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Dec 27, 2020 NEWSLETTER |
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90 million Covid vaccine doses coming by June, 87% recovery in Bangladesh Bangladesh would get Covid-19 vaccine for a total of 450 million people within May or June given that 30 million doses of vaccine for 15 million will arrive in the country at the end of January or first week of February while another 60 million doses for 30 million people within May or June. Moreover, over 87% of the total confirmed Covid-19 patients have recovered in Bangladesh, according to the latest figure of the health department, thanks to a raft of measures to build awareness across the country by the government. Meanwhile, following the emergence of a new variant of coronavirus in the kingdom, a move ensuring seven days quarantine has been imposed for air travellers from the UK without Covid-19 negative certificates. |
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Human Development Index: Bangladesh marks significant gains 
Bangladesh has made impressive progress in human development as the country’s Human Development Index (HDI) value increased by 60.4% between 1990 and 2019, a new report says. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published on Monday, Bangladesh’s 2019 HDI is above the average for countries in the medium human development group. The country’s life expectancy at birth rose by 14.4 years, mean years of schooling went up by 3.4 years, and expected years of schooling increased by 6 years in between 1990-2019, the report mentioned. Its GNI per capita has also risen by about 220.1% during the time, it added. The report titled “The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene” launched in Bangladesh last week, six days after the global launch, includes a new experimental index on human progress. |
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Bangladesh climbs up 8 notches on cyber security index 
Bangladesh has improved by eight steps in the National Cyber Security Index (NCSI) of Estonia based e- Governance Foundation. The index was compiled by the NCSI to assess the countries’ preparedness for basic cyber attacks and their efforts in managing cyber-crime and major crises. The five-step indicators based on which the ranks are given, are: National Cyber Threat Identification, National Cyber Security System and Capability Identification, Selection of Important and Measurable Issues, Cyber Security Indicators and Development of Cyber Security Indicators. In the index, Bangladesh ranks second among South Asian countries with a score of 44.16. |
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Bangladesh's largest solar power plant connected to national grid 
The country's largest solar power plant at Mymensingh has been connected to the national grid. The plant has the capacity to generate 73 MW of electricity, which will help meet the government’s target of generating 10% of the country’s total electricity through using renewable energy by 2021. With a 173K solar panel and 332 inverters, the solar power plant was fully installed with Huawei Smart photovoltaic (PV) solution to connect to the national grid. A photovoltaic system, also PV system or solar power system, is a power system designed to supply usable solar power by means of photovoltaics. |
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Vit-A plus campaign a ‘win for Bangladesh’: Unicef 
The UN children agency, Unicef, considers the Vitamin-A plus campaign a 'win' for Bangladesh as it reached 97% of the target despite the pandemic. The two-week National Vitamin A plus campaign that took place in October reached 20.8 million children aged between 6 months and 5 years with the important immunity boosting supplement. “This is a very important win for children in Bangladesh. The campaign was adapted to ensure safety for health workers, children and parents while achieving remarkable coverage,” according to Tomoo Hozumi, UNICEF Representative in Bangladesh, as quoted by media outlets. This year’s campaign was held over 12 days instead of the usual one-day campaign to avoid large gatherings. Over 120,000 distribution centres supported the campaign, with health workers and volunteers ensuring infection prevention control practices, including appropriate mask use, physical distancing and handwashing facilities for parents and children. |
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Cabinet approves policy to ensure safe food 
The Cabinet last week approved the draft of the Bangladesh Agricultural Good Practices Policy, 2020 in order to ensure safe and quality agricultural products by applying good practices in the entire production-to-consumption chain. The policy has been introduced to exercise good practices in all stages including breeding, collection, preservation, marketing and consumption. The major objectives of the policy include ensuring sustainable production of safe and nutritious crops, production of environment-tolerant crops and the safety and welfare of the agricultural workers. |
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E-commerce payment made easier for buyers abroad
Bangladesh Bank brought ease to e-commerce payment methods meant for buyers abroad, a development that would draw more attention to Bangladeshi products from overseas consumers. Cross-border exports under e-commerce were earlier allowed only against payments received over the internet before shipment. From now on, local exporters will be allowed to realise the payment after shipping the goods. This means foreign payment service providers, which are dedicated to settling transactions between overseas consumers and local exporters, will get relief from having to enable payments before the release of products by exporters. |
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BANGLADESH AWAMI LEAGUE |
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