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Despite good services Dhaka Nagar Paribahan fails to lure enough passengers
Commuters travelling by the red-and-green buses of Dhaka Nagar Paribahan (DNP) since the pilot launching of the public transport company late last year has so far been happy with its disciplined services and reasonable fare.
For the passengers there is neither any hassle in buying the tickets nor any arguments about fare. Passengers get on and off at designated stations. Inside, there are enough seats to sit and they are comparatively clean. Drivers are civil and helpers are helpful.
In spite of the delivery of the services it has promised the pilot service is being shunned by many regular commuters. The common complaint is that the buses are too slow to reach the stops resulting in long frustrating wait for the passengers.
This drives many passengers to take the otherwise rough-driving higher fare-charging buses simply because they can reach them to their destination faster.
Red cabbage cultivation makes farmer Belal happy
Belal Hossain has been a successful vegetable farmer earning enough for his five-member family.
This year Belal added a new vegetable: red cabbage, a novelty in this northern distruct. And profitable too.
Due to its newness and taste red cabbage has quickly become a popular veg used as salad and for making other curry.
Belal soon has found that this new crop is profitable both in yield and price.
He sells red cabbage per piece at price ranging from Tk30 to Tk40. He is expecting a profit of Tk 2 lakh from this yield, he said.
Also read: Laxmipur betel leaf growers record Tk 200cr sale
Central bank devalues taka to boost exports, remittances
The exchange rate of the Taka has depreciated by 25 percent in the last 13 years against the US dollar, and fell to an unprecedented Tk 86 against the dollar at the start of the week, as the central bank looks to adopt a policy of devaluation to boost exports and remittances.
Devaluation can boost a country’s exports by making its products more competitive in international trade. As the country has adequate forex reserves of over $44 billion, Bangladesh Bank (BB) officials suggest not to be worried of taka depreciation. But the common people may have to bear the brunt of higher prices due to the impact of taka depreciation. In the last five months, the Bangladeshi currency has lost its value by Tk 1.20 or 1.41 percent against the US dollar. The taka was devalued once again by 20 poisa on the inter-bank exchange market on Sunday against the dollar. Despite holding a stable position for a month and a half, the depreciation occurred on Sunday.
Bellwether Bangladesh banks on supply chain resilience to beckon businesses
Thanks to its resilient supply chain networks, Bangladesh managed to turn the Covid crisis into an opportunity for a major shift towards a manufacturing-friendly environment.
Over the past two years, Bangladesh focussed on the development of mega economic zones and building infrastructure to woo global firms desperately looking for new production hubs as a hedge against future risks in the wake of a Covid-induced supply chain disruption in China.
In fact, in one month alone -- in December 2021 -- Bangladesh shipped goods worth over 4.9 billion US dollars, creating a record and propelling the overall export earnings to 39.14 billion US dollars in that year alone, as per the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) figures.
This clearly exhibited the country's ability to become a key manufacturing hub for global buyers, according to economists.
Read: Increased capacity of Ctg Port to cut cost of doing business: FBCCI
Economist AB Mirza Azizul Islam said that utilising the easy availability of cheap labour and geographical advantage amid the pandemic, "Bangladesh has already earned the trust of global buyers that it can retain the supply chain even during a crisis".
"Policy support, infrastructure development, easing the connectivity of ports with the domestic manufacturing and export processing zones, simplification of the financial system and development of backward linkage supply channels in line with the finished goods all help keep the country ahead to becoming a trusted manufacturing hub," he told UNB.
Though the pandemic caused the global export market to suffer in 2020, Bangladesh's export earnings were 33.6 billion US dollars. Export earnings increased by 16.46% in 2021, according to statistics. Readymade garment exports contributed to about 20 billion US dollars, or more than 80% of the total exports in the July-December period.
Overseas employment turns the corner after Covid-induced slump
In an encouraging sign of normalcy returning to the overseas labour market for Bangladeshis, the number of workers receiving immigration clearance in a single month from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training crossed 100,000 (1 lakh) last November.
Only once before, in March 2017, had so many workers (above 1 lakh) received BMET clearance in a single month. But the November figure gains far more significance coming on the back of the post-Covid lockdown slump witnessed in the international labour market.
Shahidul Alam, Director General of BMET, told UNB that 102,863 (1 lakh 2 thousand 63) workers were provided clearance to go abroad in November 2021, by far the highest in a single month since the start of the pandemic.
Also read: Supreme Court rules against immigrants with temporary status
According to BMET numbers, 35,732 workers were cleared to go abroad in January 2021, followed by 49,510 in February and 61,653 in March. However, during the second wave of the pandemic in the country, the number of migrating workers decreased due to the reimposition of lockdown in April, dropping to 34,145 and then even further to 14,200 in May.
Omicron surge in India slams travel through Benapole land port
The number of passport-holding passengers travelling to and from India through the Benapole land port has declined significantly for various reasons, including strict precautionary measures taken to contain the spread of the new variant of coronavirus Omicron.
Bangladeshi passengers said an alarming spike in Covid cases in the neighbouring country, two times Covid test for passengers and hassles caused by brokers are the main reasons why the number of travellers is declining.
Those who need to travel to India for medical, business and education purposes have been suffering a lot, they said.
According to the port authorities, about 3000 passengers travelled through the land port per day on average last week, but the number of passport-holding passengers dropped to 1000 in the current week.
On January 1, 375 people went to India while 709 returned from the country and on January 2, some people left the country through the port while 864 people returned home from the country.
Read: All students to be vaccinated by Jan 31: Dipu Moni
On January 3, the number of India-bound passengers was 491 while that of returnees was 611 and on January 4, some 442 people went to India and 639 returned. On January 5, the number of India-bound passengers was 481 while that of the returnees was 597.
Port sources said some 18 lakh passengers travel to and from India for different purposes every year.
On March 13, 2020, India imposed restrictions on travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic. However, it allowed domestic flights from May, 2020, and the entry of foreigners except tourists from October.
Abdul Jalil, deputy director (traffic) of Benapole port, said, “The number of passengers travelling to and from India and Bangladesh has dropped significantly. From January 1 to January 5, some 5,687 people traveled between the two countries.”
Alarmed by the rising Omicron cases, India's federal government two weeks ago warned states that "the variant is three times more transmissible than the Delta" and directed them to take action to rein in its spread.
Mushroom farming: The story of a jobless youth becoming an entrepreneur in Jashore
Foysal Ahmed, a 26-year-old villager, was happy to share his success story in farming mushrooms and earn handsomely.
In the two years since the youth from a low-income family took to mushroom farming he earned Tk. 1.5 lakh in profit from an investment of Tk. 3 lakh.
“Mushroom is a profitable business and I’m earning well. From spawn to harvest, it needs only 25-30 days and that continues for three months,” said the youth From Darajhat village in Bagharpara upazila of Jashore district.
Read: Betel leaf cultivation is uplifting farmers in Jashore’s Abhaynagar
Foysal, an Imam of Chatiantala Dakhil Madrasha, was so determined to change his fate that he sold his mobile phone and a goat to collect capital for starting the cultivation in his own backyard.
He resorted to YouTube to know about the cultivation process. At first he made 1000 beds of mushrooms in 2020 and got a profit of Tk 20,000 which made him enthusiastic in continuing the business.
Mushrooms are edible fungus and eaten as vegetable.
All DU students to get smart ID cards by next February, say authorities
As many Dhaka University students face numerous problems for not having a proof of their studentship the university authorities hope to provide smart ID cards to all undergraduate students by next month. This optimism has been voiced by Prof. Mustafizur Rahman, convener of DU online admission committee, in an interview with UNB this week. Dhaka University, which is celebrating the 100th anniversary of its founding, has over 37,000 regular students in its 83 departments under 13 faculties. About 2,000 of the students or over six per cent are yet to get any proper ID cards of their studentship.
Read: Legal notice served on Dhaka University for barring married students from halls For the lack the cards of their identity the students are facing problems such as borrowing books from the university library and in getting the recently-introduced half-fare ride in public transports. Besides, having this historic institution’s ID cards is also a matter of pride for the students. Transport operators have recently agreed to accept half-fare from students at every level provided they can show their IDs issued by their educational institutions. Most of the students without ID cards are from the social science faculty consisting 16 departments.
Bangladesh bets big on wind energy to curb climate change
Bangladesh aims to significantly expand renewable energy sources in its total energy mix in its relentless pursuit of a net-zero carbon footprint.
As one of the key steps in this regard, the Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) has set a target of generating 5,000 MW of onshore and offshore wind power by 2030.
Wind energy is power obtained from the force of wind using turbines. The country currently generates only 2.9 MW of wind power.
Read Bangladesh going for green energy to mitigate climate change impact: Minister
According to Sreda officials, the huge target is being considered as an immediate option for the next few years in compliance with the government’s commitment to promoting renewable energy -- given the fact that an American agency recently pegged the country’s wind power generation potential at 30,000 MW.
The US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NERL) conducted a study -- Assessing the Wind Energy Potential in Bangladesh: Enabling Wind Energy Development with Data Products -- from June 2014 to December 2017.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded study concluded with the observation that “preliminary results demonstrate that, for wind speeds of 5.75–7.75 metre per second (m/s), there are more than 20,000 square kilometres of land with a gross wind potential of over 30,000 MW”.
READ: Wind energy vision: Contracts for Chandpur, Inani projects likely soon
About the wind power potentials, Sreda chairman Mohammad Alauddin said the organisation will now conduct a detailed study on the basis of the NREL’s findings to get the bankable data "so that potential investors can invest in the sector and make their investment commercially viable".
"A proposal on wind power's potential will be placed before the Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry to incorporate the target in the proposed Integrated Energy and Power Master Plan (IEPMP) up to 2030, now being framed with the help of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)," he told UNB.
The NREL study said, “Although this estimate is not realistic, when proper filters are applied to screen out undesirable land for wind development, it suggests that Bangladesh's 10% renewable target by 2021 is achievable”.
Read Policy support instrumental for renewable energy development: Experts
“The preliminary technical potential analysis calculates gross potential and does not filter out already-developed land, environmentally sensitive land, or land unsuitable for other reasons," it added.
The NERL study found the wind potentials at nine locations across the country, having an average wind speed of 5-6 metre per second at a height of over 60-80 metre above ground level (AGL) -- Lalpur of Natore in Rajshahi, Chandpur, Sitakunda and Parkay Beach in Chattogram, Gouripur in Mymensingh, Madhupur Tea Estate in Habigonj, Dacop in Khulna near Mongla port, Inani Beach in Cox's Bazar, and Badarganj in Rangpur.
Of these, initiatives have already been taken to set up wind power plants at three places -- at Dacop, Inani Beach and Chandpur, each having 50 MW capacity. A contract has already been awarded for the Dacop location.
Read India At COP26 Says Its Solar Energy Capacity Increased 17 Times In 7 Years
"Exploiting the new and efficient technology, we're now planning to set up a good number of wind power plants by 2030," Alauddin said, referring to the NREL study that found the wind speed at six metres per second at a higher hub height.
Energy experts, however, are skeptical about the country's wind power's potential and it's commercial viability.
Eminent energy expert Dr M Tamim said that the proposal for generating 5,000 MW of power from wind is "not only highly ambitious, but highly subjective as well".
READ: Bangladesh’s future focus may be on nuclear energy use: Dr Tawfiq
"Which technology will be used, where it will be used and what will be the cost of electricity and who will be the investors in such projects... these are big questions," said the Professor of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Engineering at BUET.
Sreda statistics show that the country currently generates a total 777.24 MW of electricity from different renewable sources.
Of this, 543.25 MW is generated from solar energy, 2.9 MW from wind, 230 MW from hydro, 0.69 MW from biogas, and 0.4 MW from biomass, while the country’s total power generation capacity is about 25,000 MW.
Read _Bangladesh’s two dream projects face speed bumps
Shariar Ahmed Chowdhury, a professor at United International University, said that wind energy is very sensitive. "If data lacks 10% accuracy, it has a big impact and there may be a variation of 30-40% in the final output," he said.
Betel leaf cultivation is uplifting farmers in Jashore’s Abhaynagar
Inspired by good harvest and better price many farmers in Jashore’s Abhaynagar have taken to betel leaf cultivation.
This is led more areas being brought under betel leaf cultivation with harvest increasing day by day.
Due to the favourable weather, the yield has been good this time. Besides, the farmers are getting good price in the market.
Betel cultivation of the upazila is mostly concentrated in Abhaynagar and Chengutia areas.
Also read: Laxmipur betel leaf growers record Tk 200cr sale