NGO News Desk :: Dhaka, 27th August 2013. Today 92 civil society organizations from the Asia Pacific region condemn role of US and other developed countries in pressurizing developing countries of Asia Pacific region to come up with their terms while preparing declaration of Asia Pacific Ministerial Meeting on Post 2015 development agenda. Civil society has urged to take the principles of equity and justice in setting post 2015 development agenda.
In a press statement Asia Pacific civil society has come up with a bold vision for ‘development justice’ in a meeting prior to this Ministerial.  Development justice is a framework that addresses the growing inequalities of wealth, of power, of resources, and of opportunities that exist between countries, between rich and poor, and between men and women. It is found on the principles of equality and justice for all, given that vast majority of the peoples of the region suffer from the impacts of climate change, resource grabbing, loss of livelihoods and declining wages even as wealth accumulate among few families and transnational corporations in the advanced economies in the North.
On behalf of the civil society organizations there are 40 civil society representatives participating in the ministerial who came up in front of the UN ESCAP building in Bangkok and stand up for a demonstration. The demonstration was led the group spokesperson Mr. Paul Quintos of IBON International, Philippines. Bangladeshi civil society right activist Rezaul Karim Chowdhury from EquityBD has also participated in the demonstration and the ministerial.

NGO News Desk :: The recent worrisome situation of river erosion and high tide water intrusion of Bhola passing since May 2013. The situation getting worsen day by day but government haven’t taken yet any effective initiatives  for protection.  At least 0.5 million peoples are struggling with flood water. Peoples are badly suffering  for food, drinking water, sanitation and protecting their household & belongings. The recent washed out 12 k.m. embankment still open for water intrusion to locality, which is repeatedly worsening the situation into deep crisis.

Today labor, farmer and six civil society organizations from Bhola district namely BKB, Bo-Dip Forum, COAST, DUS, FDA, GJUS and PSS in a Human chain in front of the National Press Club, Dhaka, at 11.00  urges for immediate deployment of Army along with Water Development Board (WDB) to construct embankment and stopped flood water intrusion. The speaker at  the Human Chain also demand to the government to declare Bhola district as disaster emergency situation.

On behalf of the groups Badrul Alam of Bangladesh Krishak Federation demands for undertaking embankment construction immediately to protect the farmlands. Historian Kalam Farazi of Borhanuddin Unnoan Forum claims that government is denying our human rights and citizens rights. He claims to declare Bhola as an disaster emergency and start relief and rehabilitation works. Nakib Chwodhury of Bo Dip Forum seeks attention of the MPs and political parties to get into common consensus to pressures government for immediate response. Chowdhury Nazimul Islam also from Bo Dip Forum  beware the political parties and government if they fail to rescue disaster victim they will be thrown by the people of Bhola.

Mostafa Kamal Akhanda of COAST trust moderrated the Human Chain event and speak up six specific demand fromt the organizer. The demands are as below:

(1) Immediate deployment of Army along with WDB personnel to construct flood water protection embankment in the eroded 12 k.m. open river bank. (ii) Alocation of  Tk. 60 billions to protect the island permanently, (iii) WDB might reduce 20% cost by avoiding political interferences and making the tender process transparent, competitive and fair, (iv) Deploying Army Engineering units simultaneously with the WDB for construction river bank protection CC block, (v) WDB must consider process of public participation from planning to implementation stages of the project; (vii) WDB should prepare information disclosure and complain response mechanism in the grass root, (viii) Embankment Maintenance should be handed over to the local government and NGOs that may reduce the cost;

NGO News Desk ::

BREAKFAST AND SNACKS
●Makhana parantha ● Makhana cereal ● Makhana snack
● Ambadi chi bhakhar ● Mahua bhakhar ● Ambadi chi bhaji
● Sattu parantha ● Litti ● Sattu dough ● Pantabhat
● Gahat dal parantha ● Mahua poda peetha ● Mahua rasputuka
● Arbi patode ● Navara stew ● Jute pakora ● Masala paanachi wadi
● Bhang pakora
MEALS
● Gongura pappu ● Gongura pulusu ● Bhatwani ● Amla ki dal
● Amla raita ● Moringa thoran ● Guar phalli sabzi ● Chaulai ka raita
● Chaulai ka saag ● Jute saag ● Gahat dal soup ● Sangri ki sabzi
● Sangri ki kadhi ● Neem baigun ● Phool ka bhaja ● Ker sabzi
● Fried bamboo shoot ● Bamboo akibiye ● Bamboo ironba
● Bamboo rotuai ● Karanda sabzi ● Shukto ● Makhane ka raita
●Makhane ki sabzi ● Til ke aloo ● Kinema curry
●Papaya salad ●Papaya dal ●Papaya flower fry
● Bajra khichdi ● Bajra bhakari ●Kanhi ● Singhare ki sabzi
● Singhare ki puri ●Thechwani ●Khuree ●Tapioca sabzi
● Kachnar kadhi ●Kachnar chane ki tarkari ●Kachnar aloo ki tarkari
●Corn soup ● Selni khula ●Omavalli leaf raita ●Mushroom soup
CHUTNEYS AND PICKLES
●Karanda pickle ●Neem pachidi ●Mulberry jam ● Bhang ki chutney
● Amla chutney ●Amla achar ● Bhangjeera chutney
BEVERAGES
●Bael sherbet ●Rhododendron squash ●Kokum sorbet ● Sattu drink
●Thandai ●Kanji ●Kanji vada ●Rasam ● Thambli
● Bhangjeera tea ●Palash sherbet
SWEETS
●Haldi patra pitha ●Bajra kheer ●Ragi kheer ●Makhana kheer
● Sattu laddoo ●Amla murrabba ● Chaulai ka laddoo
● Singhare ke katle ●Til ki patti ●Til ke laddoo
ABOUT THE PLANTS
●Makhana ●Mahua ●Drumsticks ● Jute ●Khejri ●Bamboo
●Pulses ●Papaya ● Rice ●Karanda ●Neem ●Rhododendron
● Carrots ● Spices ●Amla
TRADITIONS
●Marathi food for Bong palate ● Thank the microbes
●Bitters for starters ●Against the grain
● Celebrating food security ●An heirloom in muslin
●Sweet surrender

NGO Desk ::

The group informs that existing TRIPS waiver for LDC will over by June 2013. In November 2012 Haiti on behalf of LDC had submitted an application to WTO to provide TRIPS waiver for the LDC and some developed countries like Australia, advanced developing countries like Brazil and India endorsed the plea. Globally acclaimed academicians from more than 300 countries wrote a letter to WTO to support this and even companies like Google and Yahoo also supported the demand. The group presents related papers on these during press conference. The group urges Ambassadors of the developed countries in Dhaka to convey this concern to their capital.

Mr. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of EquityBD moderates the press conference while Mr. Mostafa Kamal Akanda of EquityBD gives the welcome address. On behalf of the group Barkat Ullah Maruf of EquityBD reads out the written statement. Dr. Wajedul Islam Khan of Bangladesh Trade Union Centre, Monowar Mostafa of Development Synergy Institute, Jahangir Hasan Masum of Coastal Development Partnership, Desdemona Khan of VOICE, Badrul Alam of Bangladesh Krishok Federation, Aminur Rasul Babul of Unnayan Dhara Trust give speech and answer to different questions. The group also includes CSRL, NCCB, PRAN, Humanity watch, Angikar, Online Knowledge Society, and BIPNetCCBD.

In the statement the group presented several examples of historically developed countries especially USA, Britain, Switzerland and Japan did not follow any intellectual property rights (IPR) regime in their early stage of development. In fact this denial had facilitated their industrial development. Even in India pharmaceutical industry has been developed by the flexibility of IPR regime.

The group criticizes EU and USA position which allows TRIPS waiver only for next five year with a condition of “no roll back”. The speakers mention that this ‘no roll back’ is against the spirit of TRIPS article 66.1 which accepts flexibility thereof as a right of LDCs. They say, once no roll back is implemented, LDC will not be able to apply for extension or partial waiver of TRIPS agreement again.

Mr. Jahangir Hasan Masum of CDP mentions on behalf of the group that they will form a greater alliance to run country wide campaign against WTO until its forthcoming 9^th Ministerial in Bali Indonesia in December ’13.

NGO News Desk ::

Explaining the decline of growth mainly due to fall in investment demand, the leading research organisation points out that the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-prescribed contractionary stance has reduced the investment capacity of the private sector through lesser availability of credit, which in turn has reduced rate of growth from 6.71 percent in FY 2010-11 to 6.23 percent in FY 2011-12 and to 6.03 percent in FY 2012-13, 0.20 percentage points lower than the decadal average rate of 6.23 percent.

The growth of private sector credit witnessed a nosedive to 11.4 percent in May of FY 2012-13, from 14.8 in January of FY 2012-13 percent against the target of 18.5 percent of MPS. The targeted growth of private sector credit in the current MPS is set at 15.5 percent, which is a three-percentage points lower than that of the preceding MPS.

“The proposed mechanisms is a sequel to the past MPSs, which have already been restraining the rate of growth in private sector through high rate of interest and may further dampen the investment by increasing the cost of capital, as the banks are already advancing at higher rates, resulting in continuance of contracted national output,” alerts the monthly Update on the Bangladesh economy.

Pointing out the recent decline in quantum index of industrial production, the Unnayan Onneshan suggests that the lower industrial production is directly linked to monetary policy as the rate of growth in the industrial term loan has been experiencing a decreasing trend since FY 2010-11. In the third quarter of FY 2012-13, the disbursement of loan in industrial sector was Tk. 10061.24 crore which was Tk. 2172.26 crore less than that of second quarter. In FY 2011-12, the rate of growth in industrial term loan was 9.68 percent, which were 24.30 percent and 29.56 percent in FY 2010-11 and FY 2009-10 respectively.

Referring to the failure of the central bank in keeping a check on the increased government borrowing, the Unnayan Onneshan observes: “this upward trend of borrowing has exerted pressure on the loanable fund of these banks which in turn crowds out private investment,” adds, “this has also led to debt payment emerging as a major expenditure and lessened fiscal space.” Interest payment has risen from Tk. 23,630 crore in FY 2008-09 to Tk. 38,627 crore in FY 2012-13, representing an increase of 38.83 percent

Referring to foreign exchange reserve of USD 15000 million, the Unnayan Onneshan terms it residual and not to be mistakenly seen as a sign of healthy economic dispensation, considering that the central bank has purchased a huge amount of dollar to stablise the exchange rate, the adjustment of exchange rate reduced the export earnings and import failed to take the advantage from such exchange rate due to lower credit availability to the private sector. In FY 2012-13 (up to March), the Bangladesh bank has purchased USD 5114 million, from mere USD 157 million in FY 2011-12 and USD 316.50 million in FY 2010-11.

Observing that the economic policymaking has been going through a self-conflicting way, the Unnayan Onneshan sates that the budget remains expansionary to placate the ruling party stalwarts in an election year while the central bank has adopted contractionary monetary policy.

Table: Targets of MPS (July -December, 2013) and Achievements of MPS (January -June, 2013)

Source: Unnayan Onneshan, 2013. Abdicating Accountability: The Monetary Policy Statement of July – December 2013

NGO News Desk ::

Other office-bearers of the committee are: Vice-Presidents-AFM Asaduzzaman of Bangladesh Bank, Lion Md Mofazzal Hossain of Sonali Bank Ltd and Azam Khan of First Security Bank Ltd, General Secretary-Md. Moniruzzaman Tipu of NCC Bank, Joint-Secretaries-Asaduzzaman Asad of IFIC Bank Ltd. and Ruhul Matin of Bank Asia Ltd., Finance Secretary-MD Abdul Khaleq, Assistant Finance Secretary-Sagir Ahmed of Dutch-Bangla Bank Ltd., Organising Secretary-Jalal Ahmed of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Ltd., Assistant Organizing Secretary-Abul Kaham Azad of South Bangla Agricultural Bank, Office Secretary-Md Shamsuddoha (Shimu) of Shahjalal Islami Bank Ltd., Assistant Office Secretary-Khairul Alam Raju of Rupali Bank, Publicity & Publication Secretary-Sanjib Chatarjee of EXIM Bank, Assistant Publicity & Publication Secretary-Abdul Hamid Sohag of National Bank, Seminar & Cultural Secretary-Abdur Razzak of Mercantile Bank, Assistant Seminar & Cultural Secretary-Mesbah Ahmed of Standard Bank, Sports Secretary-Tania Sattar of AB Bank, Assistant Sports Secretary-Abdul Kader of Union Bank, Training & Research Secretary-Dr. Md. Shahzahan of Ansar VDP Bank and Assistant Training & Research Secretary-Ms. Samia Islam of Social Islami Bank. Other executive members are- Sadek Ahmed of Uttara Bank, Ms. Ferdousi Sultan of Prime Bank, Nazmul Karim Siddiqui of Bangladesh Commerce Bank, Bitopi Das Chowdhury of Standard Chartered Bank, Mirza Golam Yeahia of City Bank, Ziaul Karim of Eastern Bank, Javed Iqbal of United Commercial Bank, Mahbubur Rahman of Premier Bank, Mizanur Rahman of Pubali Bank and Sami Al Hafiz of Mutual Trust Bank.

NGO News Desk ::

Mr. Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of EquityBD moderates the press conference while the other speakers are Prodip K Roy of Online Knowledge Society, Jibanananda Joyanta of Surakkha O Agrogoti Foundation, Mejbah Uddin Ahmed of Jatiya Sromik Jote and Mostafa Kamal Akanda of EquityBD. Other participating organizations are Unnayan Dhara Trust, Voice and Development Synergy Institute.

Syed Aminul Haque of EquityBD reads out the group’s position paper where it is alleged that there are huge corruption in VAT collection in depositing to government. The national and international companies are involved in this, as there is no foreign and multinational companies are not in the top list as VAT depositor. The contribution of VAT and other indirect taxes in internal revenue of Bangladesh is about 70% while direct taxes are only 30% whereas the scenario in the developed countries is just opposite to it.  Even in neighboring India the contribution of direct tax is 33% and in Sri Lanka it is 31%. The government of Bangladesh enhances VAT rate up to 15% while in Singapore it is just 5%, in Thailand 7%, in South Korea 10% and in New Zealand 12%. The conditionality of IMF (International Monetary Fund) ties up Bangladesh to impose VAT even on essential goods (e.g. rice, pulse and oil) and in essential services like health and education. He also mentions that ultimately it is the common people as consumers who are mostly poor have to take the brunt of VAT.

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury of EquityBD mentions that according to Bangladesh Bank statistics, there are about 28,000 personal bank accounts that have money more than Tk. 1 crore but there are only a thousand people who give income tax more than one hundred thousand Taka. He says, Government must emphasize on personal income tax and corporate tax.

Mr. Chowdhury says, around 60 to 80% of the national economy is the underground economy, which should brought under law and order. It should be noted that only 23% is the underground economy in neighboring country India. VAT collection is easier that’s why IMF emphasizes on this, but they never consider that it is unequal and injustice on common people.

Prodip K Roy says, almost all of the common people pay around minimum taka 50 per day as VAT while they consumes essential products.

Jibanondo Joyanta mentions, there are massive corruptions in VAT collection and its depositing only because of less availability of electronic machines. In fact, the tax officials and corporate people are the beneficiaries of these corruptions. He adds, companies like Unilever and GrameenPhone should be in the top of the list of VAT depositors in Bangladesh but they are not. He urges to eliminate VAT from essential services and goods.

Mejabah Uddin Ahmed mentions, there are a lot of sweet-shops who only do VAT selling business instead of selling sweets.

NGO News Desk ::

The study has been conducted in partnership with the Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies (IASS), Germany, supported by International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) as a part of a larger research endeavour in six countries (Bangladesh, Brazil, Bolivia, Burkina Faso, Ecuador and India).

The study has been conducted in the Subarnachor and the Hatiya upazila of Noakhali district effective from January-March, 2013.

The study finding gives a vent for Char Development and Settlement Project (CDSP) target group members in regard to their perception, understanding and adaptation for the impacts of climate change and land governance. The study elucidates that poor settlers in the char lands of Noakhali districts lives under extreme uncertainty for their livelihood caused by the perennial natural hazards. The major study findings envisages that char land people perceives the climate change and have clear perception on the impacts of it on temperature, rainfall and frequency and intensity of storms. However, ‘Climate Change’ has been a completely new term which is yet to be known to the respondents, especially women.

The study expected that the findings will help the policy makers and implementers especially the civil societies along with government personnel to take fruitful initiative for the most vulnerable poor, deprived, powerless and landless char dwellers under changing climate.

Programme staffs, especially from BRAC WASH, DECC, Agriculture, HRLS, IDP, CDSP IV as well as researchers from RED have attended the seminar and contributed in the discussion.

NGO News Report :: Bangladesh is recognized globally as one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change. Recently learned that for the first time in a million years, the concentration of carbon-di-oxide gas in the atmosphere has gone past 400 ppmv – a sign which has grave consequences for the country and its current as well as future generations. The problem cannot be solved at local level and we require an international agreement under the UNFCCC.

The latest round of negotiations towards reaching a globally binding agreement/treaty by 2015 will be held in Bonn, Germany between 3 and 14 June, 2013. Bangladesh must siege this opportunity and raise her voice so that we can set the scene for a globally acceptable legally binding treaty towards reducing the emissions below danger levels and reduce the necessity of adaptation to the minimal level and simultaneously reduce the burden of loss and damage likely to be faced by our population.

Centre for Global Change (CGC), under the aegis of Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods (CSRL) has organized a Round Table Discussion on “Bangladesh’s Perspectives Towards the Bonn Inter-Sessional of 2013”, to be held in Spectra Convention Centre, Gulshan-1, Dhaka on 22^nd May 2013 during 10:30 – 12:30 hrs.

Dr. Md. Asaduzzaman, a senior Member of the Bangladesh Delegation, will be the Chair of the Round Table.  The outcome of the Round Table will be duly shared with the Bangladesh Delegation Members, who will be taking part in the Bonn negotiations.