#Quota movement bangladesh today news

[recentideas]

Quota movement Bangladesh 2024

15 জুলাই 2024, ঢাকা বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের শিক্ষার্থীরা বাংলাদেশে সরকারি চাকরির জন্য কোটা বরাদ্দ সংস্কারের আহ্বান জানিয়ে শান্তিপূর্ণ বিক্ষোভে প্ল্যাকার্ড এবং পতাকা নিয়ে বসেছিল। হঠাৎ, রড, লাঠি এবং কয়েকটি এমনকি ব্র্যান্ডিশিং রিভলবার নিয়ে সজ্জিত ব্যক্তিরা তাদের আক্রমণ করে। কয়েক ঘণ্টার মধ্যে, সারাদেশে একই ধরনের হামলার একটি প্যাটার্ন আবির্ভূত হয় যা বাংলাদেশ ছাত্রলীগ (বিসিএল), ক্ষমতাসীন আওয়ামী লীগের (এএল) সাথে সম্পৃক্ত একটি গ্রুপ, ছাত্র বিক্ষোভকারীদের বিরুদ্ধে সমন্বিত লোকদের দ্বারা সমন্বিত হয়েছিল। ১৬ জুলাই বিকেল নাগাদ, উত্তর-পশ্চিমাঞ্চলীয় শহর রংপুরে বেগম রোকেয়া বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের সামনে বিক্ষোভকারীদের উপর পুলিশ কাঁদানে গ্যাস ছোড়ে এবং লাঠিচার্জ করে, যেখানে বিক্ষোভ সমন্বয়কারী আবু...read more

[beardedmrbean]

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has been sworn in as Bangladesh's interim leader. He vowed to "uphold, support and protect the constitution" during the ceremony, saying he would perform his duties "sincerely".

The 84-year-old declared there is "a lot of work to be done" as he arrived in the country earlier on Thursday.

"People are excited," he told the BBC moments after flying into the capital Dhaka from France.

His plane touched down just days after Sheikh Hasina - the woman who ruled Bangladesh with an iron fist for 15 years - fled across the border to India.

Ms Hasina resigned as prime minister after weeks of student-led protests - which left hundreds dead - escalated and culminated in calls for her to stand down.

The decision to name Prof Yunus as chief adviser of the interim government followed a meeting between President Mohammed Shahabuddin, military leaders and student leaders.

The students had been clear they would not accept a military-led government, but wanted Prof Yunus to lead.

The hope is Prof Yunus, the so-called banker for the poor, will bring democracy back to Bangladesh after years of autocratic rule.

On Thursday, he emphasised the need for "discipline" as Bangladesh begins to rebuild.

"Hard work and get it done,” the smiling professor added as he made his way through the airport. "New opportunities have arrived."

"Today is a glorious day for us," he later told reporters, adding it was as if "Bangladesh has got a second independence" as he called for the restoration of law and order.

Bangladesh has been thrown into turmoil in recent weeks. More than 400 people are reported to have died after protests demanding the end of a civil service quota system began in June.

Many of those killed died after the Supreme Court backed student demands and largely scrapped the quota system last month.

In more recent weeks, the protests had become an anti-government movement. Students and their supporters had planned to march on the prime minister's residence on Monday.

But before the march could get properly moving, the news came that Sheikh Hasina had left Bangladesh and resigned as prime minister. She is currently in Delhi.

Prof Yunus paid tribute to those who died, saying they had "protected the nation" and given it "new life" after Ms Hasina's rule.

She had begun that rule as a symbol of democracy but, by the time she fled, she was considered an autocrat who had sought to entrench her authority by silencing dissent.

Prisons were filled with people who sought to speak out against her. Prof Yunus - lauded for his pioneering use of micro-loans - was one of those who found themselves in legal trouble during her tenure.

Ms Hasina regarded him as a public enemy - he is currently on bail, appealing against a six-month jail term in what he has called a politically-motivated case.

Speaking on Thursday, he called on the country's young people to help him rebuild the South Asian country.

"Bangladesh can be a beautiful country, but we destroyed the possibilities," he said.

"Now we have to build a seedbed again - the new seedbed will be built by them," he added, gesticulating towards the students who had arrived to greet him.

[head-post]

Bangladesh mourns nearly 200 dead as protests continue

Protesters against a quota system for government jobs in Bangladesh on Friday resumed mass protests that earlier killed more than 200 people and are holding a nationwide “March for Justice,” ABC News reports.

More than 2,000 protesters gathered in parts of the capital Dhaka, some shouting “Down with the autocrat” and demanding justice for victims, while police circled around them.

Police clashed with dozens of students in Dhaka’s Uttara area, while security personnel fired tear gas and stun grenades to disperse stone-throwing demonstrators. It was the latest round of demonstrations against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, whose government has been rocked by student protests that have so far shown no signs of subsiding.

Analysts say what began as a peaceful demonstration by students against the quota system by which government jobs are allocated has turned into a bloody and unusual uprising against Hasina, whose 15-year rule over the country is now being tested as never before.

How it all started

Since violence erupted on July 15, the protests have turned into a major crisis for the 76-year-old Hasina, who in January retained power for a fourth consecutive term in an election boycotted by her main opponents, making the outcome virtually certain even before the votes were counted.

Authorities have switched off the internet and imposed a “shoot-to-kill” curfew to curb violent demonstrations. Schools and universities remain closed.

The deaths of demonstrators have shaken Bangladesh, with videos of violent clashes between security forces and students, with police firing bullets and tear gas shells, appearing on social media. In one incident, a six-year-old girl was shot dead while playing on a rooftop as her father tried to shield her from gunfire.

It all started when students, frustrated by the lack of good jobs, demanded the abolition of the quota system for government jobs, which they believe is discriminatory. Under this system, 30 per cent of the jobs were reserved for relatives of veterans who had fought in Bangladesh’s war of independence against Pakistan in 1971. They argued that this benefited supporters of Hasina, whose Awami League party led the independence movement, and demanded that the system be replaced by a merit-based system.

In response, the Supreme Court reduced the quota for veterans to 5 per cent. However, the anger and protests have not subsided. Experts say it reflects a much larger popular rage against the government, economic discontent and ultimately a revolt against Hasina herself, despite the comfort her development programme brings to the people. Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center in Washington, said:

“There have been plenty of protests during the Awami League’s regime over the last 15 years, but nothing as large, long, and violent as this one.”

Right place at the right time

This time, he says, there was a perfect storm: an unpopular quota system, a furious government response that turned deadly, contained anger against the state and growing economic stress on most citizens. According to Kugelman, the government’s oft-used tactic of quelling protests with force and some negotiation this time around has only “fanned the protests, not extinguished them.”

The clamour has also highlighted the extent of economic discontent in Bangladesh, once lauded for its successful growth. Like other countries, it suffered after a pandemic and war in Ukraine drove up commodity prices. Today, exports have plummeted, foreign exchange reserves are drying up, as are remittances. The slowing economy has highlighted the lack of quality jobs for young graduates, who are increasingly flocking to government jobs that are more stable and lucrative.

For many students, this was the reason they took to the streets, but the government’s violent response kept them there, even when the quota system was scaled back. Student, teacher and civil society groups say they are now fighting for justice for those killed, while Hasina’s political opponents are demanding her resignation.

Mohammad Rakib Uddin, an 18-year-old college student, was protesting along with hundreds of others when bullets pierced his thigh. Uddin said he was wearing his college uniform and survived after friends took him to hospital. He also added:

“They have brutally and inhumanely attacked us. We are general students — we don’t have weapons, bombs or even a stick in our hands. We were protesting by just holding flags. Many who were with me might have died as they were shot at their waists and heads. By the grace of the Almighty, I am alive.”

However, the government said opposition activists and their armed cohorts joined the students to attack security personnel and government offices.

The turmoil continues

The violence has mostly subsided and normalcy is slowly returning to the country. Curfews have been relaxed, internet has been restored, and banks and offices have opened their doors. But there is still turmoil around Hasina, prompting international outcry from the UN and the US.

Her critics say the past few weeks of violent unrest are the result of her authoritarian nature and lust for control, no matter the cost. For years, her political opponents have accused her of anti-democratic behaviour, with her government jailing thousands of them. International human rights groups accused her of using security forces and courts to suppress dissent and opposition, which the government denied.

Still, Hasina has resorted to accusing the two main opposition parties that backed the students of inciting violence. On Thursday, her government banned one of them, “Jamaat-e-Islami” its student wing and other associated organisations, a move that could escalate tensions again. However, Kugelman does not believe there is an immediate threat to her political survival. He noted:

“But she has incurred soaring reputational costs and faces unprecedented political vulnerability. That could come back to haunt her if there are fresh waves of anti-government protests in the coming weeks or months.”

Read more HERE

[experiencingmyjoy]

Walking Within Wisdom #13 - September 1 2019

I guess these walking within wisdom segments get me to talk about what I am doing and how I am doing it including things like my “guilty pleasures”

The other day I talked about my love of sci-fi and the X-Files… Well, today I am going to talk about what my Sunday mornings have looked like for years, and 90% of the time that includes watching CBS Sunday morning whenever I can! https://www.cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/

For those of you who have never heard of this “program”

CBS News Sunday Morning (also simply titled Sunday Morning) is an American newsmagazine television program that has aired on CBS since January 28, 1979. Created by Robert Northshield and original host Charles Kuralt, the 90-minute program currently airs Sundays from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. Eastern, Pacific Timefrom 7:00 to 8:30 a.m. and 8:00 to 9:30 a.m. in all other time zones (live in the Eastern and Central time zones, and on tape delay elsewhere). Since October 9, 2016, the show has been hosted by Jane Pauley, who also hosts news segments, after the retirement of long-term host Charles Osgood. Osgood was the host for twenty-two years (and is the program's longest-serving host), taking over from Kuralt on April 10, 1994.

This morning I decided I would watch it while walking, well at the gym on a treadmill :-) - Hey, I am still getting my walk in right?!?!?

I watch this program for its long format, depth of storytelling and its reporting on good things happening in the world, not just the negative distractions of what bleeds leads.

This morning’s Labor Day weekend program included a segment about being 1) “Made in the USA” 2) Sara Nelson, the new face of labor unions 3) Former Secretary of Defense General Jim Mattis on war and Trump 4) Remembering Valerie Harper 4) Eric Liu on what makes a true patriot 5) other spotlights 6) Dolly Parton: Making the most of Everything…

Although I took copious notes, the shows website has wonderful quotes and synopsis so for today’s segment I am liberally copying from the shows “transcript” (because their notes are WAY better) talking about only two of the stories and adding my two cents ;-)

The first segment, “Made in USA: Bringing manufacturing jobs back to the homeland” Here is the link: https://www.cbsnews.com/…/made-in-usa-american-giant-bring…/

Talked about the movement of sourcing “cheaply” overseas and moving things back to the United States. Creating jobs, sourcing goods and bringing back the brand “made in the USA” important again. Here is some of the story….

Six years ago, the apparel manufacturer Eagle Sportswear, in rural Middlesex, North Carolina, was ready to close, until Bayard Winthrop (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Giant) helped buy the knitwear plant. "We've spent, nationally, much of the last 40 years moving manufacturing overseas to chase cheap labor and lower environmental standards and lower regulations," Winthrop said.

In 1980 almost 80% of clothing bought in the U.S. was made in America. Today, it's around 3%. Winthrop says while globalization and trade deals made goods cheaper, they also brought decades of lay-offs and plant closures.

"I'm a free-trade person," Winthrop said. "But I also am a believer in saying, 'Wait a second, you cannot gut a bunch of communities in the U.S. and move to Bangladesh and then import all those goods back again and sell them at the local Dollar Store to all these people that now no longer have jobs.'"

Like a few other clothing companies trying to manufacture in the U.S., American Giant faced a big challenge: all those closed factories have left a threadbare infrastructure for actually making apparel, like the company's flannel shirt. "So, this was an art that had almost died in America?" asked correspondent John Blackstone. "Well, it had effectively died," Winthrop said. "We actually had to bring one of the great yarn dyers effectively out of retirement to come back and help deliver this program."

They discussed how they found farms, a new labor force offering real money and benefits, using a local cotton gin where the cotton is cleaned and spun into yarn...

Blackstone said, "I come into your mill, I expect to see Sally Field, and I see robots instead."

"To stay in business today, you have to automate," said Parkdale CEO Andy Warlick. "And we couldn't survive competing against the world if we weren't automated. Probably have more robots here than we have employees. But the employees are well-trained to operate those robots. And it's been the key to our survival."

They discuss how creating these products are so complicated and they improve productivity with groups of sewers working in teams. They get extra pay for exceeding daily quotas, changing everything for workers.

They go on to describe offering their products and much higher prices because they are paying people a good deal more than sewing in China or Vietnam… Which they believe is a good thing… What they want to do is make something you are going to have for decades

"I think we're selling a value system," Winthrop said. "Stand for some things that matter, stand for American manufacturing, stand for the people that are making stuff. And when we buy things, when we do it consciously, when we do it with an eye towards understanding how these little votes that we make have an impact attached to them, we'll be better off."

The other story that really got my attention was “Sara Nelson, the new face of labor unions” https://www.cbsnews.com/…/sara-nelson-the-new-face-of-labo…/

The woman dancing around the picket line is Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. Don't be fooled by her playfulness; she's been called "the most powerful labor leader in the country."

Her steeliness came through in a speech she gave – a call to arms, really – to the AFL-CIO on January 20, 2019, in the midst of the federal government shutdown. "What is the labor movement waiting for?" she said. "End this shutdown with a general strike!"

The last time there was a general strike in the U.S. was 1946. In this case, Nelson was calling on all 12 million members of the AFL-CIO to walk out en masse.

Nelson explained: "We have real power as workers. If we decide not to participate in this economy, it stops. Everything stops." "But what you said came as a surprise to most people," said correspondent Lesley Stahl.

"This was an extraordinary moment. Four-hundred-thousand people are forced to come to work without pay. And the people that I represent are going to work in an increasingly unsafe condition. What is the labor movement waiting for?"

By unsafe, she was referring to how the government shutdown was putting stress on airport screeners and others (including air traffic controllers) working without pay.

After her call for a strike, "There were a handful of air traffic controllers who said, 'I can't, I'm too stressed, I'm too tired, I can't medically do my job.' And the planes stopped. And we said, 'Do we have your attention now, Leader McConnell?'" Nelson laughed. "And a few hours later, we had a resolution." On January 25, Americas longest government shutdown came to an end, and Sara Nelson became a hero.

Stahl and Nelson talked about how she doesn’t fit the stereotype of “union leader” held by so many. Most have the image of a cigar-chomping George Meany [the first president of the AFL-CIO]. They also talked about her losing dear friends, flight attendants who were on flight 175 on 9/11 a flight she was serving just the week before from Boston.

Almost everything about what it means to be a flight attendant has changed. It wasn't so long ago that "stewardesses" couldn't be more than 32 years old, had to be under a specific weight, and couldn't get married. "Sexism," said Stahl. "This is a huge issue for people in your line of work."

Nelson said, "Our profession was objectified and sexualized by airline marketing. This is what was sold."

But Nelson says not all the changes in her industry have been for the better; with seat space shrinking, airlines have been packing more passengers onto planes, with fewer airline attendants on flights. "The airlines are staffing at the federal minimums today," she said. "And prior to 9/11, they were staffing 25 and 50% over on a regular basis.

"So, let me get this straight," asked Stahl. "More people on each plane in a tighter configuration, and fewer flight attendants?" "More people, more responsibilities, and fewer flight attendants." They finished the interview talking about how the era of George Meany is long gone and perhaps the time has come for a new face like Sarah Nelson’s.

"Are you ready to stand up to management? 'Cause they're gonna do everything they can to keep the labor movement down."

"Well, the rules in this country have been written for Wall Street," Nelson said. "And it's going to stay that way until we force it to go the other way.

"People need to understand that this is our country, and this is our work, and we should be respected for it, and paid for it."

Every week I learn something new from this program, although it is “news candy” to some, I appreciate CBS Sunday Morning for showing the other side of the world and its people…

Thank you for walking with me today! Until SOON...

[containerhomeideas]

Textile Industry in India

Current Status

The textile industry holds significant status in the India. Textile industry provides one of the most fundamental needs of the people. It is an independent industry, from the basic requirement of raw materials to the final products, with huge value-addition at every stage of processing.

Today textile sector accounts for nearly 14% of the total industrial output. Indian fabric is in demand with its ethnic, earthly colored and many textures. The textile sector accounts about 30% in the total export. This conveys that it holds potential if one is ready to innovate.

The textile industry is the largest industry in terms of employment economy, expected to generate 12 million new jobs by 2010. It generates massive potential for employment in the sectors from agricultural to industrial. Employment opportunities are created when cotton is cultured. It does not need any exclusive Government support even at present to go further. Only thing needed is to give some directions to organize people to get enough share of the profit to spearhead development.

Segments

Textile industry is constituted of the following segments

o Readymade Garments

o Cotton Textiles including Handlooms (Millmade / Powerloom / Handloom)

o Man-made Textiles

o Silk Textiles

o Woolen Textiles

o Handicrafts including Carpets

o Coir

o Jute

The cottage industry with handlooms, with the cheapest of threads, produces average dress material, which costs only about 200 INR featuring fine floral and other patterns. It is not necessary to add any design to it. The women of the house spin the thread, and weave a piece in about a week.

It is an established fact that small and irregular apparel production can be profitable by providing affordable casual wear and leisure garments varieties.

Now, one may ask, where from the economy and the large profit comes in if the lowest end of the chain does not get paid with minimum per day labor charge. It is an irony of course. What people at the upper stratum of the chain do is, to apply this fabric into a design with some imagination and earn in millions. The straight 6 yards simple saree, drape in with a blouse with embroideries and bead work, then it becomes a designer¡|s ensemble. For an average person, it can be a slant cut while giving it a shape, which can double the profit. Maybe, the 30% credit that the industry is taking for its contribution to Indian economy as good as 60% this way. Though it is an industry, it has to innovate to prosper. It has all the ingredients to go ahead.

Current Scenario

Textile exports are targeted to reach $ 50 billion by 2010, $ 25 billion of which will go to the US. Other markets include UAE, UK, Germany, France, Italy, Russia, Canada, Bangladesh and Japan. The name of these countries with their background can give thousands of insights to a thinking mind. The slant cut that will be producing a readymade garment will sell at a price of 600 Indian rupees, making the value addition to be profitable by 300%.

Currently, because of the lifting up of the import restrictions of the multi-fiber arrangement (MFA) since 1st January, 2005 under the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, the market has become competitive; on closer look however, it sounds an opportunity because better material will be possible with the traditional inputs so far available with the Indian market.

At present, the textile industry is undergoing a substantive re-orientation towards other clothing sectors of textile sector, which is commonly called as technical textiles. It is moving vertically with an average growing rate of approximately two times of textiles for clothing applications and now account for more than half of the total textile output. The processes in making technical textiles require cost machinery and skilled workers.

The application that comes under technical textiles are filtration, bed sheets and abrasive materials, healthcare upholstery and furniture, blood-absorbing materials and thermal protection, adhesive tape, seatbelts, and other specialized application and products.

Strengths

. India enjoys benefit of having plentiful resources of raw materials. It is one of the largest producers of cotton yarn around the globe, and also there are good resources of fibers like polyester, silk, viscose etc …

. There is wide range of cotton fiber available, and has a rapidly developing synthetic fiber industry.

. India has great competitiveness in spinning sector and has presence in almost all processes of the value chain.

. Availability of highly trained manpower in both, management and technical. The country has a huge advantage due to lower wage rates. Because of low labor rates the manufacturing cost in textile automatically comes down to very reasonable rates.

. The installed capacity of spindles in India contributes for 24% share of the world, and it is one of the largest exporters of yarns in the global market. Having modern functions and favorable fiscal policies, it accounts about 25% of the world trade in cotton yarn.

. The apparel industry is largest foreign exchange earmarking sector, contributing 12% of the country's total exports.

. The garment industry is very diverse in size, manufacturing facility, type of apparel produced, quantity and quality of output, cost, requirement for fabric etc. It imports suppliers of ready-made garments for both, domestic or export markets.

Weakness

Massive Fragmentation:

A major loop-hole in Indian textile industry is its huge fragmentation in industry structure, which is led by small scale companies. After the government policies, which made this deformation, have been gradually removed now, but their impact will be seen for some time more. Since most of the companies are small in size, the examples of industry leadership are very few, which can be inspirational model for the rest of the industry.

The industry veterans ports the present productivity of factories at half to as low as one-third of levels, which might be attained. In many cases, smaller companies do not have the fiscal resources to enhance technology or invest in the high-end engineering of processes. The skilled labor is cheap in absolute terms; however, most of this benefit is lost by small companies.

The uneven supply base also leads barriers in attaining integration between the links in supply chain. This issue creates uncontrollable, unreliable and inconsistent performance.

Political and Government Diversity: The reservation of production for very small companies that was imposed with an intent to help out small scale companies across the country, led substantial fragmentation that reflected the competitiveness of industry. However, most of the sectors now have been de-reserved, and major entrepreneurs and corporates are putting-in huge amount of money in establishing large facilities or in expansion of their existing plants.

Secondly, the foreign investment was kept out of textile and apparel production. Now, the Government has gradually eliminated these restrictions, by bringing down import duties on capital equipment, offering foreign investors to set up manufacturing facilities in India. In recent years, India has provided a global manufacturing platform to other multi-national companies that manufactures other than textile products; it can certainly provide a base for textiles and apparel companies.

Despite some stimulating step taken by the government, other problems still sustains like various taxes and excise imbalances due to diversification into 35 states and Union Territories. However, an outline of VAT is being implemented in place of all other tax diversifications, which will clear these imbalances once it is imposed fully.

Labor Laws: In India, labor laws are still found to be reliably unfavorable to the trades, with companies having not more than ideal model to follow a 'hire and fire' policy. Even the companies have often broken their business down into small units to avoid any trouble created by labor unionization.

In past few years, there has been a movement gradually towards reforming labor laws, and it is anticipated that this movement will uplode the environment more favorable. Distant Geographic Location: There are some high-level disadvantages for India due to its geographic location. For the foreign companies, it has a global logistics disadvantage Due the shipping cost is higher and also takes much more time comparing to some other manufacturing countries like Mexico, Turkey, China etc. The inbound freight traffic has been also low, which affects cost of shipping – though, movement of containers are not at reasonable costs.

Lack of trade memberships: India is serious lacking in trade pact memberships, which leads to restricted access to the other major markets. This issue made others to impute quota and duty, which put scissors on the sourcing quantities from India.

Opportunities

It is anticipated that India's textile industry is likely to do much better. Since the consumption of domestic fiber is low, the growth in domestic consumption in tandem is anticipated with GDP of 6 to 8% and this would support the growth of the local textile market at about 6 to 7% a year.

India can also grab opportunities in the export market. The industry has the potential of attaining $ 34bn export earnings by the year 2010. The regulatory polices is assisting out to enhance infrastructures of apparel parks, Specialized textile parks, EPZs and EOUs.

The Government support has ensured fast consumption of clothing as well as of fiber. A single rate will now be prevalent throughout the country.

The Indian manufacturers and suppliers are improving design skills, which include different fabrics according to different markets. Indian fashion industry and fashion designers are marking their name at international platform. Indian silk industry that is known for its fine and exclusive brocades, is also adding massive strength to the textile industry.

The industry is being modernized via an exclusive scheme, which has set aside $ 5bn for investment in improvement of machinery. International brands, such as Levis, Wal-Mart, JC Penny, Gap, Marks & Spencer and other industry giants are sourcing more and more fabrics and garments from India. Alone Wal-Mart had purchased products worth $ 200mn last year and plans to increase buying up to $ 3bn in the coming year. The clothing giant from Europe, GAP is also sourcing from India.

Anticipation As a result of various initiatives taken by the government, there has been new investment of Rs.50,000 crore in the textile industry in the last five years. Nine textile majors invested Rs.2,600 crore and plan to invest another Rs.6,400 crore. Further, India's cotton production increased by 57% over the last five years; and 3 million additional spindles and 30,000 shuttle-less looms were installed.

Forecast till 2010 for textiles by the government along with the industry and Export Promotion Councils is to attain double the GDP, and the export is likely attain $ 85bn. The industry is anticipated to generate 12mn new jobs in various sectors.

How to upholding textile Industry

Weak infrastructure may be a hindrance which can be overcome with better network and with the willingness to share profit by loyalty bottom up and patronization from above downwards.

. By putting more retail outlets,

. With better value added products,

. By taking the lowest end of the chain into confidence and building their capacity to innovate more and more.

. By upholding the market knowledge at every level that happens at higher-end that lifts the chain.

. By building on the expertise for technical textiles that include bed sheets; filtration and abrasive materials; furniture and healthcare upholstery; thermal protection and blood-absorbing materials; seatbelts; adhesive tape, etc which need skilled workers who are not easy to find in an Indian market.

. By keeping a regular research and development department with regards to the industry

. By building up the peripheral market with regular update of new accessories.

. By integrating the disorganized sectors into one segment that is functionally independent of each other's unwanted stranglehold

. By putting affiliated efforts into the sector

. By creating a state owned cargo-shipping mechanism: with rationalizing fiscal duties; upgrading technology through the Technology Up-graduation Fund Scheme (TUFS);

. By setting up of Apparel Parks

. By clearing off bottlenecks in the form of regulatory practices

. By replacing the indirect taxes with a single nationwide VAT

. With liberalization of contract norms for textile and garments units

. By controlling export of raw materials

. By curtailing the drawback claims falsely boosted invoice value of exports

. By effectively installing a price discovery mechanism to track market trend to take effective measures before hand a slump

How to promote textile exports

For promotion of exports the measures which should be taken up are

. Up gradation of textiles sector

. Policy level decision to achieve export target

. Woven segment of readymade garment sector and knitwear have been de-reserved

. Technology Up-gradation Fund Scheme to be pursued till next five years

. Liberalization of FDI Policy with up to 100 per cent foreign equity participation

. Import of capital goods at 5% concession rate of duty with appropriate export obligation under

Export Promotion Capital Goods (EPCG) Scheme and clearly laid out EXIM policy

. Advance Licensing Scheme with standard input-outputorms

. Prescribed Duty Exemption Pass Book (DEPB) Scheme credit rates

. Duty Drawback Scheme wherein the exporters are allowed refund of the excise and import duty loss on raw materials

. Construction of Apparel International Mart by Apparel Export Promotion Council to provide a world class facility to the apparel exporters to exhibit products and built international reputation

. Setting up of quality checking laboratories

. Apparel Park for Exports Scheme to invite international production units along with in-house production floors.

Source by Gaurav Doshi Textile Industry in India

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On February 25, Ivanka Trump criticized Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez's signature policy proposal, the Green New Deal, during an interview with FOX News. The specific part of the proposal — which seeks to address the dire threat of climate change as well as fight economic inequality — that Trump had trouble with was its promise to provide “a job with a family-sustaining wage…to all people of the United States.” Trump’s response was hard to make out around the silver spoon jammed into her mouth, but she managed to spit out, “People want to work for what they get. So I think this idea of a guaranteed minimum is not something most people want. They want the ability to be able to secure a job.”

Many critics were quick to point out the hypocrisy inherent in her words, spoken as they were by a millionaire heiress who grew up rich, was handed a high-level job at her father’s company, and now serves in his administration despite her complete lack of government or political experience. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez joined the chorus, commenting on Twitter, “As a person who actually worked for tips & hourly wages in my life, instead of having to learn about it 2nd-hand, I can tell you that most people want to be paid enough to live.”

Others, like writer Ira Madison III, called attention to Trump — whom he dubbed “Sweatshop Shannon" — and her comments in the context of her experience as a businessperson. Madison skewered Trump’s relationship with the predominantly Bangladeshi and Indonesian garment-factory workers who manufactured her clothing line; the Guardian has reported that Indonesian workers “describe being paid one of the lowest minimum wages in Asia.” In 2018, Trump shut down her eponymous clothing line in order to focus on whatever it is she does in Washington, after years of flagging sales, boycotts, and backlash from consumers who turned on the brand because of its association with the president. However, her complicity in the deep-rooted and ongoing issue of sweatshop labor remains.

Trump’s was far from the only fashion brand to allegedly mistreat and exploit an overseas workforce. Nike, Wal-Mart, Gap, H&M, and even Beyoncé’s Ivy Park have faced similar accusations and criticisms over hazardous conditions and low wages in the factories that these and other U.S.-based companies contract to manufacture their products. The rise of semi-disposable “fast fashion” — a term for low-quality, cheap, trendy clothing that takes ideas from high fashion and celebrity culture and rushes them onto store shelves — and the high production quotas, fast turnarounds, and potential exposure to harmful chemicals characteristic to its production have placed immense pressure on already underpaid, overworked employees.

In addition, unions and rights groups allege that physical and sexual abuse are common in factories in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka that supply H&M and Gap, and many cases are left unreported for fear of retaliation; two reports published by the group Global Labour Justice in 2018 prompted those brands to launch their own investigations. As Elizabeth Cline, a journalist and the author of Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, told Racked in 2018, “While fashion chains continue to get wealthier, people at the very bottom are not getting their fair share. In some instances, real wages in the garment industry have actually gone down.”

This culture of mistreatment is an injustice that the fashion industry has yet to fully address, so unions, labor activists, and most importantly, the workers themselves have been taking action.

For nearly two weeks in January 2019, 50,000 women garment workers in and around Dhaka, Bangladesh, engaged in a series of militant work stoppages, protests, and strikes to demand higher wages, facing down police and causing over 50 factories to shut down. It was essentially a general strike, a show of force from a long-undervalued workforce.

In 2018, Bangladesh was the second-largest apparel exporter in the world, trailing China, with all those exports generating over $30 billion per year. The minimum wage for a Bangladeshi garment worker had recently been raised 50 percent but still only reached the equivalent of $95 per month, which workers say isn’t enough to cover even basic necessities. According to a recent Centre for Policy Dialogue report, a Bangladeshi garment worker’s average salary covers just 49.9% of living costs, and finding affordable housing is a struggle.

The low pay has a much bigger impact on women across the region, as they form the bulk of many garment workforces. In Bangladesh and Vietnam, 80% of garment workers are women; in Sri Lanka, it’s 71%; in Cambodia, that number stretches to 90%.

During clashes between police and strikers, one person was killed and dozens were injured by police firing rubber bullets and water cannons. Since the strike, 5,000 participants have been fired.

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Supreme Court tried to stymie a renewal of the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, a legal agreement the IndustriALL Global Union, UNI Global Union, and eight affiliated Bangladeshi unions have with over 200 global brands and fashion retailers that seeks to regulate workplace health and safety across the nation’s garment and textile industry. (Ivanka Trump’s brand did not sign on.) The highest court in the country was seeking to replace the agreement with an existing government body that would seemingly work much more closely and on much friendlier terms with international brands and garment manufacturers. Bangladesh’s Supreme Court has deferred its decision on the matter until April.

As its website notes, the agreement “was signed in the immediate aftermath of the Rana Plaza building collapse on 24 April 2013, which killed 1,133 workers and critically injured thousands more,” the aftershocks of which are still felt by the millions of workers still employed in Bangladesh’s busy garment factories. Following the tragedy, Mark Anner, the director of the Center for Global Workers’ Rights at Penn State, released reports indicating there was a huge uptick in union activity, which also contributed to an increase in worker protections. But the increased activity was met with union-busting efforts from management soon afterward. As of 2016, out of Bangladesh’s more than 4,500 garment factories, only about 10 percent had registered unions, which makes the efforts of global industrial unions like IndustriALL (which has affiliate unions in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, Vietnam, and many others) all the more important.

Bangladesh isn’t the only Asian country in which garment workers are fighting back. Back in 2010, workers’ unions reported that over 60,000 women textile-factory workers walked off the job to protest low wages in Cambodia. Four years later, three Cambodian textile workers were killed by police during a protest over the minimum wage. In Sri Lanka, where labor’s power is precarious, members of IndustriALL’s Sri Lanka affiliate CIWU still staged a protest outside their place of employment, Tri Star Apparel Exports (Pvt) Ltd., over unpaid wages and benefits in 2016. In 2017, 6,000 garment workers in north Vietnam went on strike to protest company policies and low wages; a similar large-scale strike was called in southern Vietnam in 2015, and wildcat strikes are common across the country’s workforce.

Not all of Southeast Asia’s labor activists are quite so strike-ready, but they are still organizing to raise wages and improve working conditions. Stand Up Movement (SUM) Lanka, a garment workers' educational network founded by former garment worker Ashila Niroshine Mapalagama, is working to build a bottom-up workers-rights movement in a country where the average wage is just 55 cents an hour. One of SUM’s biggest goals is to get to a point where workers earn a living wage within eight hours of work, as well as combating what Mapalagama calls “the hidden cost.”

“There are many hidden costs for workers,” she told journalist Mary-Rose Abraham in 2017. “These workers are separated from their families and are absent from family matters. They cannot obtain leave to perform many social obligations and become distant from society. So these hidden costs are not covered and the workers are under a lot of stress.”

Garment-worker-led organizations like Stand Up Movement as well as local unions and labor activists will continue to lead the way forward, and those in the fashion industry with more power and privilege need to follow their lead, to amplify workers’ voices, and to use their own privilege for good — not evil. Lest we forget, in 1909, the first National Woman’s Day followed a 1908 mass protest by 15,000 women workers, who demanded shorter work hours, better pay, voting rights, and an end to child labor. That was a precursor to International Women’s Day, which was established by the Socialist Party in 1910 and followed an iconic 11-week strike by immigrant women garment workers in New York City, known as the Uprising of the 20,000, who also made demands that may sound familiar to their modern-day descendants: better wages and the right to form unions.

Today and every day, we owe it to our sisters and siblings in all industries — but especially in those fraught with dangerous conditions, low pay, and undervalued output — to continue this ancient fight, to act in good faith, to uplift and support one another in true solidarity. The century and scenes and actors may change, but the struggle remains the same: for dignity, for a living wage, for a safe workplace, for bread, and for roses, too.