Imagination is more important than Knowledge

Imagination is the ability to form a mental image of something that is not perceived through the senses. It is the ability of the mind to build mental scenes, things or events that do not exist, are not there or have ever happened in the past. Knowledge on the other hand is familiarity, awareness or understanding gained through experience or study. From the definition itself, to have knowledge you must study or experience something to gain it but for imagination it is limitless, and a gift from God to mankind and in fact has inspired us to gain more knowledge. Imagination is within us and on the other hand knowledge is learned through schooling and experience. Imagination motivates or rather leads us to acquire much more knowledge and to use it in creative ways and it is because of this that we have turned a rock into a spear, a spear into a bow and a bow into a gun, the square wheel into a circle, in other words we would not have evolved in the race we are today. Rabert Adler wished not having to get up from his seat to change the television channel and thus invented the television remote control. Again, the Wright brothers who built the first aircraft imagined a voyage before they knew it was achievable. When device after device failed to see them travelling through the clouds, the two brothers predicted how they could better their airplane until one day they established the world's first continued voyage. Imagination helps each one to plan for some activities when we must work. Knowledge is only what we know but imagination does not have a limit as you can imagine of anything both practical and not. I believe that imagination is stronger than knowledge. That myth is more potent than history. That dream is more dominant than fact. That hope always triumphs over experience. Love is stronger than death. Even the philosophers have the same line of thought that imagination is stronger than knowledge. 

Single Digit Interest Rate in the Banking Sector: Problems and Prospects

A new controversy has emerged in the financial sector, especially in the banking sector as the Prime Minister asked the banking authorities to bring down interest rate to a single digit for boosting country's investment. This rate is to be at least 6 per cent for the depositors and nine per cent for the borrowed fund leaving the difference between lending and deposit interest rates, known as the Interest or Profit Rate Spread (IRS or PRS) for only 3 per cent. Much have been written and talked so far in the print and electronic media regarding this issue and it would continue certainly for some more periods.

Mentionable here that Bangladesh's financial system is dominated by banks where the banking sector accounts for around 90 per cent of total assets of the financial sector. At present, there are 65 states owned, specialized and private commercial banks including 8 Islamic Shariah-based private commercial banks which are considered a huge number for such a small economy and consequently some sort of unhealthy competition and aggressive banking practices are growing in the banking industry. There are also 36 non-bank financial institutions operating in the country.

This is a reality that high interest or profit rate and a high IRS raises the cost of credit restricting the access of potential borrowers to credit markets thus reducing investments and limiting growth potential of the economy. Moreover, problems become more acute for small businesses, household enterprises and rural industries which are vital to promoting equitable growth and reducing poverty in low-income countries. It is often argued that the higher the IRS, the higher would be the cost of credit to the borrowers for any given deposit rate. Alternatively, a high IRS could mean unusually low deposit rates discouraging savings and limiting resources available to finance bank credit. Whatever the reality is - the rate of interest should not be fixed by any abrupt decision of the government. But it should be based on well researched policy of the regulatory authority and responsive to the market condition. However, hopefully the government has decided to allow state agencies to deposit 50 per cent of their funds with private banks, up from the existing ceiling of 25 per cent, to tackle liquidity crisis. But those funds will not be so easy for the banks to mobilize.

If we investigate the reasons behind lower rate of interest in developed countries and higher rate in the developing countries, we will have a clear idea about the determinants behind the rate. We know that interest or profit rate is the compensation paid for depreciation in the value of currency with time. Thus, higher the inflation rate, higher would be the interest rate. Since inflation is lower in the developed economies, a lower interest rate follows. Moreover, GDP growth rate is also very low for high income economies in general and their currency has strong exchange rate in the global market. Since growth rate is low, they try to boost via low interest rates. Since high income economies have stable governments and economic policies, inflation is often low ranging from 1-2 per cent. So, the real interest rate and nominal interest rate have little difference.

Researchers have attributed the existence of high rate of interest and IRS in developing countries to several factors, such as cost of non-performing loans (NPLs), high state control of lending, absence of risk management practices, limited technical skills, administrative and incidental costs including expenses that the banks incur in setting up new branches and attracting and retaining skilled personnel, advertising, and other expenditures that the banks undertake to increase market share and business, high operating costs, financial repression, lack of competition and market power of a few large dominant banks enabling them to manipulate industry variables including lending and deposit rates, high inflation rates due to huge demand of products and services against limited supply, GDP growth rate, FDI, exchange rate, high risk premiums in formal credit markets due to widely prevailing perception relating to high risk for most borrowers, and similar other factors.

The analysis also shows that the higher the non-interest income as a ratio of total assets of a bank, the lower its spread. Similarly, market share of deposits of a bank, statutory reserve requirements, and NSD certificate interest rates affect the IRS. The analysis in terms of bank groups shows that IRS is significantly influenced by operating costs and classified loans for state owned commercial banks (SCBs) and specialized banks (SBS), while inflation, operating costs, market share of

deposits, statutory reserve requirements, and taxes are important for the private commercial banks (PCBs). On the other hand, non-interest income, inflation, market share, and taxes matter for the foreign commercial banks (FCBs).

This is very much unfortunate that there has been unhealthy competition in the financial market in terms of the rate of interest or profit to the depositors. National Savings Bureau and other agencies are offering higher deposit rate in various savings and term deposit schemes. Therefore, as the depositors are becoming looser by keeping their money in the banks, they are diverting to those government saving schemes. Moreover, there are many cooperative societies and personal borrowers and savers who are not institutional and paying much higher rates to the depositors. Similarly, people also find it more lucrative to keep their money into securities or if there is inflation, they will keep it with themselves as that will prevent them from frequent visits to banks. But this scenario is not good for the sound and steady economic growth. Consequently, banks will not be able to mobilize more funds to lend the investment clients which will be a big obstacle to the industrialization and sustainable growth of the economy.

Some observers suspect that this single digit rate of interest is mostly politically motivated to facilitate the business magnates who have strong influence over most of the key government policies and are the main supplier to the political lifeline of the country. Whatever is the reality the rate of interest or profit should be responsive to the demand and supply prevailing in the market as well as should be based on the actual cost of funds of the bank. Otherwise, market discipline will collapse; it would also not bring any good result to the economy.

A Quest for Peace in the Middle East: Recent Perspectives

The quest for peace in the Middle East has been going on for decades. It all started in 1948 when Israel declared its independence and fought Arab nations to secure it. However, the Arabs were left unsatisfied while the Israelis wanted more control over land. In 1967, the 'six-day war' erupted, resulting with Israel seizing the West Bank, Gaza, Sinai, East Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. The war left the situation unchanged and the Arabs and Israelis have been fighting ever since. Middle East peace is important because without an agreement, both sides will remain hostile towards each other and wars will be constantly taking place. Numerous people will be killed, and a settlement will not be reached. Jerusalem, the creation of a Palestinian state, and American and International aid are the top three issues that need to be resolved.

US recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital as well as unqualified support for Israel's hardhanded efforts aided by Egypt and the Palestine Authority to squeeze Hamas and suppress sustained protests along the Gaza-Israel border have emboldened Israeli hardliners, prompted Palestinians to refuse US mediation and, together with Hamas moves to capitalize on the mounting tension, threaten to spark renewed military confrontation that neither side wants.

The United States and Iran are locked into an escalating war of words threatening further interruptions of the flow of oil as well as doom and gloom against a backdrop of the imposition of harsh US sanctions and the US and Saudi Arabia toying with attempting to spur ethnic unrest in Iran to topple the regime in Tehran. 

As political scientist Lan Bremmer said: "The lack of clear, uncontested international leadership is everywhere we look these days... Yet nowhere is the destabilizing impact of this trend more obvious, and pressing, than in the Middle East ... The result... will be more uncertainty, more assertive behavior, more lines crossed and rising fears that no one has the power to contain the risk of new forms of Middle East conflict.

President Donald J Trump has proven to be more partisan than Obama is his backing of the UAE,

Saudi Arabia and Israel and his confrontational approach of Iran. Yet, his mercurial unpredictability has made him no less unreliable in the perception of US allies even if he appears to have granted Middle Eastern partners near carte-blanche.

Trump's partisan approach as well as his refusal to reign in US allies has led to potential escalation of multiple conflicts, including the war in Yemen, mounting tension in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, a race for control of ports and military facilities in the Horn of Africa, Israeli challenging of Iran’s presence in Syria, and confrontation with Iran.

So, all these things have made the middle east region unrest. No agreement is not visible as the world powers are not careful enough about the policy to bring peace between Israel and Palestine. The Muslim community's effort of several times to establish a two-nation policy but it did not come true because of the Israel's stubbornness. So, peace in the middle east is far from reality if the world leaders and Israel and Palestine have not come to a fruitful conclusion yet.

Evaluate Donald Trump's Performance in the First 25 Days as President

Has it only been 25 days or one month? With all that has transpired since January 20, when President Trump took office, it seems like far longer.

In this short span, the new president has stumbled from one self-inflicted mess to another. The slapdash travel ban he instituted one week into his presidency has been exposed as both arbitrary and harmful to America's national security interests. And the forced resignation of national security adviser, Michael Flynn, amid reports of numerous contacts between Trump aides and Russian intelligence agents, has reignited concerns about the sanctity of last year's election.

Other troubling developments include: a Cabinet nominee who withdrew before the Republican controlled Senate could reject him; strained relations with Australia and Mexico, two reliable allies; a flawed military raid in Yemen; a torrent of leaks driven by high-level infighting; blatant conflicts of interest involving the first family, and a top general openly talking of the "unbelievable turmoil" in government.

During all this, the president insists with a straight face that his administration is "running like a fine-tuned machine" and focuses mostly on what he has always focused on himself. He has been obsessed about inaugural crowd sizes and barely existent voter fraud, picked infantile fights with on critics, attempted to undermine the judiciary and the news media, and even disparaged a to department store that discontinued his daughter's line of fashion.

None of this is surprising to people who expected President Trump to be the same as candidate Trump. But many of those who believed that he would pivot to a more presidential demeanor if elected must be dismayed by the spectacle.

At last week's freewheeling progress report and news conference, Trump repeated demonstrable falsehoods about the size of his election victory and got into odd back-and-forth with reporters over facts, lies, TV ratings and his preference for Fox & Friends as a morning news show. Such a performance might have been vintage Trump and played well to his core supporters, but it erodes the moral authority he will need to sustain his presidency for the long term, particularly in times of external crisis.

To be sure, some things about Trump's first month were not a disaster:

• He made the right calls on approving the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline and imposing tougher lobbying restrictions.

• Some of his Cabinet selections, notably James Mattis at Defense and David Shulkin at Veterans Affairs, are commendable.

•  And, if one can put aside how Trump came to have a Supreme Court opening in the first place (by the Senate's obstructionism of President Obama's highly qualified nominee), his court pick appellate Judge Neil Gorsuch - has admirable legal qualifications and deserves a fair hearing.

But to focus on these things is to set an incredibly low bar. Voters expect basic competence. What they have seen is a president - the first to come into the position with zero government or military experience who is easily distracted and surrounds himself with similarly unseasoned advisers.

Jeb Bush, during his spectacularly unsuccessful campaign for the Republican nomination, made a prescient prediction about Trump: "Donald is a chaos candidate, and he'd be a chaos president." The nation and the world cannot endure too many more chaotic months like the last one.

Importance of Bank in the Daily Life of a Citizen

Bankers play a very important role in the economic life of a nation. The health of the economy is closely related to the soundness of its banking system. Although banks create no new wealth, but their borrowing, lending and related activities facilitate the process of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption of wealth. In this way they become very effective partners in the process of economic development. Today modern banks are very useful for the utilization of the resources of the country. The banks are mobilizing the savings of the people for the investment purposes. If there would be no banks, then a great portion of a capital of the country would remain idle. We see financial institution role to progress as supporting and stimulating economic, social to and environmental life. They create value by providing products and services that help people to improve their lives and fuel economic growth.

How banks become part of our daily life: A single day of economic life could not function without banks. By attracting savings and granting credit, banks are the oil for the wheels that keep the economy of our nation turning. Without banks we would have to pay for everything with cash, which we would have to save somewhere. That is obviously very risky. Banks and financial institutions have become an integral part of every citizen. Our daily economic life has become easier by the blessing of banking system. The main functions of bank mentioned below connect us with their service and activities.

1. Banks are where people can safely deposit their savings, which banks then pay interest on. If there were no banks, people would have to store and protect their savings themselves, which would involve major risks. Savers can generally withdraw their savings at any time; the total amount of money held by a bank does not fluctuate much because they have many customers. This scale helps banks cover risks. A bank lends money to a lot of people and companies. If some are unable to repay their loans, the bank can absorb these losses and savers will not be affected.

2. Banks are largely responsible for the payments system. Electronic payments are becoming more important as people use less cash. This means that banks are processing more card payments, transfers, direct debits, etc. every day. ATM, credit card, debit card, master card are examples of new payment system which popularity is growing up. Now people can purchase online ticket, do online shopping, perform e-business etc. via these banking instruments.

3. Banks issue loans to both people and companies. Without banks, it would be very hard for people to buy a home or start a business, or for companies to make investments. In Bangladesh banks are providing various types of loan such as home loan, car loan, salary loan, marriage loan, SME loan etc. To take these loans there are a lot of customers in our country. Now there are 59 commercial banks in Bangladesh which all together have 11 crore direct clients including mobile banking clients. That indicates more than 68% people have bank accounts. If only the adult population is considered, nearly 90 percent people have bank accounts. There are around 9,000 bank branches along with about 18,000 branches of NGO-MFIs, 1,200 thousand post offices and 183,000 co-operative outlets totaling about 2.1 lakh branches/outlets for the economically active population - generating at least one financial service point per 270 people.

4. Most of banks are now providing mobile banking services which have connected all types of people. Even those who are living at remote area can easily make transaction instantly. By the end of December 2016 total registered clients of mobile banking were nearly 4 crore people. Moreover, it was just started since 2011. Now daily transaction has crossed Tk 800 crore through this service. Citizen of Bangladesh who are in abroad are now able to send remittance by this banking channel. 

5. Corporate social responsibility (CSR), in recent times, has become an integral part of business. The contribution of banks in this regard is of paramount importance considering their unique position in the economy. CSR practices by banks not only improve their own standards but also affect the socially responsible behaviors of other businesses. Banks have come ahead in tree plantation, scholarship for students, aid to reduce poverty etc. which all are examples of CSR and a lot of people are receiving these privileges from banks. 

So, a bank as a matter of fact is just like a heart in the economic life and the capital provided by it is like blood in it. If blood is in circulation, the organs will remain sound and healthy. If the blood is not supplied to any organ then that part would become useless. To secure customers financial futures, to support people when making life-changing decisions, in the processes of transactions quickly, accurately, and easily, and to empower customers to have greater insight into their finances, there has no alternative of banking in our citizen life

Our Victory Day Highlighting its Importance for Bangladesh.

Introduction: December 16 is our victory day. On this day, we achieved our ultimate victory over Pakistani occupation forces and achieved our independence. On this day, a new, sovereign, and independent country named Bangladesh with its own identity, own flag and status came into being. Bangladesh stood high among the nations of the world after a nine-month long bloody war and sacrifices of millions of people. So, it is a red-letter day in our national history.

Historical Background: Long-standing exploitation, injustice and deprivation of political, economic, and administrative rights and privileges were the root causes of discontentment and 19 resentments of Bangladesh against the ruling West Pakistan leaders. Matters grew worse when in the general election of 1970 the Awami League came out victorious defeating the ruling Muslim 6. League, and achieved absolute majority in the Parliament. But the then authorities of West Pakistan were dilly-dallying to hand over the power to the elected East-Pakistan leaders. They were plotting a blueprint to massacre the Bengalis. On the night of March 25, the Pakistani forces launched an atrocious and barbarous attack on the innocent and sleeping Bengalis under the name of Operation Searchlight. By killing the innocent people of Bangladesh, they were trying to subdue the spirit of independence of the Bengali, their voice for justice and rights.

But the heroic sons of this soil stood against the Pak-army with valor and indomitable spirit for liberty. They fought against the Pak-army to free their beloved country. On March 26 Bangladesh declared independence and appealed to international community to recognize Bangladesh. In the meantime, people of all walks of life joined the liberation force. After a nine-month long struggle, and crossing a sea of blood, we gained our freedom on December 16, 1971. On that day, the Pak army surrendered to the Liberation army at the Race Course Ground. Thus, we achieved our glorious victory.

The Observance of Victory Day: Since then, December 16 is being celebrated as our victory day. We observe the day with great excitement and jubilation, with colorful festivity and patriotic zeal. This day is a public holiday. Our national flag is kept flying on top of every private and public houses and offices, schools, colleges and universities. We offer wreaths to the victory monuments. Govt. offices and buildings are decorated and illuminated on this day. Many cultural programmes and festivals are held throughout the country. People from every walk of life attend those programmes with great excitement and enthusiasm.

Importance of the Day: It is needless to speak of the importance of the victory day in our life. Before getting our independence, we had to suffer enormously for long for lack of freedom and live quite a sub-human life. We had no other alternative to fit out the oppressors from the land, we rose and scattered the shackles of slavery and won victory on the 16 December 1971. This victory is undoubtedly a landslide event in our national history. This day is not merely day of yearly calendar. It is a day of great thrill. It is a day of great sensation. It is a day of great victory, a victory of justice over injustice, truth over falsehood, light over darkness, freedom over slavery and humanity over inhumanity. It is a day of learning the lessons that the will of people prevails for man born to be free and the day is a clear warning for the oppressors that people's right can never be neglected for long and that the weapons be defeated and that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

Conclusion: Bangladesh is our pride and our victory day is our greatest achievement as a nation because, through this victory we have got a country, a flag, an identity and an invaluable treasure of our own. However, though we have got political freedom, we have not yet got economic freedom and so, we must take the oath on victory day that we will respect the independence of our country in all respects. Only then, our victory will be achieved in the true sense of the term.

Debt Crisis in Greece

The Greek government-debt crisis is also known as the Greek depression which started in late 2009. It was the first of five sovereign debt crises in the Euro zone - later referred to collectively as the European debt crisis. In Greece, triggers included the turmoil of the Great Recession, structural weaknesses in the Greek economy, and a crisis in confidence among lenders. In 2012, Greece's government had the largest sovereign debt default in history. On June 30, 2015, Greece became the first developed country to fail to make an IMF loan repayment. At that time, Greece's government had debts of € 323bn.

How did Greece get to this point?

Greece became the epicenter of Europe's debt crisis after Wall Street imploded in 2008. With global financial markets still reeling, Greece announced in October 2009 that it had been understating its deficit figures for years, raising alarms about the soundness of Greek finances. Suddenly, Greece was shut out from borrowing in the financial markets. By the spring of 2010, it was veering toward bankruptcy, which threatened to set off a new financial crisis.

In January 2010, the Greek Ministry of Finance published the Stability and Growth Program 2010. The report listed these five main causes for eruption of the government-debt crisis:

GDP growth rates: After 2008, GDP growth rates were lower than the Greek national statistical agency had anticipated. In the report, the Greek Ministry of Finance reported the need to improve competitiveness by reducing salaries and bureaucracy, and the need to redirect much of its current governmental spending from non-growth sectors such as military into growth-stimulating sectors.

Government deficit: Huge fiscal imbalances developed during the five years from 2004 to 2009: "the output increased in nominal terms by 40%, while central government primary expenditures increased by 87% against an increase of only 31% in tax revenues.

Government debt-level: Mainly deteriorated in 2009 due to the higher-than-expected government deficit and high debt-service costs. An urgent fiscal consolidation plan was needed to ensure that the deficit would decline to a level compatible with a declining debt-to-GDP ratio.

Budget compliance: Budget compliance was acknowledged to be in strong need of improvement, and for 2009 it was even found to be 'a lot worse than normal'.

Statistical credibility: Problems with unreliable data had existed ever since Greece applied for membership of the Euro in 1999. In the five years from 2005 to 2009, Eurostat each noted a reservation about the fiscal statistics for Greece, and too often previously reported figures got revised to a somewhat worse figure, after a couple of years. The flawed statistics made it impossible to predict accurate numbers for GDP growth, budget deficit and the public debt. After that time Greek GDP suffered its worst decline in 2011 when it clocked growth of 6.9%, a year where the seasonal adjusted industrial output ended 28.4% lower than in 2005, during that year, 111,000 Greek companies went bankrupt (27% higher than in 2010). As a result, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate also grew from 7.5% in September 2008 to a then record high of 23.1% in May 2012, while the youth unemployment rate during the same time rose from 22.0% to 54.9%.

Recovery programme and severe debt crisis

To avert calamity, the so-called troika--the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the European Commission-issued the first of two international bailouts for Greece, which would eventually total more than 240 billion euros, or about $264 billion at today's exchange rates. At the end of 2014 Greek government debt was more than 323bn. where the largest individual contributors to the fund were Germany, France and Italy with roughly € 130bn total of the € 323bn debt. The IMF is owed € 32bn and the ECB € 20bn.

But new crisis began when Syriza-led government refusing to respect the terms of its current bailout agreement. This rift caused a renewed and increasingly growing liquidity crisis (both for the Greek government and Greek financial system), resulting in plummeting stock prices at the Athens Stock Exchange, while interest rates for the Greek government at the private lending market spiked, making it once again inaccessible as an alternative funding source.

Final negotiation and Third bailout programme

After an end to more than six months of turbulent negotiations between the left-wing government in Athens and its creditors, the other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund cleared € 86 billion ($96 billion) in new bailout loans for Greece on August in 2015, sending the country a lifeline as it hurtles toward new political instability and a battle among its creditors over how to reduce its hulking debt.

Above all, Greece should take more crucial and typical steps for come out of this situation. Nevertheless, experts estimate that Greece may not reach financial stability until 2020 or later.

The Role of Commercial Bank in Developing Small and Medium Scale Industries in Bangladesh

Banks are committed to provide high quality financial services/products to contribute to the growth of the country through stimulating trade and commerce, accelerating the pace of industrialization, boosting up expert, creating employment opportunity for the youth, poverty alleviation, raising standard of living of limited income group and overall sustainable socioeconomic development of the country. Commercial banks primarily raise funds by issuing checkable deposits, savings deposits and time deposits. All commercial banks perform two general functions: i. acceptance of deposits from different sources and ii. lending (direct lending to borrowers and indirect lending through investment in open market securities). They are always involved in providing loans and developing small and medium scale industries in Bangladesh.

 According to trading concerns, total asset at cost excluding land and building from tk 50000 to tk 50 lac and no of employees less than 25 persons is called a small industry. On the other hand, total asset at cost excluding land and building from tk 50 lac to tk I crore and number of employees less than 50 persons is called a medium industry. 

The vision 2021 envisages a democratic system where the citizens of our country will be assured of social justice, environment protection, human rights and equal opportunities, and where the rule of law and governance flourish.

In the milieu of major economic challenges, where the world economy is struggling to recover from the global crisis and the developed nations are battling with macroeconomic problems including sovereign debt and financial setbacks. Bangladesh is indeed buoyant where our GDP growth for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2017-18 has been 7.86 and the target for FY 2018-19 is 7.80. Firms enjoy positive economics of scale due to greater scope for flexibility, development of entrepreneurship and closeness to markets, it makes them less vulnerable to risks and long-term threats.

Bangladesh has approximately medium sized enterprises and about small sized enterprise contributing to more on less 25% of GDP. Small and medium scale industries are involved with manufacturing sector service sector, production and sales of agricultural products and wholesale, retail and repair business. These SMEs directly employs 1.5 million people and indirectly supports employment of up to 15 million persons. Of the total manufacturing output 40% is contributed by SMEs and this sector alone employs about 80% of the industrial workforce. SMEs constitute the dominant source of industrial employment in Bangladesh and 90% of the industrial units fall into this category. The total contribution of SMEs to export earing ranges from about 75% to 80%.

Commercial banks and other non-bank financial institutions play a major role for SME financing in Bangladesh under supervision and regulation of Bangladesh bank. The most popular approach for SME financing is collateral based lending. Beside internal financing by own finance, fencing by banking institutions from the most important supply side source of external finance. The commercial banks are dominant supply sources in small and medium scale industries in Bangladesh.

The broad spectrum of small is medium enterprises (SMEs) services a subset of SME financing is disbursing not only in Bangladesh but also all over the world with various degree of penetration. Bangladesh Bank, the center of directing, leading, supervising and the provider of all rules and regulation, about SMEs among the Commercial Banks. The target of Bangladesh Bank is reaching the SME services on the grassroot level. Because Bangladesh is a country here many small and medium industries not only industries but also other institutions are scattered everywhere. But, only for the suitable financing those industries are deprived of bring to light. SME Financing is a good support for the expansion of small and medium industries. In this financial service there is too little chance to default. The expansion of industries will be a good result for us. Because, that can contribute to the GDP growth, employment creation income generation and eradicate extreme poverty. In this reason all the Commercial Banks expanding their SME branch in all regions for National Development.

To ensure development of small and medium scale industries every commercial bank should decrease the interest rate, size and increase periods as well as carefully access the business, requirements of loan and willingness of clients to repay loans. As a result, it helps the Commercial Banks to reduce their credit risk and it also helps them to dominate in SME financing sector more strongly SME financing.

Bangladesh Bank feels that only Banks and Financial Institutions under leadership of BB cannot develop SME financing. For this, joint efforts of all the related Government and Private organizations are very urgently required.

A Self-reliant Economy: Concept and Reality

Bangladesh was born out of a liberation war nurturing the values of freedom, democracy, justice and self-reliance all of which, according to Andre Malraux, together were the last cause'. Since independence in 1971, our densely populated nation at the head of the Bay of Bengal swung between hope and despair, between mass apathy and violence in the streets. Many growth-oriented development models may create gross happiness for the national elites but are yet bring genuine and lasting happiness for the majority. That is why it appears necessary to and build the premises of a self-reliant social development model for Bangladesh, the population which always maintains the spirit of rejuvenation for political, economic, and social emancipation. self-reliant development must be measured and indicated not only based on economic and productivity but also of social proficiency and happiness.

Among the development prerequisites and aspects and prospects of development, the problems population and resources, present and desired development structure, and the country's and status within the new international economic order are very crucial issues for Bangladesh has abundant human resources -- both skilled and unskilled; good soil for raw materials, but not always favorable climatic conditions; no important minerals like ore and but natural gas and probably oil in the Bay of Bengal. Its traditional farming and agricultural second-grade technology and equipment in the few industries, worn-out railways, insufficient inland and sea-borne transport system; an infant airways system; and indecisive and mixed relations of public and private ownership in industry do not help the cause. These - positive and negative, adequate and inadequate -- form the basis of territorial or planning, in which territorial needs are to form the goals of planning and the course of action.

What Bangladesh needs is a combination of self-help development process and development means. Self-help development means development by and for the people. horizontal model and process of development with vertical complementation of necessary Bangladesh cannot realize a much-needed balanced and equitable social Dependence on land has increased more than on other economic sectors, due to a higher rate population growth in the rural areas compared to the urban areas, a lower rate of growth in reclamation and the addition of new land to agriculture, and a relatively lower rate of increase agricultural and industrial fields than in the population growth rate.

In 1971, Bangladesh had 75 million people and its per capita annual income was $100. In 47 years, its population has increased to 160.8 million and per capita income to $1752 in 2018. Since 2014, its average annual growth rate has improved at the rate to 6.75 per cent. Bangladesh was a self-reliant country in the past in the sense that it depended entirely on the efforts of its own people but the introduction of the Green Revolution in the 1960s caused a sharp change in its self-reliance stance. It introduced dependence on outside aid which is a well-known phenomenon that slows down the path to sustainability. Schumacher (1973), for example, stressed that foreign aid can play only a limited role in bringing about sustained economic development.

A country that makes development plans which utterly depend on the receipt of substantial foreign aid may do much damage to the spirit of self-respect and self-reliance of its people. Even in the narrowest economic terms, its loss is greater than its gains. Resources, particularly money, are not value-free. They bring certain baggage with them, depending on their origin and culture. They may not be available to you in the future, they have significant disadvantages that outweigh their advantages. Carmen (1996) also notes that development aid is tied to the power of money and the power of money is identified with the right of interventions. Such interventions generally impact negatively on traditional systems within society causing a breakdown of its integrity. While foreign funding becomes precarious, there are a few situations where the opposite may happen. Foreign funding does not build local support and supporters and throws into sharp contrast to promote self-reliance.

The concept of living in a state of self-reliant sustainability involves a natural, simple lifestyle with enough for basic needs. It does not encourage ill health, famine, illiteracy or inadequate living standards. Self-reliant living is a viable means to caring for Nature and other human beings, and hence, for sustainability. The examples from Bangladesh show that there is an opportunity for making changes and creating culturally appreciated alternatives. Diverse development endeavors of the current era have shown mixed sign of sustainable development so far; in some cases, they have contributed to the depletion of natural resources.

Modern Technology and Globalization

Advances in technology are one of the main reasons that globalization has escalated in the past decade. In information and communication technology, innovations have become smaller in size, more efficient and often more affordable. In transport technology, vehicles have tended to become larger and faster, as well as becoming more environmentally friendly and cheaper to run. Whether for personal use or for business, technology has made the world seem a smaller place and assisted in the rise of globalization.

The tends of technological changes have taken place since the industrialization revolution, relating from production, distribution, and communication, that has fueled the globalization. It has brought about innovation and interaction between nations that were not possible before. That has led to some of the greatest invention that revolutionized trade, communication and interaction to a whole new level and increased globalization. As Thomas Friedman's said "Globalization is not a choice. Basically, 80% of it is driven by technology".

According to Cable (1995) Transportation costs are falling with improved physical communication with the help of improved technological advances in telecommunication, computing, fiber optics and satellites. Which has resulted in the speeding up of information flow and the transportation of goods across nations more quickly and efficiently. This is being achieved through the technologies mentioned above, that is at the heart of the communication and transportation globalization, which is ongoing. Joseph Schumpeter has called it a "glaze of creative distraction". Take for instance transportation system would not have been made possible without the invention off "steam engine in 1796 a problem solved by James Watts”.

The diffusion of steam engine technology to streamline ships, with the help of propulsion technology and the introduction of "Jet Aircraft in 1950s" brought about new dynamics of globalization which has allowed flexibility in movement of labor freely. This innovation has allowed massive economic expansion to take place and caused "Global Shrinkage," in terms of distances.

Improvements made in transportation and the development of containerization allowed goods to move from place to place and continent to continents. Shipping ports around the world have cranes built to lift the containers more efficiently and thus saving money and speeding trade.

Technological development has helped increased globalization. A prime example of technological globalization is that China and India have benefited economically as technologies like airplane, container ships have allowed China to export its goods to Europe and US vice versa and allowed countries to exploit their comparative advantage in trade.

The Internet / World Wide Web has been the biggest thing to come out of Information technology advancements. That has revolutionized how information is passed or its availability thus creating an economy based on knowledge. The Internet has been described as "a decentralized, global medium of communication comprising a global web of linked networks and computers." As people across countries can trade and communicate instantaneously economically, for example e-mail has allowed instant communication through the World Wide Web, World Wide Web on the other has made "World One" as countries can now trade with each other, all made possible due to the cost effectiveness technological advance like the internet /world wide web. Where information is been exchanged at a global level instantaneously. As "Information is the new mantra that spells success in the modern world".

Modern technology like the Internet has given rise to E-commerce; E-commerce that refers to business conducted through means of electronic communication networks like Internet. That has brought about new dynamics to the globalization of businesses. Where virtual business can be set up and trade worldwide without any barriers stopping them.

Another sector that has seen the biggest impact because of technological globalization is the financial sector, where diffusion of information-based technology has made possible people around the world to trade 24/7 trading has moved to electronic system from the physical system making money move more efficiently and on a faster level, thus allowing more participation of those people who relate to the internet.

Modern technology has also impacted the cultural globalization with inventions like telephone and television. Telephone has made it feasible for any one to talk to each other regardless of where they are geographically in the world, all made possible with the help of satellites and mobile phones that has made possible to make a call, receive e-mail, texts and even allow video call. It is due to technological advancements made in the field of communication, as seen no countries are now apart. All made possible due to technological breakthrough in communication that have revolutionized business, commerce, and linked millions of people. TV on the other hand has connected parts of world, where they feel and see without having to leave the room. On TV'S by just a touch of the remote button, that allows people to explore worlds on different channels it is made available because of Internet, communication advances and with the help of sounds and visual that are transmitted through the TV. Communication technology has brought the world closer and people closer regardless of where they are in the world.

We have found out that form the 1st industrial revolution Technology has had a great impact in the globalization as it helps join the world together, where distance is no barrier for trade and is an essential part of economic globalization activity. As Friedman pointed out that 80% of globalization is technology driven. The technological development made in areas like communication and the invention of telephone and Mobile phones all with the help of satellites has made help removed the time and distance that has excited before. Transportation on the other hand has allowed trade to take place more efficiently and cost effectively with the help of the containerships, Jet Airplane and electric trains. It has helped facilitated growth between nations, as countries are able to take advantage of their comparative advantages as large goods can be exported and imported between countries.

The spread of information technology has made production networks cheaper and easier, all made possible because of digital networks like the Internet that is cost effective. This has been one of the fundamental economic globalization factors that have helped overcome the friction of distance and time. Without these technological advancements’ globalization would not be made possible or even achieved.

Challenges for the Banking Sector of Bangladesh

An individual firm, company or corporation deals in the business of money and credit is called a bank. The bank is the backbone of national economy in any country because all sorts of economic and financial activities revolve round the axis of the bank. As the industry produces goods and commodities, so does the bank create and controls money-market and promotes formation of capital. From this point of view, banking a technical profession can be termed as industry. The banking industry in Bangladesh has flourished over the years, making double-digit profit percentages, sustaining economic growth and surviving cut-throat competition while providing attractive returns to shareholders. Since liberation, Bangladesh passed through fragile phases of development in the banking sector. Our banking system at present juncture is, however facing significant challenges from several directions. This is no doubt that non-performing loan and excess liquidity will remain the major challenges in our banking sector. Regulatory compliance can pose a serious problem. Bank are burdened with rules. The new rules mean new burdens. Rules might impact normal growth and qualify of banks. A higher level of capital adequacy is needed to manage the higher of risks identified in the banking activities. Identifying and keeping in touch with the changing behavior of customer will also be one of the most important challenges in banking sector. Shifts in demographics, income and attitude and behavior addition to early accessible information are empowering the customer to demand greater autonomy, responsiveness and transparencies from banks. Not only they want personalized products and services but also shift to loyalty to banks. Technology is going to be the driving forces of next generation banking. And the challenges are in adopting correct, secured but customer friendly technology for the banks. Cyber security is a major concern for the modern technology-based banking industry. Other challenges faced by the banking industry in Bangladesh are lack of effective and efficient corporate governance. Best practice of corporate governance can speed up the operations, cut corruption, increase profitability and the bank performance of banks. The smooth movement of the wheels of an economy depends on the banking sectors that directly contribute to sustainable economic growth and development. So, all the things are to be rethought to address the traditional and upcoming challenges.

The impact of nonperforming loan in the economy of any country bears more denting impact the socio economy of the country more than inflation. While the country is in the trajectory of economic bloom along with all social indicators on positive note, the non-performing loans are denting in a very bad way. So, to reduce non-per forming loans, my recommendations are given below ----

• Banks should evaluate the repayment ability of borrowers by examining the loans of the borrowers to other banks.

• Banks should analyze the cash flow statement, audited balance sheet, income statement and financial statements to judge the repayment capacity of borrower.

• Banks should inspect the borrowers' businesses to ensure that borrowers would be able to repay the load after rescheduling.

• Pressure on banks (both govt and privet) and financial institutions should be created so that the banks and financial institutions remain alert about their nonperforming loans.

• Banks need better permanent diagnostics to get to the bottom of willful defaults. This can happen through market intelligence, funds flow analysis and financial analysis. Most promoters do not have sufficient 'skin in the game' and rely entirely on the bank borrowing.

• As nonperforming loans refer to loans that have problems getting paid on time or getting paid at all, and they have money negative effects on our economy, it is the right time to work cohesively to curb down on the default culture.

The Reasons of Young Generation Indulging in Terrorist Activities and their Remedies.

Introduction: In today's world terrorist activities have increased and unfortunately most of the crimes are done by young generation who are less than 35 years old. It is not a national problem rather an international problem. In recent years in Bangladesh terrorist activities done by young generation are on the rise while there is the rise of terrorist activities around the world. Nowadays there will be hardly any country left to be affected by criminal activities. So, it has created a headache for all. In spreading criminal activities, the youth have been targeted.

Why the young generation: The young generation nowadays is in different kinds of problems. They are deprived of different opportunities like job, education basic right to speak and so on. They mix with different people and they suffer from poverty. Some young people need money as they are addicted to taking drugs and alcohol. Even they are easy to divert. Some criminal groups so have targeted them providing with money and other facilities. Sometimes criminals are using religious sentiment to draw them in their group.

The reasons behind their involvement in terrorist activities are many. Some are mentioned below.

1. Young people feel look of security regarding money. In national or international level poverty is cited as an important factor contributing to the rise of terrorist activities among the young ones. By this way they try to have money solvency.

2. Young people are very much sentimental. They can not agree with the confrontational policies of a country. So, they take the paths of terrorism to disregard the confrontational policies.

3. Not having enough opportunities regarding jobs, rights, education, the overt expressions of discontent, frustration, rage work in them. These lead them to engage themselves in criminal activities.

4. Now a days the young are suppressed politically by repressive regime and as a result they are involving in them.

5. The partiality of major countries and international level are also responsible for the growth of international terrorism. For example, the American hypocrisy against Muslims especially in the Middle East is being the only factors responsible, for increased hatred against American and non-Muslim people and consequent rise of terrorism.

Criminal activities or terrorist activities can not be solved or minimized overnight. This menace can be solved by a joint action by the citizen of the country and government.

Family awareness: The young people are getting separated day by day. Parents are not aware of their children. But they should be aware of their son's activities, their companions and see closely whether they are involved in any anti-people activities. Wives should maintain good relationship with their husbands.

Morality based education: Any kinds of criminal activities are immoral and this teaching should be given to the young generation so that they do not involve them in terrorist activities.

Eradication of illiteracy: The foremost reason for terrorist activities amongst the young people is illiteracy. Lack of education results in unemployment in earning money among them. So, the country should provide proper and job-oriented education to them.

Eradication of drug businesses: The young people are the future of our country. But they are becoming drug addicted because of the availability of drugs across the country. Ban on drugs will undoubtedly help us have a better country free from terrorist activities.

Creating employment: For the unemployed and vagabond people, employment opportunities must be created. If they remain busy with work and have money with them, they will not take the illegal path of earning money. It will keep their thinking away from bad thoughts.

Maintaining religious values: No religion in the earth allows its followers to involve in terrorist activities. The religions want people among the people and among the countries. So true religious lessons should be given among the young generation.

Enforcing tough laws: If all the measurement mentioned above fail, tough law implementation is the only and possible solution for the actions done by the young terrorists. They must be taken under severe punishment for committing the heinous activities.

Conclusion: To say the least, terrorism is a disease, a menace, an evil and a crime against humanity. It has no place whatever in the religion, nor does it have any place in a civilized society. Therefore, in any form or any manifestation, wherever and by whoever it is committed, cannot ever be ignored or condoned.

Leading a Successful Life

Man's life is full of problems. One problem passes by another problem arrives. This is a continuous process. Yet people try to overcome the problems with much effort. Those who can overcome obstacles can be called successful. Someone who want to lead to a successful life must be able to set goals and accomplish these goals. There is a common denominator for a truly successful life, and it is to include wisdom, faith in a higher being and peace. Wisdom is the ability to have common sense and good judgement. Faith is an understanding that we are just part of the creation of something bigger than us that is unexplainable. Success is never reached unless you have peace.

What a successful life means: Success has no definite definition like love. It has many different meanings and holds true to different things for different people. Although society has its claims a what success may look and feel like, the path to becoming successful cannot be written down into theories and statics. Whether one's meaning of success initials money being happy, or another personal gain, one must work to obtain this. But it can be argued that there is no actual specific key to success but many keys to achieving it. It is said that "it isn't always the destination but the journey that was all worth it, success should be measured by the amount of dedication, determination and passion put into making it real.

Famous spiritual leader and philosopher Swami Vivekananda, once said the way to success is to, "Take up an idea. Make that one idea your life-think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone." To lead a successful life there are many approaches and techniques we can follow.

Focusing on the positive: It is easy for anyone to get anyone to get caught in the negativity trap. Constantly we must dwell on what needs to be done, what should have been done, etc. We must think of the good thigs in your life rather than allowing those negative, anxious thoughts to dominate our mind. For every negative matter. We must force ourselves to find a positive thing. This will undoubtedly lead to a more positive outlook on life and a more positive attitude in the long run.

Focusing on stress relief: Web must figure out what soothes us, the things that most reduce our stress. We must make a hobby that quiets our mind and gives us a sense of inner peace. We must take time out of our busy schedule to practice our stress-relieving activities on regular basis.

Showing compassion to others: Instead of focusing on ourselves, we should express compassion to and show interest in those around us and maintain supportive relationships with our coworkers, boss, and employees. We should dramatically increase the loyalty and commitment of our colleagues and employees, thereby improving, productivity, performance and influence.

Living our best lives: Only we know what truly makes us happy. We should walk our path without fear of judgement. Of course, our family and friends are important, and it is fine to go to them for advice when we need it, but it is ultimately our decision whether we take that advice. Every individual has just one life to live. So, we should live our life, how we want to live it.

Taking responsibility for our actions: When we find ourselves in a bad situation, it is easy to point tigers and blame other people for our problem, but that does not remedy the situation. We should take responsibility for our own actions and then examine the situation rather than focusing and what could have been done.

 The only thing that separates human beings from other animals is the ability to belief in something that is beyond what we can see, touch, on smell; this is the belief in a higher being that is the ruler and creator of everything. Faith in a higher being is what makes us respect each other and fear to do wrong. Sharing, helping each other and being able to love our descendant's future more than our lives are all examples of how our spirituality makes us successful.

Youthquake

The word 'Youthquake' is defined as "a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people. The word "Youthquake" first rose during Britain's June general election in 2017 which saw an upsurge in youth turnout, then had an even bigger spike in September around New Zealand's general election. However, the word was first coined in 1965 by then Vogue magazine editor Diana Vreeland to describe how youth culture was changing fashion and music.

Society and culture have been seen as undergoing significant changes. These changes are sometimes exemplified by a distinctive teenage. Nowadays it is clearly seen that there are some similarities and differences between teenage and adult culture. The youths have the power to transform the nation into a better place. They also can lead their fellow citizens into right direction. Youths have been the fighters. They fight for an ability in society, equality, the homeless, bullying, unemployment, exploitation, poverty and other problems which the world faces today. The youths of Bangladesh have made their worth in liberation war, language movement or any other movements. Youths the ability to face any challenges and problems. They have a positive influence the fellow young people. Whatever important or changing take place in history, youths have a vast role. They make the country proud. They prevent the government not to take any anti-people initiatives and help it work in positive way. They perform in cultural activities and social development. They can make our land a great and educated one. Now in every sphere in the world there is a youthquake and the world is influenced by the youths. No country cannot ignore or deny the youth's contribution in all matters.

Despite some good aspects of the youth, there are some negative sides of this youthquake. The youths are now more prone to different anti-social and anti-political activities which are bearing heavy damage on society or the country. They are engaged more in raping, bullying, spreading terrorist activities and so on. Extra marriage relation, unwanted pregnancy among the teenagers, respectless attitude towards the seniors, addiction to different drugs and alcohol are also seen. These activities have been headache for the seniors or the leading authority of the country. So the youths should work positively and avoid bad activities.  

In conclusion, the role of the youth in a country is crucial. They are problem solvers, have a positive influence on the other young and the nation and are extremely ambitious. They can create an identity for themselves and move the society, the country above all the world forward. So the power of youthquake should be utilized in positive way not in negative one.

Modern Technology and Globalization

Globalization is the process by which different societies, cultures, and regional economies integrate through a worldwide network of political ideas through transportation, communication, and trade. Generally, globalization has affected many nations in various ways; economically, politically, and socially. It is a term that refers to the fast integration and interdependence of various nations, which shapes the world affairs on a global level. Globalization has affected the products people consume the environment, culture, security, and idea exchange between different countries. There are factors that lead to the speedy globalization trends. This acceleration in globalization can attributed to an increase in free-trade activities, emerging technologies, or the acceptance of markets.

Globalization has affected cultures and economies on matters dealing with destruction and availability of the already limited resources. Globalization has had implications for environmental issues such as, pollution, deforestation, water resources, change, and biodiversity loss. The rampant environmental problems have become the subject international efforts because the effects are felt globally. The negative impacts of globalization on the destruction on the environment that is export oriented. On the other hand, the impacts are the multinational companies' research into technology that is eco-friendly and increase in environmental awareness.

A major impact of globalization on the environment is that there is an improvement on the use of resources and the awareness of environment degradation. Due to issues dealing with globalization, a lot of research is being carried out on progressing greener technology, which will replace current ones that harm the environment. Globalization has also helped in the improvement of resources to save the environment by the promotion of growth through improvement of incomes and education. For example, the World Bank aided Mexico in reducing unhealthy ozone days during the 1990s. Moreover, multinational companies are on the forefront creating technologies that will reduce their adverse effects on the environment.

Unfortunately, the negative impacts of globalization have outweighed the positive effects. On a global level, natural resources are being overused. This is because there has been a rise in demand and ecosystem removal, because of population growth. The need for disposable products has caused logging to be on the increase, which result into extensive deforestation. About half of the indigenous forests that covered the earth in the past have been depleted. Deforestation is on the increase year by year.

Globalization has also negatively affected the environment through global warming. This is because of greenhouse gas emissions caused by rapid industrialization in the developing world, and a heavy dependence on fossil fuels. The average global temperatures have increased tremendously over the past years. In addition, the transport sector and gases from factories have immensely contributed to global warming.

Globalization has been a scientific debate concerning structural change in the earth's ecology; it has in the past become a controversy. There has been linkage between environmental decay, trade and support, government, and globalization. Activities that are required for industry and trade use a lot of energy resources. The misuse of these resources causes air pollution, acid rain or global warming. Globalization has affected the nature of the agencies that people go to school. There have been numerous changes in educational technologies. Distance learning has grown tremendously, and there is more use of internet and other computer forms. This advancement in technologies allows people from different nations to participate in the same programs; student contact can be across far distances.

Various educational systems have undergone a transition in response to the impacts of technology and globalization. Educators and policy makers need to put in place models that take advantage of the opportunities and challenges brought about by globalization. It is vital to note that, global initiatives have affected the roles of universities in the economy, community colleges, decentralization, and the curricula. With all these in mind, globalization seems to affect education by transforming the teaching and learning processes.

Globalization has affected human health and development in several ways; some positive while others are negative. The liberalization of trade in agricultural products leads to economic benefits in poorer countries that are short term. This will then improve the human health depending on the equitability of the allocation of these benefits.

The impact of globalization on health is in various forms. With globalization, harmful products can bring disastrous implications worldwide. There is an increase in the free trade of foods, drugs, medicine and other forms of substances that pose damages to health. 

The Role of Opposition in a Democracy

Democracy has been aptly termed as a form of governance by the people for the people and of people by the renowned diplomat and American President, Abraham Lincoln. 

In a democratic country like Bangladesh there is a parliamentary system of government which the party with the highest majority through a general election is entitled to form the government and its leader becomes the Prime Minister of the country. On the other the second largest party becomes the opposition party and its leader enjoys the status of the leader of opposition. Though the ruling party (the government) during its tenure is free to determine the policies and programmes and makes decisions for the welfare of the common people, the role of the opposition cannot be ignored. The party plays a very significant role in a democracy because the party is the representative of the people to safeguard their interest. Time to time the opposition parties criticize the government in case it fails to keep its promises. Sometimes the opposition party brings out the hidden motives of the government to the public thus protects the government to take any anti-people decision and anti-nation decision. The opposition parties also warn the government if they think it necessary. Sometimes they show their protect too against the government. Thus, they try to keep the government aware of all the issues that the government is on the right part and it cannot do whatever it likes.

In making laws in our country the opposition plays an important role if the government fails to make the government by two thirds of the parliament seats. Thus, they protect the government to make any anti people laws and encourage it to make people-oriented laws in our country.

The most dominant role of the opposition in a democracy is that of a 'watch dog' of the system. In a country where there is a two-party system, the opposition party forms a 'shadow cabinet and remains vigilant over the performance of the government. The party also enables men and women of the country to think alike on public questions and work together for the welfare of the common people and correct the government.

 

In a country like Bangladesh the sad truth is that one party hates another and criticizes its activities. To do this they sometimes take the path of spreading propaganda. So, they are not able to achieve public's trust. As a result, they fail to raise such issues that are more relevant to the cause of public. They even fail to compel the government to do welfare work. Thus, the government easily can overlook them and cancel the facts related to them. Sometimes the party delays the welfare activities of the government.  

To sum up, despite having its some faults, the opposition fulfills certain necessary functions which are helpful for the people and the country. To bring hidden and anti-people activities out before the common people and to correct the government, the role of the opposition in a country like Bangladesh cannot be ignored.

 

 

The Padma Bridge: A Dream Comes True

Introduction: The dream of Padma Bridge has turned into reality with its construction inauguration in 12 December 2015. The Padma Bridge is a multipurpose road-rail bridge across the Padma River to be constructed in Bangladesh. When completed it will be the largest bridge in Bangladesh. It will connect Louhajong, Munshiganj to Shariatpur and Madaripur, linking the south-west of the country, to northern and eastern regions. The bridge will contribute to a great extent to our communication, economy and industrialization.

Padma Bridge Construction Project: The Padma Bridge project has been undertaken with the main aim of improving the social, economic and industrial development of the south-west region of Bangladesh. The project also aims to provide the people in the south-west region with improved access to markets and services throughout the rest of the country while accelerating (Ela pist) growth in Bangladesh as a whole. The Padma River divides the south-west zone from the northern and eastern regions of Bangladesh. Construction of the river crossing will reduce the distance from the south-west region to Dhaka, the country's capital by more than 100 km and will also bring savings in passenger and commodity movement and costs.

The project will improve the gross domestic product (GDP) of the south-west region by 2%, thus increasing the nation's GDP by 1.2%. It will also reduce riverbank erosion and replace the dangerous ferry and launch operation between the south-west region and Dhaka.

Design and Structure: The bridge design contract was awarded to a team led by Maunsell AECOM, the New Zealand business of AECOM. The design team also includes experts from North-west Hydraulic Consultants, SMEC International, ACE Consultants, Aas Jakobsen and HR Wallingford. 

The bridge will be approximately (99) 6.15 km long and 18.10 m wide. It will be a double deck composite steel truss structure and will use 41 spans. The main spans will be 150m long. The upper deck will contain a four-lane highway, while the lower deck will house a rail line, gas transmission pipeline, optic fibre cable and power transmission lines.

Padma Multipurpose Bridge: Briefly

Carries	Motor Vehicles, Railway
Crosses	Padma River
Locale	Louhajong, Munshiganj to Shariatpur and Madaripur Bangladesh
Maintained by	Bangladesh Bridge Author
Designer	Maunsell AECOM
Contractor	China Major Bridge Engineering Corporation
Design	Truss bridge
Material	Steel
Total length	6,150 m (20,180 ft)
Width	18.10 m (59.38 ft)
Construction begins	December, 2015
Construction end	December, 2018
Open	June, 2019

Financing: The donor agencies including World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the JICA \promised a loan of $ 1.9 billion for the project. But the loan was cancelled by the donors on the allegation of corruption conspiracy (HTC) against former Communication Minister Syed Abul Hossain. However, the government dismissed (T110g pal) the World Bank's allegation and decided to construct the bridge through its own fund. The government has made an allocation of Tk 8,100 crore for the Padma Bridge project in the Annual Development Programme (ADP) of the fiscal year (2014-15). And thus, the government will fund for the project for its total cost figuring Tk. 28,793.39 crore.

Expected Benefits from the Bridge: It is expected that the Padma Multipurpose Bridge will provide the people of our country with some obvious benefits. The expected benefits that the bridge will bring for us are given below: 

The bridge will provide direct connectivity (ARCUISI) between the central and south part of the country through a fixed link on the Padma River at Mawa-Janjira point. So it will lessen the pressure on ferry ghat and undoubtedly save time and money as well. The communication will be smooth and quick for South Bangla-Dhaka-South Bangla. 

The distance between Dhaka and Kalkata will be shorter than before. So, communication, trade and commerce between two areas will be faster, quicker, smoother and more extended.

As the bridge will have railway line apart from highway connection, all kinds of goods, things and or materials will be brought very easily and quickly from south region to Dhaka. So, the people of southern parts of Bangladesh will have a good link to boost up their economy and change their life style.

The bridge has provision of rail, gas, electric line and fiber optic cable for future expansion. So, the south-west part of the country will get the chance to be enlighten with modern technology, equipment, and privileges.

The area of influence of the direct benefit of the project is about 44,000 km2 or 29% of the total area of Bangladesh. Therefore, the project is viewed as very important infrastructure towards improving the transportation network and regional economic development of the country.

Construction Completed so far: The construction of the bridge is going on in full swing. The cost of the project has increased but deadline for completing it by 2018 has not changed so far. So, it indicates that the government is determined enough to complete the construction in the fixed time. The completion of construction of the mega project includes the many completions works of pier, steel, pile, bottom section driving, top section driving, base grouting, truss fabrication, truss span and so on. Up to January 2018, 51% of total work of the Padma bridge has been completed and the rest of the work will be completed during the time framed by the government to fulfil the people's dream of the Padma bridge.

Conclusion: For the overall development of Bangladesh, the mighty Padma bridge will play a vital role. So, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority along with China Major Bridge Engineering Corporation is working day and night to complete its construction. The day is not far away from now when the construction will be completed, and Bangladesh will start getting benefits of the bridge. Earlier it was thought impossible to build a mighty bridge like this with own fund but it is on the verse of completion. With this we can prove that we can build a mighty bridge with our own fund without any loan or any help from any monetary organization. The completion of construction will fulfil the long-cherished dream of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman especially dream of the people of Bangladesh and contribute to country's communication and development.

Suppose you are a bank employee and you want to join in an 'Evening Executive Masters Programme' related to your job. Write a letter to your Branch Head to seek necessary permission for the enrollment by explaining plausible reasons.

02.04.2018

The Branch Manager

Rupali Bank Limited

Motijheel, Dhaka

Sub: Prayer for permission for enrollment in EMBA.

Sir

I beg most respectfully to state that I have been selected for EMBA in Dhaka University in Banking and Insurance Discipline. The discipline I have been provided is really related to my job sector and I can really work for the improvement of the bank if I can complete my study there. I think the bank where I am working now will be highly benefited by my knowledge gathered from the study. If I agree I must confirm it within short possible time. But before that I need your permission.

So, I humbly pray that you would be kind enough to allow me to join the 'Evening Executive Masters Programme' in Dhaka university and earn a job accepted degree for your organization.

Faithfully yours

Mr. Azizul Hoque

Assistant Trainee Officer

Rupali Bank Limited

Economy of Bangladesh: It Simply Keeps Growing

Bangladesh is a developing country. Bangladesh is now the world's 43rd largest economy. A great deal that has happened in the economy since independence in 1971 has supported the hope that the country will eventually overcome its dependence on foreign aid and approach relative self-sufficiency. Since the independence in 1971 Bangladesh has remarkably improved in agriculture sectors, RMG sectors, leather sectors and remittance sectors etc. Bangladeshis earn most of their living from agriculture. 63% of Bangladeshis are involved in agriculture. Since the independence the overall effort by the government of Bangladesh to improve the agriculture sectors has noticeably been seen and for that Bangladeshi has improved the sector with appropriate technology, modern agricultural system and improved agro-seeds and agro-machine. For that reason, the agriculture sectors have contributed and are still contributing to the boast of our economy. Bangladeshi women are involved in garment industry. Garment industry is bringing foreign currencies through exporting garment products. In Bangladesh there are lots of big textile groups. Textile is another economy source of Bangladesh. Nearly 4 million people are working in textile and most of them are women. Export earning 78% comes from textile. Remittance is also playing a vital role in boosting up our economy. In GDP growth Bangladesh has gained improvement in the decade since 2004, Bangladesh averaged a GDP growth of 6.5% that has been largely driven by its exports of readymade garments, remittances, and the domestic agricultural sectors. Now Bangladesh has 7.65% of GDP growth. It keeps rising day by day. The country has pursued export-oriented industrialization, with its key export sectors including textiles, shipbuilding, fish and sea food, jute and leather goods. It has also developed self-sufficient industries in pharmaceuticals, steel and food processing. Bangladesh's telecommunication industry has witnessed rapid growth over the years, receiving high investment from foreign companies. Bangladesh also has substantial reserves of natural gas and is Asia's seventh largest gas producer. Offshore exploration activities are increasing in its maritime territory in the Bay of Bengal. It has also large deposits of limestone. The government promotes the Digital Bangladesh scheme as part of its efforts to develop the country's growing information technology sector. In 2018 per capita income is 1752 USD. Bangladeshi economy though simply keeps growing, the economy may face challenges of infrastructure bottlenecks, insufficient power and gas supplies, bureaucratic corruption, political instability, natural calamities and a lack of skilled workers.

Consequences of Climate Change on the Future of Bangladesh

Introduction: Bangladesh is one of the largest deltas in the world which is highly vulnerable to Natural Disasters because of its Geographical location, Flat and low-lying landscape, Population density, Poverty, Illiteracy, Lack of Institutional setup etc. In other words, the Physical, Social as well as Economic conditions of Bangladesh are very typical to any of the most vulnerable countries to Natural Disasters in the world. The total land area is 147,570 sq. km. consists mostly of Floodplains (almost 80%) leaving major part of the country (except for the north-western highlands) prone to flooding during the rainy season.

Moreover, the adverse affects of Climate Change - especially High Temperature, Sea-level Rise, Cyclones and Storm Surges, Salinity Intrusion, Heavy Monsoon Downpours etc. has aggravated the overall Economic Development scenario of the country to a great extent. Bangladesh has got a population of around 160.8 million (2018) with a life expectancy at birth of around 71.6 years, and an adult literacy rate of 71% (Bangladesh Economic Review 2018). The recent Human Development Report ranks Bangladesh number 136 of 189 nations. Bangladesh has an average annual population growth rate of around 1.37%, almost 70% of the population lives in rural areas and a population density of 1090 (people per sq. km.). Bangladesh is predominantly Agricultural with two thirds of the population engaged in farming or Agro-based industrial activity mainly. The climate of Bangladesh can be characterized by High temperatures, Heavy rainfall, High humidity, and fairly marked three seasonal variations like Hot Summer, Shrinking Winter and Medium to Heavy Rains during the Rainy season.

Climatic Impacts: Bangladesh experiences different types of Natural Disasters almost every year because of the Global Warming as well as Climate Change impacts, these are:

Floods / Flash Floods (Almost 80% of the total area of the country is prone to flooding). 

Cyclones and Storm Surges (South and South-eastern Parts of the country were hit by Tropical Cyclones during the last few years).

Salinity Intrusion (Almost the whole Coastal Belt along the Bay of Bengal is experiencing Salinity problem).

Extreme Temperature and Drought (North and North-western regions of the country are suffering because of the Extreme Temperature problem).

Sectoral Impacts

Agriculture and Fisheries: As already mentioned earlier, the economy of Bangladesh is based on Agriculture mainly, with two thirds of the population engaged (directly or indirectly) on Agricultural activities, although the country is trying move towards industrialization slowly during the last one and a half decade almost. So, the overall impact of Climate Change on Agricultural production in Bangladesh would be widespread and devastating for the country's economy. Beside this, other impacts of Climate Change such as Extreme Temperature, Drought, and Salinity Intrusion etc. are also responsible for the declining crop yields in Bangladesh. Temperature and Rainfall changes have already affected crop production in many parts of the country and the area of arable land has decreased to a great extent. The Salinity intrusion in the coastal area is creating a serious implication for the coastal land that were traditionally used for rice production.

The fisheries sector has also experienced an adverse affect because of the impacts of Climate Change. The fisheries sector contributes about 3.5% of the GDP in Bangladesh and people depend on fish products to meet up majority of their daily protein requirements. There are around 260 species of fish in the country and almost all the varieties are sensitive to specific salt and freshwater conditions.

Water Resources and Hydrology: In a high-density country like Bangladesh, the effects of Climate Change on the Surface and Ground water resources will be very severe and alarming. Changes to water resources and hydrology will have a significant impact on the country's economy, where people mostly depend on the Surface water for Irrigation, Fishery, Industrial production, Navigation and similar other activities.

Coastal Areas: Almost one fourth of the total population of the country live in the coastal areas of Bangladesh, where majority of the population are somehow affected (directly or indirectly) by Coastal Floods /Tidal Surges, River-bank Erosion, Salinity, Tropical Cyclones etc. With the rise of Sea-level up to one meter only, Bangladesh could lose up to 15% of its land area under the Sea water and around 35 million people living in the coastal areas of Bangladesh could become Refugees because of Climate Change impacts. Agriculture, Industry, Infrastructure (School, Hospitals, Roads, Bridges and Culverts etc.), Livelihoods, Marine Resources, Forestry, Biodiversity, Human Health and other Utility services will suffer severely because of the same. Salinity Intrusion from the Bay of Bengal already penetrates 100 kilometers inside the country during the dry season and the Climate Change in its gradual process is likely to deteriorate the existing scenario to a great extent. Since most of the country is less than 10 meters above Sea level and almost 10% of the population of the country is living below 1 meter elevation - the whole coastal area is Highly Vulnerable to High Tides and Storm Surges. Moreover, the Bay of Bengal is located at the tip of the north Indian Ocean, where severe Cyclonic storms as well as long Tidal waves are frequently generated and hit the coastline with severe impacts because of the Shallow as well as Conical shape of the Bay near Bangladesh.

Forestry / Biodiversity: Bangladesh has got a wide diversity of Ecosystems including Mangrove forests at the extreme south of the country. The “Sundarbans" a World Heritage, is the largest Mangrove Forest in the world, comprising 577,00 ha of land area along the Bay of Bengal. A total of 425 species have been identified there, the most significant is the famous Royal Bengal Tiger. Therefore, Climate Change impacts will have negative effects on the Ecosystem of the Forest recourses in Bangladesh while the Sundarbans is likely to suffer the most.

Urban areas: Cities and Towns situated along the Coastal belt in Bangladesh are at the Front line of Climate Change related Disaster impacts and could experience a severe damage directly because of the Sea level Rise and Storm Surges at any time. Direct impacts may occur through the increased Floods, Drainage congestion and Water logging as well as infrastructure Damage during extreme events. The important Urban sectors that suffered severely by the previous floods in Bangladesh include Urban Infrastructure, Industry, Trade, Commerce and Utility services etc. As consequence, it hampered usual productivity during and after major floods and hence increased the vulnerability of the urban poor by many folds. It should be mentioned here that, around 40 per cent of the urban population in highly Bangladesh lives in the Slum and Squatter settlements of the major cities which are prone to Disaster risk during Flooding further.

Vulnerable groups: The Urban poor are therefore directly at the risk of Natural Disasters being enhanced by the impacts of Climate Change - especially in the absence / shortage of the necessary Infrastructure as well as Employment opportunity for them in the major cities of the country. In Bangladesh, Women are especially Vulnerable because of the Gender inequalities in the Socio-economic and Political institutions. During the 1991Cyclone and Storm surge in Bangladesh, the death rate in case of women was almost five times higher than the men. Because men were able to communicate with each other in the public spaces, but the information did not reach most of the women timely

Improve Transport System in Dhaka

The road to and from the only international airport in Dhaka gives you a very misleading information about the roads located deep inside the city. The smooth wide thoroughfare along with all its beautifying elements on each side may erroneously convince you that the rest of the city is as charming. This long road is deceiving in its appearance considering how most of the roads in the city have little resemblance to it. If you are bound to the older parts of the city after you come out of the airport, for example, you would have the opportunity of witnessing a dramatic change. By the time you reach close to Gulistan (Gulistan, a Persian word, ironically, means a flower garden!) and enter the narrow squalid alleys, you would wonder if you were still in the same city! These alleys are shabby and are usually in their worst condition during the rainy season. The misery of those who dwell in these areas knows no bounds during the months of rain. Since these areas have almost a century old drainage system which has undergone little or no modification in the last hundred years or so, the roads are inundated every rainy day and it becomes impossible to go from one place to another on foot without wetting not only your feet but even your legs sometimes! It is probably unfair to blame only one government for this situation since all in the past neglected the issue of continuous improvement and adaptation to accommodate growth in the transportation sector.

This problem, at most residential areas of Dhaka, has become acute and extremely difficult to solve since it has increased in intensity over the last four decades or so. There is little or no scope, for example, to modify the existing roads in the older parts of the city. One can say with confidence at least that only a massive program can bring about this change which would require both adequate funding and sincere hard work. The transportation sector has been suffering from the 'lack of money' syndrome for a very long time now.

The widening process of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway has already started but it would be difficult to commend this initiative because it is something which should have been accomplished decades ago! At the same time, while a greater fraction of attention is being focused on the intercity connecting roads, the internal transportation system of the metropolises cannot be neglected. Chittagong, the second biggest city of the country, is also afflicted with a similar trouble. There are alleys in the older parts of the port city which have little differential properties to distinguish themselves from the dirty reeking ones of Old Dhaka. In most cases, you would find it extremely difficult or even impossible to maneuver a car in these areas, let alone bigger vehicles. You might wonder if you are in the twenty first century if you are in these areas of either Dhaka or Chittagong since it is very easy to think you have travelled back in the fifties of the last century.

As indicated earlier, we should not be intimidated by the magnitude of difficulty associated with this task and take measures right away. At the same time, the more we postpone the first step, the more will increase the difficulty. So, the right time to act is now. Let us hope the authorities would take proper and effective measures in this regard with the goal of making Dhaka a more beautiful place.

The Next Wave of social media

Social media is a rising trend in the world today. Communication skills are exemplified by use of social media networking. Social media is being utilized by students, parents, businesses, and religious organizations. It is being used in many forms by many different platforms for different reasons. Its' uses are increasing because users are becoming more interested in social media for various reasons.

The Positive Sides of social media: Social networks like Facebook and Twitters have always specific encouraged their subscribers to come up with an online persona. They then build a personal network of friends that connects to an open worldwide community. Information is shared freely between two. Apart from connecting to a network of friends, a subscriber can join community groups with an interest. Most of the groups encourage the subscribers to give suggestions on how they should be run and to engage in debates. There are other social sites like YouTube that gives users a platform to upload and share videos. Here, users post videos of themselves for other users to view. YouTube has been a great platform for musicians and film producers as their fans can easily access their music videos. Other social sites like MySpace have also given users the platforms to post videos on their profiles. Such sites enable easy access to a variety of videos like music, sports, documentaries and movies.

Social media has lessened the use of verbal communication and increased the use of online messaging. People nowadays can have 'phone conversations' over their computers. This has been enabled by the development of social sites such as Skype. Here, people that are connected will communicate by word of mouth. This is unlike Facebook and Twitter where the mode of communication is by writing. Webcams enables 'friends' to have a one on one conversation while at the same time watching each other.

Facebook, Twitter and Skype are popular media platforms millions utilize daily. Its numbers are on the rise day by day. It is extremely rare to come across anyone today who does not have an account on one of these platforms. Social media is not used by people but businesses and organizations, as well.

The Negative Sides of Social Media: Social media and social networking seem to play an imperative part of people's lives around the world. There are some who debate whether it is improving or crippling communication skills. Sitting behind a computer communicating with cyber friends can be easy and fun but can weaken a person's verbal communication skills. Research suggests that young people who spend more than 2 hours per day on social media are more likely report poor mental health (anxiety and depression). Young generations are out of their outdoor activities as they remain busy with social media. Propagandas and personal information can be spread which sometimes hamper personal lives. Relationship among couples is on the brittle stage as they feel comfortable in their relations out of married relation. Sometimes on different websites vulgar and naked pictures and videos are posted for humiliating girls or boys.

The Next Wave of Social Media: The future of social media is becoming vast day by day. It is bearing some negative effects on the people, side by side the concerned people are working day and night to meet the demand of social media. That is why different social media apps become more and more specialized. Facebook has too many features that are not convenient for mobile use; Snapchat's features are far more basic, mobile-friendly and limited to a specific function: the app is to share nonpermanent image and small bursts of text with a user's friends on the network and nothing else. So in this way the different apps and functions will make social media easier and more users friendly. Among the apps the Niche apps are the most suitable which offer basic functions that are more mobile-friendly. In coming days ahead more apps and more social media friendly equipment will be added which quell even the quirkiest user desires. Then people will have more convenient opportunities for social media but less negative sides of social media.

To contemplate the future of social media, we must contemplate the future of technology since so much of social is technology driven. The future augmented reality technologies will allow us to enter not only new conversations but also new worlds and experiences in ways we really fathom today.

Bangladesh Development Bank Limited

Bangladesh Development Bank Limited a state-owned commercial Bank, has unveiled its appearance in the banking arena through amalgamation of Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (BSB) and Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha (BSRS), with the decision of the Government of Bangladesh. It has duly been registered with the Registrar of joint Stock Companies and Firms. The Registrar of joint Stock Companies and Firms issued Certificate of Incorporation and Certificate and Bangladesh Bank issued license and permission as well for commencement of BDBL business' in November 2009, The Vendors' Agreement (relating to taking over of assests and liabilities of BSB and BSRS) was signed on 31-12-2009 between the Government and the Board of Directors of BDBL nominated by the Government. The BDBL has formally embarked on 3 January 2010 with new vision, mission and values. The Bank will operate Development Banking activities and all types of domestic and international Commercial Banking activities under the rules and regulations of Banking Companies Act, 1991, Authorized Capital of BDBL is BDT 10.00 billion and paid-up capital is BDT 4.00 billion, which is fully subscribed by the Government of Bangladesh.

As a merger of Bangladesh Shilpa Rin Sangstha (BSRS) and Bangladesh Shilpa Bank (BSB) is committed to emerge as the country's prime financial institution for supporting private sector industrial and other projects of great significance to the country's economic development and be an active participant in commercial banking by introducing new lines of product and providing excellent services to the customers. Bangladesh Development Bank Limited, will act a development financial institution, to provide financial and technical assistance to private and public sector industries, and partnership and proprietorship concerns. It will offer long and medium-term loans; working capital loans to industrial unites; equity support services; and commercial banking services, such as deposit mobilization, forex business, letter of credit handling, and forex remittances, as well as issues guarantees on behalf of borrowers for repayment of loans. The company also provides industrial credit programmes, equity entrepreneurship fund programmes, share-trading services, incentive programmes for loan recovery, rehabilitation programmes, and deposit mobilization programmers for lending and investment.

As a Public Limited Company, BDBL formally embarked is journey on January 3, 2010, It extends financial assistance for setting up industries and provides all kinds of commercial banking service to its customers through its branch network in Bangladesh.

The BDBL also inherited membership of Dhaka Stock Exchange Limited (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange Limited (CSE). To contribute to the capital market, it acts as stock dealer and stockbroker and operates a brokerage houses, at Motijheel to provide services to the small and medium investors. BDBL also established a fully owned subsidiary company namely BDBL Securities Limited and transferred its one membership with DSE and another membership with CSE. It acts stock dealer and stockbroker and operate brokerage House At 12, Karwan Bazar Dhaka to provide Investors. The BDBL is also managing a close-end Mutual Fund with paid up capital of Tk. 5.00 crore.

Role of BSCIC in the Development of Entrepreneurship in Bangladesh

Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) is the prime mover organization in Bangladesh to promote small, cottage and rural industries in the private sector, BSCIC became the successor organization of the then East Pakistan Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (EPCIC.) The East Pakistan Small and Cottage Industries Corporation Act. 1957(EP Act XVII of 1957) was passed on 14 March 1957 following the move of the then honorable minister for Labor, Commerce and Industry of the united front Government Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. After independence, EPSIC was renamed as BSCIS by President Order No. 156 (2nd Amendment) in 1972, in October 1973, the government by a gazette notification No. 28 bifurcated BSCIC into two separate corporations namely: Bangladesh Cottage Industries Corporation (BCIC) and Bangladesh Small Industries Corporation (BCIS). Later these two corporations were unified in 1975, Later, two bodies were separated from BSCIS, Bangladesh Handloom Board and Bangladesh Sericulture Board were established. 

BSCIC vests in a seven-member Board of Directors constituted by the Govt. The Board administers and manage overall activities of the corporation following the BSCIC Act, govt. rules and policy guidelines. Chairman of the Board is the Chief Executive Officer. Each member heads one functional division. The divisions are Promotion and Extension Division, Planning Development and Research Division, Project Implementation and Management Division, Finance Division, Design, Marketing and Holding Companies Division, and Technology Division.

After its birth in 1957, the then EPSIC started functions with commercial activities like-import of plant and machineries, raw materials and distribution of the same to the private sector entrepreneurs. During that period, the corporation also provided small loans in local currency to small enterprises.

Subsequently, the corporation felt that the private entrepreneurs were needed continuous guidance and advice in selection of viable projects, preparation of machinery specifications, drawing of layout plans, supervising the construction of factory building, machinery installation, implant counseling and extension services for operation of the profitable ventures. Thereafter the focus was shifted from commercial to promotional and development activities. Accordingly, development projects like industrial estates, service and common facility centers, small Industry Advisory services, Rural Industrial services, Design Centre, Light Engineering Services and model production units were undertaken. Apart from that BSCIC also in co-operation with the financial institutions and commercial banks formed consortium for financing of SCIs in local as well as foreign currency credit. Gradually, changes in BSCIS's organization structure occurred. BSCIC distributed design prototype among entrepreneurs and has also allotted industrial plots to entrepreneurs and has extended technical cooperation to salt producers of the country. Such assistance is still being continued in different way and perspective. Later more assistance in new dimension, like providing recommendation to the government for industrial import license, trade-based skill development training and large scale entrepreneurship training programmes, organizing fairs, exhibition country wide to promote the industrial products are being successfully carried out by BSCIS.

BSCIS's industrial estate programme has been contributing to the process of industrialization since 1960. Upto April 2009, a total number of 3,352 industries have been established in 74 industrial estates in different districts. Every year these industries produce goods and services worth about Tk. 2,46,830 million and pay about tk. 1,780 million as VAT, tax and other charges, Value of exportable product is about Tk. 1,33,240 million. About 3.42 million people are directly engaged in these industries. 

One of the initiatives of BSCIC, the country has achieved self-sufficiency in salt production. Total demand for salt is 13.33 lack MT per year. Production during the financial year 2009-2010 is 17.07 lac MT. Moreover BSCIC, in co-operation of UNICEF has been implementing the project Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorder through Universal Locations of Salt in Bangladesh'. Credential of this program flashes that the prevalence of lodine deficiency disorder fell to 33.80 percent in 2005, which was 69 percent in 1993.

After liberation, new dimensions were added to BSCIC activities as it has taken up a mission to accelerate development of the SCI though dynamic policy interventions. It has introduced entrepreneurship development and skill development training; sub-contracting linkage between small- and large-scale industries; establishing forward linkage between small and large industries. Besides BSCIS was also involved in semi-intensive Shrimp Cultivation, Beekeeping and microcredit Programme for poverty alleviation.

BSCIC has several Human Resource Development Institutes. These institutes work for capacity building-enabling potential entrepreneurs and enterprises, specially engaged in small and cottage.

industries. In 1985 BSCIC established Small and Cottage Industries Training Institute (SCITI). The institute, a change driven, proactive and pragmatic one, has been providing entrepreneurship development training and consultancy services. It has pioneered innovative solutions to entrepreneurship and enterprise development.

SCITI has its own building with all facilities for holding workshops, conferences and other functions. It houses a library with a collection of development related books and periodicals. The institute maintains a lean staff with interdisciplinary expertise, particularly in project management, entrepreneurship and enterprise development. BCCIS has 15 Skill Development Centers, which provide skill development training to the unemployed youth, school and college dropouts on different trades.

BSCIC's Design Centre is a center of excellence working for development of crafts and craftsmanship in the country. It imparts training to the artisans and craftsmen of different trades. It develops designs and prototypes for handicrafts and distributes these among the craftsmen and artisans. The Human Resource Development Institutes, since their inception, have trained more than 4,62 thousand people. BSCIC started facilitating small industries to establish linkages with large and medium industries since 1991. Under this arrangement, small industries have been able to market products valued about Tk. 50 thousand crore.

BSCIC started implementing special programmes in the Chittagong Hill Tracts Region since 1974 through two projects: Socio-economic Development of Chittagong Hill Tracts Region (Original); and Special project Socio-economic development through promotion and extension of small and cottage industries for the under-privilege inhabitant of Chittagong Hill Tracts region. A total number of 22,000 youths have so far been imparted training on different trade under these projects. These has created employment opportunities for 20,500 persons. With the support of BSCIC 76,000 small industries and 6,25,000 cottage industries have been established in the country. These industries have created employment for 32.28 lac persons.

Write an application to the Branch Manager of a bank for a SME credit.

15 November 2018

The Branch Manager

BASIC Bank Limited

Sherpur, Bogra.

Subject: Prayer for a SME credit to set up a small fishery.

Sir,

I beg most respectfully to draw your kind attention to the following fact. I have a plot in my village area. I wish to set up a small fishery project there. But I have no sufficient cash money to arrange that project. I am informed cash money to arrange that project. I am informed about the matter that; the BASIC Bank Ltd. provides loan to agricultural project at low interest rate. So, I need a SME loan about the project.

I, therefore, fervently pray and hope that you would be kind enough to sanction me a loan of Tk. 5,00,000 for the above stated purpose. I am ready to perform all the formalities regarding the loan and abide by the rules of the bank.

Yours faithfully

Md. Rafiqul Alam

Sherpur, Bogra

High Interest Rate is Hindering the Private Sector Investment in Bangladesh

The private sector has come a long way. At present the power boost of economic development comes from the private companies. They are, in fact, playing a vital role to keep pace with global economy. The private financial sectors are truly the backbone of the economy. Much of the financing for private enterprises is granted by the banks. In December 2012, the banking sector accounted for above 80% of the country's economic assets. This sector is a key determinant of the growth of the private sector. In Bangladesh, over 90% of the banks are non-government. 

Country's banking sector is caught in an enervating trap characterized by high rates of interest, excess liquidity and declined growth in credits to private sector and intermediating low investment, according to an independent multi-disciplinary think-tank finding. Such a situation of the banking sector is attributed to poor risk management and high fraudulence, driven by captured governance and lax oversights. This altogether results in truncated profits to the shareholders.

The think-tank revealed the latest state of banking vis-à-vis economic health of the country in its current monthly economic update, said a press release. Despite adoption of more than decadelong policy of liberalization, deregulation and privatization, it found interest rate and spread still too high to facilitate higher private investment. Captured governance through politically determined directorship for the nationalized banks, and family- and friends-domination in the boardrooms of the private-sector banks, meager actions against the perpetrators, and slack surveillance by the Bangladesh Bank hinder maintaining any prudential system of management.

Pointing at the increased non-performing loans and low returns on asset and equity, the research organizations said that the sector is inundated with severe structural rigidities, resulting in the disappointment of risk management.

In the January-April period of fiscal year (FY) 2013-14, average rate of interest was calculated at as high as 13.35 percent and interest rate spread at 5.14 percent. The high cost of funds caused further decline in private investment, as per its economic update. Referring to the excess liquidity in the banking sector, 64.09 percent increase in excess liquidity from November 2013 to March 2014. Excess of liquidity amounted to about Tk 1362 billion at the end of March 2014, whereas it was Tk 830 billion in November 2013. Decline in the rate of growth in credits will further drag down investment and consequentially lower the expansion of the gross domestic product (GDP).

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in the Context of Bangladesh

Concepts of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its practices in Bangladesh have a long history of philanthropic activities from time immemorial. Such philanthropic activities included donations to different charitable organizations, poor people and religious institutions. Until now, most businesses in Bangladesh are family owned and first-generation ones. They are involved in community development work in the form of charity without having any definite policy regarding the expenses or any concrete motive regarding financial gains in many instances.

Moreover, most of the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) fall under the informal sector having low management structure and resources to address the social and environmental issues. These limitations drive the top management of local companies to think only about the profit maximization rather than doing business considering the triple bottom line: profit, planet and people. The discussions on CSR practices in Bangladesh in its modern global terms, are relatively new, but not so for the concept itself. Because, being a part of the global market, it is difficult to ignore CSR standard specifically in the export sector. In general, it is true that in Bangladesh, the status of labor rights practices, environmental management and transparency in corporate governance are not satisfactory, largely due to poor enforcement of existing laws and inadequate pressure from civil society and interest groups like consumer forums.

Globally, CSR practices are gradually being integrated into international business practices and hence are becoming one of the determining factors for market access. They are also equally instrumental for better local acceptability on the part of businesses. A focus on CSR in Bangladesh would be useful, not only for improving corporate governance, labor rights, workplace safety, fair treatment of workers, community development and environment management, but also for industrialization and ensuring global market access. Since, CSR entails working with stakeholders, it is important to work from within and diagnose the stakeholders' concerns so that CSR is truly embedded in the companies.

By now, many CSR dimensions are practiced in Bangladesh. The SMEs largely depend upon export. The US and European Union (EU) buyers set guidelines to readymade garment (RMG) industry to ensure the standards. The 1992 Harkins Bill and subsequent consumer and industry boycott of RMG products by the USA and the consequent remedial moves by local RMG sector are examples here. Moreover, some buyers from the EU visited the sites of recently collapsed garments factories. A temporary ban was also imposed on shrimp export to the EU on grounds of health and hygienic standards; appropriate remedial action followed in that instance, too. But some of the exporters found difficulty in convincing the US/EU buyers to have positive attitude towards Bangladesh due to inadequate CSR practices. Businessmen need to recognize the implications of CSR for business activities. Companies are facing the challenges of adapting effectively to the changing environment in the context of globalization and in the export sector.

The Challenges of Achieving Middle Income Country Status for Bangladesh'

Introduction: Bangladesh has to independence from Pakistan in 1971 through a nine month long bloody war. Bangladesh was ruled by the unconstitutional power till 1990 and then came back into a democratic country with some interruptions. Up to 1990, the GDP growth of Bangladesh was well below potential. But in the mid 90s, the economy slowly emerged and there has been observed a shift form the agriculture-led development to manufacturing and services sector led growth Bangladesh will celebrate 50 years of its independence in 2021. The country crafted vision-2021 to mark the celebration which is mainly focused to achieve the Middle-Income Country (MIC) status by the timeline. With a view to reaching the cherished and desire vision, the country formulated long term perspective plan 2010–2021.

 

Middle Income Country (MIC): The World Bank classifies economic status of countries as: low income, lower middle income, upper middle income and high-income countries. According to the method of measuring the status of middle-income country by the World Bank, a middle-income country will have a per capita income between $ 1045 and $ 4,125, based on the per capita gross national income in a country.

Bangladesh wants to achieve the middle-income status by 2021. The present government of Bangladesh is hopeful that the economic target of reaching Middle Income Country (MIC) status in 2021 by ensuring annual 8% GDP growth.

The challenges of achieving MIC status for Bangladesh: Bangladesh has some challenges to fulfil the decades has been full of bitterness, animosity and violence. There is little energy left for giving constructive views on the national issues in the parliament. For ensuring a booming economy, the demands of achieving Middle Income country status. Because the political scene during the last few governments must have to create a stable political situation.

Infrastructural Development: The full-fledged industrialization is not possible without infrastructural development. Uninterrupted power supply globally inter-linked sophisticated hotels, availability of specialized technical personnel and compliance, developed IT sector etc.

Make the country a manufacturing hub: Providing governmental supports and other facilities Bangladesh should make the country a manufacturing hub. Since it has a cheapest labor what is the basic criteria for establishing manufacturing company. Bangladesh should be considered as the destination of the multinational manufacturing companies. With the availability of low-cost labor, government must provide tax waiver for the initial production, less tax over the imported raw materials, equipment's even over their profits.

Foreign Investment: Inflow of foreign investment in any country is a prerequisite for the rapid development. From the employment generation to infrastructural development, increased efficiency of local labor force, uses of modern technology to increase inflow of foreign currency. The foreign investment plays a vital role in achieving the tag of a country of developed economy. By using the favorable FI policy, Bangladesh can draw attraction to the foreign investors.

To increase exports and remittance: Exports and remittance are the two most important sectors for Bangladesh to be a middle-income country, so it must include more products in export baskets. Diversification in the product list may find the new market in the international business to increase the foreign earnings.

A majority of Bangladesh working in abroad is unskilled workforce. If we compare Bangladesh with India in the care of migrant labor, Indians particularly South Indians are more skilled then that of Bangladeshis in abroad and their earnings are also better. So, government must take a policy that with unskilled employees, skilled labor also be exported abroad that plays to increase remittance.

Promote Domestic Economy: The domestic economy is the lifeblood of any country. If the domestic market does not perform properly, the smooth development of a country will not be possible. Thus, government should give various tax benefits for the startup business and must provide loan facilities to the local business firms with easy repayment system. Specially the small and medium entrepreneurs can contribute effectively to the national development. Their easy and innovative ideas will create scope of employment in the rural and urban economy.

The scope of self-employment in the rural economy of Bangladesh.

Poverty and unemployment are the two sides of the same coin. When we solve one problem in the society, the second will be taken care along with it. In the present scenario, poverty and unemployment in our rural areas are the still most severe problems faced by our total population. Because Bangladesh is densely populated country, our government cannot provide the young people with employment opportunity for everyone. We should change our nation with secure and comfortable job in an office or bank because there are more people in our country than jobs. So educated youth in our rural areas of the country should not depend on the government to provide them with jobs. Most of our people live in rural areas of Bangladesh. They are very poor or have no land at all. They are not educated and have no skills, for these reasons, they cannot find employment. Self employment is the possible solution to this problem. The youth should not remain idle after completing their studies. They can easily engage themselves in various sectors of self-employment. There are many scopes and opportunities to become self-employment in rural areas of Bangladesh. Agricultural farming, poultry farming, fish cultivation, livestock rearing is some of them. These sectors are more profitable. These sectors by self-employment can play a vital role in our rural economy of Bangladesh. The traditional path of economic development is a progression from agricultural to manufacturing to services. In this sense, the government and NGOs are working relentlessly for providing the youth with training of various vocational activities related to agriculture. They also provide the youth with loans on easy terms to start these jobs of self employment in rural areas.

Banking as a tool of Development

Banks are the mainstream of the financial system of a country like Bangladesh. Banks have played a vital role in economy by providing credit for performing economic activities and at the sometime conglomerate the surplus capital from public through different types of depository incentives. Hence, we will show how banks are performing as like as tools of Development in Bangladesh.

Banking sector as tools of Development: Bangladesh is a populous country. Although it is growing up day by day, it has a lot of problem till now. Unemployment, poverty, low investment and capital are major problem in here. Banking sector in providing opportunities and boosting our economy by removing their problems. As tools of development banks activities are like following –

Agriculture: Agriculture is the major sector of our economy. According to new GDP measurement system, it provides about 16 percent of our GDP. Though the total amount of credit increases day by day, the portion of credit has decreased in agriculture, fishery and forestry sector, whether it has reduced into half at present. The recovery of agriculture credit is satisfactory than other sectors and this credit directly affects the agricultural production. At present 59 schedule banks must continue their activities. They contain collectively about Tk 71,000 crore as a deposit more than Tk. 5,000 crore is distributing in agriculture sector in every year.

Industrial sector: Industrial sector acts as a main sector of GDP in the developed countries. In Bangladesh, this sector performance is growing up and participation of GDP in this sector is 33.71 percent. This sector gets the highest credit from commercial banks.

Service sector: Service sector has become major role-playing sector in our economy, Now-a-days almost 52.18 percent of GDP comes from this sector. This sector includes Transport, Real estate, power and energy, business etc. Which require a lot of credit is supplied by Schedule Bank.

Poverty alleviation: Bank is one of main means of government by which government can implement different types of steps for eradicating poverty. As the branches of bank are available everywhere from downtown area to remotest rural area government uses this channel to provide any financial benefit quickly. Some projects are run by bank with the help of government to wipe-out poverty are as follows:

1. Rural poor co-operative project in greater Rajshahi, Kustia and Jessore area with the help of Sonali Bank.

2. Self-reliance loan project through the self-reliance Bangladesh and financed by Sonali Bank.

3. Small and landless farmers development project by Janata Bank.

4.  Small and marginal farming

5. National Micro Irrigation Development Project (NMIDP)

Though banking sector is the lifeblood of our financial system, functional arena of bank is rather narrow than wide range and performance of handsome banks is not quite good. Bangladesh government has taken different types of reform according to demand of era, but these types of reform do not make our banking system international standard. But we are not hopeless rather by taking steps we will reach our ambitious target.

Role of Banks in Building Middle Income Bangladesh

Bangladesh is growing up at fast rate. Last few years average economic growth rate was more than 7% according to World Bank. Bangladesh is now lower middle-income country. But our government fined a target of per capita income $ 4000 to reach middle income country stage. Last year per capita income was $ 1751. Which key factors are working behind the growth of economy, Banking sector is one of them. Direct contribution of Banks into our national economy is more than 2.5%. But indirect contribution is huge and integrated part of our daily life. There are 59 schedule Bank and about 10,000 Branch with Banks are operating their financial activities in Bangladesh. Banks have more than I crore subscribers. Most of the investment comes from banking sector as loan. To reach middle income stage in just time GDP growth rate should be more than 8% and investment is the main key to acquire the target growth rate. Banks are playing as dual role. First It is the secured saving house and second It is the source of investment/loan. up to August 2018 total Bank deposit was Tk 9,69,816 crore and loan was distributed among people Tk 10,84,646 crore at same time. Most of the loan was allocated for productive sector. Full employment is the other criteria of middle-income country where banking sector is the vital place for employment. Most of the Banks are giving students scholarship and education equipment and have started CSR (corporate social responsibility) which all are parts of social development. We can finally conclude that to reach middle income country it needs higher growth of GDP. For acquiring higher growth, it needs more investment and Banks play vital role in investment. Not a single economic transaction is being happened without Banking system. So, Role of Banks in Building middle income Bangladesh is enormous and essential.

Write an application to the Honorable Minister for Finance highlighting the importance of reduction of taxes on imported industrial raw materials.

20 November 2014

The Honorable Minister

Ministry of Finance

The Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh

Dhaka.

Subject: Prayer for reduction of taxes on imported raw materials.

Dear sir

With due respect I would like to draw your attention to the fact that taxes an imported industrial raw material have gone so high. Because of the high taxes, the local businessmen cannot produce products at low cost. And this has alternatively affected the local market. Some small industries are about to shut down their production due to the high taxes on the imported raw materials. Even they cannot cope with big industries. So, reduction of taxes on raw materials will help produce products with a low cost and the country people will get good products at lower prices. Undoubtedly it will encourage the people to come into business sectors which will solve the unemployment problem to a great extent. So consider the importance of reduction of taxes on industrial raw materials.

Yours faithfully

Hassan Kibria

General Manager, Khan & Company

Suppose you are working in a private bank. Write a business letter in English by announcing a new product recently added to the customer service of your bank.

From

The Manager

Agrani Bank Limited

Dilkusha Branch

Dilkusha C/A, Dhaka-1000 

To

Mr. Anis Ahmed

Mirpur, Dhaka

Subject: Introducing ATM booth for the customers.

Dear Mr. Anis Ahmed

We are pleased to know that your membership with our bank continues with our birth. We thank you for your continued and active participation in our bank.

This letter is being written to inform you that for our customers we have taken initiatives to run a new product (ATM booth) for 24 hours withdrawal of money from our bank. We think introducing ATM booth for you will bring better service in money withdrawal.

In the booklet that is attached with this letter, you will find all the information and the service of ATM booth.

We hope you will be pleased with this new product of yours. We look forward to receiving your feedback and response.

Regards,

Md. Asik Iqbal

Manager, Agrani Bank Limited

Dilkusha Branch