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Manpower, equipment shortage hamper activities of Khulna Division Fire Service
There are 60 stations under the Khulna Divisional Fire Service and Civil Defense where 223 posts are vacant and most of them do not have necessary equipment to fight fire or any other big disaster.
According to fire service personnel, on one hand there is not enough manpower and equipment and on the other, they have to work through adversity due to lack of water sources, electric and dish cables, narrow roads and onlookers.
In such a situation, they have controlled 2,034 fire incidents in the division last year that left 265 people dead and 2,032 others wounded.
Read More: Gulistan blast: Death toll rises to 22
These stations were supposed to have 1,688 manpower, but there are 1,465 people and 223 posts are vacant. Of these, one out of 10 posts of deputy assistant director, one of assistant communication engineer, 47 out of 64 station officers, seven out of 11 fire officers, three out of three mobilizing officers, one out of 47 sub-officers, seven out of 131 leaders, 126 out of 1,013 firefighters, 17 out of 258 drivers are vacant.
There are 58 water-carrying vehicles, 53 small covered vans, 11 vehicles for carrying passengers for exercise, one car for public relations for the exercise, 22 ambulances, four SUVs, 103 pumps, 13 special vehicles and five vessels for the exercise.
From January to December last year, fire service members responded to 1,244 road accidents, 2,034 fires and 91 other accidents. Besides, assets worth Tk 59,56,58,000 were recovered and 2,032 people were rescued in 1,870 different types of accidents.
Read More: Fire at Gazipur cotton warehouse under control
Divisional Fire Service and Civil Defense authorities said there are 60 fire service stations in 10 districts of the division. Besides, the construction of four stations in Fakirhat and Chitalmari upazila in Bagerhat, Tala and Shyamnagar upazilas in Satkhira has been completed.
Besides, land has been finalized for the construction of two more fire stations at Daulatpur in Kushtia and Paikgachha in Khulna.
Talking to the UNB correspondent, some members of the fire service said during the firefighting, there is a problem in working fast due to lack of water source on the way to the spot and after going to the spot, the hanging wires of electric and dish lines, narrow roads and electric poles on roads.
Read More: Explosion in Science Lab area a massive accident: Fire Service DG
Apart from this, there is a shortage of manpower, diving units, vehicles, disruption of wireless communication, and non-implementation of fire safety in multi-storied residential and commercial buildings, they said.
According to the fire service members, Khulna Sadar and Tutpara station buildings are old and dilapidated. There were also incidents of injuries in the collapse of the building's plaster. Cars, computers, and wireless equipment were also damaged. There are 150 firefighters living in this dilapidated building with their lives at risk. There was a quarter for the members of the fire service, which was declared abandoned.
Deputy Assistant Director of Khulna Fire Service and Civil Defense Tanharul Islam said, "It is necessary to remove the old building and construct a new one. This will result in vehicle safety and safe housing for fire service members at risk. And it is necessary to provide the much-needed equipment on an urgent basis to speed up the fire activities properly.”
Read More: Gas explosions took 82 lives in 3 years in Narayanganj, threats remain: Police, fire service
Mamun Mahmud, deputy director of the Divisional Fire Service and Civil Defense, said, "Higher authorities are aware of the shortage of manpower and equipment of the fire service of the division. In order to deal with the challenges in the operational activities of the fire service, equipment and manpower have been sought for each station. Hope, the situation will see improvement.”
Khulna city grapples with polluted air; COPD, asthma patients on the rise
Dhaka has long been grappling with severe air pollution. Air quality in some other major cities in Bangladesh including Khulna continues to deteriorate, posing serious health risks to the residents.It’s been a year since World Health Organization launched a project to transform Khulna into a healthier city. Besides, Khulna City Corporation and other agencies concerned are also working to make the city a healthy one by 2027.However, air pollution remains the biggest challenge in achieving that goal. Although the air quality has been comparatively tolerable in the past few days, Khulna’s overall air quality in the past few months has been ‘Unhealthy’.
Also read: Dhaka’s air quality ‘unhealthy’ this morningExperts and officials concerned said dust from construction sites, smoke from old vehicles, and use of toxic fuel are the major reasons behind the polluted air of the city. As construction and renovation works are going on in different parts of the city the level of air pollution has increased, they said.
At the Boyra intersection in the city, air pollution levels in the city are being measured round-the-clock from the Continuous Air Monitoring Stations (CAMS) of the Department of Environment, which is published every day in the form of a report on CAMS' website.According to CAMS’ observation, Khulna’s air quality was ‘extremely unhealthy’ in November and December last. On February 15, the CAMS cited the city’s air quality as ‘extremely unhealthy’ once again.In addition, the air quality on March 17 and 18 was substantially worse than usual.Experts say that the normal value of particulate matter in the air of a place or PPM (parts per million) is 150 cubic meters in 24 hours.However, analysis of CAMS’ report showed there have been over 250 cubic meters of particulate matter in Khulna's air in the last few months. The number hit 400-450 cubic meters a few times during this period.The UNB correspondent noticed the problem of air pollution while visiting various parts of the city.Most of the roads from the city’s Shonadanga area to Shahid Sheikh Abu Naser Hospital and Khalishpur area are in still in bad shape. Due to the ongoing construction work, air quality of the areas adjacent to these roads has become extremely unhealthy.Meanwhile, the link roads from Joragate, Ahsan Ahmed road, Shamsur Rahman road, BIDC road, Khan Jahan Ali Shorok, Shipyard road, Mujgunni highway and Bus Terminal area of the city to Boyra, Notun Rasta, link roads close to the bus terminal have become dangerous due to excessive dust. Therefore, people are avoiding these areas and roads.Tanvir Haydar, a senior chemist at the Department of Environment in Khulna, said due to the excessive dust being originated from the construction work, the amount of heavy particles are on the rise in the air. “And exposure to such hazardous pollutants causes a variety of respiratory illnesses, such as cough and asthma,“ he added.Dr Md Khosrul Alam, head of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Khulna Medical College, said, “The number of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma patients in Khulna is believed to be increasing due to air pollution. If the amount of hazardous particles in the air is high, it easily damages the lungs every time a person breathes. As a result, various respiratory illnesses, including COPD, asthma, are increasing.”This chest specialist believes extensive research needs to be done in this regard.Meanwhile, chief health officer of Khulna City Corporation Dr Shawpan Kumar Haldar said children are more vulnerable to respiratory disease such as asthma and pneumonia due to the air pollution.Dr Mehedi Newaz, vice principal at Khulna Medical College said construction works have been going on in the city to fix the problem of waterlogging and the development of road networks.“Due to this reason, air pollution is increasing in the city. We’re hoping that it will be resolved quickly. Meanwhile, any necessary action will be taken by addressing the issue at the next meeting,” he said.Contacted, Khulna City Corporation (KCC) Mayor Talukder Abdul Khaleque said, We usually carry out the development projects in the dry season. Currently, majority of the city's areas are undergoing road and drainage maintenance work. As a result, the amount of dust has increased. Once the projects are completed, the air quality will be tolerable again as the monsoon is approaching. Air pollution consistently ranks among the top risk factors for death and disability worldwide. Breathing polluted air has long been recognised as increasing a person’s chances of developing a heart disease, chronic respiratory diseases, lung infections and cancer, according to several studies.As per the World Health Organization (WHO), air pollution kills an estimated seven million people worldwide every year, largely as a result of increased mortality from stroke, heart disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infections.
With no easing of price hike, tough times for people in Khulna as Ramadan begins Friday
The price hike of daily essentials has put the people in Khulna district, especially low-income families, under pressure ahead of Ramadan, the holy month that will begin from Friday.
Prices of essential commodities including pulses, chickpea, puffed rice, flattened rice, edible oil, sugar, onion, garlic, potato, dates, fruits and other items used for iftar have already seen a rise, but some traders say the market is “normal” compared to the previous year.
Low-income people are worried about meeting their daily needs.
During a recent visit to markets in Khulna city, including Moilapota, Dakbungalow, New Market, Chitrali and Doulatpur areas, UNB’s correspondent noted sky-rocketing price of dates, an item generally consumed during iftar, is forcing many to buy in far less amount compared to previous years.
Also read: How the record hike in fuel prices manifested in Dhaka’s kitchen markets
One kg of Ambar dates is being sold at Tk 1500 while the price of one kg Ajwa dates is Tk 1000, Mariam dates is Tk 900, Sukkari dates is Tk 750, Medjool (big) dates is Tk 1300.
Unripe dates are being sold at Tk 500 per kg.
Besides, one kg of green apple is being sold at Tk 320-350, Fuji apple Tk 260-300 per kg, pomegranate Tk 350-400 per kg, orange Tk 220 per kg and malta at 220 per kg.
Meanwhile, five litres of edible oil is being sold at Tk 900, two litres of edible oil is being sold at Tk 370, one kg of local pulses is being sold at Tk 140, chickpeas Tk 85, sugar Tk 115, potato Tk 25, chickpea powder Tk 110, puffed rice half kg packets being sold at Tk 70, flattened rice Tk 60-65, onion Tk 35, and garlic Tk 100 per kg.
Also read: Spice prices shoot up ahead of Eid despite sufficient stock
Mainul Islam, who works at a private company, said, “Prices of daily essentials are usually hiked before Ramadan begins, but this year the situation is unbearable. One kg of chicken is being sold at Tk 250 while beef at Tk 700. How can I meet the daily needs of my family with my salary that hasn’t gone up to match these prices?”
Prices of vegetables have also increased. None was below Tk 50-60 per kg, he said.
Mamun, a roadside vendor, said, “Every year, my family and I fast during Ramadan. This year, it’ll be difficult for us to have meat with rice.”
Meanwhile, price of bananas — that are eaten during iftar and sehri — has also gone up. One dozen medium sized bananas are being sold at Tk 80-120 while large bananas are being sold at Tk 140-150 per dozen.
Recently, the government asked deputy commissioners to monitor markets strictly during the month of Ramadan and take legal measures if necessary.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has asked all to be vigilant against the hoarding of foods and the black-marketing of these commodities during the holy month.
Khulna-Mongla rail line now to open in July; 96% work completed
Khulna-Mongla rail line project, which missed several completion deadlines, is now expected to be opened in July this year, according to project authorities.
“96 percent of the construction of the 64.75-km railway line from Khulna to Mongla was completed in December last year. More progress has been made in the last few months. The work of the entire project is expected to be completed by June this year. In July, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the railway line,” said project director Md Arifuzzaman.
With the opening of the rail line, Mongla, the country's second largest seaport, will be brought under rail connectivity after 73 years of its establishment. It is expected to expedite the economic activities of the Mongla sea port.
Mongla Port was established on December 1, 1950 in Bagerhat district in the southwestern part of the country. The port is located at the confluence of the Pashur River and the Mongla River, 48 kilometers south of Khulna city.
According to project officials, the railway link between Khulna and the Mongla sea port is the need of the hour for transportation of goods.
In order to ensure the ease of doing business, the government embarked on the railway project worth Tk 3,800 crore some seven years ago.
The project work began in November 2016. Initially, the project was scheduled to be completed within May, 2020. Unfortunately, the project has experienced both time and cost overruns.
With the opening of the rail service, trade and commerce with India, Nepal and Bhutan will be expanded. Due to the absence of a railway, there was a problem in transporting large containers of the port so far, said businessmen who use the port.
Also Read: Khulna-Mongla rail link to be operational by December?
The Khulna-Mongla railway project was approved at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on December 21, 2010 but it work started in 2016.
The project is being implemented in three parts. Among them, package-1 rail line construction, package-2 rail bridge over Rupsa River and package-3 telecommunication and signaling system, said project officials.
Under these projects, the length of the railway track, including the main line, is 86.87km. Of these, 64.75km is broad gauge railway. A 5.13-km rail bridge has been constructed on the Rupsha River. Around cent percent of the work on the bridge has already been completed.
In addition, work on 31 small bridges has been completed. Of the 107 culverts, 105 have been completed. Construction of nine VUP's and 26 of the 29 LC gates have been completed, they said.
Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Mir Ershad Ali said once the project is implemented, there will be a radical changes in the trade and commerce and communication in the southern district.
“After the establishment of Mongla port, there was no rail connectivity with the port. Now with the opening of Khulna-Mongla railway line, the pressure of transporting goods by road will be reduced. At the same time, the cost and time of transportation of goods will be reduced,” he said.
“Besides, multiple communication system will be established in the port. As a result, trade with India, Nepal and Bhutan will be easier,” he added.
17 banks facing severe liquidity crunch after violating lending limits
Despite Bangladesh Bank’s initiatives to promote good governance in the banking sector, 17 banks have recently violated their loan disbursement limits, and are now embroiled in a severe liquidity crisis.
Having been over-aggressive in providing loans, they are now unable to recover the loans and attract new deposits as desired, according to a latest internal report of the central bank seen by UNB.
The banks should not sanction any new loans until they restore the ratio of their loans to deposits in accordance with limits set by Bangladesh Bank, which regulates the financial sector.
Also Read: Banks' assets will decrease by 40% if international reporting standards followed: FRC Chairman
Conventional banks can provide loans of up to Tk 87 for every Tk 100 in deposits, while Shariah-based banks can give loans of up to Tk 92 against every Tk 100 in deposits, according to the rules of Bangladesh Bank. This is called Advance Deposit Ratio (ADR) or loan-deposit ratio limit in banking terms.
According to the central bank report covering January 1-26 of this year, 17 banks violated the limits set for them on lending order due to lack of discipline. As a result, the concerned banks have been plunged into an extreme liquidity crisis, making it difficult for them to sanction new loans. Some of them are even unable to pay depositors in some cases.
Experts fear that the existing situation has created additional risks for depositors. According to them, irregularities, corruption and ‘ghost loans’ - loans to firms that turn out to be non-existent -are behind the collapse of the banking system’s loan disbursement process.
Also Read: Prime Bank receives $50m from IFC to support trade, forex liquidity needs in Bangladesh
“In the banking sector, there have been allegations of giving large amounts of ghost loans in recent times. If this continues, the sector will be at risk,” said Dr ABM Mirza Azizul Islam, economist and adviser on finance to the last caretaker government.
Mirza Azizul told UNB, "Lending beyond the limit against deposits disrupts the credit system."
Besides, the debt collection situation of the banks is not satisfactory now. In such a situation, if the non-performing loans increase further with additional loans, then there is a danger for the bank and its depositors will suffer, he added.
He suggested the intervention of the central bank in these banks immediately.
Also Read: BB signs deal with 32 banks to accelerate disbursement of green fund
According to the Bangladesh Bank report, the ADR of National Bank Ltd stood at 98.23 while that of AB Bank was 96.64 in its conventional stream and 103.45 in its Shariah stream.
State-owned Basic Bank’s ADR stood at 91.17, One Bank’s was 89, and multinational National Bank of Pakistan’s was 87.52. Widespread irregularities and corruption have already been reported in these banks.
Apart from this, Community Bank's ADR was 88.28, NRB Bank’s at 88.05 and IFIC Bank's ADR was 87.48, the report states.
Shariah-based Exim Bank's ADR stood at 100.28, Standard Bank's at 96.28, Premier Bank's Islamic Window 155.09 and Bangladesh Commerce Bank's Islamic Window's ADR was 133.26.
Read More: Banks’ transaction time from 9:30 am to 2:30 pm for Ramadan
Apart from this, the ADRs of five other Shariah-based banks ranged between 93.01 to 104.54.
A managing director (MD) of a private bank told UNB that the lending limit has undoubtedly been set by Bangladesh Bank based on adequate research and global best practices. No bank should have to cross the limit.
“These violations are creating risk in the banking sector. Depositors in particular will be at greater risk. Already some banks and non-bank financial institutions are not able to return money to depositors,” he said, maintaining anonymity.
The central bank has also extended the period of ADR adjustment five times to allow the banks to bring their lending practices in line with the limits.
Read More: BB disburses Tk 4000 crore as liquidity support to 5 Islami banks
However, many banks could not coordinate this. In such a situation, Bangladesh Bank even increased the required ADR to improve the overall liquidity situation of the banking sector to maintain the pace in credit flow to the private sector.
The executive director and spokesperson of Bangladesh Bank, Md Mezbaul Haque, told UNB that although some banks may at times find themselves in violation of the ADR set for them, the central bank would under normal circumstances give them time to get themselves back within the limit.
“But if they stay outside the limit for long, then they must be warned and action would be taken accordingly,” Mezbaul said.
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Sales of halal fragrance, prayer rugs and beads picking up in anticipation of Ramadan
The sale of religious books, halal fragrance ator, prayer rugs, and other items associated with Islam has increased exponentially ahead of Ramadan, on the premises of National Mosque Baitul Mukarram and other mosques in the capital.
Prayer rugs, tasbihs and surma from Turkey, India, Pakistan and Iran are selling at different rates. A Turkish prayer rug is selling for upto Tk 5000, while Indian, Irani and Pakistani products price are similar.
People can buy a jainamaz (prayer rug) at Tk100 to 1000 of domestic and Chinese quality, Tasbih at Tk 50 to Tk500, Ator Tk100 to 8000 based on quality.
However, prices of all the products are higher compared to the previous years. The traders are concerned over price hikes of other goods, which may impact people's purchase of religious products.
Raju Mia, a street vendor of Baitul Mukarram South gate told UNB that the business situation is not good this year so far. On average their sale is around Tk3000 which rose to Tk5000 to 8000 on Friday. His 6-member family depends on this small business, Raju said.
Read: Commerce, Home ministries coordinating govt's tough stance on price gouging ahead of Ramadan
Every Ramadan, Raju makes a handsome profit by selling these products, which helps him to maintain his family smoothly.
The street vendors told this correspondent that usually wholesalers supplied these items as per orders.
The Mitford area of old Dhaka is the wholesale market of Ator while Baitul Mukarram is another hub of Jainamaz, Surma and Tasbih supply, Muntasir said.
Youth Masud Miaji, who arrived at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram told UNB, “I use Ator regularly, not just because the fasting month is coming. There is a thing about fragrance. Actually I don't use the other perfumes available in the market. They contain alcohol. As I always pray, I put on Ator.”
Showing a bottle he just purchased, he said, “I always use this one flavor and brand of Ator. I used to buy it for Tk100. Then it was Tk130 and but now I bought it for Tk170.”
"In fact, the price of everything is increasing. What else would the shopkeepers do?" Masud said, justifying the price hike.
Tupi (skull caps) seller Nazer Uddin said that he has been in this business for 20 years. His shop is at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram Mosque.
Read: Dates, fruits to be more costly during Ramadan due to LC opening crisis
Styles ranging from Jali (netted) to Omani and Pakistani brands are available, ranging in price from Tk50 to Tk500 per piece.
Though the traders could not provide a clear or reliable estimate of the business volume of these products in terms of value, most of them think it is annually not less than Tk100 crore.
As Bangladesh is a Muslim majority country, half the annual sales occur during the month of Ramadan, they said.
Chapainawanganj mango growers worried over rising orchard maintenance cost
As summer approaches, mango trees have already bloomed and worn eye-catching looks with huge flowers, spreading a sweet scent in every corner of Chapainawabganj, known as the country’s mango capital.
Farmers are taking care of the orchards in the hope of a good yield as the weather has been favorable so far this year.
But due to the hike in the prices of various materials used for nurturing orchards, including pesticides, the farmers are struggling to take care of the mango trees.
Visiting different areas of the district, the UNB correspondent found mango trees covered in blossoms. And such a scene is now adorning not only the rural areas but also the city, making farmers hopeful of a bumper yield this year.
Read: Vegetable cultivation on Teesta shoals a boon for Lalmonirhat farmers
Mango farmers said that the weather has been favorable since the beginning of the season. As a result, orchards have been covered with mango blossoms.
Abdur Rakib, a mango grower, said, "I have an orchard of Amrapali in Chapainawabganj Sadar Upazila which consists of 1,000 trees. Although the weather has been favourable so far this year, the maintenance cost of the orchard has increased many folds due."
Commerce, Home ministries coordinating govt's tough stance on price gouging ahead of Ramadan
This year's Ramadan is still a couple of days away, but a segment of traders already appears eager to increase profit margins by raising the prices of different commodities.
The government of Bangladesh however claims to be on to them, and has taken various initiatives to keep the market stable during the holy month.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed officials to increase surveillance across the country so that dishonest businessmen cannot make excessive profits. She particularly instructed the field-level administration to be on alert. The Commerce Ministry has said it will keep an eye on the traders so they cannot destabilize the market by creating any artificial crisis.
Even detectives from the law enforcement agencies under the Home Ministry have been instructed to keep their eyes open so that unscrupulous syndicates do not create an artificial crisis in Ramadan.
Read: Dates, fruits to be more costly during Ramadan due to LC opening crisis
In the past, it was noticed that traders increased the prices of goods several times before the start of market supervision ahead of Ramadan. Just before Ramadan, the demand for items like edible oil, sugar, pulses, chickpeas, spices, and so on increases. Traders take this opportunity and raise the prices of in-demand items. It is no different this time.
“Ramadan is a few days away. Like last year, I have bought sugar, pulses, and chickpeas at a much higher price. Every year the same thing happens. There is also an upswing in the vegetable market,” Wahid Fakir, a resident of Bhatara New Market, told UNB.
The prices of sugar, oil, ginger, onion, and other essential goods have all increased in the last week. Vegetables, fish, and meat prices are also going up. Although there is also no shortage of edible oil in the market, daily essentials are selling at an increased price rate every week.
"This year we are already on alert from before. No one will be spared, if there is an artificial crisis in the market. We, the local administration, including the law enforcement agencies, and consumer rights protection directorate, will continue to monitor the market with mobile courts,” Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi told UNB.
Read: People forced to return home with bags half full due to higher prices of chicken, meat, fish
“As preparation for Ramadan, I have had meetings with businessmen one to two months ago. That's when we asked them to increase imports. In particular, instructions have been given so that the banks open the LCs quickly for the import of food products,” he said.
“The government has taken all kinds of necessary initiatives to keep the prices of goods under control during Ramadan. We have warned the traders about the preparations in advance this year. Controlling commodity prices was a challenging affair at this time of global crisis and rise in dollar rate,” he also said.
“Despite this, dollars have been provided for import of all food products commonly used in Ramadan. Besides, the ministry has requested the NBR to reduce the duty and VAT to reduce the prices of commodities like sugar and edible oil,” said the minister. “In addition, we are taking several other programmes to control the prices of goods during Ramadan. Apart from the family card allocated for 1 crore families, sugar and chickpeas will be sold in truck-sales in Dhaka and divisional cities. NBR has also extended the time for import of rice by three more months."
“Hopefully, the prices of goods will be stable during Ramadan. The government's preparation in this regard is good enough,” added Tipu Munshi.
Read More: Have enough stock, no scope of price hike during Ramadan: Tipu
Asked about the role of law enforcement agencies in keeping the market stable during Ramadan, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said, "The law enforcement agencies have been instructed to prevent the rise in the prices of goods.”
“Detectives have already been instructed to keep an eye so that unscrupulous syndicates do not create any artificial crisis around Ramadan and make the market unstable. Several strict steps have been taken, including conducting mobile courts, to control the prices of consumer goods by suppressing syndicates,” he said.
“Various strategies are being formulated to prevent artificial crises in the market and to take action against those who stockpile goods. Along with the police, the law enforcement agencies and consumer rights department, including RAB, will be active in the field, the intelligence surveillance will also be increased,” he also said.
Cabinet Secretary Mahbub Hossain said, “If there is an abnormal situation in the market, we can enforce the law. Every deputy commissioner has been told about this. They will monitor it very strictly. We will also monitor from here.”
Read More: Make marginal profit in Ramadan, Munshi urges businessmen
Dates, fruits to be more costly during Ramadan due to LC opening crisis
This year, the consumers will have to spend more money than usual in case of purchasing dates and other fruits—two essential items in iftar during Ramadan, due to importers' difficulty in opening letters of credit (LCs) on time.
Price hike is a most common phenomenon ahead of the month of Ramadan in Bangladesh, and this year even more due to the LC opening crisis.
Already, the price of dates has doubled in the wholesale and retail markets and it will be dearer ahead of Ramadan, said some businessmen.
The price of all types of dates has increased in the markets ranging from Tk 40 to Tk 160 per kg while different fruits range from Tk 30 to Tk 100 per kg.
Some traders said the prices of these essential iftar items will increase further during the month of Ramadan as they are facing difficulties in opening LCs which will push up the prices of dates and fruits.
According to the sources at Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB), the price of dates increased by 20% compared to the last year.
Milton, a shop owner in the Baridhara area, said “The price of dates went dearer in the past month ahead of Ramadan and I was able to purchase a limited amount of dates due to the soaring price of it. Last year, a cartoon, weighing 5 kg dates of Farida variety was being sold at Tk 750 to Tk 800 but now it is available at Tk 1500. Already it goes beyond the capacity of the consumers.”
He also feared that the price of dates would be increased further in the month of Ramadan.
Habibur Rahman, a fruit trader said the price of every fruit has increased.
During a recent visit at Gulshan kitchen market, this UNB correspondent found that one kg apple is being sold at Tk 250-350 which was Tk 180-260 last year and different varieties of orange are being sold at Tk 250-280.
Besides, ajwa variety of dates is being sold at Tk 750-800 which was available at Tk 600-700 last year. Mariam variety of dates is being sold at Tk 800-850 while the premium variety of dates is being sold at Tk 1000-1200 per kg.
According to the statistics of Bangladesh Bank, the import of dates has fallen by almost half compared to the demands of it but during Ramadan the demand for dates is about 50,000 tonnes.
In the past three months, only 22,000 tonnes of dates were imported which is 46% less than the last year. However, the authorities concerned related to import dates have opened LC of 29,000 tonnes dates in January, said sources at Bangladesh Bank.
Sirajul Islam, president of Bangladesh Fresh Fruits Importers Association, said the demand for dates increases three to four times during the month of Ramadan. Besides, there is a demand of 50,000-70,000 dates in the country in a year while 40,000-50,000 is needed in Ramadan alone, he said.
Referring to the opening of LC, Sirajul said “This year the traders faced difficulties in opening LCs in time as they had to open it by paying 100% cash margin while it was 5%. The small traders are the worst sufferers in opening LCs.”
The dates are being imported from the Middle East and Africa and dates were being stocked five-six months before the Ramadan, he added.
He also said that the price of dates may increase 30% in Ramadan due to the dollar crisis and transport cost caused by the fuel price hike.
If the government will take steps in unloading dates in ports on a priority basis, then there will be no instability in the market, said Sirajul.
Contacted, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, said “We’ll take necessary steps so that the consumers can purchase dates, the most essential items in iftar, at a tolerable price.”
He also assured of keeping monitoring the market to prevent volatile price hikes of dates.
Issuing a warning, the minister also said strict action will be taken against those involved in increasing the price of dates after creating an artificial crisis.
ChatGPT ‘passed’ BCS exam, according to Science Bee’s experiment
Since it became publicly accessible in November last year, ChatGPT – an AI chatbot created by OpenAI Company – has dominated the discourse on the internet and social media. Based on the Generative Pre-Trained Transformer 3 or GPT-3 language paradigm, ChatGPT is capable of carrying on a conversation, responding to inquiries, producing stories, poems, and comics, as well as resolving challenging programming issues.
ChatGPT has also participated in and even passed numerous challenging examinations across the globe including the Wharton MBA Exam, the American Medical Licensing Exam, and the Law School Exam, as part of esperiment.
Although the chatbot recently failed the Indian UPSC (Union Public Service Commission) exam, which is the benchmark test for recruitment to higher civil services of the Government of India, Bangladeshi netizens wondered whether ChatGPT would be able to pass the BCS (Bangladesh Civil Service) exam or not.
Science Bee, one of the largest science-based education platforms for youths in the country, has recently revealed on its social media platforms that ChatGPT has “successfully passed” the BCS preliminary exam, scoring 130 out of 200 marks in total.
Read More: Top 5 AI Chatbot Platforms and Trends in 2023
Talking about the experiment with UNB, Science Bee Founder Mobin Sikder and Executive Member Metheela Farzana Melody shared how the team tested the chatbot for BCS exam, following a month of planning and preparation and seven days of frequent testing.
“First of all, we researched how to take the test to get the most realistic results,” Mobin told UNB. “Since ChatGPT is trained on a dataset available till September 2021, we decided to conduct the test on the questions of the latest BCS exam – 44th BCS, held in May 2022.”
“After selecting the exam, we collected the question papers and answers. Since the question paper is allowed to be taken away after the exam, securing it did not require much time. The answer sheet is, however, not published directly. So, we prepared the final answer sheet on our own, after multiple testing from various third-party sources,” team Science Bee explained.
Language barrier emerged as a headache during the experiment as BCS exam is conducted in Bangla language and the chatbot is trained in English. It had to be translated into English in order to keep the exam fair.
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In the 44th BCS, 1 mark was allotted for each question where the candidate got 1 mark for the correct answer, and 0.5 mark was deducted for each wrong answer. However, candidates had the option to skip or not answer any question; in that case, no marks were added or subtracted. The same mark distribution was provided to ChatGPT and at the beginning, it was informed about the MCQ exam and command through text prompt – and it became ready to take the exam.
However, there were some picture-based questions, according to team Science Bee. Since ChatGPT-3 is not multimodal, it cannot read or understand images; hence it was not possible to input those questions, so those were rejected. Besides, it was not possible to translate some questions related to Bangla language and literature into English as it would change the thematic description.
“The total number of such rejected questions was 22. As these are weaknesses of ChatGPT, invalid questions were treated as unanswered and no negative marking was done,” according to team Science Bee.
The remaining 178 questions were asked to ChatGPT with options, and it answered 142 questions correctly. 24 questions were answered incorrectly and while answering the remaining 12, the chatbot stated that the correct answer option was not found. That means the chatbot got 142 marks for as many correct answers, 12 marks were deducted for providing 24 wrong answers, and no marks were deducted or added for no answer. So, as per the 44th BCS exam questions, ChatGPT passed with a total of 130 marks.
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In the 44th BCS exam, a total of 3,50,716 candidates applied and of them, 2,76,760 candidates participated in the preliminary exam. Only 15,708 candidates passed the preliminary exam, according to reports.
“As there is no specific pass mark for BCS and the cut-off mark is not officially released, we were in touch with several candidates who appeared for the 44th BCS exam. According to the information given by them, the cut-off mark in general cadre was 125±. Since ChatGPT secured 130 marks in our test, it can be said that ChatGPT has successfully passed BCS preliminary exam,” team Science Bee told UNB.
Further explaining the performance of the chatbot, Science Bee said that according to the test, ChatGPT was able to answer the questions quite well. However, it was pretty weak in Bangla language and literature category where it answered only 5 out of 35 questions. On the other hand, it performed well in the categories of science, computer or English language and literature. It took a considerable amount of time to answer most of the questions in the mental skills or math categories correctly.
“Besides, many times there have been incidents like getting stuck in the middle of answering. In that case, we had to take the help of ‘Regenerate Response’ to proceed and move forward,” team Science Bee said.
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The questions for the exam were collected and translated by Metheela. Overall management of the test was conducted by Science Bee’s Content Production Head Annoy Debnath, and the final report was edited by Mobin and Sadia Binte Chowdhury.
“We did this test as part of an interesting experiment and will conduct further tests with other examinations when ChatGPT-4 will be available. The chatbot is learning consistently and becoming powerful every single day, and through this type of test, we want to convey a message to aspiring learners and students that we need to move one step ahead of ChatGPT with our learnings.”
“That means, we need to stop relying on memorising and copy-paste practices because ChatGPT can do it and will be doing it even better with future versions, and also there are other AI projects in the pipeline such as Google’s Bard. It can be a great assistant and companion to humankind, and it will not replace anyone if we can continue to improve our learning. That is the motto of our research, aligned with our motto and tagline ‘learn like never before’. We want people to understand the importance of learning and be skilled in order to make AI useful,” Mobin and team Science Bee told UNB.
(Details of the test can be found on Science Bee's Facebook page and website.)
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