farmers, hardcore poor, cleaners of city corporation, workers of small shoe and leather factory, ready-made garments workers, physically & sight
challenged persons. Banks have also been instructed to open Tk.10 bank accounts for the inhabitants of the 111 former enclaves that were included in the map of Bangladesh. BB has also instructed all the banks to operate these accounts without any service charges. With the initiatives of Bangladesh Bank the number of these account reached to 2.73 crore at the end of December 2021.
· With a view to facilitating the farmers to keep their Tk. 10 accounts effective by providing credit under minimum conditions, the fund size of the revolving refinance fund worth of Tk. 200 crore has been enhanced to Tk. 500 crore by Bangladesh Bank from its own source. Small, marginal, and landless farmers are the main target groups of this refinance scheme. Clients can borrow maximum
Tk. 5,00,000 individually and Tk. 20,00,000 through a group from this fund. About Tk. 247.34 crore has been disbursed under this scheme up to February 2022.
· Bangladesh Bank has relaxed the regulations for opening the Tk.10 special accounts for the street and working children, which was introduced in 2014 to make this population financially independent, to safeguard their hard earned money and secure their future. Now if the biological parents of these children are available, then the account can be operated by the joint signature of the street children and their father/mother. In that case, the overall transaction should be under close supervision of the nominated NGO official. The number of these accounts and the balance of these accounts stood at 19,405 and Tk. 0.40 crore respectively up to December 2021.
· In accordance with the continuous financial inclusion program, Bangladesh Bank has introduced agent banking to provide a safe and affordable channel for banking services throughout the country to the non-privileged, under served population, especially from rural areas where traditional banking services are not possible to be served profitably. To ensure the proper expansion of agent banking,
Bangladesh Bank issued comprehensive guidelines in September 2017. As of December 2021, 29 banks have got approval from BB to provide agent banking services and they have started their operations. Up to December 2021, agent banking services have been provided through 1,40,47,491 bank accounts opened by 19,247 outlets of 13,952 agents of that 29 banks.
· Bangladesh Bank has started ‘Remittance Award’ since 2013 to acknowledge the contributions of NRBs and to motivate expatriates for sending more remittance through regular banking channel. A total of 168 individuals and 31 institutions in different categories have been awarded in the period of 2013 to 2018. In the year of 2019, 27 remitters (08 general professionals, 10 specialist professionals and 09 businessmen), 03 non-resident Bangladeshi owned exchange houses and 05 commercial
banks were awarded with ‘Bangladesh Bank Remittance Award 2018’.

·Bangladesh Bank introduces School Banking for the students less than 18 years of age with a view to crafting saving habit from the childhood and acquainting them with the banking services and technology. Under this agenda, Financial Literacy Programs are being organized throughout the country following the Lead Bank model under Bangladesh Bank’s monitoring and supervision.
School banking conferences have been started from 2016. Financial literacy related video documentaries, presentations, quiz programs and cultural programs are being arranged through these conferences with a view to disseminating financial literacy

·To develop a financial literacy guidelines for increasing financial literacy among the people, produce financial literacy content for website and produce animated financial literacy videos, Bangladesh Bank has undertaken a project financed by Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) named as Striving for a Financially Literate Society. This project will be implemented by June 2022.

·To extend credit to the low-income professionals, farmers & holders of small/marginal businesses in the rural areas through Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) to enable them in reviving their income generating activities, a revolving Refinance Scheme of Tk. 3,000 crore for the COVID-19 affected low-income professionals, farmers & holders of small/marginal businesses has been formed by
Bangladesh Bank on 20 April 2020. As per revised directives issued on 28 October 2021 vide FID Circular No: 02/2021, this facility is being disbursed through Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs) as well as by the branches and sub-branches of scheduled banks enabling the fund to be accessible by the target population at the grassroots levels. The scheme provides the end users with the facility to
borrow at a maximum of 7 percent interest rates from the banks and at 9 percent interest rate from the MFIs. On the other hand, Bangladesh Bank will charge 0.5 percent interest to the banks while the banks will charge 3.0 percent interest to the MFIs. As of 28 February 2022, more than 0.50 million targeted people has availed the credit facility worth of Tk. 2,375 crore through this scheme.
Among the beneficiaries of the scheme around 90.0 percent are women.

 

 

 

 

Importance of financial inclusion

·        It helps in poverty alleviation by creating opportunity

·        It provides the banking service to the underprivileged people like poors, farmers, students, handicapped persons etc.

·        It encourages banks to open branch in rural area.

·        It educates the bank management to give loan to the vulnerable people or the village people like farmers for the advancement of farming. By doing this it not only helps the banks in acquiring profit but also it helps the farmers in running their farming.

 

Structure of the Banking System in Bangladesh (End February 2022)

 

Type of Banks	No. of Bank	No. of Branches			Percentage of Total Assets*	Percentage of Total Deposit*
		Urban	Rural	Total
State-owned Commercial Banks(SOCBs)	6	1765	2045	3810	24.87	26.29
State-owned Specialised Banks(SBs)	3	293	1219	1512	2.18	2.71
Private Commercial Banks(PCBs)	43	3501	2050	5551	67.40	66.77
Foreign Commercial Banks(FCBs)	9	65	0	65	5.55	4.23
Total	61	5624	5314	10938	100.00	100.00

 

 

v  MONETARY POLICY

 

Monetary policy should remain data dependent be well-communicated and ensure that inflation expectations remain anchored"

Gita Gopinath. IMF

 

POLICY RATE		RESERVE RATIO	SLR	CRR
Repo Rate	5.00	Traditional Banking	13%	40%
Special Repo Rate	8.00	Islamic Banking	5.5%	4.0%
Rev Repo Rate	4.00	Deposit Taker FIs	5%	1.5%
Bank Rate	4.00	Non Deposit Taker FIs	2.5%

 

 

v  NON-PERFORMING LOAN

A Nonperforming loan is one in which payments of either interest on principal have not been made for a set number of days for whatever

reason." IMF

 

 

 

v  ব্যাংকিং খাতে সুশাসন

Corruption is the true enemy of development." Elbegdori [Former President Mongolia]

আন্তর্জাতিক মানে পিছিয়ে পড়েছে ¬ তারল্য পরিচিতি © মুদ্রার বিনিময় হার। © খেলাপি ঋণের হারে মূলধনের যোগান সুদহার

* অন্তর্জাতিক ভাবে, ঝুকি পূর্ণ সম্পদের বীপরিতে মূলধর মূলধন সংরক্ষণের হার ১২.৫% প্রি চালাপি ধানের হার ৩% এর নীচে হলে, ঝুঁকিপূর্ণ আওতার বাইরে ধরা হয়। বাংলাদেশে তা ৩% এর উপরে।

 

 

 

v  ব্যাংকিং খাতে চ্যালেঞ্জ

খেলাপি ধান, 2. অম্ল অথ ৬. উচ্চ ব্যবস্থাপনা ৭. দক্ষ শ্রমিক ৩. গ্রহক সঙ্কুষ্টি ৪. আন্ত: প্রতিযোগিতা ৫.IT নিরাপত্তা

 

 

 

v  IMPACT OF IT IN BANKING.

* BIBM এর মতে, ব্যাংকের জন্য, ICT তে ১ টাকা বিনিয়োগে উৎপাদনশীলতা হয় ১৩৬ ICT বহিষ্কৃত খাতে ১ টাকা বিনিযোগে উৎপাদনশীলতা হয় ৫৮ টাকা। if ICT অভ্রিন্ত কর্মীর পেছনে ১ টাকা খরচে ব্যাংকের আর রাতে ২৫ টাকা, আর সাধারণ কর্মীর ক্ষেত্রে তা হয় ৬টাকা।

* কাংকে কর্মরত ১ জন কর্মী, ১৯৯০ সালে গড়ে ৪১৪ কোটি লেনদেন করত যা ২০১৫ সালে হয় ১৬০ কোটি টাকা।

-গ্রাহকঃ © স্ব অনুসন্ধান, @ প্রান্তিক ব্যাংকিং © 28/१- যে কোন স্থানে © টেলি ব‍্যাংকিং © বিল পরিশোধি ব্যাংকঃ @ দক্ষতা বৃদ্ধি © সুনাফা বৃদ্ধি মুনাফা সন্তুষ্টি- © সুরক্ষিত লেনদেন @ whats app Bonkiary POSITIVE: Reduce Operational Cost (1) Increasing Efficiency of Banking (i) Traditional Tronsoction – 170 Cr. / Yes; online Ironsocian - 200 cr/ year, (v) Mobile Banking. E-cosh, Redy cash, ATH, Master Card, Visa Cond. Credit Card. NEGATIVE: Infrastructural Cost high cyber Security Cost @cyber Crime

 

 

v  DIGITAL BANGING AND BANGLADESH

“Automated delivery for of new and traditional banking product and services directly to customers through electronic. interactive Communication channels is called digital banking OR E- banking”FFIEC

 

* 87% of Bank branches in Bangladesh are online and 8%. Are 35.3% of people have acees to bank. According to Financial Inclusion right Portly online. Insights -2018, 44.4% population have mobile money, but only 16.9% has registered account. According to BB, 87% of our card transaction is ATM Transaction.

“Banking is necessary banks are not. And technology like mobile has facilitated this purpose so for.” Bill Gates

 

 

 

 

 

v  BANKING AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN BANGLADESH

“Bank are to economy what the heart is to human body. " Hendrith Smith”.

 

Establishment RAKYB and BKB Micro Credit Bangladesh Bank @Development agricultural sectors Credit to SME Sectors Motivation fore Saving Capital Formation Rural Business Improvement living standard Remove Unemployment @ Poverty Alleviation Empowerment Rural People, Eliminate social en equality.

"Rural banking is the producer of oxygen as they are producing edible product for living. of the urban" IJSR

Role of the bank in rural development:

§  The role of the bank in rural development is manifold. Banks are functional in the processes of savings, capital formation, investment, production in the rural economy.

§  Banks motivate the people for savings through various programs and collect the dispersed savings of the people. Further, the bank invests it in the rural economy. Banks provide the rural small businessmen with loans from deposited money which plays a crucial role in rural development. Especially, the micro-credit programs of different banks made the rural landless people bankable and provided them with the required capital for business and other economic activities.

§  Banks play a crucial role in rural capital formation. Banks collect the dispersed savings of rural people through different deposit schemes. Then distribute loans to them for starting a productive as well as any other self-sufficient economic activity.

§  Commercial and specialized banks, especially State-Owned Commercial Banks (NCBs) distribute agricultural loans to rural people which makes them able to invest in their firms or lands. As most of our farmers are poor they can not invest enough to increase the production. Bank loans help them to increase their production through proper irrigation, fertilization, and so on.

§  Banks play a crucial role in sustaining and developing our small and cottage industries. Because most of our small and cottage industries are being closed due to lack of enough capital.

§  Banks can provide our unemployed youths with training and loan to start a business or to invest in a farm. Such training and income-generating projects can make our youths self-reliant, lessen the intricate problem of unemployment, and improve the standard of living in our rural areas.

§  Banks play a crucial role in mentioning the disadvantaged groups in the community under some special programs. Even, through making the disadvantaged people economically self-sufficient, banks play an important role to empower them and lessen social inequality thereby.

 

GREEN BANKING

We all must move from a greed economy to a green economy, "Susilo Bam bong (Former President Indonesia)

Objective of green banking

The broad objective of the green banks is avoiding waste and giving priority to environment and society.

·        Focusing on environment-friendly initiatives by providing innovative financial and ensure sustainable development by using organizational resources responsibility. With Keeping the world liveable for a long period of time.

·        To minimize paper works as much as possible inside and outside the bank.

·        To achieve cost and time efficiency.

 

 Economic review

In FY 2021-22 (up to December 2021), amount of Sustainable finance and Green finance by Banks and Financial Institutes were Tk. 45935.57 crore and Tk. 3564.85crore respectively. At that time, banks and FIs have financed Tk. 1662.52 billion against 94,609 projects rated under Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) Guidelines. In FY 2021-22 (Up to December 2021), Tk. 34.77 crore has been disbursed by banks and FIs from their own climate risk fund.

To facilitate green products/sector financing such as solar energy, bio-gas plant, effluent treatment plant, Bangladesh Bank established a revolving refinancing scheme of Tk. 200 crore in 2009 for green products/sector from its own fund. The size of the fund has been increased to Tk. 400 crore in view of the growing demand for financing of environment friendly products/initiatives in 2020. At present, this scheme is known as „Refinance Scheme for Environment Friendly Products/Initiatives‟. During FY 2021-22, under this scheme total of Tk. 53.40 crore has been disbursed as refinance facility from the fund against Bank and FI‟s financing, in total 10 green products/initiatives such as Biogas plant, Green Building, Green Industry, Vermi Compost, Solar Home System, Biological ETP, Net Metering Rooftop Solar System, Installation of Energy Auditor Certified machineries, Environment Friendly/Brick Kiln Efficiency improvement Project, and Safety and Work Environment of Factory. Asian Development Bank (ADB) supported revolving relending facility–Financing Brick Kiln Efficiency Improvement Project was established in Bangladesh Bank in June 2012 with a view to improving the brick sector especially environment friendly brick kilns through energy saving efficient use of technology resulting in reduced Green House Gas and Suspended Particulate Matter. The total amount of ADB‟s relending facility is USD 50.00

million (equivalent Bangladeshi currency). The project has two parts: Part-A (Ordinary Capital Resources) conversion of Fixed Chimney Kiln (FCK) to Improved Zig-zag Kiln (USD 30.00 million/equivalent Bangladeshi currency) and Part-B (Special Funds Resources) establishment of Vertical Shaft Brick Kiln (VSBK), Hybrid Hoffman Kiln (HHK) and Tunnel Kiln (USD 20.00 million/equivalent Bangladeshi currency). Total USD 50.00

million equivalent to Tk. 407.97 crore relending facility has been disbursed to 19 subprojects through 20 participating banks and FIs till December 2019. The tenure of the project ended in December 2019 with full disbursement. The revolving phase of the project is active in two tenors-Part-A is 25 years and Part-B is 32 years.

Steps have been undertaken during FY 2021-22:

·        Circular regarding definition of targets for sustainable and green finance, basis of determining rate of achievement and addition of 09 new component/parameters in existing sustainability rating methodology for Banks and FIs has been issued.

·        For the modernization and technological development/up-gradation of export oriented industries, a refinancing fund of Tk.1000 (one thousand) crore has been formed in the light of „Export Policy 2018-21‟ by Bangladesh Bank which is named as „Technology Development/Up-gradation Fund‟. Under this fund, Tk. 9.12 Crore has been disbursed under the fund till February 2022.

·        Green Transformation Fund (GTF)‟ was introduced for widening the scope to manufacturer-exporters irrespective of sectors against import of capital machinery and accessories for implementing specified green/environment-friendly initiatives. USD 134.66 million and Euro 45.22 million have been disbursed from GTF as of February, 2022.

·        Till February, 2022 total Tk. 49.76 crore to 260 Projects has approved as grant from the „Bangladesh Bank.Disaster Management and Social Responsibility Fund‟ which was formed under CSR activities.

 

Green Finance (In million BDT)   2019 2020 Banks 98753.04 105920.18 NBFIs 6,499.87 5,295.20 Sector-wise green finance of banking (In million BDT) Renewable Energy 1286.34 942.36 Energy  Efficiency 232.81 2819.03 Alternative Energy 0.00 6.00 Waste  Management 1443.30 240.00 Recycling-&  Recyclable  Product 130.00 272.69 Green-Brick  Manufacturing 1686.73 432.13 Green  Establishment 1689.69 350.00 Others 31.00 233.00

Issue Banks NBFIs 2019 2020 2019 2020 Number of environmental risk-rated projects 60346 50778 3103 2317 Number of environmental risk-rated  projects financed 44835 39778 2815 2149 Amount disbursed against rated projects  (in million BDT) 2037446 1391672 109607.3 106677 Changes in % Decreased by 31.70% in  2020 Decreased by 2.67% in  2020

 

 

 

OFFSHORE BANKING IN BANGLADESH

 

The concept of offshore banking in Bangladesh is not new, and is getting very popular to among business-people in Bangladesh due to its overwhelming capacity to unlock the international financial settlement. An offshore bank is a bank regulated under international banking license (often called offshore license), which usually prohibits the bank from establishing any business activities in the jurisdiction of establishment.

 

 

 

Facilities of offshore Banking:

Offshore banking, by its name and structure, can play a pivotal role both in domestic and international territory.

·        Little or no taxation (i.c., tax havens)

·        Easy access to deposits (at least in terms of regulation)

·        Protection against local, political, or financial instability.

Challenges:

·        The offshore banking activities in Bangladesh are taking new shapes and facing suddenly surfaced:

·        Political and Economic Instability

·        Passive Approach to Banking

·        Poor Accessibility Forex Complications.

Almost all the banks in Bangladesh have offshore banking licenses, but only 31 banks are actively participating in the business, most of whom are doing business on the discounting of local import and export bills, which is not the core function of offshore banking.

New Policy:

Bangladesh Bank has come up with a comprehensive guideline on Offshore Banking Operations on February 25, 2019 to bring offshore banking under a stringent regulatory framework. The new policy offered a lot of changes and imposed restrictions on export

 

CASHLESS SOCIETY

"The next dream of digital Bangladesh is to develop a cashless society.

The blaze service is a part of the cashless society," Sajeeb Wazed .

As an "economic phenomenon in which financial transactions are carried out electronically" as opposed to using banknotes and coins, that's consider cashless transaction and Modern society it Will called Cashless society. Some real-world examples of cashless transaction methods include those made by credit and debit cards, mobile wallets, Point of Sale (POS), Internet banking, and mobile banking.

Different types of Cashless payment:

·        Bank cards: Prepaid debit and credit cards are just one example of how a consumer can make cashless payments.

·        Contactless payments: Through a contactless payment, a consumer taps their card or smart devices such as a smart phone or a smart watch against a POS terminal, eliminating any physical contact between the buyer and the seller.

·        Mobile wallets: Through mobile wallets, a user can send, receive and store money directly on their phone.

·        QR codes: A Quick Response (QR) code is a black and white, two-dimensional sort of barcode which is scanned using a mobile device. Once the merchant scans the QR code, the device can process payment through the consumer's linked bank account.

·        POS devices: Traditionally, POS devices were only considered as hardware, which is used by merchants to mark the chosen goods and accept customers' cards. Gift cards and vouchers: Gift cards are physical or virtual cards that are pre-loaded with funds and enable the user to shop at selected merchants, which accept cashless payment methods.

·        Electronic Clearance Service (ECS): ECS is a type of cashless payment method, which is widely used for making bulk payments such as, monthly installments, paying for utility services, and disbursement of payments such as pensions, salaries, and dividend interest.

"Blaze service" in Bangladesh in the era of cashless society:

Sajeeb Wazed Joy recently inaugurated the 'Blaze Service', a joint venture between Home Pay, QCash and Sonali Bank, as part of the Cashless Society. Through this service, the hard earned money of the expatriates and the foreign exchange earned by the freelancers will be deposited digitally in banking channels from anywhere in the world in just 5 seconds. About 35 banks in Bangladesh will be able to provide the Blaze service and this service will be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

Benefits of cashless society:

·        Lower crime rates, because there's no tangible money to steal.

·        Less money laundering, because there's always a digital paper trail.

·        Less time and cost associated with handling, storing, and depositing paper money. Easier currency exchange while traveling internationally. Improved budgeting for consumers.

·        Improved transaction speeds. Less time and costs related to handling, storing, and depositing cash.Smoother international payments.Compiling more comprehensive economic data.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BANGLADESH AND IT’S DEVELOPMENTS

LDC STATUS   "Bangladesh is an example of economic Progress and a country of great hope and opportunity” Joe Biden     Per Capita Income Human Resource Index Economic Risk Index Year Achievement Year Criteria 1222  < 66 < 32  >   LDC 1975 Bangladesh 1272 72.2 25.1 2018 Initial Qualification March 16,2018 Bangladesh 1827 75.3 27.2 2021 Final Qualification Fe 26,2021 Challenges 0.01 to 0.1 UN Donation Lose GSP Additional tax 2.7 B$ UNCTAD Report Export Earning reduce, 5.5 to 7.5% UNCTAD Report Lose 1.5 B$ to  2,5 B$   "As We Have Started The Development Journey Overcoming Many Obstacles, God I Willing. No One Can Stop This Journey Any More" PM Sheikh Hasina       8TH 5YEAR PLAN[ No one left behind]29dec 2020(july2020-june2025){64,95,950 Crore Tk.} Total GDP B$ 566 Inflation Rate% 4.8 Expansion of employment 25,30,000 GDP Growth % (Annual/ Maturity) 8/8.51 Life expectancy 74 Electricity generate (MW) 30,000 Export  B$ 56.33 Poverty Rate % 15.6 Tax to GDP % 12.3 Import Cost B$ 83.88 Extreme Poverty Rate% 7.4 Gross Investment to GDP % 36.59   VISION 2021(25Feb 2020 in NEC) Indicators 2020 2041 Indicators 2020 2041 Indicators 2020 2041 GDP% 8.2 9.9 Per Capital Income $ 2064 12500 Life expectancy 70.8 100 Investment to GDP % 32.76 46.9 Poverty Rate % 18.8 <3 Tax to GDP % 9 17 Export Earning % 5 11 Extreme Poverty Rate% 9.4 <1 Inflation Rate% 5.5 4.5 Literacy rate  % 72 100 Population Growth Rate 1.2 1         DELTA PLAN 200 “Achieving safe, climate resilient and prosperous delta” (4 sep 2018)   “The government has declared the Delta Plan-2100 as a long term strategy to Prevent floods and soil erosion, manage rivers and wastes and Supply water  throughout the century." Sheikh Hasina   Mission:“Ensure long term water and food security, economic growth and environmental sustainability while effectively reducing vulnerability to natural disasters and building resilience to climate change and other delta challenges through robust, adaptive and integrated strategies, and equitable water governance” BDP 2100 approach to long term goals: The BDP 2100 proposes 3 higher level national goals and 6 BDP 2100 specific goals that contribute to achieving these higher level goals. Higher Level Goals Goal 1: Eliminate extreme poverty by 2030; Goal 2: Achieve upper middle income status by 2030; and Goal 3: Being a Prosperous Country beyond 2041. BDP 2100 Specific Goals Goal 1: Ensure safety from floods and climate change related disasters; Goal 2: Enhance water security and efficiency of water usages; Goal 3: Ensure sustainable and integrated river systems and estuaries management; Goal 4: Conserve and preserve wetlands and ecosystems and promote their wise use; Goal 5: Develop effective institutions and equitable governance for in-country              and trans-boundary water resources management; and Goal 6: Achieve optimal and integrated use of land and water resources. The Six Hotspots and number of districts covered 1. Coastal Zone (27,738 sq. km); 2. Barind and Drought Prone Areas (22,848 sq. km); 3. Haor and Flash Flood Areas (16,574 sq. km); 4. Chattogram Hill Tracts (13,295 sq. km); 5. River System and Estuaries (35,204 sq. km); and 6. Urban Areas (19,823 sq. km). Delta Opportunities ·        Sustainable Land Use ·        Agriculture, Food Security, Nutrition and Livelihoods ·        Transboundary Water Management ·        Dynamizing Inland Water Transport System ·        Advancing the Blue Economy ·        Renewable Energy Delta Challenges 1)      Climate Change 2)       Upstream Development Activities in the Upstream 3)      Water Quality 4)      Waterlogging                     SOCIAL SAFETY NET PROGRAM [Present :73; New project:60 ; Pipeline:13] "Bangladesh's strong track record of poverty reduction and development shows that with the right policies. and actions further progress is possible?" -Qisimiao Fon (Country Director WB)   FY Allocation( Crore Tk) Element / Sector Allocation(Cr.) Start(FY) Monthly Element / Sector Allocation(Cr.) Start(FY) 2021-22 1,07,614 Old age allowance 481 1997-98 500 Tk. Scholarship for student 4273 2007-08 2020-21 95,574 Widow and Husband abuse 255 1998-99 500 Tk. 2019-20 74,367 Disability allowance 200 2005-06 750 Tk. Food Security 15060 2010-11   “My objective is to fulfill the dream also live of Bongabandhu through building hunger- and poverty  -free Golden Bangladesh being imbued with the spirit of the War of Liberation”PH Sheikh Hasina   "এই স্বাধীন দেনো মানুষ যখন পেট ভরে খেতে পারবে, পারে মযাদাপূর্ণ জীবন; তখনই শুধু লাঘো শহীদের আত্মা তৃপ্তি পাবে।” শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান   বয়স্ক ভাতা অর্থবছর উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা (হাজার জনে) জনপ্রতি মাসিক ভাতার হার (টাকায়) বার্ষিক বাজেট (কোটি টাকায়) ১৯৯৭-৯৮ ৪০৩.১১ ১০০ ১২.৫০ ২০১০-১১ ২৪৭৫.০০ ৩০০ ৮৯১.০০ ২০১৬-১৭ ৩১৫০.০০ ৫০০ ১৮৯০.০০ ২০১৭-১৮ ৩৫০০.০০ ৫০০ ২১০০.০০ ২০১৮-১৯ ৪০০০.০০ ৫০০ ২৪০০.০০ ২০১৯-২০ ৪৪০০.০০ ৫০০ ২৬৪০.০০ ২০২০-২১ ৪৯০০.০০ ৫০০ ২৯৪০.০০ ২০২১-২০২২ ৫৭০১.০০ ৫০০ ৩৪৪৪.৫৪ বিধবা, স্বামী পরিত্যক্ত দুস্থ মহিলা ভাতা অর্থবছর উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা (হাজার জনে) জনপ্রতি মাসিক ভাতার হার (টাকায়) বার্ষিক বাজেট (কোটি টাকায়) ১৯৯৮-৯৯ ৪০৩.১১ ১০০ ৪.০৩১ ২০১০-১১ ৯২০.০০ ৩০০ ৩৩১.২০ ২০১৬-১৭ ১১৫০.০০ ৫০০ ৬৯০.০০ ২০১৭-১৮ ১২৬৫.০০ ৫০০ ৭৫৯.০০ ২০১৮-১৯ ১৪০০.০০ ৫০০ ৮৪০.০০ ২০১৯-২০ ১৭০০.০০ ৫০০ ১০২০.০০ ২০২০-২১ ২০৫০.০০ ৫০০ ১২৩০.০০ দরিদ্র মা'র জন্য মাতৃত্বকাল ভাতা অর্থবছর উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা (লক্ষ জনে) জনপ্রতি মাসিক ভাতার হার (টাকায়) বার্ষিক বাজেট (কোটি টাকায়) ২০০৭-০৮ ৩০০/- ০.৪৫ ১৭.০০ ২০০৯-১০ ৩৫০/- ০.৮০ ৩৩.৬০ ২০১৪-১৫ ৫০০/- ২.২০ ১৩২.০০ ২০১৮-১৯ ৮০০/- ৭.০০ ৬৯৩.০০ ২০১৯-২০ ৮০০/- ৭.৭০ ৭৬৩.২৭ ২০২০-২১ ৮০০/- ৭.৭০ ৭৫৩.৯৭ ২০২১-২২ ৮০০/- ৭.৭০ ৭৬৪.৩৯ কর্মজীবী ল্যাকটেটিং মাদার সহায়তা অর্থবছর উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা (লক্ষ জনে) জনপ্রতি মাসিক ভাতার হার (টাকায়) বার্ষিক বাজেট (কোটি টাকায়) ২০১০-১১ ৩৫০/- ০.৬৮ ৩০.০০ ২০১৪-১৫ ৫০০/- ১.০০ ৬০.০০ ২০১৮-১৯ ৮০০/- ২.৫০ ২৪৮.৫০ ২০১৯-২০ ৮০০/- ২.৭৫ ২৭৩.১১ ২০২০-২১ ৮০০/- ২.৭৫ ২৭০.৭৯ ২০২১-২২ ৮০০/- ২.৭৫ ২৭৬.৭৫ মুক্তিযোদ্ধাদের সম্মানী ভাতা অর্থবছর উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা (লক্ষ জনে) জনপ্রতি মাসিক ভাতার হার (টাকায়) বার্ষিক বাজেট (কোটি টাকায়) ২০০১-০২ ৩০০/- ০.৪২ ১৫.০০ ২০১০-১১ ২০০০/- ১.৫০ ৩৬০.০০ ২০১৮-১৯ ১০০০০ /- ২.০০ ৩৩০৫.০০ ২০১৯-২০ ১২০০০/- ২.০০ ৩৩৮৫.০৫ ২০২০-২১ ১২০০০/- ২.০০ ২৮৮০.০০ ২০২১-২২ ২০০০০/- ২.০০ ৪৬৫৩.৩৫       প্রতিবন্ধী ভাতা অর্থবছর উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা (লক্ষ জনে) জনপ্রতি মাসিক ভাতার হার (টাকায়) বার্ষিক বাজেট (কোটি টাকায়) ২০০৫-০৬ ২০০/- ১.০৪ ২৫.০০ ২০১০-১১ ৩০০/- ২.৮৬ ১০২.৯৬ ২০১৬-১৭ ৬০০/- ৭.৫০ ৫৪০.০০ ২০১৭-১৮ ৭০০/- ৮.২৫ ৬৯৩.০০ ২০১৮-১৯ ৭০০/- ১০.০০ ৮৪০.০০ ২০১৯-২০ ৭৫০/- ১৮.০০ ১৪২৮.৭৫ ২০২০-২১ ৭৫০/- ১৮.০০ ১৬২০.০০ ২০২১-২২ ৭৫০/- ২০.০৮ ১৮২০.০০   খাদ্য সাহায্য কর্মসূচির আওতায় চলমান বিভিন্ন কর্মসূচির অগ্রগতি   ওএমএস কর্মসূচিঃ নিম্ন আয়ের মানুষের খাদ্য নিরাপত্তা নিশ্চিত করার লক্ষ্যে সরকার খোলা বাজারে বিক্রয় (ওএমএস) কর্মসূচি চালু করে। এ কর্মসূচির আওতায় বিশেষ ভর্তুকির মাধ্যমে বাজার মূল্যের চেয়ে কম দামে খাদ্য সামগ্রী (চাল ও আটা) বিক্রয় করা হয়। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরের ফেব্রুয়ারি ২০২১ পর্যন্ত এ কর্মসূচিতে ০.৭৯ লাখ মে. টন চাল ও ২.১৬ লাখ মে. টন গমের ফলিত আটা বিতরণ করা হয়েছে। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে এ খাতে বরাদ্দ রাখা হয় ৯৪৮.৯৭ কোটি টাকা এবং বর্তমান ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে এ বরাদ্দ বৃদ্ধি পেয়ে ১,০১৯.৮৬ কোটি টাকা হয়েছে।   কাজের বিনিময়ে খাদ্য (কাবিখা) ও কাজের বিনিময়ে টাকা (কাবিটা) কর্মসূচিঃ গ্রামীণ অবকাঠামো সংস্কারের জন্য দুর্যোগ ব্যবস্থাপনা ও ত্রাণ মন্ত্রণালয়াধীন কাজের বিনিময়ে খাদ্য (কাবিখা) ও কাজের বিনিময়ে টাকা (কাবিটা) কর্মসূচির আওতায় ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরের বাজেটে ২,২৭৬.৫২ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ রাখা হয়। চলতি ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে কাবিখা’তে এ বরাদ্দ ৮০৯.৩০ কোটি টাকা এবং কাবিটা’তে এ বরাদ্দ ১,৫০০ কোটি টাকা রাখা হয়েছে।   খাদ্যবান্ধব কর্মসূচিঃ ২০১৬ সালে মাননীয় প্রধানমন্ত্রীর ব্র্যান্ডিং ‘খাদ্যবান্ধব কর্মসূচি’ চালু করা হয়। এ কর্মসূচিতে ইউনিয়ন পর্যায়ে বসবাসরত ৫০ লাখ হত দরিদ্র পরিবারকে (বিধবা, বয়স্কা, পরিবার প্রধান নারী, নিম্ন আয়ের দুঃস্থ পরিবার প্রধানকেঅগ্রাধিকার ভিত্তিতে) তালিকাভুক্ত করা হয়। প্রতি বছর কর্মাভাবকালীন ৫ মাস ১০ টাকা কেজি দরে এ কর্মসূচির তালিকাভুক্ত পরিবার প্রতি মাসে ৩০ কেজি চাল বিতরণ করা হয়। চলতি ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে ফেব্রুয়ারি,২০২১ পর্যন্ত এ কর্মসূচিতে ৪.৮৭ লাখ মে.টন চাল বিতরণ করা হয়েছে। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে এ খাতে বরাদ্দ ছিল ২,৮৯১.০৪ কোটি টাকা আর উপকারভোগী ছিল ৬২.৫০ লক্ষ জন। ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে এ খাতে ৬২.৫০ লক্ষ উপকারভোগীর জন্য ২,৯৪৫.৭৩ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ করা হয়েছে।   ভিজিএফঃ সাধারণত দুর্যোগ পরবর্তী সময়ে দরিদ্র মানুষের জীবিকা পুনর্বহাল না হওয়া পর্যন্ত ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত পরিবারসমূহকে এই সহায়তা প্রদান করা হয়। প্রতি পরিবারকে মাসিক ২০-৪০ কেজি করে ২ থেকে ৫ মাস পর্যন্ত এ সহায়তা দেয়া হয়। এছাড়া, মা ইলিশ ও জাটকা আহরণে বিরত থাকা জেলেরাও ভিজিএফ সহায়তা পেয়ে থাকেন। বিভিন্ন ধর্মীয় উৎসবে দরিদ্র জনগণও ভিজিএফ সহায়তা পান। এর আওতায় ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে ১,০০,০৬৮.৬৯ মেঃ টন খাদ্যশস্য বিতরণ করা হয়েছে। ২০২০ ২১ অর্থবছরে এ খাতে বরাদ্দ ছিল ৯৪১.১৫ কোটি টাকা এবং বর্তমান ২º২১-২২ অর্থবছরে এ বরাদ্দ হয়েছে 1,455.54 কোটি টাকা।   টিআরঃ দুর্যোগকালে দরিদ্র মানুষকে জরুরি নগদ অর্থ হিসেবে টিআর সহায়তা প্রদান করা হয়। এই কর্মসূচির আওতায় ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরের বাজেটে বরাদ্দ ছিল ২,৩২৪.৫৯ কোটি টাকা। বর্তমান ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে এ বরাদ্দ হয়েছে ১,৪৫০.০০ কোটি টাকা এবং ভাতাভোগীর সংখ্যা ৩.৬৯ লক্ষ জন।   জিআরঃ দুর্যোগকালে দরিদ্র মানুষকে জরুরি খাদ্য হিসেবে জিআর সহায়তা প্রদান করা হয়। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে জিআর হিসেবে ২৪২.৬৪ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ রাখা হয় এবং বর্তমান ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে এ খাতে বরাদ্দ রাখা হয়েছে ৫৯০.৭৫ কোটি টাকা।   অতি দরিদ্রদের জন্য কর্মসংস্থান কর্মসূচিঃ পল্লী অঞ্চলে অতি দরিদ্র ও কর্মক্ষম বেকার জনগোষ্ঠীকে প্রাধান্য দিয়ে ২০০৯ ১০ অর্থবছর হতে সারাদেশে এ কার্যক্রম আরম্ভ হয়। এ কর্মসূচির উদ্দেশ্য হলো (ক) বাংলাদেশের অতি দরিদ্র বেকার জনগোষ্ঠীর জন্য কর্মসংস্থান ও ক্রয়ক্ষমতা বৃদ্ধি; (খ) সার্বিকভাবে জনগোষ্ঠী ও দেশের জন্য সম্পদ সৃষ্টি করা; এর এবং (গ) গ্রামীণ এলাকায় ক্ষুদ্র পরিসরে অবকাঠামো ও যোগাযোগ উন্নয়ন, যথাযথ রক্ষণাবেক্ষণ ও পরিবেশ উন্নয়ন। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে অতি দরিদ্রদের (১৯.১৮ লক্ষ জন) কর্মসংস্থানের জন্য ১,৬৫০.০০ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ দেয়া হয়। বর্তমান ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে এ খাতে বরাদ্দ ও উপকারভোগীর সংখ্যা অপরিবর্তিত আছে।   সামাজিক করোনাভাইরাস মোকাবেলায় কার্যক্রমঃ করোনাভাইরাসের ফলে অর্থনৈতিক স্থবিরতাজনিত কারণে সাময়িক দারিদ্র্য দূরিকরণে সরকারি প্রণোদনা কার্যক্রমের অংশ হিসেবে সামাজিক নিরাপত্তা বলয়ের আওতা বৃদ্ধি করা হয়েছে এবং বয়স্ক ভাতা, বিধবা ও স্বামী নিগৃহিতা ভাতা এবং প্রতিবন্ধি ভাতার সুবিধাভোগীর সংখ্যা ২০২১-২২ অর্থবছরে ১৫ লক্ষ ০৫ হাজার জন বৃদ্ধি করা হয়েছে। অতি উচ্চ ও উচ্চ দারিদ্রভুক্ত গ্রুপের আরও ১৫০টি উপজেলায় বয়স্ক ভাতা, বিধবা ও স্বামী নিগৃহিতা ভাতা সম্প্রসারণ করা হয়েছে। বিগত ২০২০ সালে করোনা মহামারির কারণে যে সকল নিম্ন আয়ের মানুষ আর্থিকভাবে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত এবং কর্মহীন হয়ে পড়ে তাদেরকে সহায়তার জন্য ‘নগদ আর্থিক সহায়তা প্রদান' কর্মসূচি চালু করা হয়। করোনা মহামারিতে ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত ৩৫ লক্ষ নিম্ন আয়ের পরিবারকে পরিবার প্রতি ২ হাজার ৫০০ টাকা করে মোট ৮৮০ কোটি টাকার আর্থিক সহায়তা প্রদান করা হয়। করোনার তীব্রতা বৃদ্ধি পাওয়ায় নিম্ন আয়ের শ্রমজীবী মানুষ যাতে আর্থিকভাবে কষ্ট না পায়, সে জন্য এবছর ঈদুল ফিতরের আগে একইভাবে ৩৫ লক্ষ ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত পরিবারকে নগদ ২ হাজার ৫০০ টাকা করে আর্থিক সহায়তা প্রদান করা হয়। ভাইরাস প্রাদূর্ভাবের কারনে হঠাৎ কর্মহীন হয়ে পড়া দরিদ্র মানুষের জন্য জরুরি খাদ্য সহায়তা হিসেবে চাউল, ত্রান (নগদ) ও শিশু খাদ্য বিতরণের ব্যবস্থা করা হয়েছে। এ লক্ষ্যে মানবিক সহায়তা হিসেবে দেশব্যাপী মোট ৫ লক্ষ মেট্রিক টন চাল ও ১ লক্ষ মেট্রিক টন গম বিনামূল্যে বিতরণ করা হয়েছে। পাশাপাশি, নিম্ন আয়ের জনগোষ্ঠীর মাঝে মাত্র ১০ টাকা কেজি দরে চাল বিক্রয় করা হয়েছে। গৃহহীন মানুষের জন্য সারাদেশে ৮১,৬৪৩টি গৃহ নির্মাণের উদ্যোগ নেয়া হয়েছে, যার মধ্যে এপ্রিল, ২০২১ পর্যন্ত মোট ৬৬,৮৯৮টি গৃহ নির্মাণ সম্পন্ন হয়েছে। কৃষি যান্ত্রিকীকরণের জন্য ৩,২২০ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ করা হয়েছে। ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত কৃষকদের মাঝে বীজ ও চারা বিতরণ, সার ও সেচে ভর্তুকির জন্য ৯,০০০ কোটি টাকা বরাদ্দ করা হয়েছে।   ASHRAYAN PROJECT( in 1997) Ashrayan Project-1 In 1997, due to the aftermathof a tornedo in coastal areas, ‘Ashrayan Project-1’ was planned for the distressed people entirely funded by Government of Bangladesh (GoB).The project duration was from 1997 to 2010 and implemented successfully. Ashrayan Project-2 Following the successful completion, Ashrayan Project-2was started as a part of ‘In Aid to Civil Power’. Project duration is from July, 2010 to June, 2022. In this project, Bangladesh Navy wasmade responsible to implement Ashrayan in coastal areas i.e. Barguna, Barishal, Bhola, Jhalokathi, Patuakhali, Pirojpur district and Sandwip, Hatia, Mongla, Moheskhali, Kutubdia, Teknaf Upazila. Bangladesh Army was responsible for rest of the areas of Bangladesh. With the passage of time design and construction materials of the Asrayan Project changed significantly. With a humble beginning of the corrugated tin shed house, now Government is providing brick constructed houses and even multistoried buildings.   Khurushkul Special Ashrayan Project Khurushkul Special Ashrayan Project’hasstartedas a part of ‘Ashrayan Project-2’ at Cox’s Bazar. While extending Cox’s Bazar Airfield into International Airport, 4,409 homeless climate hitfamilieswere identified in and around that area who were planned to be rehabilitated at Khurushkul Mouza, near Bakkhali river of Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila. Bangladesh Government provided 253.35 acres of land and decided to construct 139 - five storied buildings with modern facilities for them. Bangladesh Army took over the responsibility toimplement the project in May, 2017 and likely to complete by September, 2021. Project will be completely funded by GoB.   Ashrayan Project-3 GoB has planned to provide temporary shelter to ‘Forcefully Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMN)’ at Vashanchar area of Noakhali districtunder Ashrayan Project-3. Once FDMNs will return to their own country safely, the place will be used for rehabilitating distressed people of Bangladesh. Presently Bangladesh Navy is implementing this mega project to accommodate 1,03,200 (one lac three thousand and two hundred) people. It has modern facilities like electricity through solar panels and generators, water pumps, flood shelters, community clinics, schools, super shops, masjid, warehouse, helipad, mobile towers, asphalt (paka) roads, tracks etc. this is one of the finest camp in the globe for the displaced nationals. *Barracks (each barrack comprises 5-10 units) Project Name Year Barracks  Constructed Ashrayan Project-1 1997 to 2010 10,403 Ashrayan Project-2 2010-2020 10,168   উন্নত দেশ সেই দেশ, যারা তাদের দেশের না নাগরিকদের একটি নিরাপদ নিরাপদ পরিবেশের মধ্যে মুক্ত ও সুস্থ জীবনযাপন উপভোগ করার সুযোগ করে দেয়, কফি আনান   DEMOGRAPHIC DIVIDEND  (  enter in to  DD 2012) Follow statistics Of  2010-11 and 2020-21 UNITED NATIONS DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME report on Human Development Index 2020 Country Rank HDI value (2019) Life expectancy at birth (years) SDG3 Expected years of schooling (years) SDG 4.3 Mean years of schooling (years) SDG 4.6 Gross national income (GNI) per capita (PPP $) SDG 8.5 Bangladesh 133 th 0.632 72.6 11.6 6.2 4,976

Labor force state in Bangladesh

§  The rate of youth unemployment is 10.9% and underemployment is 18.7%.

§  The workforce of Bangladesh will surpass 76 million by 2025.

§  9 million new employment under the 7^th five-year plan and 10 million employment through EZ development targeted.

§  According to “Labor Market and Skill Gap in Bangladesh” labor demand will be 7 million in 2025.

§  The study projected that demand for skilled workers in agro-food sector will increase to 261%, in construction sector 54%, in healthcare sector 54.95%, in hospitality and tourism sector 35%, in IT sector 100%, leather goods sector 107%, light engineering sector 76.95%, in RMG sector 122.6%, and in shipbuilding sector 677% in FY2025-26 and skill gap for “skilled workers” is also high (40%) in the IT and leather sectors.

§  The productivity of our workforces is 77% considering Chinese workers 100%, which is lower than our major competitors India 92%, Vietnam 90% and Pakistan (88%) indicating the lower productivity and efficiency.

§  Around 5.5 million new entered into labor force whereas only 4.57 million have got employment as per employment labor survey. The graduate unemployment is around 11% in the country and post-secondary unemployment is around 6.4%.

REMITTANCES

 

	1972-73	2008-09	2010-11	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Remittance(Billion USD) [1226] {79,527}	7.8 M$	7.81	11.65	13.77	14.98	16.52	18.21	24.77	13.43( 8 month)
Remittance Growth %				-14.1	17.2	9.60%	10.87%	36.10%	-19.47
Remittance to GDP %			9.05	5.11	4.66	4.67	4.87	6.03
Remittance to Export %			50.82	37.54	41.29	41.46	56.68	67.14
Manpower export (lac)				9.05	8.78	6.93	5.31	2.80	5.76

 

Number of Expatriates Classified by Skill

Calendar Year	Professional	Skilled	Semi-skilled	Less-skilled	Others	Total
2010	387	90621	12469	287225	7560	390702
2016	4638	318851	119946	303706	10590	757731
2017	4507	434344	155569	401796	12302	1008518
2018	2673	317528	117734	283002	13244	734181
2019	1914	304921	142536	197102	53686	700159
2020	378	61690	9412	146189	-	217669
2021	824	129057	19870	467458	-	617209

 

 

 

Steps Taken to by the government Boost up Foreign Employment and Remittances
 Government has taken several necessary measures to explore new labour market and to enhance the flow of remittance. Some of the
initiatives are:
a) Increase of the rate of cash incentive against wage earners' remittance through legal channel:During the COVID-19 pandemic, government and the Bangladesh Bank took several accommodative measures for simplification and encouragement of the remittance inflows through legal channels. As per the government directives it has been decided to increase the rate of cash incentive against wage earners' remittance to 2.5 percent from existing 2 percent for foreign currency to be remitted through banking channel into the country.

 

b) Cash incentive against several types of wage earners' remittance through legal channel:According to government directives, it has been decided to provide cash incentive against remittance of legal income in foreign currency to be remitted through banking channel into the country to encourage remitter’s permanent shift from formal channel for following sources: a. Retirement benefits such as pension funds; b. Provident fund; c. Leave salary; d. Bonus and other gratuities, payable by employers.

 

c) Expansion of Labour Market:Presently Bangladesh is sending workers in about 170 countries of the world. The middle-east is the centre of Bangladesh labour market. However, initiatives have been adopted to send workers to other destinations in Europe and Central Asia. A market research has been done for 53 potential destination countries for our workers. Recently, Bangladesh has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Greece on labour migration.

 

d) Reduction of Migration cost:The main challenge in migration process in Bangladesh is high migration cost. Government is trying to keep the migration cost at minimum level. The government has fixed Country Specific Maximum migration cost for the main destination countries. The only state owned recruitment company, Bangladesh Overseas Employment and Services Ltd (BOESL) is engaged in sending workers to South Korea, Japan and Jordan at zero or minimum migration cost.

 

e)Skill Development: The government is very much concerned to enhance the standard of skill development trainings, curricula and facilities. At the sametime, initiatives have been taken to coordinate the activities of training and vocational institutions. In 2021, Bureau of Manpower, Employment and training, imparted skill development training to 5,98,973 persons in different trades through its TTCs and IMTs. These trainings includes country specific pre-departure training for both male and female migrant workers. Considering the importance of skills development trainings, the government has planned to establish TTC at upazilla level. A project is being implemented to establish 40 TTCs at upazilla level. Another project to establish 100 TTC’s is under process. Initiatives have been also taken for international recognition of our training. At present, UK based certification institution; City & Guilds is collabotrating with 6 TTCs in this regard. Training arrangements have been launched in partnership with Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong for our aspirant women migrant workers

 

f) Modernisation of Emigration Process: To reduce the fraudulent activities of the recruiting agencies and brokers, a database of migrant workers with digitized fingerprints has been established. Emigration clearance is being provided with a smart card by using database network. The hassles and deception of the outbound workers could have been reduced at the airports with their information recorded in the smart card.

 

g) Policy formulation for Migration Governance: To bring discipline in migration governance, the government enacted Overseas Employment and Migrant Act, 2013 and adopted Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Policy-2016.The recruiting agencies play an important role in migration sector. To ensure their transparency and accountability, the government has introduced Overseas Employment and Migrant (Recruiting Agent Licence and Conduct), Rules, 2019 and Overseas Employment and Migrant(Recruiting Agent Classification) Rules, 2020. For the welfare of the migrant workers, mandatory insurance scheme has been adopted since 2019. The government provides 2.5 percent incentives on remittances sent in legal channel. Policy on Health Examination of Aspirant Migrant Workers (Revised), 2022 has been formulated.

 

h) Steps taken to deal with Covid-19 situation: Migrant workers at the destination countries were provided with food, medicine and other essentials through our Missions abroad. In some cases, migrant workers were brought back at WEWB’s cost during the COVID-19 pandemic. Again, special flights were arranged to send them in favorable situation during this pandemic.Special arrangements were made for speedy COVID-19 vaccination of our out bound migrant workers. A fund of Tk. 700 crore has been formed to provide investment loan on easy terms through PKB to the migrant workers who returned due to COVID-19 pandemic and to the suitable family member of the migrant workers who died of COVID-19. Rehabilitation loans are being provided to returnee migrant workers at 9 percent soft interest. For the rehabilitate of the families of the migrant workers, Bangabandhu Large Family Loan is being provided. The male migrant workers can get this loan at 9 percent and female borrowers at 7 percent simple interest and easy terms. Each returnee workers was paid Tk. 5,000 through the Expatriates Welfare Desk at Dhaka Shahjalal International Airport during

COVID-19 pandemic.

 

In addition, the Saudi bound migrants workers were paid Tk. 25,000 each for the quarantine expenses in Saudi Arabia. The UAE bound workers were paid TK. 1600 each for their Rapid COVID-19 test fees at the airport. A World Bank funded project has been undertaken through WEWB to provide financial assistance for the reintegration and rehabilitation of returnee workers. Two lakh returnee workers will get referral service and Tk. 13,000 cash incentive through this project. Recently, Bangbandhu Wage Earners’ Center has been inaugurated near Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for temporary stay in Dhaka during the arrival and departure of expatriate workers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PADMA BRIDGE

The Padma Multipurpose Bridge is ranked 122nd among other longest bridges globally, with pillars having a diameter of 3 meters in radius and pilling being 128 meters deep, which is the deepest piling in the world. The bridge’s construction started in 2014 by China Major Bridge Engineering Co. Ltd., and Sinohydro Corporation Limited, The main bridge structure was being erected on 42 pillars with the help of 41 spans, spanning 150 meters that are expected to withstand earthquakes of magnitude nine on the Richter scale .The last span of the 6.15 km long bridge was laid in December 2021 and is expected to be inaugurated for traffic by June 2022. The cost of this self-financed mega project in the country has been estimated at BDT 30,193.39 crore. With the completion of the mega project, the GDP growth of the south-western part of the country will increase by 2.5 percent, while the country’s overall GDP growth will increase by 1.23 percent per annum. The Padma Rail Link project is expected to transform Bangladesh into a sub-route of the Trans-Asian Railway Network and contribute about 1 percent to the country’s GDP growth.

v  The cost of the project was estimated to be BDT 10,161 crore in 2007,  BDT 20,506 crore in 2011, and BDT 30,793 crore in 2018.

Communication & Transportation Benefits: According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), 27% of the total population of Bangladesh lives in the south-west. According to a BBC source, the existing roads have been further developed in addition to the construction of expressways on both sides of the Padma Bridge at the cost of BDT 11,000 crore. As a result, if the bridge is opened, the transportation there will increase more than 20 times. According to an ADB source, the Padma Bridge will carry an average of 24,000 vehicles per day in 2024 and 67,000 by 2050. In addition, the Padma Bridge will reduce the distance from Mongla Port to Dhaka by more than 100 km to only 170 km, whereas the current distance between Chittagong Port and Dhaka is about 264 km. In addition, according to ADB, the long-term (31 years) road user benefit of the Padma Bridge in the traffic model stood at 18.512 billion dollars, and according to the Social Accounting Matrix (SAM), the total project benefit was estimated at $25 billion (24.993) at the same time.

Trading:Experts estimate an industrial revolution in 21 districts in the southwest. Also, according to a source in the Daily Star, once the Padma Bridge Rail Link project is completed, the distance from Dhaka to Kolkata via Jessore will be reduced to half, and it will take only 3 to 4 hours, which will also boost the country’s international trading. As a result, Bangladesh could become an important corridor in international trading. According to a report by the Khulna Chamber of Commerce, the region will play a groundbreaking role in regional connectivity in South Asia and connect Dhaka with Mongla and Payra ports once the Padma Bridge is launched. At present, more than 90 percent of the country’s international trade is done through the Chittagong Port. In 2021, the trade volume of this port was about 90 billion dollars.

Regional Industrial Revolution:The changes in the economy of North Bengal as a result of this bridge have contributed about 2% to the GDP growth of Bangladesh. According to ADB estimates, the direct investment made around this bridge will boost the regional economy. According to JICA estimates, a 10 percent reduction in travel time from Dhaka would increase the district economy to 5.5 percent, which would increase the region’s annual GDP growth by 1.7 percent. According to a Bangladesh News Agency, the bridge will be an important hub for many major sectors in the country’s south-west, including multinational communications, trade, tourism, and industry. In addition, economic activity in the south-west has already increased around the bridge, with mass-level industrialization underway. In this context, the rate of land sale in Barisal doubled in 2020 compared to 2019.

Additionally, the shipbreaking industry, RMG, assembling plant, and storage facilities will be set up in this region. According to a BSIC source, 500 to 1000 factories of the different sectors will be set up in 6 districts of the Barisal division in the next ten years.

Socio-Economic Growth:According to a CPD source, the poverty rate in the Khulna-Barisal region is at least 10 percent higher than the national average. The construction of the Padma Bridge will reduce the poverty rate by 1.01 percent at the regional level and by 0.84 percent at the national level. According to a study by the World Bank, about 30 million people in Bangladesh will directly benefit from the Padma Bridge.

According to a TBS source, employers will increase by about 1 million within the upcoming five years of the bridge’s opening, reaching 30 to 40 million in the next ten years. In addition, at the regional level, the government has taken several steps to create a skilled workforce.

GDP Growth: According to a Dhaka Tribune report, the launch of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge is expected to contribute about 1.3 to 2 percent per annum to the country’s GDP. At the same time, with the completion of the Padma Bridge Rail Link project, GDP will grow by another 1 percent. According to the current base year, a BRAC study estimates a 5 percent contribution to GDP in 31 years. However, once the bridge is completed, it will contribute 1.2 percent to the country’s GDP. According to the IMF forecast, Bangladesh ranks 20th in the world in ranking GDP growth in 2022. In 2026, Bangladesh will reach the 3rd position in this ranking, one of the contributors of which will be the Padma Bridge.

METRO RAIL

Metro Rail is basically a rapid transit system that is widely used in many major cities of the world. The ‘Dhaka Metro Rail’ is a government project funded by ‘JICA’ for public transport in the metropolitan area of ​​Dhaka. The project is being carried out by the state-owned Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL). The planning of constructing Metro Rail in Bangladesh was first taken into account in 2005 when The Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA) created a 20-year strategic transport plan (STP) to develop a modern transit system for Dhaka. Metro Rail in Bangladesh is part of this plan. In December 2012, the ‘Dhaka mass rapid transit development project’ or ‘Metro Rail’ project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC).

The total cost of the project is estimated at $2.82 bn, of which JICA is providing approximately 75% or $2.13bn at a 0.01% interest rate. The government of Bangladesh will provide the remaining 25% fund. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina initiated the construction work in June 2016. Initially, the length of ‘MRT line 6’ was proposed as 20.1km long, starting from Uttara to Motijheel, which was later extended to Kamlapur, adding 1.16km more to the route making it a total of 21.26KM. There will be a total of 17 stations on the route, and 24 train sets will run on the route.

Impact of Metro Rail

Escape from Traffic Congestion:The traffic jam causes massive economic loss in Bangladesh. According to a study of BUET conducted in 2018, the traffic congestion of Dhaka city costs $4.4 Bn annually, which is more than 10% of the national budget. According to a World Bank report of 2017, 3.8 million working hours are being wasted every day for traffic jams in Dhaka.. According to Moazzem Hossain, a director of the Accident research institute, Bangladesh can save $2.6 Bn if we can reduce 60% traffic congestion in Dhaka. Besides, according to the daily star, the Metro Rail project will save $2.4 Bn each year which is equal to 1.5% of the national GDP. Apart from that, Metro Rail will ease the transportation for more than 15 million people of Dhaka and speed up daily life, which will create a bigger positive impact on the economy.

Employment: Metro Rail operation and maintenance will require a lot of manpower, which will create many job opportunities in Bangladesh..

Businesses Around the Stations: Due to the Metro Rail, the transit system will increase, and numerous privately-held businesses will spring up around the stations.

Convenience and Safety:Metro Rail will be a convenient medium of transportation for the people of Dhaka.Because it will provide an air-conditioned transportation facility with abundant passenger capacity, it will carry around 60,000 passengers per hour, 960,000 people per day and every 4 minutes, a train will be available at each station. women will be more interested in traveling via Metro Rail. As a result, women’s participation in the workplace will increase.

Technological Advancement: Metro Rail will infuse the population of our country into a new era of technological advancement..

Decentralization of Urban Population:The density of the population can be reduced from Dhaka city once the Metro Rail comes into operation. People can stay outside the city by spending much less on house rent and come to Dhaka easily for office and other purposes.

Impact on the Environment:All vehicles running on Dhaka’s streets rely on fossil fuels, which contribute significantly to environmental pollution. Since Metrorail is ‘electricity powered’ and can carry more passengers per hour, the propensity to travel in Dhaka by bus and other modes of transportation would decline. This would lower the number of vehicles on the road, which will be beneficial to the environment. This technology will reduce the impact of Metrorail on the environment.

DHAKA ELEVATED EXPRESSWAY

Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is the administrative and commercial centre of the country. It has a population of over 16 million, accounting for about one-tenth of the total population of the country. With about 15 million people living in just 325 square kilometers, Dhaka is undoubtedly the most densely populated megacity in the world. Unfortunately Dhaka is the only mega city with no well -organized and properly scheduled public

transport system and one of the very few ones that are yet to introduce a Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system.

According to a study of BUET conducted in 2018, the traffic congestion of Dhaka city costs $4.4 Bn annually, which is more than 10% of the national budget. According to a World Bank report of 2017, 3.8 million working hours are being wasted every day for traffic jams in Dhaka.. According to Moazzem Hossain, a director of the Accident research institute, Bangladesh can save $2.6 Bn if we can reduce 60% traffic congestion in Dhaka. Besides, according to the daily star, the Metro Rail project will save $2.4 Bn each year which is equal to 1.5% of the national GDP.

Dhaka Elevated Expressway is Bangladesh's first elevated expressway project,which will connect the Shahjalal airport with Kutubkhali via Mohakhali, Tejgaon and Kamalapur of Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is one of the largest infrastructure projects taken up by the incumbent government to ease traffic congestion in the capital. Expressway has been conceived as a part of a larger expressway network from Joydebpur to Narayanganj.  It will be 46.73 km (153,300 ft) long including the connecting roads and will cost around \US$1.4 billion. The Expressway project will be implemented under Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) between the Government of Bangladesh, represented by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), and the Italian-Thai Development Public Company Limited, represented by the First Dhaka Elevated Expressway (FDEE) Co. Ltd. (ITD Group).

According to the revised alignment (approved in October 2013), initially the expressway will be about 21 km long, single free expressway with a design speed of 80 kph, a four- lane carriageway and having at least five major interchanges.

The major objectives of the Expressway are:

• To increase traffic capacity within and around the city by improving north-south connectivity and linking important commercial and business centers;

• To reduce traffic times and provide travel comfort and convenience;

• To make improved connectivity between North (N4) and South (N1) gateways;

• To provide truck access facility even during the daytime to the Dhaka’s industrial belt comprising Savar, DEPZ, Dhamsona, Kaliakoir, Gazipur etc. and thereby giving better backward linkage for export-import in international market; and

• To establish better level of service (LOS) along the Asian Highway (AH2) corridor and thereby to improve regional connectivity.

KARNAPHULI TUNNEL

Chittagong is the major port city and the gateway of Bangladesh. It is also the second largest city and the “commercial capital” of the country. The Karnaphuli River divides Chittagong District into two parts. One part is confined with the city and the port, the other part is the area of heavy industry. Current two bridges are not sufficient to accommodate the existing and increasing huge traffic flow. Due to river morphology, siltation on the bed of the Karnaphuli River is a big problem and the major threat for proper functioning of the Chittagong Port. To face the problem on siltation, Bangladesh government intends to construct a tunnel crossing the Karnaphuli River instead of another bridge over the same river. Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) was entrusted to implement the project.

The length of the entire route is 9.39 kilometres, with the tunnel making up 3.32 kilometres of the length. The tunnel diameter will be 10.80 metres (35.4 ft). The cost of the project is estimated at US$1.1B, of which around half is financed by the Exim Bank of China. The tunnel is expected to be completed in 2022 and will be the first river tunnel in South Asia. It is expected to improve the Dhaka—Chittagong—Cox's Bazar highway network.A Chinese company, China Communications Construction Company, was selected to construct it. The tunnel segments were produced in Zhenjiang, China. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Chinese President Xi Jinping inaugurated the construction site of the Karnaphuli Tunnel on 14 October 2017. On 24 February 2019, Sheikh Hasina also inaugurated the tunnel boring phase.

The bridge department said it would connect the Asian Highway, connect the downtown with the city on the east bank of the river. It would also increase the port facilities of Chattogram, build a new link road between Dhaka-Chattogram-Cox's Bazar. The project was planned to develop the city of Chattogram in the "One City Two Towns" model like the city of Shanghai, China. 

Officials of the Bridges Division said the construction of this tunnel will result in the development of the proposed industrial area on the east bank of the river. It will also make an improved and easy communication system among Chattogram city, port and the airport on the west bank of the river. 

"The tunnel will reduce travel time and cost. Transportation of raw materials and manufactured goods from the eastern part of the country to Chattogram port, airport and the northern part of the country will be easier. Establishment of an easy communication system with the eastern bank of the Karnaphuli will develop the tourism industry in that area." 

They also think that the tunnel will have a huge impact on the economic development of the country including the elimination of unemployment through the overall facilitation of communication system, modernisation, and development of industries including tourism. The tunnel will reduce the distance from Chattogram to Cox's Bazar by 40 kilometres. Vehicles in this tunnel will run at a speed of 80 kilometers per hour, said the Bridges Division. 

 

DIGITAL BANGLADESH

"We can see on ahead as industrial revolution laying a result of the expansion of information and communication technology."PM Sheikh Hasina

Internet Users: According to BTRC, The total number of Internet Subscribers has reached 123.82 Million at the end of December, 2021. Where mobile internet user 113.73 Million, and broadband user 10.09 Million. Bangladesh ranks 58th in the world in terms of broadband internet price. Bangladesh has ranked 135th out of 137 countries in the word in a recent report of Ookla, a global platform that measures internet speed. According to Statista, Number of Facebook users in Bangladesh 44.7 millions.

According to statcounter global stats, Social Media Stats in Bangladesh - May 2022

Facebook -92.87%, YouTube 4.1% ,LinkedIn 1.2% ,Pinterest 0.64% ,Twitter 0.56% ,Instagram 0.41%

আধুনিকায়নের ক্ষেত্রে বাংলাদেশ অভাবনীয় সাফল্য অর্জন করেছে।” হাওলিন ঝাও, ITU

Optical Fiber Connectivity:

In 2009, Bangladesh only had 16,000 kilometres of fibre network, which grew nearly 7 times bigger to cross 110,000 kilometres in 2020. By the period, bandwidth or internet usage also increased by over 70 times to hit 2.1 Terabits per second (Tbps) or 2,100 Gigabits per second (Gbps) in 2020 from only 30 Gbps in 2009.. The target is to bring 1,200 unions and 290 sub-districts under optical ­fiber coverage by the end of this year. Under a further mega project, the Government aims to extend optical ­fiber link to 2,225 unions between January 2017 and December 2020.

Submarine Cable:

Previously the entire telecommunication volume of Bangladesh were provided by a number of relatively low-capacity satellite stations and very-small aperture terminals (VSATs). A milestone in overseas connectivity was reached in 2006, when a large-capacity optical fibre cable was laid under the bay of bengal to connect Cox's Bazar with the SEA-MEA-WE-4 (Southeast Asia-Middle East-Western Europe 4) Global Fiber Optic Network. SEA-MEA-WE-4 has a total capacity of 1280 Gbits/sec, and has a combined length of 19,000 km. The submarine cable's allocation for Bangladesh is about 14 Gigabits/sec. Bangladesh hook up to the EA-ME-WE-5 and joining the 2^nd submarine cable to ensure uninterrupted internet connectivity. According to the project paper, the 25,000-kilometre cables would be installed under sea from Singapore to Bangladesh at a cost of US$ 84.7 million. Bangladesh will have1300 GBPS bandwidth at its disposal and connection to the second submarine cable will facilitate 4G services.

বাংলাদেশ প্রবলভাবে প্রযুক্তিকে গ্রহণ করেছে৷ ” বিল গেইটস

Mobile Coverage and Usage: The total number of Mobile Phone subscribers has reached 181.02 Million at the end of December, 2021. 99% people and 95% geographic area of Bangladesh have been brought under mobile telecommunications service and network coverage. which was only 20 million in 2006.

Mobile network Technology: Mobile network technology is constantly being updated, like any other growing technology in the world. And as part of this update, the fifth generation or 5G data network is revolutionizing the Internet worldwide. A standard 4G connection can offer speeds of up to 100 Mbps, while 5G’s data speeds can reach up to 10 Gbps, which is almost 100 times faster than 4G. In addition, the response time of a command on a 4G network is 50 milliseconds; on the other hand, 5G can respond to the same command in less than one millisecond. Starting from South Korea, countries like China, Japan, the USA, the UK, Switzerland, and the Philippines already use 5G networks. Apart from that, several countries, such as India and Australia, are building their own 5G network infrastructure. On 12th December of 2021, BTRC launched the initial 5G network in Bangladesh in collaboration with state-owned mobile operator Teletalk at Radisson Hotel in Dhaka. Mention that 3G launch 2023 and 4G ,2018.

Safer Use of Mobile: The Government of Bangladesh, in collaboration with the mobile operators, conducted one of the most comprehensive mobile registration schemes in the world between December 2015 and June 2016. To cut down mobile based crimes, and ensure safer use of mobile technology, nearly 130 million mobile SIM cards were biometrically referenced during this time with the National ID cards of the users. All new SIM cards have to be registered in such manner.

Rapid Expansion In Outsourcing

A study by Oxford Internet Institute (OII), Department of Multidisciplinary Research and Teaching at Oxford University, has revealed that Bangladesh has become the second largest country in the world in online freelancing. At present about five lakh freelancers are working regularly in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh government, Bangladesh is earning 100 million annually through freelancing.

According to the trade magazine Forbes, Bangladesh is among the top 10 countries in terms of income from freelancing. Bangladesh ranks eighth in freelancing income and Bangladesh’s growth is 26 percent. Outsourcing has a market of one trillion US dollars a year in the world. Although the income of this sector in Bangladesh is 1 billion, there is a possibility of 5 billion dollars. In the last few years, Bangladesh has made a lot of progress in freelancing, as a result of which the income of Bangladesh has reached 1 billion dollars, but Bangladesh has a huge opportunity in the freelancing sector. And if we want to do well in this sector, we have to increase the infrastructure and internet facilities. Freelancing is a promising sector for Bangladesh. Because where the country’s job market is in a very fragile state, where 47% of educated population is unemployed, not enough jobs are created, freelancing is a respectable alternative profession. According to a research report by World Vision Bangladesh, one in 10 of Bangladesh’s 44 million young people is unemployed. Every year, thousands of university students are unemployed without getting a job. As a result, the number of educated unemployed is increasing day by day. But there is an opportunity to enrich the country’s economy by involving this unemployed population in freelancing.

FREELANCING

Freelancing jobs include everything from computer programming to web design, tax preparation, and search engine optimization. Freelancing offers many advantages, including the freedom of the clients and projects, access to the global market, and flexibility over the location. Most importantly freelancers can avoid the long, frustrating hours commuting in traffic in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka. Consequently, freelancing has become a popular career option for many Bangladeshi people, offering a new and flexible source of income that suits their lifestyles.

As a result, Bangladesh has already become the second-largest supplier of online labor. About 5,00,000 active freelancers are regularly working out of 6,50,000 registered freelancers in the country, generation $100 million annually, according to the ICT Division of Bangladesh. India is the largest supplier of online labour, with close to 24% of total global freelance workers, followed by Bangladesh (16%) and the US (12%).

Export Earning ICT (Amount in Billion Dollar) 2008 2018 2021 0.03 1 5

 

Challenges in Freelancing: Government initiatives to develop the ICT service sector, such as creating a high tech park in every district, coupled with the low-cost workforce, have made Bangladesh a key player in global outsourcing market. Nevertheless, several challenges hinder the growth of this industry in Bangladesh.

§  The absence of an uninterrupted power supply

§  A lack of quality internet services

§  Higher broadband prices

§  The lack of an easy payment system (especially for receiving payments from foreign clients)

 

v  Government Step

Given that the ICT sector has been announced as a 'thrust sector' by the government of Bangladesh, apart from the various private outsourcing training centers, there are many initiatives being undertaken by the government itself. So far, the ICT Division has trained 40,000 people under "Freelancer to Entrepreneur" programme to create entrepreneurs in the ICT sector. Under the Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance (LICT) Project, the Government is going to provide a six-month extensive training to 10,000 youth on online outsourcing. Steps have been taken to develop standard manual and courses by a team of local and foreign experts for the training keeping provision to participate in the bids offered by the online marketplaces and give delivery of the desired services after winning jobs. Under the ‘Learning and Earning’ project, training to 5,120 youth on professional outsourcing is ongoing. Previously, this project trained 20,000 women and 1,920 media professionals. The government has launched seven digital training buses for providing training to 166,000 women on IT/ITES under 'Sustainable Women Development on ICT' programme by the next three years across the country. The government is also going to provide special high-speed internet package for freelancers. The ICT Division of the Government of Bangladesh organizes an annual international standard BPO Summit to give further impetus to the sector. The government also plans to set up more than 500 business process outsourcing (BPO) centres soon. The government has recently announced a 4.0 per cent cash incentive for freelancers work on marketplaces. The government has also decided to provide identity cards for freelancers and the BFDS chairman said her organisation is coordinating the service of issuing cards for freelancers.

Dwelling on the issue of absence of PayPal service in Bangladesh, Ms Tanjiba Rahman said most freelancers are not coming up with the information required to persuade PayPal authorities to come to the Bangladesh market.

The Bangladesh government has enlisted 55 international online marketplaces to determine eligibility of freelancers to access cash incentive

v  Challenge

A growing number of Bangladeshi youths are joining online marketplaces but receiving lower payment as they can hardly match technical and language skills required for highly paid jobs worldwide, these freelancers admit.

They say most of them can earn US$600-700 a month on average whereas the ones equipped with better skills and training have the scope to secure an income of up to $4,000 a month. Apart from skills deficiency, the Bangladeshi freelancers face the challenge of what they call inflexible payment gateway that makes them ‘less competitive’ in the global online markets.

They also face difficulty in receiving money due to absence of payment methods like PayPal, which is yet to start formally serving the Bangladeshi remittance earners.

Freelancers also say weak English language and communication skills are a major barrier to getting more rewarding jobs and on a regular basis.

Large Scale It Infrastructure

Hi-Tech Parks and Software Technology Parks: Bangladesh’s ­rst Hi-Tech Park is being built over 355 acres of land at Gazipur’s Kaliakoir. A 12-storied ‘Software Technology Park’ has already started its operation in Dhaka’s Karwan Bazar. Another such park, with 232,000 sq. feet of­ce space, is being built at Jessore’s Bejpara at a cost of US$ 36.3 million Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority has set up 28 (eighty) Hi-Tech Parks (HTP) / Software Technology Parks (STP) / IT Training and Incubation Centers across the country. The construction work of 4 (four) parks has already been completed and business activities are going on.

Tier-IV Data Center: In October, 2015 the government launched a project to set up Tier-IV level national data centre is installed on seven acres of land at Kaliakoir Hi-Tech Park aimed at ensuring secure and safe data storage as well as optimum uses of ICT for the "Digital Bangladesh".

IT Training and Incubation Centers: In July 2016, Bangladesh's ­first IT Incubation Center launched in Dhaka. This center, which would provide mentoring and support to IT based startups, is expected to create 100,000+ jobs in the coming years. Another such IT Training and Incubation Center is being set up at Natore.

Use Of Ict In Good Governance

In order to ensure that the benefi­ts of digitization reach all corners of the country, a number of initiatives have been taken to equip the administration and civil service. Till now, 24,907 tablet PCs have been distributed among government offi­cials. All public offi­ces in Dhaka have been connected with district and sub-district headquarters through a high-speed ­fibre optic network. The Government has built a network of internet protocol telephony for public of­fices to ensure better communication. 303 digital centers have been set up in the various city and municipal corporations; Integrated Financial Management System (IFMS) has been introduced in government of­fices. The fi­rst phase of digitizing the judiciary is done, further works are progressing rapidly. Most public services are available online such as tender, procurement, ­ling tax returns, paying utility bills, viewing results, applying for admissions, recruitment and ­ling applications. E-Governance and e-procurement has been introduced to make public administration more transparent. E-Service centers have been set up in all districts and sub-districts. Every district and sub-district now have their own web-portals. Government has digitized the process to provide pension to primary school teachers. They can complete every steps from the education offi­ces at Upazilla level. In 2008, National Identity Card (NID) was launched by the Caretaker government. But public facilities couldn’t be received through this card as it was less modernized. In 2016, the government has launched Smart Cards, replacing the NID which will enable the citizens to get public services as well as pay utility bills without any harassment.

Digital Centers:

One of the principal methods of the current Government of Bangladesh to spread the bene­fits of digitization to the smallest units of local government is ‘Digital Centres’ he government has set up 8,280 digital centres across the country under the a2i programme

Around 15,000 entrepreneurs are providing more than 300 public and private services, including banking and e-commerce ones from the centres Till 2021, the entrepreneurs have provided 60.50 crore services from the digital centres.

Post e-Centers: The government, apart from digitizing the postal service, has also embarked on a project to transform 8,500 post of­fices, from across the nation, into e-centres for spreading IT service to the rural people. Of the 8,500, 8,000 post offi­ces are at the union level, while the rest are from sub-district levelThese centers are providing rural people with the opportunity to, among others, browse the internet, transfer remittance, see academic results, ­fill up application forms, and gather information about agriculture, education and health.

National Web Portal: To make public information more easily accessible, the Government has set up one of the world’s largest digital portals, National Web Portal. Made up of 25,000 government websites, the public can instantly access information regarding unions, sub-districts, districts as well as receive basic services and utilities such as admissions, recruitments, bookings, passports, utility bills, agriculture, applications, registrations, tax, health etc.

Mobile Banking

The Government of Bangladesh ­rst made provisions for mobile banking in March of 2010. The country’s central bank, Bangladesh Bank, immediately formulated a detailed guideline, followed by a revised guideline. 20 banks have been approved for providing mobile banking services, of which 18 are currently providing such services in the market. Among the mobile banking service providers, the local enterprise ‘bKash’ is leading the market with 80 percent share. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the ­rst investor in ‘bKash’.

SATELLITE

Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is the first terrestrial communication and broadcasting satellite of Bangladesh. It was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 11, 2018. The total cost of the satellite was projected to be 248 million US dollars in 2015 (Tk 19.51 billion)Through this, Bangladesh was added as the 57th country to launch its own satellite. The project was implemented by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission under the Department of Posts and Telecommunications and was the first parody launch of a Falcon-9 Block-5. The Bangabandhu-1 artificial satellite is placed in the geostationary slot at 119.1 degrees east longitude. It was named in the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was designed by Thales Alenia Space of France. And it was launched from the US privately owned spacecraft SpaceX. Bangabandhu Satellite-1 is carrying a total of 40 KU and C-brand transponders with a capacity of 1600 MHz and its lifespan is supposed to be 15 years. For this purpose, ground stations have been set up at Joydevpur in Gazipur district and Betbunia in Rangamati district. Joydebpur ground station is the main station. And Betbunia station has been backed up as a second station. In addition, two ground satellite stations have been set up in Indonesia and the Philippines. Bangabandhu Satellite is not only in Bangladesh, but also in other countries of the world, various media organizations are currently using Bangabandhu-1 satellite rental transponders.

On the other hand, the country's TV channels are using it to keep the country's money in the country. The total frequency capacity of 40 transponders is 1,600 MHz. Using its bandwidth and frequency, internet facilities are being provided in deprived areas such as subsequent and haor areas. The Bangabandhu-1 satellite is also being used to expand internet and banking services, telemedicine and remote education in remote areas. The Bangabandhu-1 satellite is also being used to expand internet and banking services, telemedicine and remote education in remote areas.

Bangabandhu-2: The government has initiated plans to launch the country’s second satellite about three years after the first reached orbit. Bangabandhu-2 is expected to launch in 2023, according to government sources. Unlike Bangabandhu-1, which was a communications satellite, Bangabandhu-2 will be a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) observation satellite. As a result, it will be tailored towards environmental monitoring, meteorology, cartography, and defence purposes. Officials at the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications said it is planned for the new satellite to be used to monitor the vast maritime territories of Bangladesh and surrounding countries, as well as the country’s land borders with India and Myanmar. LEO satellites typically orbit at a height of 500-800km. Recently, Bangladesh Satellite Company Limited and Glavkosmos, a subsidiary of the Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos, signed a memorandum of cooperation on the manufacturing and launching of the Bangabandhu-2 Earth observation satellite system.

The MOC includes manufacturing and launching of the satellite, manufacturing ground infrastructure (satellite ground stations) for acquiring Earth observation data from the Russian and foreign spacecraft, launch services, educational programs in space domains, commercial orbital flights, and consulting services. According to media reports, Bangladesh has signed a $435 million agreement with the Russian company, whereas the consultant had recommended $273-333 million.

 

তথ্য ও যোগাযোগ প্রযুক্তি ব্যবহার করে বাংলাদেশ যেভাবে আন্তর্জাতিক বাজারে নিজেদের অবস্থান সুদৃঢ় করেছে তা দেখে আমি অভিভূত। মাইক হা, কংগ্রেসনাল

Subscriber Number, Growth and Tele Density of Mobile and Fixed Phone

Subscriber Category and Tele density	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2012	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021	2022
Mobile Subscriber (Crore)	7.30	8.66	9.74	11.48	12.19	12.64	13.60	15.70	16.55	17.01	17.33	18.15
Fixed phone Subscriber (Crore)	0.10	0.10	0.10	0.07	0.06	0.06	0.06	0.07	0.14	0.15	0.14	0.21
Internet User	-	2.84	3.10	3.55	4.28	6.66	7.33	9.13	9.90	11.19	11.27	12.28
Yearly Tele Density(%)	44.60	60.9	63.91	76.44	78.79	81.48	87.32	96.36	99.24	100.6	99.09	105.63

 

Year wise Income and Expenditure of BTCL (In Crore Taka)

Fiscal Year	Target	Revenue Earned	Expenditure
2017-18	1148	1260	1652
2018-19	1200	1060	1428
2019-20	1087	922	1246
2020-21	895.34	853.99	1101.84
2021-22*	1116.25	441.26	521.76

 

Income and Expenditure of Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (In Crore Taka)

Particulars	2010- 2011	2011- 2012	2012- 2013	2013- 2014	2014- 2015	2015- 2016	2016- 2017	2017- 2018	2018- 2019	2019- 2020	2020- 2021	2021- 2022*
Revenue Earned	83.78	121.45	124.84	75.37	54.07	61.86	103.67	140.5	195.57	249.86	344.85	202.53
Net Profit (before tax)	54.48	83.13	109.59	48.81	13.90	17.87	38.95	29.39	77.90	125.20	239.98	143.23
Net Profit (after tax)	30.51	74.48	87.21	36.23	12.91	16.55	31.82	7.33	58.58	95.60	190.73	112.90

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CYBERCRIME

Some cybercriminals are organized, use advanced techniques and are highly technically skilled. Others are novice hackers. Worldwide governments, police departments and intelligence units have started to react on the emerging threat of Cyber Crime.

 

Cyber crime can be divided into four sub-categories:

§  Cyber-trespass (hacktivism, viruses, Denial of Service attacks).

§  Cyber-deceptions (identity theft, fraud, piracy).

§  Cyber-pornography.

§  Cyber-violence (cyber bullying, cyber stalking)

Other kinds of Cyber Crimes like Cyber Laundering, Cyber Stalking, Cyber Terrorism, Cyber Slandering, Cyber Vandalism, Cyber Contraband, E-mail Spoofing and Phishing Scams, VISHING, and Online Gambling etc.

 

Statistics of Cyber crime in Bangladesh:

·        The statistics of the last three years say that cybercrime is increasing day by day in the country.

·        In the last three months alone, more than 600 complaints have been lodged and many of the victims do not lodge complaints with law enforcement agencies for fear of disrespect. Besides, the number of cases is increasing every year.

·        In 2016, the growth rate of cases was 15 percent. In 2016 it was 6 percent and in 2019 it has gone up to 26 percent and at present the rate is 32%.

 

Reasons of Cybercrime:

·        Easy to access computers - Since technology is complex, it has become very difficult to protect the computer from viruses and hackers. There are so many possibilities of hacking when we safeguard a computer system from unauthorized To to access. Hackers can steal access codes, retinal images, advanced voice recorders, etc that can mislead the bio-metric systems easily and can be utilized to get past many security systems by avoiding firewalls.

·        Size to store computer data in comparatively small space - The computer has got a distinctive feature of storing data in a very small space. Due to this, the people can steal data very easily from any other storage and are using this for their purpose.

·        Complexity of Code- The computers can run on operating systems and these operating systems are programmed with millions of codes. There may have mistakes in the code. The human brain is defective so that they can commit mistakes at any stage. The cyber-criminals take advantage of these gaps.

·        Negligence of the user- Human beings always neglect things. So, if we make any negligence in protecting our computer system which leads the cyber-criminal to the access and control over the computer system.

·        Loss of evidence -The criminals can easily erase the data which is related to the crime. So, Loss of evidence has turned into a very usual evident problem that disables the system beyond the investigation of cyber-crime.

There are some recommendations highlighted as a scheme to combat cyber crime issues:

·        Use Strong Passwords: Maintain different password and username combinations for each account and resist the temptation to write them down. Suppose-ntr@456fgt

·        Be social media savvy: Be sure to keep social networking profiles (Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) are set to private. Be sure to check security settings. Be careful of what information post online.

·        Secure Mobile Devices: Many people are not aware that their mobile devices are also vulnerable to malicious software, such as computer viruses and hackers. Be sure to download applications only from trusted sources. It is also crucial that keep operating system up-to-date. Be sure to install anti-virus software and to use a mi to secure lock screen as well.

·        Keep computer current with the latest patches and updates: One of the best ways to keep attackers away from computer is to apply patches and other software fixes when they become available.

·        Protect computer with security software: Several types of security software are necessary for basic online security. Security software essentials include firewalls and antivirus programs.

·        Parental Control: In the era of online technology, parents should monitor all the activities of their children online. Giving adequate privacy to children would be love problematic. Parents need to be cautious and should keep an eye on browser history and email accounts regularly.

·        Call the right person for help: if anyone suspect a cybercrime, identity theft, or a commercial scam, just like any other crime report this to local police.

 

 

 

 

 

 

CYBER SECURITY THREAT FACING THE BANKING SECTOR

Various cyber security threat facing the banking sector:

·        Identity theft: Identity theft is the use of persons and credit information without his or her consent to borrow money and conduct a purchase.

·        Threat from employees: Bank employees who are unhappy about treatment by the institution steal sensitive bank information which they can decide to sell the information to cybercriminals.

·        Ransomware: Ransomware, a software that is malicious in nature that holds captive the service of the victim until the ransom money is given out.

·        Synthetic fraud: This involves the creation of fake identity, from social security number to identification number. The attacker creates not just one but several, afterward they use them to seek credit from banks which they use to purchase goods and services.

Attempts to Solve this Problem:

·        Requirement to conduct risk assessment: A basic requirement common to the regimes in all the jurisdictions studied is that banks are either expected or required to establish a cybersecurity risk framework or program.

·        Board and senior management accountability should be regularly maintained. Requirement to report to regulator on cyber incidents.

·        Incident detection, response and recovery: Regulators are also increasingly requiring banks to have processes and controls in place to detect and appropriately respond to cyberattacks as they occur.

·        Cybersecurity training, expertise and awareness is one of the recommended cybersecurity best practices.

·        Firewall should remain active 24/7.

·        Junk and spam messeges must be deleted regularly to avoid spoting and spam.

 

BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY

Blockchain is a shared, immutable ledger that facilitates the process of recording transactions and tracking assets in a business network. An asset can be tangible (a house, car, cash, land) or intangible (intellectual property, patents, copyrights, branding). Virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded on a blockchain network, reducing risk and cutting costs for all involved.

Important of blockchain: Business runs on information. The faster it’s received and the more accurate it is, the better. Blockchain is ideal for delivering that information because it provides immediate, shared and completely transparent information stored on an immutable ledger that can be accessed only by permission network members. A blockchain network can track orders, payments, accounts, production and much more. And because members share a single view of the truth, you can see all details of a transaction end to end, giving you greater confidence, as well as new efficiencies and opportunities.

How blockchain works:

·        As each transaction occurs, it is recorded as a “block” of data Those transactions show the movement of an asset that can be tangible (a product) or intangible (intellectual). The data block can record the information of your choice: who, what, when, where, how much and even the condition — such as the temperature of a food shipment.

·        Each block is connected to the ones before and after it These blocks form a chain of data as an asset moves from place to place or ownership changes hands. The blocks confirm the exact time and sequence of transactions, and the blocks link securely together to prevent any block from being altered or a block being inserted between two existing blocks.

·        Transactions are blocked together in an irreversible chain: a blockchain Each additional block strengthens the verification of the previous block and hence the entire blockchain. This renders the blockchain tamper-evident, delivering the key strength of immutability. This removes the possibility of tampering by a malicious actor — and builds a ledger of transactions you and other network members can trust.

 

Benefits of blockchain

·        Greater trust: With blockchain, as a member of a members-only network, you can rest assured that you are receiving accurate and timely data, and that your confidential blockchain records will be shared only with network members to whom you have specifically granted access.

·        Greater security :Consensus on data accuracy is required from all network members, and all validated transactions are immutable because they are recorded permanently. No one, not even a system administrator, can delete a transaction.

·        More efficiencies: With a distributed ledger that is shared among members of a network, time-wasting record reconciliations are eliminated. And to speed transactions, a set of rules — called a smart contract — can be stored on the blockchain and executed automatically.

 

 

Blockchain and Bangladesh: Without support from the Bangladesh government, it would be extremely difficult to realize the full potential of blockchain in the country. Blockchain-based businesses will have the greatest impact in developing countries like Bangladesh. If it is used in government transaction management, the corruption rate will be very low. The Bangladesh Bank holds around $46 billion in foreign currency reserves as of November 2021. We know that in 2016, hackers stole $100 million from the central bank via its accounts with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The money was then transferred to accounts in the Philippines and then laundered through casinos in the country. If blockchain is implemented, this type of unwanted incidents can be stopped from occurring.

In Bangladesh, blockchain can have applications in financial industries, such as remittance, credit and payment industries, trade processing and settlement, cross border payment, blockchain Healthcare, blockchain music, e-governance, blockchain identity, passports, birth certificates, marriage certificates, and death certificates, etc. In the journey of Blockchain in Bangladesh, recently in November 2021, India's Tata Steel has executed a blockchain-enabled paperless export order with a major steel-based company in Bangladesh, making this the first such deal executed between an Indian company and counterparty in Bangladesh.

Challenges in Bangladesh to run blockchain:

·        However, some key challenges remain.

·        Regulatory confidence, Cost of technology,

·        Data security (PII data),

·        Investment risk,

·        Implementing the technology with existing systems.

CRYPTO CURRENCY

"A crypto currency is a digital or virtual currency designed to work as a medium of exchange."

Crypto currency is a virtual currency which uses cryptography to secure and verify transactions as well as to control the creation of new units of a particular crypto currency. Essentially, crypto currencies are limited entries in a database that no one can change unless specific conditions are fulfilled. Here the database (blockchain) is used to secure transaction records, to control the creation of additional coins, and to verify the transfer of coin ownership. It typically does not exist in physical form (like paper money) and is typically not issued by a central authority. Crypto currencies typically use decentralized control as opposed to centralized digital currency and central banking systems.

A crypto currency generally meets six conditions:

1) The system does not require a central authority, its state is maintained through distributed consensus.

 2) The system keeps an overview of crypto currency units and their ownership.

3) The system defines whether new crypto currency units can be created. If new crypto currency units can be ice created, the system defines the circumstances of their origin and how to determine the ownership of these new units.

4) Ownership of crypto currency units can be proved exclusively cryptographically. 5) The system allows transactions to be performed in which ownership of the cryptographic units is changed.

6)A transaction statement can only be issued by an entity proving the current ownership of these units. If two different instructions for changing the ownership of the same cryptographic units are simultaneously entered, the system performs at most one of them.

The first decentralized crypto currency, bitcoin, was created in 2009 by Satoshi Nakamoto. There are now more crypto currencies like Namecoin, Litecoin, Peercoin, Ethereum, Ripple, Dash etc.

Why are crypto currencies so popular? ·        Crypto currencies appeal to their supporters for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the most popular:  Supporters see crypto currencies such as bitcoin as the currency of the future and are racing to buy them now, presumably before they become more valuable. ·        Some supporters like the fact that crypto currency removes central banks from managing the money supply, since over time these banks tend to reduce the value of money via inflation ·        Other supporters like the technology behind crypto currencies, the blockchain, because it's a decentralized and recording system and can be more secure than traditional payment systems ·        Some speculators like crypto currencies because they're going up in value and have no interest in the currencies' long-term acceptance as a way to move money.	Crypto Currency Market Capitalization (Billion Dollar)
	Bitcoin	210.5
	Ethereum	48.6
	Tether	13.6
	XRP	12.2
	Chainlink	5.1

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

POWER AND ENERGY SECTOR  BANGLADESH

“If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in term of energy.” Nikola Tesla

 

Government has prioritised the power sector right from the beginning and undertaken immediate, short, medium and long-term plans to meet the increasing demand of electricity. At present, the installed generation capacity of the country has been increased to 25,284 MW including captive and renewable energy. Per capita power generation has increased to 560 kWh. The power distribution line has increased to 6.19 lakh km and the number of consumers has increased to 4.19 crore. The system loss has come down to 9.54 percent till December of FY 2021-22 which was 14.73 percent in FY 2010-11.

 

Extensive development in the power sector is due to timely and realistic planning and implementation through intensive supervision, provision of incentives and incentives to attract domestic and foreign investment in the private sector and measures for import of power on the basis of regional cooperation. Government has continued the activities of development and reform and restructuring of the power sector to provide electricity to all within Mujib Borsho. As per vision 2021 and vision 2041, government is working towards to implement power generation capacity of 40,000 MW by 2030 and 60,000 MW by 2041 as per Power System Master Plan (PSMP).

Power Generation Capacity:

Total grid based installed capacity was 22,031 MW in FY 2020-21 including 10,146 MW in public sector, 1,244 MW in Joint Venture (JV), 9,481 MW in private sector and 1,160 MW from cross-border power-trade from India. In FY 2021-22 (up to January 2022), the total grid based installed capacity was 22,066 MW including 9,996 MW in Public Sector, 1,244 MW in JV, 9,481 MW in Private Sector and 1,160 MW power imported from India. Considering captive and renewable energy, the total installed capacity of Bangladesh is now 25,284 MW. Till to date the maximum generation was 13,792 MW (27 April 2021). The installed capacity of power generation by fuel type and ownership in FY 2021-22 (up to January 2022) is shown in Figures 10.1 and 10.2 respectively.

 

 

 

Fiscal Year	Installed capacity MW	Maximum generation MW
2016-17	13555	9479
2017-18	15953	10958
2018-19	18961	12893
2019-20	20383	12738
2020-21	21395	13792
2021-22*	22066	13525

 

Power Generation Program and Future Plan: ‘Power System Master Plan 2016 (PSMP)’ has been prepared based on the availability of primary fuel supply for mitigating the growing demand of electricity and to provide the electricity for all by 2021. As per PSMP 2016, power generation capacity will be 24000 MW by 2021, 40000 MW by 2030 and 60000 MW by 2041. In order to secure the fuel supply, government has taken plan for fuel diversification. Electricity generation from gas/ LNG, Liquid fuel, coal, nuclear, hydro, renewable energy and import from neighboring countries has also included in this plan. As per this plan, coal, nuclear, gas/LNG based combined cycle power plant will be used as base load power plants. On the other hand, liquid fuel and LNG/gas will be used for peak load power plants.

SL	Description	Year2022(Feb’22)	Year2030	Year2041
1.	Installed Capacity (MW)	25284*	40000	60000
2.	Electricity Demand (MW)	15500	33000	52000
3.	Transmission Line (Ckt. KM)	13017	27300	34850
4.	Grid Substation Capacity (MVA)	55307	120000	261000
5.	Distribution Line (KM)	619000	660000	783000
6.	Per Capita Power Generation(KWh)	560	815	1475
7.	Access to Electricity (%)	100%	100%	100%

 

Under Construction Power Generation Projects : At present, a number of power plants are under construction in both public and private sector.

Power Generation Projects (Under Construction)

Sector	No. of Projects	Capacity (MW)
Public Sector	12	4339
JV	3	3725
Private Sector	18	5155
Total (UnderConstruction)	33	13219

Under Construction Power Generation Projects : At present, a number of power plants are under construction in both public

and private sector. At present, 14 projects of capacity 4,619 MW in public sector, 3 projects of capacity 3,731 MW in JV and 22 projects of capacity 5,729 MW power plants in private sector are under construction i.e., total 39 power plants of 14,079 MW capacity are under construction.

System Loss:  System loss is one of the key performance indicators of the distribution entities. To achieve desired performance of the sector, system loss needs to be further reduced.

 

Fiscal Year	Transmission Loss (%)	Distribution Loss (%)	Total Loss (T&D)%
2016-17	2.21	9.98	12.19
2017-18	2.27	9.60	11.87
2018-19	2.61	9.35	11.96
2019-20	2.5	8.73	11.23
2020-21	2.41	8.48	11.11
2021-22*	-	7.00	9.5

 

Installation of prepaid meters	Physical Target and Achievement of BREB
Utility Single phase Three phase Total BPDB 1411624 34790 1446414 REB 1296468 14100 1310568 DPDC 538542 53980 592522 DESCO 535983 68574 604557 WZPDCO 361602 10911 372513 NESCO 346483 4601 351084 Total 4490702 186956 4677658	FY Distribution Line(Km) Consumer Connection Target Achivement Target Achivement 2016-17 25000 36554 2000000 3511573 2017-18 30000 54886 3200000 3851143 2018-19 25000 71326 2000000 3045593 2019-20 50000 50166 2000000 2405312 2020-21 30000 32736 1300000 2461134 2021-22* 10000 7494 800000 1060131

 

“An electricity collection enhances education of children , improves the quality of life and helps house hold to move out of poverty.”    Dr. Akter Hamid

 

RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAM

 BREB is the pioneer of Solar Home System through the first ever Renewable Energy project in Bangladesh in 1993. Since then 63,510 solar rooftop systems/home systems have been installed by the Rural Electrification Board through various projects and new connections with a capacity of about 15.38 MW peak.

Global Climate Scope ranks Bangladesh in the 41st position from all observed markets in terms of attractiveness for renewable energy investments. The segment the country is lacking most is experience. However, considering the stable fundamentals and the significant opportunities, the future of renewable energy potential in Bangladesh looks bright. The country’s current situation places investors in its renewable energy transition in a perfect position to be rewarded once the boom starts.

The State of Renewable Energy in Bangladesh

Bangladesh’s installed renewable energy capacity is 650.53 megawatts (MW). Solar making up 416 MW, with hydropower producing 230 MW. The total figure was up from 579 MW in 2018. The jump isn’t significant, but it marks a trend for what’s coming next. For now, solar power dominates the renewable energy mix in Bangladesh. Wind power, for now, remains at near-zero levels. By the end of 2021, the government is planning to reach at least 10% in renewable contributing to its total energy mix. Currently, the figure is standing at only 3%.

Technology Off-grid(MW) On-grid(MW) Total(MW) Solar 347.52 198.29 545.81 Wind 2 0.9 2.9 Hydro 0 230 230 Biogas 0.69 0 0.69 Biomass 0.4 0 0.4 Total 350.61 429.19 779.8

Solar Energy and Wind Power Potential in Bangladesh

While renewable energy’s share in the country’s power mix remains negligibly low, there is massive potential for solar and wind power in electricity generation. A report on the renewable technical capacity found that Bangladesh could deploy up to 156 gig watts (GW) of utility-scale solar and 150 GW of wind. Solar Energy Potential in Bangladesh According to estimates, Bangladesh receives considerable amounts of solar radiation with 1,900 kWh/m2 per year. Daily, this figure translates to 4 to 6.5 kWh/m2.

Source: energytracker.asia

Recently, the government issued a National Solar Energy Roadmap (SREDA) draft. It recommends a new solar target to address the sluggish clean energy progress. The aim is to have up to 40 GW by 2041, with 40% coming from rooftop solar. If the government prioritizes the accelerated action plan, by 2041, Bangladesh could see a solar power potential making up 50% of its installed capacity.

Additionally, with an estimated 1,500 km2 of ponds, Bangladesh has a significant potential for floating solar. According to estimates, even utilizing only one-third of the ponds for solar installations can generate 15 GW. Furthermore, Bangladesh also has 2,500 km2 of shallow water areas. Installing floating solar on just 10% of these areas would generate 25 GW. Big lakes like the Kaptai and the thousands of kilometres long river pockets could add 20 GW. Regarding land-based options, it is calculated that Bangladesh has around 5,000 km2 of potential for roof systems. Fulfilling just 10% of this could generate 25 GW.

Wind Power Potential in Bangladesh

The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) concluded that Bangladesh has significantly more wind power potential than previously thought, especially at a hub height of 140 to 160 metres. The areas with the highest potentials reaching 724 km, like the coastline along the Bay of Bengal, Kuakata, Sandwip, and St. Martin. Wind power installation in these areas would solve a lack of energy access for locals who have remained off the grid.

The government is already beginning to move in that direction. In December 2020, it approved a major 55 MW wind power project in Mongla. Other projects are also in the pipeline.

 

 

মাতার বাড়ি কয়লা বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্র

কক্সবাজার জেলার মহেশখালী উপজেলার মাতারবাড়ীতে বিদ্যুতের হার গড়ে তোলার পরিকল্পনা করেছে সরকার মাতারবাড়ী বিদ্যুৎ প্রকল্পটি সরকারের অগ্রাধিকারভুক্ত (ফার্স্ট ট্র্যাক) মেগা প্রকল্পের একটি।

প্রকল্প :মাতারবাড়ী ও ঢালঘাটা ইউনিয়নের ১ হাজার ৪১৪ একর জমিতে এই বিদ্যুৎ প্রকল্পটি নির্মাণ করা হচ্ছে। কয়লাভিত্তিক এ বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্র নির্মাণ করা হবে আল্ট্রা সুপার ক্রিটিক্যাল প্রযুক্তিতে। প্রকল্পে ৬০০ মেগাওয়াট ক্ষমতাসম্পন্ন দুটি স্টিম টারবাইন, সার্কুলেটিং কুলিং ওয়াটার স্টেশন স্থাপন, ২৭৫ উচ্চতার চিমনি ও পানি শোধন ব্যবস্থা স্থাপন করা হবে। মিটার কয়লা আমদানির জন্য নদীতে ৭ কিলোমিটার নৌ চ্যানেল করা হবে। পাশাপাশি কয়লা ওঠানামার জন্য নির্মাণ করা হবে জেটি। কেন্দ্রটির বাস্তবায়নকারী ও স্বত্বাধিকারী সিপিজিসিবিএল।

অর্থায়ন: ২০১৫ সালের আগস্টে মাতারবাড়ীতে বিদ্যুৎকেন্দ্র নির্মাণে ৩৬ হাজার কোটি টাকার একটি প্রকল্প অনুমোদন দেয় সরকার। ২৩ নভেম্বর, ২০২১ সালে এই ব্যায় বেড়ে তা এখন ৫১ হাজার ৮৫৪ কোটি টাকা। এই প্রকল্পে ৪৩ হাজার ৯২১ কোটি টাকা দেবে জাপান আন্তর্জাতিক উন্নয়ন সংস্থা-জাইকা। বাকি টাকা সরকারের

নিজস্ব তহবিল থেকে দেওয়া হবে। ২০২১-২০২২ অর্থবছরের বাজেটে বরাদ্দ রাখা হয়েছে ৪৮০০ কোটি টাকা।

অর্থনৈতিক দিক: বিদ্যুৎ ও জ্বালানি মূল্য হ্রাসে ভূমিকা পালন করবে। জ্বালানি পরিবহন খরচ হ্রাস পাবে। ২০৪১ সালের মাঝে সরকারের বিদ্যুৎ উৎপাদন এর যে চাহিদা তা পূরণে কাজ করবে। শিল্পোন্নয়ন ও কর্মসংস্থান বৃদ্ধিতে কাজ করবে।

 

 

রামপাল কয়লা বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্র

প্রকল্প বাস্তবায়নকারীঃবাংলাদেশ-ইন্ডিয়া ফ্রেন্ডশিপ পাওয়ার কোম্পানি (প্রাঃ) লিঃ সহায়তাকারী প্রতিষ্ঠানঃবাংলাদেশ বিদ্যুৎ উন্নয়ন বোর্ড এবং এনটিপিসি লিঃ, ভারত

প্রকল্পের ক্ষমতাঃ ১৩২০ (২X৬৬০) মেঃওঃ ক্ষমতা সম্পন্ন, সুপার ক্রিটিক্যাল প্রযুক্তি

প্রকল্প ব্যয় (এফ আর): ১৬০০০ কোটি টাকা

বাস্তবায়ন মেয়াদ (সংশোধিত): প্রথম ইউনিট (৬৬০ মেঃওঃ) ডিসেম্বর ২০২১, দ্বিতীয় ইউনিট (৬৬০ মেঃওঃ) মার্চ

রামপাল বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্রের অর্থনৈতিক গুরুত্বঃ ১৩২০ মেগাওয়াট বিদ্যুৎ সঞ্চালন লাইনে যুক্ত হবে ফলে বিদ্যুৎ ঘাটতি কমে আসবে। সুবিধাবঞ্চিত জনগোষ্ঠি বিদ্যুৎ এর আওতায় আসবে। বিপুল কর্মসংস্থানের সৃষ্টি হবে। বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্র ঘিরে শিল্পকারখানা গড়ে উঠবে যা অর্থনীতিতে যুক্ত করবে নতুন মাত্রা। বিদ্যুৎ রপ্তানী করে বৈদেশিক মুদ্রা আয় হবে যাতে দেশের অর্থনীতিতে ত্বরান্বিত করবে।

বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্রের সম্ভাব্য ক্ষতিকারক দিকঃ ইউনেস্কোর এক প্রতিবেদনে রামপাল বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্রের ফলে সুন্দরবনের মূলত চার ধরণের ক্ষতির আশংকার কথা তুলে ধরা

v  রামপাল বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্র থেকে বিদ্যুৎ উৎপাদন করা হবে কয়লা পুড়িয়ে। এই কয়লা পোড়ানোর পর সেখান থেকে থেকে নির্গত কয়লার ছাইকে সুন্দরবনের পরিবেশের জন্য হিসেবে চিহ্নিত করা হয়েছে।

v  বিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্র থেকে নির্গত বর্জ্য এবং পানি নদীতে মিশবে যা পানি দূষণের কারণ হতে পারে।

v  এই প্রকল্পকে ঘিরে সুন্দরবন এলাকায় যেভাবে জাহাজ চলাচল বাড়বে এবং ড্রেজিং করার দরকার হবে, সেটিও সুন্দরবনের পরিবেশের জন্য ক্ষতিকর হতে

 

ROOPPUR NUCLEAR POWER PLANT.

 

“Nuclear energy, in terms of an overall safety record, is better than other energy.” Bill Gates

On December 1, 2017, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the main construction work of the country's first nuclear power plant at Rooppur in Ishwardi,pabna. Commercial production of the first unit of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant will start in 2022.

The total power generation from the two units of this project started in 2023 will be  2400 MW.Bangladesh became the 32nd member of the World Atomic Energy Club with the commencement of the main construction of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant. This is the biggest project in Bangladesh alone. The estimated cost of construction will be 1,13,092 crore taka.

It will take nine years to complete the work of the two units started in 2013. The life of this project will be 50 years. And if it is reformed, it will stand for 80 years.

Features of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant:

There is no risk of any kind of accident during power generation due to five levels of special safety belt. In addition, there is an automatic security system of Russian technology. Even then, if an unintended accident occurs, its radioactive material will not come into contact with the public. This nuclear reactor is being built with the capability to deal with strong cyclones, earthquakes, floods etc. In the wake of the Fukushima accident in Japan, measures are being taken to keep the plant running for up to 72 hours' even if the power supply is cut off, There will be no smoke or noise from this plant.

Economic aspects of Rooppur nuclear power plant

Although the implementation cost is high, the cost of electricity will be cheaper in the long run because there will be no fuel costs like gas, oil and coal. The target of the Government of Bangladesh to achieve / 60,000 MW by 2041 will be largely met through this center. Construction of power plants will reduce import dependency on India. It will play an important role in eliminating unemployment through establishment of various industries around this area to meet the demand for electricity so that thousands of people will be employed. Demand and import cost of diesel and petrol will be reduced to a great extent so that the country's money will remain in the country. ;Production will be increase in various power dependent organizations, About 60 million people will get electricity facility and that facility will be available for 50 years.

 

FOSSIL FUELS, IMPORTANCE AND EFFECTS

 

“Growth is inevitable and desirable but destruction of community character is not.” Edward T. McMahon

Fossil fuels are natural resources and it can be defined as the organic matter obtained a result of incomplete oxidation, high temperature and pressure for a long time and subsequent decay of plant and animal wastes In our modernistic world, these fuels play important role in almost all spectrum of human life. When fossils are formed, they enc carbon from plants. When we dig up and burn fossil fuels, that stored carbon is released and leads to pollution and an overabundance of CO2 in the atmosphere, which causes the climate to change. Nobody gets beyond a petroleum economy. Not while there's petroleum there."

Importance of Fossil Fuels:

Fossil fuels are retrieved from the ground and offshore areas and are converted in suitable forms to produce energy. Around 90% of the electricity demand is satisfied by fossil fuels.

 

 

Harmful Effects of Fossil fuels:

“The fossil fuel industry is destroying our planet and everything what we love.” Billy Parish

Contribute to climate change: Fossil fuels are the main driver of global warming When they are burned, they release vast amounts of harmful byproducts called greenhouse gases (especially carbon dioxide (CO2)), into the atmosphere.

Non-renewable: Fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy unlike solar power, geothermal, and wind energy. This means that there are finite resources available and its reserves are not replenished naturally. While fossil fuels are made up of decomposed organic matter, like dead plants and animals, they take millions of years to form. And unlike their renewable counterparts, they cause pollution when burned for energy.

Accident-prone: Fossil fuels have led to extreme accidents over the year, including pipeline leaks, exploding drilling platforms, and the dumping of millions of gallons of oil into the ocean. Fossil fuels will continue to pollute the planet as long as they are in use.

Land Pollution and Collection of solid wastes: Conversion of fossil fuel to energy results in the accumulation of solid wastes which have the devastating impact on the habitat. Solid wastes require land, financial support and proper monitoring which is often a neglected affair. These wastes are toxic in nature and if not disposed of properly can cause a lot of damage to the ecosystem. This endangers the vegetation, wildlife, and marine life..

The rise of the sea level: Research has proved that man-made greenhouse emissions have to lead to global warming. Due to rise in temperature, polar ice caps have begun to melt and as a result, the average sea level is rising. The rise is twice as fast as they were 150 years ago.

NATURAL GAS

Production of Natural Gas and its Consumption by Sector (In billion cubic feet)

FY	Productin (including R-LNG	Consumption
		Power	Captive Power	Fertiliser	Industry	Tea Estate	Com.	Dom.	CNG	Total
2016-17	969.2	403.6	160.5	49.1	163.1	1.0	8.7	154.4	47.0	987.3
2017-18	968.7	398.6	160.5	43.0	166.6	0.9	8.2	158.0	46.2	982.0
2018-19	1077.7	450.9	157.5	57.7	164.5	1.0	7.9	158.9	43.4	1041.8
2019-20	1085.61	455.9	151.6	54.6	155.7	1.1	6.7	132.7	36.1	994.4
2020-21	1104.1	425.8	169.1	64.7	181.7	0.9	6.0	134.2	35.1	1017.5

 

Sector-wise Average Gas Demand Forecast (mmcfd)

Sector	2021-22	2022-23	2023-24	2024-25
Power	2210	2266	2279	2285
Captive	432	389	350	315
Domestic	425	457	490	524
Industry	1044	1169	1299	1435
Fertiliser	316	316	316	316
CNG	145	152	159	166
Comercial & tea	38	38	38	38
Total	4610	4787	4931	5079

 

OIL

Import of Crude Oil

FY	Quantity (Metric tonnes)	C and F Value/ Million US$	Crore Taka
2018-19	1361877	721.28	6080.39
2019-20	1151963	455.91	3854.64
2020-21	1434613	584.64	4966.52
2021-22*	872211	493.57	4232.47

Import of Refined Petroleum Products

FY	Diesel,   Octane and Jet A-1		Lubricating Base Oil		Furnace Oil
	Quantity (Metric tonne)	Value (Crore Taka)	Quantity (Metric tonne)	Value (Crore Taka)	Quantity (Metric tonne)	Value (Crore Taka)
2017-18	4892089	23300.67	-	-	650540	2091.52
2018-19	4281958	23376.50	-	-	318634	1282.49
2019-20	3873131	17045.18	-	-	175694	687.04
2020-21	4144762	16694.40	-	-	47924	151.41
2021-22*	2855798	17933.07	139728	647.78

 

 

 

 

WOMAN EMPOWERMENT

 

“To a great extent, the level of any civilization is the level of it’s womanhood.” Fulton Shreen

In fact, women's empowerment refers to the material and intellectual development of women such as individuality, security, personality, freedom to make decisions. That is, if a woman is free to make decisions in her life and can go to work or work place safely, such an environment is called women's empowerment. In fact, empowerment comes from the mind. If all the men and women of the society are liberal without considering each other as their opponents, then there will be no more obstacles in the empowerment of women.so, "Women's freedom is the sign of social freedom."-Rosa Luxemburg. Women's Empowerment has been given priority in Sustainable Development 5 no Goals of the United Nations.

Women's rights in the constitution: The Constitution of the Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is supposed to ensure equal rights for women

v  In the case of the right to benefit by law, according to Article 27 of the Constitution, all citizens are equal before the law, and are entitled to equal protection of the law.

v  In case of non-discrimination, Article 28 (1), The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. In the case of equal rights for all,

v  Article 28 (2) Women shall have equal rights with men in all spheres of the State and of public life.

v  In the case of the right to education, Article 28 (3) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth be subjected to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to access to any place of public entertainment or resort, or admission to any educational institution.

v  In case of getting special benefits, Article 28 (4) Nothing in this article shall To prevent the State from making special provision in favour of women or children or for the advancement of any backward section of citizens.

v  In the case of participation in politics, the term of reserved seats for women members in the National Assembly is extended up to 25 years and the number of seats is increased to 50 in accordance with Article 65 (3) of the Constitution.

v  “Empowering Women Is Key to Building a Future We Want”, Amartya Sen

 

Bangladesh's position / Situation in women's empowerment:

তোমরা কন্যাগুলোকে শিক্ষা দিয়ে হেড়ে দাও  নিজেরাই নিজেদের অন্নের সংস্থান করুক”-বেগম রোকেয়া

According to the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Report-2021, Bangladesh ranks first in women's empowerment in terms of state power, 48th overall.1st position in women empowerment in South Asia. Bangladesh is now ranked 65th in the global index for achieving equality. According to the report, women's participation in the labor force in Bangladesh is 38.4%, which has decreased slightly.

v  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has received the Global Women's Leadership Award for her role in promoting women's education and entrepreneurship. The Prime Minister has also been awarded the UN's 'Planet 50-50 Champion' and 'Agent of Change' awards.

v  At present, women are holding important positions such as Justice, Secretary, Deputy Governor, Ambassador, Army, Navy, Air Force, Deputy Commissioner, Superintendent of Police, Officer-in-Charge of Police, Human Rights Commission.At present 535 women are holding high positions in the administration.

v  These women officers are performing their duties in the posts from Deputy Secretary to Secretary. At present there are 11 women senior secretaries, secretaries and acting secretaries in the administration. There are $1 additional secretaries and 87 women among the joint secretaries. Out of 1,840 deputy secretaries in the administration, 361 are women deputy secretaries. According to the latest statistics of the Ministry of Public Administration in 2021, the total number of women in government service is 4 lakhs & thousand 619 people, Women DCs have been holding the important post of Deputy Commissioner (DC) in 10 districts till last year.

v  In recent times, the success of the women of the country in putting a number of shelves internationally has caught everyone's attention. One of the women scientists in Bangladesh. Ferdousi Qadri wins 22nd L'Oreal-UNESCO for Women in Science Award, Padma Bhushan Medal. The government has also made great strides in the political empowerment of women. Bangladesh is probably the only country in the world where the Leader of Parliament and Prime Minister, Deputy Leader of the National Assembly, Leader of the Opposition and Speaker of the National Assembly is a woman. It has been made mandatory to have 33% women members in the committees of all political parties by 2021. In each Upazila Parishad, the post of 1 elected female Vice Chairman has been created and 33% of the seats in the local government bodies have been reserved for women for the political empowerment of women at the grassroots level

v  Many women are involved in print and electronic media of the country. Women have also come forward to win cricket, football and mountain climbing. Women police members are working in UN peacekeeping missions. Women are also doing well in establishing industries.

 

 

 

Women's rights in the world:

Civilized countries and people all over the world are working individually for the empowerment of women. The issue has been brought up most in the United Nations. The United Nations has taken many important steps towards respecting women in society and the state, evaluating and empowering women's labor. The United Nations has declared 1975 as the Year of Women and 1975-85 as the Decade of Women.The World Women's Conference has brought together world leaders to empower women.

 Women are being added to the various organs of the United Nations on a priority basis.

Bangladesh/Government steps in Women Empowerment:

Present government has taken many significant steps for the empowerment of women in different terms from the lowest administrative system of the country i.e. from the Union Parishad to the highest level of the state. Some of them are mentioned-

v  In the fiscal year 2019-2020, the allocation for women's development in the national budget was Tk/1612 crore, in 2020-2021 it was increased to 3680 brores and in the budget of 2021-2022 it has been increased to 4191 crore TK.

v  The government has provided free primary education to all children aged 6-10 years and free education up to class XII in government institutions. In order to make women financially self-sufficient, a maximum of Tk 25 lakh SME loan has been provided without any collateral. Women entrepreneurs can also take loans from Bangladesh Bank and Asia Development Bank at 10 percent interest. At present more than 3 million women workers are working in the garment industry. The government is working for their development.

v  The government's Seventh Five Year Plan (2016-2020) has increased the empowerment of women by involving them in economic and political activities. In addition, the National Women's Policy was adopted in 2011 for the purpose of creating equal opportunities in business (Policies include eliminating discrimination against women and children, ensuring women's empowerment, and providing security for women in all areas). The present government has launched multi-pronged schemes for distressed, helpless and backward women; Notable among these are VGF, VGD, distress allowance, maternity and pregnant mothers allowance, allowance for disabled mothers and divorcees, work-for-food program etc. maternity leave has been increased from 4 months to 6 months to facilitate women's participation in their careers. Village-based community clinics have been opened to provide healthcare to marginalized women; Under the Maternal Health Voucher Scheme, the government now bears all the expenses from pregnancy to delivery, even travel expenses. As a result, the maternal mortality rate is now 165 per lakh.)

v  The Prevention of Domestic Violence and Security Act 2010 was enacted to prevent ll forms of violence against women. The Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Act 2012 and Pornography Control Act 2011 were enacted to ensure the protection of women. Child Marriage Prohibition Act 2017 has been enacted to make child a pioneer in the society by prohibiting child marriage. Besides, Child Act 2013 has been enacted for the safety of girls.Hindu Marriage Registration Act 2012 has been enacted to protect the rights and dignity of Hindu women. The government has adopted a zero tolerance policy to prevent violence against women and has opened one stop crisis centers in 8 divisions

Obstacles to women's empowerment:

নারীর অন্যতম শত্রু দারিদ্র্য” Esler Boserup

Women are often deprived of their due rights due to social norms. From birth they are considered a burden to the family or society. As a result, they are neglected and abused by their families.

There are two things at the root of every man's empowerment, that is wealth and knowledge. Power does not come without wealth or money. In real life many families deprive women of resources. As women are thus deprived of resources, they are becoming dependent on men in all areas, including personal decision making, and women's empowerment is being hampered.

Women do not want to enter politics due to lack of education and ignorance about their rights. Due to which women are getting stuck in politics. In addition, insecurity, prejudice, lack of law enforcement, women's empowerment is being hampered.

“There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women.” Kofi Annan

By realizing the contribution of women in real life, it is necessary to bring a positive perception of men towards women. Men have to be diligent in explaining their rights. If women are empowered, men will be harmed, such an attitude must be removed from the mind. In this way, empowerment of women will be possible by being sympathetic towards woman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID 19

When civilization finds itself irresistible. Nature then incopaciates civilization for a moment".

 

“১৯৭১ সালে কাঁধে কাঁধ মিলিয়ে আমরা শত্রুর মোকাবেলা করে বিজয়ী হয়েছি। করোনা ভাইরাস মোকাবিলা ও একটা যুদ্ধ। আমরা সকলের প্রচেষ্টার এ যুদ্ধে জয়ী হন। ইনশা আল্লাহ।”শেখ হাসিনা

“কোভিড-১৯. সংকট মোকাবেলার জন্য আমাদের একটি সু-সমন্বিত রোডম্যাপ দরকার। এই সংকট দূর করতে ২০৩০ এর এজেন্ডা। প্যারিস চুক্তি এবং আদ্দিস আবাবা অ্যাকশন একেতো আমাদের ব্লু-প্রিন্ট হতে পারে।“ শেখ হাসিনা

 

Total Covid cases, end of month in Bangladesh, March 2020 - April 2022: For that indicator, we provide data for Bangladesh from March 2020 to April 2022. The average value for Bangladesh during that period was 8,98,087 total Covid cases with a minimum of 51 total Covid cases in March 2020 and a maximum of 1952691 total Covid cases in April 2022.

The average value for Bangladesh during that period was 7,93,49,909  total  Covid vaccinations. The average value for Bangladesh during that period was 47.73 Covid vaccinations per hundred people. The average value for Bangladesh during that period was 23.91 Covid fully vaccinated people per hundred people. The average value for Bangladesh during that period was 14,369 total Covid deaths.

IMPACT ON GLOBAL ECONOMY

·        In parts of Europe, the outbreak has been as severe as in China's Hubei province. Although essential to contain the virus, lockdowns and restrictions on mobility are extracting a sizable toll on economic activity.

·        Huge population has become unemployed. Around 2.5 crore in usa 12.25 crore in india and around new 17 lakhs in Bangladesh.

·        According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the global economy will lose 9 trillion by 2025 if the crisis is not resolved quickly.

·        Adverse confidence effects are likely to further weigh on economic prospects. Among emerging markets and developing economies, all countries face a health crisis. 0

·        Severe external demand shock: Tightening in global financial conditions, and a plunge in commodity prices, which will have a severe impact on economic activity in commodity exporters.

·        In the first quarter of 2021 (January-March), the price of sugar in the international market was 350 (per ton)] At the same time in 2020, the price was 300. At the same time last year, the price of edible oil was 895 (per ton), which increased by 67 percent to 1,494 in the same period this year. At the same time this year, urea fertilizer was sold at 317 per ton, which was only 220 at the same time last year.

·        Loss in global business travel revenue $810 due to covid-19 in 2020. Global change in flight frequency average -43% in 2020.

 

IMPACT ON SOCIERY

Negative Impact in Society:

·        The picture of social unrest and suffering caused by the epidemic is already increasingly worldwide. For example, millions of migrant day laborers in India have ignored lockdowns to return to their villages, shopkeepers in Kenya have rioted with police, food crises have erupted on the streets of South Africa and Nigeria, and even in Bangladesh there have been reports of attacks on emergency vehicles.

·        As a developing country where billions of poor people live, the negative impact of the epidemic on social life seems to be a little more. As a result, there has already been widespread moral degradation in Bangladesh. There is no denying that Corona is giving birth to a selfish society,

·        According to the Specialist, Bangladeshi will have to faces more social challenges due to corona virus. The coronavirus will hit the poor the hardest due to poor health, rampant corruption and social inequality. This virus will stop the progress that has been made in the country in the past years. The whole world and countries like Bangladesh will find it difficult to achieve its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Positive impact in Society:

·        On the other hand, corona has a positive effect. People are gradually becoming health conscious.

·        People are also buying daily necessities in online, this is saving time, on the one hand Bangladesh is moving one step further in using technology. As people become more technology dependent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THE IMPACT ON UNEMPLOYMENT

Different statistics for unemployment:

·        According to The International Labor Organization (ILO), the adverse effects of the coronavirus on the global economy could cause 3.3 billion working people to become partially or completely unemployed.

·        The organization also said that 24.7 million more people were added, on top of  the188 million registered as unemployed in 2019.

·        According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the coronavirus crisis has made one in six unemployed in the world and one in four young people in Bangladesh unemployed .

·        At present the number of unemployed in Bangladesh is about 3 million. While the 210 unemployment rate in Bangladesh is 4.2%, the youth unemployment rate is 11.6%. Due to the coronavirus, it has multiplied by December 2021.

 

 

IMPACT ON ENVIRONMENT

·        Global Impacts

The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service have confirmed that China's recent carbon dioxide emissions have dropped by about 25 percent due to the lockdown.

The earth itself is healing the huge wounds or holes that were created at the weight level due to reduced emissions. Earlier in the Corona virus epidemic, scientists said that in early April, a huge hole of 1 million or 10 lakh square kilometers in weight was created in the ice-covered North Pole sky. If this hole turned south, the world would be directly threatened.

 

·        Impact in Bangladesh:

Lockdown due to viruses is virtually nationwide. This has had a strange effect on nature. Nature has regained its form. According to experts, the incidence of greenhouse gases has decreased dramatically. Besides, the level of pollution has also decreased.

The virus seems to be a blessing in disguise. The mountains have regained their beauty.The small lakes, springs, and river water in the middle of those mountains are so clear that no one has ever seen them before.

According to environmentalists, nature, biodiversity is under threat but now that scene is less.

 

IMPACT ON RMG

Bangladesh's economic fate is inextricably linked to the fate of nations that permit the two R's that drive it: ready-made garments and remittance. Companies that acquire ready-made garments (RMG) from Bangladesh are closing their doors in cities across Europe and the United States. H&M, GAP, Zara, Marks & Spencer, and Primark, all big buyers, have shuttered their stores.

 

People are avoiding discretionary expenditure, which has brought shopping to a halt. There's also some concern about raw materials coming from China. As of March 2021,  23264 Bangladeshi garment factories have been shut down.

H&M, one of Bangladesh's major clothing purchasers, has been forced to temporarily halt new purchases while evaluating potential adjustments to existing orders.

Orders worth USD 3.17 billion have been cancelled or suspended, threatening the employment and financial security of millions of workers – the majority of whom are women. Media reports suggest that by June 2020, 70,000 workers had lost their jobs and up to one million jobs were likely to remain at risk until the end of the year.

At the time of writing, former BGMEA president Rubana Huq estimated that the overall impact of order postponement/cancellations would be $1.5 billion, or approximately half of our typical monthly export income.

According to insiders, if the virus continues to affect global supply chains, buyer demand, and, of course, worker health and safety, export revenue losses may exceed $4 billion.This is unsurprising, given that the downturn in the US and EU economies has had a knock-on effect on Bangladesh's economy.

 

IMPACT ON AGRICULTURE SECTOR

Confirmed cases of COVID-19, as mentioned in Chapter 1, reveal that pandemic has been centered around the Capital City Dhaka followed by other major cities. This implies that rural economy, particularly agriculture sector remains insulated from COVID-19 shock. In FY20, the growth rate in agriculture sector was 3.11 percent, which was 3.92 percent in FY19. However, this slowdown in growth rate could be attributed to the usual business cycle of the economy as it remains persistent within the purview of growth rates from FY13 to FY20.

 

কৃষি বাংলাদেশের অর্থনীতির মূল চালিকাশক্তি। উৎপাদনশীলতা ও আয় বৃদ্ধি এবং গ্রামীণ এলাকায় কর্মসংস্থান সৃষ্টির মাধ্যমে বিশাল জনগোষ্ঠীর সমৃদ্ধির জন্য কৃষির গুরুত্বপূর্ণ ভূমিকা রয়েছে।দেশের জিডিপি তে কৃষির অবদান ১৩.৪৭% এবং দেশের জনশক্তির ৪০.৬% কৃষিকাজে নিয়োজিত (অর্থনৈতিক সমীক্ষা-২০২১)। করোনা ভাইরাস প্রাদুর্ভাবে দুর্ভিক্ষের মুখে পড়তে পারে বিশ্ব-এমন পূর্বাভাস দিয়েছে বিভিন্ন বিশ্ব সংবাদ সংস্থা। আর এ কঠিন দুর্যোগেও বাংলাদেশের অর্থনীতিকে সচল রেখেছে এই কৃষি খাত ।

 

 

করোনা কালে বাংলাদেশের কৃষিঃ

করোনার কারনে শিল্প, কারখানা, পরিবহন, শিক্ষা প্রতিষ্ঠান সব বন্ধ থাকলেও বন্ধ থাকেনি কৃষি ও কৃষকের উৎপাদন কর্মকাণ্ড। সফলভাবে হাওড়ের বোরো ধান কাটতে পারা এবং এখন পর্যন্ত ভাল দাম পাওয়ায় কৃষকের মনে কিছুটা উৎসাহ দেখা যাচ্ছে।

বাংলাদেশে মাথাপিছু চাষযোগ্য জমি আছে মাত্র ০.৮ হেক্টর, যেখানে জনসংখ্যা প্রায় ১৭ কোটি। এ অবস্থা স্বত্তেও ২০২০-২০২১ অর্থবছরে মোট দেশজ উৎপাদনের (জিডিপি) পরিমাণও বেড়ে দাঁড়িয়েছে ৩০১১০.৬৪ বিলিয়ন টাকা, যা ২০১৯-২০২০ অর্থবছরে ছিল ২৭৩৯৩.৩২ বিলিয়ন টাকা। (সূত্র-বিবিএস) সরকারের সহযোগিতা ও উৎপাদনশীলতা বৃদ্ধির ফলে বাংলাদেশ ধান উৎপাদনে ইন্দোনেশিয়া কে ছাড়িয়ে ৩য় অবস্থানে।

আম্পানের বিধ্বংসী আগ্রাসনে ১৫% আম নষ্ট হবার পরেও রাজশাহী ও দিনাজপুরে সর্বমোট ৬০ মেট্রিক টনের মতো আম ও লিচু উৎপাদন হয়েছে।

 

IMPACT ON INDUSTRY

Among all the three sectors of real economy, the industry sector had been greatly affected due to the pandemic shock and experienced an unprecedented decline in growth rate. It declined by 6.19 percentage points from FY19 and reached to 6.48 percent in FY20.

Contributions of industry sector in GDP were BDT 3,722.92 billion and BDT 3,964.22 billion in FY19 and FY20 respectively. Both main segments of Industry, i.e., Manufacturing and Construction, have been affected in varying degrees by diverse forces emanating from COVID-19

IMPACT ON SERVICE SECTOR

It is already mentioned that service sector is the highest contributor to Bangladesh‟s GDP as its share was almost 51.30 percent (at constant price) in FY20. Pandemic hit major areas of this sector severely at a faster speed. General holidays, quarantine, social distancing, restriction on social gathering and ban on international flights, all of these measures had consequence for service sector performance. Consequently, growth of service sector declined by 1.46 percentage. points and reached at 5.32 percent in FY20. The major areas of service sector which have been affected due to measures taken to contain the pandemic are discussed below.

Transport, Storage and Communication is the second largest sub-sector within the whole service sector. The share of this sub-sector in GDP was 11.09 percent, amounting to BDT 1243 billion at constant prices in FY20. This sub-sector comprises of Land, Water and Air

transport along with Support transport services, storage and Post and Tele communications. General holidays and maintaining social distancing all over the country due to COVID-19 have led to stagnation in transport and communication sub-sectors. Their combined effect shows that sub-sectoral growth has decreased by 1 percentage points and thereafter re-fixed at 6.19 percent in FY20. Considering the growth figures, it appears that aviation industry, support transport services, and post and telecommunication have been three major victims ofthe pandemic (Chart 2.19). As a result, import of crude petroleum also declined during the same period

 

IMPACT ON REMITTANCE

The economic importance of the more than 10 million migrants from Bangladesh who sent close to $18 billion in 2019 cannot be overstated. International remittances normally represent around 7% of Bangladesh’s GDP. But the COVID-19 pandemic is having an acute effect on Bangladeshi migrants abroad, who are largely concentrated in countries with strict lockdown measures. Considering the large volume of Bangladeshi migrants in the Middle East, secondary economic impacts through depressed demand and falling oil prices will also likely add strain to the flow of remittances.

 

World Bank estimates have projected that total remittances by migrant workers from Bangladesh will fall to $14 billion for 2020 – around a 25% decrease from the previous year. Figures released by Bangladesh Bank show that year-on-year remittances for the month fell by 25%, indicating that the World Bank’s projection is, unfortunately, likely to hold true. The drop in these payments, which have traditionally averaged between $300 and $600 a month, will represent a significant loss to millions of household incomes in Bangladesh.

 

Remittance inflows are assumed to be largely affected as the economies of the source countries, especially, the oil-exporting countries witnessed a marked slow-down since the onset of COVID-19. As an immediate effect, remittance inflows in Bangladesh declined throughout January to April‟20 while it recovered quite rapidly thereafter and even surpassed the pre-COVID-19 period (i.e., 2019) by some notable margins on a point-to-point basis. As shown in Chart 4.3, remittance inflows declined from USD 1.69 billion in December'19 to USD 1.09 billion in May‟20, which increased thereafter and picked up to USD 2.60 billion in July‟20. It remained close to USD 2.00 billion on the following months. In December‟20, total remittance inflows amounted to USD 2.05 billion.

 

করোনা  অভিবাসন খাত

অভিবাসনের ক্ষেত্রে যে বড় ধাক্কা এসেছিল, তা অনেক ক্ষেত্রে কাটিয়ে উঠতে পেরেছে। ২০১৯-২০ অর্থবছরে ৫ লাখ ৬০ হাজার ৫৭৮ জন বিদেশে গিয়েছিল। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে ২ লাখ ৮০ হাজার ৬৫৮ জন বিদেশে গেছেন। ২০২১ সালের জুলাই থেকে নভেম্বর পর্যন্ত বিদেশে গিয়েছেন প্রায় ২ লাখ ৪০ হাজার। ২০১৯-২০ অর্থবছরে প্রবাসী আয় এসেছিল ১৮ দশমিক ২৮ বিলিয়ন ডলার। ২০২০-২১ অর্থবছরে ২৪ দশমিক ৮০ বিলিয়ন ডলার। অর্থাৎ এখানে ২৬ শতাংশ বেড়েছে।

 

 

 

 

EFFECT ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Global Impact

·        The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) and the Copernicus Climate Change Service have confirmed that China's recent carbon dioxide emissions have dropped by about 25 percent due to the lockdown.

·        The earth itself is healing the huge wounds or holes that were created at the weight level due to reduced emissions. Earlier in the Corona virus epidemic, scientists said that in early April, a huge hole of 1 million or 10 lakh square kilometers in weight RO was created in the ice-covered North Pole sky. If this hole turned south, the world would be directly threatened.

 

Impact in Bangladesh:

Lockdown due to viruses is virtually nationwide. This has had a strange effect on nature. Nature has regained its form. According to experts, the incidence of greenhouse gases has decreased dramatically. Besides, the level of pollution has also decreased.

·        The virus seems to be a blessing in disguise. The mountains have regained their beauty.

·        The small lakes, springs, and river water in the middle of those mountains are so clear that no one has ever seen them before.

·        According to environmentalists, nature, biodiversity is under threat but now that scene is less.

 

IMPACT ON IT

Lockdown on IT sector:

·        The significant weaknesses of the IT industry that the fall in the economy, as a result, a lot of companies are forced to ask their employees to work from home (remotely) keeping in the account of the public health concerns.

·        Due to, there is a massive loss in opportunity for many companies who have international dealers. For example, Apple Inc. is estimated to have at least 10% fall in its shares because of the lack of availability of iPhones in the market. The parts that are required to build the iPhones are supposed to come from China, and it is facing a major lockdown.

·        The spread of this deadly virus has caused a lot of tech conferences to get cancelled, which could have been a great partnership opportunity for many companies to expand their horizons

·        Due to the cancellation of these major tech conferences, there is an estimated loss of US$ 1 Billion

 

Benefits in this pandemic:

·        The IT industry is expected to have an enormous market boom from US$ 131 ot to Billion in 2020 to US$ 295 in the next five years by 2025. The economy will also blossom because, during these crises, people understood the importance of the internet and technology as this is helping us stay safe and helping in the sigo communication between the doctors and the public.

·        Due to the coronavirus, a lot of opportunities opened up in the IT industry, such as arolin the growing need for the 5th generation (5G) technology. This will help increase Po. I connections that support the primed remote interactions. This has become the top priority for many organizations due to the pandemic.

·        Tele health is one of the developing industries in the crises. This could help people to get diagnosed, treated and operated with the need of a physician to be physically present.

 

PREPARATION FOR POST CORONA ECONOMIC

·        In the global context, Covid-19 has caused huge damage to the economy, education, health, trade and employment in Bangladesh as well as other countries. The public private sector needs to work together to overcome this loss.

·        Covid-19 vaccine delivery has gained momentum at present. As ordinary people, we all have to work for our family and society by fulfilling our health and social responsibilities.

·        In order to overcome the economic crisis, it is necessary to create a balance between supply and demand in the macro and macro economy.

·        In order to increase production, holidays need to be reduced in different factories, In a welfare oriented state, arrangements have to be made to transform the citizens into human resources in the true sense. Therefore, it is necessary to restructure the education system. After a long time, it is a little difficult for students to concentrate on their studies. If there is any kind of behavioral problem among them, it should be motivated and counseled to bring it back to the study. Since the capture of covid-19 in the country, the Prime Minister has appropriately announced an incentive package as a multi-faceted program for marginalized people. It is important to implement them quickly.

·        Many unemployed and poor people are facing uncertain future. In order to overcome it now, all those responsible have to work with honesty, fairness and efficiency from their respective positions, so that the basic foundation of the country's macro-economy is strengthened. In order to prevent consumers from being deceived in the case of online business,according to the prevailing laws of the country, fraudsters should be punished. Fraudulent customers will also have to pay back.. Weaknesses in the healthcare sector that have been identified during the Corona period need to be addressed.

·        The government is helping export oriented industries through various initiatives. Returning to the second position in the world in the field of garment exports is a challenge. The BGMEA authorities have to formulate a strategy in this regard and take action in the light of reality.

·        Before that, the level of debt risk in Bangladesh was low. While the debt-to-GDP ratio was 36 percent in 2019, it is expected to rise to 41 percent. The less borrowed from abroad, the better for internal development.

·        Even in Corona, the government has given due importance to agriculture. At present it is advisable to give more importance to agro-based industries. In this regard, Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Rakab, Bangladesh Unnayan Bank will have to coordinate from grassroots level to higher level under holistic approach. In order to provide facilities for export oriented industrialization, arrangements have to be made to ensure all facilities for import alternative industrialization. The Rural Employment Foundation can be properly utilized to accelerate the development of small and medium enterprises. Initiatives should be taken to rehabilitate the poor people in remote areas through small and cottage industries NGOs through Bangladesh NGO Foundation. Those who have returned from abroad will have to make arrangements for repatriation or expatriate welfare bank will have to take the project and implement it to help in rehabilitation. Foreign embassies also need help in this regard.

করোনা কালীন ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারিশিল্প:

 

আইএফসির প্রতিবেদনের তথ্যমতে,

·        দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার দেশগুলোর মধ্যে এমএসএমই খাতে সবচেয়ে বেশি ক্ষতির শিকার হয়েছেন বাংলাদেশের উদ্যোক্তারা। দেশে এ খাতসংশ্লিষ্ট প্রায় ৯৪ শতাংশ উদ্যোক্তা ক্ষতির শিকার হয়েছে।

·        বাংলাদেশে এমএসএমই খাতে মহামারীর কারণে চাকরি হারিয়েছেন ৩৭ শতাংশ কর্মী। বিক্রি কমেছে এ খাতসংশ্লিষ্ট ৯৪ শতাংশ ব্যবসাপ্রতিষ্ঠানের।

·        খাতটির প্রায় ৭০ শতাংশ কর্মী এখনো অনিশ্চয়তার মধ্যে দিন পার করছেন।

·        করোনায় বাংলাদেশের এমএসএমই খাতে নারী পরিচালিত উদ্যোগগুলো সবচেয়ে বেশি সংকটে পড়েছে। নারীদের দ্বারা পরিচালিত ৩৭ শতাংশ এমএসএমই প্রতিষ্ঠান করোনায় পুরোপুরি বন্ধ হয়ে গেছে।পুরুষ পরিচালিত এমএসএমই প্রতিষ্ঠান বন্ধ হয়েছে ২১ শতাংশ।

·        দক্ষিণ এশিয়ার দেশগুলোর মধ্যে বাংলাদেশীয় প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোতেই সবচেয়ে বেশি কর্মঘন্টা কমেছে বাংলাদেশের প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোয় করোনাকালে গড়ে ৪৪ দশমিক ২ শতাংশ কর্মঘণ্টা কমেছে। এ সময়ে সবচেয়ে বেশি খারাপ অবস্থায় পড়ে পোশাক ও ফ্যাশন খাতের উদ্যোগগুলো। গত বছরের তুলনায় জরিপকালে এসব প্রতিষ্ঠানের বিক্রি কমেছে ৬৫ শতাংশ।

করোনাকালীন ক্ষুদ্র ও মাঝারি শিল্পে বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকঃ

·        করোনা প্রণোদনা প্যাকেজের ৯০,০০০ কোটি টাকার ঋণ বিতরণের দায়িত্বভার গ্রহণ। যার সুদহার ৪%। ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠান এ খাতে অর্থায়নে ভিন্ন ব্যবসায়িক কৌশল অবলম্বন করছে।

·        ঋণদান প্রক্রিয়া দ্রুত ও সহজীকরণ। মাঝারি শিল্পের চেয়ে ক্ষুদ্র উদ্যোক্তাদের ঋণ বিতরণের ক্ষেত্রে অগ্রাধিকার।শিল্প উন্নয়নে নারী উদ্যোক্তাদের অংশ গ্রহণ বাড়ছে। তাদের ব্যবসায়িক কর্মকাণ্ড পরিচালনার জন্য সহজে ঋণপ্রাপ্তি নিশ্চিত করছে। ঋণ বিতরণে অগ্রাধিকার দিচ্ছে।

·        এসএমই খাতের উন্নয়নের জন্য বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংক ২০০৪ সাল থেকে এসএমই খাতে পুনঃঅর্থায়ন কর্মসূচি হাতে নিয়েছে। বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের প্রচেষ্টায় দেশের এসএমই খাতে অর্থায়নে গতি সঞ্চার হয়েছে। এসএমই খাতের বিকাশ, উন্নয়ন ও সম্প্রসারণে ২০০৯ সালে বাংলাদেশ ব্যাংকের প্রধান কার্যালয়ে 'এসএমই অ্যান্ড স্পেশাল প্রোগ্রামস ডিপার্টমেন্ট' নামে একটি বিভাগ খোলা হয়।

·        এ খাতের উন্নয়নের জন্য ২০১০ সালে একটি বিস্তৃত এসএমই ঋণ নীতিমালা প্রণয়ন করা হয়েছে এবং সেই সঙ্গে ব্যাংক ও আর্থিক প্রতিষ্ঠানগুলোর এসএমই ঋণ কার্যক্রম কঠোর নজরদারির আওতায় আনা হয়েছে। এ নীতিমালায় ক্ষুদ্র উদ্যোক্তাদের ঋণ বিতরণে অগ্রাধিকার দেয়া হচ্ছে।

 

POLICY RESPONSE TO SUPPORT SMES AFFECTED BY COVID-19 PANDEMIC:
· A stimulus package worth Tk. 20,000 crore has been announced to meet-up the working capital need of COVID-19 affected SMEs.
Under this package, Banks and FIs will disburse working capital loans from their own fund to the entrepreneurs at 9% interest rate. The Government will provide 5% to Banks and FIs as an interest subsidy. So, credit will be disbursed at lower rate of 4% at the borrower level.
· Disbursement will be made at least 8% to women enterprise under the stimulus package.
· Bangladesh Bank has created a Revolving Refinance Fund worth Tk. 10,000 crore to support the liquidity requirement of Banks
and FIs for successful implementation of the stimulus package as well as introduced a Credit Guarantee Scheme for Cottage, Micro
& Small Enterprises to overcome the collateral problem.

· Bangladesh Bank has increased the fund sizes of three existing refinance schemes to meet up the term loan (including working
capital) requirement of the entrepreneurs. At the same time, the interest rates of those schemes have been reduced to 3% at Banks/FIs level and 7% at borrower level.
· The repayment of working capital loans on EMI (Equal Monthly Installment) basis has been allowed. Banks are instructed in a way
that effective interest rate won‟t be more than 9% while type of loans, tenure and sanction limit remain unchanged.
· District-based Lead Bank Calendar has been formulated to address the adverse impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

 

COVID INCENTIVE PACKAGE

Package	Taka (Cr.)
Credit facilities in the affected industries and services sector	40,000
Small (including cottage industries) and medium enterprise	24,000
Various activities including salary allowance of export oriented industry	6,000
Purchase of working capital/ subsidy/equipment in agriculture/ purchase of borodhan and rice	18,780
allocation for refinancing scheme for low income professional farmers/small traders	3,000
Bangladesh Bank EDF facility	12,750
Pre shipment credit Refine	5,000
Corona virus (death/compensation)	850
Social Security Program (Food Distribution/Rice/Cash/Allowance/Home Financing)	7,413
Other	70,286
Total	1,87,679

 

This program has four main strategic aspects:

·        To increase the government spending. In this respect, priority will be given to creating jobs and discouraging luxury spending.

·        To provide low interest credit facilities through the banking system to industries and business enterprises to revive economic activities and increase the competitiveness of entrepreneurs at home and abroad.

·        To increase the scope of the government's social security programmers to protect the ultra-poor and the low-income groups that have suddenly become unemployed as well as the people engaged in informal sectors.

·        To increase money supply in the market.

 

COVID AND TELEMEDICINE

Government activities and success in expanding telemedicine facilities:

·        'Health Window-16263 has provided tele services about 30 million people during this Corona period (before November, 2021 ). Since 2015, about 352 million people have received this service.

·        One out of every 16 people in the country has availed this telehealth service during this corona period.

·        During the corona period, to provide telemedicine services to the people, A2I's live Aidani program implemented by the Cabinet Division and the Department of Information Hand Communication Technology with the support of UNDP Bangladesh is providing telemedicine services to 3,79,389 patients.

Advantages of telemedicine:

·        Doctors are able to serve patients from far and wide sitting in front of television screens and cameras.

·        Using technology, sick patients can now sit in the village and take advice from the big doctors of the capital. As a result, no patient has to come to Dhaka from the village by spending thousands of takas. The risk of coronavirus is also being avoided.

·        Most of the hospitals across the country including the capital have launched this telemedicine service. In this case, the patients can send their previous report to the doctor by e-mail or WhatsApp and get the necessary action by telephone or video conference.

COVID AND ONLINE EDUCATION

Prospects of online Education:

·        It helps to maintain the academic year of the students otherwise a huge gap created ad taip in their academic year.

·        When online education is started many rural students get huge support from special teachers that will not get before them.

·        It saves huge time for urban students, also rural students. They can stay at home and gets lecture that supporting their education in corona pandemic.

·        By Online education many international organizations provide many essential course that the students attend from their home.

·        Our vision 2021 encompasses a digital Bangladesh which has hitherto not been possible if online education system can not achieve.

Challenges of online education:

·        The most challenging aspects are the current location and accessibility of appropriate device and the internet. Many students moved to their rural homes go where high-speed internet may not be available.

·        All students were unable to carry their books and academic materials because they could not imagine this might go such long.

·        They may also need to watch some more videos to supplement their practical, especially for science students. All these facts make online classes a sheer challenge to reach out individual student scattered all over the country in this current situation. The other big challenge is online exams & exam designing.

 

 

ROLE OF BANKS IN PANDEMIC

·        Bangladesh Bank has reduced its CRR from 5.5 per cent to 4 percent and repo rate 5.25 to 4.75 percent.

·        The government has announced incentives or easy loans for agriculture and small and medium enterprises, the central bank is playing a role in its implementation.

·        Bangladesh Bank has issued Sukuk bonds for various reasons including depreciation of currency.

·        The central bank has adopted various schemes to keep the currency market afloat by increasing the capacity of the banknotes.

               Extension of short term loan under back-to-back LC for 180 days.

·        Banks have taken various steps to reduce cash dependence by increasing online reliance because to reduce the rate of transition during the Corona period.

·        The contribution of bank officials as frontline fighters in the Corona epidemic is no less. Nearly two and a half lakh bank officials and employees of all scheduled banks of the country have been contributing immensely to this catastrophic disaster by keeping the wheel of the economy afloat with various emergency banking services including food supply, medicine, life saving ingredients, import and export.

·        Loans of more than tk 4500 crore to 6 lakh people at 4% discounted interest. Lending of around Tk. 20,000 crore in small and cottage industries.

·        Provide loans to fish farmers for a period of 5 years.

 

VACCINE DIPLOMACY

Beginning in 2001, the broad framework of global health diplomacy outlined above helped to generate the concepts of vaccine diplomacy and vaccine science diplomacy . Vaccine diplomacy refers to almost any aspect of global health diplomacy that relies on the use or delivery of vaccines and encompasses the important work of the GAVI Alliance, as well as elements of the WHO, the Gates Foundation, and other important international organizations. Central to vaccine diplomacy is its potential as a humanitarian intervention and its proven role in mediating cessation of hostilities and even cease-fires during vaccination campaigns. In this case, the lead actor may come from an international organization, such as WHO or the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), or an associated nongovernmental organization

IT is a sign of times, it seems, as global diplomacy is being conducted through Covid vaccines these days, with global powerhouses exploiting the misery of the masses around the globe by using the vaccines they are manufacturing as a means to achieving their own diplomatic goals.

Vaccine Diplomacy in Bangladesh

To be among the first counties to procure an effective vaccine, Bangladesh should deal with both China and India briskly with an “open to all policy” approach alongside maintaining contact with all the potential vaccine-producing countries. Due to the complexity of international politics, it could be difficult to procure vaccines solely based on bilateral relations. Subsequently, economic diplomacy will also play a significant role while making decisions related to vaccine procurement. Bangladesh, with its large population, is undoubtedly a major market for vaccine makers, which may be used as a bargaining tool during negotiations. Due to geopolitical interest, China and India have already assured Bangladesh of giving priority to providing their vaccines, and China’s offer for the trial of its vaccine is already accepted in Bangladesh.

 

Nevertheless, it might be challenging to receive doses from China and India in due time since both countries have huge domestic demand due to their large population size. Hence, vaccine diplomacy should be a part of our strategy and we should aim to secure permission for manufacturing any vaccine in our country to ensure its availability here in due time.

 

Bangladesh should maintain contact with all potential vaccine-producing countries since it is uncertain which vaccine will eventually come out as an effective one. Subsequently, the nation should strategize to reach an understanding with the vaccine producing countries for getting their vaccines once those are approved by the World Health Organization (WHO).

 

An application has been sent to Gavi in July, 2020 through the WHO to avail COVAX Global Vaccines Facility for lower and middle-income countries and the application was accepted. Moreover, International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) has been granted to run phase three trial of China’s Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccine in Bangladesh. Due to the participation in the trial process, Bangladesh will be getting 0.1 million doses and a priority in procuring the vaccine by 2021.

Currently, Oxford-AstraZeneca’s Covishield, Russia’s Sputnik-V, and China’s Sinopharm vaccines got emergency use authorization in Bangladesh .Bangladesh purchased 30 million doses from India’s Serum Institute, The United States  declared an initial $2 billion obligation of a total planned $4 billion to GAVI, the Vaccine Alliance to support the COVAX Advance Market Commitment, making the United States the largest donor for equitable global COVID-19 vaccine access.

Given Bangladesh’s high population density, vaccination will be critical in controlling the scale of the pandemic. In addition to an effective vaccination campaign, public health awareness must also be maintained. Governments all across the world have stepped up to help mitigate the pandemic’s effects and guarantee that essential services are available to the citizens. During a huge disaster like the current pandemic, the government must supply everything from stimulus packages to vaccines and strategize their plans prudently.

CLIMATE

"There is no plan B. Because there is no planet B" Ban-ki-Moon

 

Environmental / climatic position of Bangladesh:

Bangladesh is at environmental risk. The country's security and economy are now under threat as a result of climate change. According to a report titled 'Global Climate Risk Index 2021' published by German watch, an international research organization, Bangladesh ranks

Indicator	Rank
Economic losses due to climate change	5
Natural disasters (Among 180 )	7
Environmental index (Among 180 )	179
Environmental Health Index (Among 178)	178
Air index (Among 180 )	179
Drinking water and sanitation (Among 128)	128

 

"Climate change does not respect border, it does not respect who you are rich on poor. big or small. Therefore, this is what we call " Global Challenges? which requires global solidarity." Ban-Ki-Moon

Recommendations for environmental protection and development:

·        First of all, the use of coal should be reduced to zero, because burning coal releases a lot of carbon into the air. And carbon is playing a key role in raising the atmosphere. Instead, the use of renewable energy as an alternative fuel should be increased. Such as biotechnology, hydropower, solar panels, thermoelectric generators, wind turbines etc.

·        In order to meet the power generation and energy demand from the amount of waste generated every day in the big cities of our country, it is necessary to set up a proper waste management plan to produce biogas. Biogas is environmentally friendly and will help reduce global warming.

·        Due to its location on the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh receives an average about 10 hours of sunlight per day, so it is necessary to reduce coal-based power generation and increase power generation by setting up solar panel power plants. Of Countries that receive very little sunlight can meet their primary electricity needs by installing thermoelectric generator plants.

·        Take initiatives to raise awareness about environmental knowledge and legislation for integrated development and sustainable use of all national resources. .

·        There is a need to further increase the involvement of the media and NGOs. work of creating public awareness through the Establishment of one environmental court in each district of the country to take urgent necessary legal action against those responsible for environmental pollution. Establishment of one Environmental Appeal Court in each section.

·        Measures should be taken for proper implementation of Environmental Protection Act and Environmental Protection Rules.

·        The campaign to stop the use and sale of illegal polythene should be intensified in a joint venture between the Bangladesh Department of Environmental Protection and the district administration. All must work together to protect themselves from the risks of climate change and environmental disasters. Deforestation, refilling of natural reservoirs should be avoided.

·        Use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides on agricultural land should be reduced. Disposal of industrial and sewage in river canals should be stopped completely.

·        Industrial wastes have to be converted into productive materials. Need to do planned urbanization.Forests and fruit trees should be grown in all parts of the country through proper care.

 

Steps taken by Bangladesh in tackling climate change:

·        Bangladesh is the first of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) to set up a Climate Change Trust Fund. It has spent more than 415 million from its own resources / to implement more than 800 adaptation and mitigation programs.

·        The Bangladesh Parliament has declared the ongoing climate risk a global emergency in 2019. It has planned to plant 30 million trees nationwide and formulate a 'Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan' to achieve low carbon economic growth.

·        About 2.5 per cent of GDP or about 5 billion is being spent on various measures to build a sustainable climate tolerant system to deal with climate change disasters. It has built 12,000 cyclone shelters and 200,000 hectares of green belts in coastal areas.

·        Bangladeshi scientists have developed salinity and flood tolerant crops, rainwater harvesting reservoirs and pond-sand-filters. They have also developed floating agricultural technology and mobile water treatment plants for people in coastal areas.

·        Artificial mangrove forests are being planted in the char areas of the coastal districts.The government is building cyclone tolerant sustainable housing for the poor in cyclone-prone areas.

·        Rivers and canals are being dredged across the country to conserve water and increase the navigability of water bodies.

 

 

 

INDUSTRIAL POLLUTION CONTROL BANGLADESH

 

Issuance of Environmental Clearance: In accordance with Section 12 (1) of the Environmental Protection Act, 1995 (Amended 2010) in Bangladesh, it is mandatory to obtain environmental clearance in the prescribed manner as per the Environmental Protection Rules, 1997. According to the rules, all types of industries and projects are being forced to take environmental clearances. In the last 13 (thirteen) years from 2009 to 2021, about 65,000 environmental clearances are given in the case of establishing industry or implementing projects and about 1,10,000 environmental clearances have been renewed.

 

Establishment of ETP: The Department of Environment is compiling a detailed database of all the industrial establishments generating liquid waste and compelling non-ETP industrial establishments to establish ETP. ETPs have already been ensured in most of the industrial establishments including all the large industrial establishments. As of March 2022, the number of ETP establishable industrial units identified is 2,678 and the total number of industrial units where ETP was established is 2,249.

 

Implementation of Zero Discharge Plan: Zero Discharge Plan is being implemented by the DoE in the industrial establishments discharging liquid waste under which the industrial enterprises are reusing the generated liquid waste without discharging it in nature. From 2014 to March 2022, the DoE has approved a Zero Discharge Plan in favour of a total of 600 T-Waste Emitting Industries.

 

Pollution Control Enforcement Activities: In order to prevent the destruction of the environment and the widespread pollution of the environment, the DoE started enforcement activities under the said section of the Act against polluters from July 13, 2010. Under the enforcement activities, the DoE takes other legal action including imposition of compensation against persons/institutions involved in pollution and conducts regular monitoring activities of industries. According to Section 7 of the Bangladesh Environmental Protection Act, 1995, there is a provision to collect compensation by conducting enforcement activities against polluting industrial establishments. DoE has carried out operations from July 13, 2010 to February 2022 against 9,178 river polluting industrial establishments for damaging the environment and imposed fines of Tk. 454.76 crore. In addition to raising public awareness, enforcement and mobile court activities has been carried out to control noise pollution. According to Noise Pollution Control Rules 2006, industrial units / project activities/vehicles which produce noise more than the limit mentioned in the standard, DoE has taken legal action against them. From January 2019 to February 2022 DoE conducted 98 mobile courts against 661 persons/projects/vehicles and imposed fines of Tk 7,07,700.00. A project costing of Tk. 4796.480 lakh titled "Integrated and Participatory Project in Noise Pollution Control" has been undertaken by DoE and the duration of the project is from 01 January 2020 to 31 December 2022. To implement the project the roads around Bangladesh Secretariat and Agargaon Administrative Area have been declared as “Silent Areas” since 17 December 2019. 60 billboards have been installed and 6,40,000 leaflets have been circulated in Dhaka and divisional cities. To control noise pollution all Divisional Commissioners are requested for installing billboards with awareness message. Institutions appointed to conduct survey on the measurement of sound level in 64 districts are working. A total of 13,620 people have been trained in noise pollution control through 144 trainings on awareness and meetings on exchange of views with various stakeholders till February 2022 in all districts including divisional cities.

 

 

GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE BANGLADESH

 

"Climate change is no longer some far off problem; it is happening here. it is happening now" Barak Obama

 

According to recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report 2018, the earth's average temperature has raised ~1 °C over the past century (1850-2018) and it is further expected to temperature rise of 2.5°F to 10°F over the next century.

 

Global warming causes Climate Risk for Bangladesh:

·        60 percent of the land in Bangladesh is just 5 meters above sea level. The sea level of Bangladesh will increase by 40 cm in 2080.

·        According to the projection of the General Circulation Model, the temperature in Bangladesh will increase by 2.4 degrees Celsius and rainfall by 9.7 percent in 2100.

·        According to the World Bank, two-thirds of Bangladesh is flooded every three to five years. In 2050, a recurring 112 million dollar will be needed for cyclones and floods affected people.

·        According to the IPCC, Bangladesh will lose 17% of its land by 2050. 30% of food 2production will be lost. An area of 60,000 sq km in 19 coastal districts could be submerged. Four crore people will be at risk of salinity. One third people will be submerged in 2100.

·        To Increase in lightning activity, forest fires, drought. Longer spell of dry heat waves, changes in biosphere and other severe weather events.

 

Measures to reduce Global Warming:

Various approaches or technology have been proposed to prevent the increase of the earth's surface temperature. However, geoengineering is the best way to mitigate future's severe global warming.

·        Biochar technology: Production of biochar and its storage in soil can be used as a tool to mitigate global warming and climate change.

·        Prevent deforestation and increase afforestation and reforestation: Trees hold large amount of terrestrial carbon in their biomass. They capture atmospheric CO2 as they grow. Therefore, preventing deforestation and increasing afforestation and reforestation are much better ways to mitigate global warming.

·        Use of renewable energy sources: As we know, fossil fuels are non-renewable and eventually will be exhausted. The use of fossil fuels to meet our demands is producing enormous amount of CO2 and other GHGs which are producing global warming. To minimize this effect, we should go for nuclear and renewable energy resources like hydro, solar, wind, geothermal, and biomass which are sustainable with the current global energy supply and demand.

 

CLIMATE DIPLOMACY AND BANGLADESH

In international politics, climate diplomacy refers to taking effective measures through the concerted efforts of the world community to mitigate the harmful effects of climate change.

 

Various agencies / activities formed due to climate diplomacy:

Climate change and its risks are being tackled with a common good or global common. The world community has succeeded in building international unity in tackling global issues such as climate change based on the Common Good Concept.

·        Under the auspices of the United Nations, international bodies such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been formed. Much progress has been made in scientific research on climate change under the IPCC and in the global community climate negotiations under the UNFCCC.

·        The Kyoto Protocol and the Bali Action Plan are two major achievements in the history of climate negotiations. The rich nations are working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. The Bali Action Plan continues to provide financial and technical assistance to compensate the affected poor countries. and developing

·        In Bangladesh, a trust called 'Climate Change Trust-2010' has been set up to deal with the adverse effects of climate change.

 

Climate diplomacy and strategy of Bangladesh: A

Among the issues that Bangladesh has been highlighting at every climate conference in the field of climate diplomacy were:

·        Adaptation funds.

·         Compensatory funds.

·        Provide safe and environmentally friendly technology to the affected countries.

·        Dealing with damage and destruction on the issue of climate change, including taking responsibility for migrants displaced by disasters such as rising sea levels. rising salinity, river erosion, floods and droughts.

 

Developing countries like Bangladesh have so far failed to prove their mettle in implementing diplomatic strategies for proper compensation. Therefore, in the current climate diplomacy of Bangladesh, it is important to determine the strategy of how to compensate by bringing issues like loss and damage of Bangladesh and climate migration into climate negotiation. The strategy that Bangladesh can adopt in climate diplomacy at the moment-

·        Bangladesh can take action in the international arena to create safe living and employment for climate-affected refugees.

·        May apply constant pressure through environmental organizations to obtain compensation funds.

·        Bangladesh can attach great importance to the carbon economy because Bangladesh emits less carbon than other countries.

·        To continue the activities until the issues that Bangladesh has been focusing on in the climate conference are realized.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BIODIVERSITY

"Biodiversity starts in the distant past and it points toward the future."~Frans Lanting (Photographer of National Geography)

 

Biodiversity is the shortened form of two words "biological" and "diversity". It refers to all the variety of life that can be found on Earth (plants, animals, fungi and micro-organisms) as well as to the communities that they form and the habitats in which they live.

 

There are the following three different types of biodiversity:

1. Genetic diversity: It refers to the variations among the genetic resources of the organisms

2. Species diversity: Species diversity refers to the variety of different types of species found in a particular area. It is the biodiversity at the most basic level. It includes all the species ranging from plants to different microorganism

3. Ecological diversity: An ecosystem is a collection of living and non-living organisms and their interaction with each other. Ecological biodiversity refers to the variations in the plant and animal species living together and connected by food chains and food webs.

Importance of Biodiversity:

Biodiversity and its maintenance are very important for sustaining life on earth. Few of the reasons explaining the importance of biodiversity is:

1. Ecological Stability: Every species has a specific role in an ecosystem. They capture and store energy and also produce and decompose organic matter. The ecosystem supports the services without which humans cannot survive. A diverse ecosystem is more productive and can withstand environmental stress

2. Economic Importance: Biodiversity is a reservoir of resources for the manufacture of food, cosmetic products and pharmaceuticals. Crops livestock, fishery, and forests are a rich source of food. Wild plants such as Cinchona and Foxglove plant are used for medicinal purposes. Wood, fibers, perfumes, lubricants, rubber, resins, poison and cork are all derived from different plant species. The national parks and sanctuaries are a source of tourism.

3. Ethical Importance: All the species have a right to exist. Humans should not cause their voluntary extinction. Biodiversity preserves different cultures and spiritual heritage. Therefore, it is very important to conserve biodiversity.

Facts about Biodiversity: The United Nations has proclaimed May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversity (IDB) to increase understanding and awareness of biodiversity issues. We have over 10,000 species of birds on earth. Plants are also a part of this biological system, and hence there are more than 20,000 species of plants.

 

Major threats to biodiversity: 1. Climate change 2. Deforestation and habitat loss 3. Over-exploitation 4. Invasive species 5. Environment pollution	Ways to preserve Biodiversity:
	1. Government legislation 2. Preserving nature 3. Reducing invasive species 4. Habitat restoration 5. Captive breeding and seed banks	6.Research 7. Reducing climate change 8. Purchasing sustainable products 9. Sustainable living s 10. Education

Biodiversity and Bangladesh:

·        At present, the country has 38 protected areas including 17 national parks and 21| wildlife sanctuaries distributed across the country.

·        Together, the protected areas of Bangladesh cover nearly 17.5% of the forest area and 1.8% of country's total land area.

·        In addition to that, the country has seven eco-park, two safari park and botanical gardens which also contribute significantly to the conservation of country's dwindling biodiversity.

Biodiversity conservation and Bangladesh:

Despite a rapid loss and degradation of wild habitats, biodiversity conservation has received a wider attention in Bangladesh in the present years. Already the government has ratified some major biodiversity-related conventions-

·        Convention on Biological Diversity.

·        Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

·        Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species.

·        Ramsar Convention, and World Heritage Convention.

How to reduce biodiversity loss:

In order to protect biodiversity, it would be necessary to change our model of consumption emphasizing on some issues like-

·        Reducing the artificialization of natural environments and preserve natural areas as much as possible.

·        Reducing air pollution by limiting our use of transport and our energy consumption, by switching to renewable energies.

·        Fighting global warming by creating regulations for activities that contribute to the greenhouse effect.

·        Making changes in the way industrial agriculture works and using more agro ecology methods.

·        Taking actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

“The wild ones are beautiful in forest. like the children are in the mother's womb.” Sanjib Chattopadhyay

 

FORMULATION OF BIODIVERSITY AND BIODIVERSITY REGULATIONS

 

National Environmental Policy, 2018: Taking into account the challenges of environment, environment and biodiversity conservation and management, the government has finalised the National Environment Policy 2018 on 3 October 2017 and published it in 2019 with the aim of developing the overall environmental conservation management of the country. In the newly adopted National Environmental Policy 2018, out of 9 more sectors/areas including the previous 15 sectors, mountain environment, biodiversity and environment conservation and life security, eco-friendly tourism, etc. sectors have been included with special emphasis. In order to implement the activities included in the 24 sectors mentioned in the National Environmental Policy 2018, the concerned ministries/ divisions/agencies have been identified which will be implemented by their respective ministries/divisions/agencies.

Bangladesh Biodiversity Act 2018: The Bangladesh Biodiversity Act 2018 has been promulgated with the aim of conserving biodiversity and ensuring its sustainable use and has come into force on 30 November 2018. Under the Act, a Union Biodiversity Management Committee has been formed from the National Committee on Biodiversity to implement biodiversity conservation activities at the grassroots level. 

Environmental Crisis Management Rules, 2017: The Environmental Crisis Management Rules, 2018 have been promulgated on 25 September 2017 to protect the environment with the powers given in the Bangladesh Environmental Protection Act, 1995. A notification has been issued by forming a national committee of ECA management under the said rules.

 

BIODIVERSITY AND BANGLADESH

Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) implemented different development projects to increase forest resources, conserve wildlife and biodiversity to support the overall development of the country. According to available information in FY 2018-19 total forest land is 25,75,196 hectares which is 17.45 percent of total area of the country. BFD is responsible for conservation and management of 18,80,494 hectares forests. Forest Department is implementing various activities such as restoration of forests through afforestation, conservation of wildlife habitat and biodiversity through coastal afforestation, improvement of forest management with the collaboration of the people dependent on the forest, increase of the forest coverage through social forestry under running 15 investment projects.

·         According to the Tiger Conference, St. Petersburg, Russia's (2010) international declaration, appropriate steps have been taken to increase the number of tigers and deer in the Sundarbans by stoping deer hunting, developing habitats and ensuring regular patrols in the Sundarbans. Besides, Tiger Action Plan has been prepared to fulfill the target. In 2015 for the first time tiger counting started in the Sundarbans using camera trapping. In FY 2021-22, ECNEC has approved Sundarban Shurokkha and Tiger Conservation Project.

·         From 2010-11 to 2021-22, 34 areas including 7 National Parks, 16 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 3 Ecoparks, 1 Botanical Gardens, 2 Marine Protected Areas (Swatch of No-Ground and St. Martin's) and 2 Special Biodiversity Conservation Areas have been declared as Protected Areas . At present the total number of protected areas in the country is 51.

·        A total of 37,148 wild animals/ birds(including 55 amphibians, 755 mammals, 8934 reptiles and 27,404 birds) have been rescued from July 2012 to 2021 by performing operations by the Wildlife Crime Suppression Unit. Besides, 111 cases were filed during the period and 157 criminals were arrested.

·        Forestry Master Plan (2016-2035) has been prepared for the next 20 years to conserve the biodiversity and ecosystem of forests and also to restore forest resources which is under processing for approval.

·         In order to conserve the forests effectively, the amended Forest Act 2019 is under the process of ratification.

·         The area of 1,738sq km has been declared as Marine Protected Area (MPA) (Swatch of No Ground) in the South Bay of Bengal. Another about 1,743 sq.km around the St. Martin Island has been declared as Marine Protected Area (MPA).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CARBON TAX

A carbon tax is a fee imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels (coal, oil, gas). More to the point: a carbon tax is the core policy for reducing and eventually eliminating the use of fossil fuels whose combustion is destabilizing and destroying our climate.

 

A carbon tax is a way-the only way, really- -to have users of carbon fuels pay for the climate damage caused by releasing carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. If set high enough, it becomes a powerful monetary disincentive that motivates switches to clean energy across the economy, simply by making it more economically rewarding to move to non-carbon fuels and energy efficiency.

How is a carbon tax implemented: Utilizing existing tax collection mechanisms, a carbon tax is paid "upstream," i.e., at the point where fuels are extracted from the Earth and put into the stream of commerce, or imported into the U.S. Fuel suppliers and processors are free to pass along the cost of the tax to the extent that market conditions allow. Placing a tax on carbon gives consumers and producers a monetary incentive to reduce their carbon dioxide emissions.

 

List of the Advantages of the Carbon Tax 1. A carbon tax can provide economic benefits at the local level. 2. If people don't use fossil fuels, then they don't pay the carbon tax. 3. It can produce multiple benefits that save consumers money. 4. A carbon tax encourages innovation in the alternative energy sector. 5. The carbon tax can generate plenty of revenues for local governments. 6. The CO2 tax encourages positive lifestyle changes. 7. A carbon taxation policy is predictable in its outcomes. 8. Each fossil fuel receives its own taxation rate.

List of the Disadvantages of the Carbon Tax 1. The carbon tax creates an artificial economic market that isn't always sustainable. 2. Companies shift their production processes to countries without a CO2 tax. 3. The reduction of carbon dioxide is minimal. 4. Carbon taxes don't require set prices because they focus on consumption only. 5. It takes time to fully implement the carbon tax.  6. Businesses and consumers need time to consider the possible outcomes of CO2 taxes. 7. Administrative costs aren't always including in the CO2 tax proposals. 8. The carbon tax could encourage more consumption instead of less.  9. A CO2 tax would make existing fossil fuels worthless. 10. It may not be a useful approach.

 

CARBON TRADING

Carbon Trading is a scheme where firms (or countries) buy and sell carbon permits as part of a programme to reduce carbon emissions. Usually firms are given a certain quote to pollute a certain amount. If they wish to pollute more than their allowance then they have to buy more permits.

If they pollute less than their quota they can sell their spare permits on the market. Thus there is an incentive to reduce pollution and find the most efficient way of dealing with pollution.Over time governments can reduce pollution quotas to encourage greater efficiency

Examples of Carbon Trading: An early example of an emission trading system has been the SO2 trading system under the framework of the Acid Rain Program of the 1990 Clean Air Act in the U.S. Under the program, which is essentially a cap-and-trade emissions trading system, SO2 emissions were reduced by 50% from 1980 levels by 2007.

The European Union Emission Trading Scheme (or EU ETS) is the largest multi-national, greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme in the world. It is one of the EU's central policy instruments to meet their cap set in the Kyoto Protocol (Jones et al., 2007, p. 64)

 

CLIMATE FINANCE

Climate finance refers to local, national or transnational financing drawn from public, private and alternative sources of financing that seeks to support mitigation and adaptation actions that will address climate change. The Convention, the Kyoto Protocol and the Paris Agreement call for financial assistance from Parties with more financial resources to those that are less endowed and more vulnerable. This recognizes that the contribution of countries to climate change and their capacity to prevent it and cope with its consequences vary enormously. Climate finance is needed for mitigation, because large-scale investments are required to significantly reduce emissions. Climate finance is equally important for adaptation, as significant financial resources are needed to adapt to the adverse effects and reduce the impacts of a changing climate.

Climate finance is a growing sector in international development and environmental finance. Governments of the world are continually making more resources available for climate finance, and have committed to raising $100 billion per year by 2020 - from public and private sources - under the Paris Agreement on climate change.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ECONOMY

BLUE ECONOMY

 

Blue economy is a relatively new jargon in world, brought in to light with the book The blue economy: 10 Years 100 Inventions. 1000 Million jobs' published in 2010, written by Guntere pouli, 1t comp encompasses all economic activities associated with the oceans. harbors, ponts, costal zones and other sea based activities; envisaged the blue as the integration of ocean economy.

 

“ The blue economy model aims for improvement of human wellbeing and social equity, while significantly reducing environment risks and ecological scarcities" - Patricia Scotland. (Secretary General of Commonwealth Nation)

World the world has been rocked by food-fuel, environmental, financial and economic crisis, Ecosystem and biodiversity lass have led to on emerging climate crisis and a looming natural resource calamity. A blue economy is able to deal systematically with so many challenges. For this reason

PM Sheikh Hasina. Said"Focus needs to be placed to build a wide sustainable blue economic bell in this subcontinent with the help of untapped resources of the sea”

From Mayanmar	70,000 sqkm	14 March 2012	Bangladesh Sea Area	Exclusive Economic Zone	Sovereign Sea Area
From  India	19,467 sqkm	7 July 2014	1,18,813 sqkm.	200 Nautical Mile	354  utical Mile

 

30 million Bangladeshi directly depend on blue economy. Bangladesh has to ensure 5 percent contribution of the blue economy to the GDP to achieve the treated 8 percent economic growth.

 

Blue Economy Sectors:

·        Exploration Oil and Gas: 5 out of 23 blocks of exploration (Bay of Bangle )Presence of 17-103 TCF of Gas Hydrates, said as a Potential Goldmine

·        Food Security: 220 species Seaweed.

·        Fisheries Sectors: Bay of Bangle 800 million ton/ 0.70 million ton Sea fish: 847 Species, Crab: 6 species. Shrimp: 52 Species Lobsters: 5 Species. Ship Building and breaking: Chittagong. Narayongon's

·        Pont tax: Every Years 26 billion dollars import-export

·        Salt collection:

·        Marine and coastal tourism

·        Generation of jobs: Heavy Minerals: 13 types. cobalt, zineaon,  

·        Energy production

Government Step

o   Payra deep sea

o   The National Ocean Research Institute

o   Marine Drive Road

o   Oceanography subject

o    

Charles Brown (a ocean related Researcher) said" Bangladesh has 120 trillion dollars ocean resources which will make the Asian super powers,"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EXPORT AND IMPORT

 

Balance of Payments (In million US$)

Particulars	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2020-21*	2021-22*
Trade balance	-9472	-18178	-15835	-18569	-23778	-12359	-22306
Exports, f.o.b. (including EPZ)	34019	36285	39604	32121	36903	24708	32071
Imports, f.o.b. (including EPZ)	43491	54463	55439	50690	60681	37067	54377
Services (net)	-3288	-4201	-3176	-2578	-3002	-1738	-2502
Primary income (net)	-1870	-2641	-2382	-3070	-3172	-2160	-1903
Of which Govt. interest payments	384	597	758	960	909	605	605
Secondary income (net)	13299	15453	16903	18782	25377	17082	13877
of which workers' remittances	13240	15402	16862	18205	24778	16687	13439
Current account balance	-1331	-9567	-4490	-5435	-4575	825	-12834
Capital account	400	331	239	256	221	89	143
Financial account	4247	9011	5130	8654	13093	6474	10931
Of which FDI (net)	3038	3290	4946	3233	3387	2353	2533
Portfolio investment (net)	457	365	224	44	-269	-204	-92
Other investment (net)	2137	7128	3108	7339	12007	5639	9863
Errors and omission	-147	-632	-700	-306	535	-509	-462
Overall balance	3169	-857	179	3169	9274	6879	-2222

 

Commodity-wise Share and Growth of Export Earnings(In million US$)

	Export Earnings				Percentage of Total  Export		Growth**
	2019-20	2020-21	2020--21*	2021-22*	2020-21*	2021-22*
A) Primary Commodities:	1448	1643	1109	1406	4.29	4.15	26.78
1. Raw Jute	130	138	106	146	0.41	0.43	37.74
2. Tea	3	4	3	2	0.01	0.01	-33.33
3. Frozen Food	456	477	338	407	1.31	1.20	20.41
4. Agricultural Products	472	532	354	348	1.37	1.03	-1.69
5.Other Primary Commodities	387	492	308	503	1.19	1.49	63.31
B) Manufactured Goods:	32226	37115	24753	32437	95.71	95.84	31.04
6. Jute Goods	752	1023	757	653	2.93	1.93	-13.74
7. Leather	98	119	73	100	0.28	0.30	36.99
8. Petroleum Bi Products	23	23	15	19	0.06	0.06	26.67
9. Woven Garments	14041	14497	9691	12427	37.47.	36.72	28.23
10. Knitwear	13908	16960	11342	15069	43.86	44.53	32.86
11. Chemical Products	199	281	172	257	0.67	0.76	49.42
12. Shoe	277	344	219	290	0.85	0.86	32.42
13. Handicrafts	21	34	22	30	0.09	0.09	36.36
14. Engineering Products	293	529	342	534	1.32	1.58	56.14
15. Other Mfg. Products	2614	3305	2120	3058	8.20	9.04	44.25
Grand Total (A+B)	33674	38758	25862	33843	100	100	30.86

 

Country-wise Export Earnings (In million US$)

FY	USA	UK	Germany	France	Belgium	Italy	Netherland	Canada	Japan	Others	Total
2021-22*	6665.18	3154.94	4954.78	1676.50	601.95	1058.58	1163.56	939.20	895.03	12733.73	33843.45
2021-22* Share (%)	19.69	9.32	14.64	4.95	1.78	3.13	3.44	2.78	2.64	37.63	100.00

 

 

Country-wise Import Payments(In million US$)

FY	India	China	Singapore	Japan	Hong Kong	Taiwan	South Korea	USA	Malaysia	Others	Total
2021-22*	10026	16139	1940	2386	229	943	1343	2152	1614	22002	58774
2021-22* Share (%)	17.06	27.46	3.30	4.06	0.39	1.60	2.29	3.66	2.75	37.43	100.00

 

 

 

 

Commodity-wise Import Payments(In million US$)

Commodity	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2020-21*	2021-22*	Growth (%)**
1. Major Primary Commodities	7270	5846	6548	9889	6425	6447	0.34
Rice	1605	115	22	851	377	415	10.08
Wheat	1494	1437	1651	1830	1172	1527	30.29
Oil Seeds	571	796	1183	1406	694	1035	49.14
Crude Petroleum	365	416	731	2616	2389	574	-75.97
Cotton	3235	3082	2961	3186	1793	2896	61.52
2. Major Industrial Commodities	10818	12185	11145	14179	8116	14660	80.63
Edible Oil	1863	1656	1617	1926	1049	1831	74.55
Petroleum Products	3652	4562	4627	6369	3476	4405	26.73
Fertilizer	1006	1301	1035	1360	989	3119	215.37
Clinker	766	993	879	1048	615	754	22.60
Staple Fiber	1180	1228	1086	1040	647	1040	60.74
Yarn	2351	2445	1901	2436	1340	3511	162.01
3. Capital Machinery	5462	5413	3581	3825	2225	3773	69.57
4. Others Commodities (including EPZ)	35315	36471	33511	37702	23303	33894	45.45
Total (1+2+3+4)	58865	59915	54785	65595	40069	58774	46.68
% Change (over the corresponding year)	25.2	1.78	-8.56	19.73	-	46.68

 

 

INDUSTRY

Volume and Growth Rate of Manufacturing Sector  (At constant prices of 2015-16) (In Crore Tk.)

Type of Industry	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22*
Cottage Industry	72127 (-)	78829 (9.29)	84700 (7.45)	96704 (14.17)	100257 (3.67)	110557 (10.27)	123543 (11.75)
Small, Medium and Micro Industry	129108 (-)	142102 (10.06)	157882 (11.10)	174632 (10.61)	179325 (2.69)	204241 (13.89)	228164 (11.71)
Large Industry	221152 (-)	231388 (11.08)	257016 (12.79)	289885 (0.41)	291072 (10.61)	321967 (10.61)	363416 (12.87)
Total	422387 (-)	452319 (7.09)	499598 (10.45)	561220 (12.33)	570654 (1.68)	636765 (11.59)	715123 (12.31)

 

Disbursement of SME Credit by Banks and NBFIs (TK. in Crores)

Period	Target	Actual Disbursement				Women Ent.	Achievement %
		Trading	Manufacturing	Service	Total
2016	113503.43	90547.57	35168.63	16219.19	141935.39	5345.66	125
2017	133853.59	96934.79	42334.87	22507.66	161777.32	4772.99	121
2018	161031.89	66936.21	55739.61	36834.25	159510.07	5517.09	99.05
2019	176902.00	72522.37	58715.31	36723.99	167970.67	6108.99	94.95
2020	229153.21	83455.61	80843.34	42504.68	206803.63	8244.46	90.25
2021*	252760.64	87934.45	83007.29	44844.56	215786.30	8801.54	85.37

 

Yearly Investment, Production and Employment of BSCIC Industrial Estates

Financial Year	Investment (Cumulative) (Taka in Crore)	Annual production (Taka in Crore)	Employment (from the beginning) (In Lakhs)
2016-17	20178	55262	5.64
2017-18	25418	59107	5.79
2018-19	27689	50682	8.24
2019-20	39217	136998	8.25
2020-21	41217	60944.95	8.25
2021-22*	41217

 

Net Profit/Loss of BSEC Enterprises

Particulars	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22*
Profit	96.68	102.87	104.59	85.81	33.76	6.39
Loss	(19.60)	(23.91)	(36.69)	-31.66	-29.15	-17.26
Net Profit/(Loss)	77.08	78.96	67.9	54.15	4.61	(10.87)

 

 

Export of Drugs and Raw Materials. (In Crore Taka)

Year	Medicine production	Export of Raw Materials	Total Export	Countries
2016	2245.60	1.40	2247.05	127
2017	3192.46	3.86	3196.32	145
2018	3508.17	6.12	3514.28	146
2019	4067.95	22.14	4090.09	147
2020	4069.28	86.19	4155.47	151
2021	6548.30	160.77	6709.07	157

 

Disbursement and Recovery of Industrial Loans (Tk in crore)

Fiscal Year	Disbursement			Recovery
	Working    Capital	Term Loan	Total	Working  Capital	Term Loan	Total
2016-17	238517.05	62155.08	300672.13	185532.77	52094.57	237627.34
2017-18	275629.05	70768.17	346397.22	202980.48	70193.08	273173.56
2018-19	319006.98	80850.08	399857.05	243194.05	76568.81	319762.87
2019-20	312134.01	74257.02	386391.03	256605.77	69723.89	326329.66
2020-21	324826.11	68765.26	393591.37	285477.80	58488.70	343966.50
2021-22*	197855.17	33606.82	231461.99	153153.04	31456.89	184609.93

 

BANGLADESH  RMG INDUSTRY

 

The Ready-made Garment or RMG industry, which started its journey four decades ago, is now the powerhouse of Bangladesh’s economy. Almost 80% of Bangladesh’s total export earnings comes from this sector. In the fiscal year 2020-21, Bangladesh earned 31.45 billion USD from RMG exports. Besides its contribution to generating foreign revenue, this sector also employs millions of people in the country. In 2015, there were more than 4 million RMG workers in Bangladesh; Now 4.2 million workers were employed in 4,500 ready made garment (RMG) factories across the country. Amongst these, more than 1.8 million workers are male, and 2.5 million are female. The country’s RMG sector received a boost as a result of these initiatives, and export volume doubled. In the Fiscal Year 2011-2012, the RMG sector’s export earnings stood at 19.08 billion USD, while in the Fiscal Year 2020-2021, it increased to 31.45 billion. As a result, Bangladesh has more green garment manufacturers than any other country in the world at the moment.The apparel industry of Bangladesh touched the milestone of having 155 US Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified green factories, the highest in the world. According to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), Bangladesh’s RMG sector has taken the lead in green manufacturing with 46 Platinum, 95 Gold, 10 Silver and another 4 LEED-certified factory buildings as of January 10,2022. The green factory  helps to cut down the usage of energy by 40% and water consumption by more than 30%. It  emits less carbon which further ensures environmental safety, said the BGMEA officials.Green buildings also ensure a safe workplace for workers as the factory owners have to follow certain rules for the construction of the buildings. According to the apparel manufacturers, the move towards green factory buildings helped to regain Bangladesh’s image after the Rana Plaza tragedy, which claimed 1,134 lives and left more than 2,000 injured.

Export earnings: The apparel sector is responsible for more than 82% of the total export earnings of the country.According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), Bangladesh earned $24.8 billion in the first 11 months (January-November) of 2020.During the same period this year, the apparel sector earned $31.77 billion, fetching a growth of 28%.Another gain of 2021 was that the apparel items of Bangladesh were in the good books of American buyers as they mostly chose our products over others.The United States is the top destination for RMG exports from Bangladesh. Bangladesh outpaced China, Vietnam, and Indonesia in terms of growth in apparel exports to the United States in the first 10 months of this year, according to Otexa.The country also fetched $5.7 billion from the destination, up by around 27% from the same period in 2020, where China’s exports amounted to $16 billion with a 25% growth, followed by Vietnam 14% and Indonesia 10%.

Reasons Behind the Growth

In the 1970s, developed countries initiated outsourcing from developing countries. As a result, large retailers in the EU and the USA continue to order from Bangladeshi entrepreneurs on the condition that they meet certain export criteria.

 

Low Investment Cost : International buyers helped the country’s RMG industry in a variety of ways, including technological and marketing assistance. For example, they provide back-to-back LC, or letter of credit, services to Bangladeshi exporters to help them handle their working capital issues. Exporters can also build up factories in the country with a low capital investment in this way. On the other hand, Bangladeshi entrepreneurs are also interested since international buyers are responsible for marketing, and garments is a low-investment and low-tech industry

Low Labor Cost: As Bangladesh is a developing country, labor costs are lower in any manufacturing or industrial industry. Bangladesh has a large workforce of unskilled workers in particular. Due to low production costs, you can get the Bangladeshi garments product at a competitive price.

.

Government Initiatives: For the development of the RMG industry in Bangladesh, the government of Bangladesh adopted an import policy in the 1980s and offered bonded warehouse facilities instead of a duty drawback system for 100% export-oriented garment factories. The government introduced 1 percent additional cash subsidy on garment export in the beginning of the 2019-20 fiscal year.At present, exporters receive 4% alternative cash assistance instead of customs bond and duty drawback in the export-oriented apparel sector.

Diversified Export Destinations: One of the causes for the RMG sector’s success in Bangladesh over the last decade has been diversification in export destinations. However, 62% of Bangladesh’s RMG exports are still going to European countries, and 18% to the US market. As a result, Bangladesh’s dependence on the American market is declining along with the increase in exports of non-traditional markets.

Free Trade Agreement: From 1974 to 2004, the World Trade Organization’s Global Trade Agreement or Multi-Fiber Agreement (MFA) boosted the growth of the RMG industry in Bangladesh. According to the MFA agreement, the number of garments that developing countries can export to western developed countries is determined by quota.There were no Cautious restrictions in Bangladesh until 1986, which led to many quota-restricted countries, especially some South Korean entrepreneurs, connecting with Bangladesh via joint venture and subcontracts. At the same time, the Bangladesh government.also launched a few initiatives to attract foreign buyers and investors. This helped Bangladesh to keep a monopoly and hold a captive market in the RMG exports to many other countries, notably the United States. However, it was assumed that the cancellation of the Multifibre Arrangement would be Severely damaging for the RMG sector’s growth and competitiveness. As a result, according to 2004 research on Bangladesh’s economic impact, eliminating the quota system would cut the RMG sector’s exports by 8%, and the country’s GDP will fall by 0.54 percent. But, during that time, Bangladesh’s RMG industry was still capable of recovering from such a setback. According to the Export Promotion Bureau, Exports climbed by 19 percent on average over the first six months of the quota-free period. Furthermore, the EU’s GSP facility played a vital role in the growth of Bangladesh’s RMG business

Challenges in the RMG Industry

Lack of Product Diversification: Lack of Product Diversification is one of the biggest challenges in this industry. Although Bangladesh has been exporting garments products for almost four decades, the items in the low-priced segment are more. On the other hand, competing countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, China, and India are producing premium segment products. In addition, only five low-price items occupy more than 80% of the total production capacity of Bangladesh. Items like T-shirts, trousers, and sweaters dominate the list of total export items.

At present, Bangladesh can make fabrics from synthetic fiber as well as complex products like outerwear, tailored items, and lingerie. However, most of the factories in the country do not yet have the necessary equipment to make such products, and the factory owners don’t seem much interested in providing such facilities.

Backward Linkage: Bangladesh’s RMG sector continues to lack adequate support for backward linkage. As a result, in most cases, we have to import raw materials from external sources such as foreign countries. For example, Bangladesh is still dependent on China for accessories like woven fabrics, laces, etc. While Bangladesh is ahead in terms of exports and export revenues are coming in, the sector’s value addition is still insufficient. However, the vast majority of export money is spent on importing these accessories and supplies, which is undermining the confidence of exporters and manufacturers.On the other hand, competing countries like Cambodia, Vietnam, China, and India have strong backward linkage. Apart from circular knits, Bangladesh is still lagging in terms of backward linking.

Lack of Efficiency & R&D Section: Bangladesh’s biggest drawback in the RMG industry is the lack of efficiency and infrastructural development. Because one has to face bureaucratic complications in setting up a new factory in the country and seeking permission for utility connections like gas, electricity, etc. Moreover, efficient workforce development is also a big challenge.

In addition, most of the factories in Bangladesh do not have an R&D section. In Bangladesh, factories take 3 to 4 months from product development design and sample making, whereas China can complete the same process in just 15 to 30 days. Other competing countries also have quality R&D units. Strong R&D facilities will significantly boost the growth of the country’s RMG industry, and companies will be able to produce at a larger capacity in a shorter period of time.

Concerns the Status of Preferential Trade Facilities: Bangladesh may lose preferential trade facilities in the EU and other countries if it moves from a least developed to a medium country. According to research by BGMEA in 2020, since 61% of Bangladesh’s duty-free export shipments are delivered to the EU region, there will be a loss of $4 billion if these duty-free exports are halted. Bangladesh has to keep pace with the competing countries in order to overcome this challenge. For this, the RMG plants in the country must place focus on productivity, digitization, automation, and sustainability.

Bangladesh is currently in second place in terms of RMG exports, while in 2020, Vietnam was in second place for a while, with a market value of 29 billion, leaving Bangladesh behind with 6.4% of the global apparel market. Bangladesh had the third biggest market share at the time, with a market value of 28 billion dollars and a market share of 6.3%According to BGMEA, the ongoing lockdown during the Corona epidemic is responsible for this. In addition, Vietnam has been trying to overtake Bangladesh since 2015. However, from January to July 2021, Bangladesh surpassed Vietnam as the second-highest apparel exporter, with over 1.94 billion in export earnings. At that time, Bangladesh’s export revenues were 18.8 billion dollars, while Vietnam’s were 16.86 billion dollars. However, to stay ahead of Vietnam, the government, BGMEA, and the garment industry must implement significant legislative changes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GREEN ECONOMY

“We all must move from greed economy to a green economy" - Susilo Bambang.

Green economy is a relatively new jargon come into the limelight by after UN conference on sustainable Development, Rio-20 in 2012. In a green economy, growth in income and employment is driven by public and private investments that reduce carbon emission and pollution enhance energy and resource efficiency, and prevent the loss of biodiversity and eco-system service.

According to UNEP " A green economy can be defined as one that results in increased human well-being and social equity, while significantly reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities"

Bangladesh is called ebb-tide country. Day by day it's sea level has been increasing for the cause results it's costal area may go of carbon emission all over the world, results it’s costal area may go under waters. Not only that, natural calamities like cyclones, excessive rain, flood, droughts, river erosion common phenomenon, hampered the development Process of Bangladesh. So to protect and save our economy environment we need to emphasis on green economy.

In this regard - Environmentalist, Political activist- Wangari Mathai; said “ The environment and the economy are really both two sides of the same coin. If we can not sustain the environment, we can not sustain ourselves"

Pathway green economy:

·        Renewable Energy: Bangladesh govt. has a plan produce 40,600 MW 40.600 by 2030 and 60.000 MW by 2041, and of them at least 40% of the energy come from Renewable energy. Bangladesh is now taking from seven solar project and there are seven ongoing project too, and under planning 23 project. Bangladesh Banks 2nd in world in use of solar home system.

·        Green Building:

·        Green Transportation: 20% energy consumption, 25%, carbon emission

·        Green Waters Management: Bangladesh signed MOU with the Netherlands on Bangladesh Delta plan-2100"

·        Green Waste Management:

·        Green employment:

·        Green agriculture:

·        Greem banking:

It is the pathway towards achieving the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development, eradicating poverty while safeguarding the ecological thresholds. We should keep in the mind we must keep in the mind. during economic development that we must have to safeguard ecological thresholds, because man has only one planet named" Earth', there is no place to hide.

“There is no plan B. because there is no planet B” Bon-ki-Moon

GREEN FINANCING IN BANGLADESH

According to IFC, Bangladesh is one of the top 3 countries promoting green financing Bangladesh Bank has encouraged both banks and non-banking financial institutions over the past few years to implement a 'go-green' policy by developing a list of 52 products and initiatives across eight categories along with product innovation to assess green finance initiatives.

·        Banks and The Funding for Lending Scheme (FIs) were instructed to form a"Climate Risk Fund", allocating at least 10% of their Corporate Social Responsibility budget.

·        Banks and FIs were instructed to set up Solid Waste Management System, Rainwater Harvesting, and Solar Power Panel in their newly constructed or arranged building infrastructure.

·        All the banks and FIs must ensure the establishment and activeness of Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) during financing to all possible clients.

·        All banks and FIs to establish Sustainable Finance Unit and Sustainable Finance Committee by abolishing both green banking and Corporate Social Responsibility Guidelines on Environmental and Social Risk Management (ESRM) for Banks and Financial Institutions along with an Excel-based Risk Rating Model were issued. A comprehensive list of product/initiatives of Green Finance for banks and FIs was circulated.

·        A new uniform reporting format of Quarterly Review Report on green banking activities was circulated for banks and FIs to monitor green banking policy and other regulations and to ensure the quality and uniformity of data provided by banks and FIs.

·        Investment by scheduled banks and FIs in any impact fund, which is registered ow under BSEC (Alternative Investment) Rules, 2015 and formed for environment hot friendly sectors/purposes (resource and energy efficiency, renewable energy, waste management and treatment, women and child right protection etc.) will be considered as green finance.

Challenges of Green financing:

·        The costs and benefits of economic activities such as air and water pollution, are not internalized in the pricing system.

·        Banks are typically not willing to make loans for long-term sustainable infrastructure projects.

·        Environmentally and socially responsible investors do not know which companies to invest in, because of lack of information.

·        Investors do not have the reference data or the analytical tools necessary to assess investments in green projects.

Requirements to promote GF: Policies and capacity development, Good disclosure to allow financial investors to understand risk properly , Proper valuation inspires to invest for instance in conserved forests through tradable securities like bonds.

FOURTH INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

 

The world economy has made the most progress as a result of the Industrial Revolution. After three important industrial revolutions in the history of the world, we are now on the brink of a technological revolution. The fourth industrial revolution is a relatively new jargon come into the limelight by a book ‘The Fourth Industrial Revolution’ written by Klaus Schwab. According to him, It is the fusion of technologies and there interaction across the physical, digital and biological domins, that make AIR fundamentally different from previous revolution.

The fourth industrial revolution will be basically the digital revolution. As a result of this revolution, modern technology will be used in factories on a large scale. Not only the factories but also the communication system will undergo a radical change. In the case of previous industrial revolutions, it has been seen that man operated the machine but in the 4th revolution the machine was improved.

So that the instrument can handle itself.

 

The positive aspects of the fourth industrial revolution are:

·        This revolution will increase the income and quality of life of all people. Everything will be easier and man will enjoy his life to a greater extent.There will also be major changes in the production and exchange process of goods/ services.

·        The cost of sending goods from one country to another will be greatly reduced.

·        The most positive impact will be on trade. It was unthinkable to sit at home all the time as before, but in the future anyone can enjoy all the benefits of the world without going out at all.

·        The field of work and demand of skilled people will increase. New posts related to information technology sector will be created.

 

The downsides are:

Many people will lose their jobs as a result of the 4th Industrial Revolution. Advanced machines, robots, etc. will take over the work of human beings. About 38-47% of people in the United States, 35% in Germany, 30% in the United Kingdom and 21% in Japan are likely to lose their jobs due to automation. As a result of the 4th Industrial Revolution, 60% of the people in Bangladesh will lose their jobs in the garment industry, 55% in the furniture industry, 40% in the processed agricultural products, 35% in the leather and footwear industry and 20% in the tourism and service industries.

·        There will be a shortage of skilled manpower.

·        The underdeveloped world will fall further behind.

·        Developing countries like Bangladesh can be victims of Dutch Disease.

·        Poverty and income inequality will be extreme.

·        The use of lethal weapons in war will be increased.

 

The Fourth Industrial Revolution Challenges:

·        Ensuring data security.

·        Disruption of production due to technical problems.

·        Protect privacy.

·        Ensure continuous connection between the Internet and other technologies.

 

Bangladesh and the Fourth Industrial Revolution:

Bangladesh has already done very well in information technology and is working to adapt all the modern information technology in the world. In the changed conditions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, only people with information technology and technical knowledge will survive. But in our country technically skilled manpower is only 14%. According to a different opinion, it is 38% Looking at the developed world, we see that there are about 60% technically skilled people.

 

So, we have to move forward with a plan from now on.

·        We have to build technically skilled people in the country. In this case, the public and private sectors are being given equal importance.

·        Apart from formal and non-formal education, e-Governance, Service Delivery, Public Policy and Implementation, Information Technology, Decentralization, Urban Development and Planning, Challenges and Administrative Policy Strategies for SDG Implementation training should be Arranged.

·        As most of the employment will be reduced in the future, employment will be created again depending on the skilled manpower. So for good reason we should focus on technical education.

 

The fourth industrial revaluation, However, is not only about Smart and connected machines and systems. It's scope is much wider" Klaus Schwab

 

E-COMMERCE

 

"You can't wait for customers to come to you. You have to figure out where they are. go there and dreag them back to your store" Paul Graham

 

According BTRC, there are approximately 2000 e-commerce sites and 50,000 Facebook-based outlet delivering almost 30,000 products.a project titled "I will do e-commerce, build my own business" has been taken up by the Ministry of Commerce. Under this initiative, ecommerce training will be provided to5.000 entrepreneurs. Around 3,500 entrepreneurs have already been trained.On 4 July, 2021 the Ministry of Commerce issued the Digital Commerce Operation Guidelines.

Opportunities:

The number of internet subscribers more than 4 Crore 80 lakh (BTRC) so, it's the most important asset for E-commerce. In Bangladesh, retail e-commerce is growing at 72 percent a month. At present, more than 35,000 individuals and above 25,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are part of this sector. In 2016, $50 million was invested in the e-commerce sector in Bangladesh. Out of which $10 million was from Foreign Direct Investment.

According to the E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), this sector in Bangladesh grew by nearly 100% between 2016 and 2019.In 2020, thanks to the global coronavirus pandemic that compelled people to stay at home as much as possible, the e-commerce business experienced a significant 166 per cent growth as consumers moved online for their shopping needs, said Syed Almas Kabir, president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services.

"If do build a great experience customer you tell each other about that. Word of mouth is very powerful. "  Jeff Bezos

 

Bangladesh E-commerce  Market  size by _statista.com

statista.com (million USD)		e-Commerce Transaction BB
2018	1313	January'22	821.2
2019	1448	January'21	660.4
2020	2077	January'20	269.3
2021	2480	January'19	193.5
2022	2850
2023	3097

Existing circumstances:

Evolving the journey from 2012, this booming industry has been facilitated by expanded internet connections along with the approval of the online payment gateway system in 2009 and payment through debit and credit card in 2013 by Bangladesh Bank. According to BTRC, there are approximately 2000 e-commerce sites and 50,000 Facebook-based outlets delivering almost 30,000 products a day popularly in almost these types of e-commerce-

§  B2B-BGMEA website, bizbangladesh, Amazon.

§  B2C-foodpanda, ajkerdeal, bdbazar, daraz, rokomari, Facebook.

§  C2C - bikroy, clickbd.

§  B2E- bdjobs.

§  B2G it includes licensing, government operation which can be called as e-governance

 

Advantage/opportunity of BD:

§  The number of internet subscribers more than 4 Crore 80 lakh (BTRC).so, it's the most important asset for E-commerce.

§  In Bangladesh, retail e-commerce is growing at 72 percent a month. At present, more than 35,000 individuals and above 25,000 small and medium enterprises dive (SMEs) are part of this sector.

§  E-commerce provides us the opportunity to be attached with a global reach through Alibaba or amazon like worldwide sites.

§  It has created thousands of doors of businesses and reached to the people of all ages and transaction has been more facilitated through mobile (Bkash, rocket), cards and dedicated 24 hours' courier services (Sundarban, SA paribohon most prominently).

§  The reluctant young generation is being attracted to entrepreneurship and this rate is in an upward direction. Handcrafts (like an embroidered quilt, clay pots, etc) are now a source of business through e-commerce, the entrepreneurs are trying to brand those traditional accessories to home and abroad which is giving an earning source to the impoverished rural women.

§  Today, while people are bound to be accustomed to the adulterated life in the  country, e-commerce has given away to honest businessmen to sell good quality products which are making people inclined to online shopping.

§  While the globe has been at standstill like lockdown during pandemic, this industry  has shown a ray of hope to people. Many people losing their jobs have entered to startup and are helping to revolve the wheel of economy.

 

Disadvantage / Concerns/Challenges of E-commerce:

An e-CAB study involving 1,100 of its member companies, has determined a loss of BDT 666 crore directly to the industry as a whole during this lockdown. Besides, this flourishing industry has more to face like -

§  Incommensurate supply in comparison to demand makes the situation difficult for online businesses.

§  Labor shortages have risen up that causes a great fall out during this pandemic.

§  Worker safety and provision of proper masks, PPES have become added liabilities for businesses.

§  Customer service is limited as the high speed Internet facility has not yet covered in rural areas.

§  There is lack of gratification because of slow delivery process.

§  Fraudulence can be happened due to the lack of implemented of e-commerce Act. Limited knowledge of internet which creates a turmoil because they do not fulfill the customer satisfaction. Tendency of huge profit may make this sector unreliable to the customer.

 

Governments steps to E-commerce:

·        To expand the e-commerce business in Bangladesh and generate more employment governance opportunities by creating new entrepreneurs in the ecommerce sector, a project titled ("I will do e-commerce, build my own business" has been taken up by the Ministry of Commerce. The objective of this project is to develop the skills of new entrepreneurs in e-commerce and create small and medium entrepreneurs in e commerce in the rural economy of the country.

·        Under this initiative, e-commerce training will be provided to 5,000 entrepreneurs. Around 3,500 entrepreneurs have already been trained.

·        In addition, steps have been taken under the Bangladesh Regional Connectivity Project to empower women, through which training is being imparted to women entrepreneurs on cut-flower, agro-processing and ICT skills.

·        The government has opened e-commerce site for every district in 2016. E-commerce guideline 2021 has been Provided.

 

On 4 July, 2021 the Ministry of Commerce issued the Digital Commerce Operation Guidelines, these includes-(brief)

o   The requirement of listing the detailed conditions of purchase and return.

o   Displaying the quantity of goods, their ingredient, price, delivery or other charges. No addictive or prohibited substance may be sold on digital commerce platforms;

o   No arrangement for online betting or online gambling may be made.

o   No lottery or raffle-draw may be made in contravention to the existing provisions under the Penal Code, 1860 and without the approval of Bangladesh Bank.

 

Recommendations:

E-commerce sites are not ready to handle huge pressures from consumers alongside problems of supply chain disruptions and a lack of manpower. So, to reach the full potentialities concerns should be summed up like this-

§  Diversification of business can be a great solution for this flourishing sector for not to be affected during this time (ajkerdeal and priyoshop have done this).

§  Giant marketplace can introduce a category to help local suppliers to find markets (bikroy dotcom)

§  E-commerce regulatory acts should be implemented. Continuous supply and delivery chain should be maintained.

§  Continuous supply and delivery chain should be maintained.

 

F-COMMERCE

“F-commerce is flourishing in the country,” said Ghulam Rahman, president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).There are 36 million active social media users in the country, of which 8.4 million are Facebook users. The Facebook commerce (f-commerce) market is about Tk 312 crore.

As per Statista, in 2020, Facebook’s subscriber base in Bangladesh was 39 million even as other reports suggest capital city Dhaka alone has over 22 million Facebook users while the F-commerce market size in the country is approximately around Taka 312 crore. Further, 50 per cent of Facebook stores are owned by females and Facebook page owners are able to earn anywhere between Taka 10,000 to Taka 100,000 on average per month.

F-Commerce Facts

·        Dhaka alone has 22 million active Facebook user

·        Among all the social media users. 89.62% use Facebook

·        The F-commerce market size in Bangladesh is approximately BDT 312 crore

·        72% of F-commerce users are male

·        50% of the Facebook stores are owned by females

·        More than 300,000 Bangladeshi stores are operating in Facebook

·        Only 100 of these stores are associated with E-commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB)

·        Page owners are able to earn anywhere. between BDT 10,000 to BDT 100,000 on average per month

·         Most of the users of Facebook pages are aged between 18-24

Facilities of F-commerce:

·        From the consumer point of view, the biggest advantage derived from F-commerce is the ease of browsing through tonnes of products from the comfort of your own place, and the flexibility of time.

·        Another advantage of starting an F-commerce initiative is a somewhat readymade target segment.

·        Consistent Audience Growth.

·        More Authentic Engagement and Traffic.

·        Customer Loyalty and Retention.

 

Major challenges of F commerce industry in Bangladesh:

Increased tariff on imports:In Bangladesh High tariff rate is felt in the F-commerce industry because most of the stores are resellers or import materials which restrict the group from achieving economy of scale.

Logistics: When it comes to the delivering products outside Dhaka it become tough for these small stores because outside Dhaka delivery service is poor and mostly dependent on local courier services.

No legal framework: No surveillance on the F-commerce sites and no legal structure make this sector unorganized and defamation of the business is a big issue.

Payment System: Platforms like ShopUp, have alleviated the problem to an extent by enabling bKash payment. Most stores are still highly dependent on cash on delivery or use a complicated process for mobile payment.

Insufficient business knowledge: In this large pool of stores, majority of them fail to create a sustainable business in the long run due to lack of basic business knowledge such as customer management.

Access to financial funds: Many of the Facebook stores are not registered and have no trade license, while others fail to maintain proper financial statements. Thus, Shot banks are often hesitant to provide them with loans due to the high risk of defaulting involved. Loans available to them are subject to high interest rates.

 

RE- COMMERCE

Benefits of re-Commerce:

·        Sustainability -Recycling and reusing products reduces the demand for the - production of new ones. This, in turn, reduces the demand for raw materials and lowers energy usage in factories, and reduces the emission of harmful gases and the accumulation of waste in landfills.

·        Saving money - Second-hand items come at a discount price, which helps consumers save money on items that may have been too expensive to buy at retail prices.

·        Encourages conscious consumption - consumers are keen to buy items that have good resale value.

·        Encourages recycling - Consumers are encouraged to recycle and reuse products that they don't want but are still of good quality.

·        Space-saving - People can keep their closets from overflowing by reselling products that no longer fit or they no longer want.

Challenges of re-Commerce:

·        The primary challenge for the re-commerce sector is that it is mostly unorganized. Most people in Bangladesh have been used to dealing with the unorganized players where there is a lack of transparency, limited selection and availability, no quality assurance or warranty, and absence of clarity about the genuineness of the gadget. It is common for fake or stolen devices to be sold to unwary customers. The secondary transactions primarily happen through unorganized offline dealers spread across the country.

·        The concept of refurbished gadgets is still quite new, and a layman is not even aware of the term 'refurbished'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

AGRICULTURE

 

Food Grains Production(In lakh MT.)

Food Grains	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22*
Rice	338.06	362.79	373.63	386.95	376.08	394.81
Wheat	13.12	10.99	11.48	12.46	10.85	12.26
Maize	35.78	38.93	46.99	54.02	56.63	58.75
Total	386.96	412.71	432.11	453.44	443.56	465.83
Fish Production (In lakh metrictonnes)
Country Total	41.34	42.77	43.84	45.03	46.21	46.64
Number of Livestock and Poultry Population (Number in Lakh)
Total livestock	551.39	555.34	559.26	563.30	647.45
Total Poultry	3379.98	3470.35	3563.18	3658.50	3292.00
Milk	2.83	94.06	99.23	106.80	119.85	94.62
Meat	71.54	72.60	75.14	76.74	84.40	70.99
Eggs	1493.31	1552.00	1711.00	1736.00	2057.64	1578.67

 

Seed Production and Distribution (In metrictonnes)

Name of the Seed	FY 2019-20		FY 2020-21		FY 2021-22
	Production	Distribution	Production	Distribution	Production (target)	Distribution*
Total	137737	138829	149004	138572	157677	121598

 

Food Budget:

Internal Procurement of Food Grains In FY 2020-21 the revised budget of public food grain procurement was 14.04 lakh MT (13.04

lakh MT rice and 1.00 lakh MT wheat). Out of this targeted amount, 14.50 lakh MT rice was  domestically procured from Boro and Aman seasons. About 1.03 lakh MT wheat was procuredfrom last Wheat season. In FY 2021-22, the revised budget for public food

grains procurement has been set at 19.50 lakh MT (18.50 lakh MT rice and 1.00 lakh MT wheat). Against this target, 13.60 lakh MT rice has been procured from Boro and Aman up to 28 February 2022.

Food Grains Import

In FY 2021-22, the revised budget for government food grain import was 13.33 lakh MT (7.32 lakh MT rice and 6.01 lakh MT Wheat). Out of the budget, a total of 10.59 lakh MT food grains (6.51 lakh MT rice and 4.08 lakh MT wheat) was imported up to February 2022. On the other hand, in private sector a total of 27.69 lakh MT food grains (3.04 lakh MT rice and 24.65 lakh MT wheat) was imported during the same period. As a result, a total amount of imported food grain is 38.28 lakh MT (9.55 lakh MT rice and 28.73 lakh MT wheat).

 

Public Food Distribution:

Under the Public Food Distribution System (PFDS) government distributes food grains to prioritised groups of employees and low- income people through different channels. Under this programme, food grains are distributed through monetised channel that includes subsidized distribution programme such as - Open Market Sale (OMS), Essential Priority (EP), Others Priority (OP), Food friendly program (Khaddya bandhob Kormosuchi), LE programme and so on. On the other hand, non-monetised channels are all the social safety net programmes like Food for Work (FFW), Test Relief (TR), Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF), Vulnerable Group Development(VGD), Gratuitous Relief (GR) and others. In FY 2020-21, the government had a revised budget of 24.53 lakh MT food grains for distribution and the actual distribution was 22.89 lakh MT (monetised 15.60 lakh MT and nonmonetised lakh 7.29 MT). In FY 2021-22, the government food grains distribution budget has revised and set at 32.38 lakh MT. Against thisbudget, up to February  2022, total actual distribution was 19.05 lakh MT, where 13.46 lakh MT was in monetised channels and 5.59 lakh MT in Non-monetised channel.

Food Grain Storage Capacity:The total capacity of food godowns and silos in the country till February 2022 in FY 2021-22 stands at 21.86 lakh MT; Which was 21.67 lakh MT in the same period of FY 2020-21.

 

 

FOOD SAFETY

Following the ‘Food Safety Act-2013’, the government of Bangladesh has established Bangladesh Food Safety Authority (BFSA) which is in effect since February 2015 with a view to ensuring safe food for the people of the country. 2nd February in each year is being observed as National Food Safety Day since 2018.

Bangladesh Food Safety Authority, as a central coordinating body, conducts mobile courts with awareness campaigns against food adulteration through coordination among all concerned government and non-government stakeholders. Conducts food safety and quality testing, restaurant grading and monitoring activities. 900 food samples have been collected till February 2022 in FY 2021-22. Of the tested samples, 533 were standardised and 62 were substandardised by the government-recognised accredited labs. As on February 2022, 112 food establishments were inspected on site by head office, 4,135 by district office and 8,455 by the designated food safety inspector. A total of 12,702 food establishments (hotels/restaurants, sweets and confectionery, bakery and others.) were inspected on the spot and provided necessary instructions. Besides, grading of 33 hotel-restaurant/food establishments and regrading of 22 hotel-restaurant/food establishments have been provided with stickers.Till February 2022, 105 cases have been filed against 101 people through 110 mobile courts and fines of Tk. 1.40 crore have been imposed. In addition, 2,100 food workers have been trained to

improve the quality of service of hotel/restaurant related traders and employees. In the Mujib Year, following the hygiene rules of COVID-19, till July-February 2022, about 28,650 participants have been imparted public awareness training on safe food through 443 seminars/workshops at divisional/district/upazila level and 130 seminars/workshops in educational institutions (schools/colleges). On the occasion of the 5^th National Safe Food Day 2022, discussion meetings on food security were held with stakeholders in all the districts of the country.

Use of Chemical Fertilizer (In ‘000’metrictonn)

	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22*
Total Fertilizer Use	4926.77	5093.45	5422.00	5457.00	6073.00	5691.50
Area under Irrigation (Area in lakh hectare)
Total area under irrigation	54.90	55.27	55.57	55.87	56.27	56.54

 

Year-wise Disbursement and Recovery of Agricultural Credit (In crore Tk.)

Fiscal Year	Target	Disbursement	Recovery	Balance
2016-17	17550.00	20998.70	18841.16	39047.57
2017-18	20400.00	21393.55	21503.12	40601.11
2018-19	21800.00	23616.25	23734.32	42974.29
2019-20	24124.00	22749.03	21245.24	45592.86
2020-21	26292.00	25511.35	27123.90	45939.80
2021-22*	28,391.00	19,530.25	17,597.68	48834.80

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PROBLEM AND SOLUTION

POVERTY AND BANGLADESH

Measures of Poverty:

Under the CBN method, two poverty lines, ie, "upper poverty line" and "lower poverty line" are used to determine "poor" and "extreme poor" respectively. The "international poverty line" is defined as $1.90 per day (updated from the previous poverty line of $1.25 to $1.90 in 2015).

 

Poverty situation in Bangladesh:

·        According to the recent estimates of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), The poverty and extreme poverty rate in Bangladesh came down to 20.5 and 10.5 per cent in the fiscal Year 2020-2021.

·        According to United Nations report, before pandemic, Bangladesh was on track to halve poverty by 2030 because the country lifted around 19 million people out of multidimensional poverty between 2014 and 2019.

·        According to SANEM's estimate, there are another 36 million people who are "non poor" but can be categorized as a vulnerable population. The overall poverty rate will be 40.9 percent, which means that another 20.4 percent of the population will fall into poverty during Covid.

Causes of poverty in Bangladesh: ·        One of the factors that generate poverty is the prevalence of natural disasters. As a low-lying country situated on the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries to violent weather patterns that regularly destroy crops, homes and lives.

According to BBS projection data: Year Poverty rate Extreme Poverty rate 2025 12.17% 5.28% 2030 7.02% 2.55%

·        Poor city planning in the capital, Dhaka, creates severe traffic that chokes 3.2 million hours of productivity in a day, which costs the country millions of dollars lost in GDP per year.

·        Lack of infrastructure.

·        Lockdown and Covid-19 effects on economy are the issues for recent poverty.

·        Lack of good jobs/job growth.

·        Lack of proper education.

·        Social injustice.

·        Lack of government support.

 

Role of Government to Poverty Alleviation:

Bangladesh has achieved an outstanding development in poverty alleviation during the last The decade because of successive nonstop endeavors of the government. According to Household Income and Expenditure Survey (HIES),

·        The incidence of poverty was reduced to 20.5 percent in FY 2020-2021.

·        In order to attain the desired target of poverty alleviation, the government provides special priority in social safety net programs. For this reason, the scope and allocation of social safety-net programs are being extended every year. Allocation in the social security sector Tk 1 lakh 7614 crore tk in the budget for FY2021-22

·        The government has been implementing some general safety net programs such as You ensuring food security, distribution of free food, food for work and test relief and so on.

·        Apart from, the government has also implementing some special projects for instance 'Aktee Bari Aktee Khamar' (One House One Farm), 'Ashrayan', artGrihayan,' 'Ghore Phera' in order to make a hunger and poverty free country.

·        In addition, the government offers allowances for widows, destitute women, old aged people disabled people and so on. Estensing fupy lisah

·        Bangladesh has come up with a fiscal stimulus package equivalent to 3.6 percent of its gross domestic product.

·        More than 100 institutions across the country have provided micro loans worth more than Tk 150,000 crore to around 3 crore poor and destitute people with the aim of alleviating poverty.

 

Ways to eradicate poverty in Bangladesh:

§  First, Bangladesh will need to maintain growth in income, which continues to be one of the key drivers of poverty reduction.

§  Second, Bangladesh should cater more aggressively to the skills development of its growing youth population to fully harness the "demographic opportunity" resulting from the falling fertility rates-the other key driver of poverty reduction.

§  Third, Bangladesh can make better use of its vast social safety net expenditures through improvements in program design so as to emphasize human capital accumulation (such as child nutrition and cognitive development, education, and skills) and productive employment.

 

 

 

 

Other recommendations to eradicate poverty and achieve SDGs goal:

 

§  Ensure that all men and women, in particular the poor and the vulnerable, have equal rights to economic resources. Ensure significant mobilization of resources from a variety of sources, including through enhanced development co-operation.

§  Enhancing the enabling environment at the national and regional levels to attract more public and private investment in building and maintaining appropriate infrastructure, including ports, roads, transportation, electricity and power generation and information and communications technology infrastructure.

§  Fostering entrepreneurship and innovation, building capacity and increasing the competitiveness.

§  Creating local decent jobs through private and public projects and encouraging entrepreneurs to start up environmentally sound businesses through adequate and appropriate incentives

§  Setting national regulatory and policy frameworks, as appropriate, that enable business and industry to advance sustainable development initiatives.

Monthly Household Nominal Income, Expenditure and Consumption Expenditure by Residence

	Average Monthly (Taka)
Year of Survey	Income	Expenditure	Consumption     Expenditure
2000	5842	4881	4537
2005	7203	6134	5964
2010	11479	11200	11003
2016	15988	15715	15420

 

Disbursement of Loan by Karmasangsthan Bank (In Crore Taka)

	Name of the programmes	Disbursement	Recoverable	Recovered	Rate of Recovery(%)	Beneficiary	Employment Generation
1	Bangabandhu Youth Credit  programme	447.28	239.95	212.20	88%	29567	106737
2	Covid-19 Credit Assistance Programme for proverty Alleviation and Employment Generation	500.00	194.10	172.63	90%	29176	105325
3	Loan Assistance Program Under Newly Announced Incentive Package No. 4 in Favor of Low-Income People Affected by Restrictions Due to Ongiong Infection of Covid-19	250.00	9.25	9.24	100%	11806	42620
4	Own Loan Programme	6328.43	7238.70	6833.66	94%	630335	2275509
5	Special Programme :
	a) Micro Credit Programme for self retired/ retrenched workers and employees of Industries/ Factories for self employment Loan Programme	111.71	109.96	103.58	94%	20120	72633
	b) Credit Programme to assist the entrepreneurs for the Development of Agro-based Industries	69.15	80.75	78.70	97%	2396	8650
	c) Fisheries and Livestock Loan Assistance Programme of Bangladesh Bank	946.87	644.84	615.96	96%	57351	207037
	d) Bangladesh Bank refinance scheme for milk production and artificial insemination sector	15.00	16.54	16.10	97%	1251	4516
	e) 'Bangabandhu Youth Credit' programme under the funds received from Bangladesh Bank	454.57	393.97	355.37	90%	25758	92986
	Gand total	9123.01	8928.07	8397.44	94%	807760	2916013

 

Microcredit Programmes of Grameen Bank

Item	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	February 2022
Disbursement	16933.15	20789.11	24321.50	17044.92	20501.70	19547.99	255112.32
No. of Beneficiary	8853961	8915491	8986050	9132966	9313513	9387505	9612767

 

 

 

 

ROAD ACCIDENT

 

“An accident is the cry of a lifetime.” Matlub Ahmed

 

Year	Accidents	Death
2019	4147	4138
2020	4198	3918
2021	3701	3502

 

Factors affecting Road accident in Bangladesh:

·        Drivers: Over-speeding, rash driving, violation of rules, failure to understand signs, fatigue, alcohol.

·        Pedestrian: Carelessness, illiteracy, crossing at wrong places moving on carriageway, Jaywalkers.

·        Passengers: Projecting their body outside vehicle, by talking to drivers, alighting and boarding vehicle from wrong side travelling on footboards, catching a running bus etc.

·        Vehicles: Failure of brakes or steering, tyre burst, insufficient headlights, overloading, projecting loads.

·        Road Conditions: Potholes, damaged road, eroded road merging of rural roads with highways, diversions, illegal speed breakers.

·        Weather conditions: Fog, snow, heavy rainfall, wind storms, hail storms.

 

Recommendations:

·        Continuous media campaign to increase public awareness.

·        Train drivers to make them skilled.

·        Build dedicated roads for slow moving vehicles. Keep footpath useable.

·        Implement government decision to incorporate road Safety issues in textbook. Correct the faults in road design.

·        Enforce the traffic law and road safety law Strictly.

Road Safety

 RHD has been working with KOICA, an agency of Korean Government to develop a modern, safe and integrated road infrastructure using Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). A project named „Improving the Reliability and Safety in National Highway corridors of Bangladesh by Introducing of ITS‟ is under process for approval. In line with the UN Decade of Action for Road Safety 2011-2020 and UN Sustainable Development Goals, different time bound strategies have been taken to implement a safe road network. In line with the National Road Safety Strategic Action Plan, RHD has also taken initiatives to implement a project named „Construction of restrooms with parking facilities for truck drivers at 4 National Highways‟. The highways are: Dhaka-Chattogram, Dhaka-Sylhet, DhakaRangpur and Dhaka-Khulna. The Bangladesh Road Safety Program (BRSP) with an estimated cost of USD 360 million financed by World Bank is under the process for approval. The main component of the projects are: Creating road safety cell, Modernizing accident information cell and digital enforcement system, Creating institute for training the drivers, Creating vehicle observation center, Establishing post crash response system and Creating awareness among people about the importance of road safety. Road Safety Audit of 300 kilometer has been completed and for auditing another 255 kilometer of roads the process of appointing the advisors is ongoing. A study project was implemented in order to develop 693 intersections under RHD network. The designs of intersections are being implemented on the basis of the findings of the study to reduce traffic jam and ensure road safety.

111 recommendations of National Road Safety Council are being implemented to prepare a work plan with a view to ensure a disciplined road transport sector. 172 blackspots on different sections of Roads and Highways Network were corrected. Out of 252 number of blackspots, the remaining 80 will be corrected under the project “Road Safety of National and Regional Highways” which is under process for approval. The objective of this project is to implement necessary sign signal and road marking, construct bus-bay, identify risky sections on the highway network and correct the precarious corridors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ROHINGA CRISIS

“Genocide is one of the most disturbing manifestation of human cruelty and can not be ignored.” Megan Rodgeres,

 

August 25, 2021 marks 4 years since Rohingya refugees took shelter in Bangladesh. When the Myanmar army started the genocide on August 25, 2017, the Rohingya people were forced to take shelter in Bangladesh. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), about 6700 Rohingya lost their lives, 1650,000 took shelter in Bangladesh to save their lives, and by the end of 2019, the number had doubled to 11,45,756 (1). The incident has received a wide response in the international media since 2017; As a result, the world community, especially the United Nations, the European Union, various international alliances, various Western countries, human rights organizations began to take this incident very seriously.

When one-third of the Rohingya population  had to flee the country ,

                                                    could you find better word better to describe it? Antonio Guterres

 

Initiation of repatriation process:

From the very beginning, Bangladesh has been making sincere efforts to provide shelter to the Rohingya refugees as well as provide them with the basic necessities of life as well as how to repatriate the Rohingya to Myanmar. In its continuity

·        About 4 lakh Rohingyas returned to Myanmar through two agreements with Myanmar in 1978 and 1992.On 23 November 2017, A bilateral agreement was signed with Myanmar.

·        Subsequently, in January 2018, a 'Physical Arrangement' between Bangladesh and Myanmar.

·        The much-discussed repatriation process was supposed to begin on November 15, 2018, but due to lack of adequate preparation in Myanmar, strong reluctance of Rohingyas to return to Myanmar and strong objections from the international community, the first round of repatriation process could not begin.

·        The repatriation process was initiated for the second time on August 22, 2019 and in the end it also failed due to very understandable reasons.

 

Rohingya repatriation to Bhasanchar:

On 23 November 2017, Bangladesh signed an agreement with Myanmar for the repatriation of Rohingya, but until the agreement came into force, it accepted the Bhasanchar Housing Project under the Asrayon-3 project as temporary accommodation for 1 lakh Rohingya people at a cost of Tk 2312 crore. However, in spite of all the facilities, there was a lot of trouble in relocating the Rohingyas to Bhasanchar. With the latest efforts of Bangladesh Government and Navy 1642 Rohingyas were brought to Bhasanchar in 7 ships in the first phase on 4 December 2020. At present, 19,500 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals have been relocated in 7 steps in the project area Bhasan Char till November 2021.

 

PM's proposals for Rohingya repatriation to UN:

On September 18, 2019 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina raised a four-point proposal at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)

·        Myanmar must make clear its political will for the sustainable return of the Rohingya. That's why it is necessary to say clearly what the Myanmar authorities are doing to take back the Rohingyas.

·        Discriminatory laws and practices must be abandoned and the Myanmar authorities must build trust between them by allowing Rohingya delegates to visit the northern Rakhine state on a 'go and see' policy.

·        By deploying civilian observers of the international community in Rakhine State, the Myanmar authorities must ensure the safety and security of all, including the Rohingya.

·        The international community must ensure that the root causes of the Rohingya crisis and the atrocities against the Rohingya are addressed.

“Mayammar has created the problem, and they need to solve it.” Sheikh Hasina

 

UN Security Council Resolution:

·        On November 18, 2021, a UN committee passed a unanimous resolution calling for a solution to the Rohingya crisis, including an end to the state of emergency in Myanmar and the transfer of democratic power. A total of 107 countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland, Japan and South Korea have backed the resolution, calling for an end to the Myanmar and Rohingya crises. A

·        On June 18, 2021, the United Nations called for a moratorium on arms sales to Myanmar. At the same time, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution condemning Myanmar's junta government. Epal web sit

·        Three-point directive of UN Secretary General- "Allowing refugees to return home safely, Immediate cessation of military operations in Rakhine, Reaching relief without hindrance."

বিশ্বের সবচেয়ে বিক্ষিপ্ত ভাবে ছড়িয়ে থাকা সংখ্যা লঘু জল জনগোষ্ঠী হচ্ছে রোহিঙ্গা। United Nation

 

 

World on Rohingya issue:

·        For the first time in the history of 11 November 2019, Myanmar has to stand in court like ICC and ICJ in the case filed by Gambia to restore the rights of end Rohingyas.

·        The United Nations passed a resolution condemning Myanmar for the persecution and human rights violations of various communities, including the Rohingya Muslims, on 27 December 2019, and the International Court of Justice issued four Foll interim directives on 23 January 2020 to protect the Rohingya from genocide in Rakhine, Myanmar.

 

Bangladesh's Humanitarian diplomatic position on the Rohingya issue:

·        August, 2017 when the Rohingya genocide was going on and they were asylum seekers in Bangladesh, Bangladesh chose the path of humanitarian diplomacy. Sheltered them in the international arena on the path of humanitarian diplomacy to address this problem.

·        This step of Hon'ble Prime Minister has been highly praised by various countries, international organizations, and the media. Bangladesh has given birth to a new history of humanitarian diplomacy by providing emergency services to the vulnerable and helpless people without considering the situation as unfavorable or favorable

·        The Government of Bangladesh has pursued humanitarian diplomacy for the Rohingya vulnerable groups in both bilateral and multilateral aspects.

·        Bangladesh is gaining acclaim in the world media by providing various facilities including ID card for identification and relocation of Rohingyas in Bhasanchar. In the meantime, the Hon'ble Prime Minister has been conferred various titles from various organizations and mediums.

 

Bangladesh's risks in Rohingya problem:

·        Habitats for Rohingya refugees have been cut down in the mountains, threatening the region's natural environment.

·        Tourism sector is very important in the economy of Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar, the longest beach, is under threat.

·        Due to overcrowding in Rohingya camps, local people and Rohingyas are facing other health risks including corona virus.

·        Due to lack of adequate livelihood system, they are getting involved in various immoral activities and as a result, incidents like murder and robbery are constantly happening.

·        Providing food for Rohingyas is a big issue. People living in Bangladesh are at risk of food crisis to provide food to them.

·        Rohingyas are trying to divide the workplace of the local people which is causing ovi suffering in the workplace of the people of that area.

·        Diplomatic expenditure on Rohingya repatriation is affecting the growth of Bangladesh's debt and as a result Bangladesh is suffering economically.

 

Necessary steps to solve the problem:

·        Necessary diplomatic activities and talks with Myanmar should be resumed in the international arena. In this case, Bangladesh needs to work to create strong pressure on Myanmar by enlisting the support of other members of the Security Council and Western democracies, the OIC and the Arab League.

·        Diplomatic efforts must be made by influential countries to put pressure on Myanmar to implement the four-point UN General Assembly and the recommendations of the Annan Commission on the Rohingya crisis resolved by the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Sheikh Hasina.

·        In bilateral or multilateral dialogue, the Rohingya's logical demands (such as recognition of their ethnic identity, civil and religious rights, return of land and security after repatriation, etc.) must be taken into account in matters of discussion and consensus, so that the voluntary repatriation process is effective.

 

“রোহিঙ্গাদের বিরুদ্ধে সামরিক বাহিনীর অভিযান হলো, পাঠ্যবইয়ের জাতিগত নির্মূল অভিযানের নৃশংস উদাহরণ? আইদ রাদ আল হসেইন

 

Bashanchar Project:

·        In 2017, The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved Tk 2312 crore project to rehabilitate 103,200 displaced Rohingya in 120 cluster villages in that island.

·        On November 28, 2017 The ECNEC approved Asrayon 3 - the rehabilitation of 100,000 forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals in Bhasan Char and essential infrastructure construction project.

·        Bangladesh Navy was tasked with the rehabilitation efforts in Bhasan Char.

·        The construction of the project started in July, 2018 under the supervision of Bangladesh Navy, and is set to be completed by November 30, 2019.

 

 

 

 

 

Facilities in Bashanchar:

·        Bhasanchar has enough space for the refugees to live. The aim of the Bhasan Char rehabilitation project is to make the island environment habitable for people, building essential infrastructure and ensure security of its residents.

·        In Bachanchar camp there are about 1,440 barracks for housing and 120 shelters, each shelter has 16 rooms - 8 in front and 8 more at the back and several mosques for muslim peoples, along with an office building and living quarters for Bangladesh Navy officials.

·        Bhasan Char also get roads, tube wells, ponds, water supply and sewage infrastructures. Perimeter fencing and watch towers are build in Bashanchar to ensure security of the rehabilitation project.

·        A fleet of vehicle, comprised of a microbus, 12 motorcycles, 23 human haulers, 40 pushcarts, 43 rickshaw vans, 4 LCUS and 8 speedboats, is deployed in the project area for monitoring.

·        There are plans to build warehouses, fuel tanks, helipads, channel markings and mooring buoys, a boat landing site, mobile phone towers, a radar station and a power substation.

·        Bhasan Char is protected by structures that lessen the power of high tide in extreme weather conditions. There is a 9 feet high and 12.1-kilometer long flood defense embankment around the island. A CCTV network, solar panels and backup generators are installed there.

 

UNEMPLOYMENT

 

An Unemployment existence is worse of life negation thon death itself. " Jose Ortega

Bangladesh: Labor force, million people, 1990 - 2020

The International Labour Organization has projected that Bangladesh’s unemployment will stand at 3.6 million in 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic level by 0.5 million as the labour market recovery in low- and middle-income countries have remained slow and uncertain due to lower vaccination rates and tighter fiscal space.

 

The ILO World Employment and Social Outlook – Trends 2022, forecasted 5 per cent of Bangladesh’s total workforce would remain unemployed in 2022, which is 0.6 percentage points higher than the pre-pandemic level of 4.4 per cent in 2019.

The downgrade in the 2022 forecast reflects, to some extent, the impact that recent variants of Covid-19, such as Delta and Omicron, are having on the world of work, as well as significant uncertainty regarding the future course of the pandemic, according to the ILO World Employment and Social Outlook .

The report showed that Bangladesh made almost no progress in recovering the labour market in 2021 compared to that of 2020.

In 2021, unemployment in Bangladesh decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.2 per cent from 5.4 per cent in 2020, the ILO report said.

According to World Bank(ILO)

	2008	2016	2019	2020	2021	2022
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)	4.6	4.3	4.4	5.4	5.2
Unemployment, female (% of female labor force)	7.1	7.4	6.8	8	7.9
Unemployment, male (% of male labor force)		3.1	3.4	4.3	4.1
*Youth unemployment, ages 15-24		11.19	12.69	14.77
*Female labor force participation rate		32.93	36.31	34.54
Minimum Wages BDT		5300	8000	8100

 

"The shock of unemployment becomes a in it's own right" Robert Capon pathology

 

 

 

 

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATION AND PORT AUTHORITY

Revenue Target and Collection of BRTA ( Taka in crore) Fiscal Year Target Amount Collection Percentage of Collection(%) 2016-17 1771.84 1469.86 82.96 2017-18 1805.51 1545.07 85.57 2018-19 1834.14 1825.83 99.55 2019-20 2017.92 1681.67 83.34 2020-21 2235 1627 72.79 2021-22* 2400 1127.95 46.99

Description of the toll collectedfrom Bangabandhu Bridge  ( Taka in crore) Financial Year Revenue collection 2016-17 484.42 2017-18 543.80 2018-19 575.41 2019-20 560.28 2020-21 654.82 2021-22* 456.71

·        Construction of Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway

About 24 km long Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway with the estimated cost of Tk.. 16,901.32 crore was approved on 24 October 2017 to connect Hazrat Shah Jalal (R) International Airport to EPZ through Ashulia. To construct the expressway on G-to-G basis, commercial agreement was signed with a Chinese government nominated company on 29 November 2017. The loan agreement was signed with China Exim Bank on October 26, 2021. It will connect Asian Highway Network and almost all National Highway and therefore, it will reduce traffic congestion in Abdullahpur-AshuliaBaipail-Chandra corridor connecting Dhaka city with 30 other districts. After completion of this expressway, GDP growth will be increased by 0.21 percent.

·        Construction of Dhaka East-West Elevated Expressway

 To construct about 39.24 km long Elevated Expressway from Baliapur of Dhaka-Aricha highway to Langolbond of Dhaka-Chattogram road through Nimtoli-Keranigonj-FatullaBandor, PDPP has been approved with the estimated cost of Tk.. 16,388.50 crore. This expressway will connect National Highways (Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Mawa, DhakaChattogram) and Asian Highway. Apart from reducing traffic congestion in and around Dhaka city, traffic movement from Chattogram, Sylhet & other eastern part and from south western region through Padma Bridge to the northwestern districts will be easier without entering Dhaka city. On 08 December 2021, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has given in principle approval for implementation of this project under PPP.

 

Income and Expenditure of Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) (Taka in Crore)	Income and Expenditure of  Mongla Port Authority (MPA) (Taka in Crore)
Fiscal Year Rev. Income Rev. Expenditure Rev. Surplus (Before Tax) 2016-17 2407.65 1352.54 1055.11 2017-18 2661.76 1390.52 1271.24 2018-19 2892.86 1610.53 1282.33 2019-20 2924.99 1716.29 1208.70 2020-21* 3075.68 1892.12 1183.56 2021-22** 1708.33 823.73 884.60	Fiscal Year Income Expenditure Net Income/ Loss (+/-) 2016-17 226.56 155.15 71.41 2017-18 276.14 166.81 109.33 2018-19 329.12 196.12 133.00 2019-20 338.19 221.01 117.18 2020-21 348.35 217.27 131.08 2021-22* 205.89 144.83 61.06

Income and Expenditure of Bangladesh Land Port Authority (Taka in Crore)

Fiscal year	Income	Expenditure	Surplus (+/-)
2018-19	210.94	144.25	66.68
2019-20	208.77	160.03	48.74
2020-21	264.83	174.73	90.10
2021-22*	171.36	82.09	89.27

 

AIR TRANSPORT

Financial Position of CAAB (In Crore Taka) Fiscal Year Revenue Income Revenue Expenditure Total Expenditure (Revenue and others) Net Profit 2017-18 1659.65 594.16 1766.04 (106.39) 2018-19 1690.79 620.73 1708 (17.21) 2019-20 1554.54 630.94 2165.97 (611.43) 2020-21* 1159.44 666.03 1451.30 291.93 2021-22* 955.00 404.02 837.04 117.96

Income and Expenditure of Biman Bangladesh Airlines Limited (In Crore Taka) Fiscal Year Revenue Income Expenses Net Profit/ Loss (+/-) 2018-19 5794.92 5577.11 217.81 2019-20 5044.45 5125.58 -81.13 2020-21 4,128.39 3,969.99 158.40 2021-22* 2805.00 2477.00 328.00

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

 

HDI Position of Bangladesh

Year	2000	2010	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Index value	0.468	0.545	0.592	0.597	0.608	0.614	0.614	0.632

 

 

Public Expenditure for Human Resource Development

Allocation (Operating and Development) of Selected Ministries (In Crore Taka)

Sector	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22
Education, Science & ICT	52914	65444	67935	79488	85762	94877
Health and Family Welfare	17486	20652	23,383	25733	29247	32731
Youth, Sports and Culture	1343	1803	2008	2063	2057	1709
Labour and Employment	308	262	227	313	350	365
Social Welfare, Women’s Affairs and Liberation WarAffairs	9433	11394	13343	15083	16285	19658
Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs	840	1150	1309	1194	1235	1182
Total Allocation (Operating andDevelopment)	82324	100705	108205	123874	134936	150522

 

Primary and Mass Education

Boys- Girls Enrolment at Primary Level(In lakh)

Year	Total	Boys (%)	Girls (%)	Net EnrollmentRate (%)
2010	169.58	83.95 (49.50)	85.63 (50.50)	94.8
2019*	201.22	99.69 (49.55)	101.53 (50.45)	97.34
2020*	215.51	105.60 (49.00)	109.91 (51.00)	97.81

 

Year wise Drop-out Rate at Primary Level

 

Year	2010	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020
Dropout rate (%)	39.8	19.2	18.8	18.6	17.9	17.2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MUJIB YEAR

 

"Sheikh Mujib is a man of peace, a man of independence and a man of the world. He is not just the Bangabandhu (Friend of Bangladesh), He is also the Viswabandhu (Friend of the World)" -Ramesh Chandra, former Secretary General of the World Peace Council

 

Bangabandhu is one of the greatest men of Bengal. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman is the name of a lion heart leader and a dream of a Bengali to realize the dream of an independent state for the backward, humiliated, subjugated Bengalis.

 

Mujib Year is the year declared to celebrate the birth centenary of the Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Government of Bangladesh declared the year 2020-21 as the Year of Mujib. This year will be celebrated from March 17, 2020 to march 31, 2022. The duration of the Mujib year has been extended by about 12 months as the programs taken due to coronavirus could not be carried out properly within the stipulated time.

 

Birth Centenary Plan:

·        The government has formed two committees to celebrate the birth centenary of Bangabandhu in a grand manner. One of them is National Committee to Celebrate the Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman with 119 (102+17) members. The committee is chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

·        On the other hand, National Professor Mohammad Rafiqul Islam has been made the President and Poet Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury has been made the Chief Coordinator as a 79 (61+18) member National Implementation Committee to Celebrate the Birth Centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

 

শতবর্ষের সাক্ষী তুমি হে মহান, জন্ম তোমার ইতিহাস হবে দেশ হবে মহীয়ান তুমি বর্ষাবন্ধু শেখ মুজিবুর রহমান

As Padma Meghna Gouri, Jamuna flows on, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, your accomplishment will also live on.   Annada Shankar Roy

 

Various programs on the occasion of birth centenary:

·        Counting of Bangabandhu's birth centenary has started on January 10, the day of his return home. The first event on the occasion of Bangabandhu's birth centenary started with Bangabandhu BPL which was successfully completed before the Corona epidemic.

·        The celebration committee has taken up 298 plans to carry out the program for al off years. These include entertainment, service and development issues, short films, documentary plans, international publications, launching an international award in the name of Bangabandhu, Green Factory Award, inclusion of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib's portrait as Guinness World Records, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Birth Centenary Commemoration in Bengali and English. Revealed, however, these have been limited to the Corona epidemic.

·        The main event of the birth centenary has started from the moment of sunrise on March 17. The main event started that morning with the artillery shelling of the army in Dhaka and other parts of the country. The program started at the same time at Tungipara in Gopalganj and in Dhaka.

·        On the afternoon of March 17, the main event was held at the historic Suhrawardy Uddyan in the capital, to display various souvenirs of the birth centenary, commemorative speeches, cultural programs with local and foreign artists, joyous processions, Important installations all over the country, including the capital, are decorated with colorful decorations.

·        4 commemorative coins were issued, 1st March Insurance Day, distribution of tree saplings, talking stamps were issued. November 8, 2020 A special session of the National Assembly is held.

·        March 25 is Genocide Day, March 26 is Independence Day, April 17 is Mujibnagar Government Day and June 7 is Six Point Day. However, due to the Corona epidemic, it is celebrated to a limited extent.

·        A seminar was supposed to be held at Rose Garden on the occasion of the founding anniversary of Awami League on 23rd June, but due to the epidemic it was celebrated virtually.

·        Various sports competitions and Bangabandhu centenary quiz competitions were initiated from different ministries and departments of the government. 8 lakhs 92 thousand families will get houses under the housing project Sapna Neer adopted on the occasion of Mujib Barsha. Book Fair 2021 was dedicated to Bangabandhu and Bangla Academy published 100 books.

·        On the occasion of Mujib Year, Bangladesh Bank issued TK 200 notes on March 17, 2020. UNESCO launches International Creative Economics Award in the name of Besides, as part of the Mujib Year, a colorful 10-day event called "Mujib Chirantan" was organized to mark the arrival of various foreign governments, Bangabandhu's birthday and Independence Day celebrations.

 

10 day programme:

On the occasion of the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on March 17, 2021 and the golden jubilee of independence on March 26, a ten-day program was organized under the theme 'Mujib Chirantan' as per the instructions of the Prime Minister. The program pays homage to Bangabandhu every day through separate themed discussion programs, cultural programs, audio-visual and other special presentations.

·        In the ten-day program on March 17, 22 and 26, the President Abdul Hamid were present and Prime Minister Bangabandhu Kanya Sheikh Hasina were present on the occasion on March 17, 19, 22, 24 and 26. The five-day event was attended by a limited number of 500 invited guests following the hygiene rules.

·        In addition to this five-day program, other five-day programs showcase the speeches of heads of state, government, heads of international organizations and important personalities. Every day the program is broadcast on television channels, online media and social media.

 

Global Celebration:

Even outside the country, many countries and international organizations have taken various plans on the occasion of Bangabandhu's birth anniversary.

·        The UN General Assembly, UNESCO, has decided to jointly celebrate the Mujib Year with Bangladesh at the UNESCO 40th General Assembly.

·        The importance and significance of Bangabandhu's speech in Bengali was discussed at the United Nations on September 25, 2020 in New York.

 

If the greatest Bengali of all time, the father of the nation was alive today, maybe we would see a different Bangladesh. Our present government is working tirelessly to make Bangabandhu's dream a reality. Today, we standing in a developing country. By the middle of 2041, Bangladesh may be in developed country. We should observe mujib year accordings with this goal.

 

 

“when people of this independent land will have enough food to eat, security of their live and dignity, only then the souls of the martyrs will be satisfied.” -Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.