Savar Tragedy-How long to wait for security to life

RMG in Bangladesh is passing through hard times due to unwanted circumstances which have erupted from  building collapse at Savar , Dhaka. In fact, it is not an unusual fact that has bewildered us, rather we are very much accustomed to the happenings because our RMG's are not running in  keeping with the compliance in the work place.  Most of the buildings of our country  are not built according to the building codes.  Rana Plaza collapse  at Savar is an instance of the grim picture of the country’s civil engineering works.  Human  beings build accommodation to protect themselves . Buildings should  save  man. But on the other hand, in our country, buildings kill man. It is because of the audacity of some so-called ruffians who care not for any law. Common people are very  helpless to them.  The garments factories in the country  are the potential source of foreign currency.  Huge number of  poor people work  in the garments  industry. Bangladesh  is the luckiest country to have cheap labour

Proper implementation of the Companies Act-1994 can accelerate tax & revenue of the Government of Bangladesh

The Registrar of Joint stock Companies and Firms (RJSC) is the sole authority of  Company formation and  other company-related works. Private companies, public Companies, foreign companies, trade organizations, societies and partnership firms are registered with RJSC. Companies Act,1994, Societies Registration Act,1860 & Partnership Act, 1932 are enforceable by RJSC. But it does not have any strong monitoring cell. It does not monitor & investigate the implementation of company law by the stake-holders. There is no denying the fact that  the company law is  not followed  in our country in the true sense of the term. Most private limited companies do not submit their EGM & AGM reports in due time. In many cases, they get their AGM passed by RJSC   somehow. Their financial statements are audited by CA firms after their choice on , before or after AGM  In some cases, the income statement  & balance sheet are  not audited but signed by the competent signatories. This is not the lawful practice of the Companies Act-1994. Section 81(1) of the Companies says  that every company shall in each year of the Grogorian calendar hold in addition to any other meetings a general meeting as its annual general meeting and shall specify the meeting as such in the notices calling it; and not more than fifteen months shall elapse between the date of one annual general meeting of a company and that of the next. Section 82 says that if default is made in holding a meeting of the company in accordance with sub-section (1) of section 81, or in complying with any directions of the Court under sub-section(2) there-of, the company & every officer of the company who is in default shall be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand taka and in case of a continuing default with a further fine which may extend to two hundred fifty taka for every day after the first day during which such default continues.

E- Book & E-Learning --A New Prospect in the Context of Bangladesh

            Bangladesh, being a developing country in South-Asian region, is a new stake-holder of globalization & digitalization. Every sphere of management & administration of the different organs  demands automation for the speedy functioning  of state governance.   Education is the basic need & fundamental right of every citizen. An educated nation can develop a country. Book is the pre-requisite for education. Books contain the context of vision & mission, ideas & feelings,  morals & maxims, science & technology, trade & commerce, & so on. But all books are not available for all people.  Books of prominent writers, philosophers, scientists, researchers, doctors, teachers, thinkers, intellectuals of home & abroad are not available for all classes of people because their hard copies are not easily accessible. Here lies the importance of e-book & e-learning. It is in line with the digitalization of Bangladesh. But how far we are towards e-book & e-learning in the context of Bangladesh.

         There are many book publication companies in Bangladesh. They publish fiction & non-fiction books every year though they are still off line.  NCTB publishes on line text books for the students of the academy. Different reputed institutes publish on line  journals & periodicals. But these are not sufficient for the mass level. Still, the rural areas of our country  are not under the coverage of e-learning facilities though community-based information centres  are in operation at union paishad levels across the country.  We are miles & miles away from  digitalization in the fullest sense.  But we are not pessimistic in our approach. We are optimists in our  dream  & ambition.  We are heading towards our goal with a definite mind set.

          Bangladesh is our dear motherland. It is our hard-earned dear homeland. We must keep pace with the developed & advanced countries of the world to build Sonar Bangla.  But we have lots of  duties & responsibilities undone. The majority of our people live in villages. They need fruitful education & effective training.  We, the educated people, must change their vision. They must be brought under the benefits of modern education. They must be brought under the education of science & technology.  But  what is the way?  I think ICT with ample on line resources can do to a great extent in this context. Books of science & technology, trade & commerce, arts & social science, agriculture & animal husbandry must be available for the common people as early as possible. The common people have to be accustomed to the habit of reading on line with ICT facilities.

        E-learning can provide them the access to the high thoughts of the great thinkers of home & abroad. But is it still possible for the common people to access the on line resources available in different web sites . The answer is perhaps ‘NO’.  The reason is very simple. We are not sincere in the true sense of the term.  The socio-economic structure of our country is not up to the mark.  The purchasing power parity of our people is not satisfactory. Per capita income of our people are very low. The low income group  of our country can never access the benefits of  ICT. In most of our educational institutions there is no digital lab or library. With some exceptions, the public universities of our countries do not have sufficient infrastructure facilities. The highly prestigious libraries of the world are enriched with on line resources. But they are not free of cost.  Though some books are accessible on line, in fact, internet cost in our country is not cost-effective.  The internet packages offered by the mobile phone operating companies in our country  are not within the reach of the low income groups. 

        Most resources in the libraries of the public & private institutes of the country have no on line version.  The famous publications of the world like Oxford University Press, Cambridge University  Press, Gutenberg, McGraw Hill & so on  publish on line version of their resources. Amazon.com is the largest e-learning publishing company. Recently Oxford University Press has ended the  print edition of Oxford dictionary. Most news papers of Europe & America do not publish hard copies & always publish  their resources on line. So, there is no denying the fact that e-learning is the most coveted factor in this modern world. In Bangladesh, it holds a bright prospect for the next generation readers. But without logistic support , the prospect of e-learning will see no light of hope.  Each & every student must have access to ICT with low paid internet cost. He or she must be provided with PCs at cost effective rate even at easy instalments. The price of computer accessories should be more  affordable. Foreign computer companies should be invited to our country to set up their plant. For this, necessary positive & effective steps must be ensured.

       We can easily integrate e-learning into our  daily routines using intranets, e-mail, chat, and other familiar tools.  To be more ICT based, we need to focus on e-learning. Our universities can run distance courses with necessary logistic support. E-learning can save time, money & energy. It can reduce the load of infrastructure problems. E-learning, e-education, e-commerce & over all ICT based management & administration can go a long way in enjoying the benefits of modern  Information & communication  technology   

Labour Unrest- How long to wait for peace!

RMG in Bangladesh is passing through hard times due to unwanted circumstances which have erupted from fire incident in Tangin Garments Factory at Ashulia, Gazipur in the suberbs of Dhaka city. In fact, it is not an unusual fact that has bewildered us, rather we are very much accustomed to the happenings because our RMG's are not running in  keeping with the compliance in the work place though the fire incident is supposed to be a sabotage to ruin the garments industries in our country, tarnishing the image our country in the outside world. Some so-called villains are responsible for this catastrophy.

Zig zag Brick kiln—A positive step towards carbon emission  in Bangladesh

Carbon-di-oxide is the main culprit for carbon emission which leads to climate change & environmental pollution in a country. Bangladesh is most vulnerable to climate change & environmental pollution due to huge amount of carbon emission in the atmosphere. There are several factors responsible for carbon emission.  Brick kiln is one of them which emits a huge amount of  carbon-di-oxide gas in the atmosphere of the country. The Bull Trench Kilns had the largest market share for long one hundred & fifty years. Then comes the Fixed Chimney kilns (FCK).There are other brick kilns like Zigzag kilns, gas fired Hoffman kilns (HK) and Hybrid Hoffman kilns (HHK) to produce bricks. One study reveals that in 2006, market share for different brick kilns in Bangladesh was FCK-75.4 per cent, BTK-19.2 per cent, Zigzag kiln-4.8 per cent and HK-0.6 per cent. Though Hybrid Hoffman kiln & tunnel kiln are the latest kilns technology to produce bricks, yet Zig zag technology  is the pioneer  because Zigzag kilns are comparatively better in terms of fuel use and carbon emission.  Both BTKs and FCKs are poorly constructed and cause excessive leakage through the kiln walls. The conventional BTK and FCK consume huge amount of fuel but fail to utilize the effective heat energy for burning bricks. In the back drop of the present context, remission of carbon emission is a vital issue for ecological balance. In the mean time, the Bull Trench Kilns (BTK) & the Fixed Chimney kilns (FCK) have lost their appeal. It is estimated that a Fixed chimney (with 120 ft stack height) brick kiln (BTK requires almost the same) requires approximately 4-5 acres of land including around 2 acres for the kiln itself to install and operate. The gas fired Hoffman kilns and Hybrid Hoffman kilns are comparatively new addition in this country and they operate round the year. As the utility companies discourage gas supply to brick kilns, a limited number (approximately 30) of gas fired Hoffman kilns operate in the country and they are mainly established in and around Dhaka. The Tunnel kiln has no market share in our country because it has not become popular so far. The Zig zag kiln is the most prominent kiln technology in term of  fuel consumption &  carbon emission though its heat insulation system generally is not significantly better than FCK.

                                                

                                      Let me introduce myself to you !

The sentence sounds awesome.  There is no denying the fact that almost everybody in the society is desirous of   introducing himself or herself to the people. It has a great psychological effect on the growing people when he or she is introduced to them. Today's world is a self- acclamation age. Here as much as you can, try to introduce yourself to the society. Then you will manage to do something in the near future.

The useless thing is not always useless. Water hyacinth is no exception in this regard. It can be used as a raw material in paper industry instead of wood pulp. It can be used for various purposes.

Water hyacinth is an aquatic plant. It grows in watery places. It is very common in our country. Bangladesh is a land of rivers. In addition to rivers, there are beels, haors, canals, ponds, etc. in our country. There are seven species of water hyacinth. It is a free floating perennial aquatic plant native to tropical & sub tropical south America. Water hyacinth has been widely introduced throughout North America, Australia, Asia and  Africa.

In the Philippines,   some of the water hyacinth's stems  are used to form strands of string . These pieces of string are woven or interlinked together to form a braid or cord used for making bags, footwear, wreaths, hats, vases , and Christmas lanterns. Water hyacinth remains a major problem where effective control programs are not in place. Water hyacinth is often problematic in man-made ponds if uncontrolled, but can also provide a food source for gold fish, keep water clean and help to provide oxygen to man-made ponds.

Water hyacinth often invades bodies of water that have been impacted by human activities. For example, the plants can unbalance natural lifecycles in artificial reservoirs or in eutrophied lakes that receive large amounts of nutrients.

There are other uses being found for the abundant plants, such as for cattle food and in biogas production. Recently, they have also begun to be used in wastewater treatment due to their fast growth and ability to tolerate high levels of pollution. Parts of the plant are also used in the production of traditional handicrafts in Southeast Asia. In Bangladesh, farmers have started producing fertilizer using Water Hyacinth or Kochuripana .

There is no unmixed blessing in the world. The useless thing is not always useless. Water hyacinth is no exception in this regard. It can be used as a raw material in paper industry instead of wood pulp. It can be used for various purposes. It can be made into fertilizer. It can be made into furniture.

It has spread prolifically, due to lack of natural enemies, an abundance of space, agreeable temperature conditions, and abundant nutrients . It increased rapidly between 1992–1998, was greatly reduced by 2001, and has since resurged to a lesser degree. Management techniques include (hyacinth-eating) insect controls and manual beach cleanup efforts . A water hyacinth infestation is seldom totally eradicated. Instead, it is a situation that must be continually managed.

The effects on transportation and fishing are immediately felt. Where the weed is prolific, there is a general increase in several diseases, as the weed creates excellent breeding areas for mosquitoes and other insects. There are increased incidents of skin rash, cough, malaria, encephalitis, bilharzias, gastro intestinal disorders, and schistosomiasis. Water hyacinth also interferes with water treatment, irrigation, and water supply . It can smother aquatic life by deoxygenating the water, and it reduces nutrients for young fish in sheltered bays. It has blocked supply intakes for the hydroelectric plant, interrupting electrical power for entire cities. The weed also interrupts local subsistence fishing, blocking access to the beaches.