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June 12, 2021 NEWSLETTER |
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Bangladesh elected vice president of 76th UNGA session Bangladesh has been elected vice president of the upcoming 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) from the Asia-Pacific Region for a one-year term starting September this year. The election was held recently at the UNGA where Bangladesh was elected unanimously. This landmark accomplishment stands out as a testament to the country’s growing economic stature under the able leadership of Honourable Prime Minister (HPM) Sheikh Hasina, alongside her relentless efforts in countering terror and extremist groups with an eye on creating stability in South Asia and Bay of Bengal region. After the election, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Ambassador Rabab Fatima was quoted by media as saying “Bangladesh is a flag bearer of multilateralism and believes in the leadership of the UN in addressing the complex challenges facing the current world”. |
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HPM Sheikh Hasina inaugurates model mosques to fend off social vices 
During her address at the inauguration ceremony of 50 model mosques and Islamic cultural centers, HPM Sheikh Hasina said model mosques across the country are being established to provide education, create awareness and increase knowledge about Islam among the people to prevent different social menaces. “Awareness has to be built in society against drugs, women repression, child repression and sexual abuse as like as the measures taken against terrorism, and we wanted to establish these mosques in such ways to provide all types of education, create awareness and increase knowledge about Islam,” she said. As many as 50 model mosques, out of a total of 560, have been inaugurated simultaneously across Bangladesh last week, marking Mujib Year with an aim to preach the true message of Islam to eliminate religious misconceptions. |
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School feeding scheme rolls on amid pandemic 
The government has kept running the school feeding programme for the primary school students despite the coronavirus pandemic, aiming to increase student enrollment and attendance rate, prevent dropouts and meet the daily nutritional needs of impoverished students. Under the scheme, students aged between 3 and 12 years are provided the cookies that will meet at least 30% of their daily calorie requirements, and 50% of daily micronutrients requirements. Introduced by HPM Sheikh Hasina in 2010, the initiative helped the government bring about 2.6 million school kids from 86 upazilas under the feeding initiative while some 3 million children from 15,788 primary schools in 104 upazilas are getting the benefits in the span of the said times. |
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Bangladesh extends Covid curbs by another 10 days, free Covid tests for northern residents on cards 
The government has decided to extend ongoing lockdown restrictions by 10 more days to Jun 16 as the coronavirus pandemic continues to roil Bangladesh, mostly the bordering districts with India. In light of the sudden surge in positivity rates, efforts are underway to waive coronavirus testing fee in the northern districts so that more people are tested during the ongoing surge in positivity rates, which are especially high in those regions. Moreover, another decision has been taken to extend the shutdown of schools and other educational institutions until June 30. Meanwhile, the ongoing banking hours from 10am to 3pm have been extended until June 16 for facilitating the financial transaction of their clients during the lockdown. |
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Bangladesh to get over 1 million AstraZeneca vaccine doses under COVAX 
Bangladesh is going to receive 1 million 800 shots of AstraZeneca vaccines under the Covax programme, a worldwide initiative aimed at equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines. On the other hand, efforts are set in motion to send two aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force for China tonight to bring 600,000 Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine shots, said media reports. Owing to a deal signed with Serum Institute of India, Bangladesh started its mass vaccination campaign last February using COVISHIELD, the vaccine developed by the UK's University of Oxford and Anglo-Swedish company AstraZeneca, while he first dose of the vaccine has been administered to over 5.8 million people since the scheme rolled out. |
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Construction work on 3rd HSIA terminal to be completed ahead of time 
The construction work of the country’s third terminal at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport is continuing at rapid progress with renewed hope over completion of the work ahead of the scheduled deadline. According to media reports, the terminal of 542,000 square meters has 36 aircraft aprons (aircraft parking space) while the most spectacular aspect of the terminal is its state-of-the-art building with all the significant and sophisticated technologies are included. The terminal will have Metrorail connection inside the terminal building, self check-in, e-gate, straight escalator (flat lift), three types of sophisticated baggage belts, baby care, children's play area, first aid, movie lounge, food court, and 27 baggage scanning machines and 11 body scanners. |
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‘One Country, One Rate’: Bangladesh fixes uniform rate for broadband internet 
The government has fixed a uniform broadband internet tariff for all subscribers across the country irrespective of locations. From now, the subscribers will pay around $6 for an internet connection with 5 megabytes per second (mbps) speed, $10 for 10 mbps connection and $13 for a 20 mbps connection. Thanks to the introduction of a raft of measures, introduced by Bangladesh Awami League in 2009 under its electoral pledge of Digital Bangladesh, a scheme aiming to transforming the country into a technologically advanced one, the country has marked a significant rise in countrywide internet usage with 10 million broadband connections that accounts for 58% of country’s total bandwidth. |
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Bangladesh to pay migrant workers in Saudi Arabia for hotel quarantine 
All the Saudi-bound workers, including the aspirant migrants who have BMET smart cards or who are registered as the members of Wage Earners Welfare Board will also get the government subsidy for hotel quarantine in Saudi Arabia. The expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry made the announcement last week, saying that the expatriates who have travelled to or are travelling to the Gulf kingdom between May 20 and Jun 30 will get the allowance. As per Saudi rules to prevent the spread the coronavirus amid the pandemic, Bangladeshis must quarantine at hotels there for seven days at their own expense upon arrival. Bangladesh, depending much on the money remitted by the expatriates, has decided to ease the burden on the workers by subsidising the hotel quarantine cost through the Wage Earners’ Welfare Trust Board under expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment ministry. |
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BANGLADESH AWAMI LEAGUE |
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