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| 2007-11-01 |
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| Faching The Challenges of Corporate Globalization Role of Media and Information, Communication Techn |
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| Hunger is exclusion – exclusion from the land, from income, jobs, wages, life and citizenship. When a person gets to the point of not having anything to eat, it is because all the rest has been denied. This is a modern form of exile. It is death in life…” Josue de Castro.
Hunger focus in Bangladesh –
“I am alone in this world with no family except my eight-year-old son,” says the forty-year-old Bangladeshi mother. “We are used to hunger - it is a part of our every day life.”
For most of her life Fatima, a poor landless widow from Bangladesh, has worked hard digging ponds and building roads for less than a dollar a day. Some days she and her son could barely afford one meal a day and when the monsoon season came she had no work and was driven into a deadly cocktail of bank loans, work insecurity and hunger. Now with the help of a local NGO she has managed to buy a small plot of land and build a house. For a widow in Bangladesh, this is a rare achievement.
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| News & Events |
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| Chavez blasts US criticism on human rights :::: AFP, Caracus |
| The president, Hugo Chavez, on Friday blasted US criticism of his government for alleged human rights abuses, and said there was no reason for much hope from the Barack Obama administration.
‘Well we can’t hold out much hope with this new US government, which will continue to be an empire; and the empire tramples on people, now irresponsibly accusing us of violating human rights,’ Chavez said in an interview on state television.
In a report released Thursday in Washington, the State Department said non-governmental organisations in Venezuela ‘noted an erosion of both democratic and human rights, with potentially severe consequences.’
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| COMMODITY SUPPLY MESS: Supermarket pioneer reveals findings |
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If middlemen are eliminated and agro-produces from growers reach directly to retailers, prices will remain low — it is not only a public perception, also many economists subscribe to this idea.
But, from his experience of running the operations of the country’s premier superstore chain Agora for the past eight years, Niaz Rahim does not agree to that. ‘Supply chain here is not so simple,’ he says.
In an exclusive interview the managing director of the Tk 1,400-crore Rahimafrooz Group described to New Age how farmers and small traders occasionally even abandon truckloads of vegetables unclaimed in Dhaka’s wholesale markets when they are unable to get the right prices of their produces.
In his opinion, due to the existing disorganised supply-chain, a coconut that costs Tk 7 in the coastal districts sells at Tk 25 in Dhaka.
Niaz also touched issues spanning from the government’s pledge to cut essential prices to the necessity of corporate management practice and corporate social responsibility.
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| Carnival Of Alternatives |
| The World Social Forum 2009 was a chaotic melting pot of ideas for a better world, writes JOHN SAMUEL
MUSIC WAS in the air. People were dancing on the street, drenched in an afternoon shower, with causes and convictions. In the late afternoon of January 27, more than 1,00,000 people, from 120 countries, filled the streets of Belem, Brazil, with dance, drums and dreams — a bright rainbow of peoples of the world. Their slogans reverberated across the horizons. They sang and danced for a greener earth, for justice, human rights and for a better world. By the evening, Belem looked like the worldoverflowing the central square — in a carnival of protest and poetry — seeking alternatives for a better world. That is how the ninth edition of the World Social Forum (WSF), from January 27 to February 1, began in Belem, the capital city of the Amazonian state of Para in Brazil.
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| Foreign aid flow may drop on meltdown:Revised budget cuts estimation to $2.02b from $2.14b:::: The Daily Star |
| The revised budget for the current fiscal year estimates that the country will receive $2.02 billion aid from multilateral and bilateral donors, which is 5.6 percent less than it was projected in the original budget.
The government, in the original budget, expected to receive $2.14 billion in foreign aid.
Although the donors assured the government of not slashing their financial assistance to Bangladesh, it is apprehended that the foreign aid flow would drop due to global meltdown, Economic Relations Division (ERD) sources said.
They also said Bangladesh rather might receive more than it used to get before the world economy plunged into deep recession, sources added.
The ERD sources said, they had already communicated with the multilateral and bilateral donors informally.
Bangladesh has already received 41 per cent or $875 million in aid. The amount was channeled to the country in between July and December last year while the amount was $822 million during the corresponding period of the last fiscal year.
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| A lingering global meltdown to hurt remittance:::: The Daily Star |
| Remittance from Bangladeshi migrant workers and export earnings will seriously be affected if the global recession lingers, Bangladesh Economic Association (BEA) President Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said yesterday.
“There will certainly be an impact on remittance, as many workers are already losing jobs abroad and overseas employment is coming down,” he said, speaking at a seminar on Economics of Migrant Remittance: What Shapes and What Shakes.
Besides, people will start saving more money if the recession continues for long, which will affect the country's export earnings, the economist said.
The programme was organised by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) at its auditorium in Dhaka.
The government must take immediate steps to address the issues, Dr Ahmad said. With demand for unskilled overseas workers dropping, the government in collaboration with the private sector should train in sectors that experiences more demand, he suggested.
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| G7 sets sights on urgent economic reform :::: AFP, Rome |
| The world’s richest nations called Saturday for urgent reform of the global finance system and commitments to safeguard free trade as countries struggle with the worst economic crisis in decades.
Italy’s finance minister Giulio Tremonti called for a ‘new world economic order’ as he wrapped up the crisis meeting of finance leaders from the Group of Seven leading economies over which he presided here.
In a joint declaration, the G7 called for ‘urgent reforms’ of the international financial system and reiterated a bleak outlook for the world economy, after fresh data showed the eurozone recession deepening.
The G7 delegates in a joint statement vowed to avoid protectionism as they seek to stabilise the tottering world economy and financial markets and said stabilisation of the world economy was their ‘highest priority’.
The global crisis ‘has highlighted fundamental weaknesses in the international financial system and that urgent reforms are needed,’ the statement said.
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| G7 ‘committed’ to avoiding protectionism :::: AFP, Rome |
| The Group of Seven rich nations is ‘committed to avoiding protectionism amid the global economic crisis, according to a draft statement obtained by AFP at G7 talks here on Saturday.
‘G7 remains committed to avoiding protectionist measures, to refraining from raising new barriers’ to world trade, according to excerpts of the statement.
The draft also urges a ‘rapid and ambitious’ conclusion of the Doha Round of trade talks. Ahead of Friday’s opening dinner of finance ministers and central bank heads from seven top industrialised nations, several delegates voiced alarm over protectionism which they fear may undermine efforts to ease the downturn.
International Monetary Fund head Dominique Strauss-Kahn warned of a ‘really big’ risk that the financial sector could be hit by a wave of protectionism – countries propping up their own economies in ways that harm others.
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| India restarts Tipaimukh barrage work :::: The Daily Star |
| India has started construction of Tipaimukh barrage barely one kilometer away from Jakiganj border threatening to dry up the flow of the Surma and Kushiara rivers during the winter.
The barrage on the Barak River at Churachandpur district in Assam will render barren vast arable lands in north-east of Bangladesh, change ecology and climate in the region.
Officials of the Water Development Board (WDB) told UNB yesterday that work on the barrage was started in March 2007 but postponed in the face of protest within and outside India.
A long march from Sylhet to Jakiganj and environmentalists in India had strongly protested the construction of the barrage.
According to the WDB officials, Indian state-owned NIPCO Company recently started the groundwork on the barrage. An appraisal committee of river valley and hydro-electric experts of India issued the clearance certificate for the barrage few months ago.
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| Enact new labour law to protect workers' rights:Trade union leaders urge govt :::: The Daily Star |
| Leaders of Bangladesh Trade Union Centre (BTUC) at a meeting yesterday demanded the government enact a democratic labour law with provisions for protecting interests of labourers and cancel the undemocratic provisions in the existing laws.
They called on the government to form a national wage commission, determine Tk 4,500 as minimum wage for the workers and to launch interim and variable daily allowances for them.
They placed the demand at the concluding session of BTUC's the two-day meeting at its office in the city with its Executive President Shahidullah Chowdhury in the chair.
General Secretary of the centre Wajedul Islam Khan presented a report that highlighted the situation existing for the last two years in the labour and industries sectors, prices of essentials, financial depression, deplorable situation of labourers and doings of BTUC.
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| Tackling Recession Fallout : Dhaka says no to IMF support offer :::: The Daily Star |
| IMF offers Bangladesh support in its efforts to offset any negative impact the country may face due to the global financial crisis, but Bangladesh says it does not need such assistance right now.
IMF Director of the Asia and Pacific region Anoop Singh at a press briefing yesterday said IMF has increased its assistance globally and is ready to help Bangladesh. A close dialogue will be maintained over the coming months, he added.
Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed told journalists: "IMF has proposed to give assistance if there is any pressure on balance of payment. However, we have said our overall economic situation is still strong. So we don't need assistance at the moment."
The central bank governor added the IMF proposal might be considered if any negative impact is found after getting the statistics of January and February.
A three-member IMF team led by Singh yesterday met members of the new government and discussed how best IMF could support Bangladesh's economic reform efforts.
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| G7 to focus on protectionism, says Italy :::: AFP, Millan, Italy |
| Finance ministers from the G7 most industrialised countries will discuss protectionism and the financial crisis at a meeting in Milan from Friday, Italy's finance ministry said.
"The February meeting will be mainly devoted to the global systemic response to the current crisis," said a statement on the ministry's website.
"Fostering a common framework for policy action and fighting protectionist pressures, which tend to gain strength in difficult economic conditions, will be the centrepiece of our work," the statement continued.
The debate over protectionism began after a "Buy American" clause in the US economic stimulus package being pushed through the US congress sparked concern inside the European Union
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| Govt will privatise public sector entities slowly, steadily: Jalil :::: The Daily New Age |
| The Awami League government will uphold the policy of privatising state-owned enterprises as a tool for industrial development, maintaining a ‘slow and steady’ process to ensure success, said the new chairman of the Privatisation Commission, Mirza Abdul Jalil.
Admitting to lapses in disinvestment of public sector entities in the past, he told newsmen on Wednesday that he would initiate an investigation into the allegations of irregularities in privatisation, and arrange post-privatisation monitoring to attain the objective of handing over the enterprises to the private entrepreneurs.
‘Privatisation is the panacea for industrialisation in the changed circumstances. Of course we there were lapses in the past in disinvesting the public entities,’ said Jalil, hinting at the formulation of a balanced policy by the present government to promote and accelerate industrialisation.
Jalil expressed the hope that the ministries and government agencies, which run and control the public sector enterprises, would extend their full cooperation to achieve the goal of privatisation in line with the government’s policy.
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| Pineapple growers deprived of fair price in Tangail!!!!The Daily New Age |
| ABDUR RAHIM, Tangail
There has been a bumper production of pineapples at different areas under Modhupur upazila in Tangail this season. But the growers are not getting fair price for their produce because of a string of adverse factors.Lack of storage facilities, deplorable condition of roads, and obstacles created by the local transport owners’ association are some of the major stumbling blocks that are denying the pineapple growers of fair price.
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| 'Neo-liberal' globalisation is over: ILO chief :::: AFP, Lisbon |
| The head of the International Labour Organisation on Tuesday declared "neo-liberal globalisation" over and called for Europe to take the lead in easing the fallout from the economic crisis.
"Now that neo-liberal globalisation no longer exists, the European social model remains," Juan Somavia told an ILO conference in Lisbon.
Europe should play "a bigger role" in easing the crisis, he said.
Neo-liberal policies are widely seen as favouring deregulation, privatisation and a drive for a smaller state role in the economy. The European social model is based on a larger role for government and generous social welfare provisions.
"We have to put in place a dialogue in order to act better to soften the impact of the crisis" through contact between governments, workers and employers, he said, adding that 50 million jobs were under threat worldwide.
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| WB calls for economic 'Marshall Plan' :::: AFP, Washington |
| The World Bank's chief economist called Monday for a "Marshall Plan" to help rebuild the global economy in the manner of the massive US aid plan for Europe at the end of World War II.
"Considering the global crisis we are in now, I think we should be more aggressive," World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin told a Washington conference.
"We need to be more imaginative. And I'd like to propose a global recovery fund in the spirit of Marshall Plan."
Lin proposed that high-income countries, with the leadership of the United States and reserve-rich countries like China and oil-exporting countries, pledge two trillion dollars for the five coming years for the effort.
This amount, around one percent of the economic output of the wealthy nations, could be used "to help the low-income countries to participate in this global coordinated fiscal stimulus."
He said the World Bank still sees a recovery in 2010, but noted that "there are many, many uncertainties" and that "the downside risk is really high."
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| WASA to launch pipeline rehab project in April :::: The Daily New Age |
| Work of much-awaited Dhaka Water Supply Sector Development Project is likely to begin from April this year aiming to rehabilitate the age-old water supply pipelines.
Sources in Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority said work of the Tk 1,500-crore project, funded by Asian Development Bank, was scheduled to commence in January last year, but they could not start it due to bureaucratic tangles.
‘We have already put forward the project plan
to the authorities concerned. We hope that the project work may start from April,’ project director Syed Qumarul Ahsan told New Age.
Many city dwellers are facing water crisis as they used to get dirty and stinky water, the project director said. ‘Most of water supply pipelines are age-old and leaked that cause the supply water to be polluted and become stinky.’
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| Menon expresses concern over US security assistance :::: The Daily New Age |
| The Workers Party of Bangladesh on Tuesday expressed concern over the US assurance that it would extend security assistance to Bangladesh for maintaining maritime boundary.
The United States assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asian affairs, Richard A Boucher, at a press briefing on Sunday, before leaving Bangladesh after his two-day visit, said the US would assist Bangladesh in ensuring maritime boundary.
The party president, Rashed Khan Menon, and the general secretary, Bimal Biswas, in a press statement expressed concern over the US security assistance.
Terming the US an imperialist country, the left leaders said they were responsible for aggressions in other countries.
Referring to the anti-Bangladesh role during the War of Independence in 1971, they said the United States never wished good for Bangladesh.
The US has already signed SOFA and HANA agreements with Bangladesh for capturing the national wealth of the country.
The left leaders called on the people to organise movements against every step of the United States. |
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| US offers to assist in manning sea borders: But rules out the idea of setting up military base; says Tifa not an issue for Bangladesh :::: The Daily Star |
| The US will assist Bangladesh in protecting its mineral-rich sea areas in the Bay of Bengal, US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Richard A Boucher said yesterday.
But Boucher said the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (Tifa) provides some basics and principles for further discussions to see what further steps could be taken to improve bilateral trade and investment.
"Truly, it is not an issue for us right now; surely not an issue for Bangladesh," he said at a news briefing at the Zia International Airport, wrapping up his two-day official visit to Bangladesh.
The new administration in Washington and the new trade representative will review all standard agreements and negotiations, he said, adding that the modalities of the proposed cooperation in maritime patrol depends upon Bangladesh's requirement within the US ability.
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| Environment polluting industries to be shut : Warns state minister in parliament :::: The Daily Star |
| The government will close down the mills and industries responsible for polluting environment to save the nation from disaster caused by climate change, the state minister for forest and environment told the House yesterday.
In response to the lawmakers' queries, State Minister Mostafizur Rahman assured the House that the government would not make any compromise with the mills and industries, which are polluting the environment.
The state minister, however, urged the House to adopt a resolution unanimously to save the rivers from being polluted and the country from the disaster of pollution.
“It's not possible for me alone to do the task. The House should pass a resolution for it. The matters should be dealt with nationally,” he said.
Replying to a question, Mostafizur also said one should think about the environment before establishing any mill or factory.
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| BNP demands immediate publication of latest TIFA draft :::: The Daily Independent |
| Opposition BNP yesterday demanded that the latest draft of Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) with the USA be made public enabling the nation to have a discussion on it.
"BNP firmly believes in building economic, trade and investment cooperation with any country in a principled and meaningful way in the interest of the nation. But it cannot accept any such agreement that harms the national interest," said a BNP statement on TIFA.
BNP secretary general Khandaker Delwar Hossain read out the written statement at a press briefing at 8:30 pm emerging from the party's ongoing adjourned Standing Committee meeting at Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office.
He said the newly installed ruling party has become desperate to sign TIFA with the USA. "It's not the objective of the present government to sign the agreement to protect Bangladesh's economic interest rather to draw sympathetic attention of the powerful USA," he said. |
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| Hunger focus in Bangladesh |
| “I am alone in this world with no family except my eight-year-old son,” says the forty-year-old Bangladeshi mother. “We are used to hunger - it is a part of our every day life.” |
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