Joel Ahmed

Construction of 8-lane Aminbazar Bridge started (28/08/2021) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mho5UcB8pFo

Dr. Shuvo Roy is a Bangladesh-American scientist trying to create an artificial kidney for the CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease) and Diabetes patient with the help of nanotechnology. https://www.facebook.com/TogbogBD/videos/820215278693871/

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/court/militants-threaten-kill-tribunal-judge-tangail-293995#.YSi92STtt-0.facebook Militants threaten to kill tribunal judge in Tangail They also threatened to kill her relative who is working in the process server of the court, if they fail to kill her A militant group has sent a letter threatening to kill Khaleda Yasmin, a judge of the Tangail Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal. They also threatened to kill her relative who is working in the process server of the court, if they fail to kill her. According to court sources, the letter came to Judge Khaleda Yasmin in an envelope on Thursday from one Jubayer Rahman. "You (Khaleda) have given verdicts in many big cases since you came to the Women and Children's Court. It has caused a great loss to our people. So, for the sake of Allah, if you love your life, then get yourself transferred from Tangail. If you don't listen, we will kill you," the letter read. The letter also claimed that some lawyers and staffs of the court are cooperating with the unnamed militant outfit. Judge Khaleda Yasmin, said she and her family are in a state of panic after receiving the letter. Tangail Superintendent of Police, Sanjit Kumar Roy said the law enforcers have been informed about the letter. "They are scrutinizing the matter seriously while security of Judge Khaleda Yasmin and her family has been strengthened," he said. Tangail RAB-12 Company Commander, Lt Abdullah Al Mamun said RAB men are working on the issue seriously.

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/adb-okays-178-billion-dhaka-sylhet-trade-corridor-293986#.YSixY7h5jKk.facebook UNB 27 August, 2021, 03:15 pm Last modified: 27 August, 2021, 04:02 pm ADB okays $1.78 billion for Dhaka-Sylhet trade corridor The Asian Development Bank (ADB) on Friday approved a $1.78 billion multi-tranche financing facility (MFF) to improve mobility, road safety, and regional trade along the Dhaka-Sylhet trade corridor in Bangladesh. The SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Investment Project will be delivered in four tranches, according to the global lender. The $400 million first tranche of the MFF will help finance the initial works of the major contracts for the widening of about 210 km of National Highway 2 along the Dhaka-Sylhet corridor from two to four lanes. It will include 60 km of footpath, 26 foot bridges, and 13 overpasses. Its design will have features responsive to the needs of the elderly, women, children, and the differently abled, as well as disaster and climate risks. The government will fund $911 million of the total project cost of $2.69 billion. Apart from the MFF, ADB will also provide a $1 million technical assistance grant from its Technical Assistance Special Fund and an additional $2 million grant from the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, financed by the Government of Japan, to support capacity building of the Roads and Highways Department on road safety and maintenance, climate change, and gender equality and social inclusion. The Dhaka-Sylhet corridor, once complete, will support a new trade route connecting Chattogram port with India's northeastern states through the three land ports of Akhaura, Sheola, and Tamabil, and from there to Bhutan and Myanmar. The corridor is also the centerpiece of the Bangladesh government's planned Northeast Bangladesh Economic Corridor, which aims to promote key industries in the area, such as energy generation and production of construction materials, and to better integrate them with the rest of the economy in the country. ADB Transport Specialist for South Asia Satomi Sakaguchi said that Bangladesh's export-driven economic growth has shown its unique potential of becoming a regional transport and trade hub. To sustain this growth, the country's transport infrastructure needs to be improved. "The project is the main part of Road Corridor 5 under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation (SASEC) programme. Its improvement will reduce logistics costs, increase competitiveness, and help expand regional trade with neighbouring South Asian countries, apart from providing safe accessibility to the community members." "By doing so, the investment project will contribute to the government's goal of achieving inclusive growth and sustainable development," he said. Transport and trade facilitation are among the priorities of SASEC members, which since 2001, have invested more than $14.3 billion in projects in the region, including 43 transport projects worth $11.4 billion.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/reviews/vat-on-insurance-service-and-the-new-law-1629739052 VAT on insurance service and the new law Mohammad Abu Yusuf | Published: August 23, 2021 23:17:32 The New VAT and SD Act 2012 was enacted to overcome the weaknesses in the VAT Act 1991 by including cutting-edge issues. In particular, the new Act is said to have been enacted to be implemented in an online environment. The Act specifically addresses the Value-Added Tax (VAT) treatment of new business sectors such as telecommunications, secondhand goods, vendor machines (s.44), and includes few new definitions such as periodic and progressive supply, tax fraction and lay-by agreement. Scrapping tariff value for VAT is an improvement over the old Act because tariff values were arbitrary for specific products. In the new law, it is the transaction value (price actually paid or payable) which is the basis for taxation. A beauty of the new VAT law is the timing for remitting VAT to the government. The new VAT law allows tax to be paid to government when the tax return is due (the 15th of the following month). It eliminates the requirement under the VAT System of 1991 for manufacturers and some service providers to pay VAT in advance (i.e. deposit money to keep positive balance under the old Account Current System) before clearing goods from factories or providing services. The new law is thus more business-friendly. The Regulations increase the current registration threshold from Tk. 8 million to Tk. 30 million per annum. This change seems to have been welcomed by business community and small traders. This new Act, however, suffers from few definitional issues. For example, definition of "tax [S 2(24)] means VAT, turnover tax, supplementary duty, and shall, in relation to realisation of arrears, also include any interest, monetary penalty or fine. Inclusion of interest, penalty or fine in the definition of tax seems confusing and not intuitively appealing. Tax is compulsory unrequited payments; interest, monetary penalty or fine does not have the identical feature of tax. As such these three items may be taken out from the definition of tax. According to GFS (2014, IMF), in principle, fines and penalties charged on overdue taxes or penalties imposed for the evasion of taxes should be recorded in fines and penalties category and not as taxes. However, if payments of fines or other penalties cannot be separated from the taxes to which they relate, the fines and penalties relating to a particular tax are recorded together with that tax; and fines and penalties related to unidentifiable taxes are classified as other taxes. Among these weaknesses, the issue of VAT on insurance services seems critical and warrants elaboration. A reading of the New VAT Law finds charging section (S. 4, 15) that allows imposition of VAT on services. There is however, no procedure for imposition and collection of VAT on insurance services. Rule 34 only mentions few instances of increasing and decreasing adjustments. Contrary to the current law, specific guidelines were in place for assessment and collection of VAT from insurance firms under the previous VAT law/Rules of 1991. This paper aims to provide a description containing the relevant issues for VAT collection from Insurance Service. VAT ON INSURANCE SERVICE: In general insurance, VAT/GST should apply to the insurer's taxable value added, where value added is the difference between premium receipts and claim payments. A review of VAT legislation of a number of countries (e.g., New Zealand, Australia, Tanzania) reveals that their legislation/regulations clearly mentions the base value for imposition of VAT on general insurance service. For example, New Zealand applies VAT on insurance company premiums (fire and general insurance company), commissions and other income (such as proceeds from the sale of damaged assets); deductions are allowed on outward reinsurance, on VAT paid on purchases (including goods purchased to settle claims) and tax fraction of payments made in satisfaction of claims. This is the basis of imposition of VAT on insurance service. Such provision is absent in our VAT and SD act 2012. Taxing General Insurance under Credit Method VAT: To use the credit methods of VAT in the case of insurance, premiums received should be defined as sales while payment of claims as purchases. It means that the full amount of premiums should be taxed at applicable VAT rates. And VAT applicable on claims shall be creditable as input taxes against VAT due on premiums. NECESSITY OF GUIDELINE FOR VAT ON INSURANCE: Unlike comprehensive provisions with regard to VAT on insurance services in the legislation of other countries, VAT and SD Act 2012/Rules 2016 lacks provisions on which value VAT will be imposed or how will payout (indemnity payment) be treated in assessing VAT. Rule 34 is the only rule that mentions about the increasing and decreasing adjustments to be made in the preparation of VAT return and calculation of VAT liability. It does not contain necessary issues such as scope of tax, value on which VAT will be assessed on insurance service, input tax credit, treatment of claim payment and the issue of Dual insurance and Reinsurance in assessing VAT liability. As stated earlier, such issues had been there in the NBR General Order (no-10/mushak/2002 and 03/mushak/2003 issued under VAT Act 1991) and Rules 1991 respectively. A comparison of current rules/provisions with the general order of 2002/2003 gives an impression that we have gone backward instead of going forward in having necessary provisions for VAT on insurance service. All rules, orders and guidelines issued under the (repealed) VAT Act 1991 AND VAT Rules 1991 stand rescinded with the issuance of the SRO (no 170-ain/2019/27-mushak dated June 13, 2019). Thus, with the effect of VAT and SD Act 2012 and Rules 2016 from FY 2019-20, the rules or orders made under the 1991 Act/Rules are no more in existence. In other words, a vacuum exists in having provisions/orders concerning VAT on insurance under our new VAT law. It is therefore necessary to issue Rules/General Order detailing VAT collection guideline on insurance services without delay. The general orders issued in 2002 and 2003 may be taken as a guiding factor in this regard. Provision for VAT collection on the premium of dual insurance policy (when the same person is insured with two or more insurers separately against the same interest in the same subject matter against the same risk for the same period of time) is enshrined in 2(ga) of the general order 10/mushak/2002. Although dual insurance is often subject to conditions (such as 'other insurance' clause, principle of contribution to be followed to restrict indemnity to the value of insurable interest) VAT will be applicable as the 2nd insurer is getting premium for issuing the dual insurance policy. So this provision may be included in the guideline to be issued by the NBR. The earlier General orders however did not have express provision on 'input tax credit' and 'treatment of reinsurance'. As reinsurance is not a new policy i.e., reinsurance does not involve individual policies, but is more a matter between insurance companies (e.g., Sadharan Bima Corporation known as SBC will not issue any insurance policy to the ceding company for taking reinsurance cover from the SBC) -- an arrangement (treaty) of transferring risks, there is no scope to collect VAT from the ceding company. Reinsurance premiums are essentially inter-company transfers that spread out the companies' risks. Reinsurance is, therefore, usually exempted from the payment of VAT and it is logical to do so. National tax authorities however enjoy authority to make different laws. Canada's federal tax authority was moving to enforce a three-year-old rule that slaps a value-added tax on reinsurance premiums, paid out by Canadian insurance units to their overseas affiliates. It is pertinent to mention that the premium on the underlying insurance policy is subject to VAT and reinsurance premium is usually paid out of the premiums received from the underlying insurance policy. Imposition of VAT on reinsurance premium may result in double taxation. The OECD countries except New Zealand and to a limited extent Finland exempt all forms of reinsurance from the VAT. CLARIFICATIONS NEEDED ON SUB-RULES OF RULE 34: VAT Rule 34 of Bangladesh allows a decreasing adjustment by the insurer for making a payment to another person under a contract of insurance subject to four conditions. It is not clear if the payment is made as compensation (to indemnify) under the policy. The second and third conditions also do not seem relevant. For example, condition no 34(1) 'kha' mentions that -"the payment is not made in respect of a supply to the insurer or an import by the insurer". This condition gives an impression that the insurer and the insured are engaged in some activities other than the insurance matters. Other transactions or businesses should not get a place in this situation. The only issue that seems pertinent here is "indemnity payment against claim". As such, other issues (other than payment of indemnity) should not be linked (and it is rather irrelevant) to make the matter complex. It seems logical to allow decreasing adjustment for VAT which is equal to the tax fraction of the payment made as indemnity. If these four conditions are to be kept in the rule, then illustrations with rationale and examples have to be developed/circulated or borrowed from the country from which this rule were copied in toto (i.e. Section 76 of the Tanzanian VAT Act, 2014). Similarly, Rule 34 (2) (a) of the VAT & SD Rules 2016 needs an analysis. This rule reads: "Any registered insurer shall be able to make an increasing adjustment, if - (a) the insurer collects any money (except worse or precedent setting damages) by applying his acquired rights under the insurance contract" This sub-rule needs discussion as it may be difficult to understand due to its technicality; it deals with the 'subrogation principle', a basic principle of general insurance. An explanation has been attempted in the following paragraph to justify the increasing adjustment. INCREASING ADJUSTMENTS FOR PAYMENTS UNDER SUBROGATION: Rule 34 (2) (ka) provides for increasing adjustment for VAT applicable on money received through application of subrogation rights. If the insurer receives any money because of his being stand in place of other" (i.e. by dint of subrogation to exercise the right of the other person], an increasing adjustment will be made. Subrogation is the right of one person to stand in the place of another in the application of the law. This (subrogation) is one of the six basic principles of general insurance. Subrogation principle is applied to preserve the principle of indemnity and to prevent the insured party from making profit out of any loss arising in terms of a contract of insurance. This principle provides rights to the insurer to take whatever steps it deems necessary to recover the amount of the loss from the third party (that caused an insurance loss to the insured), after the insured party has been compensated for that loss by the insurer. WHY INCREASING ADJUSTMENT: In general insurance, VAT/GST is usually applied to the insurer's taxable value added, where value added is calculated by deducting the indemnity payouts (and taxable purchases) for the loss incurred from the premium receipts. In this case, indemnity payouts reduce the 'valued added amount' and thus reduce VAT liability. When the insurer collects/receives money from the liable third party by applying the substitution rights (acquired under the principle of subrogation), his indemnity amount gets reduced by the amount collected through subrogation. This in turn increases his value added and as such an increasing adjustment (for VAT applicable on money recovered through subrogation) may be made to assess the proper amount of VAT payable by the insurer. An example is given below: Premium amount= Tk. 50000, Indemnity payment: 30,000, VAT liability = (50,000-30000) *15 per cent= Tk. 3000. If the insurer had paid indemnity of Tk. 30000 to the insured and recovered (collected) Tk. 10,000 from a third party (who was found liable for the damage) by applying his substitution rights under Subrogation principle, the insurer's VAT liability will be: VAT amount: Tk. 3000+ increasing adjustment (15 per cent on Tk. 10,000) = Tk. 4500 This VAT amount can also be assessed in the following alternative way: VAT rate* (50,000-30,000) + amount recovered through acquired rights under subrogation principle (Tk. 10000) =15 per cent (20,000+ 10,000) =Tk. 4,500 VAT RETURN FILING PRACTICE BY INSURANCE FIRMS IN BANGLADESH: An examination of the VAT return filed by a general insurance company (Company X) reveals that the insurance companies make increasing or decreasing adjustments in the case of policies issued on co-insurance basis. Increasing adjustment-- Leader Company shows amount of VAT payable on its part of the total premium receipt (say Tk. 1, 00,000 VAT of which Leader's share is Tk. 90,000 and Non-leader's share Tk. 10,000). As leader company's share is Tk. 90,000, it will have to make increasing adjustment for VAT payable on non-leader's part of the premium i.e., on Tk. 10,000 to show the total VAT of Tk. 100,000 payable on the insurance policy. This is in line with the provision of the repealed NBR general order 10/mushak/2002 that -'the leader company shall collect and pay total VAT to the government'. This is illustrated in the following example: Say, total VAT on general insurance premium is Tk. 1,00,000 Leader's share: 90,000 Non-leader's share: 10,000 Leader's VAT return: Payable VAT 90,000 + Increasing Adj: 10,000 (for receipt from non-leader) Total Treasury/Net payable) --100,000 Decreasing adjustment-- In the case of Co-insurance, usually leader is liable to pay VAT on the total premium. And VAT is shown in Leader Company's VAT return. Other non-leader companies share the premium and risk for their proportion. In such cases, non-leader insurance companies take decreasing adjustment for VAT payable on their portion (paid by the leader) of the insurance policy issued Example of Non-Leader's VAT return Payable VAT= 10,000 Decreasing adjustment (10,000) Total Treasury deposit-- 000 CONCLUSION: The discussions made so far makes it clear that there exists a gap in our new VAT system with regard to imposition and collection procedure of VAT from insurance firms. It is imperative to issue standing orders/guidelines narrating the calculation method of value on which VAT is to be assessed on insurance service, the treatment of indemnity payment (payout) to the insured, treatment of reinsurance and if there will be any scope to take input tax credit by the insurance firms. The scope of exemption i.e., insurance services/types that will enjoy exemption from VAT needs to be specified. Detailing out provisions concerning VAT treatment on reinsurance, input tax credit, value for VAT imposition and the scope of exemption (life insurance is exempted under the 2nd Schedule of VAT Act 2012) is necessary. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) may consider issuance of orders/guidelines under the VAT & SD Act/ Rules specifying the aforesaid issues so that no grey area is left; and both the tax payers and tax collectors get a uniform idea about the scope and methods of VAT on insurance service

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/views/reviews/handbook-on-customs-tariff-1629991994 Handbook on customs tariff Doulot Akter Mala | Published: August 26, 2021 21:33:15 | Updated: August 26, 2021 21:35:41 Tax rates for a longer period or gradual increase or decrease in taxes with specific planning is considered one of key fiscal measures to lure investment. Bangladesh's businesses have long demanded gradual cuts in high tax rates in a bid to estimate their cost of investment and prepare future plans. Investopedia, one of leading sources of financial contents on the web, comes in aid. The tax guidebook says every investment has costs. Of all the expenses, however, taxes can sting the most and take the biggest bite out of returns of investors. It states that tax-efficient investing can minimise tax burden and maximise bottom line-whether investor wants to save for retirement or generate cash. The Schwab Center for Financial Research that provides individual investors with quality research and decision-making tools evaluated the long-term impact of taxes and other expenses on investment returns. It also found that minimising taxes also has a significant effect. In Bangladesh, the government brings changes in many of the tax rates every year through national budget that other countries also do. Changes in tax rates for individuals, corporate and import-stage taxes leave significant impact on consumer products on the local market. Both local and foreign investors often found it difficult to determine the actual payable taxes on import products as taxes are imposed in different forms on a product. Cut in customs duty on a product doesn't mean that prices of that product will go down as there are various forms of taxes which also need to be brought down. There are various forms of taxes on an import product, including Customs Duty (CD), Regulatory Duty (RD), Supplementary Duty (SD), Advance Tax, Advance Income Tax (AIT), Value Added Tax (VAT) at import stage etc on local production. There are also VAT and different types of withholding taxes. Unlike in previous years, the government has made several changes to tax structures in the budget for Fiscal Year 2021-22, announced on June 3, 2021. The tax rates are determined through the Finance Act after getting the nod from policymakers in parliament. The tax rates have been imposed by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) through issuing Statutory Regulatory Orders (SROs) - circulars. However, in most cases, those SROs and circulars are not easily understandable to know what the actual tax rate would be on a product. Importers face the problem most as they have to determine the actual cost of the product to fix consumer prices. Changes in any of the tax rates by the three wings of the NBR---income tax, customs and VAT---leave impact on the pricing of imported products. As per present practice of SRO or circular issuance, each of the three wings issues their SRO or circular on tax changes separately. Investors find it difficult to estimate cost of an import item calculating or compiling various taxes scattered in the SROs. For example, a recently published SRO on reduction in import taxes on rice says CD has been cut to 10 per cent and RD has been waived. How an importer would know what would be current import taxes on rice? Addressing the difficulties of investors, a book has been published with the details of all import items' HS code, total tax rates and others. Tax rates of thousands of import products have been accommodated in the book titled Bangladesh Customs Tariff Solution. Mohammad Ruhul Amin, an NBR official, compiled the book to give a clear picture of import taxes on each of the items for investors, manufacturers and commercial importers. The 2021 edition, the 10th one of the book by Liton Publications, has incorporated all the measures of tax or exemption from it in the budget for fiscal year 2021-22 The book has accommodated tariff description as per first schedule, commercial description (only for simplification marked), SRO reference, total tax-incidence (TTI) calculation method, HS code-wise tariff value and minimum value, images of some products, customs procedure code (CPC), prohibition of import policy, export duty and the like. With the help of this book, investors, importers and other businesses would get a compiled and complete picture of tax rate on a product. All of the essentials, luxuries, and commercial products having high, medium, low or zero-rated duty have been accommodated in the book.

https://www.thedailystar.net/business/economy/news/3-key-fast-track-projects-near-end-2161196 3 key fast-track projects near end IMED report finds Padma Bridge, Payra Port, MRT-6 faring well but several others witnessing slow implementation Rejaul Karim Byron Thu Aug 26, 2021 12:00 AM Padma Bridge, Payra Port and Dhaka Metro Rail-6 are among the fast-track projects nearing completion, whereas several others are witnessing a slower than expected implementation rate, according to a progress report. The Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, the largest bridge infrastructure in Bangladesh, had financial progress of 85.74 per cent and physical progress of 87.25 per cent as of July this year, said the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) in the report. On Monday, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority finished the installation of all road slabs, linking both sides of the river through the roadway. The Tk 30,190 crore bridge, whose physical works started in November 2014, was scheduled to complete in June. It is now expected to open to the public in June next year. The deadline has been extended to finish the remaining work to construct the main bridge and carry out the river training. The physical progress of Payra Port, the third seaport in Bangladesh, stood at 82.56 per cent. The port, located in Kalapara under Patuakhali, is scheduled to be complete by June 2022. The Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project clocked a 71.33 per cent implementation rate for its MRT-6, involving Tk 21,985 crore. The IMED called for strengthening monitoring to accelerate the execution. One of the fast-track projects, the Maitri Super Thermal Power Plant, a joint venture of the Bangladesh Power Development Board and NTPC Ltd of India, saw physical progress of 68.85 per cent and financial progress of 69.20 per cent. About Tk 11,071 crore out of the total project cost of Tk 16,000 crore has been spent so far. The project is building a 1,320-megawatt (MW) power plant in Rampal of Bagerhat. Another coal-powered electricity plant with a capacity of 1,200MW is being constructed in Matarbari, Moheshkhali. The cumulative physical and financial progress of the Tk 35,984 crore project was 49 per cent. The deadline for the project, which is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, is June 2023. The Rooppur nuclear power plant, backed by Russia, recorded a progress of 37.99 per cent. The government has allocated Tk 18,426 crore for the project from the annual development programme (ADP) in the current fiscal year. The project, set to be constructed by 2025, will cost Tk 113,092 crore. The IMED, which visited the project in March this year, has recommended accelerating the expenditure of the portion of the government and becoming more tactful and agile in formulating annual work plans and procurement plans with a view to speeding up its implementation. The Dohazari-Cox's Bazar-Gundum rail line posted 32.22 per cent financial progress and 61 per cent physical progress as of July. The IMED suggested placing the highest importance on completing the project by June 2022. The Padma Bridge Rail Link project had 46.64 per cent financial progress and 43 per cent physical progress. The IMED report said the Chinese and local workers were working in full swing despite the coronavirus pandemic. It asked the Bangladesh Railway, the implementing agency, to formulate month-wise work plans and implement them accordingly. The MRT Line-1, running from Shah Jalal International Airport to Kamalapur, attained progress of 1.5 per cent for the Tk 52,561 crore project. The deadline is December 2026. The achievement is 3.11 per cent of the Tk 41,238 crore MRT-5 project, which runs from Hemayetput to Bhatara in the capital, as the implementing agency, state-run Dhaka Mass Transit Company Ltd, managed to spend Tk 1,281 crore as of July. The total cost is Tk 41,238 crore, and the deadline is 2028. The MRT-6 from Uttara Third Phase to Motijheel recorded 71.33 per cent financial progress as of July. Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority is implementing the project at Tk 21,985 crore. It has spent Tk 15,683 crore so far. The overall implementation progress of the mega projects is 57.56 per cent, said Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal in his budget speech in June. Tk 51,321 crore has been allocated to 14 mega projects, which included the fast-track projects that accounted for 22.8 per cent of the ADP in FY22. Eight out of 14 mega projects are scheduled to be completed in FY22. But none of these projects has received the required allocation for completion in FY22, not even the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, said the Centre for Policy Dialogue in a paper in June.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/editorial/is-awarding-aip-enough-to-boost-agriculture-sector-1629992782 Is awarding AIP enough to boost agriculture sector? Published: August 26, 2021 21:46:22 The decision of the agriculture ministry to recognise for the first time contributions of agricultural producers, entrepreneurs and scientists to the development of the farm sector by way of awarding them AIP (Agricultural Important Person) title is a welcome move. As reported in the media, the government would pay tribute to 45 persons with AIP honour annually for their contributions to agriculture, fisheries, livestock and forestry. In line with the CIP (Commercially Important Person) honour, the newly announced AIP tribute for the agriculture sector is mainly to acknowledge accomplishment of persons in their specified areas and also to inspire others to do good things. However, let this be remembered that announcing a few dozens of people as leaders or icons does not mean much to enliven the farm sector unless of course sufficient facilitations are there to make the best of the prospects and opportunities. One has but to say that in the absence of required facilities for increased productivity and innovation, the expectation of significant improvement in the agri-sector is no more than a pious wish. The sector with its vast range across cultivation, irrigation, harvesting and the marketing of scores of products as well as the operation of the sub-sectors like fisheries, poultry, dairy and forestry comprises a huge assortment of functions each of which needs multifarious support to rise up to the desired level. Needless to say, the ongoing pandemic has badly impacted these vital veins of the economy. Although bumper harvests of paddy, jute and horticulture products have, to some extent, helped tackle the difficulties wrecked by the pandemic, the fisheries, poultry and dairy sub-sectors have also been badly hurt. The government-announced incentives, mostly in the form of soft loans, have reportedly done little to help them ride out the crisis. The government's focus at the moment has to be more on the fisheries and livestock. These are the vital farm sub-sectors that have largely grown on their own, and now if these are not kept afloat with incentive package reaching them without hassle, the entire economy will have to bear the brunt, and not only those involved in them -- tens of thousands of rural families be affected. As regards innovation, despite many constraints, it cannot be denied that laudable works have been done by the country's agricultural scientists over the years. Still, when it comes to extensive research and replication of research findings on a large scale, there are serious limitations. Fund is obviously a major impeding factor. Mere motivation of farmers is not enough unless they are provided with financial and other resources. An initiative taken up by the government to facilitate procurement of advanced farm machinery is reportedly facing a snag, which is bad news. So it is clear that adequate facilitations in various forms can bring the prospects of increased productivity and innovation in the agriculture sector. If the process of bringing a significant improvement in agriculture can be expedited, only then can the AIP award make sense.

https://www.tbsnews.net/features/panorama/pineapple-yarn-new-addition-bangladeshs-fashion-attire-252937 Faisal Mahmud 30 May, 2021, 10:15 am Last modified: 03 June, 2021, 05:39 pm Pineapple yarn: A new addition to Bangladesh’s fashion attire A version of beautiful and exquisite pineapple silk is now being produced in Bangladesh with pineapples cultivated in Tangail Pina fibre is often blended with cotton, abaca, and silk to create wonderful light, breezy fabrics. Photo: Collected 'Barong Tagalog' – a translucent, embroidered shirt sewn from pineapple fibre and silk is an integrated part of the Filipino culture and has been there in the nation since the 15th century when the coloniser Spaniards brought pineapples into the archipelago. But it was in November 2015, at the 21st meeting of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held in Manila, when the famed cloth made headlines across the globe after former US President Barack Obama went up on the centre stage donning a 'Barong Tagalog.' This fine cloth sewn from pineapple fibre (also known as 'pina' or piña) has usually been worn by royalties and important persons across the globe. Museums hold exquisite piña dresses in their collections – a legacy of a 19th-century fashion trend. A version of that 'Barong Tagalog' or pineapple silk is now being produced in Bangladesh with pineapples cultivated in Srimongol; thanks to the entrepreneurial minds of Dawood Farhan and his daughter Umaima Jahan Dawood who brought this gourmet couture to Bangladesh. Being transparent and silky, pineapple fibre is a wonderful fabric. Photo: Collected Entrepreneurship led to partnership Dawood Farhan is the managing director of the Desher Jonno Agro Ltd. Fibre Resource Centre (FRC) is a sister concern of Desher Jonno Agro Ltd. It is a sustainable manufacturing project that has pioneered the use of pineapple fiber, fabric and yarn on a commercial level. Dawood has travelled all over the country and many places abroad for various works throughout his life and has been a pioneer in many fields in the agriculture, poultry and livestock areas. Dawood first saw the beautiful pineapple silk in the Philippines. "It was a wonderful fabric – transparent, silky and very classy. It was not only beautiful to look at but was also very comfortable to wear." "I got very curious when I learned that it was made from pineapple waste. I was drawn to study a bit more about the history of making this yarn and started learning the process," he said. After learning the history and craft of making yarns out of pineapple, he thought of producing the fabric in Bangladesh. "Pineapple as you know is grown in abundance in the Modhupur, Chattogram Hill Tracts and Sylhet area of Bangladesh. I thought if this fabric can be made in the Philippines, why not here!" he said. Another example of the quality of the Pina fibre. Photo: Collected His innovative nature and extensive knowledge about history led him to find ways to make yarns from pineapple. His personal research led him to meet the then and present day chief of the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) David Hall at a meeting. Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) at that point had their own extensive research on this subject matter and was looking for a like-minded individual who would lead this project commercially but also serve the interest of creating employment in the tribal, deprived and sexually exploited women's communities. Farhan has always been a supporter of the concept of creating employment opportunities for all, especially those who are deprived and exploited socially. The two ideas met and merged and the Fibre Resource Centre Bangladesh came into being. Current head of the pineapple yarn project Umaima Dawood. Sketch/TBS The process of making the cloth While talking with The Business Standard, Dawood's daughter and the current head of the pineapple yarn project Umaima Dawood said, for making pina fibre, the outer, long leaves of the pineapple are preferred. In the manual process, she said, they are first decorticated by beating, rasping, and stripping, and then left to ret in water to which chemicals may be added to accelerate the activity of the microorganisms which digest the unwanted tissues and separate the fibres. For making pina fibre, the outer, long leaves of the pineapple are preferred. Photo/Collected The retting time has been reduced from five days to 26 hours. The rested material is washed clean, dried in the sun and combed. Estimating 10 leaves per lb (22 per kg), 22,000 leaves would constitute one ton and would yield 50-60 lbs (22-27 kg) of fibre. Umaima said that making pina cloth is a delicate process as it is hand loomed by only a few weavers, it is very precious and scarce, which also makes it expensive. "The major end use of pina fibre is the Barong Tagalong, wedding dresses and other traditional Filipino formal dress," she said, adding that it is also used for table linens, mats, bags and other clothing items. Because it is lightweight but stiff, this sheer fabric can be used in any creative design. "There are not many clothing items which are more beautiful than those made from pineapple," said Umaima. The rested material is washed clean, dried in the sun and combed. Photo: Collected She said that the traditional decoration for this fabric is a style of hand embroidery called 'calado'. An embroidered pina garment is called 'pina calado'. These hand-woven fabrics are coloured with vegetable dyes originating from leaves, and bark of different trees. When asked whether pineapple yarn is as good as cotton, Umaima said that "it is a different material, so quite difficult, almost impossible to compare it." "Pina in its own place is of a very high grade and produces fabulous materials and yarn. It has a fantastic look and feel to it, in addition to being environmental and skin-friendly," she said. The varieties of cloth Pina fibre is often blended with cotton, abaca, and silk to create wonderful light, breezy fabrics. When woven with silk, it is called 'Pina Seda' or Pina-silk. 'Pina Jusi' is blended with 'jusi' (abaca or silk) for strength and sheerness and is less expensive than 100% pina. Umaima said that they currently produce FRC Pina Silk, FRC Pina Cotton, FRC Pina Cotton/Silk. Dresses sewn from pineapple fibre have usually been worn by royalties and important persons across the globe. Photo: Collected "Yes, this is made of pineapple," replied Umaima when we asked whether the beautiful fine, transparent golden scarf she was wearing at the time we met was made from pineapple. "We have made some clothes that we have worn to many events too, both day wear and evening wear! Umaima said that it is an environmentally friendly wear, a product that is used up completely without leaving any negative footprints. The products are environmentally friendly. Photo: Collected She said, "With time, consumers have become very conscious about the environment which is great news for all of us. At the same time, consumers are also very fashion conscious. With a fabric like this – all natural and so versatile in its uses, the prospects are many – many styles, many uses, many benefits." Umaima added that it is a new concept in Bangladesh, so people will generally take some time to understand it better. "But once they do, and also know of the many benefits to society at large – we know they will be as excited and interested about the FRC Pina fabric and products, if not more," she said. About the marketing strategy for the cloth, Umaima said that they want the people of Bangladesh to know that "this product is coming from their own country, being made by their own people and needs to be worn and promoted by its people too."

Dhaka Bypass Expressway Update 26/08/2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kROQdHzm-dw

https://bangla.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2021/08/26/38674 আবারও পানিতে ঢেউ তুলবে হারিয়ে যাওয়া সুস্বাদু ‘কাকিলা’ মাছ ট্রিবিউন ডেস্ক প্রকাশিত ০৫:৫৫ সন্ধ্যা আগস্ট ২৬, ২০২১ দেশের বিলুপ্তপ্রায় ৬৪টি মাছের মধ্যে ৩০টি মাছের কৃত্রিম প্রজননে ইতোমধ্যে বাংলাদেশ মৎস্য গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউট সফলতা লাভ করেছে একসময় বলা হতো “মাছে ভাতে বাঙালি“”। গ্রাম বাংলায় পৌষ-মাঘ মাসে পুকুর, খাল, ডোবা, ঘেরের পানি কমতে থাকলে দেশি মাছ ধরার ধুম পড়ে যেত। দেশি বিভিন্ন প্রজাতির মাছে গ্রাম-গঞ্জের হাটবাজারগুলো সয়লাব হয়ে যেত। এখন আর সেসব মাছ দেখা যায় না। জেলেদের জালেও এখন ঝাঁকে ঝাঁকে মাছ ধরা পড়ে না। অনেক মাছ তো একেবারেই হারিয়ে গেছে দেশের জলাশয় থেকে। তেমনি প্রায় হারিয়ে যাওয়া স্বাদু পানির মাছ কাকিলা। গ্রামে বসতি এমন মানুষজন কাকিলা মাছের সঙ্গে অল্পবিস্তর পরিচিত হলেও শহুরে মানুষের কাছে এই মাছ একেবারেই অচেনা। আর তাই হারিয়ে যাওয়া এই মাছটিকে আবারও ফিরিয়ে আনতে এর কৃত্রিম প্রজনন কলাকৌশল উদ্ভাবনে সফলতা পেয়েছেন বাংলাদেশ মৎস্য গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউটের (বিএফআরআই) বিজ্ঞানীরা। মুক্ত জলাশয়ের এই মাছটিকে বদ্ধ পরিবেশে অভ্যস্তকরণেও সাফল্য পেয়েছেন তারা। ফলে পানিতে ঢেউ তোলা এই মাছ আবারও ফিরবে বলে আশা করছেন তারা। ইংরেজি জাতীয় দৈনিক ডেইলি স্টার এক প্রতিবেদনে এ তথ্য জানিয়েছে। বিএফআরআইয়ের বিজ্ঞানীরা বলছেন, কাকিলা বা “কাখলে” একটি বিলুপ্তপ্রায় মাছ। এর দেহ সরু, ঠোঁট লম্বাটে ও ধারালো দাঁতযুক্ত। বাংলাদেশে যে জাতটি পাওয়া যায়, সেটি মিঠা পানির জাত। মাছটি বাংলাদেশের অধিকাংশ অঞ্চলে কাইকল্যা, কাইক্কা নামেই বেশি পরিচিত। বৈজ্ঞানিক নাম Xenentodon cancila মাছটিকে ইংরেজিতে “ফ্রেশওয়াটার গারফিশ” বলে। এটি Belonidae পরিবারের অন্তর্গত। বাংলাদেশ ছাড়াও শ্রীলঙ্কা, ভারত, পাকিস্তান, মিয়ানমার, মালয়েশিয়া ও থাইল্যান্ডে এ মাছ পাওয়া যায়। তবে, রং ও আকারে কিছু পার্থক্য থাকে। স্বাদু পানির অভ্যন্তরীণ মুক্ত জলাশয়ে বিশেষ করে নদী-নালা, হাওর-বাঁওড়, খাল-বিল ইত্যাদি জলাশয়ে যে মাছগুলো পাওয়া যায়। তারা আরও বলেছেন, খেতে সুস্বাদু এই মাছটি মানব দেহের জন্য উপকারী “অণুপুষ্টি” উপাদান সমৃদ্ধ এবং কাঁটা কম হওয়ায় অনেকের কাছে প্রিয়। এক সময় অভ্যন্তরীণ জলাশয়ে মাছটি প্রচুর পরিমাণে পাওয়া গেলেও জলবায়ুর প্রভাব, প্রাকৃতিক বিপর্যয় ও মানবসৃষ্ট নানাবিধ কারণে বাসস্থান ও প্রজননক্ষেত্র ক্ষতিগ্রস্ত হওয়ায় এ মাছের প্রাচুর্যতা ব্যাপকহারে কমে যায়। এর পরিপ্রেক্ষিতেই তারা এই মাছটির প্রাচুর্যতা ফিরিয়ে আনতে গবেষণা শুরু করেন। গবেষকরা জানান, তারা তাদের গবেষণায় রাজবাড়ি জেলা সংলগ্ন কুষ্টিয়ার পদ্মা নদী থেকে কাকিলা ব্রুড (মা-বাবা মাছ) মাছ সংগ্রহ করে বিশেষ পদ্ধতিতে অক্সিজেন সরবরাহ নিশ্চিত করে যশোরের স্বাদু পানি উপকেন্দ্রের পুকুরে ছাড়েন। পরে হ্যাচারিতে উৎপাদিত কার্প জাতীয় মাছের জীবিত পোনা ও নানা জলাশয় থেকে সংগৃহীত জীবিত ছোট মাছ খাইয়ে পুকুরের আবদ্ধ পরিবেশে মাছকে অভ্যস্ত করা হয়। পরে এ বছরের মে থেকে বৈজ্ঞানিক প্রটোকল অনুসরণ করে কৃত্রিম প্রজননের উদ্দেশ্যে উপকেন্দ্রের হ্যাচারিতে নির্দিষ্ট সংখ্যক মা-বাবা মাছকে বিভিন্ন ডোজে হরমোন ইনজেকশন প্রয়োগ করা হয়। এভাবে কয়েকবার বিভিন্ন ডোজের ট্রায়াল দেওয়া হলেও মাছের প্রজননে সফলতা আসেনি। অবশেষে ২৫ আগস্ট প্রজনন করা মাছের ডিম থেকে পোনা বের হয় এবং কাকিলা মাছের কৃত্রিম প্রজননে সফলতা আসে। গবেষক দলের প্রধান ও প্রধান বৈজ্ঞানিক কর্মকর্তা ড. মো. রবিউল আউয়াল হোসেন জানান, কাকিলা মূলত ছোট মাছ খেয়ে থাকে। প্রাকৃতিকভাবে প্রবহমান জলাশয়ে বিশেষ করে নদীতে এবং বর্ষাকালে প্লাবিত অঞ্চলে প্রজনন করে থাকে। পরিণত মাছেরা ভাসমান জলজ উদ্ভিদ নেই এমন স্থানে বসবাস করলেও জলজ উদ্ভিদের পাতার নিচে ও ভাসমান শেকড়ে এদের স্ত্রী মাছেরা ডিম পাড়ে। তিনি আরও জানান, কাকিলা মাছের প্রজননের জন্য পিজি (পিটুইটারি গ্ল্যান্ড) হরমোন ব্যবহার করা হয়। গত ১৮ আগস্ট পুকুর থেকে মাছ ধরে চার জোড়া মা-বাবা নির্বাচন করে হ্যাচারির চৌবাচ্চায় নির্দিষ্ট সময় ঝর্ণাধারা দিয়ে মা-বাবা মাছকে একটা নির্দিষ্ট মাত্রায় হরমোন ইনজেকশন দেওয়া হয়। পরে মা-বাবা মাছকে একত্রে একটি চৌবাচ্চায় রেখে ঝর্ণাধারা দিয়ে সেখানে কচুরি পানা রাখা হয়। প্রায় ৪৮ ঘণ্টা পরে মা মাছ ডিম ছাড়ে। ডিমের ভেতরে বাচ্চার বিভিন্ন দশা ও উন্নয়ন অণুবীক্ষণ যন্ত্র দিয়ে নিয়মিত পর্যবেক্ষণ করা হয়। ডিম ছাড়ার প্রায় ৯০ থেকে ১০০ ঘণ্টার মধ্যে নিষিক্ত ডিম থেকে বাচ্চা বের হয়। গবেষক দলের সদস্য ঊর্ধ্বতন বৈজ্ঞানিক কর্মকর্তা মো. শরীফুল ইসলাম বলেন, “তিন বছর নিবিড় গবেষণার পরে এখন সাফল্য এসেছে। ফলে কাকিলা বিলুপ্তির আশঙ্কার বদলে আবারও পানিতে ঢেউ তুলবে বলে আশা করা যায়। কাকিলা মাছের কৃত্রিম প্রজনন এটিই বাংলাদেশ প্রথম এবং বিশ্বের কোথাও এ মাছের কৃত্রিম প্রজননের কোনো তথ্য পাওয়া যায়নি।” বিলুপ্ত ৬৪টি মাছের মধ্যে ৩০টির কৃত্রিম প্রজনন: বিএফআরআইয়ের এক সংবাদ বিজ্ঞপ্তিতে বাংলাদেশ মৎস্য গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউটের মহাপরিচালক ড. ইয়াহিয়া মাহমুদকে উদ্ধৃত করা বলা হয়েছে, দেশের বিলুপ্তপ্রায় ৬৪টি মাছের মধ্যে ৩০টি মাছের কৃত্রিম প্রজননে ইতোমধ্যে বাংলাদেশ মৎস্য গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউট সফলতা লাভ করেছে। সফলতার ধারাবাহিকতায় ৩১তম মাছ হিসেবে কাকিলা মাছ যুক্ত হলো। দেশীয় মাছকে সংরক্ষণের জন্যে ময়মনসিংহে ইনস্টিটিউটের সদর দপ্তরে লাইভ জিন ব্যাংক স্থাপন করা হয়েছে। দেশীয় মাছ সংরক্ষণ গবেষণায় বিশেষ অবদানের জন্যে ২০২০ সালে বাংলাদেশ মৎস্য গবেষণা ইনস্টিটিউট একুশে পদক অর্জন করেছে। উল্লেখ্য, বিএফআরআইর স্বাদু পানি উপকেন্দ্র যশোরের প্রধান বৈজ্ঞানিক কর্মকর্তা ড. মো. রবিউল আউয়াল হোসেন, ঊর্ধ্বতন বৈজ্ঞানিক কর্মকর্তা মো. শরীফুল ইসলাম ও বৈজ্ঞানিক কর্মকর্তা শিশির কুমার দে এই গবেষণা পরিচালনা করেন।

https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/forex-reserves-cross-record-48-billion-mark-292702 TBS Report 24 August, 2021, 10:45 pm Last modified: 24 August, 2021, 10:48 pm Forex reserves cross record $48 billion mark The country's foreign exchange reserves witnessed a new record crossing the $48 billion mark following the $1.45 billion financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). In addition to remittances sent by expatriates, the IMF aid mainly contributed to the surge in forex reserves. Foreign exchange reserves in Bangladesh have reached new heights due to the positive trend of remittances sent by expatriates and the addition of loan assistance from the IMF, said a Bangladesh Bank official. By international standards, a country has to have reserves equal to three months of import expenditure. With the amount of reserves that Bangladesh has now, it is possible to pay the import cost for more than 8 months at the rate of $6 billion per month. The reserve crossed the $46 billion-mark on 28 June while $45.01 billion-mark on 3 May and crossed the $44 billion mark on 24 February this year and touched the $40 billion-mark on October 28 last year.

https://www.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/পদ্মা-সেতু-এড়িয়ে-চলবে-ফেরি-নতুন-ঘাট-প্রস্তুত সত্যজিৎ ঘোষ শরীয়তপুর প্রকাশ: ২৬ আগস্ট ২০২১, ১১: ৩৮ পদ্মা সেতু এড়িয়ে চলবে ফেরি, নতুন ঘাট প্রস্তুত ঘাটটির নির্মাণকাজ শেষের পথে। কাল শুক্রবার নাগাদ চালু হওয়ার কথা। এ ঘাট দিয়ে ছোট যান চলবে শুধু। বাংলাবাজার-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথের দূরত্ব ১০ কিলোমিটার। পারাপার হতে সময় লাগত ১ ঘণ্টা ৪০ মিনিট থেকে ২ ঘণ্টা। সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাট-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথের দূরত্ব ৮ কিমি। পারাপারে সময় লাগবে ১ ঘণ্টা থেকে ১ ঘণ্টা ২০ মিনিট। এক সপ্তাহের বেশি সময় ধরে বাংলাবাজার-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথ বন্ধ থাকার পর এবার বিকল্প একটি ঘাট চালু করতে যাচ্ছে বিআইডব্লিউটিএ। শরীয়তপুরের জাজিরার সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাটে ফেরিঘাটের নির্মাণকাজ শেষের পথে। কাল শুক্রবার নাগাদ এটি চালু হওয়ার কথা। ঘাটটি চালু হলে ফেরিগুলো পদ্মা সেতু এড়িয়ে চলাচল করবে এবং এই নৌপথে দূরত্ব ও সময় কমে আসবে। বাস-ট্রাক বাদে নতুন এ ঘাট দিয়ে ব্যক্তিগত গাড়ি, অ্যাম্বুলেন্স, সরকারি দপ্তরের জরুরি গাড়ি পারাপার করা হবে। বাংলাদেশ অভ্যন্তরীণ নৌপরিবহন কর্তৃপক্ষ (বিআইডব্লিউটিএ) সূত্রে জানা গেছে, ঘাট নির্মাণকাজ শেষ করে একটি রো রো ফেরির পন্টুন বসানো হবে। বৃহস্পতিবার নৌপথ পরীক্ষা করার জন্য পরীক্ষামূলক ভাবে একটি ফেরি চালানো হবে। আর শুক্রবার আনুষ্ঠানিকভাবে ফেরিতে যানবাহন পারাপার শুরু হবে। বিজ্ঞাপন সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাট থেকে ছেড়ে পদ্মা সেতু এড়িয়ে তার পাশ দিয়ে ভাটিতে চলাচল করবে ফেরিগুলো। এতে নৌপথের দূরত্ব ও সময় কমে আসবে। বিআইডব্লিউটিএ সূত্র জানায়, মাদারীপুরের বাংলাবাজার ও মুন্সিগঞ্জের শিমুলিয়া নৌপথে ১৮ আগস্ট থেকে ফেরি চলাচল বন্ধ রয়েছে। স্রোতের তীব্রতা না কমা পর্যন্ত এই নৌপথে ফেরি ছাড়া হবে না। তবে জরুরি সেবা নিশ্চিত করতে শরীয়তপুরের জাজিরা উপজেলার মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাট এলাকায় নতুন করে একটি ফেরিঘাট নির্মাণের কাজ ২১ আগস্ট শুরু করেছে বিআইডব্লিউটিএ। সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝির লঞ্চঘাট-শরীয়তপুর সড়কের মাথায় পদ্মা নদীতে বালুভর্তি জিও ব্যাগ ফেলে কিছু অংশ ভরাট করা হয়েছে। সেখানে ১০০ ফুট দৈর্ঘ্য ও ৫০ ফুট প্রশস্ত ঘাট নির্মাণ করা হচ্ছে। বালুভর্তি জিও ব্যাগের ওপর বাঁশ, ইট ও বালু দিয়ে ঘাটটি নির্মাণ করা হয়েছে। ঘাট নির্মাণ করতে ৫০-৬০ লাখ টাকা খরচ হবে। ঘাট নির্মাণের ঠিকাদার আবদুস সামাদ হাওলাদার প্রথম আলোকে বলেন, ২১ আগস্ট থেকে ৫০ জন শ্রমিক কাজ করছেন। বুধবার রাতের মধ্যে ঘাটের নির্মাণকাজ শেষ হওয়ার কথা। শ্রমিকেরা দিন-রাত কাজ করে যাচ্ছেন। বৃষ্টি না হলে রাতের মধ্যেই নির্মাণকাজ শেষ করার ব্যাপারে আশাবাদী তিনি। বিআইডব্লিউটিএ ও বিআইডব্লিউটিসির সংশ্লিষ্ট দপ্তর ও জরিপ বিভাগ থেকে সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাট-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথের জরিপ করা হয়। ওই নৌপথের জাজিরার নাওডোবা পদ্মা সেতুর চ্যানেল ধরে ভাটিতে ফেরিগুলো চলাচল করবে। ওই চ্যানেল দিয়ে লৌহজং টার্নিং হয়ে শিমুলিয়া যাতায়াত করবে। তখন অন্তত ৩ কিলোমিটার এলাকা পদ্মা সেতুর পাশ দিয়ে ফেরিগুলো চলাচল করবে। বাংলাবাজার-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথের দূরত্ব ১০ কিলোমিটার। পারাপার হতে সময় লাগত ১ ঘণ্টা ৪০ মিনিট থেকে ২ ঘণ্টা। সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাট-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথের দূরত্ব ৮ কিলোমিটার। পারাপারে সময় লাগবে ১ ঘণ্টা থেকে ১ ঘণ্টা ২০ মিনিট। নতুন এ ঘাটের জন্য একটি রো রো ফেরির পন্টুন আনা হয়েছে। তিন থেকে চারটি কে টাইপ ফেরি চলাচল করবে এ ঘাটে। বিআইডব্লিউটিএর কারিগরি সহকারী প্রকৌশলী মো. ফয়সাল ঘাটের নির্মাণকাজ তদারকি করছেন। তিনি প্রথম আলোকে বলেন, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাটটি দ্রুততম সময়ের মধ্যে চালু করার নির্দেশনা রয়েছে। আজ বৃহস্পতিবার পরীক্ষামূলকভাবে একটি ফেরি চালানো হবে। শুক্রবার ঘাট থেকে ফেরি চলাচল শুরু করার লক্ষ্য নিয়ে কাজ চলছে। বিআইডব্লিউটিএর নৌ সংরক্ষণ ও পরিচালনা বিভাগের একজন সহকারী পরিচালক প্রথম আলোকে বলেন, সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাট-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথে ফেরি চলাচল করবে পদ্মা সেতুর ভাটিতে। পদ্মা সেতুর চ্যানেল দিয়ে এখন লঞ্চ চলাচল করছে। ওই পথ ধরেই ফেরি চলবে। ফেরিগুলো অন্তত ৩ কিলোমিটার পথ পদ্মা সেতুর পাশ দিয়ে চলবে। জানতে চাইলে বিআইডব্লিউটিএর প্রকৌশল বিভাগের নির্বাহী প্রকৌশলী (ঢাকা বিভাগ) মতিউল ইসলাম বলেন, ‘আট দিন ধরে বাংলাবাজার-শিমুলিয়া নৌপথ বন্ধ রয়েছে। মানুষ সীমাহীন দুর্ভোগে পড়েছে। পরিস্থিতি মোকাবিলার জন্য আমরা সাত্তার মাদবর, মঙ্গল মাঝিরঘাটে একটি ফেরিঘাট নির্মাণের কাজ শুরু করেছি। কাজটি শেষ পর্যায়ে রয়েছে। দু-এক দিনের মধ্যেই ঘাটটি চালু করার সম্ভাবনা রয়েছে। বৃহস্পতিবার সকালে ঘাট চালুর দিনক্ষণ ঠিক করা হবে।’

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/mongla-seaport-enhances-cargo-handling-capacity-1629859646 Mongla seaport enhances cargo-handling capacity SYFUL ISLAM | Published: August 25, 2021 08:47:27 | Updated: August 26, 2021 13:56:43 The Mongla port has attained the capacity to handle gearless vessels as it procured necessary equipment, including heavy-duty cranes. The port authority in a recent notification said that it has procured a good number of cargo and container-handling equipment to enhance the capacity of the country's second seaport. The port recently installed four mobile harbour cranes and two multipurpose mobile cranes in its jetties. Earlier, the port had been handling only the geared vessels for lack of required equipment. "Now Mongla port can handle gearless ships up to twelve rows of containers," according to the notification. Contacted on Tuesday, Mongla Port Authority Chairman Rear Admiral Mohammad Musa said the procurement of these cranes has increased the port capability significantly. "We hope to be able to load and unload containers and cargos of any size with these new cranes," he said. Mr Musa said the port authority has taken a project for extension and modernisation of facilities under which a total of 75 equipment will be bought gradually. "These cranes are a part of that project." "With the new cranes, I will be able to handle an increased number of ships and the turnaround time will be lesser," he added. The Mongla port's container and cargo handling capacity remained under utilised due to the unwillingness of businesses. Moreover, the large vessels cannot approach the jetties due to lower draft which is another reason behind under utilisation of the capacities, according to officials. Last year, the port authority completed dredging of the outer bar of the port to deepen the draft, facilitating the vessels with a 9.5-metre draft to anchor there. Currently, a project worth Tk 7.94 billion is in progress to dredge the inner bar of the port so that the vessels of 9.5- metre draft can anchor in the jetties like that of the Chattogram port. The port officials expected that once the dredging project is completed, the handling of cargoes and containers would increase significantly. Besides, they said that once the Padma Bridge opens for traffic, the businesses would be interested in the port as the travel time to the capital will reduce. In fiscal year 2020-21, the port handled 43,959 TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units) of containers compared to 59,476 TEUs in the previous fiscal. The port handled a total of 11.94 million tonnes of cargos in FY 2020-21, up from 11.03 million tonnes in the previous fiscal year.

https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/infrastructure/countrys-most-productive-gazipur-blighted-nightmarish-road-293218 Ariful Islam Mithu & Foisal Ahmed 25 August, 2021, 10:40 pm Last modified: 26 August, 2021, 09:28 am Country’s most productive Gazipur blighted by nightmarish road Experts say the project was based on a poor feasibility study Vehicles stand still in traffic congestions on the Dhaka-Gazipur highway. The government took up the Bus Rapid Transit project in 2012 to ease traffic congestion on the highway but the project is yet to be completed. Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed Stylish Garments Limited Chairman Salauddin Chowdhury – one of the leading garment factory owners of the country – had scheduled a meeting with a US buyer at his factory in Gazipur on a fine morning recently. However, the buyer changed his mind because of the traffic congestion on the Dhaka-Gazipur highway. As a result, Salauddin had to book a five-star hotel in the capital's Gulshan area for the meeting. "Had he gone to my factory, we could have shown him the compliances," said Salauddin. For over 4,500 factories in Gazipur industrial hub close to Dhaka city, work on a major road infrastructure has turned into a cause of woes. Apart from disrupting entire supply chains for industries, it is causing immense suffering to regular commuters. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CsMe_icH44 The government took up the country's first bus rapid transit project (BRT-3) in 2012 to ease traffic congestion on the Dhaka-Gazipur highway. The project was supposed to end in 2016 but has hit a snag. But traffic congestion on the highway now seems unending as the under-construction BRT-3 is running five years behind schedule. Experts say the project was based on a poor feasibility study, requiring repeated changes in designs to correct the faults during implementation and causing a delay. The initial estimated project cost of Tk2,039.84 crore more than doubled to Tk4,268 crore, though the progress stood at 61% in July. Business feeling the pinch Apart from the apparel industry, many business conglomerates like Beximco and Pran-RFL Group have also set up industrial parks in Gazipur. The government also is setting up Sreepur Economic Zone and Bangabandhu Hi-Tech City in the city to attract foreign investment. Three mobile phone assembling plants of Oppo, Xiaomi and Techno in Gazipur. The 20.5-kilometre bus rapid transit has been under construction for the last nine years, narrowing the Dhaka-Gazipur highway to a great extent. The highway is dilapidated in many parts and remains jam-packed most of the time, discouraging foreign buyers and company executives from factory visits. Many Chinese officials of the phone assembling plants who come to Gazipur from the Uttara area every day complain that they have to spend a significant amount of time daily while coming to work and going back home. The rickety road is disrupting transportation of raw materials to and finished goods from factories, adding to production cost and time. Sometimes, garment factory owners are also close to missing the shipment deadlines because of delays on the road. Many factories work the whole night to make up the time. The traffic congestion on the highway also causes suffering to factory workers. Businessmen have suggested that the implementing agencies of the bus rapid transit work at night too to speed up the construction work. Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed Naquib Khan, director for corporate affairs at Nestle Bangladesh, a multinational company, said running a business organisation in Gazipur is being thrown into disorder in different ways due to the intense traffic jam and the dusty environment. He said even though their factory is in Gazipur, most of their employees come from Dhaka every day. "I have to spend around four hours every day to reach the office. The journey to work is a serious mental stress. Besides, there is the loss of working hours," said Nakib Khan. Gazipur City Corporation Mayor Mohammad Zahangir Alam said local people and businessmen have had to incur a loss of around Tk96,000 crore over the last eight years of prolonged development work. "Tens of thousands of cargo vehicles, buses as well as non-motorised vehicles ply on the road every day, but the service lanes are insufficient," said Mayor Zahangir Alam. Economists consider the extra costs of business caused by the construction work-induced traffic congestion. "People have been forced to bear the huge amount of hidden cost, but no one cares about it," said Zahid Hussain, former lead economist at the World Bank's Dhaka office. Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed The perennial pain Every day, tens of thousands of people have to travel between Dhaka and Gazipur for work and business. Sazzadur Rahman (35), a private firm employee who comes to Dhaka's Tejgaon from Gazipur Chowrasta every day, said, "It takes 3-4 hours to reach my office. I feel I am in a development trap." Transport drivers and owners also are feeling the pinch. Mohammad Alam, a driver working with Gazipur Paribahan that operates bus services from Dhaka to Gazipur, said he could make at least four trips a day in the past, but cannot make more than two trips daily nowadays. As a result, he has to earn less than before. "Besides, the waste of time, we have to spend Tk500 more on fuel for each trip due to traffic congestion," said Mohammad Alam. Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed Transport owners said around 1,500 inter-district buses ply the Dhaka-Gazipur highway. Almost the entire road is in poor condition, but the condition of the 3-kilometre area stretching from Tongi Bazar to Cherag Ali is the worst with numerous potholes. Mohammad Nasir, owner of the Dhaka-Tangail bound Binimoy Paribahan, said, "Besides the fuel cost, the maintenance cost also has become almost double. As a result, our income has come down significantly." Md Shawkat Ali Babul, joint secretary of Bangladesh Road Transport Owners Association, said passengers are now avoiding buses due to huge jams on the road and showing interest in trains to come to Dhaka. The Dhaka-Gazipur highway is nothing short of a nightmare for cargo vehicles, especially trucks and covered vans. To cope with additional fuel and maintenance costs, cargo vehicles owners have raised the fare. Covered van owner Tofazzol Hossain Majumder said they used to charge Tk13,000-18,000 for freight to Chattogram, but the fare is Tk20,000-25,000 now. "Huge time is being wasted nowadays," said Tofazzol. Incomes of drivers and helpers, however, fell due to a drop in the number of trips. "We could make a minimum of 20-25 trips to Chattogram every month, but now the number has come down to 12-15," said truck driver Mohammad Monir. Law enforcers also have found it tough to keep the traffic in order. Abdullah Al Mamun, deputy commissioner at Gazipur Metropolitan Police, said every day more than 10 vehicles become out of whack on the road, making their job harder. Photo: Salahuddin Ahmed Shifting responsibility ASM Elias, project director of Roads and Highways part of the BRT-3 project, said the roads in his part (Tongi-Gazipur) are in good condition although the road has shrunk a little. "I think the problem will be resolved soon as we are now working to make the road wider," said ASM Elias, adding, "The traffic congestion problem is happening on the Bangladesh Bridge Authority's part." Admitting that traffic congestion has become heavier because of their work, Mohirul Islam Khan, project director for the BBA portion of the project, said the road has not been maintained for a long time. Because the road is now under the BRT-3 project, the Department of the Roads and Highways is not paying attention to the decapitated condition of the road, he said, adding, on the other hand, the BRT-3 contractors do not do maintenance work because it is not mentioned in the contract. Transport expert Professor Shamsul Hoque said Bangladesh is finding it difficult to complete a single project on time for a lack of efficient manpower and professionals, while Indonesia runs 12 such BRTs successfully. He also observed that the government has taken the wrong decision of turning a national corridor like the Dhaka-Gazipur highway into a bus rapid transit to ease the traffic congestion. "BRT is not supposed to be there. It is constructed in the heart of a city. Even the Revised Strategic Transport Plan does not recommend taking up a project like BRT-3 there," he continued.

https://www.tbsnews.net/dropped/trade/poor-supply-chains-bangladesh-losing-out-mncs-investing-293101#.YSZHvbFhnIA.facebook TBS Report 25 August, 2021, 07:25 pm Last modified: 25 August, 2021, 09:54 pm Poor supply chains: Bangladesh losing out on MNCs investing Supply chain problems are the main obstacles to ensuring compliance, from production to marketing of agricultural goods Multinational companies are not investing in Bangladesh because of a lack of effective supply chain management, speakers said at a webinar on Wednesday. They described supply chain problems as the main obstacles to ensuring compliance, from production to marketing of agricultural goods. Addressing the webinar on food safety in the pandemic, organised by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI), Foodpanda Bangladesh Managing Director, Ambareen Reza, said many multinational firms in the restaurant industry are operating hundreds of branches in Pakistan. But they are not interested in investing in Bangladesh as there is no effective supply chain here, she said. She said 5,000 restaurants in Bangladesh closed during the pandemic due to supply chain problems. Ambareen also wanted the 5% duty on importing raw materials for food grade packaging be withdrawn and manpower efficiency be developed. Bengal Meat Chief Executive Officer AFM Asif said the government should provide policy support to ensure compliance, which is important for food exports and domestic supply in any country. It is important to raise public awareness at all levels, including farmers, entrepreneurs, and consumers, to ensure food safety, he added. Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, chief guest at the event, said big companies should come forward for proper marketing of agricultural products. He said there is no problem in the production of agricultural goods, but there are problems in marketing and the supply system. It will not be possible to build a sustainable marketing system if big companies do not come forward, he added. He also said the DCCI and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) should invest in agricultural processing. DCCI President Rizwan Rahman said food inflation in June rose 5.45% as supply chains had been disrupted in Bangladesh and abroad due to coronavirus lockdowns. He said the pandemic had deprived marginal farmers of fair prices for their produce, including vegetables. Rizwan emphasised developing agricultural infrastructure, integrating more online platforms, and improving supply chain management using modern technologies. Food Secretary Mosammat Nazmanara Khanum said eight labs were being set up in eight divisions of the country under the Modern Food Facility project. She said the project would finish in December.

https://bangla.dhakatribune.com/tech/2021/08/25/38633 বাংলাদেশে এক বিলিয়ন ডলার বিনিয়োগ করতে চায় ফেসবুক ট্রিবিউন ডেস্ক প্রকাশিত ০৯:২৫ রাত আগস্ট ২৫, ২০২১ বাংলাদেশের ডিজিটাল অবকাঠামো খাতে এক বিলিয়ন ডলার বা ৮ হাজার কোটি টাকা বিনিয়োগের আগ্রহ প্রকাশ করেছে ফেসবুক সামাজিক যোগাযোগ মাধ্যম ফেসবুক বাংলাদেশের ডিজিটাল অবকাঠামো খাতে এক বিলিয়ন ডলার বা ৮ হাজার কোটি টাকা বিনিয়োগের আগ্রহ প্রকাশ করেছে। এ তথ্য নিশ্চিত করেছেন ডাক ও টেলিযোগাযোগ মন্ত্রী মোস্তাফা জব্বার। বুধবার (২৫ আগস্ট) অনলাইন গণমাধ্যম বাংলা ট্রিবিউনের এক প্রতিবেদনে এ কথা জানানো হয়েছে। এক বিলিয়ন ডলার বিনিয়োগের বিষয়ে জানতে চাইলে বাংলা ট্রিবিউনকে মন্ত্রী বলেন, তারা ডিজিটাল অবকাঠামোর কথা বলেছেন। আমরা তাদের আগ্রহকে স্বাগত জানাই। ফেসবুক বিভিন্ন দেশে এ ধরনের বিনিয়োগ করে থাকে। তাদের আগ্রহের তালিকায় বাংলাদেশের নাম রয়েছে। তার মানে ফেসবুক বাংলাদেশকে গুরুত্ব দিয়ে ভাবছে। মোস্তাফা জব্বার বলেন, ফেসবুক আগে বাংলাদেশকে গুরুত্ব দিত না। এখন তারা ভ্যাট দেয়। বিনিয়োগ করতে চায়। তারা বাংলাদেশকে গুরুত্ব দিচ্ছে। তথ্য চাইলে সহযোগিতা করছে। ফেসবুক বাংলাদেশের দিক থেকে মুখ ঘুরিয়ে নিচ্ছে না।

Cox’s Bazar Airport: Runway to be stretched to the sea Rashidul Hasan Wed Aug 25, 2021 12:00 AM The government has taken up a project to extend the runway of Cox's Bazar airport by claiming land from the sea. The Tk 1,568.86-crore project aims at upgrading the airport to international standards and offering foreign holidaymakers a hassle-free trip to the world's longest sea beach. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will virtually lay the foundation stone for the extension to be built on the sea at Cox's Bazar Airport on August 29. Once done, the 11,700 feet runway will be the country's longest, where wide-bodied planes like the Boeing 777-300ER and Boeing 747-400 will be able to take off and land, which is crucial for long-haul international flights. CAAB on February 9 signed a deal with China's Changjiang Yichang Waterway Engineering Bureau (CYWEB) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) to implement the project. According to project documents, the construction should be completed by May 10, 2024. The contractor will extend the existing 9,000ft runway towards the Maheshkhali Channel through coastal land claiming. Officials said the CYWEB-CCECC has mobilised their resources on the site after the signing of the contract with CAAB. The detailed design is being made and construction of temporary facilities like a site office, road network, jetty, and concrete batching plant has made significant progress. CAAB officials said the main construction work will begin after the prime minister lays the foundation stone. State-of-the-art technology will be used to build the runway by claiming land from the sea. It will include an airfield ground lighting system, instrument landing system, safety walls and a bridge over the Bakkhali river, CAAB officials added requesting anonymity. The cabinet committee on purchase on December 30, 2020, approved the proposal of the civil aviation and tourism ministry to appoint the joint venture of the aforesaid Chinese entities for physical work. Mahbub Ali, state minister of the civil aviation ministry, said, "The dream is to transform Cox's Bazar Airport into a hub." He added that this was among the most crucial initiatives taken to develop Cox's Bazar as an international tourist destination. The project will be implemented with the government's own fund. Cox's Bazar Airport was launched as a domestic airport in 1956. This airport, about 1.5km from Cox's Bazar city, occupies 941 acres. Biman Bangladesh, US-Bangla and Novoair operate domestic flights to Cox's Bazar Airport.

https://thefinancialexpress.com.bd/trade/hsbc-beza-brac-to-make-mirsarai-economic-zone-greener-1629903862 HSBC, BEZA, Brac to make Mirsarai Economic Zone greener Published: August 25, 2021 21:04:22 HSBC Bangladesh has recently partnered with the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) and Brac to build a green economic zone in Chattogram's Mirsarai. The collaboration will ensure over 40,000 mangroves plantation across 10 acres of coastal land at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) in Mirsarai. The mangrove plantation is estimated to capture 492 tonnes of carbon each year. To mark the inauguration of this initiative, HSBC CEO Md Mahbub ur Rahman planted saplings at the Shilpa Nagar. He was accompanied by M Erfan Sharif, additional secretary, executive member, BEZA, Md Liakath Ali, director, Climate Change Program, Brac and Brac International, and colleagues from HSBC. "Mangrove forest is known for its incremental carbon capture capacity and can grow well in the coastal areas where water salinity is high. This is the very first mangrove initiative by a private sector among all the economic zones in Bangladesh and will play its part in ecological development in the area," Mahbub ur Rahman said. "BEZA is always supportive of sustainable industrialisation – plantations to restore the environment have been part of our key activities," BEZA Executive Chairman Shaikh Yusuf Harun said. "In collaboration with HSBC, this initiative of mangrove plantation at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar is a phenomenal example of partnership with a financial institution for climate solution in an economic zone." "Mangrove plantation is a nature-based solution and one of the most effective actions for offsetting the global emission of GHGs. Brac has been doing similar work for long and is happy to be part of this noble initiative jointly with HSBC," said Md Liakath Ali, director, Climate Change Program, Brac and Brac International. Also, HSBC will support the Covid-19 awareness campaign and skills development programme at the BSMSN, reports UNB.

https://www.dw.com/en/bangladesh-islamists-emboldened-by-taliban-win-in-afghanistan/a-58979606 Bangladesh: Islamists emboldened by Taliban win in Afghanistan Islamic fundamentalists in Bangladesh have taken to social media to embrace the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. Experts say Dhaka should be cautious but not overly concerned. "Go ahead (Taliban), the future world is waiting for you to lead it," S. Islam, a user from the northeastern Bangladeshi city of Sylhet, wrote on the DW Bengali service's Facebook page. A. Shek, another Facebook user from the district of Sirajganj, considers the Taliban's takeover of Kabul "a victory of Islam." "I'm so happy to see the victory of Islam before my death. I was never that happy before in my entire life," he wrote. Thousands of users have been incessantly posting comments on social media to praise the Islamic fundamentalist group's victory and denounce Western media outlets "for propagating" against it. Radicals ready to join Taliban Earlier this year, police in the capital, Dhaka, arrested at least four suspected Islamists who wanted to travel to Afghanistan via India and Pakistan to join the Taliban. They were part of a group of 10 people who were searching for ways to become members of the fundamentalist group. Two of them have reportedly already been able to join the Taliban. "We have got a lot of information from the arrested persons. But it's not yet clear how many Islamists have moved from Bangladesh to Afghanistan to join the Taliban fighters," Asaduzzaman Khan, the chief of the counterterrorism unit of Dhaka police, told DW. Meanwhile, Indian newspapers have reported that the country's border security force is on alert along the India-Bangladesh border after the police chief of Dhaka claimed that several radical Bangladeshi youths were attempting to sneak into India to make their way to join the Taliban in Afghanistan. How worried should Bangladesh be? Islamic fundamentalists who had traveled from Bangladesh to Afghanistan in the 1970s and 80s to fight alongside the Afghans against the then Soviet Union later returned home and formed militant groups including Harkat-ul Jihad al-Islami (HuJIB) and Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB). For years, such groups have actively tried to destabilize the country by carrying out terror attacks. Still, experts say that Bangladesh need not worry any more than other South Asian countries following the new developments in Afghanistan. "The regional impact of the Taliban rule will depend on how they behave and whether they backtrack from their promise not to let any terrorist organization use Afghanistan as its base," Ali Riaz, a political science professor at Illinois State University, told DW. "Whether conflict ensues will also be a determining factor," he said, adding: "Bangladesh should be cautious, but neither should it be overly concerned nor use this as a pretext to clamp down on legitimate detractors of the government, falsely accusing them as Taliban sympathizers." Michael Kugelman, a South Asia expert at the Washington-based Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, echoed this opinion. "Bangladesh's problems with Islamist militancy aren't as serious as they are in Pakistan, but given the presence of some groups, local and foreign, in the country, there should be some reason for concern," he told DW. "The good news is that the Taliban themselves have no interest in stoking regional terrorism. Their concerns and interests are Afghanistan-focused," he said, adding: "So, it's not like the Taliban will encourage militants to carry out attacks outside Afghanistan. The problem is that militants will be inspired themselves to do so." Bangladesh's 'iron fist' approach could backfire Bangladeshi police haven't disclosed any information on how many fundamentalists they have kept under surveillance, but they have acknowledged identifying networks that have in the past lured youths into joining the Taliban. "We monitor the cyber world regularly and take action when we find someone who has been trying to become a militant," Dhaka police chief Shafiqul Islam told DW. "We initially try to stop the person by informing their family about their intention to become a militant. If nothing works, we arrest the person to stop them from being radicalized," he added. Experts argue that while Bangladeshi police's "iron fist" approach to curbing militancy had gained some initial success, it could backfire in the long run. "Bangladesh's government has taken an iron fist approach to militancy. It's cracked down on everyone, including innocents who had nothing to do with militancy," Kugelman said. "So Dhaka's counterterrorism achievements may be Pyrrhic victories: They killed terrorists and degraded their capacities, but they also may have laid the groundwork for future radicalizations of non-militant Islamists that resent how they've been treated by the state," he said. Professor Riaz also says Dhaka's actions against militants have paid off only in the short run, by weakening terror groups like al-Qaeda and the "Islamic State" in the country. "But militancy does not grow in a vacuum; there are factors which allow it to thrive," he said, adding: "On that count, the situation has not improved in Bangladesh. I am afraid that violent extremism has gained more support and sympathy within society than ever before."

https://futurestartup.com/2018/12/17/shohoz-story-maliha-m-quadir/ The Fascinating Story Of Shohoz: An Interview With Maliha M Quadir, Founder and MD, Shohoz By Ruhul Kader | Dec 17, 2018 Shohoz Founder and Managing Director, Maliha M Quadir, has a fascinating story. She was born and brought up in Dhaka. Studied in the US: Smith College and Harvard University. Worked at some of the top institutions, Morgan Stanley, Standard Chartered, Nokia, and Vistaprint, spanning multiple countries, US, Singapore, India, and Indonesia. Toward the end of 2013, she decided that she is finally ready to pursue her lifelong dream. Starting her own tech company in Bangladesh. She left her job, raised a few million in seed investment and moved back to Bangladesh. Shohoz was born in 2014. A platform where you could buy tickets - bus, events, movie, and launch. For the first three years, it focused solely on tickets and has built a widely recognizable brand for online ticketing in Bangladesh. In March 2018, Shohoz formally entered the ride-hailing market in Dhaka. A few months into it, it raised US$15M in funding from a host of investors including Golden Gate Ventures of Singapore, which is, interestingly, also an investor in Go-Jek of Indonesia. The largest funding round in any Bangladeshi early stage company so far. Shohoz claims it has over 50,000 drivers on its platform and served over 1.5 million rides in October this year (this interview was done on 29th October 2018). It has entered into food delivery, car and aims to add more services in the future. The startup has aspiration get into the truck and launch fintech products in the coming years. It aims to build a platform. “Shohoz is anything necessary,” says Maliha. Meanwhile, competition has been intensifying in Dhaka’s ride-hailing space. All the major players in the space are trying to do everything to stay ahead and fend off competition. One app for all your needs, a platform strategy - these are the common strategic dialects we hear. Shohoz says it has a better team and a better long-term strategy in place. Can it pull this off? In this immensely interesting interview, we sit down with Shohoz Founder and Managing Direct Maliha M Quadir and set out to find out Shohoz story, what makes Shohoz tick, what’s going on at one of the most important tech startups in Dhaka, and what is next for Shohoz and much more. Enjoy! This was a much longer interview, so we had to break it up into two parts. This is the part one of the interview. Please come back later this month for the final installment of the interview. Ruhul Kader Could you please tell us about yourself and your journey to what you are doing today? Maliha M Quadir I was born and bred in Dhaka. An only child of my parents, I have been super ambitious all along my life. I attended South Breeze School and then Scholastica for my O levels and A levels. Then I went to Smith College in the US where I studied Economics and Computer Science and graduated in 2000. I did very well there as well. After college, I decided to get into investment Banking which was and is one of the toughest careers. Within the investment banking, merger and acquisition is the toughest. People work very late into the night. I decided to go for it. I got into merger and acquisition and that too into utility department. The toughest. After that, I said I have to get into Harvard. I applied to about 5 top schools including Harvard, Columbia, Stanford, and Wharton and I got accepted to all of them. The happiest day was when I got that acceptance email from Harvard. I remember I was in Dhaka at that time. It came at around 9-10 pm. It was a surreal moment for me. Eventually, I went to Harvard. One thing that I loved about Harvard was their case study method. There are very few exams. Not that many long lectures. Instead in every class you read cases, debate with each other and solve them. I realized even before getting into Harvard that I would get to learn more there. It was similar to what we do in real life in business. We don't prepare a presentation and give lectures. We sit down with people, discuss, debate and then make a decision. My classes at Harvard was sort of simulation of that. I used to be very shy. You would not believe it now. I was aware that I have to overcome it. Harvard helped me a lot. We used to have three-four classes per day and all were debates. These were the best and most smart people in the market and when you debate with them every day and that too for long hours, it gets to your depth. After my MBA, I decided to move to Asia, close to home, and get some hands-on experience in technology and business. I worked at Standard Chartered Singapore for one year, at Nokia for a while and then Vistaprint. I got a great exposure to emerging market and digital and technology services while working at Nokia and Vistaprint. I used to cover India and Indonesia for Vistaprint out of Singapore. By the time, I started following the Bangladesh market closely. I always wanted to return to the country and do something here. Again, I was very ambitious from the beginning. I wanted to build something for the mass people and eventually decided to work in the transportations sector. "When you pursue something as challenging as entrepreneurship you need a serious amount of tenacity." Ruhul When did you first decide that I want to build something in Bangladesh? Maliha The ambition has always been there. I practically started working on it in mid-2013. In December 2013, I raised a small angel round from my network of Harvard people and moved back to Bangladesh. I started working on Shohoz in January 2014 and did a soft launch towards the end of 2014. In the first couple of years, we mainly focused on the bus ticket - bus ticketing remains the biggest vertical for us and launch, movie, events are relatively smaller ones. We are working with over 70 large bus and ferry operators. We provide them a proprietary customized ticketing software. All these operators are using our software across Bangladesh 24/7 to run their business. They manage all their inventory using this software including the ones they sell through us. We have focused on building our ticketing business for the past three years. After that, we wanted to expand into other areas, mainly in the transportation space. Ride-sharing came naturally. In fact, we wanted to get into ride-sharing for a long time. I met BRTA many times between 2014 and 2015. Since there was no regulatory guideline for ride-hailing business, we decided to wait. We had been following the regulatory changes closely. Then last year, we came to know that ride-sharing guideline is going to parliament and that's when we decided that this is the right time to start into space. We already had some work done. We just launched our ride business. Ruhul Growing up, you were an ambitious kid, competitive, and always wanted to be at the top. Was taking initiative and creativity part your upbringing and how that influences your work and life and the way you view the world? Maliha We started ride-hailing in January this year and now in November and we are already doing over a million, about 1.5 million, rides per month. We are only doing in Dhaka and that too only motorbike. Shohoz Car is very new in the market - we just started it. When you pursue something as challenging as entrepreneurship you need a serious amount of tenacity. All my reviews at my previous workplaces and from my professors are almost the same: she is extremely tenacious. If she decides to do something she would do it. We started with that mentality that we have to do it no matter what. Raising money is tough in Bangladesh. The market is tough. We already have two competitors who are doing great. These are all tough challenges. I was aware of all these challenges when we were working on launching ride-sharing in December. But we also aware of the fact that the market is young. That the competition is just ahead of us by one year. When we spoke with the investors they said one year is not enough time for a big market like Bangladesh. You can't call anyone a winner at that point in time. So then I plunge and took the risk. That was a big call but I still decided to take the challenge because you live only once. We were about six people team in January. We were running our operation out of my dining table. I just came back at that time. We were looking for an office but we did not make any progress towards that at that time. We would work together and do almost everything together. We finally found an office in February. Ruhul Going a little back to the early days of Shohoz, to 2013 and 2014, when you finally decided that I want to start this company, what went into building the initial operation? You raised a few million in seed investment from your Harvard network and friends and family, moved back to Bangladesh and then how did you put things together and get started? Maliha I raised a couple of millions and then hired my CTO - he is from India. That was the first thing I did. I first hired the engineers and accountants. Ruhul How big was your team at that time? Maliha We were about six people team in January. We were running our operation out of my dining table. I just came back at that time. We were looking for an office but we did not make any progress towards that at that time. We would work together and do almost everything together. We finally found an office in February. Today we are 150 people. The team is growing fast. We are hiring a lot of new people. We have launched food delivery recently and are building a lot of new things and hiring a lot of new people for that. We will become a 300 people team within a few months. Initially, our job was developing the software and building our technology stack - understanding the requirements of bus owners by talking with them and getting requirements from them. They were not very good at giving requirements at that time. They have gotten very good at giving requirements over the time, but initially, that was not the case. It was tough to get all the requirements at once. From the outside it seems like selling tickets is probably a simple task and probably the needs of every bus owners are similar but it is not. It is a complex operation. The needs of operators are diverse and everyone has different requirements. We do a lot of customizations. About 80% is similar but 20% customization is always there. Yes, not all operators want customization, mostly big operators want customization. But the need for customization is there. All of these happened over time. Ruhul How many bus operators you managed to onboard in the first year? Maliha In the first year, we had four operators. Ruhul Was that a deliberate decision or you had challenges finding and onboarding bus operators? Maliha Finding and onboarding bus operators was a challenging job. Initially, it took long business development cycles. It takes a long time to onboard operators even these days. It is a relationship-driven business in many instances. We had to build those relationships. It is a large volume and daily metrics-driven business. Bringing them from cash-first business to cashless business is a strenuous job. It took us three years to onboard 70 operators. Transportation is a challenging industry. We had to teach them how to operate a computer and software. The good thing is that these are smart people. They understand their business very well. When they are convinced that something has to be done they essentially do it no matter what. Today, the kind of requirements we receive from operators is quite amazing. But initially, it was a grind. There are a lot of challenges there even these days. Industries don't change overnight. It takes time to change an industry. But I think we have come a long way. Ruhul How are you doing business-wise, how many tickets people buy from your platform daily? Maliha We sell a couple of thousand tickets every day. We are not pushing the ticket business, in terms of promotions and discounts, much at this moment. We will do it in the near future but for now, we are not spending much on discounts and promotion for the ticket business. Despite that, we are doing very well. It has been growing organically. We have been able to build a brand awareness in the market. People do go to Shohoz for buying tickets. One challenge we face is that due to the operational problem on the end of operators tickets get canceled and customers blame us for that. For instance, when an operator cancels a trip or resells a ticket, our customers often blame us whereas we have nothing to do with it. When an operator cancels a ticket or a trip and don't inform us and there is no way we would know that a trip has been canceled unless operators inform us and update it in the software. And it happens where we don’t get to know. Customers often blame us for this. We are always working hard to improve the experience of our customers. We work with 70 operators. Our software is in use in more than 500 ticket counters across the country and more than a thousand people use our software on a regular basis. Now if an operator does not update the software about a trip which has been canceled we have no way to know it. The complaints we receive from our customers, this is the only reason in almost 100% cases - an operator canceled a trip where we could do almost nothing. That's a challenge for the entire ecommerce industry. We have at least digitized inventory and we could see whether a trip has gone or not. For other ecommerce players, it is even more challenging. "Ride-sharing is the core service here. The plan is to add more services on top of it. More of a platform concept, ride-sharing being at the core that connects everything else." This September Shohoz raised $15m in Series B funding from Golden Gate Ventures, 500 startups, Linear VC, and Asian angel investors, Shohoz Founder in the middle | Photo by Shohoz Ruhul Could you please give us an overview of Shohoz now? You have ticketing business, you have bus, launch, events, and movie and now you have a growing ride business? Maliha We have expanded our ticketing business, that's true. But still, the bus ticket remains the biggest vertical there. Launch is very small. It is an even more challenging segment. We are working with a few big operators. We have events and movies but the market for these tickets are very small. We don't do many events except a few big ones. Small events are not worth doing often. Movie market is also very small as you know. These are small businesses. But we hope that these segments will grow over the next few years. We have entered ride-sharing early this year. We are doing mostly bikes in Dhaka. We are about to launch food delivery. We have launched Car in October. It has been a few weeks and we are doing a few thousands rides there. We are happy with the progress we have made. It has been doing well. We are working on launching outside Dhaka in a few months. We are launching in Chittagong next month. We are launching food delivery in a few days. We will start with a few areas in Dhaka, eventually covering the entire Dhaka and then we will go outside Dhaka. Ride-sharing is the core service here. The plan is to add more services on top of it. More of a platform concept, ride-sharing being at the core that connects everything else. All kinds of delivery will come. We have plans to work on truck transportation. We have done some work there. Last year we have spent a lot of time and resources in the truck. But we have eventually decided that before getting into the truck we would do ride-sharing and then we would explore truck. Truck and on-demand is a good match. It is a huge market and a big problem. We are getting into logistics and delivery seriously. The gentleman that you just saw coming in he is leading our logistics business. He was a leader at TNT Express for Middle-East. He has many years of experience in the space. He has been hired for taking our logistics business to the next level. Then we will get into Truck. As I mentioned earlier, it is a difficult market and a hard problem to solve. Since we have been working on the bus and our ambition is to cover the entire transport space, truck comes naturally. It is an obvious extension and it is basically logistics. That's is something I really want to do. It is a very tough industry. We understand that it will take time. Ruhul Do you have any timeline in mind for getting into the truck? What are a few other areas you want to explore as you mentioned you want to be a platform? Maliha We want to launch trucks by next years. Then we have an aspiration for fintech. We are not essentially talking about payment product or wallet. There are many other things that can be done in fintech. Financing is there and there are many other things that we could explore and that is something we'll look into next year as well. We are building a platform and at the core of it is transportation which is also a means to have more people using our product and then we want to build other services on top of it. Moving is an everyday product. Transport is an everyday necessity. Food delivery and many other products are moving as well. We have been into transportation through ticketing for a long time. There is a lot of synergy between short-distance and long distance transportation. Delivering food is an everyday item. All of these are going to be a huge data source for us and cultivating these data we want to launch fintech products. That's the bigger dream. Ruhul That makes sense. If you are a transportation app which I use daily, it means you have a permanent place on my mobile phone which means you could build other things on top of it to cater my other needs. Do you plan to connect one service with other? For example, you are launching food, do you plan to enable cross-dispatching where the same driver will do both ride and food delivery? Maliha Initially, our focus will be on quality. We want to ensure the best possible service for our customers. Moreover, nobody has done cross-dispatching successfully yet. Every other player is also doing it separately. Because quality is very important in food. We will focus on quality initially but the ultimate goal is to get to a point where we could do cross-dispatching. We will see how we could get there over the time. There are service level agreements and all these things. These are heavy operations and heavy jobs. There are many things involved here. Once we settle down with operations then we will look for ways to optimize and do things in a better way. Ruhul As a ticketing platform as well as a ride-hailing platform, you are an aggregator. On the ticketing side, you are essentially disintermediating ticket counters and at some point, you will replace counters and you become the counter for all the bus operators because customers come to you for tickets because they get all the tickets at one place and thus bus operators and other operators will depend on you for selling tickets, which will allow you to bargain better. Maliha We are nowhere near there. It will take a long time. Moving is an everyday product. Transport is an everyday necessity. Food delivery and many other products are moving as well. We have been into transportation through ticketing for a long time. There is a lot of synergy between short-distance and long distance transportation. Delivering food is an everyday item. All of these are going to be a huge data source for us and cultivating these data we want to launch fintech products. Ruhul But you want to get there? If so how do you plan to get there? Maliha There are a lot of factors here. The market has to evolve. It has evolved since, but there is a long way to go. People still find it difficult to trust an online seller. There are many misconceptions as well. Many people think that it is hard to buy tickets online. That there is a lack of availability. These challenges need to be overcome and we are working on it. On the other hand, a ride is an in the moment thing. You don't wait for calling a bike. It is an essential and urgent need. As a result, people try every day and use it on a daily basis. On the ticketing, people think of an alternative and there is a user behavior pattern. For instance, many users who failed to buy the ticket online once tend to maintain a perception that it is hard to buy or find the ticket online. So they don't try online anymore. On the other hand, when it comes to ride, you not only use it daily and you try daily even if you could not find one the other day. For instance, initially there was a supply problem in the ride space and people usually could not find a ride when they needed one. Despite the predicament, people continued to try the service because you need it daily and it is a more urgent service. This is a very common phenomenon that essential and urgent services often get traction quickly. I believe our ride business will eventually help our ticketing business vice versa and as we go. "Running a startup is an everyday balancing act. Balancing process vs speed. Present vs future. Growth vs sustainability. These are the things a founder needs to be mindful of on a daily basis." Ruhul What are some lessons you have learned? Maliha Don't wait for regulation to change. You should always operate with a sense of urgency. That's something I regret. Often we unnecessarily wait for things to happen whereas taking action can make a huge difference. Hire people when you need to. I feel that I always operate in an under-stuffed mode. That's a challenge when you are growing fast. The lesson would be you need more people than you believe you need. Being said that, I do believe in doing more with less. For startups, it is critical to find this balance where you are not overspending and at the same time, doing more with less without hampering your growth. This is a balance you have to find. Running a startup is an everyday balancing act. Balancing process vs speed. Present vs future. Growth vs sustainability. These are the things a founder needs to be mindful of on a daily basis. "Don't wait for regulation to change. You should always operate with a sense of urgency. That's something I regret. Often we unnecessarily wait for things to happen whereas taking action can make a huge difference."

Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) Terminal 3 Update 25/08/2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69xFaAjUTE4

https://futurestartup.com/2020/03/18/the-story-neofarmers-with-tamzid-siddiq-spondon/ The Story of Neofarmers: An Interview With Tamzid Siddiq Spondon, Managing Director, Neofarmers By Ruhul Kader | Mar 18, 2020 Successful entrepreneur Tamzid Siddiq Spondon shares the founding story of his most latest venture Neofarmers, talks about the steady rise of safe food in Bangladesh, the operational mechanics of Neofarmers, the state of Neofarmers business today, how it has invested in product development, growth and sustainable competitive advantage, the ambition of Neofarmers, and the challenges of safe food business in Bangladesh, reflects on his priorities for 2020, how he operates as an entrepreneur, defining trends of the new decade, how entrepreneurs should respond to the challenges of a trying time and much more. Ruhul Kader: Thank you for agreeing to do an interview with us. Could you please give us an overview of Neofarmers? Tamzid Siddiq Spondon: The origin of Neofarmers lies in an intimate personal experience and need. We all eat food - we can’t survive without food. While complaints regarding the state of food safety in Bangladesh have always been there, I never took them seriously until I had kids. When my two kids came along, I started paying greater attention to what they’re eating - quality, safety standard, and other aspects of food. It became a constant concern. That concern, you may say, was the first inspiration to start Neofarmers. I wanted to ensure safe and healthy food for my kids. But when I started to explore the options, I came to see that the options for safe food remain limited in the market. That’s when I first came across the idea of creating a safe food brand. I shared the idea with my friends and they immediately identified with the challenge. Everyone felt the need and wanted to be a part of it. We discussed the idea, how we may address the challenge and eventually agreed to do something in the sector. We did not think of a business venture per se. We wanted to make it happen for our kids and loved ones. We had land where we used to do small scale farming purely for our household consumption. We thought that we might use it for the purpose of the project. But then we realized that if we only do it on our land, it would not be scalable, which means, we are thinking only about our kids and our families and not about people around us such as our colleagues - we have some 200 people in 5 of our offices who will be left out if we only do it for ourselves. That’s when we thought let's do it in a more formal and scalable way. We probably will need a small team, a little bit of investment and will probably have to run it as a business, but it would be far more meaningful an endeavor. As a strategy, to begin with, we decided to run it as a business but not a pure mass-market consumer product where you aim to sell it to as many people as possible. We rather decided to do it in a boutique kind of way at first and then gradually scale without compromising on the vision we have started with. We also decided to work with producers and growers across the country instead of doing it all ourselves. We have many indigenous products in Bangladesh such as rice, turmeric, chilies, etc. If I ask you about rice you would at best be able to tell names of 5 varieties whereas we have hundreds of different varieties of rice in Bangladesh. This is something that I came to learn when I started to dig deeper into our indigenous products. I came to learn that we have many major varieties of rice in Bangladesh. And there are many sub-varieties of one single variety as well. This is the case with turmeric and many other products that are available in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, many of these products are now getting lost due to the rise of GMO products. But there are people who produce these products and there are consumers who would love to access these products. We thought it would be wonderful if we could connect these two groups of people - producers and consumers. We thought let’s find out these people who are still growing these local products and work with them. When we started the search we found out that there still are many products and producers in the business. We realized that if we could build a brand that serves this gap in the market, it would certainly contribute to the development in the market. We have been working on branding and marketing for a long time. We realized that we would do well if we work in the space from the perspective of producers and work to make a connection between parties. We were confident, to begin with, in our capacity to tell good stories and establish a connection with customers using story as a vehicle. We realized that there is a mismatch in the market. While farmers and growers produce high-quality crops and food products, often they don't get a good price for their extra investments. Which means often they don’t try to produce high-quality safe products because they have zero incentives to do so. If they could get a good price, they are likely to produce more of the same products. If we could bring and sell these products as premium products, it means they get a good price and hence become more encouraged to produce more of the good products. All these thoughts culminated in the idea that we would build a brand that will collect all the pure products from across the country and bring them to people who want to buy these products but don’t know where to find them. In short, that is the main idea behind Neofarmers. The second important distinction we wanted to bring to the brand is that we would not sell great products alone, we would sell stories. In fact, we wanted to put no less importance on stories than the products. In a regular world, foods that we eat elicit little emotion in us. If you look at a product such as rice, oil, peanut butter, there is little to be emotional about these products outside of the fact that they are edible items and taste good or bad. You buy, cook, and eventually eat. If you ask my son, he would say that okay we buy these products and eat them. That’s all. Snapshot - people of Neofarmers | Photo by Neofarmers If you pay closer attention, these foods are more than mere edible items. These foods have stories attached to them. Someone has put in blood and sweat in producing these products. There were struggles and pleasant memories attached to each of these staples. When we don’t know these stories, it does not matter, but when we finally come to know them, it changes everything. When we come to know these stories, our outlook on these products and producers changes. We start to view these products differently. We take them more seriously and intimately. We begin to respect the humans behind them. For example, we bring bini-halud (a variety of local turmeric) from Bandarban. Local indigenous people grow these turmerics in a unique environment in one of the remotest places in Bangladesh. When we bring these products to our factory, we don’t bring the only turmeric, we bring stories and memories as well. When we process them, we process the stories as well. When we tell these stories to people, it becomes interesting. People become intrigued. When consuming these products, they find emotion in them. It elicits a deeper feeling inside ourselves. From the beginning, we started to focus on this area - stories behind each of our products. Gradually, we begin to put the information and stories of growers on the packet. For example, we tell you that the coconut oil that you are using is produced by Rahima Banu of Khulna and this is her story. We are trying to package the stories. We are not trying to sell the products alone, we are trying to sell the stories. That’s the second important idea. When you are selling a high-quality product, your stories become equally important. After much thought and preparation, we started working with a small number of products between 2017-2018. We officially launched our digital operation in November 2018. We did not go for physical retail initially because logistical and compliance needs of physical retail are high. Digital is relatively easier and inexpensive to begin with. At the same time, it allows you to reach customers with minimum cost and then get feedback and improve gradually. We have experienced steady growth. In the last 14 months, we have served over 13,000 customers, which we think is a really good number. It also indicates that there is a huge demand in the market. We have put a lot of thought into packaging and branding and designs. Apart from aesthetics, we have made a conscious effort to keep packaging plastic-free and environment friendly. I would not say we have been able to do it 100% but we have succeeded to a large extent. We mostly use reusable eco-friendly packaging materials for packaging such as paper, glass jar and so on. Reusable packaging has been of particular attention to us. So far we have been able to do reusable packaging for 35% of products. Our goal is to gradually grow this percentage. In the case of reusable bottles, our customers can return the bottles. In fact, our concept of business heavily relies on the community. We aim to build a community of users who are safety conscious and care about the environment. We encourage our users to return the bottles and thus we seek to build meaningful connections with them. These are glass bottles and we can use them hundreds of times. We try to use reusable materials in our packaging. We currently have about 84 products. We use glass bottles or paper packaging for all the products. We have some plastics packaging where products are of low-cost nature. Since glass bottles are expensive, we can’t use glass bottles for these products. However, we are looking to find options within low-cost packaging for these products that are environmentally friendly. We are considering some biodegradable plastics packaging options such as plastics made out of jute and potato, etc. Our packaging policy is either reusable packaging or biodegradable packaging. We are not calling ourselves organic because there is no certification for organic in Bangladesh. The definition of organic is different. Organic has a lot of conditions that are hard to meet. It is almost impossible to meet these conditions in many areas in Bangladesh. So our focus has not been there. We are calling ourselves safe food. Our tagline is naturally grown, honestly packed. It is not enough to grow the produce naturally, how your process is important, the packaging is important. For example, you have collected really good quality organic Ghee but you processed and packaged in an unhygienic way, it is not going to do any good. We pay equal attention to all these areas. We have made it a priority to put enough importance on ensuring a great processing standard. We don’t have a big factory. We don't have a large setup for manufacturing. We have a small setup. We put a lot of importance on natural processing and everything is handmade. Many companies tout the fact that their foods are made without the touch of hands. We are the opposite. We are saying everything is handmade. We don't have big machinery. In fact, as I mentioned, we mostly follow natural processing. For example, we don't refine oil in machines. It is an all-natural refinement. After making the oil, we put it in a container and keep it there for 15 days or so. The dirt gradually falls to the bottom of the jar. We collect the oil and package it. Photo by Neofarmers I understand that this is costly compared to machine refinement. Machine refinement is more efficient. You can do it at scale but the overall quality gets hurt. We are the opposite. We are 100% handmade and we have no plan to forego that in the near future. Since we are handmade and produced with intense care for the quality and packaging, we are more expensive than general mass-manufactured products. Using machines has scale benefits and you don’t need storage for refinement. This is not the case for us. For example, in order to refine oil, we require a certain amount of time which makes the entire process expensive. For example, when we bring red chilies, we put them outside for 15 days in the sun to get rid of the fungus. We have also put dehumidifiers in our warehouse to ensure a certain level of humidity in the product. Our products do have moisture but it is within a certain level. In fact, we have only 30% moisture in our products which would be about 70% if you keep it outside without measures. This means our quality is far superior. We have a warehouse in Kalyanpur of 3000 square feet. We have taken huge care to ensure that it is a good place to keep the products. We pay attention to small things because small things matter. A lot of products lose quality standards and get wasted during processing. For example, in one KG chilies, 40% are pedicels/shafts. Almost no producer separates pedicel from chili before processing. We do. We carefully separate the shafts and chilies and then process the spice, as a result, we are sacrificing 40% of our products right there for the sake of quality. These are small things but they make a lot of difference. It is not enough to grow naturally. You have to process and pack honestly as well. We follow these two things religiously. Ruhul: That’s a fascinating story. If I go a little back, you came up with the idea, shared it with your friends, they agreed to try and you got started. What was the size of your initial investment? Spondon: We have a piece of land in Savar which has to be included in the investment. So far, we have so far invested somewhere around BDT 2 crore. We have not taken any external investment as yet. We have been investing from our own pockets. How many partners are you now? We are five partners. I'm the Managing Director and others are on the board. How big is your team? We are a team of almost 35 people. We have people who work on the processing side of things and then we have people who manage online orders and operations. Our team is likely to grow dramatically in the coming days. Until now, our operation has been quite small - mostly operating online. That’s going to change. We have been seeing rapid growth. And we are getting into the retail big time in the coming days. Truth is that we have never been in the consumer products business before. While we have almost 20 years of experience in service and B2B business, which is the same for all Neofarmers partners, we are novices when it comes to a consumer product business. This is our first consumer product business initiative. As a result, we are learning new things every day. I have been going through a fascinating learning curve. I've been reading a lot about technology and different aspects of the business. I'm enjoying it. You work with growers and farmers across the country. How many farmers do you work with currently? How does your relationship with farmers work? We so far work with 250+ farmers. There are some products that we source directly such as rice, flour, etc. There are some products that we collect the raw materials and process it ourselves such as all types of oil, peanut butter, ghee, etc. 50% of our products are sourced and 50% of our products are processed. We don't grow, we collect the raw materials and then process. We don’t have contracts or any formal arrangements with the farmers as yet. We maintain a friendly relationship with them. We will eventually go into the contract. We are not doing it right now because many farmers view the contract as something imposing. We want to work with them as friends and build a relationship of trust. We try to make sure that they are using pesticides and other chemicals in the right manner and maintaining the safety and quality standard. We have been able to build a great understanding of the growers we work with. How do you order and collect products from the growers? There is not a uniform established process as yet. We pay in advance sometimes and they also provide us products when they have products. We have established good terms with the growers. We are now getting into retail. We want to open 100 stores by 2020. We have already started working on the plan. Our plan is to open one store every two months. How many orders do you serve monthly? We started off in an organic manner - we created our website, a Facebook page. After the initial set-up, we started to make an effort to reach out to our target customers. Over the last 14 months, we have been able to build an excellent group of customers who buy from us regularly. Our retention rate has been great. Currently, we serve some 160 orders per day. This is a number we did not expect that we would be able to achieve within this short time. Our expectation was much lower - between 30-40 orders after a year. We have been happy with the growth so far. Our basket size has also been growing consistently which we believe will continue to grow as more people trust us as a brand. One of the things that helped us is data. From the beginning, we have been serious about data and using data to gain market insight and sustainable advantage. We have engaged a data analytics company to help us understand the data better. In today's world, without data business is tough. We are betting heavily on data analytics. You are now available at Unimart and a few other retail outlets. How many retail points are you available now? Not many. We are now present in about 4 places. We have not explored modern trade that much as yet. We have a presence in Unimart, Gourmet Bazar, and Jatra Biroti. We don't have plans to get into para-level retails. We will be at select modern trade outlets and our own shops. We are taking six more months to go full-on supershops because we have some licensing issues pending. One interesting thing about us is that people usually come from offline to online. We are doing the opposite. We are going from online to offline. Offline is important. There are products that are hard to do online such as vegetables and poultry. You can do it online but you have to have your own delivery channel. Our vision is to feed the whole nation. We can’t not achieve that vision through an online-only model for many products. Second, we are trying to build a community and encourage our customers to return reusable bottles. We want our customers to return the bottles. In order for that to happen, we have to create points near our customers where they could come and return the bottles. Similarly, we plan to use these 100 points as our delivery hub for each location. Have you applied for BSTI? We have already applied for BSTI which we are hoping we would get in the next few days. We are looking to acquire a few more compliances and certifications. We want to make sure that nobody has an issue with our products. Among our 84 products only 6 need BSTI certification. But we want to go to retail with all our products. You mentioned that you have seen great growth. What are some of the things that have contributed to your growth? We have paid a lot of attention to service. People have a sense of mistrust when it comes to online channels. We have tried to overcome this perception. Trust is important on online platforms. If you focus on trust-building and eventually be able to gain the trust of people, growth becomes easier to achieve. To that end, we have designed a substantial return and refund policy where we give you full-refund even after consumption of the product if you complain that you did not enjoy the product or the product was not good enough. This is rare in the online world. Apart from that, we do a lot of other small things with a view to gain trust from our consumers. These policies have helped us to build trust in the market. We have also found some interesting facts about the market. For example, our refund policy is quite liberal and if people want they could cause unwarranted problems for us. But that has not happened as yet. While the refund policy has boosted our credibility and helped us gain trust, people usually don't return after consuming a product. Product quality does suffer sometimes because these are handmade products. And when people complain that your ghee was not good this time and make sure your next lot is better. We then tell our customers that we will certainly give you the best product next time. At the same time, we are giving a replacement or a full refund for this product as well. This gives people a huge assurance. How many orders did you serve in the first month of the launch? About 70-80 orders in the entire first month. We have since experienced accelerated growth. Every month we are growing at a rate of 130%. You have a great product, you ensure great service, and you have some excellent policies such as your no question asked refund policy, what are other things that you have done, activities-wise, that have helped you in growing? We have been predominantly online-focused when it comes to marketing and communication. In fact, we have not done any offline campaign as yet. We have tried to use design as a tool to attract attention. Our designs are good. Copies are good. These things help to gain attention. People take you seriously. Second, we have used testimonials of our existing customers - when people tell good things about us we highlight those things. We have found that testimonials work. We are slowly moving to offline activations. We are about to do our first-meetup soon with our customers. In fact, we don’t call customers, we call community members. We have some interesting plans such as giving a full sponsored trip to 50 community members to our factory. They will get to see how things work. We will provide good food and bear all the expenses. This will be our first physical interaction. Apart from that what else do you do? You do digital i.e. Facebook boosting and all that. Do you do anything else? Anything that stands out in terms of the growth strategy? I would not say that we have done something hugely unique. It has always been regular things and trying to do regular things better. We have recently created some videos on the usage of each of our products and their health benefits. We have made some 6-7 videos on subjects like the benefits of black seed oil, how to use it and so on. To our surprise, people really liked them. We don't know the benefits and usage of many products, we bring those things to our videos. We don't advertise our products or our quality in these videos per se. It is very much informational videos to help our users. This is something we are doing. This is a series that we have been doing for about 3 months now. How does your marketing work? We are predominantly on Facebook, almost 100% Facebook. How much do you spend on Facebook? We don’t spend a lot. We try to be effective and efficient. I don't know whether that’s a lot. We have largely relied on word of mouth. If you have good products, it helps. One person buys and tells others about it and so you grow. These are products that would not go viral if you spend on marketing alone. You have to gain trust. Once they trust you, customers will bring more customers. That's where we are focusing. We are not looking for rapid growth. We don't want to grow fast. We want to grow steadily. We want people to consume our products, tell us if they like it and then tell other people about it. Similarly, we have room for improvement. Once people buy and consume our products, they give us feedback and we want to improve based on our user feedback. We are investing every day in making our product better. That's where our marketing expenses are going. For example, the mustard seed we use now is far better in quality than what it used to be a few months ago. We are looking to find better quality products every day. As a consumer, you would not realize these improvements suddenly but we are making these improvements. None of our 84 products contain preservatives. As a result, many of our products come with a limited shelf life. For example, for products like peanut butter, it is only 6 months. That's why we have to discard a lot of products when shelflife is expired but even if we use edible preservatives we can extend the shelf-life of these products by 3 years. But we don't do that. Our quality standard is simple: would I feed it to my kids. If we are confident about it that I would happily give these to my kids, only then I would sell it. Our ambition is not to get rich from this business. We want to establish that safe food is a right of every consumer. We believe that it is possible to offer safe food and still build a profitable and sustainable business. Over the past year, I have grown a strong conviction that there is a huge demand and people do want safe food. People want to spend money on safe food. We are not that expensive really. We are probably 20-25% more expensive than other regular choices. Some products are more expensive than others. There are products that are not expensive at all. Our hypothesis is that I would rather consume 25% less but whatever I consume, it has to be of good quality. Do you see it as a challenge that these products are beyond the reach of a large group of regular consumers due to price? There is a group that can afford and they would happily pay extra and it is possible to build a decent business by only serving them. But don’t you think these products remain out of reach to a large group of regular consumers? How do you plan to address this challenge? Or do you want to address that at all? Of course. We do want to address this challenge but I don't think we can address that at this moment. Because we don't have any way to reduce our price because our cost of production is higher. Can you reduce the price at scale? We can reduce at scale for some products but probably not all products. There are some products that would take a long time to scale. There are a few products that are hard to scale such as Bini rice. But the ones we can scale, with the scale we will be able to bring down the cost thus price by 10-15%. Today, our scale is quite minuscule. If we grow that dramatically, we can reduce the cost dramatically. If we could do that these products would be accessible to a lot more people. It is not that we only have rich people buying our products. We have a large number of middle-class people buying our products. Many people sometimes complain about the price but that is not a prominent trend. We are spending more in manufacturing these products and ensuring the quality, and that's something that we can’t change. If we want to reduce the price, we would have to compromise in quality which we would never do. Instead, we want people to eat less but eat safe food. We believe that this is a change that would eventually happen. It is not that there is no demand. There is pent-up demand in the market for safe food. You would see that people are complaining about food quality all the time. Compared to that the options that they could access and afford remain limited. Our current market size is no more than 15-20 lakhs households. This is a big number for me as well. That's for sure. If you could get into groceries, all of it, that's a huge market to build a really large business. We will slowly cover the whole cycle. We will get into meat and poultry and vegetables. Have you thought of any subscription service? Do you already have one? Yes. We have not done it yet. We will do it after growing our product range a bit. Sourcing is a big thing when it comes to scaling. Once our sourcing is strong, we will get into the subscription. You can launch a subscription for milk and similar products. Yes, that's feasible. We also plan to do weekly vegetable packs and so on. You mentioned about building a community, which is really interesting. Do you already have anything related to building a community? We are starting it out. We don't have anything as yet. We have an online group, which is not that active though. Since we are investing a lot in product development, we are not doing enough on the side of market development. Once we have a sizable number of products, we will go more forcefully into these areas. At this point in time, we are paying more attention to finding better sourcing options. What do you think about the competition in this space? There already are a handful of players in the space. And as the vertical grow, it is likely that big food giants will eventually move into the vertical? One aspect is that the market is big. We are in the early days of the safe food trend in Bangladesh. We can accommodate more competition. In fact, more players in the early days mean it helps to build awareness in the market. Second, competition is always good. It forces you to improve and get better. Our goal is to offer the best product. Competition means we will be challenged and we will try to provide even better products. If we provide the best products, consumers will eventually buy from us. Competitors mean consumers have more choices and they could compare. What are the major challenges now? How are you addressing these challenges? Sourcing remains the biggest challenge and I think there will always be challenges around sourcing. We are not facing this challenge now per se. I'm talking about when we become 10-15 times bigger, it will be a challenge then and I have to prepare for that now. Let me give you an example, we have a project in Munlai Para in Bandarban where we have cultivated about 300 Moringa trees. This is a long term project. By the time we get leaves from these trees, it will be many years. But we are here for the long term. We are planning to address these supply challenges with these large projects. We are working on sourcing this way. For example, when we begin to sell poultry, we would need hundreds of chickens every day. We are working on putting together sourcing in these areas. We have done some work. But a lot more work needs to be done. You have built successful enterprise businesses. Now you are building a consumer business, what are some of the things that matter in consumer business that is different from enterprise businesses? The biggest difference between consumer business and B2B is that in B2B personal relationship matters and in consumer business it does not. In a consumer business, you have to give good products. That's all. If you have good products, people will buy. You don't have to make anyone happy with your words or anything. That's the basic difference. Anything that you found interesting or anything that you consider critical for doing well in consumer business? Product is important in the consumer business. At the same time, it is no less important to connect with the right target group. You have to have a very good understanding of your product and your target segment in the consumer business. Second, in B2B, branding is not that important. You could do well without understanding branding much. But in consumer business branding is a must. You can't go far without a proper understanding of branding. To illustrate the point, consider you are perhaps offering the same quality products as your competitors. What makes the difference is how you position your product in the market. I would say that both creating the right product and communicating the right message are critical in the consumer business. What are some lessons you have learned in 2019? One year is a long time. Every day I'm learning. I don't see things that way. I see every day as a learning opportunity. Not making the same mistake twice is the most important lesson I have learned. What do you think about time since you mentioned you don’t essentially look at things as this year or that year? One thing is that learning is not enough. You have to apply the lessons you have learned. The second thing is that time is the greatest healer. Every trouble and challenge resolves itself with time. Third, everything has a time. No matter how hard you try, things would happen in their own time. There is a right to everything. If you are hardworking and keep working on your mission, things will happen at their own time. I don't think we can make things happen with mere force. You have to give time to things as long as they take. This is a strong perspective that you have to wait for the right time. But what do you do when you are waiting? The wait is only interesting when you have the conviction that this wait will ultimately bring good results. You have to believe that. If you don't have faith, it would be a terrible experience. But if you have the conviction and the faith that if I do pursue this, it would happen then wait is not a big deal. What are the priorities for 2020? I would not say priorities for 2020 but I have some general priorities from now on. I do a lot of things. Whatever I do I do it with passion. I've realized of late that I should be more careful about what I spend time on and focus more on strategic areas than the operational areas. I spend a lot of time in operation but I have realized that if I spend more time on strategy, my impact would be far greater. This is my personal ambition. I want to get out of operation as much as possible and elevate me to more strategic thinking and work. I understand that this would not happen overnight. It is going to be a slow process and will take time. I have been working on a number of organizations. I have been able to bring almost all of them to a solid foundation. Now I want to make them big. Basecamp and Neofarmers, these organizations are new. I want these organizations to leapfrog. From now on I aim to delegate more and spend more time thinking. Do you have any plan to take an external investor at Neofarmer? No. Probably we will go for Bank investment. We are a fast-growing venture and our business fundamentals are strong. Bank loans should be perfect for us. We have just entered a new decade. The world has been going through a host of substantial shifts. We are seeing the decline of old and dominant trends and the rise of new ones. What are some of the trends and insights that people need to look out for in the coming decade? If you take the economic condition in Bangladesh, the days ahead are likely to get tough given the scenario in the Garments and Banking sector. This could become a challenge for small companies. Expected growth could be a challenge in the next few years. Entrepreneurs should prioritize sustainability. I think people should focus on sustainability rather than focusing on growth. I'm talking about small companies. I would suggest saving more than spending more. Any macro trends you see in our society today? Millennials are more concerned about the quality of life than money or wealth. This is an opportunity when it comes to entrepreneurship. We have to create products and services for this group. Companies need to understand this and make changes accordingly. Things will be very different in the next 4-5 years. Second, we are all connected and we are all disconnected. Today, we are living in a world where families and social fabrics are disintegrating. Communities are going to be very important in the coming years. Third, I think we are entering the age of personalization. Mass-produced products will eventually decline and commerce will get much more personalized.

https://www.thedailystar.net/entertainment/tv-film/news/bangladeshs-wahid-ibn-reza-working-spider-man-no-way-home-2160466 Bangladesh’s Wahid Ibn Reza working on “Spider-Man: No Way Home” Arts & Entertainment Desk Wed Aug 25, 2021 01:54 PM Wahid Ibn Reza, who has made a name for himself in Hollywood by working in several superhero films as a production manager, is now working on Marvel Studios' much-anticipated film, "Spider-Man: No Way Home." He is currently based in Canada, and working as a digital production manager at Digital Domain Holdings. Wahid shared on his Facebook profile that he has always wanted to work on Spider-Man, and he got a taste of it when he worked on the pre-school series, "Spidey and his Amazing Friends". Now, he is excited to work on the upcoming movie. He was associated with "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" as a project coordinator. Furthermore, he worked on Marvel Studios' "Captain America: Civil War (2016)" and "Doctor Strange (2016)" during his tenure in the Method VFX Studios. Wahid worked with the visual effects teams of "Furious 7" (2015), "Fifty Shades of Grey" (2015), "Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb" (2014) HBO's "Game of Thrones", and "Angry Birds 2" (2019), among other projects. In 2017, "Doctor Strange" was nominated for the Academy Awards for Best VFX, which made him a part of an Oscar nominated team. "Surviving 71", a 2D animated short film about the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh written and directed by Wahid, revolves around three captured freedom fighters who reminisce about what brought them to the war as they prepare to face their ultimate demise, getting shot in the back and thrown out of a moving train. The voice cast of the film includes Jaya Ahsan, Meher Afroz Shaon, Tanzir Tuhin, Gousul Alam Shawon, Anik Khan, Samir Ahsan and Wahid himself.

https://www.tbsnews.net/economy/govt-eyes-30-vegetable-export-growth-292687#.YSUg13WQQMk.facebook TBS Report 24 August, 2021, 10:35 pm Last modified: 25 August, 2021, 10:43 am Govt eyes 30% vegetable export growth The Ecnec approved a Tk156.36 crore project to this end The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved a project to modernise a lab as the government wants to increase annual vegetable exports by 25-30% while reducing imports by 2%. To this end, the agriculture ministry wants to transform the plant quarantine laboratory at the central packing house in the capital's Shyampur into a lab of international standards. The ministry believes if the laboratory can be set up by 2023, exports of different vegetables and fruits, including potatoes and betel leaves, to various countries of Asia and Europe will grow. This is because the facility will help comply with the World Trade Organisation's Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS agreement) and the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). The plant quarantine lab was set up under a project in 2011. But due to a lack of proper equipment and skilled manpower, the lab does not function. That is why Bangladesh cannot comply with the WTO SPS agreement and the IPPC. In this situation, the Ecnec on Tuesday approved a Tk156.36 crore project to improve the quality of the lab in order to get the Bangladesh Accreditation Board accreditation. The Department of Agricultural Extension will implement the project, which includes buying and setting up lab equipment among other tasks. Besides, 180 officials will be given local training and six others will receive training abroad. After the Ecnec meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Planning Minister MA Mannan and State Minister of the ministry Dr Shamsul Alam talked about the project. Shamsul quoted the prime minister as saying that agricultural products should be exported after checking their quality as per the demand of the developed world. He said Bangladesh at present earns $1 billion by exporting agricultural goods. "The prime minister said the export of agricultural products should be increased so that Bangladesh's reputation abroad grows more. She also instructed the authorities concerned to take more precautions for exporting agricultural products," he added. Entrepreneurs in this sector hope the market of Bangladeshi vegetables and agricultural products abroad will grow once the project is implemented. Bangladesh Fruits, Vegetables and Allied Products Exporters Association Adviser Manjurul Islam said exports would grow further if mycology, bacteriology, virology, nematology, and microbiology tests could be done here. "But there are many challenges, including a lack of skilled manpower. We have to overcome these," he added. Alam Overseas regularly exports vegetables to London. Its Proprietor Mahbubul Alam said he needs to get his products tested from foreign labs before exporting. "European countries do not compromise on quality. That is why setting up laboratories here is very important. Products can be tested quickly if we have labs here." Additional Director of the Plant Quarantine Wing Md Shamsul Alam told The Business Standard vegetables and fruits contain many types of germs. "If there is a laboratory at the central packing house, we will be able to export products after complying with the necessary requirements. This will ensure product quality and we can also maintain a good image of our country abroad, which will help increase exports." CPH Lutfar, deputy director of the central packing house, said many requirements need to be fulfilled for exporting goods to Europe. "For example, it is necessary to check whether betel leaves contain salmonella. Having our own labs will make these tasks easier." The agriculture ministry said Bangladesh is a major agricultural country, but it imports 1.86 crore tonnes of vegetables every year. By contrast, only 9.95 lakh tonnes of vegetables are exported from Bangladesh, which is only 5.35% of total exports. The ministry thinks the country's food security is at risk as exports have not increased in line with imports. Despite potential, Bangladesh cannot export potatoes and betel leaves for failing to comply with the SPS agreement and the IPPC. Eight projects costing Tk5,441.63 crore were approved at Tuesday's Ecnec meeting. The government will give Tk3,332.72 crore to implement the projects while implementing agencies will provide Tk47.93 crore. Besides, Tk2060.98 crore will come from foreign loans.