ওয়াসীম সোবহানের ভাবনা

Bangladeshi migrant labourers sent home a record $11.65 billion last year, the central bank said Tuesday, defying expectations that unrest in the Arab world would cause a downturn in payments. Remittances from the country's seven million-plus migrants are Bangladesh's second-highest foreign exchange earner after exports and are seen as a big help in alleviating poverty in the impoverished South Asian nation. The figure, which made up more than 10 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, represented a six per cent rise from the previous financial year, Bangladesh Bank spokesman A.F.M. Asaduzzaman told AFP. "It is the highest remittance figure in the country's history," he said.He added that concerns that cash flows would be hit by turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa - where 70 per cent of Bangladesh's migrant workers are based - had proved unfounded.Earlier this year, more than 35,000 Bangladeshi workers were flown home after violent unres

Chittagong Port posted 21.13 percent annual growth in container handling in fiscal 2010-11, the highest in 16 years. The annual growth of container handling did not register such increases since 1994-95, said officials of Chittagong Port Authority (CPA). The handling of export containers saw an increase of 23.25 percent in fiscal 2010-11, compared to the previous year. The growth in terms of handling bulk cargo, goods both in container and bulk by the port and arrival of merchant vessels also registered significant growth compared with the previous year, they added. CPA Chairman Commodore M Anwarul Islam sees it as a positive result of some recent initiatives taken by the authority and a rise in the country's exports. The port handled 14.68 lakh TEUs (twenty equivalent units) containers in 2010-11, up from 12.12 lakh TEUs in the previous year, according to the CPA Traffic Department. CPA Director (Traffic) Enamul Karim said the growth is a record high in recent years. Besides cont