Going big on the textile industry, and under the 'Make in India' effort, the government has planned to set up seven mega textile parks under PM Mega Integrated Textile Regions and Apparel (PM MITRA) scheme. These parks will be set up in seven states namely; Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet, "The parks would provide state-of-the-art infrastructure for the textiles sector, attract investment of crores and create lakhs of jobs". The scheme was announced in October 2021, and the parks will be set up by 2026-27. The total outlay for the project is Rs 4,445 crore, though the initial allocation in the 2023-24 Budget is only Rs 200 crore. "PM MITRA mega textile parks will boost the textiles sector in line with 5F (Farm to Fibre to Factory to Fashion to Foreign) vision," PM Modi tweeted. The Centre envisages an investment of nearly Rs 70,000 crore into these parks, with employment generation for about 20 lakh people, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said. Goyal said, "The textile industry has been unorganised in the country. This increased wastage and logistical costs impacted the competitiveness of the country's textile sector. This cluster-based approach, a vision of the Prime Minister, will solve several problems of the sector". The BJP leader also said that environmental clearances would also be eased under the scheme. Textiles Secretary Rachna Shah said that the Ministry had selected the locations for the parks in a transparent manner, having considered 18 proposals from 13 states. The eligibility of the states and sites was evaluated using a transparent challenge. It was based on objective criteria, taking into account a variety of factors such as connectivity, the existing ecosystem, textiles, industry policy, infrastructure, utility services, etc. PM Gati Shakti- National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity--was also used for validation. PM MITRA Parks represents a distinctive model in which the Central and State Governments will collaborate to boost investment, foster innovation, create job opportunities, and eventually turn India into a major hub for textile production and exports. Through these parks, an expenditure of almost 70,000 crores of rupees and the creation of 20 lakh jobs are anticipated. "An SPV [Special Purpose Vehicle] owned by the Centre and State Government will be set up for each park which will oversee the implementation of the project. The Ministry of Textiles will provide financial support in the form of Development Capital Support upto Rs 500 crores per park to the Park SPV," the Ministry said. The Ministry added in the statement, "A Competitive Incentive Support (CIS) upto Rs 300 crores per park to the units in PM MITRA Park shall also be provided to incentivise speedy implementation. Convergence with other Government of India schemes shall also be facilitated in order to ensure additional incentives to the Master Developer and investor units". 

The social media giant is making another round of mass layoffs as it seeks to reduce costs. The company has sunk billions into its metaverse venture. Facebook parent Meta is cutting another 10,000 jobs, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in an email to employees on Tuesday. Another 5,000 open positions would also remain unfilled, the tech giant said. The mass axing of staff comes after a previous round of cuts that saw 11,000 jobs culled in November. Zuckerberg called 2023 a "year of efficiency," saying Meta was planning on reducing costs by about $5 billion (€4.67 billion), down to $89-$95 billion. What did Mark Zuckerberg say about the job cuts? "This will be tough, and there's no way around that," Zuckerberg said. "It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success." "As I've talked about efficiency this year, I've said that part of our work will involve removing jobs — and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long-term vision," he added. The job cuts will first target Meta's recruitment team, with further cuts hitting the company's tech groups in late April and its business groups in late May. Meta shares rose by 6% in early trading as news of the cuts was made public. Tech companies cutting back across the board The Meta company — which owns social media platforms Facebook and Instagram as well as messenger service WhatsApp — has invested billions in shifting its efforts toward developing an online platform that takes advantage of 3D technology. But the project has become an investment sink, with billions already having been lost on the venture. In February, Meta posted lower fourth-quarter profit and revenue, sparked by a downturn in the online advertising market and competition from rivals including TikTok. Meta is not the only major US tech company to be cutting back on jobs. Rival social media platform Twitter has also made considerable cutbacks following the takeover by billionaire Elon Musk. Online retail giant Amazon also put construction of its second headquarters in Virginia on hold last month after the biggest round of layoffs in the company's history. The vast job cuts in the tech industry come after many companies bloated their payrolls during the coronavirus pandemic to meet the sudden surge in demand for online services.

Hundreds of candidates boycotted a test for 32 posts in the Gilgit-Baltistan health department and protested outside Chief Minister House on Friday against “mismanagement” during the exam. Protesters tore up the questions papers and chanted slogans against the GB government and health officials. Around 12,000 candidates applied for the recently advertised positions. Soon after the test began, at a girls’ college in Gilgit’s Chinar Bagh area, hundreds of candidates started gathering outside the examination hall as a protest against mismanagement during the process, alleging that the question paper had already been leaked and there was no check on candidates carrying smartphones during the exam. Candidates tear up question papers, boycott test, stage protest outside CM House “It seems the test was just a formality. There were no arrangements,” Raza Khan, a candidate who appeared in the exam, said. “There was even no option of writing the candidate’s name on the answer sheet.” The protest prompted GB Chief Minister Khalid Khurshid Khan to take notice of the incident and he ordered that the test be postponed. Candidates alleged that the management had no interest in conducting a fair test because the positions had already been finalised. Another protester, Shabbir Hussain, regretted that the GB government had cancelled a contract with a private testing service agency and was now conducting departmental tests, “which cannot be impartial” as it helped government officials to “adjust” their favourite candidates on the posts. The protesters asked the authorities concerned to address the issue and resolved that they would continue to boycott such exams until they were conducted by independent testing agencies. Source: Dawn

In what could be big news on the job front but may carry a significant financial implication for the government, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed that 10 lakh people be given jobs in the central government in the next 18 months.   The announcement comes at a time when the Opposition has been raising the issue of unemployment in the country. “PM reviewed the status of human resources in all departments and ministries and instructed that recruitment of 10 lakh people be done by the government in mission mode in next 1.5 years,” the Prime Minister’s Office tweeted on Monday.   The government earlier this year told Parliament that there are a whopping 8.72 lakh vacant posts in central government departments as on March 1, 2020. The central government has over 40 lakh sanctioned, but less than 32 lakh employees are in place. The government has been trying to fill up these vacancies over the years, but not with much success.   The maximum vacancies are in the big ministries and departments like Posts, Defence (Civil), Railways and Revenue. As per details with News18, against nearly 15 lakh sanctioned posts in the Railways, about 2.3 lakh posts are vacant in the Railways Ministry. In the Defence (Civil) department, there are nearly 2.5 lakh vacancies against a sanctioned strength of nearly 6.33 lakh employees. There are about 90,000 vacancies in the Posts department against a total sanctioned strength of 2.67 lakh employees while in the Revenue department, there are nearly 74,000 vacancies against a total sanctioned strength of 1.78 lakh employees. In the Ministry of Home Affairs, against 10.8 lakh sanctioned posts, nearly 1.3 lakh posts are vacant. A senior government official explained to News18 that work of some departments has been suffering due to an acute shortage of employees and fresh recruitment has been tardy though retirements have happened and even the sanctioned strength of employees in ministries has grown over the years. The move could also dent criticism from the Opposition on the unemployment front ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.   Source: NEWS18  

Around 50,000 small and medium traders have lost their jobs due to the closing of the Chaman border crossing at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Former president of Chaman Chamber of Commerce Jamaluddin Achakzai said the closure of the crossing is costing local traders Rs100 million each day, according to Express Tribune. Chaman is one of two main border crossings between Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the second crossing present in the north at Torkham. As a result of the closure, 1,450 Pakistani trucks -- some loaded with dry fruits while others empty -- are parked near the other side of the border, Express Tribune reported. Meanwhile, Pakistani trucks on this side of the border were also parked whereas the crew of these trucks have nowhere to go. "Some of them don't even have money for food and other basic essentials," he added. Haji Jalat Khan, another former president of the Chaman Chamber, called on the federal government to announce an immediate reopening of the border. Afghanistan and Pakistan have two border crossings, -- Torkham and Chaman -- both have been closed on and off since the Taliban took control in August. Islamabad -- which has closed the border several times in recent months -- blamed the Taliban for the recent closure of the Chaman crossing, however, the latter has not issued any official statement over the matter so far, according to Samaa TV.  Source: ANI   BM

The World Bank has approved $1.05 billion for three projects to help Bangladesh create quality jobs and accelerate economic recovery from the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic as well as build resilience to future crises. “This is an extraordinary response to an unprecedented crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply jeopardized many of Bangladesh’s remarkable achievements in poverty reduction and shared prosperity, including livelihoods of its population,” said Mercy Tembon, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh and Bhutan. “These projects will help the people and the economy bounce back by through creating more and better jobs and promoting direct private investment in specialized economic zones while enhancing the foundations for a digital economy.” The $500 million Private Investment and Digital Entrepreneurship (PRIDE) Project will promote and attract about $2 billion direct private investments and strengthen social and environmental standards in selected public and private economic zones and software technology parks. It will also create 150,000 jobs, of which about 40 percent of jobs in software parks and 20 percent of jobs in Economic Zones  will be for women, said a press release on Friday. It will also develop the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar II in Mirsarai-Feni, including road networks with stormwater drainage, solar-powered streetlights, climate-resilient water, sanitation, and power network. The project will also establish Dhaka’s first digital entrepreneurship hub in the Janata Software Technology Park and turn it into a green building. By attracting domestic and foreign private investment, including in the IT and ITES sectors, the project will help the economy to rebound from the impacts of COVID 19. The $295 million Enhancing Digital Government and Economy (EDGE) Project will establish an integrated, cloud-computing digital platform for all government agencies and improve cyber-security, which will result in savings of $200 million in the public sector’s IT investments. Further, it will build resiliency during future crises, whereby the platform will enable the government to operate virtually and deliver critical public services to citizens and businesses. The project will create 100,000 jobs, with a special focus on women, train 100,000 youth in digital and disruptive technologies, and establish a digital leadership academy and centers of excellence. It will also help raise the revenues of IT firms by $300 million and promote local IT firms in international markets. To reduce vulnerabilities from the pandemic and prepare for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the project will help digitalize small and medium enterprises and strategic industries. The $250 million Second Programmatic Jobs Development Policy Credit will create fiscal space to support the government’s response to the COVID-19 crisis, while helping recovery and building resiliency of the economy, of workers and of vulnerable populations to future shocks. The financing will help Bangladesh to create large-scale jobs for citizens, including women, youth, and migrant workers. The project —second in a programmatic series of three—supports reforms to modernize the trade and investment regime, build a stronger system of expanded safety nets and labor protections, and help vulnerable population access better jobs, especially during crises. The World Bank is among the first development partners to support Bangladesh following its independence. Bangladesh currently has one of the largest IDA programs totaling over $13 billion. Since independence, the World Bank has committed more than $31 billion in grants, interest-free, and concessional credits to the country. Source: UNB AH

Posts, Telecommunications and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Minister Mustafa Jabbar said more than three lakh youths both boys and girls will get jobs within next couple of years in 28 hi-tech parks now being constructed outside of Dhaka. He also said around 14,000 youths will get jobs in ‘Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Hi-Tech Park, Rajshahi’ Project that will play a vital role in boosting the current economy of the region by creating new technology-based employment. The Hi-tech Park is being built on 31 acres of land in Bulanpur area in Rajshahi city with an estimated cost of Taka 231 crore to make Rajshahi as the city of technology. Its implementation works are expected to complete by December, 2021. The minister revealed this while visiting the project site in Rajshahi on Saturday. Reports BSS. Mustafa Jabbar said the Bangabandhu Hi-tech Park intends to create atmosphere for establishing industries on ICT, engineering, electronics, telecommunication and biotechnology. Besides, more avenues of employment for the ICT people will be created in this venture. He said the park will play a key role in building Digital Bangladesh, accelerating the national economic development by expanding hi-tech industries, establishing hardware and IT industries and creating a helpful condition to attract foreign companies. Foreign companies, he said, would be allowed to provide technological support for developing local industries. During the visit the ICT minister directed the implementing officials concerned to quick and proper completion of the construction works as per the design. ICT Secretary Ziaul Alam, Commissioner of Rajshahi division Nur-Ur-Rahman and Deputy Commissioner Abdul Kader were present on the occasion. AH

The World Bank (WB) has approved a 250 million US dollars development policy operation to help Bangladesh strengthen its capacity to create more, better-paid and quality jobs in a rapidly changing environment. The Programmatic Jobs Development Policy Credit aims at supporting Bangladesh to develop a stronger policy and institutional framework to address barriers to creating more and better jobs for citizens, including women, youth and the vulnerable population, said a WB press release issued on Thursday. Reports BSS. Despite Bangladesh’s robust economic growth, the pace of job creation has slowed in recent years, and almost stalled in the readymade garments sector. The growth rate for jobs fell to 1.8 percent in 2010-16 from 2.7 percent in 2003-10, the release said. Women, workers in lagging regions, and youth in particular face challenges in accessing quality jobs. Climate change has exacerbated this jobs challenge, underscoring the need to significantly increase of employment in the non-agriculture sector. “Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in accelerating growth and reducing poverty, but the rate of job creation has not kept up with economic growth. Creating more and better jobs is a prerequisite for the country to achieve its vision of upper-middle income status,” said Qimiao Fan, World Bank Country Director for Bangladesh, Bhutan and Nepal. “This will require the economy to create jobs for the 2.2 million youths entering the labor force each year, while attracting more women into the labor market. This programme supports reforms to stimulate trade and private sector investment, strengthen social protection for workers and help the vulnerable population access to jobs,” he added. To promote large-scale employment in diverse manufacturing sectors, the reform programme will help improve the investment environment, lift barriers to doing business, and modernize customs and trade facilitation. The programme will also help implement amendments to the labor law and reform the pensions scheme to ensure that works are protected. The programme also aims to increase female labor force participation by increasing availability of childcare for working mothers and targeting women and youth with training and employment services. AH

The candidates for government services have to perform dope test or drugs test before getting their jobs. If the test result comes positive then he or she will be considered unfit for getting the job. The home ministry has taken the decision to introduce the system of drugs test after finding the authenticity of allegations that some of the officers and employees of police, public administration and different educational institutions take drugs.  In this regard a circular was issued on December 5 signed by Health Directorate Director (Administration) Dr. Abul Kalam Azad. The circular said, while getting all kinds of government jobs the report of dope test should be included after completion of primary health check up in association with other processes and those should be sent to the Director (Hospitals and Clinics). Thousand of youths are entering into government services every year. So far, the primary health tests were being taken for the candidates who passed out in written and viva voce. AH    

About one thousand workers of Grameen Phone are at risk of losing their jobs. The company has taken initiative to implement a project named ‘CDC’ and for that reason Grameen Phone Employees Union (GPEU) thinks that the fear of losing jobs has been created in different sections including technology division. Informing their fear the workers at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters Unity wanted government interference.  They said, fear of losing jobs of 6 hundred workers is created only in technology division of the company. GPEU president Fazlul Haque presided over the press conference while general secretary Mia Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman Masud read out the written statement. After delivering speech 12-point demand was placed on behalf of the organization. In the written speech Shafiqur Rahman Masud said that they were threatened by the company through email and also complain was filed against the names of general workers with labor directorate as the technology department workers protested the move. From 2007 total five thousand workers including three thousand permanent workers left Grameen Phone by phases. It was said at the press conference that in 2015 after making GP customer service department as outsource the jobs of temporary workers were not renewed. Nearly two hundred workers took the willing retirement package. Masud said, in 2018 a project enforced by Telenor named Project Bridge was taken to reduce workers from other divisions excluding technology and commercial divisions which will continue till 2019. In this process many were given willing retirement and more will be. GPEU president Fazlul Haque, publicity secretary Rafiqul Kabir Saikat and other leaders were present at the press conference. AH