Fellow of the Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD), noted economist Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya said that the country is in the most difficult situation. Our revenue has not increased; at the moment there is no condition to increase government expenditure. There is no condition to repay the foreign debt.

He said these things in an event titled 'Keman Budget Chai' in view of the budget for the fiscal year 2024-25 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on Thursday (May 16) night.

Dr. Debapriya Bhattacharya said, if we cannot control our politics, then problems are created in other parts of the body. What has come this time since last time? If you see in the last 10 years we have not increased the revenue at the individual level. If you talk about Corona today, then the consideration of the economy is not right.

He said, many words of the IMF will not agree with our words, but we have come to a consensus among the economists of our country. That is inflation and macroeconomics. No matter how we say it, be it exchange rates, commodity prices or interest rates. Macroeconomic stability will be promoted as the number 1 issue for all because it is like a diabetic in the body.

He also said, "If you consider the last 15 years, then I don't think there has been such a complicated and financial budget." This complex financial situation is further complicated by the international situation. You say it is the product price and you say the recession in the market.

This renowned economist said the kind of politics that is happening in the world now, as a result of our regional politics and various geo-strategic situations are affecting our economy. So if you say in general terms, this budget is coming in very complicated situation. So this budget is tougher than any other year and above all Bangladesh is currently in a conditional loan with IMF. Fulfilling all commitments is now mandatory. So what are the challenges we are going through in the next budget in this situation.

Minister of State for Finance Wasika Ayesha Khan, Prime Minister's Economic Adviser Dr. Moshiur Rahman, former governor of Bangladesh Bank Dr. Saleh Uddin Ahmed and Executive President of Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) Mohammad Hatem were present in the meeting.

Although there is a huge demand for litchi, people have turned their backs due to crop failure and high prices. Due to the prolonged heat wave, litchi pods in most litchi orchards have been scorched and damaged by the sun; has black color.

Due to extreme heat wave and lack of rain in the last few days, most of the litchi tree in the litchi orchard have dropped; As a result, the gardens have now become empty of litchi, whereas a few days ago, the litchi orchards in the area were full of litchi pods.

Mangalbaria is the litchi producing village of Pakundia upazila of Kishoreganj district. The litchi of this Mangalbaria village has a great reputation in the country and abroad.

In reality a few trees have a small amount of litchi. Many people are selling litchi under the trees. People come from different areas. 100 Litchi are being sold for Tk. 1000. Some are taking a small amount while others have lost interest to buy after hearing the price.

Shah Bakul, who came from Manohardi, said, 'I came with interest but was disappointed. Fewer litchis this time. There are high prices. I am thinking of buying litchi from the area instead.'

Rajib Mahmud from Kapasia said, "The price is high, so I bought 50 litchi for 500 taka." Just to eat I wanted to take it but had to change my decision because of the price

It is known that about two hundred years ago, a police officer of Mangalbaria village from distant China first brought this variety of litchi seedlings to this village. Later, after the fame of this litchi spread, the seedlings collected by the ‘pen’ method spread in the village and litchi cultivation started.

Abdul Majid, a litchi farmer of Mangalbaria village, said, "We have two hundred litchi trees of our own. I also bought hundreds of litchi trees. Litchi plants were full of buds at the beginning of the season. But this time due to natural calamities and the extreme heat of the last few days, most of the litchi trees in the litchi garden have fallen. As a result, the trees in the litchi garden are empty of litchi. As a result, we are now in trouble.

He said that Tk. 8 to Tk. 10 crore worth of litchi is sold from this village every year, but this time the litchi farmers are facing severe losses.

In this regard, Pakundia Upazila Agriculture Officer Noor –e- Alam said that there are about 5 thousand litchi trees in Mangalbaria village. Litchi worth Tk. 8 to Tk. 10 crore  used to be sold from this village, but this time due to natural hot weather, litchi farmers have faced a lot of losses like other crops. Before the start of the season, we have distributed pamphlets on litchi cultivation issues through yard meetings with litchi growers in the area. Also 4 Assistant Agricultural Officers were instructed to take stock of litchi plantations and provide regular advice to litchi growers. Litchi farmers have faced losses due to unfavorable weather conditions.

Kishoreganj Agriculture Extension Department (Khamar Bari) Deputy Director Md. Abdus Sattar said, severe drought and lack of proper irrigation facilities have adversely affected the yield of Mangalbariya variety of litchi this time. Farmers have to play a strategic role keeping in mind the issue of irrigation facilities. 

For the first time in the country, the genome sequence of local catfish and the identification of possible genes that determine the sex of male and female catfish have been successful in the fisheries biology and genetics department of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) led by Professor Dr. Taslima Khanam and her research team.

Professor and researcher Dr. Taslima Khanam said the sequencing work was completed at the University of Tokyo in Japan in 2022-2024 with funding from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science. This sequence made possible the identification of potential sex-determining genes using draft genomes, a first for any native fish.

She also said that the results of the research project have been presented at an international scientific conference organized by the Japanese Society of Fisheries Science. The research team led by Dr. Taslima Khanam included a group of researchers from Bangladesh, Japan and Sweden.

Dr. Taslima Khanam said about the purpose of her research, in some fish, differences in physical growth between male and female fish can be observed. Catfish is one example of this whereas growth of female catfish is 40-60 percent higher than male fish. Production of monosex cat fish like Tilapia is considered as one of the ways to increase the commercial production of this fish. Identification of sex-determining genes is essential for successful production of monosex catfish.

She also said that the detection of sex-determining genes will enable the production of monosex catfish in a short time through marker-assisted selection instead of conventional methods. In addition, identification of male and female fish would be possible long before catfish become reproductive, which would speed up the traditional selective breeding process. It will be important to identify not only sex-determining genes from the catfish genome, but also genes responsible for other traits such as physical growth, disease resistance and survival in adverse environments.

BAU Vice –Chancellor Professor Dr. Emdadul Haque Chowdhury said that catfish is known as food for patients. We know that male fish are usually stronger than female fish. But it is the opposite in catfish. In the case of catfish, female fish are stronger. If the female fish are selected more, more production can be done. It can easily be done by determining the gender.

There was a fire at the cotton research center in Rangpur city. At this time, several cotton sacks were burnt. Two fire service units brought the fire under control.

The incident took place at the cotton warehouse on Wednesday (May 15) around 10:30 pm.

According to the relevant sources, a fire broke out in the cotton godown at around 10:30 pm. It initially tries to control. But as the fire was not under control, they informed the fire service and they managed to bring it under control.

Shawkat Ali, assistant director of fire service, said that there was a paved godown house on the second floor of the Cotton Development Board, and as there was a fire, they informed us. On receiving information, two units rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. Nothing but cotton sacks was burned.

He said, how the fire started cannot be said without investigation.