The New Nation - Internet Edition

Saving the RMG sector

IN the wake of subversive labour movements in the export-oriented readymade garment (RMG) industries, owners of about 100 factories from the Gazipur area have reportedly threatened to close down their shops unless authorities ensure foolproof security within the current month. According to a report of the Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies, the RMG sector experienced at least 72 incidents of violent labour unrest within the first six months of the current year, with as many as twenty-two incidents in April alone.

Unfounded causes including rumoured killing or torture of workers were behind the unrest. In addition to the alleged involvement of saboteurs in spreading rumours to instigate unrest, political factors might have a role. The recent allegation from a political circle against the RMG owners of not giving the workers their due has been viewed with contempt. In an environment of insecurity it is difficult to continue production in more than eight hundred garment units located in the area. Due to violent labour movements during the last fifteen days alone, the sector had reportedly incurred about Tk 800 crore loss.

Garment is the largest industrial sector in the country having about five thousand units. This sector accounts for nearly 75 percent of US$14.11 billion of the country's annual export earnings. It provides employment to more than 25 lakh workers. The threat of closure of factories underlines the gravity of the situation in the sector.

This lifeline of the national economy is in dire need of protection on an urgent basis. All stakeholders including the security agencies of the government should come forward to identify and nab the trouble mongers and saboteurs that instigate unrest in the sector time and again. The sector should be brought under tight security umbrella with the formation of industrial police. Along with these measures, efforts must be made to create production-friendly workers-management relations.

Food exporters need support

ALTHOUGH Bangladesh's export of processed foods is growing, proceeds remain meager as food industry has yet to reach bulk importers and retailers who dominate multibillion dollars food business in advanced markets. As reported recently in the media, sales of country's processed foods are still limited to the Bangladeshi communities living abroad and exporters have yet to reach bulk importers, especially the chain shops. Lack of research and product development facilities, institutions for accrediting traceability, tests and standard of products makes bulk importers reluctant to import food items from Bangladesh.

Especially the chain retailers of foods in the advanced markets are very sensitive to the tests and accreditations of products' quality. Absence of institutional facilities deters exporters from taking such bulk orders. Most foreign retailers seek detailed traceability of raw materials used in processed foods and products, so exporters need organised facilities to satisfy such importers, especially their enquiries regarding supply and production processes. Bangladeshi exporters shipped processed foods worth about US$ 35 million, a 77 per cent growth, during the 11 months of the 2007-2008 fiscal year. Though Bangladesh started exporting processed foods at least a decade back, her earnings remain very scanty. Bangladesh lags far behind the regional exporters including Malaysia, Pakistan, India and Thailand. A local company, Pran, that has pioneered commercial exports of processed foods from Bangladesh, now shares around half of the country's entire export earnings from the sector. 'Image crisis' that appears to be an issue, especially regarding quality of Bangladeshi products, stands in the way of the exporters from reaching retailers abroad. The government should establish an institution for carrying out the required tests for accrediting the quality of exportable food products with a view to assuaging the importers in the international market about the quality and standards.

How safe is bottled water?

Easir Abedin

Over the past two decades, people have increasingly been shifting to bottled water because they consider it safe; find it refreshing, calorie-free, convenient to carry around, tastier than some tap water and healthier than soft drinks. But more and more people are questioning whether the water, and the package it comes in, is safe, or at least safer than tap water -- and if the convenience is worth the environmental impact.

Bottled water products can be traced back to the Romans who were aware of health benefits associated with certain waters. There is a legend that Hannibal, the famous Roman general rested his troops at Les Bouillens in France, the location of the Perrier drinking water spring. Over the years. the importance of certain sources continued to rise.

By the eighteenth century, the doctors were touting the beneficial effects of bathing, showering and drinking natural mineral water. Incidentally, the spa movement that began in Europe had its origins in baths dating from Roman times. Cold spa waters were bottled for the first time in France in the 1850s.

Why is the demand for bottled water growing?

Most people have bottled water because they consider bottled water safer than tap water.

1. It is portable and easy to carry.

2. It is refreshing

3. It is considered good for health.

Tap water may be contaminated by a range of chemical, microbial and physical hazards that could pose risks to health if they are present at high levels. Examples of chemical hazards include lead, arsenic and benzene. Microbial hazards, include bacteria, viruses and parasites, such as Vibrio cholerae, hepatitis A virus, and Crytosporidium parvum, respectively. Physical hazards include glass chips and metal fragments. Because of the large number of possible hazards in drinking-water, the development of standards for drinking-water requires significant resources and expertise, which many countries are unable to afford.

The US- FDA (Food and Drug Administration) also classifies some bottled water according to its origin.

Artesian well water. Water from a well that taps an aquifer--layers of porous rock, sand and earth that contain water--which is under pressure from surrounding upper layers of rock or clay. When tapped, the pressure in the aquifer, commonly called artesian pressure, pushes the water above the level of the aquifer, sometimes to the surface. Other means may be used to help bring the water to the surface.

According to the EPA, water from artesian aquifers often is more pure because the confining layers of rock and clay impede the movement of contamination. However, despite the claims of some bottlers, there is no guarantee that artesian waters are any cleaner than ground water from an unconfined aquifer, the EPA says.

Mineral water. Water from an underground source that contains at least 250 parts per million total dissolved solids. Minerals and trace elements must come from the source of the underground water. They cannot be added later.

Spring water. Derived from an underground formation from which water flows naturally to the earth's surface. Spring water must be collected only at the spring or through a borehole tapping the underground formation feeding the spring. If some external force is used to collect the water through a borehole, the water must have the same composition and quality as the water that naturally flows to the surface.

Well water. Water from a hole bored or drilled into the ground, which taps into an aquifer.

Bottled water may be used as an ingredient in beverages, such as diluted juices or flavored bottled waters. However, beverages labeled as containing "sparkling water," "seltzer water," "soda water," "tonic water," or "club soda" are not included as bottled water under the FDA's regulations, because these beverages have historically been considered soft drinks.

Some bottled water also comes from municipal sources--in other words--the tap. Municipal water is usually treated before it is bottled.

Examples of water treatments include:

Distillation. In this process, water is turned into a vapor. Since minerals are too heavy to vaporize, they are left behind, and the vapors are condensed into water again.

Reverse osmosis. Water is forced through membranes to remove minerals in the water.

Absolute 1 micron filtration. Water flows through filters that remove particles larger than one micron in size, such as Cryptosporidium, a parasitic protozoan.

Ozonation. Bottlers of all types of waters typically use ozone gas, an antimicrobial agent, to disinfect the water instead of chlorine, since chlorine can leave residual taste and odor to the water.

Some useful information

Tap water vs bottled water -- There is a common belief that botted water is better than tap waster. Though it might be true in developing countries, it is not the case in many developed countries. A four-year survey of the bottled water industry conducted by Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) in Canada revealed that one-third of the bottled water tested contained levels of contamination which exceeded allowable limits under either state or bottled water industry standards or guidelines. The survey also observed that an estimated 25 percent or more of bottled water was just tap water in a bottle --sometimes further treated, sometimes not.

Know your water -- To determine bottled water is really just tap water, check if the bottle label or the cap says "from a municipal source" or "from a community water system".

To improve safety of bottled water

*Initiatives should be taken by citizens to urge their concerned governments to adopt strict requirements for bottled water safety, labeling, and public disclosure. Citizens should specifically request for -

*Setting of strict limits for contaminants of concern in bottled water, including arsenic, heterotrophic-plate-count bacteria, E. coli and other parasites and pathogens, and synthetic organic chemicals such as "phthalates".

*Ensuring the application of rules to all types of bottled water -- including carbonated water and those sold intrastate or interstate

*Setting regulations that require bottlers to display information on their labels about the levels of contaminants of concern found in the water, the water's exact source, how it has been treated, and whether it meets health criteria set by the concerned environmental protection agency and the disease control agency for killing parasites like cryptosporidium.

Bottled water and your health

Some substances may prove more difficult to manage in bottled than tap water. This is generally because bottled water is stored for longer periods and at higher temperatures than water distributed in piped distribution systems. Control of materials used in containers and closures for bottled waters is, therefore, of special concern. In addition, some micro-organisms, which are normally of little or no public health significance, may grow to higher levels in bottled waters. This growth appears to occur less frequently in gasified water and in water bottled in glass containers compared to still water and water bottled in plastic containers. There have also been reports of fraud in which ordinary tap water has been added to used mineral water bottles and sold as the original article. Consumers may not be able to detect this by taste alone and, if concern is warranted, should examine the closures of bottled waters carefully before purchase and insist on seeing bottles opened in their presence in restaurants and other food and beverage service establishments.

Water it's another name is Life. In a recent study shows that about 70% disease occur (Like Diarrhoea,Dysentery, Typhoid Fever, Jaundice, Amebic dysentery,cholera e.t.c) as waterborne in Dhaka city. The World Health Organization says that every year more than 3.4 million people die as a result of water related diseases, making it the leading cause of disease and death around the world. So the Bottle water manufacturing company in Bangladesh should consider the quality of the Bottle water according to WHO guideline or EPA Guideline to make good health safety of the public.

Terror attack on America : Bush-Cheney doctrine of democracy

Zahid Zamir

September 11, 2008 will be the 7th anniversary of one of the most heinous acts in the history of human civilization perpetrated by some so called hate mongers, terrorists in the name of the great religion of Islam to promote and gain some politically motivated objectives of their own. In the aftermath of September 11 that left nearly 3000 Americans murdered including some 50 Muslim Americans, it is the Muslims who have become the major victims of the attacks.

Since 9/11, Bush Administration has subjected 80,000 Arab and Muslim immigrants to fingerprinting and special registration, 8000 were interviewed extensively by the FBI, and over 5,000 non-nationals were arrested and detained for as long as a year on technical immigration violations under the so called patriot acts. More shocking are the 400 indictments that have been returned against Muslims and Arabs-nearly all of them accompanied by press releases and frequent television appearances by the then Attorneys general Ashcroft and Gonzalez, touting almost never proven claims of connections to terrorism.

In the aftermath of the violence and horror of 9/11, criticisms were made that Muslim leaders and organizations were not outspoken enough in denouncing acts of terrorism. Muslims are constantly perplexed by this accusation. In fact the inhuman attacks of September 11 were condemned in the strongest terms by virtually all Islamic leaders, organizations, and countries. The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia summarized that, "thijacking planes, terrorizing innocent people and shedding blood, constitute a form of injustice that cannot be tolerated by Islam, which views them as gross crimes and sinful acts." Any true student of Islamic faith will not only unequivocally denounce any form of extremism and terrorism but also admit that targeting civilians' life and property is haram (forbidden) in Islam according to Quran and the tradition of the Prophet Muhammad (SM). As the Fiqh council of North America issued a statement right after the September the 11th, 2001 saying that "This condemnation of violence is deeply rooted in true Islamic values based on the Qur'anic instructions which consider the unjust killing of a single person equivalent to the killing of all humanity." Those who are perpetrating this heinous act might have Muslim identities but due to their Muslim identities, this dreadful act can not be labeled as Islamic terrorism just as it can not be called Jewish terrorism if the perpetrators are Jewish or Christian Terrorism if the perpetrators are Christian.

One of the strangest aspects of the post 9/11 world, much of is that despite all the talk about Muslim/Islamic terrorism, there is hardly any exploration of the complex causes of Muslim rage. Muslims in general are in a state of crisis but their most daunting problems are not religious rather those are geopolitical, economic and social-problems that have caused widespread Muslim despair and, in some cases, militancy, both of which are expressed in the religious terminology.

Most Muslims in the developing world, much of it colonized by western powers as recently as 50 years ago. Not all muslim shortcomings emanate from colonialism and neo-imperialism, but several do. As part of the spoils of the First World War, Britain and France helped themselves to much of the ottoman empire, including Syria, Iraq, Lebanon and what is now Israel, Jordan and the Palestinian Authority. In recent years, the United States has maintained repressive proxy regimes in the Middle East to stifle public anti-Israel sentiments, keep control of oil and maintain a captive market for armaments. Hundreds of millions live in zones of conflict, precisely in the areas of European and American meddling, past and present -US occupied Iraq, US-controlled Afghanistan, the Israeli occupied territories and the disputed territory on the border of India and Pakistan in the foothills of the Himalayas. These conflicts, along with the economic sanctions on Iraq have killed an estimated 1.3 million Muslims in the last 15 years alone. In addition, nearly 400 million Muslims live under authoritarian despots, many of them Western puppets, whose corruption and incompetence have left their people in economic and social shambles. It is against this backdrop that one must look at the current malaise of Muslims and their increasing emotional reliance on their faith.

As a matter of fact United States and its allies have started fighting terrorism in the name of exporting freedom and democracy in the Muslim world without ferreting out the root causes of the problems that led some people and groups around the globe to wage more holy wars against the west. The conviction that fundamentalism and terrorism emanate from lack of democracy and freedom and therefore democracy and freedom must be exported to those countries by hook or by crook has not only failed to reduce terrorism and fundamentalism but exasperated the situation and increased terrorism all around the world.

As Benjamin R. Barbar a Distinguished fellow at Demos and a Professor at University of Maryland said that "The conviction that Islam can not accommodate democracy is rooted in a shallow and incomplete understanding of Islam. But it is also true that democracy can not accommodate Islam is rooted in a shallow and incomplete understanding of democracy-one that tends to assimilate democratization to Americanization or westernization or merketization.

It is tied to the false view that there is but one kind of democracy, one road to liberty, one formula for translating the theory of justices into practices. So the Bush Cheney Doctrine of exporting democracy is an absolute illusion. No people have ever been liberated from the outside at the point of gun. An invader can overthrow a tyrant, but can not create a democracy by doing so. Similarly freedom can not be given to others; it must be won by those who seek it from inside".

Democracy is distinctive from one society to another and the road to democracy comes not from imitation but from excavation and invention. And for the citizen of a country to establish democracy, it must be constructed bottom up not top down. First educate citizens and do the hard slow work of making a civil society then build a political infrastructure on top of it.

The Americans had a hundred years of experience with municipal liberty and citizen competence before they declared independence. Democracy takes time. If patience is required and democracy is build bottom up, then elections come last not first. The rush to vote is generally a sign that the ground for democracy has not been prepared and when voting occurs in the absence of educated and competent citizens, the prospects for liberty and justice will be poor. As the Noble laureate Prof. Dr. Yunus when delivering his Noble Prize lecture in Oslo, Norway, on December 10, 2006 after receiving the Noble peace prize said "I believe terrorism can not be defeated by military action. Terrorism must be condemned in the strongest language. We must stand solidly against it, and find all means to end it. We must address the root causes of terrorism to end it for all time to come. I believe that putting resources into improving the lives of poor people is a better strategy than spending it on guns. Peace should be understood in a human way- in a broad social, political and economic way. Peace is threatened by an unjust economic, social and political order, absence of democracy, environmental degradation and absence of human rights."

So supporting repressive regimes, occupying territories and without creating opportunities for the people, the frustration, hostility and anger of the masses can not be solved by exporting democracy at gun point. The world needs to understand the deeply rooted causes of people's frustrations and anger and help educate citizens, build civic institutions, construct bottom up political infrastructure that will empower people. As T.E Lawrence wrote "better to let people do it imperfectly then to do it yourself perfectly: for it is their country, their way and your time is short. If democracy means anything it means the right for people to make their own mistakes, to practice their own religion and to pursue their own forms of self-government".

Ramazan : Month of peace and grace

Mohammad Shahidul Islam

Fasting is a binding order to all Muslims, excepting the infants, the insane and the invalids. It may be noted that persons who suffer from constant sickness, men and women too old to bear the hardship and women in the family way and those who give such are excused; but they should give away a poor man's food everyday if this is within their means. They should however fast whenever they are relieved of their respective disabilities even after the month of Ramazan.

The fourth principle of Islam is fasting during the month of Ramazan, for 29 or 30 days as the case may be, according to the visibility of the crescent moon

In the Holy Quran, fasting is declared as follows: "O you who believe, fasting is prescribed for you as it was prescribed for those before you, that you may learn self-restraint Thaqwa".

During this blessed month, Allah through his mercy forgives all sinners and save them from Hell fire. Further He will reward the ones who fast, in abundance and also they will be sent to Jennath (Heaven), also Angels, Jinns and all creatures in the sea will pray to Allah to forgive the sins of the fasting ones.

This is also a month where the affluent have to look after the poor and needy. Zakath is compulsory on all rich Muslims. According to Al Quran you have to give 2 1/2 per cent charity of your wealth to eight categories of people.

Rasoolullah (Sal) has said if you exactly calculate and give Zakath, Allah will cleanse your wealth and also there will be more Barakath in your wealth. Further Allah will ease all your problems and you will have peace of mind and happiness.

The Holy Quran, declares "Ramazan is the month in which the Quran was sent as a guide to mankind with clear signs for guidance and judgement between right and wrong."

The night of the first revelation is believed to have accorded on one of the last ten nights of the Holy month of Ramazan - popularly believed to be the 27th night.

This is called the Lailathul Qadr (Night of power and majesty) and it is said on such a night no dogs will bark, there will be no shooting stars, Shaitan (Devil or Satan) will not get out, the temperature will be moderately cool and when the sun rises at the end of such a night it will be like the moon, not sending out any heat.

Also Angels headed by Angel Jebreel descends down to the earth to grant Barakath and peace to the whole world. Whoever attains this night is a blessed one in this world and the next.

The Holy Quran lays down the rule that all Muslims should fast continually during the month of Ramazan alone. We should not fast once a week because such a practice would minimise the sacrifice we are required to make.

A continued stretch makes us realize the pangs of hunger suffered by the poor for months and years.

Fasting is an act of godliness, for it is an attribute of Allah himself. By fasting, a faithful Muslim approaches gradually the kingdom of Allah and will be specially rewarded by Him on the Day of Judgement.

If we failed to fast on any day during the month of Ramazan, we should fast instead on some other day to expiate the omission. Therefore, all the healthy Muslims should observe fasting in the month of Ramazan and gain the immeasurable merits promised by Allah and seek Allah's blessings to enter Jennathul Firdows through the special gate of Al-Rayyan.

We pray to Allah during this Holy month of Ramazan that peace and harmony must prevail in our country.