Bangladesh has been judged as the most gender-equal country in South Asia for the eighth time in a row, according to a study by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The country has managed to stay ahead of its regional neighbours since 2014. But despite being the best performer in the region, Bangladesh slipped six notches to rank 71st among 146 countries on the WEF Global Gender Gap Report 2022, which benchmarks countries based on how close they are to reaching gender equality. The WEF prepares the index measuring gender-based gaps on four key dimensions – economic participation and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political empowerment. Read: Women's participation in climate action: 'Gender equality prerequisite for sustainable tomorrow' According to the 16th edition of the report published Wednesday, women in the country saw a decline in overall gender parity in 2022 from 2021. That was in part due to poorer performance on educational attainment as the gender gap in literacy widened. Bangladesh reported no changes in political empowerment (9th) and health and survival (129th). However, the country scored poorly in economic participation and opportunity – ranking 141, only ahead of Egypt, India, Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. There was a reduction in workforce participation for both men and women in Bangladesh, but the proportional impact was higher for women. However, the difference was counteracted slightly by an increase in the share of women engaged in professional and technical work as well as an increase in estimated earned income. Although no country has yet achieved full gender parity, the top 10 economies have closed at least 80 per cent of their gender gaps. Iceland became the most gender-equal country in the world for the 13th time, being the closest to achieving gender equality. Afghanistan was named as the least gender-equal country. Among the eight regions covered in the report, South Asia ranks the lowest. The lack of progress since the last edition extends the wait in the region to close the gender gap to 197 years, with broad stagnation across the gender parity scores of most countries. Also read: Swedish embassy stresses gender equality in labour market

Residents of Panchagarh woke up to one of the coldest mornings ever on Saturday, with the minimum temperature dropping to 8.3 degrees Celsius in Tetulia. The district has been experiencing bone-chilling cold for the last two days -- the minimum temperature was recorded at 11.2 and 10.1 degrees in Tetulia on Friday and Thursday, respectively. Tetulia, the last border town in northern Bangladesh, is no stranger to extreme cold. READ: Mild cold wave sweeps four districts According to the daily weather bulletin of the Bangladesh Meteorological Department (BMD), "Light rain is likely to occur at one or two places over Khulna, Barishal and Dhaka divisions." Weather may remain mainly dry with partly cloudy sky elsewhere over the country. Light to moderate fog may occur over the country from Saturday midnight to Sunday morning, according to the weather bulletin. Night temperature may rise by 1-2 degrees and day temperature may fall slightly over the country. READ: Mild cold wave grips parts of Bangladesh UNB Panchagarh correspondent reports: The cold weather has disrupted normal life in the district, hitting the poor, children, the elderly and the daily wagers hard. Mohammad Russel Shah, in-charge of Tetulia Weather Observatory Centre, said, “The temperature may remain unchanged in the next three to four days.”

Eds: Updates with correction Dhaka, Sept 26 (UNB) – Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Sunday voiced concern that both and the politics and politicians will disappear from Bangladesh if the ongoing ‘depoliticisation’ continues.“What’s going on in the country in the name of parliamentary democracy is not democracy as per the constitution,” he said.Speaking at a programme at Jatiya Party chairman’s Banani office, GM Quader alleged that ‘depoliticisation’ is going on in the country in the name of parliamentary democracy.“If this depoliticisation continues, people will move out of politics, and then there’ll be no politics and politicians in the country,” he observed.  To get rid of depoliticisation, the Jatiya Party chief said the Election Commission must be formed by enacting a law. “The Election Commission has to be strengthened with ensuring all its powers as per the constitution.” READ: Now people have ‘no interest’ in elections: GM Quader GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said free, fair, neutral and acceptable polls will be possible only if all the branches of the government, including the executive one, work under the Election Commission during the election period. He said people will start getting the taste of real democracy once their representatives are elected through fair elections.At the programme, some leaders who have recently been promoted to different posts greeted GM Quader with bouquets.     READ: Depoliticisation to diminish political parties: GM Quader Jatiya Party presidium members Shahidur Rahman Tepa, Advocate Rezaul Islam Bhuiyan, advisory council member Nazneen Sultana, organising secretary Syed Manzur Hossain Monju and office secretary MA Razzak Khan were, among others, present.