12-01-2022

WeDnesDay, January 12, 2022
4
Acting Editor & Publisher : Jobaer Alam
e-mail: editor@thebangladeshtoday.com
Wednesday, January 12, 2022
Check alarming rate
of deforestation
Scientists are sounding the alarm bells in Bangladesh as
forest loss reaches 90 percent, a figure they say will jump
to 100 percent if the country does not begin enforcing its
environment policies. recent official statistics claim that 17 per
cent of the country's land mass is forested. But experts expertly
say that this is an exaggerated figure. They say that under the
real pace of accelerated deforestation caused by unchecked
human intervention, Bangladesh is most unlikely to meet the
millennium development goals (MDG) of having at least 20 per
cent of its lands under forest cover by 2020,
"Deforestation has reached an alarming rate in recent years. If
no changes occur, Bangladesh will have no forest left," said Syed
Ajijur rahman, a Center for International Forestry research
scientist and coauthor of a new journal article titled extent and
Consequences of Tropical Forest Degradation : Successive
Policy Options for Bangladesh ."There are many good policies in
Bangladesh but they are not being carried out. They need to be
strengthened and better enforced."
he provides the example of the private forest ordinance
legislation, which was developed during the 1950s to provide
financial support for smallholder tree growers. "But this has not
yet been translated into action," he said.
Forest coverage in Bangladesh is at one of the lowest rates in
the world. A 2009 Food and Agricultural Organization report
shows that 6.7 percent of the country's surface area is covered by
forest, however weak environmental legislation and pressures of
a growing population results in the loss of 2,000 hectares of
forest per year. FAO also reported that the total volume of forest
decreased from 2.27 million meters squared in 1985 to nearly
0.650 million meters squared in 1996. It estimated that the
worst-affected forests of Bangladesh were the inland deciduous
Sal forests, with more than half being depleted. The trend of
deforestation is expertly and privately claimed to have only
increased and not reversed in the present decade.
The country's Sundarbans mangrove forests, the largest single
tract mangrove formation in the world, are also undergoing
accelerated deforestation, which is impacting on its ability to
provide important ecosystem services, for example, functioning
as a protective barrier against coastal erosion. The Sundarbans
are also home to many species of native flora and also animals,
including the endangered Bengal Tiger.
Bangladesh is one of the most flood-prone countries in the
world due to its location near the world's largest river delta, the
Ganges Delta, with its tributaries flowing into the Bay of Bengal.
eighty percent of the country's surface area are floodplains and
70 percent are less than 10 meters above sea level.
Deforestation and degradation on Bangladesh downstream
life results in frequent and heavy flooding and rapid siltation,
said rahman. The 1998 flood was recognized as one of the worst
in the world's recorded history, with two-thirds of the country
covered by water.
"This impacts on agricultural productivity as some common
crop varieties such as rice, wheat and corn, are not tolerant to
salinity, and flooding also affects people's livelihoods."
The report recommends inter-ministerial collaboration to help
deploy its forestry policies. It advises the government create an
inter-ministerial mitigation program composed of the Agriculture,
Forestry and Information ministries to get the ball rolling.
A program like this should prioritize its agroforestry policies,
rahman added. "The most effective way to reduce deforestation
is through agroforestry. It could bring 'win-win' solutions to
meet both environment and development objectives".
rahman said studies showed that systems such as
agroforestry were more beneficial in comparison to producing
only annual food crops or pasture, because agroforestry systems
could generate income from tree sales and carbon trading
programs, such as reducing emissions from deforestation and
degradation schemes.
he said that agroforestry was hindered by the sector's lack of
underlying structural components. "To implement
agroforestry in Bangladesh, we should focus first of all on
getting supportive factors in place such as banking regulations
and tenure rules," he advised, adding that capacity constraints
of farmers also needed addressing.
rahman suggests that the Forestry Ministry arrange training
programs for different agroforestry types such as home types,
where people plant and tend to trees around the home. "home
types are good because different types of plants - trees, shrubs,
herbaceous plants - can be grown in or adjacent to a home
compound," rahman said.
Another recommended type is cropland agroforestry.
"Practicing agroforestry in croplands, where most trees have
been deforested because of agricultural expansion following a
high rate of development, could regenerate trees."
The report says that intensive cultivation has caused the loss of
thousands of tons of nitrogen and other nutrients from the soil
annually. It is estimated that around 14,000 tons of commercial
fertilizers are needed to replace nutrients in eroded soil, with a
yearly value of approximately US$1.8 million.
The Information Ministry could work to update and distribute
accurate figures, the report says, as official statistics are still gravely
inaccurate and undermine the severity of deforestation in
Bangladesh, which prevents mitigation efforts from sufficiently
responding to the situation.
The research also calls for traditional institutions and the work of
NGOs to get involved. NGOs have proved successful in raising
awareness and promoting agroforestry or alternative farming
methods, rahman said. The NGO, Proshika - The Centre for human
Development, for example, aims to educate low-income people living
in rural areas about the socioeconomic benefits of collective,
sustainable farming with the aim to help people out of poverty.
The concept of
electronic learning
has been spreading
since the use of
electronic means to
address lessons in
the traditional
classrooms and the
use of multimedia in
the processes of
education and the quarterly self-education,
the construction of smart schools and virtual
classrooms that allow students to attend,
interact with lectures and seminars held in
other countries through Internet and
interactive technology. This modern
technique has entered all areas of daily life
and has actually become one of the greatest
areas of benefit of this ICT based education
revolution. In the early 1990s, the term e-
learning emerged as one of the uses of
technology in learning. Identify terminology
as a means of learning new communication
mechanisms: Computer Networks Content
Ports, research Tools, electronic Libraries,
Distance Learning, digital classroom,
multimedia classroom and classes through
the web, electronic learning is characterized
by speed and technology conversions and
human-mediated interactions. The electronic
learning as "a method of learning using
modern communication mechanisms of
computer and its networks and multimedia
of voice and image, drawings and
mechanisms of research, and electronic
offices, as well as Internet portals, either
remotely or in the classroom is important
and intended is the use of technology of all
kinds in the delivery of information to the
learner time, less effort and more useful. It is
an education that is provided electronically
through the internet, the internal networks,
or via multimedia such as CDs, DVDs, and
others. e-learning is defined as an approach
to teaching and learning, representing all or
part of the educational model applied, that is
based on the use of electronic media and
devices as tools for improving access to
training, communication and interaction,
and that facilitates the adoption of new ways
of understanding and developing learning.
Web based learning, Online learning,
Distributed learning, Computer-assisted
KAShMIr is in flames today. This is
not a characterisation of the
violence which has gripped it since
1989. It is far deeper than that. Kashmir
fears that the government of India headed
by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is out
to foist on Jammu and Kashmir a hindu
chief minister for the first time since 1947.
They are not wrong.
The door was opened wide by Mufti
Mohammed Sayeed in 1999, when,
spurning the offer of a coalition with
Omar Abdullah's National Conference, he
formed a coalition with the BJP. Narendra
Modi flew to Srinagar for the Mufti's oathtaking
and rudely snubbed him publicly
when, in his speech, the Mufti suggested
reconciliation with Pakistan. Mufti's
closest adviser, the former chairman of
the J&K Bank and then finance minister,
stitched up the accord in a lengthy
document, couched in the language of
American academia, which gave Kashmir
a rich dose of verbiage but not even a
token concession.
haseeb Drabu, a man for all seasons,
had one ram Madhav as his partner in the
prolonged parleys in, among other places,
Mumbai which has its own charms to
offer especially to the gullible. ram
Madhav was an rSS activist seconded to
Why is e-learning getting popular ?
Gazi mD. abDu rashiD
instruction, or Internet-based learning are
also used synonymously and interchangeably
for this type of learning.
There are several importance of e-learning.
The e-learning has made it much easier to
obtain and access the teacher as soon as
possible outside the official working hours,
because the trainee can now send his inquiries
to the teacher through e-mail, and this
advantage is more useful and appropriate for
the teacher rather than remain restricted to
his office. Increasing the possibility of
communication between students among
them, and between students and school:
Through the ease of communication between
these parties in several directions such as
discussion boards, e-mail, dialogue rooms.
These things increase and stimulate students
to participate and interact with the topics in
question. As the communication tools allow
every student the opportunity to express his
opinion at any time without embarrassment,
unlike the traditional classrooms that deprive
him of this feature either because of the poor
organization of the seats, or the weakness of
the student himself, or shame, or other
reasons, but this type of education provides a
full opportunity for students because they can
send their opinion and voice through available
communication tools from e-mail, discussion
boards and discussion rooms. This feature is
more useful for students who are afraid and
anxious because this method of education
makes students more daring to express their
ideas and find the facts more than they were
the traditional classroom. Online forums, such
as discussion boards and dialogue rooms,
provide opportunities for exchanging views on
topics that increase the chances of benefiting
from the ideas and suggestions presented and
integrating them with the views of the student,
a.G. noorani
which helps to form a solid foundation for the
learner, has strong knowledge, opinions
through the knowledge and skills acquired
through dialogue rooms. It is possible to
receive the scientific material in a way that
suits the student. Some of them are suitable
for the visual method. Some of them are
suitable for the audible or readable method.
Some of them correspond to the practical
method. e-learning and its sources allow the
possibility of applying the sources in many
different ways that allow modification
according to the best method for the trainee. e-
learning allows the learner to focus on
important ideas while writing and compiling
the lecture or lecture, and also allows students
who have difficulty concentrating and
organizing tasks benefit from the material
because they are arranged and coordinated in
an easy and good and important element in
There are several importance of e-learning. The e-learning
has made it much easier to obtain and access the teacher as
soon as possible outside the official working hours, because
the trainee can now send his inquiries to the teacher through
e-mail, and this advantage is more useful and appropriate for
the teacher rather than remain restricted to his office.
them. This is an added advantage for those
who learn in a practical way. Those who teach
through training, if they want to express their
ideas, put them in certain sentences, which
means they have repeated the information
they have been trained on, as students do
when they prepare for a particular exam. The
curriculum is available 24 hours a day, seven
days a week: This feature is useful for people
who are moody or want to learn at a certain
time, because some prefer to learn morning
and evening, as well as for those who bear
personal burdens and responsibilities, this
feature allows everyone to learn in a time that
suits them. This feature makes the student in
a stable state that he can get the information
he wants at the time that suits him, it is not
related to the opening and closing times of the
library, which leads to the student's comfort
and not being tired. The student must adhere
to a fixed, binding and binding schedule of
Kashmir concerns
the BJP. Under the deal the speaker of the
legislative assembly was to belong to the
BJP. Mufti's daughter Mehbooba stuck to
the accord even after her father's death. It
was cancelled much later.
By then, the BJP government in New
Delhi had done its sums and put its results
before parliament on Aug 5, 2019, shortly
after Modi gained a second-term in office
as prime minister in May 2019.
On Aug 5 came the constitutional
tsunami. Some drastic laws and policies
were implemented. July 13, Kashmir
Martyrs' Day, and Dec 5, Sheikh
Abdullah's birth anniversary, were
removed from the official calendar. Urdu
ceased to be the official language.
There came three cruel, dishonest and
brazenly unconstitutional decisions
announced in parliament on Aug 5, 2019.
They were 1) scrapping of Article 370 of
the constitution of India which was
designed to guarantee Kashmir's identity
and autonomy. Under the constitution,
India cannot take any decision on the
'final disposition' of Kashmir without its
consent. Its popular leader Sheikh
Abdullah voiced his protest in 1972 as
preparation for the Indira Gandhi-
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto summit at Shimla.
Kashmir was not even consulted he
angrily declared.
Kashmir's chief minister then was one
Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq, a bogus leftist
to the core. he was the one who brought
the Congress party to Kashmir and
became a congressman. In 1975, Sheikh
Sahib, now chief minister, revived his
National Conference to Indira Gandhi's
dismay. Since 2014, Narendra Modi set
about fulfilling the BJP's dream of the
'abrogation' of Article 370, which was also
Sadiq's dream. But Article 370 was by its
very terms unamendable by the
parliament of India. This was
constitutional hooliganism, which played
on India's growing hindu nationalistic
fervour. Next Ladakh was lopped off to be
directly ruled from New Delhi. Kashmir
continued its partnership constitution
with Jammu. This implied the centre's
amendment of Kashmir's constitution
which parliament had no power lawfully
to do. Kashmir is centrally ruled.
In February 2021, the separate J&K
cadres of India's civil service was
abolished. There are 58 civil service
officers and very few are Muslims. Of the
eight civil service officers from outside
only three are Muslims. Of the top 11
bureaucrats only one is a Muslim.
But the worst blow of Aug 5, 2019, was
collective action for traditional education, but
now it is no longer necessary because modern
technology has provided ways of
communication without having to be present
at a particular time and place so coordination
is not as important as the inconvenience.
Instant evaluation tools provided teachers
with a variety of ways to quickly and easily
build, distribute and classify information. The
provision of the time element is very useful
and important for both the teacher and the
learner. The student has immediate access to
the information in the specified place and
time, so there is no need to go from home to
the classroom, library or office. This saves the
time from loss, and the teacher can keep his
time from loss because it can send what the
student needs through the line of instant
communication. e-learning allows the teacher
to reduce administrative burdens that took a
lot of time in each lecture, such as receipt of
duties and other e-learning has been alleviated
from this burden, it has become possible to
send and receive all these things through
electronic tools with the possibility of knowing
receipt of these documents. e-learning
provides tools that analyze grades, results and
tests as well as the development of statistics
about them and also to send the files and
records of students to the related educational
institutions. The electronic learning is the
provision of educational content (electronic)
through the media based on the computer and
its networks to the recipient in such a way that
allows the possibility of active interaction with
this content and features and with its peers
only simultaneous or not synchronized and
the possibility of completing this learning in
time and place and at the speed that suits
conditions and abilities, as well as the
possibility of managing this learning also
through these media. The adoption of
electronic media such as computers and
networks in the delivery of information to the
recipient, allowing them to interact with this
content and with the teacher and his
peers/students so that this learning can be
managed through these smart/modern/ICT
based media.
The writer is a research officer at
the District Education Office
(Secondary), Munshiganj.
how internal recruitment influence employee performance
There are a range of advantages to
recruiting internally that can be
beneficial for both an organization
and its employees. It helps individuals
experience and enhance competitiveness
to make individuals more skillful and
efficient. It also helps the managers and
governing body and saves their valuable
time. It boosts motivation and gives
reliability upon the organization to be
promoted and awarded. So, here are some
of the key advantages are discussed:
Internal recruitment can result in a
more streamlined onboarding process,
saving time for both the employees and
the company. An existing staff member
may be able to start a new role quickly,
without having to give a long notice
period. They may also undergo a shorter
interview process than an external
candidate, particularly if they are known
to the hiring manager. recruiters can save
time that would be spent posting the job
advertisement and promoting it
externally, easing administrative burden
and improving efficiency.
Most of the organizations choose
internally recruitment because it costs a
company double or more to hire externally
than internally. This is because money is
spent advertising on job boards and via
other recruitment channels, as well as on
necessary hiring procedures such as
background checks. Training costs can be
reduced by doing internal recruitment.
When employees are given the ability to
move upwards in their careers and are
shown that management has a dedication
to promoting their existing employees, it
conveys the message that their work is
valued. Providing more opportunities for
career advancement, or even allowing
lateral movement to different same-level
positions that may interest employees,
can build stronger morale. even if they are
not promoted to a higher-level job,
employees who change roles develop
professionally, and their peers recognize
that they too may have similar
opportunities in the future.
Tanmoy Das
BY choosing internal recruitment, a
company highlights its commitment and
investment in their existing employees. It
enables them to retain top talent within
the organization, while also showing a
clear path of progression to staff
members. This investment in the
workforce can improve morale,
engagement and performance, therefore
providing positive benefits for the
organizations.
When it comes to internal recruitment,
employees know the applicants by nature.
They are familiar with their work
approach and know that there would not
be any culture clashes within the
company. On the other hand, a couple of
hours in an interview does not give
anyone the chance to know the candidate
well enough.
An internal candidate is well-equipped with
the organization's working practices, goals
and policies. Thus, they learn quicker and
offer important insights on how to bind all the
teams together as compared to a new hire.
external recruiting is both timeconsuming
and expensive. It includes tasks
like posting advertisements on portals,
sifting through the resume database and
performing background checks. On the
other hand, internal recruitment is a
surprisingly seamless process through the
company email address.
Looking through hundreds of resumes
is not required as well. hiring managers
can ask the heads of the department for
potential candidates. An existing
employee should be familiar with the
inner workings of the company-the
operations, processes and procedures that
are unique to the organization. They can
bring this experience to a new role, even if
it is in a different team or department. As
such, their learning curve will be shorter
than that of a newly hired employee, who
will need to be taught about the company
from the ground up.
(The writer is a student at the
North South University)
the law on the delimitation of
constituencies. It set up a delimitation
commission. The government appointed
a retired judge of the Bombay high Court
as chairman. On Dec 20, 2021, it revealed
a draft proposal recommending that the
number of assembly seats in Jammu be
increased from 37 to 43 and in Kashmir
from 46 to 47.
The main political parties in the region
feel that the draft proposal favours
Jammu over Muslim-majority Kashmir in
terms of electoral balance. As has been
reported by journalist Tariq Bhat, the
People's Alliance for Gupkar Declaration
feels the commission has acted at the
BJP's behest and has disregarded
Kashmir's greater numbers as compared
to Jammu as per the 2011 census; a
calculation based on the census would
have resulted in 51 seats for Kashmir and
39 for Jammu, he pointed out. "There are
15 Muslim-majority seats in Jammu and if
their boundaries have been redrawn in a
manner that they cease to be Muslimmajority,
that will reduce the
representation of Muslims from Jammu
in the assembly."
(The writer is an author and a
lawyer based in Mumbai.)