Your first thought of Bangladesh might be of the Third World. In the 1970s the country – formerly known as East Pakistan – suffered the ravages of civil war and extreme weather conditions. The plight of her people moved musicians George Harrison and Ravi Shankar to organize a benefit concert to raise funds for relief – the first such charitable event, years before Live Aid. Today, while Bangladesh maintains its rank among nations with high poverty levels, it is slowly developing an economy that has shown impressive growth over the years.

One might think, given the assumed paucity of natural resources and industry in the country, that Bangladesh doesn’t offer much in the way of goods to export. Quite the contrary, though this neighbor to India doesn’t enjoy the same GNP level of the United States or nearby Asian nations, Bangladesh exported in 2009 more than $18 billion worth of supplies annually, a significant growth from $5 billion seven years prior. In proving its place among the Next Eleven, Bangladesh has made quite a mark in the textile export industry. Apparel exports, the nation’s top industry, surpassed that of India for the first time in 2009, accounting for one-eighth of the country’s overall export product. Hides used for clothing and other products are a popular product for trade, and are usually included in the totals for textile and apparel exports.

To add to the problem of smoking cessation interventions in Bangladesh, the national radio and television stations stopped broadcasting advertisements for tobacco products in 1997. Perhaps broadcast warnings would be more effective in a country with high illiteracy rates. Statistically up to 10.5 million people are though to be nicotine addicts in Bangladesh. Much of the smoking is found in the low income bracket of society were the opportunity cost of smoking is particularly significant. It has been established through surveys that male smokers spent enough per day in 1997 to purchase enough rice to provide an additional 1402 calories for the family. The amount of money spent by women smokers could purchase about 770 calories.

The real prices of cigarettes in Bangladesh have fallen over the last ten years driving a new round of tobacco cigarette demand. This raise in demand is also as a result of a general raise in income making more people have access to cigarettes. Average daily expenditure on tobacco products according to research has increased between 1995 and 1997. Experts in Bangladesh believe that an increase in the price of tobacco products on an annual basis by some 5% will likely reduce the number of people who smoke. In fact it has been shown that taxes are an effective way of curbing smoking especially amongst the low income smokers. The cost of cigarettes is the second most popular reason for quitting smoking after the fear of the dangers of smoking.

There is no doubt that tobacco control in Bangladesh will need stronger and stringent action. Smoking in public places should be totally banned and advertising of tobacco products outlawed. The challenge of interventions is to increase access to information to plainly educate a vastly illiterate society of the dangers of smoking and the benefits of quitting smoking. There is need to highlight the positive side of stopping smoking and to over people the help to achieve total freedom from addiction if any smoking cessation program should succeed.

The Ganges got the birth from the Himalayas and crossed India and Bangladesh towards the Bay of Bengal. India is controlling the regular flow of the Ganges. During drought they are not allowing a normal water flow of the Ganges towards Bangladesh using “Farakka Dam”. As a result the Padma (Bangladesh portion of the Ganges) losses its regular flow or current causing mud to fall on its route to lessen the depth of the Padma. Now during the rainy season with the massive increase of water level in the Ganges India must release a high volume of water through ‘Farakka Dam’ causing the Padma to overflow. Bangladesh Inundates under water. There are a lot of reasons causing world temperature going high. This influences the ice to melt and the sea level to increase. The Himalayas doing the same and causing the water level of the Ganges go higher and inundates portion of Bangladesh almost every year.

Deforestation in the Himalayas is aggravating floods in Bangladesh, India and Nepal. When the Himalayas were covered in woods the case of heavy floods was seen twice in a century in Bangladesh. With the deforestation in the Himalayas the average became once in four years. ”Bangladesh in grave danger: deforestation in Himalayas aggravating floods.” (Bangladesh Observer, 2 June 1990). ”When the Himalayas were covered in trees, Bangladesh suffered a major flood about twice a century; one every four years is now the average.” (UNEP 1992). ”The severe floods in eastern India and Bangladesh are not the result of a natural disaster, but of a ruthless exploitation of wood which has been practiced over centuries in the forests of the Himalayas.” (Basler Zeitung, 15 September 1998)

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is bound to the north, northwest and east by India and to the southeast by Myanmar, Burma. The landscape is mainly flat with many bamboo, mango and palm-covered plains created by the effects of the great river systems of the Ganges and the Brahmaputra. Dhaka, the historic city and capital of Bangladesh, lies on the Buriganga River in the northern central area, its oldest areas dominated both by the commercial bustle of the waterfront and several old buildings. These include the uncompleted 17th century Lalbagh Fort, the spectacular Ahsan Manzil palace museum and the Chotta Katra. Khulna, in the southwest, is principally marshland and jungle. Its greatest attraction is the Sundarbans National Park, a supreme example of lush coastal vegetation and exotic wildlife.

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U. S. researchers have said that women in Bangladesh who wear saris are literally wearing the answer to better health for themselves and their families.

Women who use a sari to filter household water protect their households from cholera, and even protect neighbors who don’t filter their water, Rita Colwell of the University of Maryland in College Park, said.

In 2003, Colwell and colleagues showed that teaching village women to filter water through folded cotton sari cloth reduced the incidence of cholera by 48 percent.

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The Capital of Bangladesh is Dhaka with its exciting history and rich culture. Know the world over as the city of mosques and Muslim, it has attracted travelers from far and near through ages. However, according to recorded history it was founded in 1608A.D. As the seat of the imperial Mughal Victory of Bengal. Dhaka was the Capital of Bangladesh has grown into a busy city of about ten million people with an area of about 1353 sq. km. Having a happy blending of old and new architectural trends. Dhaka has been developing fast as a modern city and is throbbing with activities in all spheres of life. It is the Center of industrial, Commercial, Cultural, educational and political activities for Bangladesh.

Motijeel is the main Commercial area of the city. Dhaka’s major waterfront Sadarghat is on the bank of the river Buriganga and is crowded with all kinds of river craft, yatchs, country boats, motor launches, paddlesteamers, fisherman’s boats all bustling with activity. Colorful rickshaws (tricycle) on the city streets are common attraction for the visitors.

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THE economy of Bangladesh exudes intrinsic resilience and dynamism.
Despite being buffeted by repeated natural disasters, and man-made calamities to boot, it chugs along at a respectable growth rate. These catastrophic events, such as floods, cyclones and political turmoil, seem hardly to make much impression on the economy. While the leading economies of the world contracted sharply (more than 3.0 per cent reduction in growth rate) during the devastating recession of 2008-09, the Finance Minister declared that the growth rate of Bangladesh will rise by 0.3 per cent.

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