Aitana, 25, a pink-haired woman from Barcelona, receives weekly private messages from celebrities asking her out. But this model is not real. Aitana, the first model created by artificial intelligence (AI) in Spain, was born in the middle of a difficult period. Rubén Cruz, her designer and founder of the agency The Clueless, was going through a rough patch because he didn't have many clients. "We started analysing how we were working and realised that many projects were being put on hold or cancelled due to problems beyond our control. Often it was the fault of the influencer or model and not due to design issues," Cruz told Euronews. So, they decided to create their own influencer to use as a model for the brands that approached them. They created Aitana, an exuberant 25-year-old pink-haired woman from Barcelona whose physical appearance is close to perfection.  The virtual model can earn up to €10,000 a month, according to her creators, but the average is usually around €3,000. "We did it so that we could make a better living and not be dependent on other people who have egos, who have manias, or who just want to make a lot of money by posing," said Cruz. Aitana's income is quite varied. She earns just over €1,000 per advert, and has recently become the face of Big, a sports supplement company, and as if that weren't enough, she uploads photos of herself in lingerie to Fanvue, a platform similar to OnlyFans. In just a few months, she has managed to gain more than 121,000 followers on Instagram and her photos get thousands of views and reactions. She even receives private messages from celebrities who are unaware that she is not an actual person. "One day, a well-known Latin American actor texted to ask her out. This actor has about 5 million followers and some of our team watched his TV series when they were kids," said Cruz. "He had no idea Aitana didn't exist," he added. Source: Eeuro News

The entire export sector has fallen under negative impact due to worldwide corona pandemic situation. The negative trend is continuing in the export earnings in Bangladesh. According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) latest information, the export earnings of Bangladesh have declined by 4 per cent in February of the current year comparing to the month of February last year. In the 28 days of February in the current year the export earning recorded 319 crore taka, which was 332 crore taka in the 29 days of February last year. Bangladesh has earned 2 thousand 586 crore dollars from exporting commodities during July-February period of the ongoing 2020-21 fiscal year. It is 1.45 per cent less than the same period of the previous fiscal year and also 3.61 per cent less than the current target. During July-February of the 2019-20 fiscal year commodities worth 2624 crore dollars were earned through export. In this regard Senior Vice President of Exporters Association of Bangladesh Mohammad Hatem said, the situation was running better than the expectation during corona pandemic. But the continuous price hike of thread has turned into a major problem. Frozen fish export has declined by 10 per cent, shrimp export by 18 per cent, ceramic items by 13 per cent, leather and leather items declined by 4 per cent during July-February comparing to that period of the previous year. AH   

Export earnings from the Readymade Garment (RMG) increased by 8.3 percent or US dollars 584.87 million in October to December quarter of 2017 than the corresponding quarter of previous year 2016. According to Bangladesh Bank data, export earnings from RMG stood at 7,628.67 million dollars during the October to December quarter of 2017 which was 7,043.8 million dollars in the same quarter of 2016. Reports BSS. During the October to December period, export earnings from RMG sector increased by 6.78 percent or 484.55 million dollars than the previous quarter (July-September) in 2017. RMG is the major export item, which was 82.4 percent of the country's total export earnings of 9253.29 million dollars in the October to December quarter.  Data showed that 40.85 percent and 41.59 percent of total export earnings were received from woven garments and knitwear respectively. Export earnings from woven garments stood at 3780.35 million dollars during the period while knitwear was 3848.32 million dollars.  Talking to BSS, president of the Bangladesh Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BMCCI) Syed Moazzam Hossain said, RMG sector is the country's largest foreign currency earner.  For taking different initiatives from the government and other authorities concerned, he said, the production of RMG products are increasing and thus export earnings from the sector is also increasing gradually. Moazzem, also an exporter of RMG product, said although the production level is increasing, exporters do not get expected price for their products as buyers are dominating in international market. According to the Bangladesh Bank data, about four million of total manpower is working in 4,482 garments factories. Employment in RMG sector increased from two million in fiscal 2004-05 to four million in 2011-12. The figure of the RMG workforce remained unchanged till Fiscal Year 17. AH