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Dhaka muslin: Resurrecting the forgotten fabric in Cumilla!
Once the most valuable fabric on Earth, Dhaka muslin has now become almost extinct.
Centuries on, researchers in Bangladesh have resurrected the forgotten enigmatic fabric after six years of effort -- this time, not in Dhaka but in Cumilla.
Once an attire of kings and queens, muslin is a light cotton fabric of plain weave. It got its name from the ancient city of Mosul in Iraq where it was first produced.
Read: Recovering Muslin is our great achievement: Textile and Jute minister
According to the researchers, at least 30 metric counts of cotton fibre are needed to produce a reeled or handwoven muslin yarn. And the yarn produced in this way is so fine that a muslin saree can pass through a ring.
But, somehow muslin became extinct by the end of the 18th century.
At present, over 200 women are producing muslin yarn in Sonapur and Rampur villages of Cumilla’s Chandina and Debidwar upazilas under a project monitored by the Bangladesh Handloom Board (BHB).
Read Recovering Muslin is our great achievement: Textile and Jute minister
Bangladesh’s apparel export to cross $100 bn by 2030: experts
Bangladesh’s apparel export will cross the $100-billion target by 2030, considering the potentials of the markets in Europe, the Uk, and the USA amid declining share of Chinese garments, experts have said.
The global apparel market size will be around $1135 billion in 2030. During this period Bangladeshi apparel exporters expect to get at least 10 per cent or $100 billion of the global market share.
The current global apparel market volume is around $560 billion, where Bangladesh’s export share was $43 billion in FY 2021-22, up by 36 per cent year-on-year (July to June).
Read: Uniform rate: Tk 108/dollar max for remittance, Tk 99/dollar for export income from tomorrow
The apparel export saw a good start in FY 2022-23 with July-August earnings reaching $7.11 billion, posting 26 per cent growth compared to the same period of last fiscal year, said Faruque Hassan, president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
International trade expert Dr Mohammad Abdur Razzaque told UNB that Europe and the USA are the potentially growing markets for Bangladesh’s apparel products.
Bangladesh has an additional export potential of $20 billion in the EU and the UK, he said adding that currently the country can utilise less than 60 per cent of its export potentials to these markets.
Read BGMEA for shoring up Bangladesh-India interactions in apparel, textile
Razzaque, who is also chairman of RAPID, a think tank, quoted a recent report in this regard.
In order to reach $100 billion target the country has to achieve an annual export growth of 11.45 per cent.
As Chines apparel export share is declining in the western market due to rising tension between the West and China, Bangladeshi exporters are likely to take advantage of the situation to boost their products, he opined.
China is moving away from low-value-added apparel to more sophisticated items, this can be an advantage for Bangladeshi apparel exporters, he said.
Also read: BGMEA, Eswatini for investment in apparel, textile joint ventures
The EU apparel market size is $200 billion while the US market is $90 billion to $100 billion. The Chinese market is around $11 billion while the Indian market is 1.1 billion, so Bangladesh has to expand its export share in the EU and US markets by 12 per cent and 15 per cent respectively, Razzaque suggested.
In 2030, Bangladesh’s export share in the EU market would have been $65 billion and $24 billion in the US market, which is achievable considering the resilience of the country despite Covid-19 pandemic.
In the post-Covid-19 pandemic period apparel export volume of the country is showing upward trends due to the resilience of the country’s people, said Md Jillur Rahman, assistant professor of Economics at Jagannath University.
Read Bangladesh to retain fame as safe, sustainable apparel sourcing destination: BGMEA
He said Bangladesh’s apparel export to the EU market grew by 59.5 per cent in the January to June period of 2022.
It shows the prospects of Bangladesh's growing apparel export to the EU market, he said.
Dr Razzaque, however, cautioned that achieving $100 billion export target of Bangladesh’s apparel industry will not be cake walk. Logistic facility, port handling capacity and skilled labour, environment and labour rights will be burning issues.
Bangladesh must focus on AI-developed equipment skilled labor and labor wage satisfaction to face the challenges in the coming years.
Read 'Electronics exports to overtake apparel'
Drought hampering Aman production in Bagerhat
A debacle in Aman paddy production is raising fears of an upcoming food crisis in Bagerhat.
This year, rainfall in Bagerhat was 489mm less than last year. As a result, although the Aman season is nearing its end, around 40 percent of agricultural land in the district is lying uncultivated due to a drought-like situation.
Lack of water is making it hard for farmers to plant Aman seedlings, and those who’ve already planted the seedlings are watching their crops becoming yellow and drying up.
Read: Drought-like situation frustrates Aman growers in Naogaon
Amid such a situation, the Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) is thinking of bringing changes to the paddy growing process and artificially inducing rainfall.
According to the DAE, there are a total of 2,44,328 farming families in Bagerhat. The season for planting Aman seedlings runs between July 1 and September 15. This year, the government had set a target to cultivate 2,66,980 metric tons of Aman paddy in 74,425 hectares of land, among which only 41,000 hectares of land has been cultivated till now.
Besides, Bagerhat has witnessed 2538mm rain from May to August this year, which was 3027mm during the same period in the previous year. This means that there has been 489mm less rain in the district this season, which has affected the production of Aman paddy to a great extent.
While visiting Bagerhat’s Kochua and Fakirhat upazilas, UNB found that cracks and weeds have emerged in all the paddy fields there. Farmers, worried about food shortage, were trying to save their seedlings through irrigation. The same scenario prevailed in the district’s Sadar, Sharankhola and Mollarhat upazilas too.
Sheikh Asadur Rahman, a local farmer, plants paddy in five acres of land every year. He runs his family by consuming and selling the rice grown on his land. This year, Asad is facing dual crises. While the seedbed that he had prepared for the first time got wasted due to the water crisis, the seedbed that he prepared the second time is being eaten up by domestic animals.
“Seedlings can’t be implanted on dry land. I couldn’t implant any seedlings this season due to a lack of water. The Aman farming season is nearing its end, which means I won’t be able to cultivate any paddy this year. I don’t know how I will survive,” Asad said.
Swapan Das, Chairman of Fakirhat Upazila Parishad, has seen the farming methods of many countries. While talking to UNB, he provided some ideas to mitigate the farming crisis that is going on in the district.
Read: Scanty rains worry Aman, Jute growers in Thakurgaon
“New variants of paddy have to be invented through conducting research on water and soil. Solar energy has to be used in ensuring water supply through irrigation. Besides, subsidies in the current method of irrigation have to be increased and the price of electricity has to be lowered,” said Swapan.
Md Azizur Rahman, Deputy Director of Bagerhat’s Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE), suggested water pumps to be used in paddy farming to deal with the water crisis.
“To mitigate the losses, we’ve advised the farmers to cultivate the BR-23 variant of paddy and irrigate their lands using water pumps. Currently, a total of 4,500 water pumps are running in the district,” Azizur said.
Azizur added that the period for implanting seedlings has been extended to September 30.
“We have to wait till the harvesting period to know whether the government will miss its target for Aman production this year or not,” added Azizur.
From coffee to yoga to happiness: Offbeat ministries from around the world!
When governments get creative, countries get bizarre ministries – from coffee, toilet and yoga to happiness and loneliness.
Some unique ministries from around the world at a glance
Papua New Guinea’s Coffee Ministry:
Coffee is one of the crops most frequently farmed in Papua New Guinea. Some 27% of the country’s agricultural exports are coffee. Moreover, the industry contributes 6% of the nation’s total gross domestic product.
Maybe that’s why Papua New Guinea’s Prime Minister James Marape in August 2022 appointed Joe Kuli as the country’s first Minister for Coffee. “The Minister’s job is to focus on coffee, coffee and coffee,” local media quoted Marape as saying.
Read:Stars Coffee, anyone? Starbucks successor opening in Russia
Papua New Guinea is not the first nation to develop such unconventional portfolios – there are a few others, including the UAE, the UK, India and Japan.
Japan’s Loneliness Ministry:
In February 2021, the Japanese government created a unique cabinet portfolio by appointing Tetsushi Sakamoto as its first-ever Minister for Loneliness.
The aim was to tackle the rising suicide rates, particularly among women, in Japan for the first time in a decade due to Covid-19, Japanese media had reported, quoting Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Read Spending Money for Happiness: 10 Effective Ways
“I hope to carry out activities to prevent social loneliness and isolation and to protect ties between people,” Sakamoto had said in his inaugural address.
Japan probably took a cue from the UK, where the government created a new portfolio and appointed Tracey Crouch as the Minster of Loneliness in 2018 to help people with problems like social isolation.
UAE’s Ministry of Happiness:
In February 2016, the UAE set up a Ministry of Happiness and appointed Ohood Al Roumi as its Minister entrusted with the job of raising the happiness of its citizens.
Read: Pandemic Yoga: How to strengthen lungs, ease breathing problems with yoga
In a slew of tweets, Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum then expressed his desire to see more happy people. Roumi’s would supervise “plans, projects, programmes (and) indices” that raise the nation’s general mood, he wrote.
It may also be mentioned here that in 2014, Japan appointed Haruko Arimura as the country’s first unofficial Minister of Toilets.
India’s Yoga Ministry:
The same year, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi created a unique ministry to promote traditional Indian medicine and yoga. And Shirpad Naik was appointed the Minister of Yoga. A year later, the country celebrated Yoga Day for the first time.
Read IKIGAI: The Japanese Secret to a Long Healthy Life
WASA key reason behind pollution of Dhaka’s rivers, NRCC chairman says
Although there are directives from the country’s highest court to save rivers, authorities concerned have failed miserably to stop pollution and encroachment. Thus, rivers around Dhaka city are still being polluted.
In an interview with UNB, Dr Manjur Ahmed, chairman of National River Conservation Commission (NRCC), put a major share of the blame on Dhaka WASA.
Dhaka WASA’s failure to construct enough sewerage lines has created a disastrous situation. Factories in and around Dhaka dispose of waste into the rivers surrounding the city. Combination of household and industrial wastes has turned rivers like Buriganga and Shitalakhya “ecologically dead”.
Read:Buriganga Pollution: Contempt rule issued against Wasa MD
“All the human waste produced in Dhaka city goes into the four rivers surrounding it. This happens due to Dhaka WASA’s failure to manage the waste. Excrement and rainwater go to the rivers through the same pipe. It was WASA’s duty to set up separate pipes for proper flow of the wastes. They didn’t do so, and as a result rivers are being polluted fast,” said Manjur.
The NRCC chairman added that although much of the grabbed lands by the rivers have been recovered, pollution couldn’t be stopped as those responsible were not brought under the law.
“At least four crore people live in and around Dhaka city but there isn’t a single river or waterbody where people can bathe. Population density, unmanageable development, withdrawal of water in the upstream and climate change are affecting the country’s rivers. As an organization working to conserve rivers, NRCC is acutely aware of these problems,” said Manjur.
Read:Dhaka rivers get polluted, WASA moves to supply water from Meghna
About NRCC, Manjur said that the role of his organization is to identify the problems and provide recommendations to the concerned authorities.
“NRCC is a relatively new organization. Some recommendations made by us have already been implemented and others are pending with the authorities. So far, we’ve identified 57,000 illegal encroachers and evicted 14,000 of them through the help of the district administrations and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA),” said Manjur.
On the demarcation of river boundaries, the NRCC chairman said that it’s a tough task.
Read Tajul briefs JS on Wasa, city corporations' projects to serve capital
“The boundaries of Buriganga, Turag and Balu rivers have already been demarcated. I hope that the rest of the rivers will also be demarcated gradually,” said Manjur.
On the master plan that NRCC was preparing, Manjur said that it is yet to be completed.
“The process of preparing the master plan was interrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic. I hope that we’ll be able to complete the master plan within a short time,” the NRCC chairman said.
Read LGRD Minister directs WASA to fix water price in capital rationally
During the interview, he informed UNB that his organization aims to put an end to pollution of the rivers surrounding Dhaka within March 17, 2023, which is the birth anniversary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“We’ll provide directives to all the government and private establishments in Dhaka and adjacent areas to stop polluting the rivers surrounding the city very soon. Legal steps will be taken if anyone breaches the rules and fails to comply with the directives,” Manjur said.
Use of air flow machines in storage transforming onion farmers' fortunes in Faridpur
Every year, it is said that almost a quarter of the country's total output of onions - which in 2020-21 stood at 3.3 million metric tonnes - ends up wasted, going rotten due to bacterial infection, or exposure to excessive heat and vapour.
That would equate to 825,000 MT of wasted onions in 2020-21.
But this year, farmers in the country’s southwest have started reaping the benefits of using a new technology in the preservation of their perishable crops.
An air flow machine, already being dubbed the ‘Air Conditioner (AC) for Onions’, - although the technique can be and is used in storage of other items as well- is helping Faridpur's onion farmers to prevent a significant portion of their produce from going rotten.
For the last couple of years, Bangladesh has been increasing its annual output of onions. But the country still has to import huge amounts of onion every year to meet demand. Both the importers and the local farmers incur losses due to surplus onions in the market, as prices come down and the product starts to rot.
The air flow machine has arrived as a solution to this two-pronged problem.
Also read: Bangladesh to export onions in 2-3 years: Agricultural Minister
The cost-effective innovation, long in use in other parts of the world, is being championed in Bangladesh by a team of Southwestern Coordinated Water Resources Planning and Management Project-Phase II. The cost of setting up an Air Flow Machine is only Tk 15,000-Tk 20,000.
Record high defaulted loans amid experts’ call to cut concessions
The amount of defaulted bank loans in the country increased by about 9 percent to a record Tk 1.25 lakh crore amid the adverse impact of Covid-19 pandemic until June this year.
According to Bangladesh Bank’s June quarter report, banks' loan disbursement stood at Tk 13.98 lakh crore till June 2022, of which 8.96 percent or Tk 1.25 lakh crore turned into bad loans.
Despite the loan moratorium and reducing the number of annual installments, the volume of defaulted loans has reached a record high in the country so far, said the report.
Three months ago, in the March quarter of 2022, the defaulted loans totalled Tk 1.13 lakh crore, according to the report.
Accordingly, in the second quarter of the year (April-June), the amount of loans that remained unpaid in time in the banking sector increased by Tk 11,818 crore.
Also read: S Korea to provide $ 3 bn soft loans to Bangladesh: Ambassador Lee
In the first quarter (January-March) there was an increase of defaulted repayment by Tk 10167 crore, to Tk 1.13 lakh crore.
Noted economist Dr. A B Mirza Azizul Islam told UNB, “If you want to reduce defaulted loans, you have to increase debt collection. At the same time, bulk moratorium and reduced number installment facility should be stopped for the borrowers.”
He explained why. “Because, having been able to get concessions for several years, the defaulters now think that if they don't repay the loan, they will get more concessions in the future. So the facility of the defaulters should be stopped.”
Former Bangladesh Bank governor Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed echoed the views.
He said that the loan collection should be focused on the legal procedure as the banks lend money to small depositors. Without legal action the depositors' benefit would not be secured.
In reply to a query about the capital shortfall of different banks, he said that the more defaulted loans increase, the more security provision should be kept at the central bank.
Banks have run into capital shortages while keeping this extra money out, he said.
Also read: BB implements Tk25000 crore loan package to enhance capacity of small sector
The central bank’s latest report found that the capital deficit of seven state-owned banks, including two of the specialized banks, was Tk 26095 crore at the end of June.
Out of this, Bangladesh Krishi Bank has the highest deficit of Tk 13171 crore. The second highest deficit of Tk 2507 crore is at Agrani Bank, Tk 2,278 crore in Sonali Bank, Tk 2,261 crore in Rupali Bank, Tk 2,124 crore in Basic Bank, Tk 1,603 crore in Janata Bank, and Tk 2,149 crore in Rajshahi Agricultural Development Bank.
The capital shortfall of five private sector banks is Tk 3,437 crore. Among them, the deficit of the ICB Islamic Bank is Tk 1,659 crore, Tk 1,212 crore at Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Tk 300 crore at National Bank, Tk 263 crore at Padma Bank, and Tk 23 crore at Bengal Commercial Bank.
At the end of June 2022, the total capital deficit of 12 banks stood at Tk 29531 crore in the banking system, said the report.
Khulna-Mongla rail link to be operational by December?
The Khulna-Mongla railway line, which is expected to expedite the economic activities of the Mongla sea port, is likely to be operational in December.
The construction work of the railway track is going on in full swing. "Till now, the progress of the project has been around 95 percent. We hope to inaugurate the line by this year-end," an official said.
Once operational, the railway line will play a crucial role in increasing the economic activities of the region.
According to the Mongla port authority, 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 six years ago.
Read:Rupsha Railway Bridge, Khulna-Mongla port rail line to facilitate goods transportation; connectivity
The project 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 deadline of the project being extended to December this year and the cost of the project shooting up to Tk 4,260 crore.
Ahmed Hossain Mamun, chief engineer and deputy director of the project, said, " The cost of the project has shot up due to unexpected working conditions and some changes in the project plan. Besides laying 65 kilometres of tracks, we are also building eight stations, 32 bridges and 106 culverts, which increased the project cost."
Saiful Islam, secretary-general of Mongla Port Users’ Coordination Committee, said,
"The more the construction work of the Khulna-Mongla rail track is getting delayed, the more losses the businessmen who use the Mongla port are incurring."
"Once established, the Khulna-Mongla railway track will bring about massive economic and social changes in the Khulna region,” said Saiful.
Abul Khayer Abdullah Khokon Serniabat, general secretary of Mongla Port Berth and Ship Operator Association, said that the Khulna-Mongla rail link will help in transporting goods to Nepal and Bhutan quickly and easily.
Govt aims to increase enrolment in technical education to 30% by 2030
The government plans to increase the number of students in technical education to 30 percent by 2030, from the existing 17 percent.
The government has taken the move as one of its principal aims to create skilled human resources in information technology compatible with the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
To that end, the government is laying emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics) based education and training, according to an official document.
To meet the demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution the government is giving importance to teaching appropriate technology-based subjects in the classroom and is allocating a budget to the National Curriculum and Textbook Board, or NCTB, for bringing necessary changes in the curriculum.
Also read: MoFA, Technical and Madrasa Education Division vow to modernize technical and madrasa education
In addition, the government has undertaken several important training programmes aimed at creating a skilled IT workforce.
For example, the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority has set a target to train more than sixty thousand young people by 2025 and one lakh by 2030 to fulfil the demand of the IT sector.
More than 36,000 people have already been trained under various projects and programmes.
The project implemented by the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) has provided training on Information and Communication Technology to about 2.34 lakh people and most of them are doing jobs in various ICT companies/organisations at home and abroad.
To adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution, including augmented reality and virtual reality, the document said, specialised labs will be set up at every university of the country and work is underway to set up 57 such specialised labs.
Work on establishment of Sheikh Kamal IT Training and Incubation Centres in 64 districts and 10 Digital Village is in progress to provide proper training for young people.
Besides this, the training programmes on emerging technologies, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, block-chain, robotics, big data, cloud computing etc. are in progress.
Also read: Dovetailing higher and technical education needed: Dipu Moni
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina recently in the first meeting of the Governing Board of the National Skill Development Authority (NSDA) held at her office (PMO) directed the officials to take necessary steps for realising the demographic dividend.
She mentioned that each year some 2.2 million individuals enter the job market. If this huge manpower could be trained up properly with appropriate training it would bring enormous benefits for the country.
She also asked the officials to pay attention to technology-based training programmes for grabbing the opportunities in the coming Fourth Industrial Revolution.
According to the official document, the enrolment rate in technical education, which was less than 1.0 percent 12 years ago, is now 17.25 percent.
The technical education enrolment rate is the percentage of secondary students enrolled in technical / vocational education programmes, including teacher training programmes.
In the 2022 academic year, 26,846 students have been enrolled in pre- vocational courses from 6th to 8th grade and 20,613 students from the 9th grade of 134 technical schools and colleges have been enrolled up to January 2022.
Drought dashes dreams of Khulna farmers
Farmers in the coastal district of Khulna are a worried lot because of something they had no control over -- drought.
With aridity delaying the Aman paddy cultivation process by nearly one-and-a-half months, the 80,000-plus farmers in the district fear that they may not be able to even recover the production cost this year.
According to the department of agricultural extension (DoAE), only 16,055 hectares of land have so far been cultivated with Aman paddy -- barely one-fifth of the targeted 93,070 hectares.
According to the weather department, almost four to five times less rainfall was recorded this year in Khulna as compared to last year.
Read: Jute growers paying for drought that resulted in discoloured fibre
In 2021, a total of 388.89 mm of rainfall was recorded in June, 506 mm in July and 213 mm in August.
But this year, 94.36 mm of rainfall was recorded in June, 91.27 mm in July, and 161.19 mm till August 23.
In the current season, 3,630 hectares of land in the district have been cultivated with Aush paddy, 1,316 hectares with jute, 35 hectares with tomato, 273 hectares with watermelon, 295 hectares with beans, and 8,265 hectares with winter vegetables.
Farmers say Aman paddy needs plenty of water. "I only know how I am managing water to irrigate my 10 bighas of land to keep the planted beans alive,” said Abu Hanif Morol, a farmer from Kharnia village of Dumuria upazila.
Farmers of Bamandia, Panchpota, Gonali, Bhadradia and Tipna villages are irrigating their Aman fields with water from the Bhadra river -- but channelising the river water is increasing their production costs.
Md Hafizur Rahman, deputy director of Khulna DoAE, said Aman is being cultivated with water from the river in Fultola, Terokhada, Rupsha, Batiaghata, Dumuria, Dighalia and Dakop upazilas.
"Meanwhile, in Paikgacha and Koira upazilas, farmers were unable to use the river water as it is still too saline," he said.
Read: Drought-like situation frustrates Aman growers in Naogaon
“Already 100% seedbeds for Aman have been prepared but the production will still be less than projected due to a drought-like situation, " said the Khulna DoAE official.
Lack of rainfall has slowed down the entire Aman cultivation process, said Paikgacha upazila agriculture officer, Jahangir Alam."Farmers have been advised to get in touch with the Rural Electrification Board."
Mizanur Rahman, deputy assistant agriculture officer of Dakop upazila, said apart from the delay in Aman cultivation, production of watermelons and vegetables has also been hit in Pankhali union.