General Knowledge : Bangladesh

Remember 12 Novel name of Rabindranath Tagore

2014-11-20T20:57:00.003+06:00

# রবিঠাকুরের ১২ টি উপন্যাস -

মুখস্ত নয় গল্পটি মনে রাখুন
'' করুণা '' করে আমাকে '' বউ ঠাকুরানীর হাটে '' পৌঁছে দিও, সেখানে হয়ত '' রাজর্ষি '' কে খুঁজে পাব,
আগামী মাসে তার সাথে আমার বিয়ে হওয়ার কথা ছিল, কিন্ত '' নৌকাডুবি ''র ফলে তার সাথে আমার সমস্ত
'' যোগাযোগ '' বন্ধহয়ে যায়,আমি এখন তার ''চোখের বালি'', আমার ''দুইবোন '' আর ভাই ''গোরা ''কে অনেক খুঁজেছি -
পাইনি,অবশেষে জীবনের '' চার অধ্যায়'' পেরিয়ে '' চতুরঙ্গে ''র কষাঘাতে ''মালঞ্চে ''বসে লিখছি ''শেষের কবিতা"

নদ ও নদীর মধ্যে পার্থক্য

2014-11-20T16:43:00.004+06:00

নদ ও নদীর মধ্যে পার্থক্য

1.যে নদীর কোন শাখা নদী নাই কিন্তুউপনদী থাকতে পারে তাদের নদ বলে। আরযে নদীরশাখা নদী বা শাখা নদী ওউপনদী আছে তাদেরনদী বলে। তার আগে আপনাকে শাখা নদী ওউপনদীরমধ্যে পার্থক্য বুঝতে হবে। যদি কোননদী থেকে অন্যএকটা নদীর উৎপত্তি হয় তাহলে সেই অন্যনদীকে ঐনদীর শাখা নদী বলে। আবার অন্য কোননদী যদি আর একটা নদীর সাথে মিলিত হয়তাহলে সেইঅন্য নদীকে সেই আর একটা নদীরউপনদী বলে।

2. ভূগোলের দৃষ্টিতে নদ ওনদীর মধ্যে কোনপার্থক্য নেই।

৩. নদ এবং নদীর পার্থক্য বোঝাতে এ পর্যন্তএকটি পদ্ধতি বা নিয়ম অনুসরণ করা হয়েছে।নিয়মটি হলো :স্ত্রী এবং পুরুষ নাম জ্ঞাপক শব্দ, সাধারণতস্ত্রী নামে যে প্রবাহগুলো রয়েছে সেগুলোকে আমরা নদী নামে অভিহিতকরে আসছি। যেমন- গঙ্গা, সরস্বতী,যমুনা, পদ্মা, গৌরী, ভাগীরথী, চিত্রা, নর্মদা,কাবেরী, কৃষ্ণা ইত্যাদি।

আবার পুরুষনামে যেগুলোর প্রবাহসেসবকে বলা হচ্ছে নদ। যেমন- ব্রহ্মপুত্র, নারদ,ভৈরব, কুমার, কপোতাক্ষ, মুসা খান,মির্জা মাহমুদ ইত্যাদি।আসলে এই সূত্র নিয়েও কিছুটা বিতর্ক আছে।অধিক গ্রহণযোগ্য আরেকটি সূত্র হচ্ছে, নামেরশেষে যদি আকার,একার, ওকার, ঔকারইত্যাদি থাকে তবে নিশ্চিতভাবে সেইপ্রবাহগুলো নদী নামে অভিহিত হবে। নামেরশেষে এগুলো না থাকলে এবং শুধু হ্রসুকারথাকলে অবশ্যই নদ হবে। যেমন- আড়িয়ালখাঁ-এটি পুরুষ নাম জ্ঞাপকহলেও যেহেতু শেষে আকার রয়েছে সে জন্যএটি নদ না হয়ে নদী। কিন্তু মুসা খান ন-এরপরে আকার একার কিছুনেই, যে কারণে এটি নদ। সিন্ধু যেহেতু হ্রসুকাররয়েছে শেষে, যে কারণে এটি নদ। একইভাবে বালু-এটিও নদ। নীলস্ত্রী নাম জ্ঞাপক একটি প্রবাহ। যেহেতু এরশেষে আকার, একার কিছু নেই, সেইসূত্রে এটি নদ। এভাবে ঘাঘটস্ত্রী নামক জ্ঞাপক হলেও ট-এর পরে আ-কার,এ-কার নেই, যে কারণে এটিও নদ।

World cup 2014 grouping

2013-12-07T12:57:00.001+06:00

ব্রাজিল বিশ্বকাপ ফুটবলের ড্র:
গ্রুপ এ:
ব্রাজিল, ক্যামেরুন, মেক্সিকো, ক্রোয়েশিয়া
* গ্রুপ বি: স্পেন, চিলি, অস্ট্রেলিয়া,
নেদারল্যান্ডস
* গ্রুপ সি: কলম্বিয়া, আইভরি কোস্ট, জাপান,
গ্রিস
* গ্রুপ ডি: উরুগুয়ে, ইতালি, কোস্টা রিকা,
ইংল্যান্ড
* গ্রুপ ই: সুইজারল্যান্ড, ইকুয়েডর, হন্ডুরাস,
ফ্রান্স
* গ্রুপ এফ: আর্জেন্টিনা, নাইজেরিয়া, ইরান,
বসনিয়া হার্জেগোভিনা
* গ্রুপ জি: জার্মানি, ঘানা, যুক্তরাষ্ট্র,
পর্তুগাল
* গ্রুপ এইচ: বেলজিয়াম, আলজেরিয়া, দক্ষিণ
কোরিয়া, রাশিয়া

Questions on Basic Computer Technology

2012-05-05T10:10:00.000+06:00

·       
Question: What is the elaboration of VOIP?

·       
Answer:    Voice Over Internet Protocol.

·       
Question: E-mail stands for?

·       
Answer:   Electronic mail

·       
Question:Write some common output devices of   computer.

·       
Answer:  Monitor, Printer and Speaker.

·       
Question: Give some Example of programming language.

·       
Answer:  BASIC, PaSCAL, C++, FORTRAN

·       
Question: What is YouTube?

·       
Answer: YouTube is a famous video sharing site.

·       
Question:What is WiMax?

·       
Answer :  WiMax is  Wireless Internet
Technology.

·       
Question: What is Cyber Super Weapon?

·       
Answer: Cyber Super Weapon is a computer virus.

·       
Question: What is  Palmtop?

·       
Answer: Palmtop is a kind of small computer.

·       
Question: What is XO?

·       
Answer: Tablet Pc

a)  
CRT = Cathode Ray Tube

b)  
LCD= Liquid Crystal Diode

c)  
HTML= Hyper Text Markup Language

d)  
DOS stands for Disc Operating System

e)  
Oracle is a Data Base Program

f)  
Microsoft Excel is a database program

g)  
Scanner is an Input Device

h)  
Processing speed of computer is measured in Nano Second

i)  The computer uses in operations of mathematics- Binary

j)  The latest version of MS Windows – Windows-7

k)  Computer memory which never erased- ROM

The most distinctive difference between a LAN and WAN is- Distance Covered.

Writing, editing,storing and printing a document using computer software,are known as- Word Processing Software.

The other name of a chip – IC.

In general “My Document” is located at -C Drive.

Internet Explorer, Opera, Mozilla, are – Internet Browsing Software

The Application that allows millions of people to access the worldwide web daily is called a – web browser

World famous Tablet computers are- blackpad, apple IPad, Strick, samsung galaxy,Epad, lePad,sias

Octoberr 17, 2010 Google introduce online television

Computer Hardware consists of – CPU, monitor, keyboard, mouse, printer, cable and their internal devices.

Computer Hardware is divided into 3 parts – Input devices, Processor Unit, Output Devices.

a)  The name of different computer storage device are Hard
Disk, Floppy Disk, Compact Disk.

b)  Submarine Cable is the term used in – Information
Technology

c)  Goojje is a Chinese Search Engine

d)  Function of Modem is to convert digital signal to analog
signal and also analog signal to digital signal

e)  First computer programmer = lady Adda augusta

f)  OLPC = One Laptop Per Child

g)  2010 India launches her own web browser
named Epic

List of Input Devices, Output Devices and Both Input Output devices related to computer.

2012-05-05T09:58:00.003+06:00

 Input Devices:

·       
Graphics Tablets

·       
Cameras

·       
Video Capture Hardware

·       
Trackballs

·       
Barcode reader

·       
Digital camera

·       
Gamepad

·       
Joystick

·       
Keyboard

·       
Microphone

·       
MIDI keyboard

·       
Mouse (pointing device)

·       
Scanner

·       
Webcam

·       
Touchpads

·       
Pen Input

·       
Microphone

·       
Electronic Whiteboard

OUTPUT  DEVICES:

1.   Monitor

2.   Printers (all types)

3.   Plotters

4.   Projector

5.   LCD Projection
Panels

6.   Computer Output
Microfilm (COM)

7.   Speaker(s)

Both
Input-OutPut Devices:

1.   Modems

2.   Network cards

3.   Touch Screen

4.    Headsets (Headset consists of Speakers and
Microphone. Speaker act Output Device and    
Microphone act as Input    device)

5.    Facsimile (FAX)  (It has scanner to scan
the document and also  have printer to Print the  document)

6.   6.Audio Cards /
Sound Card

নাটক ও প্রহসন সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়

2012-05-05T09:32:00.002+06:00

দীনবন্ধু মিত্র রচিত নাটক ও প্রহসন সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়
নাটক ও প্রহসনঃ নবীন জামাই কমল সধবার একাদশীতে লীলাবতীকে নিয়ে নীলদর্পণ নাটক দেখলে এক বুড়ো তাকে বিয়ে করার জন্য পাগল হয়ে যায়।

প্রহসনঃ বিয়ে পাগলা বুড়ো, সধবার একাদশী

নাটক – জামাই বারিক
      লীলাবতী
      নবীন তপস্বিনী
      কমলে কাহিনী

নীল দর্পণ

নীল দর্পণ – ঢাকা থেকে প্রকাশিত ১ম গ্রন্থ। মাইকেল মধুসূদন দত্ত নীলদর্পন নাটকটিকে ইংরেজীতে অনুবাদ করেন ১৮৬১ সালে। নাটকটি দেখতে এসে ঈশ্বরচন্দ্র বিদ্যাসাগর মঞ্চে জুতা ছুড়ে মেরেছিলেন

গিরিশচন্দ্র ঘোষ রচিত নাটক ও পৌরনিক নাটক সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়
ঐতিহাসিক ও পৌরণিক নাটক

ছত্রপতি শিবাজীর মী-সি-লে রাবন পান্ডবকে বধ করে অ -জানা বনবাসে সীতাকে হরণ করলেন

ছত্রপতি শিবাজী

মী – মীরজাফর
সি –সিরাজদ্দৌলা
লে- লক্ষণবধ
-রাবনবধ
-পান্ডব গৌরব
-অভিমন্যু বধ ও সীতা হরণ – পৌরণিক

-জনা

দ্বিজেন্দ্রলাল রায় রচিত নাটক মনে রাখার সহজ উপায়

নাটকঃ ক –সি সাবনূর প্রায় এক ঘরে জন্ম নিলে প্রতাপ চন্দ্র দাসের আনন্দের পতন ঘটে

ক – কল্কি অবতার
সি –সিংহল বিজয়
সাবনুর- বঙ্গনারী
সা- সাজাহান
নূর-নূরজাহান
প্রায় – প্রায়চিত্ত
জন্ম – পূনর্জন্ম
প্রতাপ -প্রতাপ সিংহ
চন্দ্র –চন্দ্রগুপ্ত
দাস –দূর্গাদাস
আনন্দ – আনন্দ বিদায়

শরৎচন্দ্র চট্টোপাধ্যায় রচিত গল্প ও উপন্যাস সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়
গল্প
বিলাসীর মেজদিদি বিন্দুর দুই ছেলে মহেশ ও পরেশ আর এক মেয়ে সতী, মন্দিরের জমি নিয়ে মামলার ফলে তারা আজ কপর্দকশূন্য

গল্পঃ ছবি, বিলাসী, পরেশ, সতী, মহেশ, মন্দির, মামলার ফল, বিন্দুর ছেলে, মেজদিদি
উপন্যাসঃ

অরক্ষনীয় গৃহের ছবি দেখে কাশীনাথ শ্রীকান্তকে বললেন “চরিত্রহীন দেবদাস পশুর সমান”

চ – চরিত্রহীন
দেব- দেবদাস, দেনাপাওনা
দাস – বিপ্রদাশ
প-পরিনীতা
শু- পন্ডিত মশাই
র- পথের দাবী
স- পল্লী সমাজ
মা- রামের সুমতি
ন –চন্দ্রনাথ

ইসমাইল হোসেন সিরাজীর রচনা মনে রাখার সহজ উপায়

উপন্যাস,কাব্য ও মহাকাব্য
রানুর ফিতা
উপন্যাসঃ
রা – রায় নন্দিনী
নুর-নুর উদ্দিন
ফি- ফিরোজা বেগম
তা – তারাবাঈ
কাব্য ও মহাকাব্য
নব-উদ্দীপনা উচ্ছাসে অনল প্রবাহে তুরস্কে ভ্রমন করে স্পেন বিজয় করল
কাব্যঃ

নবউদ্দীপনা
উচ্ছ্বাস
অনল প্রবাহ

ভ্রমণ কাহিনীঃ তুরস্ক ভ্রমন
মহাকাব্যঃ স্পেন বিজয়

ফররুখ আহমদ-এর রচনা সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়

কাব্যঃ

সাত সাগরের মাঝি সিরাজুম মুনীরা মুহূর্তের মধ্যেই নৌফেল ও হাতেম তাই এর জন্য পাখির বাসা বানাল

সাত সাগরের মাঝি
সিরাজুম মুনীরা
মুহূর্তের কবিতা
হাতেম তাই
নৌফেল ও হাতেম
পাখির বাসা

দরিয়া, শেষ রাত্রি, লাশ – সাত সাগরের মাঝি কাব্যের অন্তর্গত

নবীন চন্দ্র সেন এর রচনা সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়

পলাশীর যুদ্ধ এবং কুরুক্ষেত্রে যুদ্ধের দুই সৈনিক রৈবতক আর প্রভাস যুদ্ধ না করে অবকাশ রঞ্জিনী পালন করছিল

পলাশীর যুদ্ধ – গাঁথাকাব্য
কুরুক্ষেত্র, রৈবতক, প্রভাস – ত্রয়ী মহাকাব্য
অবকাশ রঞ্জিনী- কাব্য

মুনীর চৌধুরীর- অনুবাদকৃত নাটক ও স্বরচিত নাটক মনে রাখার সহজ উপায়
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জসীম উদ্দীনের কাব্য, নাটক এবং উপন্যাস সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়

নাটকঃ

পদ্মা পাড়ের বেদের মেয়ে মধুমালার সাথে অন্য গ্রামের মেয়ে এক পল্লীবধূর বন্ধুত্ব সবার মুখে মুখে

পদ্মাপাড়
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উপন্যাস:

বোবা কাহিনী

কাব্যঃ

হলুদ বরনীর দেশে হাসু , ডালিম কুমার, সখিনা ও সূচয়নী ভয়াবহ সেই দিনগুলোতে এক পয়সার বাশি বাজিয়ে ধানক্ষেতের বালুচরে মাটির তৈরী কবর জলে লেখা নকশী কাথার কাফন মুড়িয়ে সোজন বাদিয়ার ঘাটে এসে রাখালীর মা পল্লী জননী রঙ্গিলা নায়ের মাঝির জন্য কাঁদতে লাগল

হলুদ বরনী, জলে লেখন
হাসু, নকশী কাথার মাঠ
ডালিম কুমার, কাফনের মিছিল
সখিনা, সোজন বাদিয়ার ঘাঁট
সূচয়নী, রাখালীর মা
ভয়াবহ সেই দিনগুলোতে, রঙ্গিলা নায়ের মাঝি
এক পয়সার বাশি, মা যে জননী কাদে
ধানক্ষেত
বালুচর
মাটির কান্না

বাংলাদেশ-ভারত ছিটমহল

2012-05-04T13:41:00.000+06:00

ছিটমহল একটি দেশের সীমান্তবর্তী সেই এলাকা যেখানে পার্শ্ববর্তী দেশের নাগরিকদের বসবাস রয়েছে। বাংলাদেশ ও ভারতের মধ্যে ছিমহলের সংখ্যা ১৬২। ছিটমহল মানে ভারতের ভেতরে বাংলাদেশের আর বাংলাদেশের ভেতের ভারতীয় ভূখণ্ড। আবার এমনও আছে, বাংলাদেশের ভেতরে ভারত, তার ভেতরে আবার বাংলাদেশ। যেমন কুড়িগ্রামে ভারতের ছিটমহল দাশিয়ারছড়া। দাশিয়ারছড়ার ভেতরেই আছে চন্দ্রখানা নামের বাংলাদেশের একটি ছিটমহল।

বাংলাদেশ-ভারত ছিটমহল

অখণ্ড ভারত বিভক্ত করে ভারত এবং পাকিস্তান নামক দুটি স্বাধীন রাষ্ট্র প্রতিষ্ঠার লগ্নে ১৯৪৭ খ্রিস্টাব্দে রেডক্লিফের মানচিত্র বিভাজন থেকেই উদ্ভব ছিটমহলের। এক দেশের ভূখণ্ডে থেকে যায় অন্য দেশের অংশ। এতে এক অসহনীয় মানবিক সমস্যার উদ্ভব হয় । ১৬২ টি ছিটমহল আছে দুই প্রতিবেশী দেশে। এর মধ্যে ভারতের ১১১টি ছিটমহল আছে বাংলাদেশে। আর বাংলাদেশের ৫১টি ছিটমহল ভারতে। এসব ছিটমহলে বসবাসকারী জনসংখ্যা সংখ্যা ৫১ হাজার। সাম্প্রতিক (২০১১) জনগণনা অনুযায়ী ভারতের ছিটমহলে বসবাসরত লোকসংখ্যা ৩৭ হাজার এবং বাংলাদেশের ছিটমহলের লোকসংখ্যা ১৪ হাজার।২৪২৬৮ একর ভূমি নিয়ে দুই দেশের ছিটমহল। তার মধ্যে ভারতের ১৭ হাজার ১৫৮ একর। বাংলাদেশের ছিটমহলের জমির পরিমাণ ৭ হাজার ১১০ একর।

ছিটমহলের উৎস

কুচবিহার রাজ্যের কোচ রাজার জমিদারির কিছু অংশ রাজ্যের বাইরের বিভিন্ন থানা পঞ্চগড়, ডিমলা, দেবীগঞ্জ, পাটগ্রাম, হাতিবান্ধা, লালমনিরহাট, ফুলবাড়ী ও ভুরুঙ্গামারিতে অবস্থিত ছিল। ভারত ভাগের পর ওই আট থানা পূর্ব পাকিস্তানে অন্তর্ভুক্ত হয়। আর কুচবিহার একীভূত হয় পশ্চিমবঙ্গের সঙ্গে। ফলে ভারতের কিছু ভূখণ্ড আসে বাংলাদেশের কাছে। আর বাংলাদেশের কিছু ভূখণ্ড যায় ভারতে। এই ভূমিগুলোই হচ্ছে ছিটমহল।

সীমানা নির্ধারণের সমস্যা

১৯৪৭ সালে বাংলা ও পাঞ্জাবের সীমারেখা টানার পরিকল্পনা করেন লর্ড মাউন্টবেটন। তাঁর পরিকল্পনা অনুযায়ী ব্রিটিশ আইনজীবী সিরিল রেডক্লিফকে প্রধান করে সে বছরই গঠন করা হয় সীমানা নির্ধারণের কমিশন। ১৯৪৭ সালের ৮ জুলাই লন্ডন থেকে ভারতে আসেন রেডক্লিফ। মাত্র ছয় সপ্তাহের মাথায় ১৩ আগস্ট তিনি সীমানা নির্ধারণের চূড়ান্ত প্রতিবেদন দেন। এর তিন দিন পর ১৬ আগস্ট জনসমক্ষে প্রকাশ করা হয় সীমানার মানচিত্র।

কোনো রকম সুবিবেচনা ছাড়াই হুট করে এ ধরনের একটি সিদ্ধান্ত নেওয়ায় সীমানা নির্ধারণের বিষয়টি যথাযথভাবে হয়নি। অভিযোগ রয়েছে, কমিশন সদস্যদের নিষ্ক্রিয়তা আর জমিদার, নবাব, স্থানীয় রাজনীতিবিদ ও চা-বাগানের মালিকেরা নিজেদের স্বার্থে দেশভাগের সীমারেখা নির্ধারণে প্রভাব ফেলেছে। আর উত্তারিকার সূত্রেই উপমহাদেশের বিভক্তির পর এই সমস্যা বয়ে বেড়াচ্ছে দুই দেশ। ১৯৫৮ সালের নেহেরু-নুন চক্তি অনুযায়ী বেরুবাড়ীর উত্তর দিকের অর্ধেক অংশ ভারত এবং দক্ষিণ দিকের অর্ধেক অংশ ও এর সংলগ্ন এলাকা পাবে বাংলাদেশ। চুক্তি অনুযায়ী বেরুবাড়ীর সীমানা নির্ধারণের উদ্যোগ নেওয়া হলেও ভারতের অসহযোগিতায় তা মুখ থুবড়ে পড়ে। ফলে বেরুবাড়ীর দক্ষিণ দিকের অর্ধেক অংশ ও এর ছিটমহলের সুরাহা হয়নি।

এরপর সাতচল্লিশের ইন্দিরা-মুজিব চুক্তিরপর দুই দেশ ছিটমহলের আলাদা আলাদাভাবে তালিকা তৈরির কাজ শুরু করে। কিন্তু দুই পক্ষের তালিকায় দেখা দেয় গরমিল। পরে ১৯৯৭ সালের ৯ এপ্রিল চূড়ান্ত হয় বাংলাদেশের অভ্যন্তরে ভারতের ১১১টি ও ভারতের অভ্যন্তরে বাংলাদেশের ৫১টি ছিটমহল রয়েছে।

এখানে বলে রাখা ভালো, ১৯৫৮ সালে সই হওয়া নেহেরু-নুন চুক্তিতে ছিটমহল বিনিময়ের উল্লেখ থাকলেও এ ব্যাপারে ভারতের তৎকালীন রাষ্ট্রপতি সে দেশের সংবিধানের ১৪৩ ধারা সম্পর্কে সুপ্রিম কোর্টের মতামত চান। তখন আদালতের পক্ষ থেকে বলা হয়, সংবিধানের সংশোধনীর মাধ্যমে বিষয়টির নিষ্পত্তি করতে হবে। পরে ভারতের পক্ষ থেকে বিভিন্ন সময়ে সংবিধান সংশোধনী আর জনগণনার অজুহাতে বিলম্বিত হয়েছে ছিটমহল বিনিময়।

একনজরে ছিটমহল

১৯৪৭ সালে রেডক্লিফের মানচিত্র বিভাজন থেকেই উদ্ভব ছিটমহলের। এক দেশের ভূখণ্ডে থেকে যায় অন্য দেশের অংশ। উদ্ভব হয় এক মানবিক সমস্যার। ১৯৭৪ সালে মুজিব-ইন্দিরা সীমান্ত চিহ্নিতকরণ চুক্তিতে বলা আছে, ভূমি বিনিময়ের সময় লোকজন যেখানে থাকতে চাইবে, সেখানেই তাদের থাকতে দেওয়া হবে। ১৬২ টি ছিটমহল আছে দুই প্রতিবেশী দেশে। এর মধ্যে ভারতের ১১১টি ছিটমহল আছে বাংলাদেশে। আর বাংলাদেশের ৫১টি ছিটমহল ভারতে। ৫১০০০ জনসংখ্যা রয়েছে এসব ছিটমহলে। সাম্প্রতিক জনগণনা অনুযায়ী, ভারতের ছিটমহলের লোকসংখ্যা ৩৭ হাজার। বাংলাদেশের ছিটমহলের লোকসংখ্যা ১৪ হাজার। ২৪২৬৮ একর ভূমি নিয়ে দুই দেশের ছিটমহল। তার মধ্যে ভারতের ১৭ হাজার ১৫৮ একর। বাংলাদেশের ছিটমহলের জমির পরিমাণ ৭ হাজার ১১০ একর।

বাংলাদেশের নদী

2012-05-03T23:33:00.000+06:00

বাংলাদেশ একটি নদীমাতৃক দেশ। শাখা-প্রশাখাসহ প্রায় ৭০০ নদ-নদী বিপুল জলরাশি নিয়ে ২৪,১৪০ কিলোমিটার জায়গা দখল করে দেশের মধ্য দিয়ে প্রবাহিত হয়েছে। বাংলাদেশের অধিকাংশ এলাকাই শত শত নদীর মাধ্যমে বয়ে আসা পলি মাটি জমে তৈরি হয়েছে।

পদ্মা নদী

পদ্মা বাংলাদেশের একটি প্রধান নদী। এটি হিমালয় পর্বতে উৎপন্ন গঙ্গা নদীর প্রধান শাখা। এটি ভারত থেকে বাংলাদেশে চাঁপাই নবাবগঞ্জ জেলা হয়ে প্রবেশ করেছে। আরিচাতে এটি যমুনা নদীর সাথে মিশেছে, এবং পদ্মা নামেই পরে চাঁদপুরে মেঘনার সাথে মিশেছে। অত:পর মেঘনা বঙ্গোপসাগরে শেষ হয়েছে।বাংলাদেশের গুরুত্বপূর্ণ শহর রাজশাহী এই পদ্মার উত্তর তীরে অবস্থিত।

মেঘনা নদী

মেঘনা নদী বাংলাদেশ এর একটি অন্যতম প্রধান নদী। পূর্ব ভারতের পাহাড় থেকে উদ্ভূত মেঘনা নদী সিলেট অঞ্চল দিয়ে বাংলাদেশে প্রবেশ করে চাঁদপুরের কাছে পদ্মা নদীর সাথে মিলিত হয়ে মেঘনা নামে বঙ্গোপসাগর এ প্রবাহিত হয়েছে।

হালদা নদী

হালদা বাংলাদেশের দক্ষিণ-পূর্বাঞ্চলের একটি নদী। পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রামের বদনাতলী পাহাড় হতে উৎপন্ন হয়ে এটি ফটিকছড়ির মধ্য দিয়ে চট্টগ্রাম জেলায় প্রবেশ করেছে। এটি এর পর দক্ষিণ-পশ্চিমে ও পরে দক্ষিণে প্রবাহিত হয়ে ফটিকছড়ির বিবিরহাট, নাজিরহাট, সাত্তারঘাট, ও অন্যান্য অংশ, হাটহাজারী, রাউজান, এবং চট্টগ্রাম শহরের কোতোয়ালী থানার মধ্য দিয়ে প্রবাহিত হয়েছে। এটি কালুরঘাটের নিকটে কর্ণফুলী নদীর সাথে মিলিত হয়েছে। এর মোট দৈর্ঘ্য ৮১ কিলোমিটার, যার মধ্যে ২৯ কিলোমিটার অংশ সারা বছর বড় নৌকা চলাচলের উপযোগী থাকে।

প্রতিবছর হালদা নদীতে একটি বিশেষ মূহুর্তে ও বিশেষ পরিবেশে রুই, কাতলা, মৃগেল, কালিবাউস ও কার্প জাতীয় মাতৃমাছ প্রচুর পরিমাণ ডিম ছাড়ে। ডিম ছাড়ার বিশেষ সময়কে তিথি বলা হয়ে থাকে। স্থানীয় জেলেরা ডিম ছাড়ার তিথির পূর্বেই নদীতে অবস্থান নেন এবং ডিম সংগ্রহ করেন। ডিম সংগ্রহ করে তারা বিভিন্ন বাণিজ্যিক হ্যাচারীতে উচ্চমূল্যে বিক্রী করেন।হালদা নদীতে রুই জাতীয় মাছের ডিম ছাড়ার কারণ

হালদা নদী এবং নদীর পানির কিছু বৈশিষ্ট্যের জন্য এখানে মাছ ডিম ছাড়তে আসে যা বাংলাদেশের অন্যান্য নদী থেকে ভিন্ন তর । এই বৈশিষ্ট্যগুলো ভৌতিক , রাসায়নিক ও জৈবিক। ভৌতিক কারন গুলোর মধ্যে রয়েছে নদীর বাঁক , অনেকগুলো নিপাতিত পাহাড়ী ঝর্ণা বা ছড়া , প্রতিটি পতিত ছড়ার উজানে এক বা একাধিক বিল , নদীর গভীরতা , কম তাপমাত্রা , তীব্র খরস্রোত এবং অতি ঘোলাত্ব । রাসায়নিক কারণ গুলোর মধ্যে রয়েছে কম কন্ডাক্টিভিটি , সহনশীল দ্রবীভুত অক্সিজেন । জৈবিক কারণ গুলো হচ্ছে বর্ষার সময় প্রথম বর্ষণের পর বিল থাকার কারণে এবং দুকুলের বিস্তীর্ণ অঞ্চল প্লাবিত হয়ে নদীর পানিতে প্রচুর জৈব উপাদানের মিশ্রণের ফলে পর্যাপ্ত খাদ্যের প্রাচুর্য থাকে যা প্রজনন পূর্ব গোনাডের পরিপক্কতায় সাহায্য করে। অনেক গুলো পাহাড়ী ঝর্ণা বিধৌত পানিতে প্রচুর ম্যেক্রো ও মাইক্রো পুষ্টি উপাদান থাকার ফলে নদীতে পর্যাপ্ত খাদ্যাণু র সৃষ্টি হয় , এই সব বৈশিষ্ট্যগুলোর কারণে হালদা নদীতে অনুকুল পরিবেশ সৃষ্টির মাধ্যমে রুই জাতীয় মাছকে বর্ষাকালে ডিম ছাড়তে উদ্ভুদ্ধ করে য বাংলাদেশের অন্যান্য নদী থেকে আলাদা

কর্ণফুলী নদী

কর্ণফুলী নদী বাংলাদেশের দক্ষিণ-পূর্বাঞ্চলের একটি প্রধান নদী। এটি ভারতের মিজোরামের লুসাই পাহাড়ে শুরু হয়ে পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম ও চট্টগ্রামের মধ্য দিয়ে প্রবাহিত হয়ে চট্টগ্রামের পতেঙ্গার কাছে বঙ্গোপসাগরে মিলিত হয়েছে। এই নদীর মোহনাতে বাংলাদেশের প্রধান সমূদ্র বন্দর চট্টগ্রাম বন্দর অবস্থিত। এই নদীর দৈর্ঘ্য ৩২০ কিলোমিটার।

কর্ণফুলী নদীর নামের উৎস সম্পর্কে বিভিন্ন কাহিনী প্রচলিত আছে। কথিত আছে যে, আরাকানের এক রাজকন্যা চট্টগ্রামের এক আদিবাসী রাজপুত্রের প্রেমে পড়েন। এক জ্যোৎস্না স্নাত রাতে তাঁরা দুই জন এই নদীতে নৌভ্রমণ উপভোগ করছিলেন। নদীর পানিতে চাঁদের প্রতিফলন দেখার সময় রাজকন্যার কানে গোঁজা একটি ফুল পানিতে পড়ে যায়। ফুলটি হারিয়ে কাতর রাজকন্যা সেটা উদ্ধারের জন্য পানিতে ঝাঁপিয়ে পড়েন। কিন্তু প্রবল স্রোতে রাজকন্যা ভেসে যান, তাঁর আর খোঁজ পাওয়া যায় নাই। রাজপুত্র রাজকন্যাকে বাঁচাতে পানিতে লাফ দেন, কিন্তু সফল হন নাই। রাজকন্যার শোকে রাজপুত্র পানিতে ডুবে আত্মাহুতি দেন। এই করুন কাহিনী থেকেই নদীটির নাম হয় কর্ণফুলী। মার্মা আদিবাসীদের কাছে নদীটির নাম কান্সা খিওং।

কাপ্তাই বাঁধ

কর্ণফুলী নদীর উপর বাঁধ দিয়ে রাঙামাটি জেলার কাপ্তাই উপজেলায় কাপ্তাই বাঁধ তৈরি করা হয় ১৯৬৪ খ্রীস্টাব্দে। এই বাঁধে সঞ্চিত পানি ব্যবহার করে কাপ্তাই জলবিদ্যুৎ কেন্দ্রে বিদ্যুৎ উৎপন্ন করা হয়।

সাঙ্গু নদী

সাঙ্গু নদী, স্থানীয়ভাবে শঙ্খ নদী, বাংলাদেশের দক্ষিণে পার্বত্য চট্টগ্রাম অঞ্চলে অবস্থিত একটি পাহাড়ি নদী। কর্নফুলীর পর এটি চট্টগ্রাম বিভাগের দ্বিতীয় বৃহত্তম নদী বাংলাদেশের অভ্যন্তরে যে কয়টি নদীর উৎপত্তি তার মধ্যে সাঙ্গু নদী অন্যতম। মিয়ানমার সীমান্তবর্তী বাংলাদেশের বান্দরবান জেলার মদক এলাকার পাহাড়ে এ নদীর জন্ম। বান্দরবান জেলা ও দক্ষিণ চট্টগ্রামের ওপর দিয়ে প্রবাহিত হয়ে এটি বঙ্গোপসাগরে গিযে মিশেছে। উৎসমুখ হতে বঙ্গোপসাগর পর্যন্ত এই নদীর দৈর্ঘ্য ১৭০ কিলোমিটার।

সাঙ্গু নদী বান্দবান জেলার প্রধানতম নদী। বান্দরবান জেলা শহরও এ নদীর তীরে অবস্থিত। এ জেলার জীবন–জীবিকার সাথে সাঙ্গু নদী ওতপ্রোতভাবে জড়িত। বান্দরবানের পাহাড়ি জনপদের যোগাযোগের ক্ষেত্রে এ নদী একটি অন্যতম মাধ্যম।

নাফ নদী

নাফ নদী বাংলাদেশের দক্ষিণ প্রান্তে বার্মা সীমান্তে অবস্থিত একটি নদী। এটি কক্সবাজার জেলার দক্ষিণ পূর্ব কোনা দিয়ে প্রবাহিত। মূলত এটি কোন নদী নয়, বঙ্গোপসাগরের বর্ধিত অংশ। এর পানি তাই লবনাক্ত। এর পশ্চিম পাড়ে বাংলাদেশের টেকনাফ উপজেলা এবং পূর্ব পাড়ে বার্মার আরাকান প্রদেশের আকিয়াব অবস্থিত। এর প্রস্থ স্থান বিশেষে ১.৬১ কিমি হতে ৩.২২ কিমি হয়ে থাকে।

ব্রহ্মপুত্র নদ

ব্রহ্মপুত্র নদী বা ব্রহ্মপুত্র নদ এশিয়া মহাদেশের একটি গুরুত্বপূর্ণ নদী। সংস্কৃত ভাষায় ব্রহ্মপুত্রের অর্থ হচ্ছে "ব্রহ্মার পুত্র।ব্রহ্মপুত্রের উৎপত্তি হিমালয় পর্বতমালার কৈলাস শৃঙ্গের নিকট জিমা ইয়ংজং হিমবাহে, যা তিব্বতের পশ্চিমাঞ্চলে অবস্থিত। সাং পো নামে তিব্বতে পুর্বদিকে প্রবাহিত হয়ে এটি অরুণাচল প্রদেশে ভারতে প্রবেশ করে যখন এর নাম হয়ে যায় সিয়ং। তারপর আসামের উপর দিয়ে দিহং নামে বয়ে যাবার সময় এতে দিবং এবং লোহিত নামে আরো দুটি বড় নদী যোগ দেয় এবং তখন সমতলে এসে চওড়া হয়ে এর নাম হয় ব্রহ্মপুত্র। তারপর এটি ময়মনসিংহ সীমান্ত দিয়ে বাংলাদেশে প্রবেশ করে এবং বঙ্গোপসাগরে গিয়ে মেশে।

উৎপত্তিস্থল থেকে এর দৈর্ঘ্য ২৯০০ কিলোমিটার। ব্রহ্মপুত্রের প্রধান শাখা হচ্ছে যমুনা। এক কালের প্রশস্থ ব্রহ্মপুত্র নদ বর্তমানে (২০১১)শীর্ণকায়।

বাংলাদেশের প্রধান প্রধান নদ-নদীসমূহের তালিকা নিম্নে প্রদান করা হলঃ

আত্রাই নদী

আড়িয়াল খাঁ নদী

কপোতাক্ষ নদ

করতোয়া নদ

কর্ণফুলী নদী

কাঁকন নদী

কীর্তনখোলা নদী

কুশিয়ারা নদী

খোয়াই নদী

গড়াই নদী

চিত্রা নদী

জলঢাকা নদী

ডাকাতিয়া নদী

তিতাস নদী

তিস্তা নদী

তুরাগ নদী

ধলেশ্বরী নদী

ধানসিঁড়ি নদী

নাফ নদী

পশুর নদী

পদ্মা নদী

পাহাড়ীয়া নদী

পুণর্ভবা নদী

ফেনী নদী

বড়াল নদী

ব্রক্ষ্মপূত্র নদ

বাঙালি নদী

বালু নদী

বিরিশিরি নদী

বুড়িগঙ্গা নদী

ভৈরব নদী

মধুমতী নদী

মনু নদী

মহানন্দা নদী

ময়ূর নদী

মাতামুহুরী নদী

মুহুরী নদী

মেঘনা নদী

যমুনা নদী

রূপসা নদী

শঙ্খ নদী

শিবসা নদী

শীতলক্ষা নদী

সাঙ্গু নদী

সুরমা নদী

হালদা নদী

Name and address of the Jobsites

2012-05-03T12:14:00.003+06:00


01.	http://www.bdjobs.com BSRS Bhaban [8th floor], 12 Karwan Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh. Tel: [02] 9117179, 9140345, 0152312815
02.	http://www.cyberjob.com.bd House 26, Road 28, Block-K, Banani Dhaka-1213, Bangladesh. Tel: [02] 9888712, 8817270, 9893308-9 Fax: +88 02) 8815490 Email: info@cyberjob.com.bd
03.	http://www.deshijob.com Section 11, Block-A, Road 8, House 1, Mirpur, Pallabi, Dhaka-1216. Tel: [02] 0152363859, 0188429429
04.	http://www.grameenjobs.com RM Center [4th Floor], 101 Gulshan Avenue, Dhaka-1212. Tel: [02] 8811362, 9891756
05.	http://www.jobsa1.com Rawshan Tower [2nd floor], 152/2A/2, Panthapath, Green Road, Dhaka-1205. Tel: [02] 9676339, 0152-309199
06.	http://www.jobsdiary.com 9/C Motijheel C/A, Shahnewaz Bhaban 4th Floor, Suite 11, Dhaka-1000. Tel: [02] 9564616, 0191-510531, 0171-161317
07.	http://www.jobstreet.com BSRS Bhaban [Level 5], 12 Kawran Bazar, Dhaka-1215, Bangladesh. Tel: [02] 911 4331, 911 8014, 911 8497
08.	http://www.prothom-alojobs.com House No: 132, Road No: 5, New DOHS, Mohakhali, Dhaka-1206, Bangladesh. Tel: [2] 8712003, 8712004 Fax: [88-02] 8712002
09.	http://www.chakri.com.bd House: 10/B, Road: 103 Gulshan-2, Dhaka-1212, Bangladesh. Phone: +88 02 8832891, +88 02 8832892 Fax: +88 02 9894427 Email: info@chakri.com.bd
10.	Aim in Life Apartment No - A/4, Boshati Horizon House No-21 Road No-17, Banani Commercial Area. Phone: 8802 8832106, 8802 8832123 E-mail: info@aiminlife.com
11.	Jeebika.com 6/8 Humayun Road Block- B Mohammadpur Dhaka-1207 Phone: +880 2 8156772

Bangladesh : Division and District

2012-05-03T12:11:00.004+06:00

Divisions
7

Districts
64

Area
143,998 sq km

Upazilla
484

Union
6766

Village
87316

Municipality
223

Administrative Divisions 7 (Seven)

At a glance: Barisal Division
Districts 6	Area 13644 sq km	Upazilla 40	Union 553	Village 4273	Municipality 22
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Barisal	2790	10	152	1290	5
Bhola	3737	7	105	461	5
Barguna	1831	5	74	560	4
Jhalakathi	758	4	50	452	2
Patuakhali	3220	7	94	865	3
Pirojpur	1308	7	78	645	3

At a glance: Chittagong Division
Districts 11	Area 33771 sq km	Upazilla 100	Union 1318	Village 15015	Municipality 38
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Chittagong	5283	14	289	1310	7
Cox’s Bazar	2492	8	94	984	3
Bandarbon	4479	7	38	1501	1
Khagrachari	2700	8	43	1581	1
Rangamati	6116	10	57	1344	1
Brahmanbaria	1927	9	137	1331	4
Chandpur	1704	8	147	1237	6
Comilla	3085	16	233	3638	5
Feni	928	6	72	570	2
Lakshmipur	1456	5	80	539	3
Noakhali	3601	9	128	977	5

At a glance: Dhaka Division
Districts 17	Area 30985 sq km	Upazilla 122	Union 1917	Village 25282	Municipality 64
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Dhaka	1460	5	183	1864	3
Faridpur	2073	9	115	1860	4
Gazipur	1741	5	66	1162	2
Gopalgonj	1490	5	104	880	4
Jamalpur	2032	7	125	1346	6
Kishoregonj	2731	13	144	1794	4
Madaripur	1145	4	84	1039	3
Manikgonj	1383	7	74	1652	1
Munshigonj	955	6	85	911	2
Mymenshing	4363	12	230	2700	8
Narayangonj	688	5	59	1379	2
Narshingdi	1141	6	96	1059	3
Netrokona	2477	10	121	2279	4
Rajbari	1119	5	69	984	3
Shariatpur	1181	6	109	1235	5
Sherpur	1364	5	69	713	2
Tangail	3375	12	184	2425	8

At a glance: Khulna Division
Districts 10	Area 22285 sq km	Upazilla 59	Union 842	Village 9284	Municipality 28
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Jessore	2570	8	128	1434	4
Jhenaidah	1950	6	112	1150	5
Magura	1049	4	45	700	1
Narail	990	3	55	651	2
Bagerhat	3959	9	102	1031	3
Khulna	4395	9	110	1114	2
Satkhira	3858	7	96	1435	2
Chuadanga	1177	4	67	514	4
Kushtia	1621	6	100	978	4
Meherpur	716	3	27	277	1

At a glance: Sylhet Division
Districts 4	Area 12596 sq km	Upazilla 38	Union 467	Village 10101	Municipality 14
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Hobigonj	2637	8	113	2076	4
Moulavibazar	2799	7	102	2018	4
Sunamganj	3670	11	118	2782	4
Sylhet	3490	12	134	3225	2

At a glance: Rajshai Division
Districts 8	Area 18175 sq km	Upazilla 66	Union 929	Village 14307	Municipality 36
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Bogra	2898	12	156	2695	5
Joypurhat	965	5	59	896	3
Nawabganj	1703	5	78	1120	3
Pabna	2372	9	150	1536	8
Sirajganj	2498	9	121	2024	4
Naogaon	3436	11	117	2799	2
Natore	1896	6	88	1384	4
Rajshahi	2407	9	160	1853	7

At a glance: Rangpur Division
Districts 8	Area 16320 sq km	Upazilla 58	Union 740	Village 9054	Municipality 21
Districts	Area	Upazilla	Union	Village	Municipality
Dinajpur	3438	13	158	2143	6
Panchagarh	1405	5	52	843	1
Thakurgaon	1810	5	69	641	2
Gaibandha	2179	7	100	1243	2
Kurigram	2296	9	91	1903	2
Lalmonirhat	1241	5	60	476	2
Nilphamari	1581	6	94	370	3
Rangpur	2370	8	116	1435	3

Links of public universities of Bangladesh

2012-05-03T11:44:00.000+06:00

Dhaka Division

Bangladesh Agricultural University

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University

Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology

Bangladesh University of Professionals

Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology

Jagannath University

Jahangirnagar University

Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University

Mawlana Bhashani Science and Technology University

Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University

University of Dhaka

Rajshahi Division

Rajshahi University

Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology

Pabna University of Science and Technology

Rangpur Division

Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University

Begum Rokeya University

Khulna Division

Khulna University

Khulna University of Engineering and Technology

Islamic University

Jessore Science and Technology University

Chittagong Division

Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology

Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University

Chittagong University

Comilla University

Noakhali Science and Technology University

Barisal Division

Patuakhali Science and Technology University

Sylhet Division

Shahjalal University of Science and Technology

Sylhet Agricultural University

Special Universities

Bangladesh National University

Bangladesh Open University

District Portals

2012-05-03T11:25:00.003+06:00

Barisal Division
1.	BARGUNA	www.dcbarguna.gov.bd
2.	BARISAL	www.dcbarisal.gov.bd
3.	BHOLA	www.dcbhola.gov.bd
4.	JHALOKATI	www.dcjhalakathi.gov.bd
5.	PATUAKHALI	www.dcpatuakhali.gov.bd
6.	PIROJPUR	www.dcpirojpur.gov.bd

Chittagong Division
1.	BANDARBAN	www.dcbandarban.gov.bd
2.	BRAHMANBARIA	www.dcbrahmanbaria.gov.bd
3.	CHANDPUR	www.dcchandpur.gov.bd
4.	CHITTAGONG	www.dcchittagong.gov.bd
5.	COMILLA	www.dccomilla.gov.bd
6.	COX'S BAZAR	www.dccoxsbazar.gov.bd
7.	FENI	www.dcfeni.gov.bd
8.	KHAGRACHHARI	www.dckhagrachhari.gov.bd
8.	LAKSHMIPUR	www.dclakshmipur.gov.bd
10.	NOAKHALI	www.dcnoakhali.gov.bd
11.	RANGAMATI	www.dcrangamati.gov.bd

Dhaka Division
1.	DHAKA	www.dcdhaka.gov.bd
2.	FARIDPUR	www.dcfaridpur.gov.bd
3.	GAZIPUR	www.dcgazipur.gov.bd
4.	GOPALGANJ	www.dcgopalganj.gov.bd
5.	JAMALPUR	www.dcjamalpur.gov.bd
6.	KISHOREGONJ	www.dckishoreganj.gov.bd
7.	MADARIPUR	www.dcmadaripur.gov.bd
8.	MANIKGANJ	www.dcmanikganj.gov.bd
8.	MUNSHIGANJ	www.dcmunshiganj.gov.bd
10.	MYMENSINGH	www.dcmymensingh.gov.bd
11.	NARAYANGANJ	www.dcnarayanganj.gov.bd
12.	NARSINGDI	www.dcnarsingdi.gov.bd
13.	NETRAKONA	www.dcnetrokona.gov.bd
14.	RAJBARI	www.dcrajbari.gov.bd
15.	SHARIATPUR	www.dcshariatpur.gov.bd
16.	SHERPUR	www.dcsherpur.gov.bd
17.	TANGAIL	www.dctangail.gov.bd

Khulna Division
1.	BAGERHAT	www.dcbagerhat.gov.bd
2.	CHUADANGA	www.dcchuadanga.gov.bd
3.	JESSORE	www.dcjessore.gov.bd
4.	JHENAIDAH	www.dcjhenaidah.gov.bd
5.	KHULNA	www.dckhulna.gov.bd
6.	KUSHTIA	www.dckushtia.gov.bd
7.	MAGURA	www.dcmagura.gov.bd
8.	MEHERPUR	www.dcmeherpur.gov.bd
8.	NARAIL	www.dcnarail.gov.bd
10.	SATKHIRA	www.dcsatkhira.gov.bd

Rajshahi Division
1.	BOGRA	www.dcbogra.gov.bd
2.	CHAPAINABABGANJ	www.dcchapainawabganj.gov.bd
3.	JOYPURHAT	www.dcjoypurhat.gov.bd
4.	PABNA	www.dcpabna.gov.bd
5.	NAOGAON	www.dcnaogaon.gov.bd
6.	NATORE	www.dcnatore.gov.bd
7.	RAJSHAHI	www.dcrajshahi.gov.bd
8.	SIRAJGANJ	www.dcsirajganj.gov.bd

Rangpur Division
1.	DINAJPUR	www.dcdinajpur.gov.bd
2.	GAIBANDHA	www.dcgaibandha.gov.bd
3.	KURIGRAM	www.dckurigram.gov.bd
4.	LALMONIRHAT	www.dclalmonirhat.gov.bd
5.	NILPHAMARI	www.dcnilphamari.gov.bd
6.	PANCHAGARH	www.dcpanchagarh.gov.bd
7.	RANGPUR	www.dcrangpur.gov.bd
8.	THAKURGAON	www.dcthakurgaon.gov.bd

Sylhet Division
1.	HABIGANJ	www.dchabiganj.gov.bd
2.	MAULVIBAZAR	www.dcmoulvibazar.gov.bd
3.	SUNAMGANJ	www.dcsunamganj.gov.bd
4.	SYLHET	www.dcsylhet.gov.bd

Country Profile - Bangladesh

2012-05-03T11:10:00.003+06:00

Facts and Figures

Name of the Country

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Conventional short form

Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Country Map

Independence Day

26 March, 1971

Victory Day

16 December 1971 and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh.

National Flag

bottle green with a large red disc slightly to the hoist side of center; the red disc represents the sun rising over Bangladesh and the blood shed to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lushness of the land of Bangladesh. Flag ratio 10:6

View - Official specification of the National Flag

Legal system

based on English common law.

Suffrage

18 years of age; universal.

Capital City

Dhaka.

Nationality

Bangladeshi.

Official Currency

Taka: (Currency Code: BDT) Denominations of currency in
force: Notes: 1000: 500: 100: 50: 20: 10: 5: 2: Coins: 5: 2: 1

Fiscal Year

1 July - 30 June.

Languages

Bengali (official), English is widely spoken and used.

Int. Mother Language Day

21st February

Religions

Islam, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism and others.

National Anthem

Amar Sonar Bangla (My Golden Bengal) First 10 lines.

Local Time

GMT + 6 hours.

Official Monogram

National Icon

View - National Icons

Military

Army, Navy and Air Force, Coastal Guard, Paramilitary Forces (BGB, Bangladesh Ansar, Village Defense Parties, Armed Police Battalions, National Cadet Corps)

Last Update: 9th January 2012

Geography

Geographical Location

In South Asia; between 20º 34' and 26º 38' North latitude and between 88º 01' and 92° 41' East longitude; consists of flat fertile alluvial land.

Area and Formation

143,998 square km.
Land: 130168 sq km and Water: 13,830 sq km; mostly flat fertile alluvial land replete with mangrove forests and tropical rain forests with a few hilly areas in the east and southeast. The highest point in the country stands in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Keokradong) reaching 4,035 ft. [1,230 m.] Bangladesh is a land of rivers; the three major rivers are Padma, Meghna and Jamuna.

The total forest area covers about 9% of the land area. The country produces timber, bamboo and cane. Bamboos grow in almost all areas but quality timber grows mostly in the valleys. Among the timber sal, gamari, chaplish, telsu, jarui, teak, garjan, chandon and sundori are important. Sundari trees grow in the Sundarbans located in the South Western part of the country bordering the Bay of Bengal.

Varieties of wild animals are found in the forest areas. Sundarban is the home of the world famous “Royal Bengal Tiger”. Of other animals’ elephants, bears, deer, monkeys, boars, leopard and crocodiles are worth mentioning. A few hundred species and sub-species of bird are found in the country. Some of them are seasonal and migratory types.

Except the hilly regions the Northeast and the Southeast, some areas of high lands in the North and North Western part, the country consists of low, flat and fertile land. A network of rivers of which the Padma, the Jamuna, the Teesta, the Brahmaputra, the Surma, the Meghna and the Karnaphuli are important, and their tributaries numbering about 310 with a total length of about 24140 km. Covering the country flow down to the Bay of Bengal. Heavy silts deposited by rivers during the rainy season are thus continuously enriching the alluvial soil.

Location & Boundary

Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India. North - India (W. Bengal and Meghalaya); West - India (W. Bengal); East - India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar; South - Bay of Bengal.

Land boundaries
border countries

Total: 4,246 km
Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km

Coastline

580 km. [the total length of the boundary between the land area including islands and the sea]

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nautical miles
continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin
contiguous zone: 18 nautical miles
exclusive economic zone: 200 nautical miles

Resources (Natural)

natural gas, coal, hard rock, lime stones, ceramic clay, glass sand timber and arable land.

Climate

Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate. Rainy season of the southwest monsoon from June to September the rainfall is heavy and frequent ranges between 1,500 -- 2,500 mm/60--100 inches of rain a year. The cool season starts from November to February and hot season from March until early June. Humidity is high.

Rainfall

Monsoon - Average Rainfall: 1194 mm to 3454 mm; 120-345 cm (47"- 136") (Average during the monsoon)

Average Temperature

Winter (November - February)
Temperature: Maximum 28º C
Minimum 09º C

Summer (April - September)
Temperature: Maximum 35º C
Minimum 21º C

Humidity

Highest-98 % (July & August)

Last Update: 9th January 2012

Economy Scale

GDP total

US$100.00 billion (at current prices 2010-11)

GDP - real growth rate

6.0% (at constant prices 2009-10)

GDP - per capita [PPP]

US$1,700 (2010 est.)

GDP composition

agriculture: 18.8%
industry: 28.5%
services: 52.6% (2010 est.)

Industrial growth rate

6.4% (2010)

Sector-wise contribution to GDP during 2009-10

agriculture: 20.16%
Service: 49.90%
Industry: 29.95%

Agriculture - products

rice, wheat, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit, vegetables, bananas, mangoes, coconut, beef, milk and poultry

Industries

cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea, paper, newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, ship building, electric cables, pharmaceuticals and chemical, leather, fish and sugar.

Exports

US$16.20 billion (2009-10)

Exports commodities

garments, textile fabrics, home textile, raw jute and jute goods, tea, leather, frozen fish and seafood, naphtha, furnace oil, urea, ceramic products, light engineering products including bi-cycle.

Imports

US$23.74 billion (2009-10)

Imports commodities

machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, cottons textiles, foodstuffs, crude petroleum, fertilizer, yarn, oil seed, clinker.

Foreign exchange
& gold reserves

$9.66 billion (January, 2012.)

Last Update: 9th January 2012: Source: BBS, MoF & index mundi

Transport & Communication

Sea Port

Chittagong and Mongla (Khulna)

River Port

Narayangonj, Barisal, Khulna, Chandpur, Bhairab Bazar,Sirajgonj.

Land Port

Benapole, Tamabil, Burimari, Bangla Hilli, Akharura, Darsana, Bhomra, Halurgha, Birol, Bibir Bazar, Sonamasjid, and Teknaf.

Railways

total: 2,622 km. (2010)
broad gauge: 946 km 1.676-m gauge

Roads

total: 239,226 km
paved: 22,726 km
unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)

Waterways

8,370 km (includes 3,060 km main cargo routes: the network is reduced to 5200 in the dry season) (2007)

Major Rivers

Padma, Megna, Jumuna, Surma: Brahamaputra: Dhaleswari: Rupsha: Posur: Sangu: Karnaphuli: Teesta: (Total 310 rivers including tributaries)

Airports

10 (ten): 3 International and 7 domestic

Telephone [PSTN]

Total:1,028,190: Out of which BTCL: 872,410 & 155,780 others (May 2010)

Cell Phone

84.076 Million (November 2011)

Calling Country Code

+88

Internet Service Provider

Nationwide: 112: Central Zone: 80: South-East Zone: 23: South-West Zone: 07: North-East Zone: 10: North-West Zone: 13 [January 2011] Source: BTRC

Internet users

6.173 million (2009)

Internet TLD

.bd is the Internet country code top-level domain (cc LTD) for Bangladesh. Administered by the Ministry of Post & Telecommunications. Bangladesh Government

Last Update: 9th January 2012

Population
Population	:	158,570,535 (July 2011 est.)
Sex Ratio: at birth	:	1.04 males(s)/female(s) [2011 est.]
Structure (Age) [2011 est.]	:	0-14 years: 34.3% (male: 27,551,594; female: 26,776,647) 15-64 years: 61.1% (male: 45,956,431; female: 50,891,519) 65 years and over: 4.7% (male: 3,616,225; female: 3,778,119)
Population growth rate	:	1.566% (2011 est.).
Birth rate	:	22.98 births/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Death rate	:	5.75 deaths/1,000 population (2011 est.)
Infant mortality rate	:	total: 50.73 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.) female: 48.13 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.) male: 53.23 deaths/1,000 live births (2011 est.)
Life expectancy at birth	:	total population: 69.75 years (2011 est.) male: 67.93 years : female: 71.65 years (2011 ets.)
Literacy	:	age 15 and above can read and write: total population: 47.9% ratio: male: 54%: female: 41.4% (2001 Census)

» List of Ministers of Government of the people's of Bangladesh

2012-05-03T11:03:00.001+06:00

Cabinet Minister: 28 (Twenty eight)
Sl.	Name	Portfolio	View Web site
1.	Sheikh Hasina Honorable Prime Minister	Prime Minister's Office	www.pmo.gov.bd
		Cabinet Division	www.cabinet.gov.bd
		Armed Forces Division	www.afd.org.bd
		Public Administration	www.moestab.gov.bd
		Power, Energy & Mineral Resources	www.powerdivision.gov.bd
		Defence	www.mod.gov.bd
2.	Abul Maal Abdul Muhit	Finance	www.mof.gov.bd
3.	Begum Motia Chowdhury	Agriculture	www.moa.gov.bd
4.	Abdul Latif Siddiqui	Textile and Jute	www.motj.gov.bd
5.	Barrister Shafiq Ahmed	Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs	www.minlaw.gov.bd
6.	Air Vice Marshal (rtd) AK Khandoker	Planning	www.plancomm.gov.bd
7.	Razi Uddin Ahmed Razu	Posts and Telecommunications	www.mopt.gov.bd
8.	Advocate Sahara Khatun	Home Affairs	www.mha.gov.bd
9.	Syed Ashraful Islam	Rural Development and Co-operatives	http://www.rdcd.gov.bd/
9.	Syed Ashraful Islam	Local Govt.Division	www.lgd.gov.bd
10.	Engr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain	Labour and Employment	www.mole.gov.bd
10.	Engr. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain	Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment	www.probashi.gov.bd
11.	Rezaul Karim Hira	Land	www.minland.gov.bd
12.	Abul Kalam Azad	Information	www.moi.gov.bd
12.	Abul Kalam Azad	Cultural Affairs	www.moca.gov.bd
13.	Enamul Huq Mostafa Shaheed	Social Welfare	www.msw.gov.bd
14.	Dilip Barua	Industries	www.moind.gov.bd
15.	Ramesh Chandra Sen	Water Resources	www.mowr.gov.bd
16.	GM Quader	Commerce	www.mincom.gov.bd/
17.	Lt. Col. (rtd) Faruq Khan	Civil Aviation & Tourism	www.mocat.gov.bd/
18.	Syed Abul Hossain	Information & Communication Technology
19.	Dr. Muhammad Abdur Razzaque	Food and Disaster Management	www.mofdm.gov.bd
20.	Dr. Afsarul Ameen	Primary & Mass Education	www.mopme.gov.bd/
21.	Dr. A.F.M Ruhul Huq	Health and Family Welfare	www.mohfw.gov.bd
22.	Dr. Dipu Moni	Foreign Affairs	www.mofa.gov.bd
23.	Nurul Islam Nahid	Education	www.moedu.gov.bd
24.	Abdul Latif Biswas	Fisheries and Livestock	www.mofl.gov.bd
25.	Shahjahan Khan	Shipping & Inland Water Transport	www.mos.gov.bd/
26.	Dr. Hasan Mahmud	Environment & Forest	www.moef.gov.bd/
27.	Suranjit Sen Gupta	Railways
28.	Obaidul Quader	Communication	www.moc.gov.bd/

Ministers of State: 18 (Eighteen)
Sl.	Name	Portfolio	View Web site
1.	Advocate Mostafizur Rahman	Land	www.minland.gov.bd
2.	Captain (rtd) ABM Tazul Islam	Liberation War Affairs	www.molwa.gov.bd/
3.	Tanzim Ahmed Sohel Taz	Without Portfolio
4.	Architect Yafes Osman	Science & Technology	www.mosict.gov.bd/
5.	Begum Munnuzan Sufian	Labour & Employment	www.mole.gov.bd
6.	Dipankar Talukdar	Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs	www.mochta.gov.bd
7.	Ahad Ali Sarker	Youth and Sports	www.moysports.gov.bd
8.	Advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku	Home Affairs	www.mha.gov.bd
9.	Advocate Abdul Mannan Khan	Housing and Public Works	www.mohpw.gov.bd
10.	Md. Motahar Hossain	Primary and Mass Education	www.mopme.gov.bd
11.	Advocate Jahangir Kabir Nanok	LGRD & Co-operatives	www.lgd.gov.bd
12.	Advocate Md. Quamrul Islam	Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs	www.minlaw.gov.bd
13.	Advocate Md. Shahjahan Miah	Religious Affairs	www.mora.gov.bd
14.	Brigadier General (rtd) Muhammad Enamul Huq	Power, Energy & Mineral Resources	www.powerdivision.gov.bd/
15.	Captain (rtd) Dr. Mozibur Rahman Fakir	Health & Family Welfare	www.mohfw.gov.bd/
16.	Advocate Promode Mankin	Cultural Affairs	www.moca.gov.bd/
17.	Md. Mahbubur Rahman	Water Resources	www.mowr.gov.bd/
18.	Dr. Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury	Women & Children Affairs	www.mowca.gov.bd/

Economy of Bangladesh

2012-05-03T10:19:00.001+06:00

From Wikipedia

Karwan Bazar, a commercial hub of Bangladesh
Rank
45
Currency
Bangladesh Taka (BDT)
Fiscal year
1 July - 30 June
Trade organizations
WTO, WCO, IOR-ARC, SAFTA, D8
Statistics
GDP
$282.5 billion (2011 est.)^[1]
GDP growth
6.3% (2011 est.)
GDP per capita
$1,700 (2011 est.)
GDP by sector
agriculture: 18.4%, industry: 28.6%, services: 53% (2011 est.)
Inflation (CPI)
10.7% (2011 est.)
Population
below poverty line
31.5% (2011 est.)
Gini coefficient
33.2 (2005)
Labour force
75.42 million (2011)
Labour force
by occupation
agriculture: 45%, industry: 30%, services: 25% (2008)
Unemployment
5% (2011 est.)
Main industries
textiles and apparel, jute, tea, leather, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, cement, ceramics, shipbuilding, fertilizer, food processing, paper newsprint, light engineering, sugar
Ease of Doing Business Rank
122nd^[2]
External
Exports
$22.5 billion (2011 est.)
Export goods
apparel, ships, jute and jute products, frozen fish and seafood, leather and leather products, ceramics, pharmaceuticals, cement, processed food, fertilizer
Main export partners
US 22.1%, Germany 14.1%, UK 8.5%, France 6.8%, Netherlands 6.1% (2010)
Imports
$30 billion (2011 est.)
Import goods
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement
Main import partners
China 18.9%, India 12.7%, Singapore 6%, Malaysia 4.7%, Japan 4% (2010)
Gross external debt
$24.6 billion (31 December 2010 est.)
Public finances
Public debt
36.7% of GDP (2011 est.)
Revenues
$12.67 billion (2011 est.)
Expenses
$17.15 billion (2011 est.)
Economic aid
$0.957 billion (2010 est.)
Credit rating
BB - (domestic)
BB - (foreign)
BB -(T&C assessment)
(Standard & Poor's)^[3]
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars
The economy of Bangladesh is a rapidly developing market-based economy.^[4] Its per capita income in 2010 was est. US$1,700 (adjusted by purchasing power parity). According to the International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh ranked as the 43rd largest economy in the world in 2010 in PPP terms and 57th largest in nominal terms, among the Next Eleven or N-11 of Goldman Sachs and D-8 economies, with a gross domestic product of US$269.3 billion in PPP terms and US$104.9 billion in nominal terms. The economy has grown at the rate of 6-7% per annum over the past few years. More than half of the GDP is generated by the service sector; while nearly half of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector. Other goods produced are textiles, jute, fish, vegetables, fruit, leather and leather goods, ceramics, RMGs.
Remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, mainly in the Middle East, is the major source of foreign exchange earnings; exports of garments and textiles are the other main sources of foreign exchange earnings. Ship building and cane cultivation have become a major force of growth. GDP's rapid growth due to sound financial control and regulations have also contributed to its growth; however, foreign direct investment is yet to rise significantly. Bangladesh has made major strides in its human development index.^[5]
The land is devoted mainly to rice and jute cultivation as well as fruits and other produce, although wheat production has increased in recent years; the country is largely self-sufficient in rice production.^[5]^[5] Bangladesh's growth of its agricultural industries is due to its fertile deltaic land that depend on its six seasons and multiple harvests.^[5]
Transportation, communication, water distribution, and energy infrastructure are rapidly developing.^[5] Bangladesh is limited in its reserves of oil, but recently there has been huge development in gas and coal mining. The service sector has expanded rapidly during last two decades and the country's industrial base remains very positive.^[5] The country's main endowments include its vast human resource base, rich agricultural land, relatively abundant water, and substantial reserves of natural gas, with the blessing of possessing the worlds only natural sea ports in Mongla and Chittagong, in addition to being the only central port linking two large burgeoning economic hub groups SAARC and ASEAN.^[5]

Economic history

East Bengal—the eastern segment of Bengal, a region that is today Bangladesh—was a prosperous region of South Asia until modern times.^[6] It had the advantages of a mild, almost tropical climate, fertile soil, ample water, and an abundance of fish, wildlife, and fruit.^[6] The standard of living compared favorably with other parts of South Asia.^[6] As early as the thirteenth century, the region was developing as an agrarian economy.^[6] It was not entirely without commercial centers, and Dhaka in particular grew into an important entrepôt during the Mughal Empire.^[6] The British, however, on their arrival in the late eighteenth(18th) century, chose to develop Calcutta, now the capital city of West Bengal, as their commercial and administrative center in South Asia.^[6] The development of East Bengal was thereafter limited to agriculture.^[6] The administrative infrastructure of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries reinforced East Bengal's function as the primary agricultural producer—chiefly of rice, tea, teak, cotton, cane and jute—for processors and traders from around Asia and beyond.^[6]
After its independence from Pakistan, Bangladesh followed a socialist economy by nationalizing all industries, proving to be a critical blunder undertaken by Awami League's Mujib Government following India's policy. Education policies of the British dating back from colonial era deprived education to millions of Bangla's Muslim peoples setting them back by decades. Some of the same factors that had made East Bengal a prosperous region became disadvantages during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.^[6] As life expectancy increased, the limitations of land and the annual floods increasingly became constraints on economic growth.^[6] Preponderance on traditional agricultural methods became obstacles to the modernization of agriculture.^[6] Geography severely limited the development and maintenance of a modern transportation and communications system.^[6]
The partition of South Asia and the emergence of India and Pakistan in 1947 severely disrupted the economic system meant Nick Halford had to get involved and rebuild the whole country. The united government of Pakistan expanded the cultivated area and some irrigation facilities, but the rural population generally became poorer between 1947 and 1971 because improvements did not keep pace with rural population increase.^[6] Pakistan's five-year plans opted for a development strategy based on industrialization, but the major share of the development budget went to West Pakistan, that is, contemporary Pakistan.^[6] The lack of natural resources meant that East Pakistan was heavily dependent on imports, creating a balance of payments problem.^[6] Without a substantial industrialization program or adequate agrarian expansion, the economy of East Pakistan steadily declined.^[6] Blame was placed by various observers, but especially those in East Pakistan, on the West Pakistani leaders who not only dominated the government but also most of the fledgling industries in East Pakistan.^[6]
Since Bangladesh followed a socialist economy by nationalizing all industries after its independence, it underwent a slow growth of producing experienced entrepreneurs, managers, administrators, engineers, and technicians.^[7] There were critical shortages of essential food grains and other staples because of wartime disruptions.^[7] External markets for jute had been lost because of the instability of supply and the increasing popularity of synthetic substitutes.^[7] Foreign exchange resources were minuscule, and the banking and monetary systems were unreliable.^[7] Although Bangladesh had a large work force, the vast reserves of under trained and underpaid workers were largely illiterate, unskilled, and underemployed.^[7] Commercially exploitable industrial resources, except for natural gas, were lacking.^[7] Inflation, especially for essential consumer goods, ran between 300 and 400 percent.^[7] The war of independence had crippled the transportation system.^[7] Hundreds of road and railroad bridges had been destroyed or damaged, and rolling stock was inadequate and in poor repair.^[7] The new country was still recovering from a severe cyclone that hit the area in 1970 and cause 250,000 deaths.^[7] India, by a heavily poor nation and without any ability of giving aid to other nations, let alone to its suffering masses, came forward immediately with critically measured economic assistance in the first months after Bangladesh achieved independence from Pakistan.^[7] Between December 1971 and January 1972, India committed US$232 million in aid to Bangladesh from the politco-economic aid India received from the USA and USSR. Official amount of disbursement yet undisclosed.^[7]
After 1975, Bangladeshi leaders began to turn their attention to developing new industrial capacity and rehabilitating its economy.^[5] The static economic model adopted by these early leaders, however—including the nationalization of much of the industrial sector—resulted in inefficiency and economic stagnation.^[5] Beginning in late 1975, the government gradually gave greater scope to private sector participation in the economy, a pattern that has continued.^[5] Many state-owned enterprises have been privatized, like banking, telecommunication, aviation, media, and jute.^[5] Inefficiency in the public sector has been rising however at a gradual pace; external resistance to developing the country's richest natural resources is mounting; and power sectors including infrastructure have all contributed to slowing economic growth.^[5]
In the mid-1980s, there were encouraging signs of progress.^[5] Economic policies aimed at encouraging private enterprise and investment, privatizing public industries, reinstating budgetary discipline, and liberalizing the import regime were accelerated.^[5] From 1991 to 1993, the government successfully followed an enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but failed to follow through on reforms in large part because of preoccupation with the government's domestic political troubles.^[5] In the late 1990s the government's economic policies became more entrenched, and some of the early gains were lost, which was highlighted by a precipitous drop in foreign direct investment in 2000 and 2001.^[5] In June 2003 the IMF approved 3-year, $490-million plan as part of the Poverty Reduction and Growth Facility (PRGF) for Bangladesh that aimed to support the government's economic reform program up to 2006.^[5] Seventy million dollars was made available immediately.^[5] In the same vein the World Bank approved $536 million in interest-free loans.^[5]In the year 2010 Government of India extended a line of credit worth $ 1 billion to counter-balance China's close relationship with Bangladesh.
Bangladesh historically has run a large trade deficit, financed largely through aid receipts and remittances from workers overseas.^[5] Foreign reserves dropped markedly in 2001 but stabilized in the USD3 to USD4 billion range (or about 3 months' import cover).^[5] In January 2007, reserves stood at $3.74 billion, and then increased to $5.8 billion by January 2008, in November 2009 it surpassed $10.0 billion, and as of April 2011 it surpassed the US $12 billion according to the Bank of Bangladesh, the central bank.^[5] In addition imports and aid-dependence of the country has systematically been reduced since the beginning of 1990s.

Macro-economic trend

This is a chart of trend of gross domestic product of Bangladesh at market prices estimated by the International Monetary Fund with figures in millions of Bangladeshi Taka. However, this reflects only the formal sector of the economy.

Year	Gross Domestic Product	US Dollar Exchange	Inflation Index (2000=100)	Per Capita Income (as % of USA)
1980	250,300	16.10 Taka	20	1.79
1985	597,318	31.00 Taka	36	1.19
1990	1,054,234	35.79 Taka	58	1.16
1995	1,594,210	40.27 Taka	78	1.12
2000	2,453,160	52.14 Taka	100	0.97
2005	3,913,334	63.92 Taka	126	0.95
2008	5,003,438	68.65 Taka	147

Mean wages were $0.58 per manhour in 2009.

Economic sectors

Agriculture

Map showing the growing areas of major agricultural products.

Main article: Agriculture of Bangladesh

Most Bangladeshis earn their living from agriculture.^[5] Although rice and jute are the primary crops, maize and vegetables are assuming greater importance.^[5] Due to the expansion of irrigation networks, some wheat producers have switched to cultivation of maize which is used mostly as poultry feed.^[5] Tea is grown in the northeast.^[5] Because of Bangladesh's fertile soil and normally ample water supply, rice can be grown and harvested three times a year in many areas.^[5] Due to a number of factors, Bangladesh's labor-intensive agriculture has achieved steady increases in food grain production despite the often unfavorable weather conditions.^[5] These include better flood control and irrigation, a generally more efficient use of fertilizers, and the establishment of better distribution and rural credit networks.^[5] With 28.8 million metric tons produced in 2005-2006 (July–June), rice is Bangladesh's principal crop.^[5] By comparison, wheat output in 2005-2006 was 9 million metric tons.^[5] Population pressure continues to place a severe burden on productive capacity, creating a food deficit, especially of wheat.^[5] Foreign assistance and commercial imports fill the gap,^[5] but seasonal hunger ("monga") remains a problem.^[8] Underemployment remains a serious problem, and a growing concern for Bangladesh's agricultural sector will be its ability to absorb additional manpower.^[5] Finding alternative sources of employment will continue to be a daunting problem for future governments, particularly with the increasing numbers of landless peasants who already account for about half the rural labor force.^[5] Due to farmers' vulnerability to various risks, Bangladesh's poorest face numerous potential limitations on their ability to enhance agriculture production and their livelihoods. These include an actual and perceived risk to investing in new agricultural technologies and activities (despite their potential to increase income), a vulnerability to shocks and stresses and a limited ability to mitigate or cope with these and limited access to market information.^[8]

Manufacturing & Industry

Many new jobs - mostly for women - have been created by the country's dynamic private ready-made garment industry, which grew at double-digit rates through most of the 1990s.^[5] By the late 1990s, about 1.5 million people, mostly women, were employed in the garments sector as well as Leather products specially Footwear (Shoe manufacturing unit). During 2001-2002, export earnings from ready-made garments reached $3,125 million, representing 52% of Bangladesh's total exports. Bangladesh has overtaken India in apparel exports in 2009, its exports stood at 2.66 billion US dollar, ahead of India's 2.27 billion US dollar.^[9]
Eastern Bengal was known for its fine muslin and silk fabric before the British period. The dyes, yarn, and cloth were the envy of much of the premodern world. Bengali muslin, silk, and brocade were worn by the aristocracy of Asia and Europe. The introduction of machine-made textiles from England in the late eighteenth century spelled doom for the costly and time-consuming hand loom process. Cotton growing died out in East Bengal, and the textile industry became dependent on imported yarn. Those who had earned their living in the textile industry were forced to rely more completely on farming. Only the smallest vestiges of a once-thriving cottage industry survived.
Other industries which have shown very strong growth include the chemical industry, steel industry, mining industry and the paper and pulp industry.

Textile sector

Bangladesh's textile industry, which includes knitwear and ready-made garments along with specialized textile products, is the nation's number one export earner, accounting for 80% of Bangladesh's exports of $15.56 billion in 2009.^[10] Bangladesh is 2nd in world textile exports, and China which exported $120.1 billion worth of textiles in 2009. The industry employs nearly 3.5 million workers. Current exports have doubled since 2004. Wages in Bangladesh's textile industry were the lowest in the world as of 2010. The country was considered the most formidable rival to China where wages were rapidly rising and currency was appreciating.^[11]^[12]
After massive labor unrest in 2006^[13] the government formed a Minimum Wage Board including business and worker representatives which in 2006 set a minimum wage equivalent to 1,662.50 taka, $24 a month, up from Tk950. In 2010, following widespread labor protests involving 100,000 workers in June, 2010,^[10]^[14] a controversial proposal was being considered by the Board which would raise the monthly minimum to the equivalent of $50 a month, still far below worker demands of 5,000 taka, $72, for entry level wages, but unacceptably high according to textile manufacturers who are asking for a wage below $30.^[12]^[15] On July 28, 2010 it was announced that the minimum entry level wage would be increased to 3,000 taka, about $43.^[16]
The government also seems to believe some change is necessary. On September 21, 2006 then ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called on textile firms to ensure the safety of workers by complying with international labor law at a speech inaugurating the Bangladesh Apparel & Textile Exposition (BATEXPO).

Investment

The stock market capitalization of the Dhaka Stock Exchange in Bangladesh crossed $10 billion in November 2007 and the $30 billion dollar mark in 2009, and USD 50 billion in August 2010. Bangladesh had one of the best performing stock markets in the world during the recent global recession, due to relatively low correlations with developed country stock markets.
Major investment in real estate by domestic and foreign-resident Bangladeshis has led to a massive building boom in Dhaka and Chittagong.
Recent (2011) trends for investing in Bangladesh as Saudi Arabia trying to secure public and private investment in oil and gas, power and transportation projects, United Arab Emirates (UAE) is keen to invest in growing shipbuilding industry in Bangladesh encouraged by comparative cost advantage, Tata, an India-based leading industrial multinational to invest Taka 1500 crore to set up an automobile industry in Bangladesh, World Bank to invest in rural roads improving quality of live, the Rwandan entrepreneurs are keen to invest in Bangladesh's pharmaceuticals sector considering its potentiality in international market, Samsung sought to lease 500 industrial plots from the export zones authority to set up an electronics hub in Bangladesh with an investment of US$1.25 billion, National Board of Revenue (NBR) is set to withdraw tax rebate facilities on investment in the capital market by individual taxpayers from the fiscal 2011-12.

2010-11 market crash

Main article: 2011 Bangladesh share market scam

The bullish capital market turned bearish during 2010, with the exchange losing 1,800 points between December 2010 and January 2011.^[17] Millions of investors have been rendered bankrupt as a result of the market crash. The crash is believed to be caused artificially to benefit a handful of players at the expense of the big players.^[17]

External trade

Bangladeshi exports in 2006

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has predicted textile exports will rise from US$7.90 billion earned in 2005-06 to US$15 billion by 2011. In part this optimism stems from how well the sector has fared since the end of textile and clothing quotas, under the Multifibre Agreement, in early 2005.
According to a United Nations Development Programme report "Sewing Thoughts: How to Realize Human Development Gains in the Post-Quota World" Bangladesh has been able to offset a decline in European sales by cultivating new markets in the United States.^[18]
"[In 2005] we had tremendous growth. The quota-free textile regime has proved to be a big boost for our factories," said BGMEA president S.M. Fazlul Hoque told reporters, after the sector's 24 per cent growth rate was revealed.^[19]
Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) president Md Fazlul Hoque has also struck an optimistic tone. In an interview with United News Bangladesh he lauded the blistering growth rate, saying "The quality of our products and its competitiveness in terms of prices helped the sector achieve such... tremendous success."
Knitwear posted the strongest growth of all textile products in 2005-06, surging 35.38 per cent to US$2.82 billion. On the downside however, the sector's strong growth came amid sharp falls in prices for textile products on the world market, with growth subsequently dependent upon large increases in volume.
Bangladesh's quest to boost the quantity of textile trade was also helped by US and EU caps on Chinese textiles. The US cap restricts growth in imports of Chinese textiles to 12.5 per cent next year and between 15 and 16 per cent in 2008. The EU deal similarly manages import growth until 2008.
Bangladesh may continue to benefit from these restrictions over the next two years, however a climate of falling global textile prices forces wage rates the centre of the nation's efforts to increase market share.
Prior to the Wage Board's announcement of its recommended minimum wage of $24, Tk1,604, in 2006, the rate had remained unchanged at Tk950, about $15, for more than 12 years. Although the government may allow up to three years for the new wage to be implemented, and inevitably there will be compliance issues as manufacturers drag their feet, it seemed politically untenable for wages to remain at those levels given the unprecedented industrial unrest.
In response to the Wage Board's initial draft recommendation of a minimum wage of Tk1,604 to be increased to Tk1,800 after eight months, the BGMEA declared over 50 per cent of factories would be ruined within three months. While this claim is no doubt an exaggeration, the capacity of Bangladesh's textile industry to absorb a significant wage hike as margins become tighter is a key question which hangs over the future of the industry. Bangladesh's textile sector is concentrated in export processing zones in Dhaka and Chittagong. These zones, which are administered by the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority, aim to offer "a congenial investment climate, free from cumbersome procedures"m according to Bangladesh Export Promotion Bureau's website.^[20]
They offer a range of incentives to potential investors including 10 year tax holidays, duty free import of capital goods, raw materials and building materials, exemptions on income tax on salaries paid to foreign nationals for three years and dividend tax exemptions for the period of the tax holiday.
All goods produced in the zones are able to be exported duty free, in addition to which Bangladesh benefits from the Generalised System of Preferences in US, European and Japanese markets and is also endowed with Most Favoured Nation status from the United States.
Furthermore, Bangladesh imposes no ceiling on investment in the EPZs and allows full repatriation of profits.
The formation of labour unions within the EPZs is prohibited as are strikes.^[20]
Bangladesh's exports to the U.S. surpassed $1.9 billion in 1999. Bangladesh also exports significant amounts of garments and knitwear to the EU market.
Bangladesh also has significant jute, leather, shrimp, pharmaceutical, and ceramics industries.
Bangladesh has been a world leader in its efforts to end the use of child labor in garment factories. On July 4, 1995, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Export Association, International Labour Organization, and UNICEF signed a memorandum of understanding on the elimination of child labor in the garment sector. Implementation of this pioneering agreement began in fall 1995, and by the end of 1999, child labor in the garment trade virtually had been eliminated. The labor-intensive process of ship breaking for scrap has developed to the point where it now meets most of Bangladesh's domestic steel needs. Other industries include sugar, tea, leather goods, newsprint, pharmaceutical, and fertilizer production.
The Bangladesh government continues to court foreign investment, something it has done fairly successfully in private power generation and gas exploration and production, as well as in other sectors such as cellular telephony, textiles, and pharmaceuticals. In 1989, the same year it signed a bilateral investment treaty with the United States, it established a Board of Investment to simplify approval and start-up procedures for foreign investors, although in practice the board has done little to increase investment. The government created the Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority to manage the various export processing zones. The agency currently manages EPZs in Adamjee, Chittagong, Comilla, Dhaka, Ishwardi, Karnaphuli, Mongla, and Uttara. An EPZ has also been proposed for Sylhet.^[21] The government has given the private sector permission to build and operate competing EPZs-initial construction on a Korean EPZ started in 1999. In June 1999, the AFL-CIO petitioned the U.S. Government to deny Bangladesh access to U.S. markets under the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP), citing the country's failure to meet promises made in 1992 to allow freedom of association in EPZs.
Sylhet is fast becoming a major center of retailing in Bangladesh,^{[citation needed]} with many shopping centres being built by expatriates to serve fellow expatriates visiting Sylhet and the emerging middle class. Many of these developments hark back to Britain.^[22]

Overview

The area of Gulshan is a commercial hub of the country
Karwan Bazar is home to many of Bangladesh's important offices
Bazaars in Bangladesh are popular trading places for everyday household necessities.

Bangladesh has made significant strides in its economic sector performance since independence in 1971. Although the economy has improved vastly in the 1990s, Bangladesh still suffers in the area of foreign trade in South Asian region. Despite major impediments to growth like the inefficiency of state-owned enterprises, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, inadequate power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms, Bangladesh has made some headway improving the climate for foreign investors and liberalizing the capital markets; for example, it has negotiated with foreign firms for oil and gas exploration, better countrywide distribution of cooking gas, and the construction of natural gas pipelines and power stations. Progress on other economic reforms has been halting because of opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups.
The especially severe floods of 1998 increased the flow of international aid. So far the global financial crisis has not had a major impact on the economy. The World Bank predicted economic growth of 6.5% for current year. Foreign aid has seen a decline of 10% over the last few months but economists see this as a good sign for self-reliance.There has been 18% growth in exports over the last 9 months and remittance inflow has increased at a remarkable 25% rate.

Fiscal Year	Total Export	Total Import	Foreign Remittance Earnings
2007–2008	$14.11b	$25.205b	$8.9b
2008–2009	$15.56b	$22.00b+	$9.68b
2009-2010	$16.7b	~$24b	$10.87b
2010-2011	$22.93b	$32b	$11.65b

Bangladesh (from wikipedia)

2012-05-03T10:06:00.000+06:00

Bengal

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Bengal
Map of the Bengal region: West Bengal, Tripura and Bangladesh
Largest Cities^[1]	Kolkata (Calcutta) 23.34°N 88.22°E Dhaka 23.42°N 90.22°E
Main language	Bengali (Bangla)
Area	232,752 km²
Population (2001)	245,598,679^[2]^[3]
Density	951.3/km²^[2]^[3]
Infant mortality rate	55.91 per 1000 live births^[4]^[5]
Websites	bangladesh.gov.bd and wbgov.com

Bengal (Bengali: বাংলা Bangla (help·info), Bengali: বঙ্গ Bôngo, Bengali: বঙ্গদেশ Bôngodesh, or Bengali: বাংলাদেশ Bangladesh) is a historical and geographical region in the northeast region of the Indian Subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. Today, it is mainly divided between the sovereign land of People's Republic of Bangladesh (previously East Bengal / East Pakistan) and the Indian state of West Bengal, although some regions of the previous kingdoms of Bengal (during local monarchical regimes and British rule) are now part of the neighboring Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Assam, Tripura and Orissa. The majority of Bengal is inhabited by Bengali people (বাঙালি Bangali) who speak the Bengali language (বাংলা Bangla).
The region of Bengal is one of the most densely populated regions on earth, with a population density exceeding 900/km². Most of the Bengal region lies in the low-lying Ganges–Brahmaputra River Delta or Ganges Delta, the world's largest delta. In the southern part of the delta lies the Sundarbans—the world's largest mangrove forest and home of the Bengal tiger. Though the population of the region is mostly rural and agrarian, two megacities, Kolkata (previously Calcutta) and Dhaka (previously Dacca), are located in Bengal. The Bengal region is renowned for its rich literary and cultural heritage as well as its immense contribution to the socio-cultural uplift of Indian society in the form of the Bengal Renaissance, and revolutionary activities during the Indian independence movement.

Etymology

Main article: Bengali people

The exact origin of the word Bangla or Bengal is unknown, though it is believed to be derived from the Dravidian-speaking tribe Bang that settled in the area around the year 1000 BC.^[6]
Vanga was a known to be a kingdom during the times of Mahabharata.
Other accounts speculate that the name is derived from Banga (বঙ্গ bôngo), which came from the Austric word "Bonga" meaning the Sun-god. The word Banga and other words speculated to refer to Bengal (such as Anga) can be found in ancient Indian texts including the Vedas, Jaina texts, the Mahabharata and Puranas. The earliest reference to "Bangala" (বঙ্গাল bôngal) has been traced in the Nesari plates (805 AD) of Rashtrakuta Govinda III which speak of Dharmapala as the king of Vangala.^[7]
Some accounts claim that the word may derive from bhang, a preparation of cannabis which is used in some religious ceremonies in Bengal.^[8]^[9] Dravidians migrated to Bengal from the south, while Tibeto-Burman peoples migrated from the Himalayas,^[10] followed by the Indo-Aryans from north-western India. The modern Bengali people are a blend of these people. Smaller numbers of Pathans, Persians, Arabs and Turks also migrated to the region in the late Middle Ages while spreading Islam.

History

Main article: History of Bengal

Bengal

Mahasthangarh is the oldest archaeological site in Bangladesh. It dates back to 700 BC and was the ancient capital of the Pundra Kingdom.
Asia in 323 BC, the Nanda Empire of Magadha and Gangaridai Empire of Bengal in relation to Alexander's Empire and neighbors.

Pala Empire under Dharmapala.
Somapura Mahavihara in Paharpur, Bangladesh is the greatest Buddhist Vihara in the Indian Subcontinent built by Dharmapala of Bengal.

The loss of the Battle of Plassey, 1757, and the execution of the last independent Nawab of Bengal marks the start of British rule over Bengal.
1776 map of Bengal and Bihar by James Rennell

Raja Ram Mohan Roy is regarded as the "Father of the Bengal Renaissance"
1893 map of Bengal

Rabindranath Tagore is Asia's first Nobel laureate and composer of Jana Gana Mana the national anthem of India as well as Amar Shonar Bangla the national anthem of Bangladesh.

Sri Aurobindo Ghose

Image:Subhas Bose.jpg|Subhash Chandra Bose is one of the most prominent leaders and freedom fighters from Bengal in the Indian independence movement against the British Raj

Remnants of Copper Age settlements in the Bengal region date back 4,300 years.^[11]^[12] After the arrival of Indo-Aryans, the kingdoms of Anga, Vanga and Magadha were formed by the 10th century BC, located in the Bihar and Bengal regions. Magadha was one of the four main kingdoms of India at the time of Buddha and consisted of several Janapadas.^[10] One of the earliest foreign references to Bengal is the mention of a land named Gangaridai by the Greeks around 100 BC, located in an area in Bengal.^[13] From the 3rd to the 6th centuries AD, the kingdom of Magadha served as the seat of the Gupta Empire.
The first recorded independent king of Bengal was Shashanka, reigning around early 7th century.^[14] After a period of anarchy, the native Buddhist Pala Empire ruled the region for four hundred years, and expanded across much of the Indian subcontinent into Afghanistan during the reigns of Dharmapala and Devapala. The Pala dynasty was followed by the reign of the Hindu Saiva Sena dynasty. Islam made its first appearance in Bengal during the 12th century when Sufi missionaries arrived. Later, occasional Muslim raiders reinforced the process of conversion by building mosques, madrassas and Sufi Khanqah. Beginning in 1202 a military commander from the Delhi Sultanate, Bakhtiar Khilji, overran Bihar and Bengal as far east as Rangpur, Bogra and the Brahmaputra River. Although he failed to bring Bengal under his control, the expedition managed to defeat Lakshman Sen and his two sons moved to a place then called Vikramapur (present-day Munshiganj District), where their diminished dominion lasted until the late 13th century.
During the 14th century, the former kingdom became known as the Sultanate of Bengal, ruled intermittently with the Sultanate of Delhi as well as powerful Hindu states and land-lords-Baro-Bhuyans. The Hindu Deva Kingdom ruled over eastern Bengal after the collapse Sena Empire. The Sultanate of Bengal was interrupted by an uprising by the Hindus under Raja Ganesha. The Ganesha dynasty began in 1414, but his successors converted to Islam. Bengal came once more under the control of Delhi as the Mughals conquered it in 1576. There were several independent Hindu states established in Bengal during the Mughal period like those of Maharaja Pratap Aditya of Jessore and Raja Sitaram Ray of Burdwan. These kingdoms contributed a lot to the economic and cultural landscape of Bengal. Extensive land reclamations in forested and marshy areas were carried out and trade as well as commerce were highly encouraged. These kingdoms also helped introduce new music, painting, dancing and sculpture into Bengali art-forms as well as many temples were constructed during this period. Militarily, they served as bulwarks against Portuguese and Burmese attacks. Koch Bihar Kingdom in the northern Bengal, flourished during the period of 16th and the 17th centuries as well as weathered the Mughals and survived till the advent of the British.
In 1534, the ethnic Afghan Pashtun Sher Shah Suri, or Farid Khan — a man of incredible military and political skill — succeeded in defeating the superior forces of the Mughals under Humayun at Chausa (1539) and Kannauj (1540). Sher Shah fought back and captured both Delhi and Agra and established a kingdom stretching far into Punjab. Sher Shah's administrative skill showed in his public works, including the Grand Trunk Road connecting Sonargaon in Bengal with Peshawar in the Hindu Kush. Sher Shah's rule ended with his death in 1545, although even in those five years his reign would have a powerful influence on Indian society, politics, and economics.
Shah Suri's successors lacked his administrative skill, and quarreled over the domains of his empire. Humayun, who then ruled a rump Mughal state, saw an opportunity and in 1554 seized Lahore and Delhi. When Humayun died in Jan.1556, Hemu, also called Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, the then Hindu Prime Minister-cum- Chief of Army, of the Sur dynasty had already won Bengal in the battle at Chapperghatta, killing Muhammad Shah the then ruler of Bengal. This was Hemu's 20th continuous win in North India. Knowing of Humanyun's death, Hemu rushed to Delhi to win Agra and later on Delhi and established 'Hindu Raj' in North India on 6th Oct. 1556, after 300 years of Muslim rule, leaving Bengal to his Governor Shahbaz Khan. Akbar, the greatest of the Mughal emperors, who defeated the Karani rulers of Bengal in 1576. Bengal became a Mughal subah and ruled through subahdars (governors). Akbar exercised progressive rule and oversaw a period of prosperity (through trade and development) in Bengal and northern India.
Bengal's trade and wealth impressed the Mughals that they called the region the "Paradise of the Nations". Administration by governors appointed by the court of the Mughal Empire court (1575–1717) gave way to four decades of semi-independence under the Nawabs of Murshidabad, who respected the nominal sovereignty of the Mughals in Delhi. The Nawabs granted permission to the French East India Company to establish a trading post at Chandernagore in 1673, and the British East India Company at Calcutta in 1690. The most notable among them is Murshid Quli Khan, who was succeeded by Alivardi Khan. Around the early 1700s, the Maratha Empire led expeditions in Bengal. The leader of the expedition was Maratha Maharaja Raghuji of Nagpur. Raghoji was able to annex Orissa and parts of Bengal permanently as he successfully exploited the chaotic conditions prevailing in the region after the death of their Governor Murshid Quli Khan in 1727.^[15] The expeditions resulted in Bengal becoming a tributary region of the Marathas for a period of time.
Portuguese traders arrived late in the fifteenth century, once Vasco da Gama reached India by sea in 1498. European influence grew until the British East India Company gained taxation rights in Bengal subah, or province, following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, when Siraj ud-Daulah, the last independent Nawab, was defeated by the British.^[16] The Bengal Presidency was established by 1766, eventually including all British territories north of the Central Provinces (now Madhya Pradesh), from the mouths of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra to the Himalayas and the Punjab. The Bengal famine of 1770 claimed millions of lives.^[17] Calcutta was named the capital of British India in 1772. The Bengal Renaissance and Brahmo Samaj socio-cultural reform movements had great impact on the cultural and economic life of Bengal. The failed Indian rebellion of 1857 started near Calcutta and resulted in transfer of authority to the British Crown, administered by the Viceroy of India.^[18] Between 1905 and 1911, an abortive attempt was made to divide the province of Bengal into two zones.^[19] As a direct consequence of this failed attempt to partition Bengal, the British moved the capital of British India from Calcutta to Delhi.
Bengal has played a major role in the Indian independence movement, in which revolutionary groups were dominant. Armed attempts to overthrow the British Raj reached a climax when Subhash Chandra Bose led the Indian National Army against the British. Bengal was also central in the rising political awareness of the Muslim population—the Muslim League was established in Dhaka in 1906. In spite of a last-ditch effort to form a United Bengal,^[20] when India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines.^[21] The western part went to India (and was named West Bengal) while the eastern part joined Pakistan as a province called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan, giving rise to Bangladesh in 1971). The circumstances of partition were bloody, with widespread religious riots in Bengal.^[21]^[22]

Post-1947 history

The post-partition political history of East and West Bengal diverged for the most part. Starting from the Bengali Language Movement of 1952,^[23] political dissent against West Pakistani domination grew steadily. Awami League, led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, emerged as the political voice of the Bengali-speaking population of East Pakistan by 1960s.^[24] In 1971, the crisis deepened when Rahman was arrested and a sustained military assault was launched on East Pakistan.^[25] Most of the Awami League leaders fled and set up a government-in-exile in West Bengal. The guerrilla Mukti Bahini and Bengali regulars eventually received support from the Indian Armed Forces in December 1971, resulting in a decisive victory over Pakistan on 16 December in the Bangladesh Liberation War or Indo-Pakistani War of 1971.^[26] The post independence history of Bangladesh was strife with conflict, with a long history of political assassinations and coups before parliamentary democracy was established in 1991. Since then, the political environment has been relatively stable.
West Bengal, the western part of Bengal, became a state in India. In the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist-Naxalite movement damaged much of the state's infrastructure, leading to a period of economic stagnation. The Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 resulted in the influx of millions of refugees to West Bengal, causing significant strains on its infrastructure.^[27] West Bengal politics underwent a major change when the Left Front won the 1977 assembly election, defeating the incumbent Indian National Congress. The Left Front, led by Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) has governed for the last three decades. The state's economic recovery gathered momentum after economic reforms in India were introduced in the mid-1990s by the central government, aided by election of a new reformist Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya in 2000. In the West Bengal state assembly election, 2011,in West Bengal, CPI(M) alliance with 62 seats suffered a setback after 34 years of continuous rule, losing to Trinamool Congress led alliance's 226 seats. Its Chief Minister candidate who was also an incumbent Chief Minister, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee also lost from his Jadavpur assembly constituency.^[28]

Geography

Most of the Bengal region is in the low-lying Ganges–Brahmaputra River Delta or Ganges Delta. The Ganges Delta arises from the confluence of the rivers Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. The total area of Bengal is 232752 km²—West Bengal is 88,752 km² (34,267 sq mi) and Bangladesh 147,570 km² (56,977 sq mi).
Most parts of Bangladesh are within 10 meters (33 ft) above the sea level, and it is believed that about 10% of the land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by 1 metre (3 ft).^[29] Because of this low elevation, much of this region is exceptionally vulnerable to seasonal flooding due to monsoons. The highest point in Bangladesh is in Mowdok range at 1,052 metres (3,451 ft) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the southeast of the country.^[30] A major part of the coastline comprises a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world and home to diverse flora and fauna, including the Royal Bengal Tiger. In 1997, this region was declared endangered.^[31]
West Bengal is on the eastern bottleneck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. The state has a total area of 88,752 km² (34,267 sq mi).^[32] The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in the northern extreme of the state belongs to the eastern Himalaya. This region contains Sandakfu (3,636 m (11,929 ft))—the highest peak of the state.^[33] The narrow Terai region separates this region from the plains, which in turn transitions into the Ganges delta towards the south. The Rarh region intervenes between the Ganges delta in the east and the western plateau and high lands. A small coastal region is on the extreme south, while the Sundarbans mangrove forests form a remarkable geographical landmark at the Ganges delta.
At least nine districts in West Bengal and 42 districts in Bangladesh have arsenic levels in groundwater above the World Health Organization maximum permissible limit of 50 µg/L (micro gram per litre) or 50 parts per billion and the untreated water is unfit for human consumption.^[34] The water causes arsenicosis, cancer of skin and various other complications in the body. Arsenic is four times as poisonous as mercury.

Major cities

The following are the largest cities in Bengal (in terms of population):

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Bangladesh and Demographics of West Bengal

About 250 million people live in Bengal, around 68% of them in Bangladesh and the remainder in West Bengal.^[2]^[35] The population density in the area is more than 900/km²; making it among the most densely populated areas in the world.^[2]^[3]
Bengali is the main language spoken in Bengal. English is often used for official work. There are small minorities who speak Hindi, Urdu, Chakma. There are several tribal languages including Santhali. Nepali is spoken primarily by the Gorkhas of Darjeeling district of West Bengal.
50% of the total Bengali population is Muslim, and 48% is Hindu.^{[citation needed]} Life expectancy is around 63 years, and are almost same for the men and women.^[36]^[37] In terms of literacy, West Bengal leads with 69.22% literacy rate,^[2] in Bangladesh the rate is approximately 53.5%.^[38] The level of poverty is high, the proportion of people living below the poverty line is more than 30%.^[39]^[40]
About 20,000 people live on chars. Chars are temporary islands formed by the deposition of sediments eroded off the banks of the Ganges in West Bengal which often disappear in the monsoon season. They are made of very fertile soil. The inhabitants of chars are not recognised by the Government of West Bengal on the grounds that it is not known whether they are Bengalis or Bangladeshi refugees. Consequently, no identification documents are issued to char-dwellers who cannot benefit from health care, barely survive due to very poor sanitation and are prevented from emigrating to the mainland to find jobs when they have turned 14. On a particular char it was reported that 13% of women died at childbirth.^[41]

Economy

Agriculture is the leading occupation in the region. Rice is the staple food crop. Other food crops are pulses, potato, maize, and oil seeds. Jute is the principal cash crop. Tea is also produced commercially; the region is well known for Darjeeling and other high-quality teas.
Historically, Europe once regarded Bengal as "the richest country to trade with".^[42]

West Bengal

Main article: Economy of West Bengal

The service sector is the largest contributor to the gross domestic product of West Bengal, contributing 51% of the state domestic product compared to 27% from agriculture and 22% from industry.^[43] State industries are localized in the Kolkata region and the mineral-rich western highlands. Durgapur–Asansol colliery belt is home to a number of major steel plants.^[44] As of 2003–2004 West Bengal had the third-largest economy in India, with a net state domestic product of US$ 21.5 billion.^[43] During 2001–2002, the state's average SDP was more than 7.8%—outperforming the National GDP Growth.^[45] The state has promoted foreign direct investment, which has mostly occurred in the software and electronics fields;^[46] Kolkata is becoming a major hub for the information technology (IT) industry. Owing to the boom in Kolkata's and the overall state's economy, West Bengal as of 2005 had the third-fastest-growing economy in India.^[47]

Bangladesh

Main article: Economy of Bangladesh

Since 1990, Bangladesh has achieved an average annual growth rate of 5% according to the World Bank, despite the hurdles. The middle class and the consumer industry have seen some growth. Bangladesh has seen a sharp increase in foreign direct investment. A number of multinational corporations, including Unocal Corporation and Tata, have made major investments, the natural gas sector being a priority. In December 2005, the Central Bank of Bangladesh projected GDP growth around 6.5%.^[48] Although two-thirds of Bangladeshis are farmers, more than three quarters of Bangladesh’s export earnings come from the garment industry,^[49] which began attracting foreign investors in the 1980s due to cheap labour and low conversion cost. In 2002, the industry exported US$5 billion worth of products.^[50] The industry now employs more than 3 million workers, 90% of whom are women.^[51] A large part of foreign currency earnings also comes from the remittances sent by expatriates living in other countries.
The provision of microcredit by Grameen Bank (founded by Muhammad Yunus) and by other similar organizations has contributed to the development of the economy of Bangladesh. Together, such organizations had about 5 million members by late 1990s.^[52]^[53]

Culture

Main articles: Culture of West Bengal and Culture of Bangladesh

Culture of Bengal

Bengali artists performing a traditional dance.
Baul singers at Basanta-Utsab, Shantiniketan.

Pohela Baishakh celebration in Dhaka
Mahashtami Puja during Durga Puja in Kolkata

The common Bengali language and culture anchors the shared tradition of two parts of politically divided Bengal. Bengal has a long tradition in folk literature, evidenced by the Charyapada, Mangalkavya, Shreekrishna Kirtana, Maimansingha Gitika or Thakurmar Jhuli. Bengali literature in the medieval age was often either religious (e.g. Chandidas), or adaptations from other languages (e.g. Alaol). During the Bengal Renaissance of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Bengali literature was modernized through the works of authors such as Michael Madhusudan Dutta, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Rabindranath Tagore, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Kazi Nazrul Islam.
The Baul tradition is a unique heritage of Bangla folk music.^[54] The scholar saint Sri Anirvan loved Baul music, and in fact described himself as a simple Baul.^[55] Other folk music forms include Gombhira, Bhatiali and Bhawaiya. Folk music in Bengal is often accompanied by the ektara, a one-stringed instrument. Other instruments include the dotara, dhol, flute, and tabla. The region also has an active heritage in North Indian classical music.
Bengal had also been the harbinger of modernism in Indian arts. Abanindranath Tagore, one of the important 18th century artist from Bengal is often referred to as the father of Indian modern art. He had established the first non-British art academy in India known as the Kalabhavan within the premises of Santiniketan. Santiniketan in course of time had produced many important Indian artists like Gaganendranath Tagore, Nandalal Bose, Jamini Roy, Benode Bihari Mukherjee and Ramkinkar Baij. In the post-independence era, Bengal had produced important artists like Somenath Hore, Meera Mukherjee and Ganesh Pyne.
Rice and fish are traditional favorite foods, leading to a saying that in Bengali, mach ar bhaath bangali baanaay, that translates as "fish and rice make a Bengali".^[56] Bengal's vast repertoire of fish-based dishes includes Hilsa preparations, a favorite among Bengalis. Bengalis make distinctive sweetmeats from milk products, including Rôshogolla, Chômchôm, and several kinds of Pithe.
Bengali women commonly wear the shaŗi and the salwar kameez, often distinctly designed according to local cultural customs. In urban areas, many women and men wear Western-style attire. Among men, European dressing has greater acceptance. Men also wear traditional costumes such as the panjabi with dhuti or pyjama, often on religious occasions. The lungi, a kind of long skirt, is widely worn by Bangladeshi men.
The greatest religious festivals are the two Eids (Eid ul-Fitr and Eid ul-Adha) for the Muslims, and the autumnal Durga Puja for Hindus.^[57] Christmas (called Bôŗodin (Great day) in Bangla), Buddha Purnima are other major religious festivals. Other festivities include Pohela Baishakh (the Bengali New Year), Basanta-Utsab, Nobanno, and Poush parbon (festival of Poush).
Bengali cinema are made both in Kolkata and Dhaka. The Kolkata film industry is older and particularly well known for its art films. Its long tradition of film making has produced world famous directors like Satyajit Ray, while contemporary directors include Buddhadev Dasgupta and Aparna Sen. Dhaka also has a vibrant commercial industry and more recently has been home to critically acclaimed directors like Tareque Masud. Mainstream Hindi films of Bollywood are also quite popular in both West Bengal and Bangladesh. Around 200 dailies are published in Bangladesh, along with more than 1800 periodicals. West Bengal had 559 published newspapers in 2005,^[58] of which 430 were in Bangla.^[58] Cricket and football are popular sports in the Bengal region. Local games include sports such as Kho Kho and Kabaddi, the later being the national sport of Bangladesh. An Indo-Bangladesh Bangla Games has been organized among the athletes of the Bengali speaking areas of the two countries.^[59]

Intra-Bengal relations today

Geographic, cultural, historic, and commercial ties are growing, and both countries recognize the importance of good relations. During and immediately after Bangladesh's struggle for independence from Pakistan in 1971, India assisted refugees from East Pakistan, and intervened militarily to help bring about the independence of Bangladesh. The Indo-Bangladesh border length of 4,095 km (2,545 mi), West Bengal has a border length of 2,216 km (1,377 mi).^[60] Despite overlapping historic, geographic and cultural ties, the relation between West Bengal and Bangladesh is still well below the potential.^[61] The pan-Bengali sentiment among the people of the two parts of Bengal was at its height during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.^[62] While the government radio and national press in India might have backed the struggle out of strategic considerations, the Bengali broadcast and print media went out of its way to lend overwhelming support.^[62]
Frequent air services link Kolkata with Dhaka and Chittagong. A bus service between Kolkata and Dhaka is operational. The primary road link is the Jessore Road which crosses the border at Petrapole-Benapole about 175 km (109 mi) north-west of Kolkata. The Train service between Kolkata and Dhaka, which was stopped after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, was resumed in 2008.^[63]
Visa services are provided by Bangladesh's consulate at Kolkata's Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Road and India's high commissions in Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi. India has a liberal visa policy and nearly 500,000 visas^[61] are issued every year to Bangladeshi students, tourists, health-tourists and others who visit West Bengal and often transit to other parts of India. People of West Bengal visit Bangladesh for limited numbers of tourism, pilgrimage, trade, expatriate assignments; there is significant potential for growth as Bangladesh's stability, economy, moderation in religion and tourist infrastructure improves. In addition West Bengal hosts the celebrated and controversial Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen.
Undocumented immigration of Bangladeshi workers is a controversial issue^[61] championed by right-wing nationalist parties in India but finds little sympathy in West Bengal. India has fenced the border to control this flow but immigration is still continuing.^[64] A rallying cry for the right-wing Hindu parties in India is that the demographics changed such as in West Bengal's border district of Malda from Hindu-majority to Muslim-majority.
The official land border crossing at Petrapole-Benapole is the primary conduit for the over $1 billion trade between the two halves of Bengal. The volume of unofficial exports to Bangladesh from India is reportedly in the range of $350–500 million each year.^[65] Bangladesh argues that India needs to open up its border more to Bangladeshi exports. Other landports between the two Bengals are Changrabandha-Burimari and Balurghat-Hili.
Cultural exchanges between the two parts of Bengal have been somewhat (but not fully) impacted by ups and downs in India-Bangladesh relations and in the influence of extremist Islamist groups in Bangladesh. West Bengal singers and actors complained about being rejected visas in previous years. West Bengal television channels are widely watched in Banglades, while no Bangladeshi channels are absent in West Bengal due to import policies. In foreign countries such as the U.S., Canada, Britain, and UAE, it is common for Bengalis from both sides to form joint cultural associations and friendships, although inter-marriage is not significant, especially across religious barriers.

Gallery

The Royal Bengal Tiger

Worker in a paddy, a common scene all over Bengal

Shaheed Minar, or the Martyr's monument, in Dhaka, commemorates the struggle for the Bengali language.

Bhasha Smritistambha, or the Language Memorial, in Kolkata, commemorates thousand years of Bengali language and literature.

Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka is the National Mosque of Bangladesh.

Dakshineswar Kali Temple in Kolkata, West Bengal.

Bengal United Service Club.

General Knowledge : Bangladesh

Remember 12 Novel name of Rabindranath Tagore

নদ ও নদীর মধ্যে পার্থক্য

World cup 2014 grouping

Questions on Basic Computer Technology

List of Input Devices, Output Devices and Both Input Output devices related to computer.

নাটক ও প্রহসন সহজে মনে রাখার উপায়

বাংলাদেশ-ভারত ছিটমহল

একনজরে ছিটমহল

বাংলাদেশের নদী

Name and address of the Jobsites

Bangladesh : Division and District

Links of public universities of Bangladesh

District Portals

Barisal Division

Chittagong Division

Dhaka Division

Khulna Division

Rajshahi Division

Rangpur Division

Sylhet Division

Country Profile - Bangladesh

» List of Ministers of Government of the people's of Bangladesh

Economy of Bangladesh

From Wikipedia

Contents

Economic history

Macro-economic trend

Economic sectors

Agriculture

Manufacturing & Industry

Textile sector

Investment

2010-11 market crash

External trade

Overview

Bangladesh (from wikipedia)

Bengal

Contents

Etymology

History

Post-1947 history

Geography

Major cities

Demographics

Economy

West Bengal

Bangladesh

Culture

Intra-Bengal relations today

Gallery