LGRD Minister Tazul Islam today (Feb 18) announced that Tk 20 crore has been allocated for each of the MPs to fulfill their commitment to development  in their constituencies. The minister said this in the parliament session on Sunday (February 18). Tazul Islam said, "It is normal for the MPs to make many commitments to the people for the development of their respective areas." Naturally, the MPs are eager to fulfill those promises, and the Prime Minister has understood the matter very sincerely. Therefore, a project has already been formulated to provide Tk 20 crore for each MP's constituency for a period of five years.

A charity found that rough sleeping in rural areas has increased 40% in five years. Britain has been hit particularly hard by the cost-of-living crisis and record high property prices. Rural England has seen a 40% increase in homelessness over the past five years, a British non-profit organization said on Tuesday. The countryside charity CPRE said homelessness in the countryside had increased from 17,212 in 2018 to 24,143 in 2023. CPRE found that the problem is more severe in rural areas than many of England's towns and cities, including London, Leeds or Norwich. Across the UK, every 15 people per 100,000 are estimated to be homeless. The charity said 12 local authorities, designated as predominantly rural, had levels of rough sleeping above the national average. More rough sleepers in Boston than London In one town, Boston in Lincolnshire, there were 38 homeless per 100,000 people, compared to 23 per 100,000 in the United Kingdom capital. People sleeping rough are defined as those sleeping in the open air, tents, makeshift shelters or buildings not meant for human habitation. The charity found that the crisis is being fed by record house prices, stagnating wages, huge waiting lists for public housing and the rise of second homes and short-term lets, including Airbnb. UK inflation hit a multidecade high of 11.1% in October 2022, partly thanks to the soaring cost of energy and food. Lack of housing hits rents, mortgages CPRE also decried a severe lack of housing, saying it has exacerbated the country's cost of living crisis. The charity said 300,000 people are waiting for social housing in rural England — where the average house sells for around £420,000 ($535,000, €483,700). Another housing charity, Shelter, estimated that levels of homelessness across England this Christmas are likely to be 14% higher than last year. It calculated that on any given night there were close to 310,000 people in some form of homelessness, the majority in temporary accommodation. UK needs millions more homes CPRE called for the UK government to redefine the term "affordable housing" so it correlates to average local incomes, and to dramatically increase the available housing stock. In February, the Centre for Cities think tank estimated that the UK (England, Scotland, Norther Ireland and Wales) was short of 4 million homes, with much of the shortage in England. Its researchers predicted it would likely take 50 years to resolve the housing crisis, based on the government's objective of building 300,000 new homes per year. According to the UK's National House Building Council, 191,801 new homes were registered across Britain in 2022, a third less than the government target.  

Witnesses said the attacker wore camouflage and used what appeared to be a hunting rifle. Authorities said he is now holed up inside a nearby house in the farming community. A woman and two police officers were killed in a shooting and stabbing attack in central Japan on Thursday. The incident occurred in a quiet farming neighborhood near Nakano in Nagano Prefecture. Witnesses described seeing a man wearing camouflage and a mask stab one woman and later shoot two police officers with what appeared to be a hunting rifle. The perpetrator is believed to be barricaded inside the house of the city council president, and authorities said they were unable to rescue a fourth person who had been injured because he was too close to the suspect. Woman stabbed in back One 72-year-old witness told public broadcaster NHK he had been working at another farm nearby when "a woman came running from the road saying 'help me', and she fell down." "Behind her came a man wearing camouflage and carrying a large knife, who stabbed her in the back," he said. Police said the attacker then shot dead two officers who arrived at the scene. Although violent crimes are rare in Japan, which has strict gun control laws, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated last year with a home-made firearm.

Chinese drugmakers rushed to make anti-fever medicines and other treatments for Covid-19 on Thursday, after President Xi Jinping said he was worried about an influx of holiday travellers to rural areas ill-equipped to deal with sudden outbreaks. Mr Xi’s comments come just over a month after his government abruptly axed his strict “zero-Covid” controls that had largely shielded China’s 1.4 billion people from the disease for three years but sparked widespread protests in late November. As travel ramps up during the busy Chinese New Year holiday season, as many as 36,000 people could die each day from the disease, according to the latest figures from independent British-based forecasting firm Airfinity. China said last Saturday that nearly 60,000 people with Covid-19 died in hospitals between Dec 8 and Jan 12 - a roughly ten-fold increase from previous disclosures. However, that number excludes those who die at home, and some doctors in China have said they are discouraged from putting Covid-19 on death certificates. Health experts say China’s official figures likely do not reflect the true toll of the virus. “Based on the reports of hospitals being overwhelmed and long queues outside funeral homes, we might estimate that a larger number of Covid-19 deaths have occurred so far, maybe more than 600,000 rather than just 60,000,” said Professor Ben Cowling, an epidemiologist at Hong Kong University. China’s chaotic exit from a regime of mass lockdowns, travel restrictions and frequent Covid-19 testing, has also prompted a run on drugs as people fend for themselves against the disease. To meet soaring demand, drugmakers in China are ramping up operations to triple their capacity to make key fever and cough medicines, the state-run China Daily newspaper reported on Thursday. China has relied on domestic vaccines to combat the pandemic, eschewing foreign-made ones which some studies have suggested are more effective, while other foreign treatments for Covid-19 have been hard to come by in China. Pfizer’s Covid-19 anti-viral drug Paxlovid is available in China but has been very difficult to obtain through official channels, according to media reports and personal accounts. Merck’s antiviral treatment molnupiravir has also been approved for use, but is not yet widely available. At a meeting this week, China’s National Medical Products Administration pledged to stabilise the prices of Covid-related drugs and crack down on counterfeit sales.  Those particularly vulnerable to the virus are the elderly, many of whom are not fully vaccinated and now face exposure as millions of urban workers travel to home towns to reunite with families for Chinese New Year holidays that officially start on Jan 21. Before Covid-19 was detected in the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019, the Chinese New Year holiday was known as the greatest annual migration of people anywhere on the planet. “China’s Covid prevention and control is still in a time of stress, but the light is ahead, persistence is victory,” Mr Xi said on Wednesday in a holiday greetings message carried by state broadcaster CCTV. “I am most worried about the rural areas and farmers. Medical facilities are relatively weak in rural areas, thus prevention is difficult and the task is arduous,” Mr Xi said, adding that the elderly were a top priority. Several Chinese cities are set to celebrate Chinese New Year with massive displays of fireworks after local governments reversed bans on their sale in recent years. Hangzhou, Kunming, Zhengzhou, and Changsha - which all have populations above 10 million - will allow the sale of fireworks, according to the Yicai business magazine. Airfinity on Wednesday estimated that 62 million people could be infected with the virus between Jan 13 and 27 and that Covid-related deaths could peak at 36,000 a day on Jan 26, up sharply from previous forecasts. “Our forecast estimates a significant burden on China’s healthcare system for the next fortnight and it is likely that many treatable patients could die due to overcrowded hospitals and lack of care,” said Airfinity’s analytics director Matt Linley. Looking beyond the death toll, there is optimism that China’s reopening will reinvigorate a US$17 trillion (S$22.48 tillion) economy suffering one of its lowest growth rates in nearly half a century.  China could see a sharp recovery in growth from the second quarter onwards, IMF Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath told Reuters in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.  Those hopes have nudged China’s main stock markets and yuan currency to multi-month highs in recent sessions, although trading was light on Thursday as investors wound down for the holidays.  Source: REUTERS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said there will be no poverty in Bangladesh if multidimensional rural cooperatives can be established. "It’s proven…if we can build multidimensional rural cooperatives, there’ll be no poverty in Bangladesh. Poverty will totally be eradicated; and can do that," she said. Sheikh Hasina said this while addressing a function, marking the 49th National Cooperative Day and awarding the recipient of the National Cooperative Award at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).  She attended the programme virtually from her official residence Ganobhaban. The theme of the day this year is: ‘Philosophy of Bangabandhu, Development in Cooperatives’. Hasina said those involved in the cooperative movement have a bigger role to play in freeing the country from poverty. "You’ll have to continue your work in that direction. What we want is to free Bangladesh from hunger and poverty," she said. The Prime Minister said the people of the country will march forward whatever the hurdles come in their way as they snatched their victory through the Liberation War. She asked those involved in the cooperative movement to develop a marketing system to sell their products and produce. "If we don’t develop a marketing system, then we won’t be able to sell our products and it’ll discourage all…so, marketing is very important." Hasina urged all involved in cooperatives to take effective steps so that people do not lose their enthusiasm and interest. "The marketing system has to be taken into account with due importance and it should be done." Stating that the government believes in the policy of the Father of the Nation, the Prime Minister noted that the country can be developed through cooperatives. She asked all concerned to discharge their duties with sincerity and responsibility.  "Don't go for immediate profit, let it (cooperatives) be a permanent, pro-productive and profitable organisation so that all members could get the shares of their profits." Hasina also laid emphasis on involving more women in the cooperative movement saying that half of the country’s population are women and they should be involved in this programme in a greater way. "The more women will be involved in various activities the greater way the corruption will be eradicated from the country," she said. Describing various measures taken for overall development of the country, the Prime Minister said the government is taking every step so that people’s living in rural areas could earn their livelihoods from there. "We’ll provide all urban facilities to rural areas so that people living in villages can enjoy a better and decent life," she said. Hasina said cooperatives are the tool for fulfilling the dream of the Father of the Nation. “Bangabandhu wanted to expand cooperative-based production and distribution management in all sectors.” State Minister for LGRD and Cooperatives Swapan Bhattacharjee and Rural Development and Cooperatives Division Secretary Md Rezaul Ahsan also spoke at the event. Earlier, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam, on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, handed over the National Cooperative Award to cooperative societies and individuals in different categories in recognition of their contributions to the sector. Source: UNB AH

Despite the government’s pro-digital approach, 54 percent rural households in Bangladesh do not have access to internet, a new study shows, as experts fear the ‘digital divide’ could hinder e-governance progress. According to the research findings unveiled Sunday, 59 percent of them do not have access to a smartphone and 49 percent have no access to computers. The study, carried out by Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), surveyed 6,500 rural households across the country to develop a Digital Literacy Index (DLI) that illustrates the current state of digital literacy in rural Bangladesh. Experts at an online seminar titled ‘Digital Literacy in Bangladesh’, where the study results were unveiled, feared that this persisting ‘digital divide’ among the rural and urban households in Bangladesh will continue to hinder the successful expansion of the country’s e-governance system. According to the study findings, rural households in Chattogram, Dhaka, and Khulna divisions enjoy higher digital access, digital skills, and digital literacy status than those in Mymensingh, Rangpur, and Sylhet divisions. It also revealed that among the surveyed households less than one percent generates any form of income through online activities. The income of a household has a strong and significant impact on its digital access, skills, and literacy, the findings showed. Similar to digital access, categorized in four classes based on their digital skills, two-third of the rural households appear to have “low” skills, 16 percent households have “no” skill, 15 percent have “basic” skills, and eight percent have “above basic” skills. The study also found that while the gender of the household head has no significant impact on digital access, female-headed households are more likely to have better digital literacy. BIGD Senior Research Fellow Dr Wasel Bin Shadat while presenting the results said stakeholders must urgently develop a comprehensive National Digital Competency Framework that can bridge the existing 'digital divide' in Bangladesh. Consultative Group to Assist the Poor Policy Lead Gregory Chen said digital literacy is the outcome of numerous determinants affecting one another. “Only when all of these different determinants are identified and addressed, will the level of digital literacy improve," Chen said. BIGD Executive Director Dr Imran Matin said the said research was a part of that digital social science domain and more discussion on the matter will follow from BIGD soon. Source: UNB AH

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Sunday approved 10 projects involving Tk 9,460 crore, including Tk 6,477 crore to be spent by rural MPs for the infrastructure development of their respective areas.       The approval came at the 24th Ecnec meeting of the outgoing fiscal year (2019-20) held at the NEC conference room in the city with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.   But the Prime Minister and Planning Minister MA Mannan joined the meeting from Ganobhaban through a videoconference.   “Today’s Ecnec meeting approved 10 projects and the total estimated cost of the projects is Tk 9,460.09 crore. It is a matter of pleasure that the entire money will come from government funds,” said the Planning Minister at a press briefing after the meeting.   Of the total 10 projects, six are new while the rest four are revised ones. Talking about ‘Development of Palli Infrastructures Phase-III Project involving Tk 6,476.65 crore, he said an allocation of Tk 20 crore will given to each MP elected from rural areas, not urban ones, to improve only rural infrastructures like roads, bridges and culverts.   MA Mannan said the project will be implemented by June 2024. “I think it will be very useful for the welfare of people." According to the project factsheet, all the parliamentary constituencies of the country, except the city corporations, are the project areas. The main operations of the project include development of 305.21 km upazila roads, 660.37 km union roads, 5075.76 km village roads, maintenance of 1090.77 km village roads, construction of 7992.22 metres of  infrastructures on rural roads (construction of small bridges and culverts, each one with less than 100 metres in length).    The other five fresh projects are Protection of Moulvibazar Sadar, Rajnagar and Kulaura upazilas from erosion by Monu River Project involving Tk 996.28 crore; Development of Sustainable Water Supply, Sanitisation and Hygiene Management in Haor Region Project with Tk 557.62 crore; Reconstruction of 100-metre gauge passenger carriage of Bangladesh Railways (Phase-II) Project with Tk 74.12 crore; upgradation  of Tekerhat-Gopalganj (Haridaspur)-Mollahat (Ghonapara) Regional Highway with Tk 612.58 crore; and Reconstruction of Jamalpur District Jail Project with Tk 210 crore. The revised projects are Improvement of Important Regional Highways into proper standard and width (Chattogram Zone) (1st revised) Project with the rise of Tk 256.36 crore (total Tk 692.36 crore); Increasing fish production by improving water bodies (2nd revised) Project with additional Tk 116.85 crore (Total Tk 409 crore); Development of Important Rural Infrastructures in Greater Patuakhali District (Patuakhali and Barguna districts) (2nd revised) Project with rise of Tk 159.60 crore (total Tk 691.80 crore) and Construction of BAFO Bangabandhu Complex, Jashore (3rd  revised) Project with no rise in the estimated project cost.    Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal, Agriculture Minister Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Information Minister Dr Mohammad Hasan Mahmud, LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Zahid Maleque, Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim, Environment, Forest and Climate Change Md Sahab Uddin, Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury, among others, joined the meeting from the NEC conference room.     Source: UNB AH

Putting emphasis on improving the lifestyle of villagers, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said the government is working to make the country’s rural economy stronger. "We want to make the rural economy stronger so that people could earn enough living in their own villages and make the rural economy more vibrant. We’re taking our steps keeping that in our mind," she said. Sheikh Hasina made the statement while addressing a function, marking the 48th National Cooperative Day and awarding the recipient of the National Cooperative Award at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the capital. "People in rural areas will get the facilities what we’re providing in urban areas as we want to improve the sanitation and communications system in villages," she said. The Prime Minister mentioned that the government has already ensured internet facility across the country and now rural people can avail themselves of the benefits of that. Turning to cooperative movement, she said the government wants more crops to be produced on the existing arable lands and cooperatives movement is very much appropriate to do this. "The people of the country will never extend their hands to anyone for food," she said. The Prime Minister also said the government will be able to develop the country through cooperatives by building information technology based management system. "We’ll be able to develop our country through cooperatives by building modern information knowledge-based management system using the information technology (IT)," she said. The theme of this year's Cooperatives Day is 'Development through Cooperatives: The philosophy of Bangabandhu'. The Department of Cooperatives under the Ministry of LGRD and Cooperatives organized the event. Putting emphasis on making the existing cooperatives law the time-befitting one, the Prime Minister said the government will give more importance to the cooperatives following the directives of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Regarding the Cooperatives Bank, she said this bank in the past was in deplorable condition. "Steps should be taken to make this bank a profitable entity by making this bank-related law a time-befitting one," she said. Describing various steps and programs to develop the cooperatives system in the country, the Prime Minister said there are currently around 174,000 cooperatives in the country where the number of the members is 109,00,000. Hasina said cooperatives are the tool for fulfilling the dream of the Father of the Nation. Bangabandhu wanted to expand cooperative-based production and distribution management in all sectors. LGRD and Cooperatives Minister Md Tazul Islam, Parliamentary Standing Committee on LGRD and Cooperatives Ministry chairman Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, LGRD and Cooperatives State Minister Swapan Bhattacharjee, Rural Development and Cooperatives Division secretary Md Kamal Uddin Talukder, President of Bangladesh Cooperative Union Sheikh Nadir Hossain Lipu and director general of department of cooperatives Md Abdul Mazid also spoke at the event. Earlier, Prime Minister Hasina handed over the National Cooperative Award to cooperative societies and individuals in different categories for their contributions to the sector. Sheikh Hasina also visited different stalls set up on the BICC premises by various cooperatives societies on the occasion. After the program, she enjoyed a colorful cultural event. Source: UNB AH