The New Nation - Internet Edition

d the other day. The government may trim fuel and fertiliser subsidies to make up for the planned enhancement of social protection and balance the national budget

A SEMINAR titled 'Disaster and Education' was held on Thursday at the Jatiya Press Club under the auspices of 'Advancing Public Interest Trust, an NGO, and Saptahiki, a Bengali weekly magazine. The speakers there suggested that disaster issues and their management should be incorportated in the education curricula. In view of the disaster proneness of Bangladesh the suggestion appears to be important and pragmatic. Disasters, their aftermath and their best possible management should very much form lessons in the primary and secondary curricula. The education curricula in no way should ignore practical aspects of life.

According to statistics of 2005, there were 2.36 crore students in the formal schooling system. The Director of the 'Disaster Management Bureau of the government has inferred that if only one third of the students could effectively communicate the Sidr event nearly three and a half crore people could have been sensitised about the disaster. Not much books and teaching materials on disasters are available in the country right now. The government may form a committee of experts to write books and prepare teaching and training materials on disasters the country intermittently face.

It should be borne in mind that disaster management education should not be bookish. It should be as practical as possible so that the learners can apply the knowledge at the time of need and can also educate their parents and neighbours. Before introducing lessons on disasters a group of teachers also need to be trained and oriented on the subject. Such lessons may form part of the broader subject - environment. Pupils should have basic knowledge about Bangladesh's environment of which natural disasters are periodic off-shoots. Knowledge about disasters would enable our future citizens to cope with those.

Prospect of shipbuilding industries in Bangladesh

Commodore R U Ahmed, ndu, afwc, psc

Human needs are ever changing. Fulfilment of a demand leads to the requirement of a new need. These needs travel beyond the borders in the present-day perspective. Global attempts are being observed to meet these needs and demands. Local and global market take their new shapes depending on the changing needs and demands of the human society. A country lags behind in the field of trade and commerce, if it fails to cope up with the changed business environment. It ultimately, creates a severe impediment on the economic development of a country.

The developed countries of the world are successfully keeping pace with the rapid changing world. As such, they have full control over the world trade and commerce which ultimately contributes to the sustainable development in their countries. Unfortunately, the developing countries as well as the underdeveloped countries generally failed to keep pace with the new changes. So, the economic development in those countries is hampered time and again. But the countries or nations which could match themselves with the changing demands proved their worth in the field of trade and commerce. Malaysia, Korea, China etc. are the best examples of such success.

Bangladesh is a developing country. Each and every citizen of this country expects the overall development of the country. But in most of the cases it is not materialised in reality. Previously, we failed several times to take the advantages and lucrative opportunities of modern trade and commerce. For this reason, our overall economic development has undoubtedly been interrupted time and again. In this connection, I would like to cite the examples of the failure to connect up submarine cable at the first opportunity and our delayed response to the IT business. I do not like to blame anybody for this failure. But I would like to request the concerned authorities to be careful and vigilant to prevent the repetition of such failures.

New ship construction and repair of ships & crafts are considered to be a potential business in the present global market. It is also expected that this sector will continue to be a profitable business for the next few years. In the meantime, the well-known and well established countries like China, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore and even India are over-booked 'especially for large ships. Consequently, the entrepreneurs in this sector are seeking their market in Vietnam and Bangladesh for building medium- size ships. It is noticeable that some entrepreneurs of this sector are preferring Bangladesh over Vietnam for comparatively less construction cost. Though the facilities are very limited in this regard in Bangladesh, some foreign investors are expressing their interest to do business in joint venture with Bangladesh even through Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). Definitely it is a good sign and hope for us. In the meantime, Anando Shipyard and Western Marine have signed contracts for the construction of some foreign ships. Anando Shipyard and Western Marine deserve the appreciation to play the pioneer role in this respect in spite of their limited capacities.

Nearly dead Khulna Shipyard Ltd and totally closed Dockyard and Engineering Works Ltd, Narayangonj were handed over to Bangladesh Navy 9 years and 2 years back respectively. The efficient management has made Khulna Shipyard Limited as a profitable organisation with the help of its 50 years- old infrastructure and facilities. But modernisation of the yard is the demand of the present business environment. On the other hand, some more time is required to make Dockyard and Engineering Works Ltd, Narayangonj profitable. The aforesaid organisations occupy the land of approximately 69 acres and 22 acres respectively.

There is enough scope to develop the present facilities and infrastructure and also to add new facilities as both the organisations have huge land area. But the new development or required expansion of the existing infrastructure is not possible with the limited fund and scope of the organisations within short span of time. Probably, at present the only viable option left before us is to construct ships under joint venture with the foreign buyers or entrepreneurs. So, if any foreign entrepreneur comes forward and we ca avail the opportunity, then these two organisations can successfully take part in the booming shipbuilding business. As a result, these two organisations will be able to flourish within a short span of time accommodating huge manpower. Our people can also be trained with the help of the foreign entrepreneurs. Even a highly skilled workforce of international standard in the shipbuilding sector will be developed in our country. Besides, our national economy will also be strengthened to a great extent by earning plenty of foreign currency. It is worth noting here that there is a great possibility to explore oil and gas in the Bay of Bengal. If the exploration of oil and gas is finalised then many oil companies from different countries of the world will stay in the Bay of Bengal with their ships and for that reason also we need to develop or expand our capability to construct and repair ships. The possibility of earning huge amount of foreign currency by repairing these foreign ships cannot be overlooked also. There is a great possibility of economic development of our country as soon as we can accommodate ourselves in the flourishing field of international business of shipbuilding and repair industry. To avail this opportunity other shipyards should take timely and correct steps like Anando Shipyard and Western Marine. If required, government help needs to be expanded in this field.

At present, Garment sector and UN Mission are our main sources of earning foreign currency. Though the shipbuilding and repair sector are not equivalent to the aforesaid two sources of earning foreign currency, still we can earn a huge amount of foreign currency through shipbuilding sector. So, we should try our level best to explore the possibility of joint venture and welcome any FDI in the shipbuilding sector. Of course, the interest of our country must be given top priority.

(The writer is the Managing Director, Khulna Shipyard Ltd)

Not caste in stone

Barkha Dutt

REMEMBER a young man called Rajeev Goswami? In 1990, the 20-year-old Delhi University graduate was the poster-boy for student rebellion when he doused himself with kerosene and set himself on fire to protest Other Backward Classes (OBC) quotas in government jobs. In 2004, he died unmourned, unnoticed and entirely irrelevant. In a sense, his journey - from being almost famous to entirely anonymous - maps India's own up-and-down ride on the reservations rollercoaster.

So, this week when the final word was spoken on the quota debate, you didn't see any streetside immolations or frenzied protesters fighting water cannons and teargas to mark their anger. Other than some mild whimpering and whining, there seems to be a placid, almost-fatigued acceptance of the Supreme Court verdict.

Does this mean India can now forget all about the affirmative action debate and get on with life? Well, yes and no. Partly because the SC has imposed entirely reasonable riders (children of affluent and influential OBC parents cannot use the quota card; review OBC caste list every five years and increase the number of general seats in the IITs and IIMs), and partly because the Indian State has simply failed to offer any equity in primary and secondary education, with all our misgivings, we accept that this verdict was probably the best middle-ground possible.

But simmering under the surface of an apparent calm is a bubbling caste cauldron that will boil over and burn India sooner rather than later.

And what's keeping the flames ablaze is centuries of prejudice cooking in the same curry as overweening political correctness. Much is said (and rightly so) about the former. But we completely underestimate how damaging mealy-mouthed proclamations of egalitarianism can be, especially when they end up determining government policy and public discourse. Frankly, the caste debate has become so trapped in textbook clichŽs that it's all become just a lot of humbug.

Ironically, nothing illustrated that better than Mayawati's appallingly casteist attack on Rahul Gandhi this week. There's no question that the Dalit politician herself is regularly at the receiving end of crass asides from India's social elite.

Drawing-room chatter will invariably focus on her looks, her diamond and pearls, her birthday celebrations, her obsession with pink - all expressed in the manner of old maharajas yet to come to terms with the death of royalty.

The silent subtext is that she is not 'like us', and how dare she think she is. In many ways, the political ascent of Mayawati represents all that is best about Indian democracy: a single woman, who has lived on her own terms and has given a political voice to a people suppressed for centuries.

But Indians seem to react to Mayawati in only two kinds of ways: either with odious prejudice or with irrational reverence. So, when the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister turned the caste pyramid on its head by accusing Rahul Gandhi of "purifying" himself with a "special soap" every time he meets someone of her caste, she got away with a statement that would have been unequivocally condemned had it come from anyone else.

Quite apart from the curious question of how she has such intimate information on the elusive Gandhi, she was playing into ancient anxieties that her own community has long left behind.

In other words, she was ensuring that the ordinary Dalit continues to see every other caste as the 'enemy'; she was keeping alive insecurity in the same community that she has so radically empowered. If that isn't casteist, and even worse, manipulative, I don't know what is.

And yet, we assume that our society's entrenched social prejudice somehow liberates certain caste groups from the normal decencies that others are expected to deliver on. But each time we evaluate such political behaviour through the prism of political correctness, we only deepen the faultlines that will split us wide open one day.

The unwritten writ of liberal tyranny has made elitism such an ugly word that we don't even preserve it where we need to save it - arenas of intellectual excellence for example.

I have only contempt for the Louis Vuitton-bag ladies, with their oversized dark glasses and oxidised brown hair who come to pick up their kids from school in cars larger than a football field and then complain about the 'kind of people' their little ones are being forced to mix with. Social elitism, especially when it's underlined by a caste bias, is nothing short of loathsome.

But sometimes 'exclusivity' is and should be determined - not by class or caste - but by skill, talent and native intelligence. Take our homegrown equivalents of Harvard and Oxford, for example, our IITs and IIMs. We lap up hysterical headlines on how the globe is wooing these graduates with unspeakably high salaries.

We believe this is our way of showing the world we can do it as well as, if not better than everyone else. Yet, have we every paused to consider why the IITs and IIMs have continued to draw India's brightest minds? It's because it's impossibly difficult to get in. When 300,000 students compete for 4,000-odd seats, only the best of the best make it through. And isn't that the way it should be?

Yet, dictated to by political correctness, conventional wisdom has it that the State must multiply the number of IITs and IIMs, so that the ratio of aspirants to those admitted comes down. Can you ever imagine America arguing about expanding the Ivy League pool numerically? Or England committing to a second Oxford and Cambridge because the number of applicants is far greater than the seats available? Keeping aside a set number of seats for Dalits and OBC students, while contentious, is now a decision done and over. Must we make it worse by converting the IITs and IIMs into something like a Barista coffee chain - one for every neighbourhood? Every time a new IIT is inaugurated - in Guwahati or Kozhikode or wherever Destination Next is - we are only diluting a brand that has remained excellent, because it isn't ours for the asking. It's also easier for the State to abdicate the responsibility of creating new centres of excellence by just hitting a calculator that doubles and trebles, but cant' measure intangibles like quality.

So, as we welcome the Supreme Court verdict as a long overdue course correction in a society that was unpardonably snotty, we must also remember that the rehearsed mantras of political correctness do not make for a soulful song. Or a spirited country.

Blueberry boosts memory

Professor M Zahidul Haque

ARE you worried about getting forgetful due to old age? Nothing to worry about! A research team from the University of Reading and the Peninsula Medical School,UK have some good news for you!

A multidisciplinary research team led by Dr.Jeremy Spencer of Molecular Nutrition Department at the University of Reading through supplementing a regular diet with blueberries over a 12-week period found that improvements in sapatial working memory tasks emerged within three weeks and continued throughout the period of the study.

The question is how blueberries work in reversing age-related memory problems? Blueberries are less familiar in our country. Although blueberries are native to North America, they are now grown in Europe and Asia too.

These are flowering plants in the genus Vaccinium. blueberry plants are shrubs varrying in size from 10 cm to 4 m tall. The fruit is a berry, 5-16 mm diameter with a flared crown at the end and takes indigo colour on ripening. Matured blueberries have a sweet taste.

Blueberries contain flavonoids, in particular anthocyanins and flavanols. They also contain certain other antioxident phytochemicals. It has been found by the researchers of Reading and Peninsula Medical School that these plant derived molecules(of flavonoids) affect the human brain, they have been shown to cross blood brain barrier after dietary intake.

As a consequence, they exert their effects on learning and memory by enhancing existing neural (brain cell) connections, improving cellular communications and stimulating neuronal regeneration.

The research team was also able to show that the ability of flavonoids to induce memory improvements are mediated by the activation of signalling proteins via a specific pathway in the hippocampus(the part of the brain that controls learning and memory).

Dr Spencer of Reading University commented - "Impaired or failing memory as we get older is one of life's inconveniences, scientists have known of the potential health benefits of diets rich in fresh fruits for a long time.

Our previous work had suggested that flavonoid compounds had some kind of effect on memory, but until now we had not known the potential mechanisms to account for this".

It may be indicated here that one cup(145g) of blueberries provides 31% of dietary reference intake for vitamin C, 16% for fibre, 20% for manganese and 7% for vitamin E with a low glycemic load.Dr.Whiteman, another member of Reading-Peninsula research team while commenting on their research findings said - "This study not only adds science to the claim that eating blueberries are good for you, it also provideds support to a diet-based approach that could potentially be used to increase memory capacity and performance in the future.

Blueberries are not only a treat for memory upgradation but they are effective against certain diseases.

Consumption of blueberries lowers cholesterol and total blood lipid levels and control blood pressure.

Research findings show that the blueberries are capable of preventing urinary tract infections.Perhaps govt. research stations, private agricultural farms can try to grow blueberries in our country as we have successfully grown strawberries recently.

[The author is Chairman, Department of Agricultural Extension & Information System, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University,Dhaka and Overseas Secretary (Hon), Bangladesh of the University of Reading UK.]

New employment scheme THE interim government has reportedly planned 'a new employment scheme' for the rural poor in a bid to offset the impacts of spiraling food prices on the hard

THE interim government has reportedly planned 'a new employment scheme' for the rural poor in a bid to offset the impacts of spiraling food prices on the hardcore poor as the finance and planning adviser disclosed the other day. The government may trim fuel and fertiliser subsidies to make up for the planned enhancement of social protection and balance the national budget for the next fiscal year. If people in the rural areas demands job during the lean period, they will be provided with some works for earning as stated by the finance adviser.

While reviewing the latest status of the current annual balance sheet and projection about the next one, the resource committee observed that the revenue expenditures in the current financial year increased significantly due to doubling of the subsidies to fuel, fertiliser and food. The package of new employment scheme with widening safety net and measures on fuel and fertiliser subsidy will be announced with the national budget in June for the next fiscal year. There exists, however, a sense of complacence in the administration about the flow of external assistance this year.

As reported, the government may take a conservative line in the next budget in expanding the size of the development outlay - the annual development programme - by planning only 10-15 per cent rise on top of the revised ADP in view of the failure to implement projects. The size of the revised 2007-2008 budget stood at around Taka 85,000 crore from the original outlay of Tk 79,000 crore with the annual development plan revised to Tk 22,500 crore from Tk 26,500 crore. The aggregate size of the next budget is likely to be around Tk 90,000 crore. The government will have to think about the poor and vulnerable groups who need more protection through the 'safety net'.

Disaster and education

Prospect of shipbuilding industries in Bangladesh

Not caste in stone

Blueberry boosts memory