DHAKA, December 16 — Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after an August revolution, said Monday that general elections would be held late next year or in early 2026.
Pressure has been growing on Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus -- appointed the country's "chief adviser" after the student-led uprising that toppled ex-premier Sheikh Hasina in August -- to set a date.
The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer is leading a temporary administration to tackle what he has called the "extremely tough" challenge of restoring democratic institutions in the South Asian nation of about 170...
DHAKA, December 16 — Bangladesh's interim leader Muhammad Yunus, who heads the caretaker government installed after an August revolution, said Monday that general elections would be held late next year or in early 2026.
Pressure has been growing on Nobel Peace Prize winner Yunus -- appointed the country's "chief adviser" after the student-led uprising that toppled ex-premier Sheikh Hasina in August -- to set a date.
The 84-year-old microfinance pioneer is leading a temporary administration to tackle what he has called the "extremely tough" challenge of restoring democratic institutions in the South Asian nation of about 170...
Bangladesh eliminated defending champion India in the penalty shootout and set up the final showdown with host Nepal in the SAFF U20 Championship 2024. Substitute goalie Mohammed Aasif saved the two crucial spot kicks as Bangladesh beat India 4-3 in the penalty.
The UN says the world's population has hit eight billion, just 11 years after passing the seven-billion milestone.
After a big surge in the second half of the 20th Century, population growth may now begin to slow
It could take 15 years to reach nine billion and the UN doesn't expect to reach 10 billion until 2080.
It's hard to calculate the number of people in the world accurately, and the UN admits its sums could be out by a year or two.
But 15 November is its best estimate for the eight billion line to be crossed.
In previous years, the UN has selected babies to represent the five, six and seven-billionth children - so what can their stories tell us about world population growth?
A few minutes after he was born in July 1987, Matej Gaspar had a flashing camera in his tiny face and a gaggle of besuited politicians surrounding his exhausted mother.
Stuck at the back of a motorcade outside, British UN official Alex Marshall felt partially responsible for the momentary chaos he had brought upon this tiny maternity unit in the suburbs of Zagreb.
"We basically looked at the projections and dreamed up this idea that the world population would pass five billion in 1987," he says. "And the statistical date was 11 July." They decided to christen the world's five billionth baby.
When he went to the UN's demographers to clear the idea they were outraged.
"They explained to us ignorant people that we didn't know what we were doing. And we really shouldn't be picking out one individual among so many."
But they did it anyway. "It was about putting a face to the numbers," he says. "We found out where the secretary general was going to be that day and it went from there."
Thirty-five years later the world's five-billionth baby is trying to forget his ceremonious entry into the world. His Facebook page suggests he's living in Zagreb, happily married and working as a chemical engineer. But he avoids interviews and declined to speak to the BBC.
"Well, I don't blame him," Alex says, remembering the media circus of Matej's first day.
Since then, three billion more people have been added to our global community. But the next 35 years could see a rise of only two billion - and then the global population is likely to plateau.
Just outside Dhaka in Bangladesh, Sadia Sultana Oishee is helping her mum, peeling potatoes for dinner. She's 11 and would rather be outside playing football but her parents run a pretty tight ship.
The family had to move here when their business, selling fabric and saris, was hit by the pandemic. Life is less expensive in the village, so they can still afford to pay school fees for their three daughters.
Oishee is the youngest and the family's lucky charm. Born in 2011, she was named one of the world's seven-billionth babies.
Oishee's mum had no idea what was about to happen. She hadn't even expected to give birth that day. After a doctor's visit she was sent to the labour ward for an emergency Caesarean section.
Oishee arrived at one minute past midnight, surrounded by TV crews and local officials craning over each other to see her. The family were stunned but delighted.
Oishee's father had hoped for a boy but now he's happy with his three hard-working, intelligent daughters. His eldest is already in university and Oishee is determined to become a doctor. "We are not that well-off and Covid has made things harder," he says. "But I'll do everything to make her dream come true."
Since Oishee was born another 17 million people have been added to Bangladesh's growing population.
This growth is a great medical success story, but the rate at which Bangladesh is expanding has slowed enormously. In 1980 the average woman would have more than six children, now it is less than two. And that's thanks to the focus that the country has put on education. As women become more educated they choose to have smaller families.
This is crucial for understanding where the world's population is likely to go. The three main bodies that make projections on global population - the UN, the Institute of Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington and the IIASA-Wittgenstein Centre in Vienna - vary on the gains they expect in education.
The UN says the global population will peak in the 2080s at 10.4 billion but the IHME and Wittgenstein believe it will happen sooner - between 2060 and 2070, at less than 10 billion.
But these are just projections. Since Oishee was born in 2011 a lot has changed in the world, and demographers are constantly surprised.
"We were not expecting that the Aids mortality would fall so low, that treatment would be saving so many people," says Samir KC, a demographer at the IIASA. He's had to alter his model because an improvement in child mortality has a long-term impact, as surviving children go on to have children themselves.
And then there are the staggering drops in fertility.
Demographers were shocked when the number of children born per woman in South Korea dropped to an average of 0.81, Samir KC says. "So, how low will it go? This is the big question for us."
It is something more and more countries will have to grapple with.
While half of the next billion people will come from only eight countries - most of them in Africa - in most countries the fertility rate will be lower than 2.1 children per woman, the number necessary to sustain a population.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, one of the most rapidly declining populations in the world, 23-year-old Adnan Mevic thinks about this a lot.
"There is going to be nobody left to pay for pensions for retired people," he says. "All the young people will be gone."
He has a masters in economics and is looking for a job. If he can't find one he'll move to the EU. Like many parts of Eastern Europe, his country has been hit with the double-whammy of low fertility and high emigration.
Adnan lives outside Sarajevo with his mum, Fatima, who has surreal memories of his birth.
"I realised something was unusual because doctors and nurses were gathering around but I couldn't tell what was happening," Fatima says. When Adnan arrived, the then UN Secretary General Kofi Annan was there to christen him the world's six-billionth baby. "I was so tired, I don't know how I felt," Fatima recalls, laughing.
Adnan and his mum flick through photo albums. In one a tiny boy sits in front of a giant cake, flanked by men in suits and military khakis. "While other kids were having birthday parties, I was just visited by politicians," Adnan says.
But there were perks. Being the six-billionth baby led to an invitation to meet his hero, Cristiano Ronaldo, at Real Madrid, when he was 11.
He finds it stunning that in 23 years the world population has grown by two billion people.
"That's really a lot," he says. "I don't know how our beautiful planet will cope." (with inputs from BBC)
The Belt and Road Initiative, first announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping in 2013, has since developed into a global movement that is causing ripples around the globe. The BRI links three continents: Europe, Africa, and Asia via land and the Indian Ocean. Its major states are in South Asia, the intersection point where the continental "belt" meets the maritime "road," and it runs from Eurasia to Africa. Approximately 126 countries and 29 foreign organizations have signed 174 BRI partnership documents to date. Since the initiative's commencement in 2013, trade volumes between China and participating countries have surpassed $6 trillion, with over $80 billion invested. 300,000 new jobs have been generated. The Belt and Road Initiative looks to be a focus for the Chinese government in terms of creating strong international relationships and policy, rather than solely an economic venture. If accomplished, BRI transportation projects may cut travel times along economic corridors by 12%, improve commerce by 2.7 to 9.7%, raise income by up to 3.4 percent, and elevate 7.6 million people out of poverty.
China has emerged as a ray of hope for South Asian countries as a stable development partner to complement their development needs at a time when the global economy is slowing and Western donor funding is declining. This has gradually strengthened their economic relations with China, enabling them to continue to grow and expand.
South Asia has come out as a precedence area for BRI as South Asia is the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. China’s Belt and Road Initiative in South Asia includes four subprojects: China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), the Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar Economic Corridor (BCIM), the Trans-Himalaya Corridor, and China’s cooperation with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives under the 21st century Maritime Silk Road. BRI’s most up-and-coming project—the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC)—runs through South Asia, and BRI’s most critical country, India, is also located in South Asia. This connection allows China to minimize its reliance on shipping via Singapore and the Melaka Straits, while Pakistan benefits from infrastructure and industrial growth, along with a telecommunications network.
During the 2015/16 Indian blockade, Nepal realized the importance of diversifying its commercial and transportation connectivity with China. The Memorandum of Understanding was described as the most significant effort in the history of bilateral ties, heralding a new era of cross-border connectivity between the two countries.
Under BRI, Nepal has been offered access to China's four major ports in order to minimize Nepal's excessive dependence on India. This effort is regarded as one of the most enthusiastic infrastructure undertakings ever devised. With such compelling potential, Nepal could not have stayed silent. Nepal formally joined the BRI on May 12, 2017, five years after its inception, adding another vital strand to the amicable ties between the two countries.
Both Nepal and China have identified nine projects: upgrading the Rasuwagadhi-Kathmandu road; construction of the Kimathanka-Hile road; road construction from Dipayal to the Chinese border; the Tokha-Bidur road; the Galchhi-Rasuwagadhi-Kerung 400kv transmission line; the Kerung-Kathmandu rail; the 762MW Tamor hydroelectricity project; the 426MW Phuket Karnali hydro. With all of these initiatives on the horizon, the necessity to complete these projects must be the primary strategy for attracting finance and technology.
Not only will state participation be vital for Nepal's overall development under the BRI concept of collaboration, but so will social involvement. To obtain significant benefits from BRI involvement, Nepal must solve local, geopolitical, and cultural issues. It will be critical to invest in ground-level projects targeted at improving the living standards of the people. Researching collaborative academic potential to construct a green inclusive corridor can be a necessary step in this approach.
Nepal should have issued a precise proposal outlining the percentage of costs it would bear and the sum of funds it anticipates from China in the form of grants or low-interest loans.
The MCC Truth
MCC is one of the greatest grants received by Nepal from any government or agency in its history. MCC grant is not in the best interest of Nepal because of the following reasons:
a) This agreement allows for the involvement of US military units in Nepal, resulting in a similar scenario to that of Afghanistan;
b) It undermines Nepal's sovereignty/integrity;
c) The US wants to fulfill its vested interest by requiring this agreement to be approved by the parliament; and
d) It needs Nepal to acquire explicit permission from India before implementing the project.
Also, Article 5.1 of the agreement also states that if the MCC fund is discovered to be utilized or employed for helping military and police activities in Nepal, the United States government has the power to terminate this agreement. MCC is a component of the United States' Indo-Pacific Strategy, which includes military components geared at opposing China, a friendly neighbor. According to the MCC agreement, it states that provisions in the compact will take precedence over Nepal's current laws in the event of a conflict, which requires parliamentary confirmation. The MCC is the first grant agreement that must be approved by Parliament which makes it more controversial.
Friends of Silk Road is a regional organization consisting of Bangladesh, Malaysia, Nepal and Pakistan, Thailand, Sri Lanka and others. The objective of the FOSR is to promote cooperation between the countries in various spheres including trade and investment and discuss issues such as economic development strategies and youth policies in different fields.
“Friends of Silk Road- Nepal '' is an initiative that brings people’s platform bringing together different segments of society. FOSR- Nepal started with representatives from communities, politicians, the media, commercial and opinion leaders, youth and women, professionals and civil society, learners and academics. The forum aimed to provide a deeper understanding as well as information about the advantages of the rewards of development and growth afforded by the multiple opportunities originating from the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative.
China's BRI has already started to invest in smaller South Asian countries like Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives while MCC is also targeting these same countries for infrastructure and networking initiatives. With a total population of 2.5 billion people, South Asia is a lucrative market to invest in and participate in. One-fifth of the South Asian population are youth aged between 14-24 years. Hence, BRI has tremendous economic potential in South Asia.
Nepal should commit to a non-alignment foreign policy, promote BRI, by protecting national interests by focusing on transparency and liability. It is prudent for Nepal to accept grants and Foreign Direct Investment, but only in key areas, in order to promote productivity, the environment, social coordination, employment, and long-term development.
Politicians and officials are concerned about what India will think if Nepal pursues the BRI projects. With geopolitical pressure mounting, the political leadership has remained hesitant to move the BRI forward. To move ahead, the Belt and Road Initiative necessitates a strong political will. Nepal must clearly define its goals in terms of which sectors take international loans, which accept only international grants, and which take soft loans or subsidized loans.
KATHMANDU, May 20: Remdesivir, the medicine used for treatment of COVID-19 infected people, is to be manufactured within country itself.
This medicine is to be produced in Nepal after the Department of Drug Administration gave permission for the same.
Department's information officer Santosh KC said the Birgunj-based National Health Care has been given permission for manufacturing the medicine. He added that the permission has been given after observeing all the infrastructures of the pharmaceutical company.
Before this, Remdesivir was imported from India and Bangladesh. The medicine costs approximately Rs 5,000.
Vice President of National Health Care, Ajaya Pandey, said they are preparing to bring raw materials for the medicine from China after getting the permission.
According to him, the raw materials would be brought within May 31. The medicine would be produced in 15 days from that date and supplied to the market.
