Bangladesh
Tobacco products to become more affordable: Anti-tobacco platforms
In a quick reaction to the proposed national budget of 2021-22 fiscal year, two anti-tobacco platforms – PROGGA and Anti-Tobacco Media Alliance (ATMA) on Thursday claimed that tobacco products will become more affordable in the upcoming fiscal year.
The proposed budget has kept the prices unchanged for low-tier cigarettes which constitute around 72 percent of the cigarette market. The per capita income of the country, however, saw a 9 percent increase since last fiscal year, they said.
Also Read: National Budget: Progga, ATMA for hiking tobacco goods
The anti-tobacco platforms sent their reaction to the media after Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal started unveiling the proposed budget in Parliament in the afternoon.
The proposed budget, if implemented, will considerably reduce the real prices of cigarettes and encourage the poor and the youth demographic to get hooked on the deadly addiction of smoking.
The same goes for bidi and smokeless tobacco (jarda and gul) where the taxes and prices have also been kept unchanged. This would put the low income people, particularly women, into greater health risk.
Also Read: Budget: Prices of tobacco products up, gold down
If the proposed budget is finally passed, tobacco companies will be the only beneficiaries and the government will lose revenue opportunities.
Such a budget will only encourage tobacco business and ignore hundreds of thousands of deaths, impairment, massive socioeconomic and environmental damage this industry causes, they said.
The proposed budget has kept the prices of and taxes on low and medium categories cigarettes unchanged. The prices for 10 sticks of high and premium tier cigarettes have been increased by only BDT 5 (5.2 percent hike) and BDT 7 (5.5 percent hike), setting the prices at Tk 102 and 135 respectively.
The existing 65 percent supplementary duty has been unchanged. This means the prices of per stick high and premium tier cigarettes will go up by only 50 paisa and 70 paisa respectively, which is a very negligible increase compared to the increase in per capita income.
On the contrary, due to faulty tax structure, tobacco companies will pocket a sizable portion of this increased price, and thus they will be encouraged in death trade, which is quite alarming.
However, if the government imposed tiered specific supplementary duty as demanded by anti-tobacco organizations, it would have generated additional revenues of BDT 3400 crores, which could have been used to deal with the losses related to coronavirus pandemic, said the platforms.
Bidi and smokeless tobacco (jarda and gul), known enemies to public health, have seen no change in their prices and taxes in the proposed budget. Considering the rise in per capita income, these harmful products will become more affordable.
This would undoubtedly put the low income people, particularly women, into greater health risk.
Currently, more than 50 percent of the country's 37.8 million adult tobacco users use smokeless tobacco products. It is concerning that despite such a large user base, revenues from smokeless tobacco items constitute less than 1 percent of total tobacco revenues.
The government has been losing opportunities of earning additional revenues from this sector. It is impossible to achieve a tobacco-free Bangladesh while giving tobacco companies free passes like this.
“The proposed budget does not reflect any proposals or suggestions from anti-tobacco organizations. The only thing it safeguards is tobacco companies' interests. Once implemented, it will make tobacco products more affordable and increase tobacco-related deaths and other losses. So, we urge the government to incorporate our price and tax proposals in the final budget, ”said PROGGA (Knowledge for Progress) Executive Director ABM Zubair in his reaction to the proposed budget.
Among others, the proposed budget keeps both the existing 45 percent corporate tax on all tobacco companies (cigs, bidis, SLTs) and 2.5 percent Surcharge on tobacco manufacturer's income unchanged.
According to WHO, smokers are more likely to get severely ill from covid-19 infection than non-smokers. Despite all such warnings, the proposed budget failed to make any effort to discourage use of tobacco products for its lack of effective price and tax measures which is utterly frustrating for anti-tobacco activists, they said.
Budget Power and energy sector allocation to increase by Tk 726 crore
The allocation for the power and energy sector has been raised by Tk 726 crore in the budget for fiscal 2021-22.
The new amount is proposed at Tk 27,484 crore , up from Tk 26,758 crore in 2020-21.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal proposed the allocation while unveiling the national budget in parliament on Thursday.
Also read: Finance Minister writes a big cheque for health sector
He mentioned that the country’s power generation capacity, including captive and renewable energy, has increased to 25,227MW as of May 2021.
He claimed that through integrated development of production, transmission and distribution system, 99 per cent of the total population of the country has been brought under the electricity coverage.
Mustafa Kamal pointed out that 38 power plants with a capacity of 14,115 MW are under construction, and contracts have been signed for the construction of another 20 power plants with a capacity of 2,961 MW to meet the growing demand for power in Bangladesh.
Besides, 6 power plants with a capacity of 650 MW are in the process of tender, and construction of 33 power plants with a capacity of 15,019 MW has been approved, he added.
“Due to the strict measures taken by the government, the system loss in electricity has reduced from 14.33 percent to 8.73 percent,” he said.
Also read: Bangladesh now “wonder of wonders”: Minister
The mega-projects in power generation include the Rampal 1,320 MW coal-based Maitri Super Thermal Power Plant project, Matarbari 1,200 MW Ultra-super Critical Power Plant project and Rooppur 2,400 MW nuclear power plant project. The 1,320 MW thermal power plant at Payra has started commercial production.
At present, 722 MW of electricity is being generated from renewable energy, he said adding that solar and wind power plants are being installed to generate 10 per cent of the total electricity demand from the renewable energy.
The finance minister said the government is working to lay all distribution lines and substations underground in the metropolitan area to modernise the power system.
There is a plan to increase the number of transmission lines to 28,000 km and the number of distribution lines to 6.60 lakh km by 2030.
“We expect that through the implementation of these projects, it will be possible to meet the growing demand for transmission and distribution of electricity throughout the country.
Also read: Finance Minister starts unveiling national budget
About the energy sector, the finance minister said that an average of 600 to 700 million cubic feet of natural gas is being added to the national grid daily by import of liquefied natural gas (LNG).
To re-gasify the imported LNG, two floating LNG terminals with a total capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet have been set up at Maheshkhali in Cox's Bazar district with a capacity of 500 million cubic feet each, he said.
In addition, to increase the supply of LNG, initiative was taken to set up a land-based LNG terminal with a capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet per day in the Matarbari area of Cox's Bazar district.
Finance Minister writes a big cheque for health sector
As the Coronavirus pandemic has taken its toll on human health, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal on Thursday proposed an allocation of Tk32,731 crore for health services and health education sector, up Tk 3,484 crore than last year’s allocation.
The minister came up with the proposal while unveiling the national budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year in Parliament.
With the new allocation, the health sector 5.42 percent of the total budget and 12 percent increase in absolute terms.
Though the government has given priority to the protection of lives and livelihoods, the total allocation is still nearly 1 percent of the GDP. But the World Health Organization recommends it should be at least 5 percent.
Health experts, however, said the proper implementation of the allocation is a big challenge for the health sector as the Health Ministry has long been manifesting poor performance in utilising the budgetary allocation.
They said the health ministry could not spend around Tk 9,000 crore of the development budgets of this sector in the outgoing fiscal year.
Also read: New budget unveiled with focus on protecting lives and livelihoods
The experts warned that without well-thought-out plans, alongside their proper implementation and effective management, the intended goals cannot be achieved through the allocation earmarked for the health sector.
They also said the Health Ministry should now first identify the areas of expenditure and the demands of the health sector based on priorities, for an upgrade to the country’s healthcare services.
In his budget speech, the minister said, “Giving an utmost priority to the programmes and steps taken by the government to address the Covid-19 pandemic, I propose to allocate Tk. 32,731 crore for the Health and Family Welfare sector in the next fiscal year, which was Tk. 29,245 crore in FY2020-2021.”
Like last year, he said, they have made a slight deviation from the traditional budget for the sake of effectively combatting the Covid-19 pandemic and resolutely overcoming its economic impact by giving priority to protection of lives and livelihoods.
Bangladesh now “wonder of wonders”: Minister
Presenting his second budget amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has said Bangladesh’s extraordinary pace of development has stunned the world today.
“Bangladesh is now the wonder of wonders,” he said in his budget speech on Thursday adding that the world leaders, who attended the national programme of Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and Golden Jubilee of Independence noted the country’s progress with high admiration.
Read:Finance Minister starts unveiling national budget
In his budget speech’s section titled “Bangladesh Towards a Resilient Future Protecting Lives and Livelihoods”, the finance minister, quoting the Center for Economic and Business Research (CEBR), said Bangladesh will become the 25th largest economy in the world by 2035 if the current trend in its economic growth continues.
Once one of the 10 poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh is now the 41st largest economy in the world.
Read:Cabinet approves proposed budget for new fiscal
The global leaders, the minister said, committed and hoped to become partners in Bangladesh's future progress.
In the last 50 years, especially during the three and a half years of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's rule and the 17 years of visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the size of Bangladesh's economy has increased 271 times and our per capita national income has increased 300 times, said the finance minister, adding that Bangladesh has now earned a respectable position in the world.
Read: New national budget to be presented Thursday, aims at regaining fast economic growth
“In the centenary of his birth, we, as a nation, are moving forward, following his footprint and the roadmap he laid down for our economic emancipation,” he said.
Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 30 more deaths, 1,687 new infections
As Bangladesh continues to fight against the Coronavirus pandemic with rising infections in frontier districts, it recorded 30 more deaths in the last 24 hours until Thursday morning, raising the death toll to 12,724.
Besides, health authorities detected 1,687 new cases after testing 16,982 samples during the period.
With the new cases, the total caseload rose to 8,05,980, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read:COVAX Facility: Japan to provide 30mn vaccine doses to other countries
The daily infection rate rose to 9.94 percent from Wednesday’s 9.81 percent while the mortality rate remained static at 1.58 percent.
The handout said 7,46,035 patients have recovered so far, including 1970 in the last 24 hours.
Rajshahi division witnessed the highest number of deaths during the period with eight while six each died in Dhaka and Chattorgram divisions, four in Rangpur and three in Khulna divisions, two in Sylhet and one in Barishal divisions.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Lockdown in districts
Due to the recent rise in Covid infections in the bordering districts, district administrations have imposed lockdowns in Rajshahi, Khulna, Satkhira and parts of Naogaon districts to stem the transmission of the deadly virus.
Read:Thakurgaon seals border areas to contain Covid
District administrations have been given the authority to enforce lockdowns in their areas if the Covid-19 situation deteriorates there.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses bought from India's Serum Institute.
The administration of the first dose of the vaccine has remained suspended since April 26.
Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.
Read:Bangladesh’s frontier districts brace for Covid ‘catastrophe’: Experts
However, recently two other vaccines, Russia's Sputnik V and China's Sinopharm, got approval from the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA) for emergency use in Bangladesh.
The administering of the first doses of the Sinopharm vaccine started on Tuesday.
Bangladesh has also received 1 lakh-plus Pfizer vaccine.
Homicorcin: A new antibiotic discovered by Bangladeshi scientists
Bangladeshi scientists made history by discovering a new antibiotic called Homicorcin. From the bacteria found in Jute seeds, they have discovered this outstanding antibiotic, which will fight against the powerful bacteria and save the lives of many patients. The study was published on May 27 in the ‘Scientific Reports’ journal of the international publisher Nature. Let's get to know more about this groundbreaking discovery.
Background to Homicorcin discovery
Starting from people's daily lives, Jute has long since enriched Bangladesh economically. So there has been a lot of significant work in different fields with this Golden Fiber.
Bangladesh's famous geneticist late Dr. Maksudul Alam discovered the Jute gene design in 2010. Mubarak Ahmed Khan, Chief Scientific Adviser of Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation, made various useful things from Jute. Among them Jutin (corrugated sheet) in 2009 and Sonali Bag (Polythene) in 2016 are notable.
Finally, in the middle of 2021, the country's researchers found a life-saving medicine from that Jute. The antibiotic 'Homicorcin' is named after the scientific name of bacteria and Jute.
Read: 'Golden fibre' no longer holds glitter for Khulna jute farmers
Research for the antibiotic
Six members have worked in the research for 3 years in the Molecular Biology Lab of Dhaka University. Among them, the senior Dhaka University Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Professor Haseena Khan, Professor Dr. Mohammad Reazul Islam, and Professor Aftab Uddin of the Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology lead the study. AHM Shafiul Islam Mollah, a member of the Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR) also joined with them. Besides, 3 students of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, Dhaka University, Shammi Akhter, Mahbuba Ferdous, Badrul Haider, and Al Amin were also researchers.
Haseena Khan, who has been researching Jute for a long time, discovered various kinds of micro-organisms in Jute while studying the mystery of its life. The interest to know their characteristics basically leads to the new research.
Amazing information comes out of the study. More than 50 micro-organisms live in the grooves of Jute fibers. These include a bacterium called ‘Staphylococcus hominis’ that makes something from its own body that kills other bacteria. That means the bacterium is behaving like a deadly antibiotic. Researchers have identified 5 variants of this antibiotic. Two of these have already been mentioned in the report. Work is still going on with the effectiveness of the remaining 3.
Read: BUILD explores producing paper pulp from the whole jute plant
Efficacy of Homicorcin
Homicorcin can work very well in patients whose antibiotics are no longer working. This antibiotic can fight many powerful bacteria. There are some bacteria known as Superbugs that no conventional antibiotic can cure. This new antibiotic has also been successful in these cases.
There are basically two types of antibiotics. One is Broad-Spectrum, which works in all types of micro-organisms. Another is the Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative. With just one broad-spectrum antibiotic, resistance to many germs can be developed simultaneously. So researchers have found this category to be very effective. But the problem is - once the antimicrobial resistance builds up, the antibiotic no longer works. Happily, Homicorcin did not fall into the Broad-Spectrum category. Not only that, but it has also changed the earlier perception of researchers about the category of Gram-Positive and Gram-Negative.
Read: International tender called for reopening closed jute mills: Jute Minister
In the end
How quickly Homicorcin antibiotic reaches the public depends on adequate funding from the Government and pharmaceutical companies. It usually takes at least 5 years to market any antibiotic. Therefore, joint efforts of all Government and non-Government sectors to ensure a fast supply of this life-saving medicine are in high demand of time.
COVAX Facility: Japan to provide 30mn vaccine doses to other countries
Japanese Prime Minister Suga Yoshihide has expressed his country’s intention to provide around 30 million vaccine doses manufactured in Japan to other countries and regions, including through the COVAX Facility.
Prime Minister Suga who co-chaired the COVAX AMC (Advance Market Commitment) Summit virtually with Gavi Board Chair José Manuel Barroso on Wednesday said Japan will provide the vaccine doses at an appropriate time when the circumstances allow.
Read: UK recognises Bangladesh's Dr Jara as 'Vaccine Luminary'
The Japanese Prime Minister explained that Japan has always supported the efforts by the COVAX Facility, including through its financial contribution, amounting to US$ 200 million and announced Japan’s additional contribution of US$ 800 million.
In this context, as one of the largest contributors to the COVAX Facility, Japan welcomed the arrival of 106,000 doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech’s Covid-19 vaccine to Bangladesh on May 31, which was made possible through the COVAX AMC.
Read:1 lakh-plus Pfizer vaccine doses reach Dhaka
Japan will continue to cooperate with Bangladesh to suppress the spread of the Covid-19 and overcome this unprecedented crisis, said the Japanese Embassy in Dhaka.
The Summit, held on Wednesday, was organised to raise additional funds to secure necessary vaccines for developing countries by the end of 2021, in order to ensure through the COVAX Facility equitable access to safe, effective and quality-assured vaccines thereby overcoming the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read: Bangladesh approves emergency use of Pfizer vaccine
Participants in the Summit include leaders and ministers from about 40 countries, including Kamala Harris, Vice President of the United States of America, as well as António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General and other heads of international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and representatives from the civil society and the private companies such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Prime Minister Suga called for further solidarity and commitments from the international community in the fight against Covid-19, and expressed Japan’s full support for ensuring equitable access to safe and effective vaccines for as many people as possible with a view to achieving Universal Health Coverage guided by the principle of human security.
Finance Minister starts unveiling national budget
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has started presenting the national budget in Parliament for the 2021-22 fiscal year with a focus on health, agriculture, social safety nets and job creation. The finance minister began rolling out the Tk 603,681 crore budget around 3:05 pm outlining measures to save lives and create more jobs so that people can cope with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Read:Cabinet approves proposed budget for new fiscal The budget also has a big focus on disaster management and food security apart from addressing the Covid-related issues. This is the third time Mustafa Kamal presenting the budget themed as "Priority on lives and livelihoods, tomorrow's Bangladesh.", while it is the 13th budget in a row for the Awami League government and the 50th for the country. Earlier, President Abdul Hamid authenticated the national budget and the revised budget for placing before the Jatiya Sangsad.
Read: New national budget to be presented Thursday, aims at regaining fast economic growth The total revenue collection has fixed at Tk 389,000 crore, where National Board of Revenue (NBR) will collect Tk 330,000 crore while Tk 16,000 crore will come from non-NBR sector and Tk 43,000 will come from non-tax segment. Besides, Tk 3490 crore will come from foreign aid, grants and loans.
Read:President to attend parliament to witness budget presentation
Cabinet approves proposed budget for new fiscal
The Cabinet at a special meeting on Thursday approved the proposed 50th national budget for the fiscal year 2021-22, seeking to revive the pandemic-hit economy.
Read: New national budget to be presented Thursday, aims at regaining fast economic growth
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the meeting held at the cabinet room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, other ministers and state ministers concerned attended the meeting.
Read: President to attend parliament to witness budget presentation
The Finance Minister is set to unveil the proposed national budget for the 2021-22 fiscal year. He is scheduled to start unfolding his second budget at the Jatiya Sangsad at 3:00 pm.
The budget will be the third one of the present Awami League government formed through the December-30 general election held in 2018.Read:Parliament’s budget session set to begin Wednesday
Nine more Covid patients die at Rajshahi hospital
As many as nine Covid-19 patients have died at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Thursday.
Deputy Director of Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital, Saiful Ferdous, said, “The nine patients were undergoing treatment at the hospital. They succumbed to coronavirus after their condition worsened."
Read:Thakurgaon seals border areas to contain Covid
“Of the deceased, five were from Chapainawabganj district, two from Rajshahi, and one each from Naogaon and Pabna districts,” he added.
With the fresh deaths, the district's fatality count has reached 77 people since May 24.
Meanwhile, the hospital authorities are also struggling to deal with the sudden surge in Covid cases in the district. As many as 224 Covid-19 patients are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. Of the 224, some 101 are from Rajshahi district and 96 from Chapainawabganj district.
In the past 24 hours, some 29 people have been admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms. Of them, 14 are from Rajshahi district, 11 from Chapainawabganj, three from Naogaon and one from Pabna district, said sources at the hospital.
“Only critical Covid patients are being admitted to the hospital,” said Saiful.
Read: Bangladesh’s frontier districts brace for Covid ‘catastrophe’: Experts
It may be mentioned here that authorities in some border districts have already imposed strict restrictions for a week to contain the spread of coronavirus. This was after the government recently empowered the district authorities to take a call on lockdown restrictions in their respective areas.
Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Abdul Jalil announced the restrictions on Wednesday afternoon. No one will be allowed to step out of the house from 7 pm to 8 am in Rajshahi until June 9 unless there's an emergency.
All business establishments will remain shut and no vehicles are allowed to ply on the roads except those providing emergency services. However, restaurants and traders can provide their services online.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Wednesday recorded 34 new coronavirus-related deaths and some 2,000 fresh cases in 24 hours.
Health authorities detected 1,988 new cases after testing 20,259 samples during the period. The number of tests has also increased over the past one week.
Read: Covid protocols go for a toss at Sonahat Land Port
With the new cases, the total caseload has risen to 8,04,293, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The new deaths have pushed up the fatality count to 12,694.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.