একটা আই,সি,ইউ, কেউ ম্যানেজ করে দিতে পারবেন, আমার আব্বুর জন্য?
.
.
.
লাগবে না আই,সি,ইউ আর।
- ‘করোনাক্রান্তী’ (জুন '2020)
Sunday, June 14, 2020
Friday, June 5, 2020
Eulogizing Freddie Mercury
Every time I listen to a song of this late genius, I feel this strong urge to pay my tribute. Tribute to this unfortunate victim of AIDS (probably the greatest of them all to fall prey to the vicious disease!). He was the lead-vocal & song-writer to the 70's and 80's band called Queen - a group of talented individuals, who were individually famous in their own rights. Singing in Rock genre of Pop music, they were extremely popular and churned out one hit song after another. Their 'Bohemian Rhapsody' topped the chart for record number of weeks and songs like 'we will rock you' or 'we are the champions' became icons for a generation.
A much documented homosexual, Freddie Mercury was an out and out genius. Born to Gujrati (India) Parsees parents (birth-name, Farrokh Bulsara), his mastery of vocal chords as well as his gifted & powerful voice made Queen the unique band of the decade. Idiosyncratic and colorful his on-stage presence might have been, but, no one can deny the obvious passion and inherent quality of the songs. Therefore, after all these years, lives on this God of Rock. Rest in peace, Dear Freddie!
Thursday, June 4, 2020
(Would be) Legacy of Sheikh Hasina
All things that
were, are, or to be must have an end. Even the good ones!
Sheikh Hasina, the incumbent Prime Minister
and the leader of the largest political party of the country, has
been in office since 2009. During this period, her stature in public eye,
both domestic & international, has grown steadily. But, with the passing of
time, there will eventually come a future that the people of Bangladesh must navigate without the able leadership of the Apa (as she is
affectionately called). However,
objective of this write-up is not to plan for that future; it is rather an effort to ponder
& contemplate how future generations will evaluate her contributions. I, for one, like to think that she asks herself the same question, and that very question propels her to
wake up every morning, and work for her people.
In terms of
achievements regarding economy, Sheikh Hasina is already the most
successful Head of Government in history of Bangladesh. Coming at a time to
rule, when her political capital could at best be termed as precarious, she
consistently defied the odds and made sure the Govt of Bangladesh makes the
'practical' decisions when it comes to economy and development. The result has
been a palpable shift (toward a more confident nation) in the public psyche,
visible creation of wealth, and measurable reduction of poverty among the
so-called bottom of pyramid. In fact, not in any other period of time since
independence (in 1971), did Bangladesh demonstrate such sustained level of
economic promise for such a long time. The promise of turning Bangladesh into a
middle income economy (the popular moniker is Digital Bangladesh) by
2020, which sounded hollow and out-of-touch even 10 years back, is well on
track now.
However, the time
in being can hardly be judged by a single dimension. During this time, an
extremely partisan brand of politics has seen politicization of institutions of
the society. Judicial system has not been an exception. Trust and reliability
of general populace on Judiciary is waning fast. This in turn is perpetuating a
culture of non-accountability. Democratic values, instead of forging ahead,
have been tamed into a gilded frame. Bangladesh has been regularly topping the
list of most corrupt nations in surveys conducted by international
bodies. Distribution of wealth has been a major issue, manifested by the
fact that Bangladesh is one of the countries with fasted growing list of super-rich!
And the economic numbers which appear so bright and shiny in books &
publications, have not really resulted into real increase in income for many of
the rural and urban poor. Quality of mass education is questionable. Health
sector, although has seen some investments, is still lacking behind in both
quality & access. The crumbling and indiscipline tangle of infrastructure
of the country must improve a lot even to match the regional standards.
Environmental degradation has been rampant as the issues of environment took a
back seat in the face of hard economic reality. However, probably the most
darkening feature has been the growing culture of administering ready-made
justice and a "Govt knows best" attitude in governance. Rights Groups
have long been complaining of disappearing dissenting voices under questionable
circumstances. Little has been done to bring perpetrators to justice; on the
contrary, this has often been touted as the preferred method of addressing
sociopolitical issues.
One can see that
darkness and light has walked hand-in-hand under the stewardship of the
incumbent PM. There has been rays of hope, and there has been moments of
extreme despair. But, it is probably too early and too current to reach a
conclusion.
Only time has the
right and the vantage position to pronounce a fair judgment.
Trinity! Help!
Matrix, the movie, is an all time favorite for me. And,
it has been for quite a while. As for the fact, the fascination had reached a
point where, I simply lost count of how many times I watched the movie, or while
watching, I hardly need to look at the screen anymore to know what scene is
playing. So, at some point, I have asked myself, what is so special about it?
Is it the dystopian & post-apocalyptic, unusually monochromatic, yet
resilient setting of the film? The super fast & bionic martial art moves? Or,
the cool acts of the performers? Or, maybe a dozen other things that a good sci-fi
movie can be good at? Well, all of those are true; but, as it turned out, for
me, the attraction has always been the way characters interface with machines
in that movie. All the more wondrous was how they could learn new things. Be it
a new martial art move or flying an object. They simply had to ask for it! And,
the knowledge or the skills would get “transferred” into their mind. Putting
aside the fun & excitement, it must be the surest recipe to build super-humans.
It has been 21 years since the Matrix has been
released. And you are right; we are yet to reach a point where a human being
can be connected to a machine and immediately ‘uploaded’ with a ‘knowledge-pack’. Nevertheless, the process of acquiring knowledge has moved through profound changes
during this period. Things that have contributed most are the online learning
portals.
Proliferation of web-based learning (popular moniker, e-learning) has been phenomenal. Generally shared over the internet, their technology can be of multiple forms, from simple audio-visual recording to use of Virtual (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR) to utilization of machine learning algorithms for content curating. So, the experience can also vary to a large degree from platform to platform. Integration of social media has enabled inter-connectivity among the learners that would otherwise be largely absent in a virtual (non-class room) environment. But, the most beneficial aspect is the on-demand nature of this education. No need to wait in a long queue or to suffer from the ordained and perceived need for learning prerequisites. One only has to have a will for it. It is already like a great marketplace of e-learning out there. Contents are building up at dizzying pace. It will not be long, when standardized e-learning based curricula and qualifications will be the norm for career.
Socially speaking, this virtual learning phenomenon
certainly has the potential to be the great equalizer of future. The inherent imperfect
nature of resource distribution will always mean that some part of the human society
will not have the means or access to the same education as the well-to do. But,
virtual learning will mend that gap to a great extent. Because, one of the greatest
strengths of virtual methods is their scalability and low incremental cost. Exciting
times are ahead.
Digital technology has come to the aid of mankind to mend the digital divide.
Saturday, March 26, 2016
How quickly can morality change?
This question has been going through my mind quite often last few days. Not least because of what is going-on in world politics. When it comes to world politics, a large portion of it is invariably US politics and US role in world theater. In this respect, the principal point of interest is undoubtedly the unprecedented surge in popularity of Donald Trump, the business man turned tv personality turned politician. But, precisely at that point the story looses its innocence. because, Mr. Trump with his open condoning of torture to bigoted remarks about women, religious minorities and even foreign countries in general is promising a future too dark to comprehend if he gets elected to the White House. Now, that is a point that people of US as a whole has to comprehend and confound. But, my objective was to draw parallel to another episode in history not too distant.
Barely 10 years ago, the then US administration of President Bush (Jr.) was facing unprecedented criticism at home and abroad over the treatment of prisoners. More critical was the use of torture (waterboarding) as a tool of national security! The debate was so intense that some big fishes in the administration had to leave because of controversy surrounding their role in that unfolding saga of torture and human rights. For their support though tacit, both the President and Vice President were hugely criticized all around. And, subsequently this also had some role in the impending debacle of the republican party at the hand of Democrats led by then Senator Obama.
But, the point is something (in this case, torture of prisoners), which was deemed outright illegal by most and so looked upon by international community has now just 10 years down the line become almost acceptable. Promise of using torture, now part of Mr. Trump's electoral promise, even draws huge roar of support from his fan base! More alarmingly, this fan base in broadening each day. So, one has to conclude indeed moral standard can change quickly, in this case in less than a decade! It happens even more quickly when the overall Geo-political situation is in a state of flux and when general psyche of a population is artificially pressurized. Under closer scrutiny, it can be summarized that - by negatively impacting any of the basic impulses (hunger, security, shelter), it's possible to transform the psychological state of a population in general to a level where even the unacceptable becomes quite acceptable; moral definitions quickly shifts!
Barely 10 years ago, the then US administration of President Bush (Jr.) was facing unprecedented criticism at home and abroad over the treatment of prisoners. More critical was the use of torture (waterboarding) as a tool of national security! The debate was so intense that some big fishes in the administration had to leave because of controversy surrounding their role in that unfolding saga of torture and human rights. For their support though tacit, both the President and Vice President were hugely criticized all around. And, subsequently this also had some role in the impending debacle of the republican party at the hand of Democrats led by then Senator Obama.
But, the point is something (in this case, torture of prisoners), which was deemed outright illegal by most and so looked upon by international community has now just 10 years down the line become almost acceptable. Promise of using torture, now part of Mr. Trump's electoral promise, even draws huge roar of support from his fan base! More alarmingly, this fan base in broadening each day. So, one has to conclude indeed moral standard can change quickly, in this case in less than a decade! It happens even more quickly when the overall Geo-political situation is in a state of flux and when general psyche of a population is artificially pressurized. Under closer scrutiny, it can be summarized that - by negatively impacting any of the basic impulses (hunger, security, shelter), it's possible to transform the psychological state of a population in general to a level where even the unacceptable becomes quite acceptable; moral definitions quickly shifts!
Friday, March 18, 2016
Past the Super Tuesday in US Election Primaries
I started to write a post with the title 'Ahead of the Super Tuesday...' because of what I would call a low-key epiphany that dawned on me regarding the shape of things to come. But, time is always a spoiler taking me to places, keeping my hands full and keeping the world away from getting a glimpse of these important premonitions. Anyway, here I am....
Now that we are past the Super Tuesday, we all are witness to the fact that Mr. He Who cannot be named is amassing an almost unassailable momentum in One of two of the major parties' nomination battle in the USA. Yes, you heard me right! almost unassailable momentum!!! He is still far from that safe zone in terms of delegate count, but, boy! How amazingly he has adjusted his sail in the path of that 'wind of change'. Or, is it 'madness of change'!!!! I will let you decide.
This is probably one of those terrible times, when common people in their collective stupidity completely looses track. Now, many would argue somehow the people are always right in the end. Wrong! Fallacy!! Well, maybe most of the time. But, just like a game of chance, there comes once-in-a-generation moment, when people collectively make a blunder, price of which is dearer than a major earthquake. Examples are strewn all over history, I will not waste time by drawing parallels here. If you want, you can find easily. But, the funny part is politicians although generally divisive, bickering and prioritize self interest over all others have actually got sense of what terrible possibilities are afoot. Although generally more prone to making mistakes, politicians have actually got it right this time! Which can be seen in the more cautious way they are veering toward the crazy option or the slow pace of delegate count. But, the commoners? They are acting real cheap! As if they are bewitched like the kids of Hamelin! No amount of cautions, advice or lambasting is good enough to steer them from destruction. Like head strong kids, all advice to act otherwise are only fueling their speed downhill!
Someone can argue, who cares, let them face the consequence of their action. But, the problem is USA is the leader of the World. Whatever happens here impact the lives of other people, no matter whether they want it or not. Naturally the person who will lead this great nation (for at least 4 years) can cause irreversible changes to the lives of countless millions, with his or her action or inaction. So, the choice you are making or will make in primaries are not trivial decisions. Although some 'once-smart-doctors-now-politicians' think 4 years are a small enough time to do a test run on a political novice, but you should understand better. It is no time to play games. You still have time to reverse the trend, but only if you all collectively pull together; only if you decide to prove all skeptics like me wrong; and only if you decide to show that USA is the greatest nation on earth, because it has the greatest people on Earth!
Now that we are past the Super Tuesday, we all are witness to the fact that Mr. He Who cannot be named is amassing an almost unassailable momentum in One of two of the major parties' nomination battle in the USA. Yes, you heard me right! almost unassailable momentum!!! He is still far from that safe zone in terms of delegate count, but, boy! How amazingly he has adjusted his sail in the path of that 'wind of change'. Or, is it 'madness of change'!!!! I will let you decide.
This is probably one of those terrible times, when common people in their collective stupidity completely looses track. Now, many would argue somehow the people are always right in the end. Wrong! Fallacy!! Well, maybe most of the time. But, just like a game of chance, there comes once-in-a-generation moment, when people collectively make a blunder, price of which is dearer than a major earthquake. Examples are strewn all over history, I will not waste time by drawing parallels here. If you want, you can find easily. But, the funny part is politicians although generally divisive, bickering and prioritize self interest over all others have actually got sense of what terrible possibilities are afoot. Although generally more prone to making mistakes, politicians have actually got it right this time! Which can be seen in the more cautious way they are veering toward the crazy option or the slow pace of delegate count. But, the commoners? They are acting real cheap! As if they are bewitched like the kids of Hamelin! No amount of cautions, advice or lambasting is good enough to steer them from destruction. Like head strong kids, all advice to act otherwise are only fueling their speed downhill!
Someone can argue, who cares, let them face the consequence of their action. But, the problem is USA is the leader of the World. Whatever happens here impact the lives of other people, no matter whether they want it or not. Naturally the person who will lead this great nation (for at least 4 years) can cause irreversible changes to the lives of countless millions, with his or her action or inaction. So, the choice you are making or will make in primaries are not trivial decisions. Although some 'once-smart-doctors-now-politicians' think 4 years are a small enough time to do a test run on a political novice, but you should understand better. It is no time to play games. You still have time to reverse the trend, but only if you all collectively pull together; only if you decide to prove all skeptics like me wrong; and only if you decide to show that USA is the greatest nation on earth, because it has the greatest people on Earth!
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Ahead of the Super Tuesday in US election primaries
15 March 2016 (as I started to draft the article on that day)
Yesterday, two important things happened that will impact the lives of people in #Bangladesh for years to come. Let us talk about the first One that took place first.
Dr. Atiur Rahman, the Governor of the Central bank or the Bangladesh Bank as it was Christened, resigned from his post after 7 successful (disputed by many) years following the incidence of money being illicitly siphoned of the central bank reserve. That the money stolen was part of the reserve kept in US Federal Reserve Bank in New York is but a small anecdote. The actual incidence of stealing actually happened in early February, and the Bangladesh Bank people in their infinite wisdom manged to keep it secret from the other branches of the State for almost a month! This move, politically and administratively an error of horrendous proportion, probably cost the fellow his job. Nevertheless, it is how things unfolded in reality and by the time I am putting pen to paper, this Holywoodesque story captured the imagination of the country and to some extent that of some parts (banking & finance) of the world. So, why or how it happened is anybody's guess and subject to dozens of investigation. Therefore, I will conveniently bypass those questions (for you to be wiser from mainstream media) and focus on a more fundamental question.
Bangladesh Bank, which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the bloody liberation war (in fact, 16th Dec 1971 or the Victory day of Bangladesh is the official Birthday of Bangladesh Bank), many would argue, never really came out of the shadow of the Executive branch of the government. It was directly and indirectly controlled by the ministry of Finance. Therefore, It came as no surprise that once the Bank got its first 'Independent thinking' Pilot in Dr. Atiur Rahman, there would be a host of powerful people who would hate the very idea of the central bank having its own strategy and a path to achieve those strategy. To be more specific, the bank under his leadership focused on bringing the un-banked poor (the vast majority of the populace who were mostly out of formal banking system) into the banking system. He understood early that the brick and mortal approach will itself not achieve his dream. Rather, Dr. Atiur aimed to do this by utilizing the phenomenal growth of mobile technology, through encouraging mobile banking even to the extent where he formulated regulation for motivating commercial banks to have mobile banking arms. He also implemented a '10 taka bank account' for the rural poor (an account for 10 cent only), that attracted praise and following from the Prime Minister of India himself. Did his approach work? According to a feature published in the Daily Star (23rd March 2015), these strategies brought in 55 million people into banking sector, with 25 million mobile banking accounts and 10 million '10 taka' accounts targeting farmers! Towards financial inclusion | The Daily Star Well, that should be called a success even by the most cynical. However, bringing people into the scion of formal banking in itself is not the end, rather it opens up opportunities and economic emancipation in many other ways (including, but not limited to influencing how expat workers choose to send money home!) that I think is beyond debate. Now, praising the erstwhile Governor is not the idea of this write up, rather, to focus on the issue of central bank independence. So, it was beyond doubt that the central bank was gradually taking a more autonomous form. But, why is it important for a central bank to have independent thinking?
Well, to answer in plain words, central banks are for people's economic right what judiciary is for people's moral and legal right. A balancing act against the all powerful Executive branch, preventing it from implementing vested agenda or policies with too narrow a focus or politically motivated. Central banks also have the research capability and know how regarding economic and monetary matters that departments with in executive branch are not likely to have. All in all, importance and necessity of central bank independence is unquestionable. Example???? Just look at the major and successful economies of the world and you will not see any detractors to this doctrine. There can be varying degrees to that freedom, with the system of USA allowing most freewill to it Federal Reserve Bank (ironically, from where this current debacle of Bangladesh central bank started causing all those dominoes to fall). Fate sometimes can work in miraculous way indeed! However, it's important for people of Bangladesh to not get blinded by the rage of loosing all those hard earned money to robbers. It will not be prudent in infinite hatred to the outgoing Governor forget all the good things happened due to having an free thinking economist in the helm of Bangladesh Bank. And, the worst thing would be to give a free reign to the executive branch to reestablish their blindfold control on the central bank and trust, given the slightest opportunity the vested groups will gleefully gobble up the chance. And, without even a polite thank you!
So, what should be your course of action? Stop taking part in the slanderous and often suicidal discussion centering on how incompetent the outgoing management of central bank was. Rather focus on how to carry on the good deeds forward.
(I took too much time on topic number one, so, the 2nd one will have to wait for the next post). Thank you.
Yesterday, two important things happened that will impact the lives of people in #Bangladesh for years to come. Let us talk about the first One that took place first.
Dr. Atiur Rahman, the Governor of the Central bank or the Bangladesh Bank as it was Christened, resigned from his post after 7 successful (disputed by many) years following the incidence of money being illicitly siphoned of the central bank reserve. That the money stolen was part of the reserve kept in US Federal Reserve Bank in New York is but a small anecdote. The actual incidence of stealing actually happened in early February, and the Bangladesh Bank people in their infinite wisdom manged to keep it secret from the other branches of the State for almost a month! This move, politically and administratively an error of horrendous proportion, probably cost the fellow his job. Nevertheless, it is how things unfolded in reality and by the time I am putting pen to paper, this Holywoodesque story captured the imagination of the country and to some extent that of some parts (banking & finance) of the world. So, why or how it happened is anybody's guess and subject to dozens of investigation. Therefore, I will conveniently bypass those questions (for you to be wiser from mainstream media) and focus on a more fundamental question.
Bangladesh Bank, which was formed in the immediate aftermath of the bloody liberation war (in fact, 16th Dec 1971 or the Victory day of Bangladesh is the official Birthday of Bangladesh Bank), many would argue, never really came out of the shadow of the Executive branch of the government. It was directly and indirectly controlled by the ministry of Finance. Therefore, It came as no surprise that once the Bank got its first 'Independent thinking' Pilot in Dr. Atiur Rahman, there would be a host of powerful people who would hate the very idea of the central bank having its own strategy and a path to achieve those strategy. To be more specific, the bank under his leadership focused on bringing the un-banked poor (the vast majority of the populace who were mostly out of formal banking system) into the banking system. He understood early that the brick and mortal approach will itself not achieve his dream. Rather, Dr. Atiur aimed to do this by utilizing the phenomenal growth of mobile technology, through encouraging mobile banking even to the extent where he formulated regulation for motivating commercial banks to have mobile banking arms. He also implemented a '10 taka bank account' for the rural poor (an account for 10 cent only), that attracted praise and following from the Prime Minister of India himself. Did his approach work? According to a feature published in the Daily Star (23rd March 2015), these strategies brought in 55 million people into banking sector, with 25 million mobile banking accounts and 10 million '10 taka' accounts targeting farmers! Towards financial inclusion | The Daily Star Well, that should be called a success even by the most cynical. However, bringing people into the scion of formal banking in itself is not the end, rather it opens up opportunities and economic emancipation in many other ways (including, but not limited to influencing how expat workers choose to send money home!) that I think is beyond debate. Now, praising the erstwhile Governor is not the idea of this write up, rather, to focus on the issue of central bank independence. So, it was beyond doubt that the central bank was gradually taking a more autonomous form. But, why is it important for a central bank to have independent thinking?
Well, to answer in plain words, central banks are for people's economic right what judiciary is for people's moral and legal right. A balancing act against the all powerful Executive branch, preventing it from implementing vested agenda or policies with too narrow a focus or politically motivated. Central banks also have the research capability and know how regarding economic and monetary matters that departments with in executive branch are not likely to have. All in all, importance and necessity of central bank independence is unquestionable. Example???? Just look at the major and successful economies of the world and you will not see any detractors to this doctrine. There can be varying degrees to that freedom, with the system of USA allowing most freewill to it Federal Reserve Bank (ironically, from where this current debacle of Bangladesh central bank started causing all those dominoes to fall). Fate sometimes can work in miraculous way indeed! However, it's important for people of Bangladesh to not get blinded by the rage of loosing all those hard earned money to robbers. It will not be prudent in infinite hatred to the outgoing Governor forget all the good things happened due to having an free thinking economist in the helm of Bangladesh Bank. And, the worst thing would be to give a free reign to the executive branch to reestablish their blindfold control on the central bank and trust, given the slightest opportunity the vested groups will gleefully gobble up the chance. And, without even a polite thank you!
So, what should be your course of action? Stop taking part in the slanderous and often suicidal discussion centering on how incompetent the outgoing management of central bank was. Rather focus on how to carry on the good deeds forward.
(I took too much time on topic number one, so, the 2nd one will have to wait for the next post). Thank you.
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