bangladesh
PM Hasina model helps Bangladesh escape poverty: Joy
Noting that the empowerment of women is crucial to Bangladesh's emergence as a vibrant and modern nation, Prime Minister's ICT Affairs Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy has illustrated a set of initiatives undertaken by her mother to help Bangladesh break the poverty cycle and appear as a rising star in South Asia.
In an opinion piece that appeared on foreignnews.org, he revealed the amazing track record of Bangladesh under PM Hasina when it comes to turning around millions of lives as poor people got caught in a self-perpetuating cycle for a long part of the country's history, thanks to a unique model demonstrated by Sheikh Hasina.
"Between 2009 and 2020, Bangladesh's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita rose from $710 to $2,064. HSBC Bank recently predicted that Bangladesh would be the 26th-largest economy in the world by 2030 due in large part to its sustained GDP growth of roughly 6 percent during the last 20 years"
Moreover, in reference to Bangladesh's earlier introduction to the world as a country with limited resources, Joy asserted that time has changed and so did the fate of the people of this country, thanks to the prudent model shown by Sheikh Hasina.
"According to the World Economic Forum's Gender Gap Index 2021, Bangladesh has made major progress in narrowing gender disparities. While much work remains to be done, Bangladeshi women enjoy greater economic opportunities than ever," he said.
"Bangladesh continues to grow both economically and socially in large part because of its commitment to improving the status of women."
The country's poverty rate dropped from 47.5 percent in 1996 to 20.5 percent in 2020. Bangladesh's rate of extreme poverty, defined as living on less than $1.90 per person per day, decreased from 19.3 percent in 2009 to 10.5 percent in 2020.
The World Bank recently praised Bangladesh's "remarkable progress in economic development," and described it as a "model for poverty reduction."
Pointing to the Ashrayan Project, an initiative undertaken by PM Hasina to provide homes for the homeless, Joy pointed out that this step has been paying dividends through "connecting disparate rural regions, many of which are flourishing."
IFAD: Integration of nutrition in all dev interventions sought
Nutrition interventions play a crucial role to empower women, ensure dietary diversity, build a climate-resilient food system, and boost the overall economy, said experts at a seminar in the city.
Jointly organized by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health on Thursday, the seminar aimed to provide a platform to share lessons on nutrition-sensitive agriculture and food systems, identify good practices and potential areas of collaboration with different government agencies, development partners, and private sectors.
Bringing together experiences from IFAD and BRAC University speakers shared learnings on using gastronomy as a development tool and empowering women to achieve sustainable nutrition impacts that contribute to overall food systems, said a media release on Friday.
Read: Bangladesh a star of growth, says IFAD urging continued focus on rural areas
“When we consider a food system to be healthy, we tend to investigate and invest in maximizing profit and quantifiable indicators. Instead, we have to start considering an integrated system where you include diversity, health, and social factors. The same applies to nutrition interventions which can be used as a tool to transform agriculture and our food systems,” said Arnoud Hameleers, IFAD Country Director for Bangladesh.
Drawing further on how IFAD’s investment and work in nutrition across nations, Joyce Njoro, IFAD Technical Specialist, Nutrition and Social Inclusion said, “Nutrition and food security are at the heart of IFAD’s work through its nutrition-sensitive projects, which address underlying causes of malnutrition related to inadequate household food security, maternal and childcare, and environmental health.”
“IFAD works in food – horticultural, crops, livestock, fish, wild foods, bio-fortified crops – production along with food processing, preserving, storing, and marketing, supporting nutrition education at the community level, mainstreaming gender equality and empowerment, and policy engagement,” added Njoro while underscoring the importance multi-sectoral coordination to implement nutrition-sensitive projects.
Read: It's a priority for IFAD to invest in Bangladesh, says its regional director
Underscoring the importance of the human and social factors, Barnali Chakraborty, Associate Scientist, BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health said, “Development intervention alone cannot change the nutrition status in the country. It is crucial to improve individual capabilities to bring impact at the community and national level by integrating health, agriculture, women empowerment, and other social factors in the development interventions. Communities’ capabilities need to be enhanced to achieve children’s nutrition."
Participants representing different government agencies, national implementors, and development partners utilized this seminar as a platform to explore new ways of strengthening the impact of nutrition-sensitive development interventions and leverage nutrition as a development tool to transform rural Bangladesh.
EU releases €2 mn to support victims of floods in Bangladesh, India
The European Commission is providing €2 million in funding for emergency assistance to those affected by the current floods in Bangladesh and India.For Bangladesh, the EU has released € 1.2 million in humanitarian aid funding to people affected by the flooding in the north-east and northern regions of the country, according to message received here on Friday.The floods this year are considered worse than those experienced in 1998 and 2004.
Also read: IFC blames flood disaster on unplanned development Bangladesh and India’s Meghalaya, Assam For India, the EU provides € 800,000 in emergency assistance with a focus to support people in the most flood affected areas of the Assam state.The support will benefit affected and displaced people in the worst-hit regions of the two countries and it will be channelled through the EU's humanitarian aid partners on the ground.Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said the severe monsoon and flooding in Bangladesh and India has left behind a trail of destruction.
Also read: Abdul Monem Ltd to provide support to flood affected people in Sylhet"With many people having lost their family members, homes, belongings and sources of livelihoods, the humanitarian situation is grave and expected to worsen in the upcoming days. This is why the EU has released €2 million in emergency funding to ensure our partners on the ground can provide support to those most in need.”
Flood claims five lives in 24 hours; death toll now 73
At least five people died due to flooding in different parts of the country in 24 hours till Friday morning, raising the total flood fatalities to 73.
Four of the new deaths are from the Mymensingh division alone, according to the Directorate general of Health services (DGHS).
Among the deceased, four have died by drowning in floodwater and another died of other reasons.
Also read: Flood situation worsens in parts of Sylhet
The deaths were recorded from May 17 to June 23.
Among a total of 70 flood-affected upazilas, 33 upazilas are in Sylhet division, 16 in Rangpur division, 20 in Mymensingh division and one in Chattogram division.
Sylhet, Sunamganj, Netrokona and Kurigram are the worst-hit districts where 13, 11, 10 and 9 upazilas were affected by flood respectively.
Also read: Flood water receding in Sunamganj, clogged wastes pollute municipal area air
A total of 1,813 flood shelters have been opened, while 2,006 medical teams are working to provide various health services to the flood-affected people.
Two found dead in Keraniganj:Police
Two people were found dead at two separate places at Rohitpur West Mugarchar and Kolatia Kaskandi village in Keraniganj upazila of Dhaka on Friday.
The deceased were identified as Sharif Uddin,44, son of Zamir Khan of Kaskandi village and Lal Mia, 60, son of Abdur Rashid of Gopalpur Baniatari area of Nageshwari upazila in Kurigram district.
Police said Sharif was found hanging in his house at Kaskandi around 9am on Friday.
He was without a job after recent return from abroad.
Also read: Third missing tourist's body found in Mirsharai
He might have committed suicide out of frustration, said Abu Salam Miah, officer-in-charge (OC) of Keraniganj Model Police Station.
In another incident, police recovered the body of a day laborer from the Dhaleshwari River on Friday morning.
Locals spotted the body floating on the river near Mugarchar area around 10am and informed police.
Also read: BCL leader’s body recovered from Brahmaputra River
On information, police recovered the body, said the OC adding that they are investigating his death.
Flood water receding in Sunamganj, clogged wastes pollute municipal area air
As Surma river was flowing 13 cm below the danger level in Sunamganj on Friday morning, flood water started receding but smell of rotten clogged wastes made the municipal area air heavy.
The UNB reporter visited the municipal area and saw wastes that remained clogged in flood water at North Arpin Nagar, Shaheb bari Ghat, Moddho bazar, Surma Market, Alfat Square Point, Kalibari, old bus stand, jamai Para, Hazir Para and many other areas.
Read: Flood situation improves in Kurigram
Residents of the area are struggling to go out to run daily errands even after the water began receding.
“The area was stinking so much that I couldn’t step out from the house since morning,” said Ruhul Amin , a resident of the North Arpin nagar area.
“The flood water has receded but our sufferings did not end due to this rotten waste,” said Ashim Ray from Natun Para area.
Read: Strong current disrupts Paturia-Daulatdia ferry services, 400 vehicles stranded
However, Sunamganj municipal mayor Nader Bakht said, ``We have started cleaning the city immediately after the water started retreating.”
Sunamganj Civil Surgeon Dr Ahmmed Hossain said,” No one fell ill with water borne diseases yet and 123 medical teams are ready to provide services.”
Prof Jamilur Reza will be missed at Padma Bridge opening ceremony
The nation is set see a new dawn on Saturday with the formal opening of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge but Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury's absence on the stage will largely be felt during the celebrations.
Prof Choudhury who was the head of the international panel of experts for Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project had an occasion where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wanted to know from him whether Bangladeshi engineers like him can do the challenging job.
"We can do whatever we are able to do. We can bring experts from abroad to look into those areas where we have knowledge gap or lack of experience," he replied to PM Hasina.
Hasina has already recalled his immense contribution and said Prof Jamilur Reza Choudhury could have seen this completed bridge if he were among them. "I expresss my gratitude to him."
The PM said though many bigwigs stepped back including the World Bank, they (Bangladeshi engineers like JR Choudhury) did not leave and give up, rather they showed the courage.
Also read: Padma Bridge opening ceremony cancelled in Sylhet
Prof Choudhury, the most eminent personality in engineering community of Bangladesh who played a cardinal role in development of the infrastructure system of Bangladesh, passed away on 28th April 2020 at the age of 76.
He was an internationally recognized civil engineer, educationist, researcher, administrator and a leader.
Prof Choudhury’s contribution to infrastructure development of Bangladesh cannot be overstated.
Virtually no important development project in Bangladesh has been implemented without the involvement of Prof Choudhury.
He acted as expert consultant to a large number of national and international agencies on projects related to expressways, bridges, tall buildings, industrial buildings, transmission towers, aircraft hangars, stadiums, ports and jetties, computerization of public and private sector organizations etc.
Prof Choudhury was the team leader for the Multipurpose Cyclone Shelter Program and prepared the master plan for cyclone shelters in the coastal areas of Bangladesh in the early nineties.
He acted as expert adviser to a number of national and international projects.
Prof Choudhury was a key member of the steering committee on the Bangladesh National Building Code (1993) and played a vital role in formulating the first design wind speed map and seismic zoning map of Bangladesh.
Also read: Padma Bridge: How the nation’s dream turns into reality
He was a chairman of the panel of experts (advising the Government, the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and OECF, Japan) for the Bangabandhu (Jamuna) Bridge.
Besides, he also acted as the chairman of the panel of experts in many other mega projects such as the First Dhaka Elevated Expressway PPP Project (21 km), Karnaphuli Tunnel, Dhaka Subway, Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway Project (24 km) and many more.
PM Hasina, who took up the challenge to go ahead with self-financing the bridge of national pride, will on Saturday formally open the bridge, a milestone on the connectivity front, nationally and regionally.
Since the start on December 12, 2015 the work on building the country’s longest bridge at 6.15 kilometres did not stop even for a single day despite the Covid-19 pandemic situation and Holey Artisan tragedy.
On June 29, 2012, the World Bank posted a long statement on its website mentioning that it decided to cancel its $1.2 billion IDA credit in support of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, effective immediately.
The global lender claimed that it had “credible evidence” corroborated by a variety of sources which points to a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC Lavalin executives, and private individuals in connection with the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project.
Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 1,685 more cases, positivity declines to 12.18 pc
Bangladesh reported 1,685 new cases of Covid infection in 24 hours till Friday morning taking the total caseload to 19,62, 213, said the health authority .
The country's total fatalities, however, remained unchanged at 29,135 as no death was reported during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On Thursday the country recorded one death and 1,319 cases from Covid-19.
The country recorded over 1000 Covid cases (1409 cases) with 11 deaths last on February 25.
The daily-case positivity rate declined to 12.18 per cent from Thursday’s 14.32 per cent as 13,833 samples were tested during the period, said the DGHS.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 23 new cases, zero death
The mortality rate also declined to 1.48 per cent. The recovery rates declined to 97.16 per cent from Thursday’s 97.23 per cent as185 patients recovered during this period.
In May, the country reported only four Covid-linked deaths and 816 new cases, while 7,356 patients recovered from the disease, according to the DGHS.
Among the four deaths during the period, one was vaccinated with a single dose of Covid vaccine while three were vaccinated with two doses.
The country reported its first zero Covid death in a single day on November 20 last year, along with 178 cases, since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.
On January 28, Bangladesh logged its previous highest positivity rate of 33.37 per cent.
The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.
Dengue: 21 new patients hospitalised
Twenty-one more dengue patients were hospitalised in 24 hours until Friday morning.
Among them, 16 patients were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
As many as 110 dengue patients, including 102 in the capital, are now receiving treatment at hospitals across the country.
Read: Bangladesh reports season's first dengue death, 27 more hospitalised
On Tuesday, the directorate reported the first death of the season from the mosquito-borne viral disease.
This year, the DGHS has recorded 885 dengue cases and 774 recoveries so far.
Dengue – a leading cause of serious illness and death in some Asian and Latin American countries – was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 and claimed 93 lives. In three years, the fatality number almost fell to zero.
However, 105 dengue patients, including 95 in Dhaka division, died in 2021.
Dengue is found in tropical and sub-tropical climates worldwide, mostly in urban and semi-urban areas.
Read: Covid 4th wave begins in clusters in Dhaka, say public health experts urging caution
About 4 billion people, almost half of the world's population, live in areas with a risk of dengue, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Each year, up to 400 million people get infected with dengue while approximately 100 million get sick from infection, and 40,000 die from severe dengue, it says.
"There is no specific treatment for dengue or severe dengue. Early detection of disease progression associated with severe dengue, and access to proper medical care lowers fatality rates of severe dengue to below 1 percent," according to the World Health Organization.
2 rape accused held by Rab in Cox’s Bazar
Rab on Friday arrested two men in connection with a case over an attempted rape of a Rohingya girl from Dulahazara area under Chakaria upazila of Cox’s Bazar.
The arrestees have been identified as Md Mahbub, 32, of Chakaria’s Ringvong area and Shah Emran, 35,of Rajghat area under Chattogram’s Lohagara upazila.
According to Rab, the girl is a Rohingya refugee from Kutupalong Camp No 1 in Ukhia upazila of Cox’s Bazar. She fled from the camp and arrived in Chattogram city in search of work on February 5, 2022.
Also read: Man wanted for triple murder held in Sherpur
Failing to find work, she was returning to the camp by a bus on February 11, 2022. The supervisor of the bus ditched her at the Chakaria Bus Terminal as she couldn’t pay the fare.
There, staff from another bus agreed to take her to the camp. She was taken to Batakhali Bridge area under Chakaria municipality in an empty bus and an attempt was made to rape her by the driver, the supervisor and the helper of the bus.
Also read: Driver among 4 held for raping a girl in Chattogram
Locals rescued the girl after hearing her scream and apprehended the helper of the bus while the driver and the supervisor managed to flee. Later, the girl lodged a case with Chakaria police station under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act, based on which today’s arrests were made.
The arrestees have confessed their crimes and they’ve been handed over to the local police for further legal procedures.