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Nov 28, 2020 NEWSLETTER |
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Bangladesh takes massive Covid vaccination plan The government has drawn up a plan to roll out Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh, once available in the world, with the assurances of getting 100 million doses by 2021 which can cover most of the over 160 million population in the country. According to media reports, the country is expecting to receive around 68 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine from the GAVI – the global alliance for vaccine – by 2021 while efforts are put in place on finalising the ‘National Vaccine Deployment Plan’. The government earlier signed a deal to buy 30 million doses of Oxford vaccine from India's Serum Institute via Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd once approved by the WHO. Experts have lauded the government for ramping up its efforts to get Covid vaccines. The health ministry has started drawing up the list of those who will be vaccinated against Covid-19 in the first phase. In this phase, doctors, nurses and health workers will be vaccinated first. Citizens aged above 60 will get vaccines then. |
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Bangladesh improves on terrorism risk 
Slowly but steadily, Bangladesh has been making improvement in tackling terrorism since 2018, according to the Global Terrorism Index (GTI). The country has moved two notches up to the 33rd position among 135 places and scored 4.909 out of 10 in the eighth edition of the index released by the Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP) – a think-tank based in Sydney, Australia – recently. Last year, the country went six steps up to rank 31st from the 25th place in the 2018 report. The GTI scores each country on a scale from 0 to 10, where 0 represents no impact of terrorism and 10 represents the highest measurable impact of terrorism. A higher rank with a lower score indicates lower impact of terrorism. |
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HPM Sheikh Hasina made co- chair of global body on antimicrobial resistance 
Honourable Prime Minister (HPM) Sheikh Hasina has been made co-chair of One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) along with her Barbados counterpart Mia Amor Mottley. The AMR made an announcement in this regard on Friday. The two premiers will hold the post for three years. One Health Global Leaders Group on Antimicrobial Resistance, a group jointly initiated by World Health Organisation, Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Organisation for Animal Health (Oie), was formed in response to a recommendation from the Interagency Coordination Group on Antimicrobial Resistance. It is supported by the UN secretary-general. |
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Bangladesh ahead in graduating from LDC Status 
Bangladesh is going to compete in the second review of a UN panel next year for graduation to a developing country from a least developed one as it met all the three criteria for getting out of the LDC bloc. Dhaka has already sent the latest status report on the three eligibility criteria -- Gross National Income (GNI) per capita, Human Assets Index (HAI) and Economic Vulnerability Index (EVI) -- to the UN Committee for Development Policy (CDP) that makes assessment for the graduation on the basis of the indices. In all the three criteria, Bangladesh is well ahead of the required thresholds. It has performed better in two categories -- GNI and HAI -- than that in 2018 when it got the first recommendation from the CDP for graduating to a developing country. |
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Bangladesh, Dominica sign agreement to establish diplomatic ties 
Bangladesh and Dominica, an island nation located in the Caribbean region, have signed an agreement to establish diplomatic relations. "Both countries, under the agreement, will develop a friendly relation on various fields of mutual interests, including political, economic, social, cultural, scientific and humanitarian issues. Though Dominica is an agriculture-based country, a modern economic structure is forming there following the influx of foreign aids and the duty-free access to the markets of developed countries, including the United States and the European Union. There are scopes for the employment of Bangladeshis, as well as, market for readymade garment and other commodities manufactured in Bangladesh,” according to media reports. The agreement will also help the countries strengthening support over various international issues. |
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South Korea to provide $50m in budget support 
South Korea has agreed to provide $50 million in budget support to Bangladesh to help the country continue its fight against the coronavirus pandemic. In June, Bangladesh had urged the South Korean government for financial aid amid the crisis. And recently, the South Korean embassy in Dhaka informed both the finance and the foreign affairs ministries that Seoul has accepted Bangladesh's request. As such, the government of South Korea will provide $50 million loan under the Economic Development Cooperation Fund to help Bangladesh address the Covid-19 fallout. |
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$594 million project launched for six-lane highway 
The government on Tuesday launched a project to upgrade Jhenidah-Jashore road (N-7) into a six-lane highway to turn it into a regional transport corridor. The 48.50km important road will be upgraded with service lanes on both sides under Western Economic Corridor and Regional Enhancement Programme (WeCARE) Phase: Jhenidah-Jashore Highway (N-7) Development project. The main project operations of rural connectivity project of WeCARE Phase-1 include 611km road development, installation of 120 waste management units, maintenance of 611km upazila, union and village Road. |
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BANGLADESH AWAMI LEAGUE |
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