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English language What the papers say

All of the country now has access to energy

Prime minister inaugurates new coal power plant and brings access to energy to all

Dhaka and Moscow want to bypass SWIFT to save nuclear plant

Ready-made garment factories want to join a new safety body but it fails to arrange independent inspections to allow them to join

And Dhaka was second only to Delhi as the most polluted capital in the world

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

March 25, 2022

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star

This week in Bangladesh…

access to energy
New coal power plant brings electricity to south, original image by Tanjir Ahmed Chowdhury/Unsplash
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English language What the papers say

Rapid roll out of the new universal pension scheme

A new universal pension scheme – the first of its kind in Bangladesh – could start within a year

Danish shipping giant Maersk interested in managing new 500,000 TEU container terminal at Patenga

A Chinese company will finance and build a sixty square kilometre smart city on land reclaimed from the sea around Chittagong

The World Bank approved a $300m loan for Bangladesh on 25 February for The Local Government Covid-19 Response and Recovery Project Paragraph

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

February 25th, 2022

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star

This week in Bangladesh…

Factory workers may benefit from universal pension scheme (original image by Fahad Faisal cropped and remixed Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International)
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English language What the papers say

New rainwater harvesting saves environment and good for business

Rainwater harvesting at factories would have positive environmental and commercial advantages

Secondary schools will re-open again on 21st February. Bangladesh has imposed the longest school closure compared to other countries.

Prime Minster signal plans for universal pension scheme for the over 60s.

Health authorities will deliver ten million doses on 26 February in a drive to reach national vaccination targets

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

February 18th, 2022

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star and the The Financial Express

This week in Bangladesh…

rainwater harvesting
Rainwater harvesting good for the environment and for business (original image by Rahabi Khan/Unsplash)
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Issues in the Labour Market

The Informal Sector: New Directions for Businesses

women in the workforce

Transitions to Formal Employment

Mariam, now 22 years old, dresses up to leave for work with a smile on her face. She is now a formal employee in the factory where she was previously working as a casual worker. She is a machine operator at the factory. Mariam owes a lot to Fatema and her employer for the training they provided. The training developed her and the skills of other entry level female workers. It also built their confidence so that they can be promoted to positions as operators and supervisors. It worked for Mariam.

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Issues in the Labour Market

The Informal Sector: Considering Productivity

Accounting for Low Productivity in the Informal Sector

At six o’clock in the morning Mariam, now 18 years old, wakes up and gets ready for the day. She works at a garments factory just outside Dhaka city. As she brushes her hair, she remembers her work as a maid. She was just a child. She cooked, cleaned and took care of the kids when their parents weren’t around. Maryam has bad memories of those times. She always felt the family were unhappy with her work. But she didn’t know why. Sometimes they were happy and would give her gifts of clothes and sometimes money.  When she they were unhappy…well, those really were painful memories.

That’s all behind her now. But work in the factory isn’t easy, either.

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Issues in the Labour Market

The Informal Sector: Early Work Experiences

Early Experiences of Work

The Impact of Early Experiences of Work

“Mariam, get up!” comes a scream from the other side of the room. Mariam’s eyes open and she is forced back to reality. The sweet smell of her mother’s roti and vegetable evaporates leaving the odour of old curtains unwashed for years.

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Work Stream

Women’s Path Forward

Agamir Pothey: Promoting Our Women

Olympic Industries launches “Agamir Pothey”

“Agamir Pothey” or The Path Forward is a development programme for entry level women employees.

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Work Stream

Help for the Aged

Shameen now receives her Old Age Allowance
Picture of Shameen with her permission

Social Protection for the Poor

Manusher Jonno Foundation tells Bangladeshi citizens about their rights to the social protection schemes provided by the Government of Bangladesh.

Quay Asia assigned two highly experienced consultants to evaluate this important project.

The Civil Society project is part of a wider Programme of technical assistance to the Government of Bangladesh.

UK Aid and Australian Aid support the Government of Bangladesh to improve the way it gives allowances for the poor.

But many poor people are not aware of their entitlements. And so Mansuher Jonno works with local organisations to help poor get the help they deserve.

Photo of Shameen used with her kind permission

Categories
English language What the papers say

Vulnerable temporary workers to miss out on new scheme

A new government scheme to support the livelihoods of tea workers covers the formally employed but excludes temporary workers.

Growth in 2021 was 1.51% higher than originally estimated. There are plenty of theories to explain this higher than expected growth. But some economists struggle to explain the figures.

Bangladesh is by some measures the most polluted country in the world. The country is struggling to improve air quality through adequate legislation.

Bangladesh will soon have vaccinated 100 million people with a first dose of Covid vaccine. The target is 120 million or about three quarters of the population.

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

February 10th, 2022

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star

This week in Bangladesh…

Temporary tea pickers excluded from new government scheme (original image by Danurwendho Adyakusuma, Unsplash)
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English language What the papers say

Bangladesh Aims for New Results on Carbon Emissions

To cut carbon emissions, Bangladesh has set an ambitious goal of generating more than 4,100 megawatts of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030

Money transfers through illegal channels undercut remittance figures

Apparel rebound underpins export surge

New economic calculations see changes in growth and GDP

Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank loans $260 million for new bridge at Mymensingh

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

November 4th, 2021

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star, The Business Standard and The Financial Express

This week in Bangladesh…

carbon emissions
Bangladesh leads the Climate Vulnerable Forum (Original image by Md Jewel Patoary, Unsplash)
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English language What the papers say

New report: Lost education puts children’s future at risk

Key report says 37 million children in Bangladesh lost education due to Covid-19 school closures.

Banks struggles to disburse loans to small businesses under second stimulus package.

EU to support renewable energy in Bangladesh including regional hydropower generation and energy connectivity.

Safe Back to School campaign prioritises extremely poor families and schools in remote areas.

Bangladesh still lags far behind competitor countries in agricultural productivity.

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

October 28st, 2021

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star

This week in Bangladesh…

Recovering lost education
It is time to get back to school and recover our children’s lost education (original image by Ahmed Hasan/Unsplash)
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English language What the papers say

Green energy to soar with new Bangladesh solar power plants

Bangladesh corporate giant is constructing first solar power plant to supply the electricity grid as green energy soars to a new scale

Employment and earnings are recovering and reversing the economic set backs under the pandemic.

Millions of children remain at risk of early marriages due to social and economic conditions caused by the pandemic.

Bangladesh launches its home-grown ease of doing business index and sees Chattogram as the best division for business.

United Nations and Government of Bangladesh finally in broad agreement on relocation of Rohingya people to low lying island in Bay of Bengal.

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

October 14th, 2021

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star and The Business Standard

This week in Bangladesh…

green energy from solar power
Green energy reaches industrial scale in Bangladesh with new 230-megawatt solar energy plants (original image by Tanjir Ahmed Chowdhury/Unsplash)
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English language What the papers say

Social Inclusion is the Best Way to Eliminate Poverty

Social inclusion has declined during the pandemic says a new joint report from the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies and the University of Bath

Government has approved re-opening classes in-person for university students.

Nine firms will invest $55 million to set up units in hi-tech industrial parks

China will no longer build new coal-based power projects in Bangladesh.

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

September 30th, 2021

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star and The Dhaka Tribune

This week in Bangladesh…

social inclusion
Extreme poverty is concentrated in southern parts of Bangladesh such as Bandarban (original image by Rashed Kabir/Unsplash)
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English language What the papers say

Bangladesh: great social and economic mix in pandemic counter

Asian Development Bank revises downward its GDP growth projection for Bangladesh. But praised the country’s response to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic in balancing health and livelihoods with social and economic measures.

The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics plans to create a National Population Register to contain key personal information for all citizens

The Ministry for Commerce is considering measures to regulate business practices in the troublesome e-commerce industry.

Parliamentary committee stands against Government plan to construct civil service training centre on protected forest land.

And the Bangabandhu Education Insurance pilot scheme starts to protect access to education for poorest children.

A weekly round up of articles about work, employment, social security, business and the economy. Here is the news for the week ending:

September 23rd, 2021

This week’s round up comes from:

The Daily Star and The Financial Express

This week in Bangladesh…

social and economic
Balancing women’s health and livelihoods (original image by Maruf Rahman/Pixabay)
Continue reading “Bangladesh: great social and economic mix in pandemic counter”