Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus began a hectic second day at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday, with a packed schedule of at least 14 meetings planned as part of his extensive engagements with global leaders. Dr Yunus had his first meeting on the day with the Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks, Federal Chancellery of Germany, Wolfgang Schmidt, Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder told UNB. CA Yunus calls for putting global focus back on Rohingya crisis as it gets complicated Principal Coordinator on SDGs Affairs Lamiya Morshed and Secretary (West) M Riaz Hamidullah were, among others, present at the meeting held on the sidelines of the WEF annual meeting. The Chief Adviser also held separate meetings with King Philippe, Kingdom of Belgium, and Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, DPS Azad said. Meeting with Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, United Arab Emirates, is among the key engagements of Dr Yunus scheduled for today (Wednesday). Dr Yunus holds high-level meetings in Davos Dr Yunus arrived here on Tuesday afternoon to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos and had six meetings with the global leaders since his arrival. Earlier, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN in Geneva Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam received the Chief Adviser at the Zurich International Airport upon his arrival. Chief Adviser's Special Envoy on International Affairs Lutfey Siddiqi, Principal Coordinator on SDGs Affairs (Senior Secretary) Lamiya Morshed, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam and Secretary (West) M Riaz Hamidullah are, among others, accompany Dr Yunus. The annual meeting 2025 brought global leaders to address key global and regional challenges. Talks with Dr Yunus: Finland President seeks Global South's proactive roles in major global affairs These include responding to geopolitical shocks, stimulating growth to improve living standards, and stewarding just and inclusive energy transition. This year's meeting convened under the theme 'Collaboration for the Intelligent Age' and the programme will be oriented around five distinct but highly interconnected thematic priorities: The meeting brings together nearly 3,000 leaders from over 130 countries, and 350 governmental leaders, including 60 heads of states and governments, from all key regions.

The wealth of billionaires worldwide grew three times faster in 2024 than the previous year, with four new billionaires emerging each week, according to a report by Oxfam International. Released to coincide with the opening of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, the study predicts the emergence of at least five trillionaires within the next decade, a stark increase from last year’s forecast of just one trillionaire. The anti-poverty organisation’s findings underscore a “dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people,” as warned by outgoing US President Joe Biden. Titled “Takers Not Makers,” Oxfam’s report highlights that poverty levels have stagnated globally since 1990, while billionaire wealth surged by $2 trillion in 2024 alone—an average of $5.7 billion per day. BB to fix single exchange rate for US dollar soon A Call to Address the ‘New Aristocracy’ Oxfam’s Executive Director, Amitabh Behar, criticised the growing influence of billionaires in shaping global economic and social policies. “The economic system we’ve created enables billionaires to further consolidate wealth, giving them unprecedented power over policy decisions,” he said, pointing to a broader systemic issue beyond individual fortunes. This year’s Davos summit, attended by 3,000 business executives, academics, government officials, and civic leaders, opens amid growing concern about inequality. President-elect Donald Trump—known for his pro-wealth policies and close ties to multibillionaire Elon Musk—is set to participate via video later this week. Critics, including Oxfam, argue that the world’s “new aristocracy” continues to benefit disproportionately from the current economic framework. Oxfam’s recommendations include taxing the richest individuals, breaking up monopolies, capping CEO pay, and implementing regulations to ensure corporations pay living wages. “Governments must act decisively to dismantle this new aristocracy and create a more equitable economic system,” Behar stated. The State of Global Poverty While billionaire wealth flourishes, poverty persists. Oxfam’s analysis, using Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaire List and World Bank data, reveals that the number of people living on less than $6.85 per day has “barely changed” since 1990. It also notes stark global inequalities: low- and middle-income nations allocate nearly half their budgets to debt repayments, and life expectancy in Africa remains at 64 years compared to 79 years in Europe. Bangladesh Bank identifies reasons behind increased dollar demand The group reported that 204 new billionaires were created in 2024, bringing the global total to 2,769. It also highlighted that three-fifths of billionaire wealth stems from inheritance, monopoly power, or “crony connections.” Davos’ Focus Amid Growing Divides Despite mounting calls for action, this year’s Davos agenda appears poised to focus on wealth generation and technological advancements. Artificial intelligence, in particular, is a key topic, with discussions centred on its potential to enhance business efficiencies despite fears of widespread job displacement. The forum’s annual “Global Risks Report,” based on a survey of 900 experts, identified international conflicts as the top concern, followed by extreme weather, economic confrontations, and misinformation. Protests demanding greater economic equality have already begun, with activists blocking roads to Davos and disrupting the event’s logistics. 13 banks submit answers to central bank for unusual dollar purchases that hiked exchange rate A Systemic Challenge Oxfam’s findings and the broader themes of the Davos summit underline the urgent need for systemic change. While the ultra-wealthy continue to accumulate power and resources, the persistent stagnation of global poverty levels highlights the widening chasm between rich and poor. Whether the WEF’s attendees will address these disparities remains to be seen, but the calls for a fairer global economy are growing louder.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to accelerate a more equitable energy transition and build trust for the technology throughout the industry, according to a new report of the World Economic Forum (WEF). As the impacts of climate change become more visible worldwide, governments and industries face the urgent challenge of transitioning to a low-carbon global energy system. Digital technologies – particularly AI – are key enablers for this transition and have the potential to deliver the energy sector's climate goals more rapidly and at a lower cost. Written in collaboration with BloombergNEF and Deutsche Energie-Agentur (dena) – the German Energy Agency – the new report "Harnessing Artificial Intelligence to Accelerate the Energy Transition" finds that AI has the potential to create substantial value for the global energy transition. Based on BNEF's net-zero scenario modelling, every 1% of additional efficiency in demand creates $1.3 trillion in value between 2020 and 2050 due to reduced investment needs. AI could achieve this by enabling greater energy efficiency and flexing demand. "AI is already making its mark on many parts of society and the economy. In energy, we are only seeing the beginning of what AI can do to speed up the transition to the low-emissions, ultra-efficient and interconnected energy systems we need tomorrow. This report shows the potential and what it will take to unlock it – guided by principles that span how to govern, design and enable responsible use of AI in energy. Governments and companies can collectively create a real tipping point in using AI for a faster energy transition," said Roberto Bocca, head of energy at the WEF. "As dena, we have been focusing on digital technologies for years. Especially with our 'Future Energy Lab' we are boosting AI projects. AI is an essential technology for the energy transition since it will provide the glue to connect the different sectors (power, heat, mobility and industry) and serve as digital technology to effectively monitor systems and processes. To efficiently control the energy system of the future, which will be very volatile due to renewable energies, such agent-based control will play an overarching role," said Andreas Kuhlmann, chief executive officer of dena. High priority applications for how AI can accelerate the transition to a low-carbon energy future include identifying patterns and insights in data to increase efficiency and savings. According to BNEF's net-zero scenarios, fully decarbonising the global energy system will require between $92 trillion and $173 trillion of investments in energy infrastructure between 2020 and 2050. Even single-digit percentage gains in flexibility, efficiency, or capacity in clean energy and low-carbon infrastructure systems can therefore lead to trillions of dollars in value and savings. Also, as electricity supplies more sectors and applications, the power sector is becoming the core pillar of the global energy supply. Ramping up renewable energy deployment to decarbonise the globally expanding power sector will mean more power is supplied by intermittent sources (such as solar and wind), creating a need for better forecasting, greater coordination, and more flexible consumption to ensure that power grids can be operated safely and reliably, according to the WEF. In addition, the transition to low-carbon energy systems is driving the rapid growth of distributed power generation, distributed storage, and advanced demand response capabilities, which will need to be orchestrated and integrated into much more networked, transactional power grids. Navigating these opportunities presents huge strategic and operational challenges for energy-intensive sectors and energy systems themselves, just as they are undergoing once-in-a-lifetime digital transformations. AI can act as an intelligent layer across many applications and can identify patterns and insights in data, "learn" lessons accurately and improve system performance over time, and predict and model possible outcomes for complex, multivariate situations, according to the WEF.

Top US immunologist said on Monday that in the US, one of the key lessons from the current COVID-19 outbreak is the challenges of the divisiveness and politicization of the health crisis.