Bangladesh Review

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Some election, some democracy!
2007-10-18 17:25:00
Aijaz Zaka SyedThere are some things I never seem to figure. What, for instance, the UK authorities are trying to prove or disprove, a decade after the death of Princess Diana and boyfriend Dodi Al Fayed?Or take the case of President Bush's election. I mean it's understandable if he somehow made it to White House, with a little help from the US Supreme Court of course, in 2000. But I can't for the life of me understand how the Americans could bring themselves to elect him for a second time!Another fascinating hard nut to crack has been Pakistan's preoccupation with the men in khaki. The Pakistani generals' compelling inability to allow the politicians to run the country, as is the practice in rest of the world, never ceases to amaze me.But what fascinates me more is their ability to get away with it.Okay, I agree Pakistan has been exceptionally unfortunate with its share of politicians. You can't name even one politician who has proved himself or herself worthy of people's ma...
More About: Democracy , Election , Some

Saving the RMG sector
2007-10-18 17:24:00
Anu MahmudAs many days passed often expiry of the latest deadline August 31, the Labour and Employment Adviser for Local Government Md Anwarul Iqbal has expressed dissatisfaction over poor implementation of minimum wages in readymade garment (RMG) industries, fearing chances of unrest in the sector again. Chances are there to emerge labour unrest again because many factory owners are yet to comply with the tripartite agreement they signed, to enforce minimum wages for their workers.He also asked the RMG makers for creating congenial atmosphere at workplaces through regular payment of workers' wages and other benefits so that uninterrupted production is ensured in the sector. To reduce so much dependence of European and USA markets RMG makers should look for alternative and diversified markets for their products and capacity building of the workers through extensive training programmes can be made.The uneasy development until now forbids telling the last word on the ultimate fate of...
More About: Saving

Zakat can help alleviate poverty
2007-10-18 17:23:00
THE holy month of Ramadan has come to an end. People of some means looked to be more charitable than at other times of the year. They were seen distributing mainly petty cash and clothes among poor people as a way of discharging their religious obligation of zakat. But Bangladesh today is also a country where one comes across rather unwelcome spectacles of giving zakat. Stampedes are noted sometimes during the month of Ramzan and before the celebration of the Eid-ul-Fitr which cause tragic deaths of those who scramble in a frenzy to collect cheap cotton saris or lungis given away as zakat. Sad events like these should have galvanised national thinking about how far such individual demonstrations of charity would be welcome and whether better channeling of resources for charity should be devised and implemented.As it is, cash and clothes distributed by rich people during Ramzan and the Eid satisfy to some extent for a brief period basic consumption needs of poor people. This is not e...
More About: Poverty , Zakat , Vert , Alleviat

Implementation of PRSP
2007-10-18 17:19:00
OVERALL implementation of National Strategy for Accelerated Poverty Reduction (NSAPR) has so far been 'partial' in the sense that some strategic goals have been achieved, while progress on other targets 'has either been slow or negligible', a review report of the Planning Commission reveals. According to a recent newspaper report, the draft official paper prepared on the implementation said 'institutional weaknesses' have slowed implementation of poverty reduction as stated in the strategy paper and limited its success to some human development indicators without ensuring quality. 'Pervasive institutional weakness in macro and micro levels has emerged as the central cause for poor implementation of the NSAPR', the review report said adding the institutional weakness has been the main reason why the development ministries/agencies failed to prepare their roadmaps/action plans.As reported, general economic division of the Planning Ministry prepared the draft report, after revi...
More About: Implementation

Downtrend in FDI flow
2007-10-18 17:12:00
Downtrend in FDI flowAn action plan needed for turn aroundA declining trend in FDI flows into Bangladesh has been depicted in World Investment Report-2007 of the UNCTAD released by the Board of Investment (BoI) in Dhaka. The FDI in Bangladesh declined by 6 percent against the previous year's level instead of 9.6 per cent as stated in the report. The UNCTAD report based on information collected from Bangladesh Bank during last year's April-May period "did not represent the actual picture at the end of the year," according to BoI. Hence the differences in figures.The decline coincides with Bangladesh's position in performance index which dropped by two steps from 119th in the previous year to 121st in 2006.The dwindling FDI flow into Bangladesh stands in contrast with the global trend of an FDI upswing by 38 per cent. It is edifying to note that Pakistan, despite being caught up in political unrest, bagged US$4.3 billion compared with Bangladesh's US$792 million, not much better t...
More About: Flow

Gen. Moeen's reiterations
2007-10-18 17:09:00
Gen. Moeen's reiterationsRestoration of democracy is the main goalThe Army Chief General Moeen U Ahmed has dismissed, in unequivocal terms, all the speculations and rumours that he might become president as figment of the imagination. The statement, very much consistent with his apolitical position since the army-backed caretaker government took over in January this year, has reinforced his firm commitment to democratic values and assures us of his unflinching support to restoration of democracy in the country -- the number one issue on the national agenda. The army chief has only echoed the popular expectation that the existing political vacuum should be filled with a democratically elected government.The army has been extending support to the caretaker government in its mission of holding a free, fair and credible election. Their success has also been noteworthy as preparation of a new voter list with ID card has already begun. This is a huge task which, when accomplished, will l...

A tribute to Obaidul Huq
2007-10-17 20:00:00
A tribute to Obaidul HuqHe was the last of a vanishing breedOBAIDUL Huq who traversed close to six decades of journalism in these parts, leaving his indelible imprint on it, is no more. He had been associated with Bangladesh Observer since its founding days as Pakistan Observer under the able leadership of eminent editor late Abdus Salam. He went on to become the editor of the influential daily in 1972.He was a professional with a difference. He was a scholarly journalist of rare calibre and integrity. He was revered and respected both by his peers and juniors alike. As much as a stickler he was for quality and high professionalism he was also full of humour and guided his juniors in an environment of amiability and friendliness. He had a very exalted sense of journalistic perfection and wouldn't even put up with printing mistakes, far less factual or conceptual errors.Obaidul Huq was indeed a man of multifaceted talent. Once he even tried his hand in film making but he would be mo...
More About: Tribute

A consensus government -- and no opposition?
2007-10-17 20:00:00
Syed Badrul AhsanIN a season brimming over with some novel ideas about governance and statecraft, Professor AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury's suggestion that, once the elections of 2008 are gone through, a government of national consensus might be put in place (for a decade!) only adds to the excitement. You only have to recapitulate everything that has happened in these past few months to get a sense of where the country is going, or trying to go.When the Iajuddin caretaker administration was peremptorily shown the door, to our intense relief, through an imposition of a state of emergency, it was the natural popular expectation that free, fair and transparent elections would be organised, and the country would soon go back into the hands of decent, caring politicians after the kleptocracy that passed for government between October 2001 and October 2006. Well, that did not happen, as we know only too well by now.What did happen, though, was a drive against corruption, an undertaking that ...
More About: Government , Consensus , Position

B Chowdhury's national government idea
2007-10-17 19:55:00
B Chowdhury's national government ideaConsensus on policies and principles are a greater needTHE suggestions from former president AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury regarding a government of national consensus for a decade have predictably generated widespread comment. Professor Chowdhury would like the nation to know that such a government can take shape after the general elections promised for end-2008. While one is already to welcome new political ideas, especially in such fraught conditions as those in Bangladesh, one notes that the suggestion the former head of state has put forward lacks the details that might have lent it a little more substance. We, at this newspaper, have been following carefully the debate arising out of Chowdhury's formula. We believe however, the idea of a government of national consensus runs contrary to the letter and spirit of the constitution.Briefly, at a time when we need answers to some old questions, Professor Chowdhury's suggestions throw up some new,...
More About: Government , National , Idea

Exploitation of our workers abroad
2007-10-12 10:47:00
Exact number of Bangladeshis working abroad as labour is not known but it is generally believed that it would be anywhere between two and half to three million. More than ninety-nine per cent of them do menial jobs in extremely harsh and difficult conditions and send home major part of they earn. With the money earned through sweat and blood by these people we indulge in all kinds of luxuries that are not available even to people of countries with better economies. Looking at the shining limousines on the roads, palatial building and shopping malls full of imported goods who would believe that the dollars are sent by people working as cleaners, manual labours etc? Remittance is the second biggest source of foreign exchange after readymade garments. While we gleefully count the dollars we seldom bother to think about the conditions of these people. They are exploited and treated like bonded labour. Why should foreigner employers be sympathetic, compassionate or merciful to expatriate...
More About: Workers , Exploitation , Worker , Broad

Eid Mubarak
2007-10-12 10:46:00
The nation is now set to celebrate Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the two greatest Muslim festivals. Thousands of city dwellers are leaving for their homes to celebrate the occasion with their near and dear ones. And those who stay back in the cities and towns have by now completed all their preparations for the festival. Nearly one-third of the city dwellers usually leave for their homes in different directions. Eid-shopping is almost over, but last-minute shopping is still visible. Shopping, incidentally, has quite been smooth and orderly in the city this year – thanks to the arrangements made by the authorities. They had deployed additional men of the law enforcing agencies around the shopping malls and arcades in the metropolis. One can say that these arrangements had been quite satisfactory this year. Prices of Eid items including the food items and edible oil have gone beyond reasonable limits. There have also been complaints regarding extortion of tolls and higher fares charged by dif...
More About: Eid Mubarak , Mubarak

Eid's happiness to be also for the poor
2007-10-12 10:44:00
MUSLIMS in this country will be celebrating the joyo us occasion of the holy Eid-ul-Fitr on Saturday or Sunday next, depending on the sighting of the moon. Traditionally, wearing of good clothes, eating sumptuously and engaging in fun and frolics, are considered as spending well the time of Eid. But it is a sad reality that Eid's happiness still remains largely out of the reach of the vast majority of the poor who number about half of Bangladesh's population. Some of them do attempt to eat well and provide some recreation to their families by mobilising their meagre resources at the time of Eid. But a great many number of the poor remain deprived of even such minimum of self-satisfaction on Eid day due to their abject poverty. Thus, Eid as a happy occasion is enjoyed more in affluent homes than in poor ones in this and many other Muslim countries when Islam's cardinal teaching is to build a caring and sharing society through maximizing of social welfare activities. As a religion ...
More About: Happiness , Poor

Bangladesh being considered a success case now: Aziz
2007-10-12 10:42:00
Visiting ADB vice president Liqun Jin Thursday reaffirmed the development bank's commitment to help Bangladesh unlock its potential for economic and social development, reports UNB."Let us take this opportunity to look back with some satisfaction at the progress that has been reached and look ahead with renewed vigor to the work remains to be done," he told a ceremony at Radisson Hotel, marking the 25th anniversary of ADB's Bangladesh Resident Mission (BRM).Political leaders, former ministers, advisers, business leaders, representatives from multilateral development organisations, economists, former and incumbent bureaucrats, diplomats and senior journalists were present.Operations of ADB's first resident office in Dhaka started at Sonargaon Hotel with nine staff while the BRM shifted to the new building on its completion in 2004 to become the ADB's largest field office with over 50 staff.Bangladesh joined ADB in 1973 and became one of its largest borrowers of concessional Asian...
More About: Success , Case , Consider , Glad

Let’s keep the noise down
2007-10-12 10:41:00
With Eid drawing near, the city has gone into a frenzy of shopping and movement. And with that the noise level has seen an intolerable rise. Though we realise that too much noise is harmful, we still do not think twice before pressing the horn and fail to see that excessive sound is leading us inexorably to become victims of road rage, writes Towheed FerozeFOR a resident of the city, seeing the transformation of the capital must be one of the wonders of life because Dhaka, twenty years ago, was nothing like this. It was slow; rather a languorous development from the sleeping city of the 1970s and life was unhurried and noise-free. In fact, those who have lived in Gulshan for more than two decades will remember only too easily how quiet and tranquil the area was in the early 1980s. Hard to believe, but in the afternoons, the only sound on the Gulshan road leading from one to two was that of rustling leaves. By seven in the evening, the roads became desolate and a rickshaw ride to DIT...
More About: Noise

Ignore ADB call for fuel, fertiliser price increase
2007-10-12 10:40:00
It is not surprising that a visiting delegation of the Asian Development Bank has advised the military-driven interim government to review and presumably increase the prices of fuel, gas and fertiliser which the government subsidises. The recommendations, as reported in the media, came in order to prevent further crisis in the economy. The multilateral lending agencies typically recommend measures that stem from their proclaimed belief in open market economy although scores of countries, and even those who provide these agencies with most of their funds, historically followed a strictly governed economic model on their path to development and economic prosperity. That the finance adviser to the interim government, Mirza Azizul Islam, shares the same views, however, is quite alarming. He cited maintenance of fiscal discipline as a reason to increase prices of certain commodities that are subsidised by the government. One should keep in mind that it is for the sake of this fiscal di...
More About: Fuel , Price , Call

The joy of Eid amid sagging spirits
2007-10-12 10:38:00
Eid-ul-Fitr is a religious festival that brings with it the message of equality and universality. It is celebrated by all classes of people, rich and poor, pious and not-so-pious, while the social aspects of Eid encompass people belonging to all religious communities. This is as it should be. The festivities emanating from religious celebrations are, or ought to be, an event for unifying and cheering the entire people of the country, rich and poor, Hindu and Muslim. Time was when Muslims of this subcontinent participated in Diwali, Dussehra celebrations and Hindus fervently took part in ‘urs’ and Muharram procession. Complete social exclusion was a latter-day innovation after orthodoxy and fundamentalism took over. If enlightened religious leaders try, the syncretic unity and joy of the event can certainly be restored which will buoy up the spirits and make social life more harmonious. We say this to underscore that the Eid celebrations do not take place entirely the way we wo...
More About: Spirits

Special facilities for expatriates
2007-10-12 10:37:00
IT is reported in the press that the government has taken a substantive decision on giving some privileges and facilities to expatriates. The Ministry of Expat riate Welfare and Overseas Employment has finalised the draft of a policy statement on the subject. The expatriates living in different countries have not only earned the status of immigrants in those countries but are also sending part of their income to Bangladesh for helping their family members and also for investing in business and industry.The process of remittance of money home by expatriates sometimes remains rather cloudy. Even the remittances sent through financial institutions and other official channels are being issued by individuals who work as middlemen. That being so, the remittances from migrant workers and professionals may be affected. Thus, some problems in respect of remittances from migrant workers still await corrective measures.In such a context, the decision of the government to offer privileges and fa...
More About: Special , Facilities

Eid-ul-Fitr
2007-10-12 10:36:00
AS the holy month of Ramzan draws to an end, Muslims in Bangladesh as in the rest of the world are preparing to celebrate the Eid-ul-Fitr with religious fervour. They will join congregations at Eidgah maidans all over the country. As the Eid-ul-Fitr is observed after the month-long fasting and self-restraint, the festivity is marked by an unparalleled aura of contentment. People will come to Eid congregations as best dressed as possible to rejoice at the grand rally of universal brotherhood and equality of man where there is no difference of caste or creed, colour or economic status. As per precepts of Islam, rich people are paying Zakat and Fitra to poor relatives and neighbours to enable them to celebrate the Eid and also to social institutions like mosques and madrasahs.The festivity of the Eid-ul-Fitr in Bangladesh is marked by movement of millions of people from their places of work to their village homes. At village homes they exchange greetings with their relatives and neighb...

Reward for schools and teachers
2007-10-12 10:34:00
Reward for schools and teachersLet it be a tool for raising quality of educationThis is a least trodden area in our scheme of things: rewarding good work in any tangible form rather than confining ourselves to at best wordy compliments. We would run down schools and teachers, sometimes in a sweeping manner, losing sight of some of their performances despite all the constraints they are having to work under.It is in this light that we welcome the news published in Prothom Alo about the education ministry planning to introduce incentive awards for better performing secondary schools, their teachers and even management committees. Some 1000 institutions, both government and private, at the upazila level, are likely to be the beneficiaries. The whole idea, is to foster competition among the schools to raise their bars and thereby help enhance the overall level of quality of secondary education.The thought is noble, to be sure, but given the set of criteria, the schools already in an adv...
More About: Schools , Teachers , Reward

Happy Eid-ul-Fitr
2007-10-12 10:31:00
Happy Eid-ul-Fitr Let the values of Ramadan enrich lifeAt the end of a month of fasting, Muslims all over the world observe Eid-ul-Fitr. This observance comes after days spent in recalling the spirit of the Islamic faith and practising it in daily life. Indeed, the month of Ramadan is a constant reminder that religion, and with that a deep sense of religiosity, is what underlines the pursuit of life. Faith is that fundamental guiding principle which lifts individuals from the banalities of the temporal world to one that is spiritual in nature. For what is religion after all if it does not act as a spur to a strengthening of one's moral base? The prayers and the fasting that Muslims have observed in Bangladesh and across the world are simply a reassertion of that moral base. It is with such an awareness of what we as mortal beings must do to uphold faith now proceed to a celebration of Eid-ul-Fitr.The lessons that come with Ramadan and with fasting are many and varied. While the indi...
More About: Happy

Governance with inapt appointments
2007-10-10 20:47:00
Abdullah A. DewanThe Supreme Court shelved a recent High Court order on October 4 for granting bail to BNP's Khaleda Zia in one of her graft cases. Obviously, that didn't sit well with her cronies. But had she been released on bail, these cronies would have championed her as the "born again" leader of the party.Her counsel, Barrister Rafique-ul Huq, asserted that because his clients are politicians they should come out of prison through politics. "It is impossible for them to come out from jail through court," he added.The constitution guarantees legal counsel to every citizen, and an immutable right to a fair trial. When politicians clamour for justice for their respective party chiefs -- forgetting others who have been incarcerated for similar crimes -- they're not really asking for justice. Rather, they are looking for a pretext to create trouble, or are simply extending lip-service to their demoralised party workers.Using legal loopholes to win release of high profile alleged...
More About: Governance , Appointments

NGOs in Bangladesh and their accountability
2007-10-10 20:45:00
Muhammad ZamirOver the past two decades Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) have taken center stage all over the world in matters pertaining to good governance, functioning of democracy, and upholding of human rights and fundamental freedoms. They have also been at the forefront in the fight against corruption, political partisanship and abuse of familial connections.Some NGOs have grown an international character and their representations are present in many countries of the world. Some of them, like Bangladesh 's "Grameen Bank," or United Kingdom's "Amnesty International" or France's "Medicines sans Frontier," have gained international acceptance, respect and recognition.Their efforts have been mostly voluntary and have been facilitated through conviction and sincerity of purpose. They have helped in poverty reduction, in gender empowerment, in greater access to healthcare, in the creation of alternative avenues of employment and in the removing of the curse of illiteracy.In B...
More About: Accountability , Glad

A Truth Commission or the rule of law?
2007-10-10 20:44:00
Syed Badrul AhsanAll this excitement about a truth commission raises some very significant truths that we need to handle. As Law Adviser Mainul Hosein informs us, and every now and then, it is the state of the economy, which will be a determinant in the formation and operation of the truth commission.What is the truth? Asked jesting Pilate once. He would not stay for an answer. At this point in historical time, here in Bangladesh, it now becomes our responsibility to raise that very question and place it before the interim government and then wait for an answer, if there is any answer.And while we wait, we will mull over the truth that has apparently convinced the government that a truth commission needs to be in place. And that truth is, in more ways than one, an acknowledgment that the methods applied in dealing with dishonest businessmen have not worked, that indeed hauling them off to prison or issuing public notices about their alleged corruption have now brought economic activ...
More About: Truth , Commission , Rule , Rule of Law , Ruth

The workers' visas were genuine?
2007-10-10 20:43:00
The workers' visas were genuine?Victims must now be compensatedThe 82 Bangladeshi workers who were forced to return to Dhaka from Dubai airport on the ground that they had fake visas on them can now actually go back to Dubai. The immigration authorities in Dubai, as we understand, have now acknowledged that the visas were genuine and that there was a 'communication gap' that compelled the workers to go back to Dhaka. That is all very well, but even so the explanation given out by the Dubai authorities about a communication gap being there does not hold much water. The workers, once they landed in Dubai, were told in no uncertain terms that they had to go back to Dhaka as their visas were not in order. No explanations were offered and even attempts by the Biman authorities, who were responsible for taking the workers to Dubai, to explain matters were rudely brushed aside.There is little question that the entire ordeal of a journey from Dhaka to Dubai and then summarily being sent ...
More About: Workers , Genuine , Visas , Worker , Were

Lailat-ul-Qadr
2007-10-10 19:52:00
Lailat-ul-QadrThe Blessed NightThis is the most auspicious night for Muslims all over the world. It is more blessed than a thousand months. For the Muslims it is a special dispensation from Allah, for Allah has said that a night's meditation at this occasion is equal to that of thousand nights. For this is the night when Allah revealed the Holy Quran, through the last Prophet Muhammad (SM), not just for the Muslims to seek guidance from but for the entire mankind to be guided by. The Holy Quran, along with the last Prophet of Allah, has come as a redeemer to the Muslims in particular. And it is for the Muslims to internalise and understand the essence of the teaching of the Quran, for salvation not only of the soul in the hereafter, but also of the body in this world.It is a night of contemplation to seek not only salvation of our body and mind but also to inquire how well and how much have we been able to apply the teaching of the Holy Quran in our lives, both as individuals and a...
More About: Laila

Take care of water crisis before it is too late
2007-10-09 18:55:00
There is water everywhere, but not a drop to drink. And Dhakaites suffer the most at a time when the entire country is dotted by countless rivers and rivulets. Although the DESA is there to meet our power needs, we will always blame WASA for any water crisis. It is needless to highlight the importance of water as it is otherwise called ‘life’. Think of a day when there is no water to drink or bathe or for other essential uses. A hell will simply break loose on citizens. Sadly, today we are faced with both power and water shortages. The residents of Dhaka city are hard hit by the twin crises. We are now suffering the ills and corruption of previous elected governments whose ministers and legislators have subverted new power and water supply projects because of their corrupt intentions. Foreign aid has been drained away , only to fill the pockets of greedy political personages , without much advance in the implementation of these development projects in the water and power sectors...
More About: Care , Water , Late , Crisis , Cris

Privatising the VoIP service
2007-10-09 18:53:00
With the advancement of telecommunications technology, the volume, speed and ease of information transfer over long distances have increased manifold. What is more reassuring is that all these improvements have also been accompanied by appreciable reduction in costs. Of all types of information exchange through telephone, the verbal contact between people is the most widely used and popular mode of communication. But until the advent of digital information technology, the cost of verbal communication was rather high and sometimes prohibitive when it was conducted over long distances. As a result, until recently telephone remained a necessary mode of communication, though with an elitist bias when considered from the point of view of its accessibility among the mass people.However, the barrier that stood between mass people and telephone has been all but removed with the commencement of information superhighway called the Internet and the prospect of voice transfer through this yet n...
More About: Service , Voip

MDG campaign: a compact of treacherous silence
2007-10-09 18:49:00
Although anti-poverty campaigners in Bangladesh agree that the MDG poverty benchmark of Tk 14 is farcical attainment of poverty reduction according to that framework would be meaningless they have yet to raise these questions publicly. Their assessments and monitoring reports regularly publish false figures and implicitly validate the government’s position. This silence is tantamount to betrayal of the masses they call stakeholders. It is time these organisations spoke out and began to lobby the government to bring about a meaningful change, writes Tanim AhmedTHE catchy slogans make for good headlines. ‘Speak out against poverty and inequality’ and ‘Make poverty history’ are part of a global campaign against extreme poverty. Campaign ers at home and abroad proclaim that the year 2000 was a significant one for their fight against poverty. In September that year, at the millennium summit of the United Nations, 189 nations agreed to the landmark Millennium Declaration. The hea...
More About: Compact , Silence

Ticket trouble continues
2007-10-09 18:48:00
SALE of public transport tickets on the black market on the eve of Eid is a common phenomenon in our country. Every year during Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha, unscrupulous people indulge in the black marketing of tickets and the passengers who use public transport to return to their village homes to be with their near and dear ones during the festive season cannot but give in to their unjust demands due to the unavailability of tickets at the ticket counters. This year too things have been the same, if not worse. The incident at the Kamlapur railway station on October 6 once again reveals the evil nexus between the black marketers and the unscrupulous railway staff who instead of trying to contain black market sales of tickets themselves take part in the malpractice. Infuriatingly still, when journalists tried to reveal their misdeeds and made the passengers’ sufferings known to public, they dared to assault one of the reporters of a private radio station. What is more frustrating i...
More About: Ticket , Conti , Tick

Punish corrupt businesspeople, don’t let their businesses suffer
2007-10-09 18:48:00
The fact that businesses of about 30 leading corporate houses, whose owners are either in jail on corruption charges or have gone underground to avoid the anti-corruption dragnet, have slumped, casting uncertainty over more than three lakh jobs, as reported in New Age on Sunday, is indeed alarming, but not quite surprising. The average production capacity of some of these business houses has decreased between 20 and 50 per cent over the past few months. Some units of these conglomerates have already announced layoff, resulting in the loss of several thousand jobs, while workers and employees at others have not been paid wages for 3-7 months. It looks highly unlikely that they will get their salaries, let alone any festival allowances, before Eid-ul-Fitr. Overall, the private sector, which contributes significantly to the development and growth of the economy, has been dealt a crippling blow, the effect of which looks unlikely to go away in the foreseeable future. As said before, w...
More About: Businesses , Unis , Sine , Nish