Do you think that the non-resident Bengalis should have the right to vote in the upcoming election? Justify your answer. What do you think will be the proper way to implement the voting system?
Idea Center
Name: Shah Zulfiqar Haider, PEng
- Email: szhaider@bttb.net.bd
- Address: Comilla, Bangladesh
- Ministry: Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources
- Ideas/Suggestions: HOW TO SOLVE PRESENT ELECTRICITY SHORTAGE CRISES Shah Zulfiqar Haider, PEng. (The author is the only Registered Professional Engineer in REB/PBS, General Manager-Comilla PBS-2 with 25 years of Professional experience in Energy sector & Military Engineering Services. He is Member Network of Energy Advisors, Linx Research, NY, (USA), Life Member-South Asia Federation of AOTS Alumni Societies (Japan), Associate-Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Partnership UK, Partner-Global Village Energy Partnership (UK), Member-Bangladesh Computer Society, Member-Bangladesh Society for Total Quality Management, Life Fellow-IEB etc. He has been to USA, China, Japan, India, Nepal etc on various Professional visits) Electricity is the basic infrastructure of today’s development. We are having huge shortage in this summer. This shortage will continue for years unless something is done under Crash programme. The adverse impact of electricity shortage is enormous. Every sector is affected and our economy is being crippled. Instead of analyzing what has been done, it’s whose failure, we should immediately go for short term, and long term measures to solve the Electricity shortage issue. This shortage has already affected our last irrigation season. SHORT TERM MEASURES. 1. MOTIOVATION TO USE LESS ELECTRICITY. Motivation is a key to success in today’s management. Intensive motivation, Intensive Public appealing Ads in TV/ press, public appealing programmes everywhere can be started immediately. People are required to make understand we are having shortage of electricity. Public might think they are paying genuinely, so why they should not be provided with adequate supply. Our Electricity rates are not based on actual cost of Electricity generation, Transmission & Distribution including all ancillary and Depreciation cost. What people are paying for it is only a part of the Total actual cost of electricity. Effect of Misuse and losses are also to be catered. This sector is not subsidized. Let people realize how much 1 Kilowatt of electricity cost and how much they are paying, Tariff comparison specially with our nearby countries etc. is to be publicized Examples of Developed countries and Developing countries on how they save Electricity should be well circulated. The cost for motivation via Press, TV can be made by concerned departments and TV channels can also cooperate. REB has very good setup of doing public motivation through PBS. Proper and continuous motivation will reduce our Consumption by 10% or more, but it’s a real challenge. 2. LOAD MANAGEMENT. “Cut your coat according to your cloth”. Well there Is Shortages of electricity generation, so be economical, i.e. do Load Management. But practically when it comes with electricity, it is difficult to follow it. As a first step to load management, markets are to be closed by 7 PM, but how? It will be difficult for people to have Load management with present office timings of 0900-1700 hours. Before we go for changing our Marketing habits, our office timings are to be changed to allow us enough time after office hours for marketing, leisure etc. Office time: 0800 hours to 1430 hours 6 days a week office. This will give us ample Time for marketing in evening. Again we will have more time to work in a week. The Markets are to be closed with BY 1900 hours sharp. Result… Peak hour electricity will be utilized by only by Domestic and other required users only. 3. AGE OF EXESS LIGHTENING IN MARKETS & IN DIFFERENT OCCASIONS. We should REMEMBER DURING gulf war we had restriction on Guests Invitation in Marriages, lightening restriction etc all effectively imposed. Any violation will lead to HEAVY penalty to the Owner of the Community Center Or Hotel or market with instantaneous Electricity line disconnection. Again motivation will teach us all to stop misuse of electricity in these crises. 4. METER CHECKING BY CRASH PROGRAMME. Meters are considered CASH BOX of Electricity system. All Electric meters are to be regularly checked (Industries twice or more, others every month) in following priority. a. Large Industries. b. Other Industries. c. Markets, shopping malls etc. d. Residential quarters in posh areas. e. Others. This will lead to Revenue increase, automatic decrease in misuse of Electricity and automatic Load management with more than 10% load decrease. 5. PENELTY AND PUNISHMENT. Heavy Financial Penalty at least 10 Times of approximate pilferage and/or Jail term of minimum 1 year and more. For it Laws are to be amended accordingly. As an experiment, the Managers of Electric Departments may be given Magistracy power for 6-12 months on experimental basis But any misuse of this power will lead to strict disciplinary action against the Managers Result: Revenue increase, Load shedding reduced, Public will be discouraged to Go for electricity theft etc. Moral of department goes up with the new administrative power. 6. SYSTEM LOSS REDUCTION & INCENTIVES. Present System loss is Decreasing. Further decrease needs Special efforts for which Special Bonus equal to 10% of the value of Electricity saved in MWHr in 6 months Interval be given to the employees of all Electricity Distribution Department, viz PDB, DESA, DESCO REB/PBS etc. This Incentive will lead to reduction in Corruption in this sector, revenue Increase and Load shedding reduce. 7. NO SUPARISH IN CASE OF ELECTRICITY THEFT CASES. At Least for Next 1 to 2 year, this sector is to be left undisturbed and No pressure be imposed on any Department working to minimize theft of electricity in favour of electricity thieves. These are some of the suggestions which if followed will minimize Load shedding to a greater extent in the country. 8 TARIFF INCREASE (equivalent to 5-10% increase) (Our tariff is poorest and not practical considering SEA region) 9. REDUCTION OF TECHNICAL LOSSES Next is Reduction of Technical Losses. This includes. a. Improvement of Power factor by installation of Capacitor Banks. b. Improvement of voltage by installing Voltage Regulators as done in REB sub stations, phase balancing, installation of proper size conductors etc. This task is to be started immediately and finished by 3 months in first phase. c. Ensuring Power factor devices in Consumer end or Heavy penalty. Consumers are to be made understand the benefits of Power factor improvements. d. Other technical improvements as deemed fit by Engineers. 10 IMPROVEMENT OF GRID SYSTEM Minor improvements in Grid system, which will lead to better voltage, efficient supply of electricity is to be implemented as per advice of PGCB 11. IMPROVEMENT OF ELECTRICITY GENERATION. A touchy situation but in present situation this task need to be done with honesty and dedication. Improvement of existing generation with small investment and that can be added within 2-3 months are to be considered in this phase. 12. SPECIAL INCENTIVES FOR IMPROVEMENT OF GENERATION AND GRID SUPPLY SYSTEM. Financial incentives are given to staffs of OGCB and Generation units for their extra ordinary achievements. 13. MONITORING OF DAY-TO-DAY SITUATION BY POWER CELL. Some organization preferably Power Cell be entrusted with the task of coordinating the Short Term planning to solve the electricity shortage crises. Remember. A PENNY SAVED IS A PENNY EARNED. A KILOWATT OF ELECTRICITY SAVED IS LIKE AN EXTRA KILOWATT OF ELECTRICITY GENERATED. LONG TERM PLANNING TO SOLVE ELECTRICITY SHORTAGE CRISES 1. Electricity is an important part of Infrastructure of any country. The main elements of Infrastructure development a. Electricity b. Road c. River d. Telecommunication e. Gas f. Internet communication g. Air/Sea ports h. Etc These elements are interrelated. 2. 10/20/30/40/50 YEARS MASTER PLAN Bangladesh lacks one thing. Master plan for infrastructure. People say we have a poor infrastructure and now electricity shortage has added many fold to it. Weneed to prepare 50 years Master plan which every Five years revision provision. HOW TO PREPARE 10/20/20/30/40/50 YEARS MASTER PLAN Experts with Integrity be hired for 6 months to a year with handsome remuneration for the task. Neutral Foreign experts can also be included in the team. They will study Bangladesh present Infrastructure and propose modifications. 3. Master plan for electricity generation/transmission/distribution and it coordination with other elements of Infrastructure. Master plan for electricity generation and other Infrastructure elements may be prepared as under. a. Load growth forecast-up to 50 years @ 5/10 year intervals requirements. b. Electricity Generation plan with @ 10-15% extra generation capacity. c. The Power plants are to be designed on availability of natural gas and other elements for generation. d. Grid system plan for 50 years @ 5/10 years interval requirements
Name: Ishtiaq Rouf
- Email: ishti_r@hotmail.com
- Address: Baton Rouge, LA, USA
- Ministry: Ministry of Industries
- Ideas/Suggestions: Promote and set up an auto-manufacturing plant. Buy a license from some auto-maker. Set up a plant that will manufacture vehicles for being used in Bangladesh. This should save us a lot of money by reducing car import, help the environment with the use of new cars, and provide employment opportunity for the thousands of engineers in Bangladesh.
Name: Ishtiaq Rouf
- Email: ishti_r@hotmail.com
- Address: Baton Rouge, LA, USA
- Ministry: Ministry of Post and Tele-communication
- Ideas/Suggestions: Cover the major cities like Dhaka, Chittagong, etc with a wireless network for free. It hardly costs anything compared to the possible returns. We have more bandwidth (with fibre optic cables in place) than we could ever use. Govt has no way to utilize these. Let collective professionals set up a system. Compare it to subsidizing petrolium. A little "loss" here would eventually cause a software development boom that will help us a lot more.
Name: Taufiq Haider Chowdhury
- Email: taufiqhaider@hotmail.com
- Address: Changsha, China
- Ministry: Ministry of Shipping (MOS)
- Ideas/Suggestions: "The necessities of a pomp, grandeur, and privatized port In Bangladesh" According to the Privatization Commission of Bangladesh, port and container handling is one of the thrusting sectors for privatization from among six other sectors such as Power Sector, Natural Gas and Oil Exploration, Tele Communication, Transport Sector, Aviation & Tourism, Banking & Insurance etc. There are quite bright prospects of private sector participation in improving port services in Mongla and Chittagong and in handling container services in the ports and other areas. The cargo handling in the port, which handles 80 percent of the country's export-import trade, often come to halt because of miss management and improper act of union leaders. The shippers on average have to count an extra 5,000 dollars loss every day in operational costs for each stranded ship. Given the delays and congestions at ports, leading to extensive demurrage charges for ships, a lot of attention on improving port productivity through better management systems and infrastructure developments are considered. There are numerous aims for privatization. First, privatization would attract new foreign direct investments, which would increase productivity and competitiveness. The investments would bring the port service up to international levels of efficiency. Second, privatization would increase trade at the national and regional levels, and directly or indirectly create jobs. Finally, introducing market based labor reform would reduce port labor costs on the public budget. However, a cohesive cooperation is expected from all related governmental organizations in order to provide a competitive condition in the commercial ports across the country. Let’s not procrastinate over the massive reforms of our port and cargo handling system before it gets bogged down. Taufiq Haider Chowdhury Central South University Changsha, Hunan China haider@mail.csu.edu.cn
Name: Rezwan-ul-Alam
- Email: drrezwan@yahoo.com
- Address: Dhaka, Bangladesh
- Ministry:
- Ideas/Suggestions: To reduce campaign cost during the upcoming general election, EC may take initiave by making a provision that only one public meeting will be held in the locality (preferably in stadium), where all party will designate only two speakers and they will address the public attending this meeting.The format of the meeting could be arranged in a 'debate setting'. This will help avoid large cost incurred during election meetings and also help people to form their opinion objectively, as they will be listening to all shades of opinions from a single meeting
Name: H.A.Chowdhury
- Email: h.a.chowdhury@gmail.com
- Address: Bangladesh
- Ministry: Ministry of Agriculture
- Ideas/Suggestions: Government must focus on the processing of the agricultural products. This a totally untouched sector which offers economic ensurity of farmers, will create enormous potential consumers, stability of the market as the agriculteral raw materials or products are directly feed into the system. And last but not the least, earning a limitless foreign currrency. Though a few private industries are formed but there must be a secure government plan regarding these.
Name: Syed Nasimul Khair
- Email: syedkollol@hotmail.com
- Address: London. United Kingdom
- Ministry: Ministry of Law, Justice & Parliamentary Affairs
- Ideas/Suggestions: I have 2 suggestion -: a) Creat a " Naypal " as soon as possible b) Separation of judiciary
Name: Shaikh Tanveer Hossain
- Email: tanveer107@yahoo.com
- Address: Matsuyama, Japan
- Ministry: Parliament Secretariat
- Ideas/Suggestions: As we know, in our National flag, the red circle is not in the middle of the flag. In the Item 3(I) of the 'People's Republic of Bangladesh Flag Rules, 1972 (revised up to May, 1992)', Cabinet Division, Government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh - Deputy Controller, Bangladesh Government Press, Dhaka, 1992, give the description of the national flag as: ``The national flag is bottle green in color and rectangular in size with the length to width ratio of 10:6 bearing a red circle on the body of the green. The red circle has a radius of one fifth of the length of the flag. Its center is placed on the middle of the perpendicular drawn from the nine twentieth part of the flag`` and the colours as: (a) Green - Procion Brilliant Green H-2RS 50 parts per 1000 (b) Red - Procion Brilliant Orange H-2RS 60 parts per 1000 Recently in many programs in Japan and also Japanese friends asked me the reasons of such a complex flag (as we know, in the Japanese flag, red color just center of the flag). I am sorry to telling you that due to my ignorance I could not explained it properly. Later, I asked few Bangladeshi friends and unfortunately did not get well answer. I think, off course, some reasons behind it, which I do not know. (Though, I did not find any informations related this either in net or mentioned in Flag rules chapter) In this regard, I would like to raise the issue to the net. If someone knows the reason why such a complex flag is produced, please let me know. I think, many of us asked the above mentioned question by the foreign peoples, specially the persons who are staying outside Bangladesh. In many aspects, we have to make or draw our National Flag and usually we do not follow the correct rules (as per flag rules), in that case, is it fair? Do we really believe the production (method) of our national flag is easily understandable or is it possible to produce by any general people or foreign persons? If not any strong reason behind to produce such a complex flag, do you not think, it needed to be modify and make simple and easy understandable National Flag (for example, red colour circle just in the centre of the green) . As we know, we modified our previous National flag once (in previous one, Bangladesh map inserted into the circle of red colour). In that case, why not we will change with easy method? I think, many of us have friends, relatives or known persons are now in the Member of National Parliament. If we really feel the issue is important then we can request some Parliament Members to initiate the issue to the Parliament.