Tobacco Cultivation: Boost or Bane?

Tobacco Cultivation: Boost or Bane?

Tobacco companies make life of farmers easy by providing many facilities, which include interest free loans, free seeds, pesticides and fertilizers. They even go as far as providing money for children's education and health services, and offer a price guarantee at the which the farmer can make a profit. But for how long? As tobacco farming causes the soil to lose fertility, the companies move on...

#tobacco #bangladeshinnumbers

Sources:
http://www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers/
http://thedailystar.net/country/rapid-increase-in-land-used-for-tobacco-cultivation-12995
http://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ss.20130203.14.pdf

507 deaths due to political violence in 2013

507 deaths due to political violence in 2013

According to the Ain O Salish Kendra, as many as 848 clashes took place in 2013 surrounding the verdicts of war crimes trials and political disputes. The clashes killed 507 people including 15 police and two BGB men and left 22,407 injured. May history remember 2013, but not repeat it.

Source:
www.thedailystar.net/ask-fears-rise-of-militancy-4835www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/03/bangladesh-elections-tensions-high-opposition-boycott

Land wealth of 8 AL leaders rise 49 times in 5 years

Land wealth of 8 AL leaders rise 49 times in 5 years

"A random scan of the wealth statements of eight ruling party lawmakers and leaders recently submitted to the Election Commission reveals their lust for land and how aggressively they got hold of it as much as they could during the last five years. Just five years ago, as per their 2008 wealth statements, the eight owned only 71.417 acres of land. They now own 3,508 acres of land. The pieces of land are worth a couple of thousands crore taka," writes Hasan Jahid Tusher of The Daily Star.

Source:
www.thedailystar.net/love-for-land-knows-no-bounds-5075

Heroes of Humanity

Heroes of Humanity

Being imprisoned in our own city, we lose a little bit of ourselves everyday. In moments of weakness, its easy to get caught up in anger and hatred. In these moments, remember the heroes who risk their lives to keep humanity alive.

#bangladeshinnumbers #humanity 

Sources:
newagebd.com/detail.php?date=2013-04-18&nid=46447
www.thedailystar.net/the-star/2013-a-rollercoaster-ride-4096
www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=664418396943878

The world's 7th largest remittance earner

The world's 7th largest remittance earner

Bangladesh is projected to receive over $15 billion USD in 2013, a staggering 11% of GDP, making Bangladesh the 7th highest remittance receiving country in the world. But, only 371,647 Bangladeshis have flown abroad for jobs in 2013 (up to Oct 2013), compared to 607,798 in 2012. If the number of new international recruits from Bangladesh keeps falling, one can only expect growth in remittance earnings to slow down in years to come.

Note/ Corrigendum:
15 billion was the World Bank's projection for 2013 based on which this infographic was made, and now the real numbers are out, turns out remittance for 2013 has been much lower, instead of rising to 15 billion, it fell to 13.84 billion dollars. The latest figures are here:
bdnews24.com/economy/2014/01/01/funds-inlow-from-nrbs-drops

Sources:
www.bb.org.bd/econdata/wagermidtl.php
www.bmet.org.bd/BMET/stattisticalDataAction
www.dhaka247.net/business/bangladesh-retains-7th-position/

I can never forget

I can never forget

I am Bangladesh. I remember 1971. I remember Yahya Khan. I remember my freedom fighters. I remember my enemy. I remember my ally. I remember my daughters. I remember my people. 

Note:
Some of the numbers used in this infographic (specially the number of deaths during the Liberation War) cannot be verified since there are many sources that quote many numbers. Bangladesh's total population in 1971 was 75 million. The Pakistan Government puts the figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties, while most other sources state a range. The historian R J Rummel, who has looked as deeply into it as anyone, concludes that the “final estimate to be 300,000 to 3,000,000, or a prudent 1,500,000. An Oxford historian declared that there were no more than 50,000 to 100,000 deaths. The Bangladesh government states 3 million deaths. Bangladesh in Numbers cited 3 million for this infographic, the number found as the upper limit in most cases.

Sources:
www.acig.org/artman/publish/article_326.shtml
www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/the-war-bangladesh-can-never-forget-8501636.html
mukto-mona.net/new_site/mukto-mona/Articles/kasem/mathematics_genocide.htm
www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2013/12/bangladesh-execution-sparks-violent-protests-201312135743734649.html
www.forbes.com/sites/worldviews/2012/05/21/1971-rapes-bangladesh-cannot-hide-history/
www.aljazeera.com/news/asia/2010/03/2010325151839747356.html
www.genocidebangladesh.org/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_genocides_by_death_toll

Who loses money due to hartals?

Who loses money due to hartals?

Farmers? Consumers? Transporters?

How about all of the above?

Sources:
www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2013/11/12/3588
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/shutdown-hits-vegetable-farmers/
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/hartal-pushes-up-prices-of-essentials/

One Hartal Day...

One Hartal Day...

Every Hartal or Blockade hits the bottom of the pyramid hard, as the ones who earn their daily bread through daily labour and income lose their ability to make a living. Transport workers are affected in a major way.

Corrigendum:
The poverty % in this infographic is wrong. Bangladesh in Numbers sincerely apologizes for the error. As of 2013, the % of people under the poverty line of US$2 per day is 26%. Thanks to Ms. Nabila Rahman for pointing out the error.
http://world.time.com/2013/07/18/after-much-heartbreak-some-good-news-at-last-for-bangladesh/

Sources:
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/poultry-sector-on-verge-of-destruction/
www.cuts-citee.org/pdf/wp08-06.pdf
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/2-lakh-milkmen-in-a-quagmire/
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/transport-workers-in-trouble/
www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2013/11/28/6199
www.ruraldevelopment.info/Pages/BangladeshAgribusiness.aspx
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/a-country-of-hartals/
www.un-bd.org/pub/unpubs/Beyond%20Hartals.pdf
www.cpd.org.bd/downloads/Bangladesh2013.pdf

You are Collateral Damage

You are Collateral Damage

What's your life worth in Bangladesh? BDT 500? That's what people are paid to torch vehicles during hartals and blockades. As of 6 Dec 2013, 58 people have died (in the last 10 days) - count your blessings as you were not one of them.

Sources:
www.dhakatribune.com/crime/2013/dec/06/hartal-profitable-business-some-poor-children-women-used-proxy-activists
www.dhakatribune.com/politics/2013/dec/07/yet-another-blockade-begins-three-days

Costs Flying High?

Costs Flying High?

According to an analysis done by Bonik Barta, Dhaka's newly inaugurated Jatbari Flyover (Mayor Mohammad Hanif Flyover) is the MOST expensive flyover in the world - costing 2.1 billion BDT per km, 337% more expensive compared to Kolkata's Batanagar Flyover.

Source:
bonikbarta.com/sub-editorial/2013/11/18/22561/

Lost in the Dark

Lost in the Dark

3.7% of Bangladesh's population, or 6 million drug addicts, spend 70 million taka everyday on drugs. Although drug abuse is much lower in Bangladesh compared to India and Pakistan, it is a growing at an alarming rate, employing 100,000 people.

Sources:
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/drug-abuse-alarmingly-rising-in-bangladesh/
www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(13)61426-9/fulltext
www.castlecraig.co.uk/blog/11/2013/addiction-india
www.tealeafnation.com/2012/07/a-look-at-one-of-chinas-fastest-growing-consumer-goods-illegal-drugs/
www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/interactive/2012/jul/02/drug-use-map-world

I am Dhaka

I am Dhaka

Home to 14.6 million people, I am the most densely populated city in the world. I produce 23% of Bangladesh's GDP.

Sources:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhaka
risebd.com/2013/03/09/a-look-into-dhaka-bangladesh-the-most-densely-populated-city-in-the-world/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacity
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_proper_by_population_density
archive.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=258340
www.bbs.gov.bd/webtestapplication/userfiles/image/National%20Accounts%20Reports/GDP/GDP_2011-12%20(p).pdf
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_by_GDP
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megacity

Not even a fighting chance

Not even a fighting chance

While we push each other around in the cities fighting to get a slightly larger piece of the pie we don't need, let us remember that 46% of children in Bangladesh stay hungry everyday. Bangladesh has the world's HIGHEST malnutrition rate.

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
southasia.oneworld.net/news/bangladesh-has-highest-rate-of-malnutrition-in-the-world#.Uo77ZicVPIU
www.unicef.org/sowc2011/pdfs/SOWC-2011-Main-Report_EN_02092011.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_in_Bangladesh

Healthcare in Bangladesh - A Low Blow

Healthcare in Bangladesh - A Low Blow

Bangladesh has one of the lowest nurse to people and hospital bed to people ratios in the world, and a strikingly high incidence of self funded healthcare.

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
kff.org/global-indicator/hospital-beds/
kff.org/global-indicator/physicians/
kff.org/global-indicator/nurses-and-midwives/
kff.org/global-indicator/out-of-pocket-expenditure-on-health/

What kills people in Bangladesh?

What kills people in Bangladesh?

17.11% of all deaths in Bangladesh is a result of heart disease - the proportion is far greater than the global rate of 11.24%. But, heart disease is the top most cause of death. Check out how many lives are lost to other diseases, and to road accidents, which has made its way to the top 10 causes of death.

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/
www.worldlifeexpectancy.com/country-health-profile/bangladesh

Tit for Tat?

Tit for Tat?

There is finally a decision on minimum wage for RMG workers - BDT 5,300, a decision that BGMEA has recently accepted, although this is BDT 800 greater than their proposal of BDT 4,500. In lieu of their acceptance, BGMEA has made requests for favourable policies that outweigh the additional cost of BDT 800 by 23%.

Bangladesh in Numbers is extremely grateful to Zahid Hussain, Senior Economist of the World Bank, for the analysis used in this infographic.

Data Sources:
www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/new/2013/11/12/3597
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/tk-5300-rmg-minimum-wage-announced/
bdnews24.com/business/2013/11/13/rmg-bosses-accept-minimum-wage
www.bangladeshchronicle.net/index.php/2013/11/rmg-manufacturers-can-find-good-partners-in-s-korea/
www.bgmea.com.bd/chart/number_of_employment_in_garment

Not Simply Black or White

Not Simply Black or White 

The 1320 MW Rampal power project ensures that Bangladesh has the power it needs to keep growing, but threatens the sustainability of the Sundarbans.

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/forest-fears/
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/why-the-eia-study-is-not-acceptable/
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/rampal-gets-rolling/

High Priced Convenience

High Priced Convenience 

Despite high mobile internet prices in Bangladesh, 95% of the country's 33 million internet users access the internet from their mobile phones!

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
www.dhakatribune.com/money/2013/jun/23/mobile-internet-costlier-bangladesh-neighbouring-countries
www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=171715:33-million-internet-users-in-bangladesh&Itemid=122

Bangladesh & Internet - A Phenomenal Growth

Bangladesh & Internet - A Phenomenal Growth

20% of all Bangladeshis (33 million) now access the internet - a phenomenal growth from only 617,300 in 2009! 95% of us access the internet from cell phones.

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=171715:33-million-internet-users-in-bangladesh&Itemid=122
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/bangladesh-secures-161st-spot-in-internet-usage/
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_in_Bangladesh
www.netindex.com/download/allcountries/

Cox's Down by 95%

Cox's Down by 95%

Most of us stay home or move about cautiously during hartals, trying our best to avoid violence. For the 5,000 who have lost their jobs from hotels and tourist services in Cox's Bazar, hartal has dealt them a fate far worse than the wrath of an angry mob. It has robbed them of their livelihoods.

Sources:
www.facebook.com/bangladeshinnumbers
www.wttc.org/site_media/uploads/downloads/bangladesh2013.pdf
www.thedailystar.net/beta2/news/tourists-cancel-trips-as-political-unrest-lingers/