Dinner in honour of Latin American Ambassador/ High Commissioner/ CDA: Acclimatizing to RMG export boost

Enamul Hafiz Latifee writes,

It was a very efficient and reciprocally close Dinner Time at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka on 7 March, 2016, with Honourable Latin American Ambassadors (i.e., Dominican Republic, Colombia, Ecuador, Venezuela), High Commissioner of Guyana to Bangladesh, Chargé d’ Affaires of Trinidad and Tobago to Bangladesh and Ministry of ‪#‎Foreign‬ Affairs, Bangladesh.

Photo: A random moment while I was engaged with anchoring the program.

However, it was really a pleasant experience to anchor the programme and side by side expressing my research experiences with distinguished guests related to the domestic RMG market size and local retail branding of Bangladesh; special gratitude goes to my senior colleague Mr. Faruk Hossain for providing me this situation-demanded opportunity. Well, I would like to be thankful enough to the Board of Directors of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association-BKMEA too for taking progressive initiatives always.

Photo: I (1st from the right-hand side), with H.E. Mr. Augusto Montiel, Ambassador-designate of Venezuela to Bangladesh (standing at the 3rd, from left-hand side)

Nonetheless, I would like to convey my special thanks to my colleagues- Mr. Pallab Bhattacherja, Mr. Rashedul Kabir Shimul, Mr. Mahfuz Khan, Mr. Razib Huda and all other (i..e, who are not in my FB account) for making this event really happen.

Photo: Post-dinner photo session with Latin American honourable diplomats, officials of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh, Board of Directors and Secretaries, BKMEA.

Last but not the least, I really loved to meet my senior ‪#‎SUSTian‬ brother. Mr. Tanvir Ahmad Jummon (Assistant Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh) face-to-face for the first time.

Alhamdulillah, hope to see a boost in Bangladesh export soon! 

wink emoticon

- ‪#‎EHLatifee‬

World reacts to the conflict in Gaza

Reactions included an offer to treat injured Palestinians by the Scottish government [EPA]

The international community remains sharply divided as an Israeli army offensive in Gaza that has killed scores enters its third day, and Palestinian fighters fire rockets at a number of cities in Israel. At least 81 Palestinians have died in airstrikes since they began on Tuesday, with Israel facing condemnation from many Arab and Muslim countries, and calls for restraint from some of its allies. Others have condemned rocket attacks from Gaza and say that Israel has a right to defend itself. Al Jazeera looks at how some world leaders have reacted. United States [Getty] "No country should be expected to stand by while rocket attacks from a terrorist organisation are launching into their country and impacting innocent civilians." US State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki. Arab League [EPA] Arab League General-Secretary Nabil al Arabi called for a emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to "adopt measures to stop Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip." United Nations  [EPA] UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said rocket attacks from Gaza were "unacceptable", and urged Israel to exercise maximum restraint. "I condemn the rising number of civilian lives lost in Gaza,” he said. Iran [AP] "Western countries and supporters of the Zionists must adopt a firm stance to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine," said an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman, the state-affiliated ISNA reported. United Kingdom [EPA] A statement released by Prime Minister David Cameron's office said he "strongly condemned the appalling attacks being carried out by Hamas against Israeli civilians...and underlined Israel’s right to defend itself from them."  Scotland Scotland, which is in the UK but has its own parliament separate to London's House of Commons, called on both sides to "de-escalate" the situation and offered to help treat civilians injured in the conflict. "Scotland stands ready to offer whatever assistance we can and it is in that spirit that we make this offer, to give specialist medical help to civilians caught up in the conflict should medical evacuation be possible," said External Affairs Minister Humza Yousaf. Venezuela  [AP] "The Bolivarian Government of Venezuela vigorously condemns the unfair and disproportionate military response by the illegal state of Israel against the heroic Palestinian people " President Nicolas Maduro said. Germany "The firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip has led to a situation that threatens to cause a spiral of violence and counter-violence...I hope that all sides will agree that a military confrontation, which could spiral out of control, must be averted," said a statement by the German Foreign Office. Egypt The country's foreign ministry said "Egypt condemns these hostilities, which led to the killing and injury of tens of Palestinians," and called on Israeli to stop "all collective punishment." Ireland "I condemn unreservedly the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel which pose such a grave threat to the population. I equally condemn the mounting civilian casualties, including reportedly women and children, resulting from Israeli air strikes against Gaza" said Foreign Minister Eamon Gilmore Courtesy: World reacts to the conflict in Gaza

Gaza Abacus

The changing geographical map between Palestine & Israel over the decades.

With a hat-tip to Harper’s Magazine, which invented this kind of index, here are some enlightening numbers regarding the fighting in Gaza, as of 8.00am GMT on November 19th.

Number of Israelis killed by fire from Gaza between January 1st 2012 and November 11th 2012: 1
(Source: Wikipedia)

Number of Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli fire during the same period: 78(Source: United Nations)

Number of Israelis killed by fire from Gaza, November 13th-19th 2012: 3(Source: press reports)

Number of Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli fire, November 13th-19th: 95 (Source: IDF)

Number of those killed in Gaza under 15 years of age: 19
(Source)

Total number of Israelis killed by rocket, mortar or anti-tank fire from Gaza since 2006:47(Source: Wikipedia. This is disputed; another source says 26)

Number of Palestinians in Gaza killed by Israeli fire from April 1st 2006 to July 21st 2012: 2,879
(Source: United Nations)

Number of Egyptian schoolchildren killed when a train hit their bus on November 17th 2012: 53(Source: press reports)

Number of people killed in traffic accidents in Israel in 2011: 384(Source: Wikipedia)

Number of Syrians killed in fighting between November 13th-19th 2012: 646 (Source: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) 

Estimated deaths in Syria since beginning of unrest in March 2011: 40,000 (Source: SOHR)

Estimated deaths from all Israeli-Arab wars between 1945 and 1995: 92,000 (Source: Wikipedia)

Number of targets in Gaza struck by Israel, November 13th-19th: 1,350(Source: IDF)

Number of projectiles fired at Israel from Gaza from November 13th-19th, 2012: 848 
(Source: IDF)

Number that did not fall in "open areas": 35(Source: IDF)

Number intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome defence system: 302
(Source: IDF)

Percentage of projectiles targeted by Iron Dome shot down, as claimed by Israeli military: 80-85% (Source: IDF)

Reported cost in dollars of one interceptor missile fired by Iron Dome: 62,000
(Source: Ha'aretz)

Estimated cost in dollars of one short-range Qassam missile built in Gaza workshop: 800 (Source: News reports)

Cost in dollars of one Iron Dome battery; Israel has deployed five and plans 13 in total: 50m
(Source: AFP)

Number of kilos explosive equivalent in payload of Iranian-supplied Fajr-5 longer-range rocket deployed by Hamas: 90 (200lb)(Source: Wikipedia)

Number of kilos explosive equivalent of Israel Military Industry’s MPR-500 advanced-penetration precision-guided bomb: 900 (2,000lb)(Source)

Area in square kilometres of Gaza: 365 (141 square miles)

Area in square kilometres of Israel: 20,700 (7,992 square miles)

Population of Gaza: 1.7m

Number of Israelis within range of Fajr-5 missiles: 3.5m(Source: IDF)

Jewish population of Israel/ under Israeli jurisdiction (ie including West Bank settlements): 5.9m(Source)

Non-Jewish population under Israeli jurisdiction (ie including Gaza and West Bank): 6.1m(Source)

Per capita GDP of Israel in 2011, in dollars: 31,000(Source: Wikipedia)

Per Capita GDP of Gaza in 2011, in dollars: 1,483 (Source)

Verse of Exodus containing the phrase “Pillar of Cloud”, the official codename for Israel’s current Gaza operation: 13:21

Verse of the Koran containing the phrase “Stones of Clay”, Hamas’s codename for its current operations: 105:4

Number of days before Israeli general election: 64

Data & News Source: Israel and the Palestinians: Gaza abacus