Sep 15, 2018
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Bangladesh’s literacy rate jumps 60 points to 72.9% in a year
The literacy rate in Bangladesh has risen by 60 basis points to 72.9% in the last one year, owing to a raft of measures, as put in place by the government. Moreover, the Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) is implementing a literacy programme across the country to make 4.5 million people aged between 15-45 years literate and skilled. This Act-2014 has been enacted to facilitate the underprivileged people with education, create alternative opportunity of education to the children dropped out of schools, and check school dropout rate.
Over the course of last ten years, the rate of poverty has reduced to 22% from 40 as a result of the various development works undertaken by the Awami League government under the leadership of Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. The government has executed huge development works alongside taking time-befitting measures and formulating policies such as setting up 100 economic zones and generating 20,000 megawatt of power which has helped to reduce poverty rate to 22%. The garment industry is now contributing 15% to the GDP (Gross Domestic Products) with amounts to $30 billion.
World Health Organization Director General Tedros Ghebreyesus praised Bangladesh's exemplary role in sheltering Rohingyas and said such a well-organised and well-coordinated camp healthcare for a displaced population was not found anywhere in the world. The applauds came at the 71st Regional Committee Meeting of the Health Ministers of the World Health Organization (WHO) of South-East Asia Region. At the meeting, a special award was given to Bangladesh for outstanding performances in the control of rubella and congenital rubella syndrome.
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
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1.5 million tonnes of food stock in country:
The food grain stock in the country till September 5, is 1.3 million 42 thousand 785 tonnes of rice, 18 thousand 140 metric tonnes of paddy and 2 lakh 35 thousand 849 tonnes of wheat. During the year of 2017-2018, the government collected 6,01,984 metric tonnes of rice from domestic source against the target of 6,02,000 tonne in the Aman season. The government procured 12,02,665 metric tonnes of rice and 20,668 metric tonnes of paddy, as of the said time.
The government has provided $ 716 millionb as subsidies for the agriculture sector in the last nine years. Highest subsidies were more Taka 58,129 crore which was given to the fertilizer sector. After coming to power, the present government has increased the subsidy for fertilizer by reducing its price. Even the farmers are able to produce crop at minimum cost due to providing subsidies to the electricity sector. Consequently, the country now achieve 4th position in paddy production, 7th position in potato production and 3rd position in vegetable production.
GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT
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The Asian Development Bank has signed deals with Bangladesh to provide $357 million in loans and $7.5 million in grants for power infrastructure. DB assistance aims to underpin the current impressive pace of growth and development by making power generation, transmission and distribution systems more efficient, reliable, and environmentally friendly. The project will promote business expansion, and create employment opportunities for local communities, including poor and socially disadvantaged people in southern and western zones of Bangladesh. The ADB previously helped build power infrastructure in Bangladesh, including the 800MW power plant in Khulna.
India has started supplying an additional 500MW of electricity to Bangladesh as part of the neighbours’ cooperation in the energy sector. The power transfer from the West Bengal’s Baharampur grid to Kushtia’s Bheramara was inaugurated by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in Dhaka and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi via videoconference on Monday. The two prime ministers officially inaugurated the newly-built 500MW High-Voltage DC Back-to-Back Station 2nd Block on the occasion.
The Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will invest $270 million in a water supply and sanitation project in Bangladesh. The objective of the project titled “Bangladesh Municipal Water Supply and Sanitation Project’ is to increase access to safe water supply and sanitation (WSS) services in selected municipalities and strengthen the institutional captivity of the municipalities for delivering improved WSS services. The AIIB has already invested up to $274 million in energy projects in Bangladesh. The investment hopes to provide 2.5 million service connections for rural consumers, upgrade two grid substations and change 85km of overhead lines to underground cables. The project is to be completed by 2019.
TRADE AMD INVESTMENT
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The overall value of Bangladesh's exports to the US increased 5.83% year-on-year to $3.63 billion in the first seven months this year propelled by higher apparel shipments, US Census Bureau data shows. Export of apparel items grew 5.61% to $3.21 billion while Bangladesh moved to the third position from sixth with respect to garment export to the US, according to data from the US Office of Textile and Apparel (OTEXA). Of Bangladesh's total export value, garment items account for over 90%.
The government has announced 10% cash incentives for nine more products, including pharmaceuticals, motorcycles, ceramics, and hats. In order to encourage the exporters, the subsidy is being given for the current fiscal year. Exporters will get 10% cash incentives for nine products, including pharmaceuticals, photovoltaic modules, motorcycles, chemicals (chlorine, hydrochloric acid, caustic soda and hydrogen peroxide), razors and razor blades, ceramic products, hat, and crab, it said. With the subsidy to the products, the total number of subsidised products is now 35, which will receive the subsidy from Jul 1, 2018 to Jun 30, 2019.
INTERNATIONAL AND REGIONAL COOPERATION
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Foreign Minister of Estonia Sven Mikser expressed interest in market development in the digital sector of Bangladesh with an offer of sharing Estonian expertise in e-governance and digitalisation both with the government and private sectors. In the meeting, he informed that Estonia is the most digitally connected country in the world and their government has implemented e-government system in every sector, including education, banking, security, land management, taxation and healthcare.
Islamic Development Bank (IsDB) President Dr Bandar MH Hajjar said Bangladesh is now a role model of development for the IsDB member countries, particularly the African ones, as it has been attaining higher growth on a continued basis. The geographical location of Bangladesh in terms of strategic aspect is very much important. Apart from this, Bangladesh has a lot of success stories in the socio-economic fields. The country has been attaining around 7% growth on a continued basis, he added.
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