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Oct 03, 2020 NEWSLETTER |
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Bangladesh a success story under HPM Sheikh Hasina’s leadership Bangladesh maintained a strong GDP growth of 5.24% in FY 2019 -20 despite the corona pandemic, thanks to the timely initiatives taken by the government under the dynamic leadership of Honourable Prime Minister (HPM) Sheikh Hasina. This growth was the highest in Asia as the wheels of the economy kept moving in Bangladesh even during the pandemic. Due to the efforts led by the Bangladesh premier, the country has been successful in tackling the corona crisis and set a new example of successful economic recovery amid the global corona fallout. The government of HPM Sheikh Hasina so far announced 21 stimulus packages, which is 4.3% of the total GDP to offset the Covid-19 shocks on various sectors and help citizens cope with the economic crisis caused by the global pandemic. |
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HPM at UNGA: Ensure vaccine for all countries, Bangladesh capable of mass-scale vaccine production 
HPM Sheikh Hasina placed a call before the world community to treat the Covid-19 vaccine as a "global public good" and urged the United Nations to ensure its timely availability to all countries at a time. "We hope that the Covid-19 vaccine will soon be available in the world. It's imperative to treat the vaccine as a 'global public good'. We need to ensure the timely availability of this vaccine to all countries at the same time," she said. The Bangladesh Premier made the plea while virtually addressing the general debate at the 75th United Nations General Assembly in Bangla like she did in previous years following the footsteps of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. She said if Bangladesh is provided with the technical know-how and patents, the country's pharmaceutical industry has the capacity to go for vaccine production on a mass scale. |
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Bangladesh eyes blue economy for sustainable growth 
Bangladesh dreams a sustainable development through conserving and sustainability use of its seas and marine resources. The country is now enriched with a total of 1,18,813 square kilometers (sq km) of marine area. Keeping the concept of ‘Blue Economy’, HPM Sheikh Hasina led Awami League government has already formulated short, medium and long-term “Plan of Actions” with a view to conserving, controlled harnessing, managing and developing of fishes in the Bay of Bengal. When ocean-based industries, such as shipping, fisheries, energy and minerals, seaports, tourism and marine biotechnology will be built up they would contribute as key driving forces for flourishing country’s economy. |
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Bangladesh sets roadmap to battle corona second wave, recovery rate crosses 75% 
The government has decided to impose tougher health safety regulations in order to fight the second wave of coronavirus attack apprehended in the winter. Reportedly, as a first line of defence the government has decided to increase the number of corona lab tests to more than 13,000 by collecting oral and nasal cavity specimen samples every day. Also, the authorities concerned would enforce use of masks as mandatory for all in public places, promote hand washing and sanitising maintaining social distancing. Moreover, Coronavirus recovery rate has crossed 75% in the country as 1,753 more Covid-19 patients have made recovery in the last 24 hours. |
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HPM Sheikh Hasina advocates for cleaner, greener and safer world 
HPM Sheikh Hasina has said climate change, pandemics and the destruction of nature are common threats and these should unite all in working towards a common solution -- a cleaner, greener and safer world. "As we say in Bangla: 'Bhabia korio kaj, koria bhabio na' [think before you act, not after you're done], we should not do anything that cannot be reversed," she mentioned in her recent article published in the Financial Times, one of the world's most respected newspapers with its editorial offices located in London. She added that water is a matter of life and death in Bangladesh. "My country is a land of great rivers, vast coastlines and resilient people. But 2020 has been a test for us like no other," she wrote. |
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Solar home systems created 1,37,000 jobs: IRENA 
With a ray of hope, Bangladesh's solar energy industry's 5.8 million decentralised solar home systems have created around 137,400 jobs, said the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). Although most Bangladeshi solar jobs are in sales, installation and maintenance, some 10,000 people are also employed in module assembly," said the global intergovernmental organisation that supports countries in their transition to a sustainable energy future. Bangladesh's current renewable energy capacity stands at 648.95 megawatt (MW). Of which solar technology accounts for 415.02 MW, according to Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (SREDA). Of this, about 327.14 megawatt comes from off-grid power sources while on-grid solar accounts for 87.88 megawatt. |
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HPM Sheikh Hasina provides accommodation for 8,00,000 homeless people 
The government will build accommodations for 882,033 homeless families under three different projects across the country marking "Mujib Year" – the centennial birth anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has already made a list of the homeless people with the deputy commissioners (DCs), and the uniform design of the houses has been finalised. Each home would be built on 0.02 acres (2 decimal) of land and each unit would have: two bedrooms, a toilet, a kitchen, a veranda, and some open space. The homeless would get these houses in every district and upazila of the country. The premier, in 2014, directed them to create a database of landless and homeless people as well as people who have land but no home for rehabilitation. In that directive, she told the DCs to prepare the list and send it to her through the land ministry. |
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Bangladesh, USA sign air transport agreement 
Bangladesh and USA have formally signed an air transport agreement this week. From now on, this agreement will act as the primary basis to resume flight operation between the two countries. According to the agreement, both the countries will be able to operate flights between the two countries through code sharing. As per the agreement and on the basis of open-air policy both the countries can nominate any number of airlines as their designated airlines to operate flights between the two countries. The designated airlines of each country will be able to operate any number of passenger and cargo aircraft -- by any aircraft -- between the two countries under the open sky policy (third and fourth). |
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WB okays $200m for safe water, sanitation 
The World Bank approved $200 million to help Bangladesh improve access to safe water and sanitation services in rural areas. As part of the initiative, a project titled Bangladesh Rural Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Human Capital Development, will help about 600,000 people avail safe and clean water through large and small piped water schemes in rural areas. It will also provide access to improved sanitation services to over 3.6 million rural people. Through providing better access to water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities at homes and in public places and motivating people to adopt proper handwashing practices, the project will help prevent diseases and protect from infectious disease outbreaks, including the Covid-19 pandemic. Further, it will address urgent WASH needs during the Covid-19 pandemic in a quick and timely way. |
Bangladesh and India reviewed the entire gamut of bilateral relations at the foreign ministers level meeting held virtually in an example of Covid-19-time diplomacy. The JCC also fixed a summit between the two Honourable Prime Ministers – Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi – to be held in December on a virtual platform. Two foreign ministers - Dr. AK Abdul Momen and Dr. S Jaishankar – co-chaired the meeting styled ‘sixth India-Bangladesh Joint Consultative Commission (JCC)’. Meanwhile, both countries have agreed to conduct phase-3 trials of the Covid-19 vaccine in Bangladesh soon after the latter launches the trials there. |
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BANGLADESH AWAMI LEAGUE |
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