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To the Editor...
Letters will only be considered If they carry the writer's full name, address and telephone number (If any). The Identity of the writers will be protected. Letters must be limited to 300 words. All letters will be subject to edltlna.
Sugar price
Sugar price hike is caused by two very simple reasons. First, we are a heavily sugar-deficit nation. Secondly, the second biggest exporter of the sweetener in the International market. India, has suffered crop-failure this year resulting in less production of sugar and ban on export sale. Meanwhile, in global market sugar price has risen quite sharply. We know in marketeconomy price of a commodity is solely determined on demand-supply formula, no amount of moral persuasion or punitive threat can hold the pattern in check
However, in such a situation what the concerned ministry could have done quietiy without much ado is to set up an efficiety, noir-corrupt distribution network throughout the country with whatever little stock of sugar it could garner locally and internationally to intervene in the market to douse the rage to some extent before it is too late.
Nobel Laureate Prof. Dr. Amartya Sen in his famous research findings on the last
great Bengal famine concluded that the famine was not so much caused by food scarcity but appalling failure of the distribution mechanism then in place.
It is highly relevant to mention here that our next-door neighbour, India's growth-miracle in every walk of national life was made possible, according to their own admission, only by exploiting the immense resources the rural India holds.
Tagore once said if we forget vast rural India and only nourish a few scattered urban spots, progress and development would always remain a far cry.
I trust our policy makers at the helm will not lose sight of this very fundamental thing to ’usher in a-teal 'change' in our country.
SA. Samad
General Manager (Retd.) Janata Bank
Dhaka
Education then and now
Mr S A Mansoor is himself a magical writer. His gems of
wisdom, advice and anecdotes from a fertile memory, are a must-read for readers and I always look first for his contributions in the Letters Page of DS. His information on the number 9 is familiar to most of us. Many more computations have since come to light over the last 8 decades, but at the moment memory fails.
I had always thought that Mr. Mansoor was a contemporary and he has confirmed that by divulging that he was in Class 8 in 1946 in Calcutta. I was then in Class 6 but since we sat for our Matriculation after Class 8 in St Xavier's School and College (as against Class 10 in most schools), perhaps we both graduated in 1952. This letter is, just a stroll down memory lane, so that f^acfeiS'fiiSy judge what education was, then, and what a mess it is now.
St Xavier's is run by the Belgian Jesuits and it is acknowledged, at least by Old Xavierians like me, as the epitome for education par excellence. Two small examples should suffice.
1. At least once/twice a week, a student or two would
be invited to see Father Van Buynder, our class teacher, then 70 +, in his small cubicle after school (3:00pm). What transpired there was usually not divulged. One day after a tough geometry class, I got the dreaded invitation just when 1 was looking forward to an hour's practice at the table tennis tables in the common room before going home. Since it was sacrilege to even think about avoiding it, I timidly knocked on his door at 3.30 sharp. Father was already at his desk (after 6 hours in classes) going through the class work. With twinkling eyes, he exclaimed "Ah, Ahmed, you really do not have a clue about that theorem we learnt today, do you?” Head down, I confessed, wondering how theH— he^knewtFor the next hour or so, Father patiently went through the theorem and explained it, till HE was satisfied, I had understood. Coaching classes, private tutors, parents doing somersaults at home? None of these ever marred our evenings and holidays as they were practically non-existent and a slur to the dedicated teachers of most of the better schools in Calcutta then.
2. Monday mornings usually began with an hour's essay on a surprise subject that Father wrote on the blackboard. One Monday, he just stood silently for a minute with the chalk in the middle of the blackboard, then he sat down in his chair and starting to read without as much as a glance at us. We waited expectantly for what seemed an eternity and then started to fidget while looking at each other. Finally, he looked up, "Anything the matter, boys? Haven't you started yet? You have already wasted 5 minutes" One of the bolder boys exclaimed “But, Father, you haven't given us the subject”. “Of course, I have, its right there in the centre" he said with a smile. All of us shouted in unison "That's just a small dot” He got up saying "Yes it is, isn't it? Now, let your imagination soar and write your essay on whatever you think that dot represents."
As I look around and see little boys/girls trudging along with back-packs heavier than themselves, schools sans playgrounds, playing fields turned into profitable fair grounds and youngsters playing games on electronic gadgets, while cooped up in their pigeon-hole flats, I feel a twinge of pity.
Sikander Ahmed
Niketon, Gulshan-1, Dhaka
Raped girl
Nupur, a poor girl, was raped recently in a village in Shariatpur district..
Now the question is what is Nupur'sfault?Isit the fault of being a girl? Why does she suffer alone still? I hear that the government as well as human rights groups are aware of women's rights, but then why is the culprit still roaming free while the victim Nupur is helpless?
I appeal to every conscious DS reader to do something for this hapless girl. Mete out justice, please.
Kazi Farid Hassan Naria, Shariatpur
Taxation rigmarole Needless to say that tax, vat and levy are essential economic factors in the running and development of a nation. However, this indispensable source of economic contribution declines through tax evasions on account of the complicated procedures. Apart from aforesaid rationale other causes of non-compliance are lack of awareness, officials' harassments, complicated law, reluctance to disclose income and assets, venal tax officials, nepotism, high compliance cost and political pressure and so forth. Pax accounts for 80% of the revenue receipts while remaining 20% is derived from other sources. There are very few citizens who pay their income tax to the government while most of us are evading it due to mainly complicated and inconvenient process, lack of awareness and lack of stringent actions against tax evaders. Let us come to the main point: our prime minister has pledged to digitalize Bangladesh by 2021 which needs not only the governments' honest all out efforts but also the assistance of its citizens to make the dream come true. There is no doubt that economic strength is the number one requirement to see Bangladesh as a digital nation. If the figure of tax evaders keeps growing, then it will remain a dream forever.
Hence, I would earnestly request NBR and ECNEC to make all out endeavours to collect tax from citizens through convenient and hassle free procedures. Hasnat, AlUB Batumi, Dhaka
Scarcity of books
The library facilities on the Rajshahi campus of AUB are not satisfactory. And the reading room inside the library is not spacious. But when the students are admitted here they are informed by the authorities that course materials will be given by them. But many books, especially English texts, are not available in the library. As a result, in every semester the students of English department are bound to buy a lot of books. These books are very costly.
The university authorities should address the issue. Sheuli Sarkar
Department of English, Asian University, Rajshahi Campus
Students and terror
According to the definition of Oxford dictionary "terrorism” means 'the use of violent action in order to achieve political aims or to force a government to act'. As per the extroversion of international law, there are different tyres of terrorism viz. international terrorism, national terrorism, communal terrorism, racial terrorism and so forth. But we cannot find any place for "student terrorism” in international law.
"Student-terrorism" is the violent action of the students involved in politics to achieve their selfish goals in the name of politics. As a conscious student, 1 regularly go through the newspapers. I cannot but be astonished to learn about the criminal activities of those students. We, the students of different institutions, should have the aim of doing well in exams. However, campus violence stands in our way. It must be banished, once and for all. Md. Ruhin Baluj La wand Justice Departmen t Rajshahi University
Drug abuse
Drug addiction is increasing at an alarming rate in our country. Like all other problems, this problem also has a solution. Many developed and developing countries are adopting those ways but in our country, there are no special effects of those steps. We are facing difficulties to solve this problem because of the scarcity of caring Drug Rehabilitation Centers (DRC). Though we have a small number of DRCs, they are not trained enough to manage drug addiction.
However, it is a matter of great hope that some DRCs are playing an important role in this respect.
Hasan Al Touaha Department of Criminology and Police Science (CPS) MBSTU
BSMMU scene
Ten professors and an associate professor of different departments of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), were dismissed for their alleged political affiliation. The Registrar of the University said that the decision was taken by the BSMMU syndicate.
It deserves mention that some of the professors who were terminated are experts in their fields and acceptable to the doctor community. For the sake of argument, let us say that their termination is valid because they were politically appointed. Now the question arises, what about the Vice Chancellor who was politically appointed? Besides the Vice Chancellor many AL loyalist doctors were appointed during the last nine months.
If the government really wants to save this university, It should cancel all appointments based on political affiliation. 1 heard that due to political appointments now the number of doctors at BSMMU is more than the number of patients, whereas there is an acute shortage of physicians outside the city.
If doctors are given degree and appointed on the basis of political affiliation, patients will be killed by them instead of being cured!
Dr. Mahboob Hossain Associate Professor Departm ent ofPharmacy The University of Asia Pacific Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Role of SMEs
SMEs are the driving force behind any growing economy like Bangladesh. When the country is suffering from scarcity of investment, the SMEs are showing great
enthusiasm to invest more, though they are facing hurdles due to the fact that the commercial banks and non-bank financial institution^ (NBFIs) charge high interest rate on loans.
In many cases, effective interest goes beyond 18 percent. Private banks and nonbank financial institutions (NBFIs) are charging 15 to 20 percent, while state owned commercial banks' rate ranges between 12 to 13 percent. Though Bangladesh Bank facilitates refinancing scheme at 5% rate of interest, banks and non-bank financial institutions are imprudently chargingsuch high rates.
Of course, the supervision cost of SME loans is high but that leaves no excuses for banks since they are giving agricultural loans at a lower rate, which have the similar supervision cost. Because of the nervous mood of the businessmen in the last few years, especially during the caretaker government, the banks are now piled up with idle money amounting to about 30,000 crore taka. The banks can make use of this money facilitating the SMEs, which will boost our export business.
Md. Abu Sufi an University of Dhaka Golapbag, Dhaka
Prospects of tourism sector Tourism in Bangladesh is a slowly developing foreign currency earner. The country has much to attract international and domestic tourists.
In the northern part, comprising of the Rajshahi division, there are archaeological sites, including the temple city Puthia in Rajshahi; the largest and most ancient archaeologi-
cal site, Mahasthangarh in Bogra; the single largest Buddhist monastery, Paharpur in Naogaon; the most ornamental terracotta Hindu temple in Bangladesh, Kantaji Temple, and many rajbaris or palaces of old zamindars.
In the south-western part, mainly the Khulna division, there is the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest of the world with Royal Bengal Tiger and spotted deer. The historically and architecturally important sixty- domed mosque in Bagerhat is a notablesite.
In the south-eastern part, which is the Chittagong division, there are maihly natural and hilly sites along with sandy sea beaches. The most notable beach is the longest unbroken sandy sea beach in the world in Cox's Bazar.
In the north-eastern part, Sylhet division, there is a green carpet of tea plants on small hillocks. Naturally reserved forests are great attractions. Migratory birds in winter, particularly in the haor areas, are also very attractive.
If you ask people what is the importance of tourism, the following answers are likely to be heard:
(a) Tourists spend money. (b)Tourism generates employment.
(c) Tourism is the fastest growingindustry.
(d) The country becomes popular.
So there is no denying that from Bangladesh point of view, tourism is a very potential and significant sector, which truly deserves both the government and private initiatives to be developed.
Shohag Mostafij
MBA: Stream- Strategic & International Management (SIM)
University of Dhaka
Talk shows galore There is a good saying for a man to be a good person --"hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil". If we hear no evil, we will be happy, if we speak no evil, we will not harm others and if we see no evil, we will be in peace. In Bangladesh almost every hour of the day there are talk shows in private tv channels, sometimes simultaneously. Whenever, we tune to a Bangladeshi channel, we find a talk show going on. The viewers feel the private chan-nels have no other programmes except ads and talk shows to keep their channels running. We believe, the channel authorities bring in participants from "shushil shomaj" who are experienced, high profile politicians or former high officials.
In this world of freedom none can object to others'
right to express their views and opinions. So, the participants of Bangladesh private tv channel talks shows have the right to express their thoughts. And we have the right to comment on their opinions. Most of the talk show participants are members of different political parties, they see everything in light of their individual party's views. We the viewers never find anyone neutral. They try to find others' faults and cover-up their own faults. Instead of helping the viewers to learn the good sides of events, they spread confusingstories.
The private channels have the right to bring anyone on their shows and we have the right to listen or not to listen to them at all! We are peaceful when we hear no bad news, see no bad incident and speak
no bad to our adversaries. So, hear no evil, speak no evil and see no evil, we will remain happy for the rest of the day! Shafiqul Islam, NY
Birth anniversary of PM
The nation in general and the Awami League and its front organisations in particular celebrated birth anniversary of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with due fanfare and enthusiasm. But we are yet to know the actual number of her birth anniversary this year. Different TV channels observed her 63rd birth anniversary through news telecast, while The Daily Star in its 28th September, 2009 issue mentioned it as 62nd birth anniversary.
Which one is correct?
M.L. Rahman
Uttara, Dhaka