Formulate complete action plan for river dredging, PM orders at maiden meeting of committee on dredging, water resources

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed the authorities concerned to immediately formulate a complete action plan for dredging the country’s rivers, which have mostly silted up and create water crisis in the summer and over-flooding in the rainy season.

She made the directive while chairing the maiden meeting of the recently formed high-powered committee on river dredging and water resource management at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Tuesday.

Sheikh Hasina also told the meeting that the proposed long-term river-dredging project should not be of more than 15 years as “rivers must be given back their navigability immediately”.

Besides, she said, the massive river-dredging project should be started through re-excavating Gorai River since its process had advanced much during the previous Awami League government’s rule with foreign development partners’ finances. She regretted that the subsequent BNP-Jamaat government stopped this one and other dredging projects.

The Prime Minister further asked the authorities to deploy two fulltime dredgers at the estuaries of the Karnaphuli connecting Chittagong seaport and Pashur River linking Mongla seaport to the Bay of Bengal to keep the two important shipping channels navigable round the year.

“Country’s rivers will have to be kept navigable to protect the people from unusual floods, tidal surges and rive erosion,” she said.

Prime Minister Hasina said Dhaleswari, Kapatakkha, Turag, Balu and other rivers will also be dredged in phases. At the same time, maintenance dredging will have to be continued periodically.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed news men after the meeting, which lasted three hours elaborately dwelling on the problems stemming from loss of navigability of rivers as well as aqua-resources.

Finance Minister AMA Muhit, Agriculture Minister Begum Motia Chowdhury, Planning Minister Air Vice-Marshal (rtd) AK Khandakar, Land Minister Rezaul Karim Hira, Water Resources Minister Ramesh Chandra Sen, Foreign Minister Dr. Dipu Moni, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan, Prime Minister’s Advisers HT Imam and Dr Mashiur Rahman and State Minister for Environment and Forests Dr Hasan Mahmud and secretaries concerned attended the meeting. Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister MA Karim and PMO Secretary Mollah Waheeduzaman were present.

The PM lamented that most of the country’s 310 rivers are dying and losing water-preserving capacity for lack of dredging.

“Dredging was not continued regularly in Bangladesh after the Second World War, which resulted in the present polluted, silted condition of most of the rivers,” she told the meeting.

She mentioned that the last Awami League government had planned the dredging of the rivers and started implementing several projects. But the BNP-Jamaat government had stopped the projects “only on political considerations, which later compounded people’s sufferings and caused waste of huge money”, she said.

Hasina noted that the rivers are just like arteries of human body. “If we can save our rivers, our existence will be saved.”

About the previously proposed 30-year-long project for river dredging, the Prime Minister said the scheme should not have over 15-year lifespan.

“We must have a total action plan immediately. There should not be any delay in this regard. Our rivers must be saved,” she said on a high note of urgency.

Sheikh Hasina mentioned her meeting with the representatives of various donor countries and agencies at the PMO few months back regarding mobilizing funds to launch the massive save-the-rivers project.

She also said she had talks with World Bank officials when she was in the United States during the last caretaker government’s rule about the necessity of dredging Bangladesh’s rivers and need for the development partners’ financial assistance in this regard.
“Our development partners are positive on providing assistance. But we need to chalk out the river-dredging project very effectively,” she told the preparatory meeting.

Hasina observed that increasing global warming caused global climate change, and countries like Bangladesh would be worst sufferer of the climate-change-caused natural disasters.

“We cannot sit idle. We will have to remain careful about the disastrous impacts of the climate change and take proper steps to save our people from the natural disasters,” she said.

Long haul to Samcholing school

Without boarding or teacher’s quarter facilities, it’s a 10 km hike back and forth
23 August, 2009 - Going to school in remote Bhutan involves hours of walking. In Samcholing, Trongsa, it is not just some students either.

The 121 students and 10 teachers of the recently upgraded lower secondary school walk uphill for hours to their school without boarding or teacher’s quarter facilities. Located above the main Samcholing village, there is no settlement around for teachers to rent houses and all the 16 teaching and non-teaching staff walk five and half km every day to reach the school. Some students walk about 10 km.

The only female teacher in the school, Shoba G, stays in Kuengarabten. “I wake up at 5 am every morning and walk for an hour and a half to reach school,” she said.

The 2.7 km farm road that connects the school from the Trongsa-Zhemgang highway is not pliable.

Farmers of Samcholing, who live on a sharecropping system and own little land of their own, are not happy too. “We’re the least developed people and our children have no bordering facilities,” said a 52-year-old father. “If the school wasn’t in our village, our children would avail hostel facilities in Taktse middle secondary school,” said another villager.

Walking for hours early in the morning tires students and teachers, which hamper daily lessons, according to a teacher, who chose anonymity. “Students don’t get the attention they deserve and they can’t not give attention in classes too,” he said. “Some students doze off in the first period itself.

The situation becomes worse during monsoons. With incessant rainfall, the rivers get swollen and the footpath becomes too slippery. “I fell down several times and had to take leave,” Shoba G said.

The principal of the school, Tshering Wamling, said that classes had to be called off for about three days, as most students could not make it to school.

Tshering Wamling told Kuensel that the teachers would have to bear the problem for this academic year but things are expected to improve in future, if the road condition is improved and the proposal for a three unit teacher’s quarter materialises. “Taking into consideration the economic situation of the place, I’ve put up a proposals for hostel facilities in the gewog yargye tshogdue,” he said.

The gewog is aware of the problems faced by teachers and students, according to Drakteng gup Tenzin. “Samcholing school was upgraded because Kuengarabten primary school could not be upgraded due to lack of space,” he said.

Gup Tenzin said that the construction of teachers’ quarter is in the pipeline and the proposal for hostel facility was also discussed in the dzongkhag yargye tshogdue. “It depends on the education office in the dzongkhag to provide the facility,” he said, adding that the education office rejects the proposals on grounds that the school is located near the road head and village. “Samcholing was planned as a day school and day schools don’t get any hostel facilities,” said the district education officer in Trongsa, Karma Sonam.

However, gup Tenzin said that teachers could stay in Samcholing village. “But most prefer to stay in Kuengarabten because of lack of electricity in Samcholing,” he said. “An electricity connection could solve the problem.”

By Tashi Dema, Trongsa

see the wonder

Cox's Bazar is the most beautiful beach resort of Bangladesh located near Myanmar border.
The tourist capital of Bangladesh offers miles of golden sands, towering cliffs, surfing waves, rare conch shells, colorful pagodas, Buddhist temples and tribes and delightful seafood.
Having the world's longest (120 kilometers.) beach sloping gently down to the blue waters of the Bay of Bengal, Cox's Bazar is one of the most attractive tourist spots in the country that you can visit on your Bangladesh tour.
Aggameda Khyang elaborately planned and decorated is situated near the entrance to the Cox's Bazar town. It is nestled at the foot of a hill under heavy cover of a stand of large trees.
The main sanctuary-cum-monastery is carried on a series of round timber columns, which apart from accommodating the prayer chamber and an assembly hall, also is the repository of a large of small bronze Buddha images-mostly of Burmese origin-- and some old manuscripts.
Apart from an inscription in Burmese over its entrance, the temple contains some large stucco and bronze Buddha images. Cox's Bazaar offers unspoilt beach Himacheri of about 32 km. The famous "Broken Hills" and waterfalls here are rare sights to be relished with delight.
Inani beach casts a magic spell on those who step into that dreamland. It is only half an hour's drive from Cox's Bazar and an ideal place for Sea-bathing and picnic.

PM forbids businesspeople from charging excessive prices for essentials;Hasina spells out two novel power-saving measures

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged businesspeople not to put the commoners into sufferings by charging excessive prices for essential commodities during the holy month of Ramadan.

“It is a moral duty of all to look into the interest of the common people,” she said while addressing the regular cabinet meeting Monday at the Bangladesh Secretariat that dealt with a comprehensive agenda encompassing price, power, ports, duty-free shops in ports, allocation of abandoned houses and so.

Addressing a press briefing in the conference room of the Press Information Department (PID) on the proceedings of the cabinet meeting, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad said Sheikh Hasina observed that the prices of essentials “should not be so high which may put people into suffering”.

One of the agenda of the cabinet meeting was reconsidering the shifting of the BIWTA Headquarters to Barisal. While addressing the agenda, the Prime Minister preferred Narayanganj as the suitable location for setting up the headquarters of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA).

The cabinet meeting approved an action plan on popularizing solar energy and CFL bulb to save electricity, as the government is trying to harness all the useful prospects for resolving the cumulative power problem.

The cabinet meeting also endorsed the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (Amendment) Act 2009 and the Climate Change Trust Fund Policy.

Besides, the council of ministers decided that abandoned houses will be sold out to the families of martyred freed fighters and wounded freedom fighters at the rate of 1972.

Dealing with another agenda item, the cabinet decided that individuals will be facilitated in setting up duty-free shops inside international airports, river and land ports.

Azad told the journalists that Sheikh Hasina renewed her call for introducing solar panels in the urban areas’ educational institutions and big mills and factories in a bid to reduce pressure on the national grid of electricity.

The Prime Minister further suggested making use of CFL bulbs (capable to save 80 percent energy)) popular in all institutions and houses.

She now spelt out two novel power-saving measures: switching off air-conditioners for one hour a day and taking off suits of dignitaries during hot days.

Sheik Hasina thinks that electricity can be saved significantly by keeping air-conditioners in all institutions and offices off for one hour a day.

The PM requested all not to take the air-conditioner below 24 degrees Celsius as it will help save electricity.

She also urged all to keep bulbs put off in daylight.

As a latest concept in Bangladesh, Prime Minister Hasina suggested that wearing pants and shirts instead of suits in offices during hot season from March to November could save much of the electricity that goes into cooling rooms.

Abul Kalam Azad informed the journalists that, at present, 3.5 lakh families are getting service from the solar-energy system.

He mentioned that the government has already adopted Renewable Energy Policy.

The policy includes introducing CFL bulbs in every government office and solar panels within the next three years and keeping the provision of solar panel in the building code, facilitating production of CFL bulbs.

He said 450-MW electricity by 2015 and 1600 MW by 2020 is expected to be added up into the national grid through implementing the renewable energy policy.

The press conference was told that, at present, the country’s aggregate power-generation capacity is 5,166 MW while presently 38,00-42,00 MW electricity is being generated.

The highest power generation was recorded at 4,205 MW on June 27 this year.

Regarding the climate-change policy, Abul Kalam Azad said from now on a Trustee Board and a Technical Committee will run the climate-change trust fund as the previous national steering committee will be abolished.

A minister or the State Minister for Environment Ministry will be chairman of the Trustee Board.

Ministers and State Ministers for Finance, Agriculture, Shipping, Water Resources, LGRD, Health, Women, and Foreign Affairs and the Cabinet Secretary will also be on the board committee.

Hasina urges Kyrgyzstan to import pharmaceuticals, ceramic products from Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the Kyrgyz Republic to import Bangladeshi products, including high quality pharmaceuticals and ceramic wares.

The Prime Minister made the call while Kyrgyz ambassador to Bangladesh Irina Orolbavea paid a courtesy call on her at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Sunday morning.

During the meeting, they discussed various issues relating to national, regional and international developments.

Hasina said Bangladesh attaches due importance to its relationship with Kyrgyzstan.

She said her government is ceaselessly working to establish rule of law and justice in the society by fulfilling its election pledges.

The Prime Minister said the present government is strongly committed to further strengthening democratic institutions in the country to establish transparency and accountability at all levels of administration.

She said Bangladesh wants to work with the friendly countries to maintain regional and international peace.

The Kyrgyz Ambassador greeted Sheikh Hasina for the outstanding victories of Bangladesh National Cricket Team against West Indies and Zimbabwe.

She said that sharing this experience, Kyrgyzstan’s culture and sports can be strengthened significantly.

The Kyrgyz envoy also appreciated the quality of Bangladeshi readymade garments including knitwear and woven stuffs.

Secretary to the Prime Minister’s office Mollah Waheeduzzaman, Prime Minister’s Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad and Ambassador M Ziauddin were present on the occasion.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina held back for traffic jam

Terrible traffic congestion that has made the city life a misery for the last few days delayed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s arrival at the PMO in Tejgaon area Sunday.

Sheikh Hasina, who usually comes to her office in time, had to wait quite some time on the Sheraton-Farmgate road as her motorcade got stuck up in the traffic tailback in the morning.

Dear friends, this is the picture of Dhaka. Day by day Dhaka, a city of some 1.5 crore people are becoming ineligible to live. Only timely decision and plans and its cent percent implementation can save our city.

Pohela Boishakh (Bangla New Year)

Pohela Boishakh, the colourful Bangla New Year's Day festival takes place in University of Dhaka campus where a large number of people gather welcoming the new year. The ceremony is held at the Institute of Fine Arts. Students and teachers of the institute and other faculties take out a colourful procession and parade round the campus. Social and cultural organisations celebrate the day with cultural programmes.
The beauty loving people should come to the Dhaka University campus to watch the celebration of Bengali new year.

Afforestation policy endangers Bangladesh’s wildlife: by UNB Staff Writer Sheikh Adnan Fahad

Published On: 2008-01-19 in Daily Star, Metropolitan page


The present afforestation policy has endangered Bangladesh's rare species of wildlife because it is unsuitable for her ecological balance and biodiversity.

Experts said Bangladesh should review its afforestation policy to make it helpful for the wildlife by making the environment suitable for their habitation.

“Bangladesh is implementing a British afforestation policy of 1873. In the name of afforestation, we're actually doing plantation. Our own natural forests are being destroyed while foreign trees are being planted across the country,” Prof Kazi Zaker Husain, head of The Wildlife Society of Bangladesh, told UNB yesterday.

Prof Husain said some 80 percent of the exotic trees planted under the afforestation programme have been imported from foreign countries.

The existence of rare species of wildlife, including Hoolock Gibbon (known as Ulluk in Bangladesh), wild elephant, deer, and various types of tigers, are at stake due to plantation of these imported trees.

“By planting these you can increase the number of trees, but cannot protect the environment and biodiversity,” Prof Zaker said.

The animals are directly or indirectly dependent on trees for their survival. The trees and animals are living through co-evolution in a particular place for thousands of hundreds of years. “If you cut down such trees now, then what will happen to the animals? The foreign trees are completely unknown to them,” Prof Zaker said.

He said Bangladesh is creating mono-culture forests where only one type of tree is being planted in a vast tract of land which is destructive for the wild animals.

“In a natural forest, many kinds of trees are available on which various species of animals find food and environment to live on.

But in a mono-culture forest, only one type of tree is available, that's why animals find it difficult to live on the same trees for scarcity of food and ecological support,” added Prof Zaker.

Elephants, for example, need banana trees and bamboo saplings as their food. “But in Bangladesh, to recover the lost or destroyed natural forests, we usually plant one type of tree and we don't allow any small trees like bamboo or banana trees over the area. Thus we get some trees in a particular area. But at the same time we destroy the food stock of the animals,” he said.

Prof Zaker said Bangladesh should stop the mono-culture afforestation programme immediately as it needs afforestation on the lands where natural forests have been destroyed. “Those lands only require protection for the natural growth of local trees.”

Prof Anwarul Islam, chief executive of Wildlife Trust of Bangladesh (WTB), said 10 percent of the country's total land can be declared as protected areas where local trees will grow naturally.

Considering the economic interest of the people and the country, Prof Anwarul said another section of land can be allocated as buffer zone where some fast-growing exotic species of trees would be planted. But the exotic trees will have to be eco-friendly.

“For timber and firewood, we can make some buffer zones. Exotic trees can be planted in the buffer zones. But the trees will have to be selected through deep research,” he added.

Ship building industry in Bangladesh by UNB staff writer Fahad Ferdous

Bangladesh Bank, central bank of the country, should introduce refinancing at a lower rate by the government for industrial loan to set up shipbuilding industry as well as its working capital, a government committee has recommended in its report.

The committee, led by Director General of Export Promotion Bureau Md Khalilur Rahman, was formed to submit report on problems and prospects of the shipbuilding industry. The report was recently submitted to the ministry concerned.

The report suggested that the single borrower exposure limit of commercial banks should be increased to 65 percent for non-funded facilities from the existing 35 percent. According to the present system, single borrower exposure limit of commercial banks has been fixed at 50 percent (funded 15 percent and non-funded 35 percent) of the total capital.

“This is not sufficient for shipbuilding sector in extending non-funded facilities. It should be increased to 65 percent for non funded facilities for investment in the shipbuilding sector,” the report said.

The report made its recommendations in four parts -- financial, human resource development, infrastructure and marketing.

In the financial part, it recommended that the limit of government deposit in private commercial banks has to be increased from present 25 percent to 50 percent and that should be earmarked for investment in shipbuilding sector. It also mentioned that commission for import L/Cs has to be fixed at 0.25 percent per three months.

The committee also suggested 10 percent interest for industrial loan while 7 percent interest for working capital loan with nil margin for bank guarantee and nil L/C margin for 100 percent export oriented shipbuilding industry.

To avoid issuing counter bank guarantee by a foreign bank as the bank guarantee issued by the local banks is not accepted by the buyer’s bank, the committee suggested that Bangladesh bank could maintain a record of such guarantees issued by local banks with cross reference to each other.

In the human resource development part, the committee suggested to form a committee by the government with the members of marine engineering department of universities, technical institutions, concerned association and ship exporting companies to review the course curriculum every two years and prepare a need basis syllabus.

The report also suggested making necessary arrangement for opening naval architecture and marine engineering department in the universities of Khulna, Chittagong and Barisal regions.

In the infrastructure part, the committee suggested to establish a special zone having technical and geographical facilities including deep channel, 200+ meter height of bridges on the rivers and uninterrupted electricity and gas supply for 100 percent export oriented shipbuilding industries.

“The bank of Meghna River at Gazaria, Munshiganj may be considered as the first special zone, the eastern side of Karnaphuli River may be considered as the second special zone and the bank of Pashur River considered as the third special zone on the basis of conducting survey,” the committee report said.

Arrangement may made to identify possible backward linkage industries like ship’s out fittings, safety accessories, marine lighting, maritime signs, symbols and posters, anchor and chain, marine cables, electrical and electronic items, pipes, pumps, ropes, angle, shipbuilding plate, piston rings, switch gear, marine spare parts, and marine technologies.

In the marketing side, the report suggested to take necessary steps by the Bangladesh missions aboard for boosting up export of ships.

It also recommended that Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) should ensure regular participation in the important international maritime exhibitions and fairs.

Virtual office needs to be popularized; it can help reduce high rent of office space, traffic jam by Mahfuzur Rahman

The use of web and advanced phone services have already transformed the way businesses are done in the country and now it is time for companies to increasingly use the Internet as a virtual office, improving their productivity at all levels.

“With a virtual office, first of all, you’ll be able to get rid of the high cost of your rental space and use your home as your office,” said Muhammad Fazlur Rahman, a former Secretary of the government.

He says, “Many senior executives of multinational companies nowadays do not attend their offices in person. They do their jobs sitting at home when many others spend too much of time in traffic, driving to and from office everyday.”

With fuel prices on the rise, a virtual office can help a company save a lot of money it spends every month on transportation of its staff. “Besides,” according to experts, “the virtual office will allow its staff to avoid the everyday traffic jam on the city streets. Those who are tired of spending hours together in traffic jam everyday would like to join such offices.”

Describing the further benefits of virtual office, Barrister Ahsan Habib said: “You've found, for example, an expert you want to hire for your office, but he lives in the UK and you’re in Dhaka. With a virtual office, you can make such a remote player part of your team. Internet can make it easier. You need his service, not his physical presence.”

Barrister Habib, who lives in the UK and had been in Dhaka recently, said: “A newspaper reporter was my neighbor in East London. I never saw him going to office. One day I asked him, how come a journalist never visits his office! Then he said, ‘we don’t need to go to office as we work online. My boss assigns through online and I file my stories the same way, that’s it.”

“Working at home is gradually becoming a normal phenomenon, especially in the United States and Europe. This new trend has been coined ‘telework’, or working at a place away from one’s traditional workplace, but maintaining constant contact with it through the use of modern information, hi-tech and telecommunication gadgets,” writes a writer in a Russian journal.

He says the number of ‘teleworkers’ is growing at about 20-30 percent globally every year. For instance, he says, the number of ‘teleworkers’ in Finland is about one-third of the number of the nation’s able-bodied, employable population.

In 2007, the Confederation of Netherlands Industry and Employers wrote a letter to their government to reward “home workers” with an anti-traffic jam bonus. The organization actually wanted “home workers” to be compensated for the costs of home-working such as light, energy and the cost of setting up an office in their homes. This, the Confederation says, will reduce traffic congestion and promote economic growth.

Telework in Bangladesh can bring about a big change. The companies here, especially those with limited financial resources to foot the ever-increasing office rents in major cities, can ask their expert employees, whose physical presence does not matter, to work from home.

The virtual office system has already arrived in Bangladesh in one way or the other. There are many small businesspeople in the country carrying out their business through online. Take the example of SM Farhad Ullah, a supplier of garment accessories in the port city of Chittagong.

Farhad Ullah does his business with the help of his assistants without having any office. “This is my startup venture… I’ve got a fax machine, one laptop and a number of telephones at my home. I’m doing fine. Technology has made things easier. We need to take advantage of that,” he said

For an effective virtual office, according to experts, one only needs to provide genuine professionals reliable infrastructure, an effective network access, a professional phone system, technical support and a well-thought out action plan.

When there are benefits of virtual office, there are drawbacks as well. “With the popularization of virtual office, many unskilled and semiskilled people may lose their jobs. Besides, the ‘teleworkers’ or ‘home workers’ may feel bored working at home all day long. And most importantly, lack of face to face communication may result in misunderstandings and confusion with the management,” said Barrister Habib.

“Anyway”, he said, “the benefits of virtual office are much more than its drawbacks and we need to popularize it as it’ll help manage time and space very effectively.”

Bounties aplenty for victors

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared a cash award of Tk 3 lakh each for the members of the triumphant Bangladesh cricket team who recently clinched test and one-day international series wins in a row against West Indies and Zimbabwe, as she extended them praise and perks.

She also said the winning tigers will be given a grand reception after the end of this mourning month of August, which commemorates the sad demise of the country’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and most members of his family.

Sheikh Hasina made the announcement when the national cricketers, now basking in the acclaim for their memorable win spree in the international cricket, met the Prime Minister at her official residence Jamuna Saturday.

Congratulating the players—all young and promising in this game of glory--the Prime Minister gave a pat on their back and garlanded them. She also presented gifts to the officials of the cricket-team management.

On behalf of the cricket team, its captain and world-champion all-rounder Sakib Al Hasan presented the Prime Minister the winning trophy of Zimbabwe tour and a cricket bat synchronized with the national players’ signatures.

Earlier at the moment of ecstasy, the BCB had announced a bonus of Tk 1.5 crore for the tigers for their maiden overseas test-series triumph against West Indies.

Addressing the cricket team, the Prime Minister hailed players as “victorious tigers” and said she was too overwhelmed to express her joy over the triumphs of the national cricket team.

“The whole nation is proud of you. You are our golden boys,” she told the young cricketers.

Hasina noted that like all she also hopes that the tempo of victory, which started in the West Indies and Zimbabwe, would continue in the future also.

“Just carry on hard work with integrity. The government and the people will be with you,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said though the players are the main factors in the field of sports, the government and the authorities have the most significant role to play.

A smiling Hasina told them that Bangladesh had been able to attain the test status when Awami League government was in power in the previous tenure.

“If a government does not promote sports and culture, a country cannot have significant achievements in the fields,” she said.

The Prime Minister focused on the significance of media role in flourishing sports in the country, calling upon the media people to write in such a way so that the players got more inspired to gather glory for the nation.

She further asked the developers to ensure playground whenever the real-estate companies implement any housing projects. She also asked for conserving water- bodies in and around project sites.

“It makes me unhappy when I see our children in the urban areas not having enough space to play in. Without involvement in sports, a child cannot be grown up with full mental and physical health, confidence and bravery,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina stressed the need for introducing modern technologies and equipment in training facilities for the cricketers to keep the winning streak on stream in the days to come.

“From the government, we will do everything possible for development of the sports sector,” she said in her promise while announcing the perks.

We invite you all to see the simple world

Bangladesh, the country that attained its independence defeating mighty Pakistani military in 1971 is a land of heavenly beauty. The green paddy lands, trees across the country, the rivers, canals, the hills and lakes have made Bangladesh a real land of scenic beauty.

Here nature has blessed the lands and its ever-smiling people with its resources openhandedly.

The hospitable people of Bangladesh invite all of the earth to come to this beautiful land and enjoy the beauties of nature and the society.

All sons and daughters of the globe are welcome to Bangladesh