LATEST NEWS
21/04
The Business Standard: Rituraj from 'Baap Ka Beta' sets Guinness World Record as youngest book series author
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Rituraj Bhowmick Hriddo, has entered the Guinness World Records becoming the youngest person to publish a book series.
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The nine-year-old reached the hearts of millions across Bangladesh when he started appearing in Facebook videos with his dad during the pandemic under the name "Baap Ka Beta".
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Rituraj has written two books already – the first one "Goodwill Factory" written in 2022, followed by "Goodwill Factory 2". The books contain short stories, each with a different moral.
The Geopolitics: From Dhaka With Love: US-Bangladesh Relations on a Positive Track
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During the 50 years of diplomatic relations, Bangladesh and the US have succeeded in preserving a cordial, multi-dimensional and comprehensive partnership with each other.
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The rapidly growing political, economic, military, cultural and humanitarian ties between the two states continue to far outweigh the few irritants that are present in their otherwise ‘ideal’ bilateral relations. Therefore, in the wake of the Momen-Blinken meeting that ended on a positive note, it can be expected that while Bangladesh is likely to continue following its traditional policy of non-alignment in international politics, the US-Bangladeshi ties would continue to move in a positive direction, with the probability of the formation of a strategic partnership.
India Today: Homelessness to hope: How Ashrayan project is enabling Bangladesh’s inclusive growth
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The implementation of the Asharyan Project, under which homes are built for homeless and displaced people in Bangladesh, has played a key role in achieving the goals of poverty eradication, hunger eradication, gender equality and women's empowerment, among others.
Bdnews24: Bangladesh expects $2.25bn loan deal as Hasina is set to join World Bank event
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Sheikh Hasina will visit the US to attend an event celebrating 50 years of Bangladesh's relations with the World Bank after her trip to Japan, and Dhaka expects the signing of a $2.25 loan agreement at the event.
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An official at the ERD said the loan agreement, which includes budgetary support, could be signed in the prime minister's presence during the ceremony. He requested anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media about the agreement now.
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The World Bank will host the event at its headquarters in Washington on May 1, said Delwar Hossain, a joint secretary at the Economic Relations Division.
The Geopolitics: Why Does Bangladesh Hold a Strong Position in India’s Neighborhood First Policy?
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Being a South Asian nation and having a 4,096 km shared border with India on the three sides, Bangladesh is deemed a close ally of India in this region. Bangladesh and India have been relishing a sound relationship in every sphere since the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. In the bilateral rapport, along with sociocultural and identical resemblances, geographical proximity has been a core factor that brought strong impetus and bolstered the level of cooperation over the years.
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By the last decade, the economic, political, and geostrategic relations between the two countries have been elevated to a new height as a result of diverse initiatives taken by both Bangladesh and India. Of them, Neighborhood First Policy (NFP) is the leading strategy of the Narendra Modi government which prioritizes improving ties with its close neighbours in the region in which Bangladesh is envisaged as an indispensable facet.
New Age Bangladesh: Bangladesh to welcome EU, UK observers in upcoming general elections
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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said that they would welcome observers from the European Union and the United Kingdom in the upcoming general election.
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‘We will welcome observers from the European Union and the United Kingdom in the next general election,’ she said when the outgoing UK high commissioner in Dhaka Robert Chatterton Dickson paid a farewell call on her at her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka.
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The prime minister said the extreme poverty rate has declined to 5.6 per cent poverty while the poverty rate to 18.7 per cent due to having continuous democracy in Bangladesh.
The Star: Bangladesh jumps on the sustainability bandwagon
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Dhaka: With machines roaring, the construction work of Bangladesh’s Ghorashal-Polash Urea Fertiliser Project (GPUFP), set to be the country’s largest and first-ever green fertiliser factory in South Asia, is nearing completion.
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More than 850 Chinese employees from the China National Chemical Engineering & Construction Corp Seven Ltd (CC7), in collaboration with its Japanese partner Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), have been working round the clock to complete the mega project as scheduled.
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Since the project’s start in August 2020, more than 90% of the construction work has already been completed, GPUFP project director Mohammad Rajiour Rahman Mollick told Xinhua recently at the construction site, adding they can finish the project more than two months ahead of schedule, by December 2023.
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Once completed, it will become the biggest fertiliser factory in Bangladesh as well as one of the biggest in South Asia.
Xinhua Net: In Bangladesh, Hong Kong cap giant pulls shared prosperity out of a hat
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Pauline Ngan Po-ling, the founder of Unimas Sportswear Limited, a plant of Mainland Headwear Holdings Limited, poses for a group photo with local residents in Sylhet Division, northern Bangladesh, in 2017.
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A Hong Kong cap giant's story in Bangladesh is a testament to the power of entrepreneurship and the opportunities presented by the Belt and Road Initiative.
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At a factory about 45 minutes of drive away from the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka, tens of thousands of workers are busy on the production line, churning out over 200,000 hats each day for export to destinations around the globe.
The Daily Star: Turtle Venture Studio raises $1m fund
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Turtle Venture Studio, Bangladesh's first venture studio, has raised $1 million in its first round of funding, with Dekko ISHO Venture Capital (DIVC) as the lead investor.
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DIVC is a notable investor that focuses on sustainable business models and practices.
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This investment is an important milestone for both Turtle Venture Studio and DIVC and it highlights the growing interest in Bangladesh's entrepreneurial ecosystem, according to a statement.
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Turtle Venture Studio was established in 2022 by Saraban Tahura Turin and Anwar Sayef Anik, two young entrepreneurs with a mission to foster startups in Bangladesh and beyond.
Bdnews24: Quite optimistic about Bangladesh economy, says economist Forrest Cookson
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Instability in the global economy will make for a difficult year or so, but a strong private sector will power past it, the analyst believes
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Despite the doldrums of the world economy, the future for Bangladesh remains bright, believes economist Forrest E Cookson.
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“I am quite optimistic about the future because I think that the garment sector is very strong and it will expand quite rapidly,” the American analyst, who has lived in Bangladesh for over 30 years, said in an interview with bdnews24.com’s talk show ‘Inside Out’.
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“So I am very optimistic that the competitiveness of the economy, the strength of the export earners, the remittances and the garment sector will carry the economy very well for the next five to 10 years.”
Asia News Network: Where is Bangladesh in the global race towards renewable energy?
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The country was to bring changes by enhancing its overall power generation capacity. The energy mix, however, remains heavily dominated by fossil fuels.
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The last two years have been exciting for the renewable energy sector, as the energy market turmoil stoked by recent events, like the Russia-Ukraine war, gave an impetus for an accelerated green transition.
Asian News: ADB to give $230 million for Bangladesh flood victims’ rehabilitation
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The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will give Bangladesh $230 million in loans to help the rehabilitation and reconstruction efforts in the country’s north-eastern part affected by devastating floods in May and June last year.
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The assistance under the Flood Reconstruction Emergency Assistance Project will help in the reconstruction, improvement of resilience, and economic recovery of northeastern districts of Brahmanbaria, Habiganj, Kishoreganj, Moulvibazar, Mymensingh, Netrokona, Sherpur, Sunamganj and Sylhet.
The Diplomat: The Garment Dilemma in Indonesia-Bangladesh Trade Talks
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Like many preferential trade agreements, the one between Dhaka and Jakarta has involved a delicate balancing between promoting trade and protecting important industries.
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Bangladesh and Indonesia expect to sign a bilateral preferential trade agreement (PTA) shortly. On January 28, 2018, the two countries formed a trade negotiation committee (TNC), which has since held three meetings, with the fourth scheduled to take place next month in Indonesia. A final discussion, which is expected to conclude the PTA negotiations, may take place at the next meeting.
The Financial Express: Bangladesh cuts energy subsidy to extend targeted assistance: IMF
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Bangladesh is lowering subsidy expenditure to divert higher assistance to a targeted group of people who really deserves to get it.
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“They are reducing untargeted fiscal subsidies by making them more targeted to people affected by high energy and electricity prices...,” said Krishna Srinivasan, Director, Asia and Pacific Department, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
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At a press conference on Thursday in Washington DC, on the side-line of IMF/WB Spring Meetings on the Economic Outlook for Asia Pacific, he further said Bangladesh has “increased electricity and energy prices so that subsidy is channelled towards more targeted fiscal sides”.
Reuters: Bangladesh suffers widespread power outages during relentless heat
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Bangladesh is being forced to cut power to millions of people as a relentless heatwave leads to a surge in demand for power and thereby creates massive electricity supply shortfalls during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
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Highest temperatures in over 50 years - power minister. Overall power supply short of demand by 6.6% in the last 7 days. The average max weekly temperature is 12.5% higher than last year. Power shortages were reported in Indian states adjoining Bangladesh.
The Diplomat: Bangladesh’s Free Press Is Under Fire
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In recent weeks, Bangladesh has witnessed several intimidating attacks on journalists and their relatives, putting fresh constraints on its increasingly pressured media.
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However, growing global scrutiny and an upcoming visit to the U.S. could be forcing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to go slow on cracking down on the media.
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The haunting images of Rana Plaza are still seared in our consciousness. In the worst industrial accident since Bhopal, the collapse in 2013 of the clothing factory complex outside of Dhaka, Bangladesh, killed more than 1,100 workers, mostly young women, and injured another 2,500.
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Poorly constructed and weakened by the vibrations of a two-ton generator on the roof, the eight-story building had visible, growing cracks in its walls about which workers had warned their supervisors the day before the collapse. The workers were told they would lose their jobs if they refused to return, so they went back the following morning. Many ended up beneath the rubble.
Reuters: Bangladesh to pay Russia in yuan for nuclear plant
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Bangladesh and Russia have agreed to use yuan to settle payment for a nuclear plant Moscow is building in the South Asian country, a Bangladesh government official said on Monday.
Washington Post: Bangladesh to pay off Russian nuclear plant loan in Chinese currency
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Bangladesh has approved a payment of $318 million to a Russian nuclear power developer using the Chinese yuan, according to a Bangladeshi official, offering the latest instance of countries bypassing the U.S. dollar and using the Chinese currency to conduct international payments.
Bloomberg: Bangladesh to Pay Russia $300 Million in Yuan for Power Plant
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Bangladesh has agreed to pay Russia about $300 million in yuan currency to settle payment for building a nuclear power plant near the capital city Dhaka, according to two officials familiar with the matter.
Bloomberg: Bangladesh Garment Factories at Fire Risk as Temperatures Soar
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Bangladesh’s garment factories, a key source of foreign exchange for the South Asian nation, face the heightened risk of fires as summer temperatures soar, an industry lobby group warned.
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The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the main industry body in the world’s No. 2 exporter after China, issued 11 instructions to its 4,500 members over the weekend. These include powering off all machinery at night, including lights, fans, electric irons and boilers. Factories were asked to keep the entry and exits free for movement and ensure all gates and passages are open during working hours.