Weekly News Clippings (August 23, 2014)

Flood heading for Dhaka from North (The Daily Star, August 23, 2014)
Several hundred thousand people in the North are marooned and continue to pass their days without food and drinking water. The government has allocated 1,500 tonnes of rice and Tk 20 lakh for people in the affected districts but the relief goods are yet to reach the people. Worse even, the authorities have yet to determine the number of affected people, particularly those in the 12 northern districts.  The monsoon flood is now heading for the capital. The onrushing flood is likely to submerge some of the low-lying areas around Dhaka and Narayanganj by Monday.

Bangladesh tea prices edge lower on ample supplies (Reuters, August 20, 2014)
Tea prices in Bangladesh dropped at the weekly auction on Tuesday as the volumes offered were the highest for the season so far, although sales rose on strong demand for quality leaf.

Bangladesh lags behind in 4 indicators: ADB (bdnews24, August 20, 2014)
Asian Development Bank has found Bangladesh to be lagging behind in education, ICT, innovation and knowledge economy compared to most of South Asian and Pacific nations, in a latest research. An ADB research conducted in 28 countries showed that, Bangladesh ranks 25th with Nepal, Cambodia and Pakistan close behind. In education Bangladesh scored 1.75 on a scale of 10, while South Asia’s average score was 4.66.

Dhaka 2nd worst city (The Daily Star, August 20, 2014)

Dhaka has been ranked as the second least liveable city among the world's 140 cities in this year's Global Liveability Index released by the Economist Intelligence Unit.  Only Damascus in war-torn Syria lags behind Dhaka, which won the same position last year too. The list is prepared based on the scores across a range of criteria, including health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure. The capital of Bangladesh had been placed second from the bottom of the GLI index in 2012 and 2011. 

Bangladesh garment workers win overdue pay after 11-day hunger strike (Waging Non violence, August 19, 2014)

On August 11, over 1,600 garment workers in Bangladesh, who were in their 11th day of a hunger strike, won the overdue wages owed by their employer, Tuba Group. Striking workers were attacked by the police using tear gas and rubber bullets, and several activists and supporters were arrested. Activists believed that the Tuba Group did not pay their workers for months as part of a strategy to force the government to offer bail to the company’s former director, Delwar Hossain, who was imprisoned following the Tazreen fire. 

The urbanist's guide to Dhaka, Bangladesh: 'an unplanned sprawl' (The Guardian, August 19, 2014)

Dhaka is an uncontrolled and unplanned urban sprawl. Except for a few main artery roads and some small posh areas, the city consists of urban slums detrimental to the healthy growth of society. The road networks in Dhaka are inadequate, with only 7% of space dedicated to paved roads. The low to middle income group constitute 90% of the city’s population. No proper law exists for planning, and many buildings have been put up indiscriminately for the benefit of individuals at the expense of the community, according to Ershad Ahmed, a former government official.

Malaysia to recruit 12,000 workers from Bangladesh (The Daily Star, August 18, 2014)

Visiting Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot Anak Jaem said they will recruit 12,000 more workers from Bangladesh for the plantation sector. He however did not mention the specific date and time when the recruitment will take place. Jaem added that from now on his country will also recruit workers from Bangladesh for other sectors like construction, service and manufacturing.

Car sellers see better business as banks roll out more loans (The Daily Star, August 17, 2014)

The car market anticipates a pick-up in sales as the central bank has doubled the ceiling for auto loans.

Buyers will get more loans from financial institutions, said Khaan M Sakib Us Salehin, head of marketing for Rancon Motors, an automotive division of Rangs Group. The debt-equity ratio has recently been changed to 50:50 from 30:70 earlier, allowing banks to finance half of the price of a car. In other words, consumers can now buy cars worth up to Tk 80 lakh by availing Tk 40 lakh as bank loan.

Bangladesh 98th among 162 countries (The Daily Star, August 16, 2014)

Bangladesh is ranked 98th on the list of 162 countries, in the Global Peace Index 2014. There has been a significant improvement from last year's position of 105th. Put together by the Institute for Economics and Peace, the GPI takes into consideration three broad themes involving ongoing domestic and international conflict, militarisation, and social safety and security. In South Asia, Bangladesh is the third most peaceful nation, coming after Bhutan and Nepal which are placed 16th and 76th. Afghanistan, however, continues to be the least peaceful nation in South Asia.

Eurozone economy stalls on setback in Germany (The Daily Star, August 15, 2014)

Growth in the 18-country eurozone ground to a standstill in the second quarter, dragged down by France and Germany and casting a cloud over recovery in the crisis-battered region. Stagnation in the currency bloc, already threatened by deflation, fell short of analysts' forecast of 0.2 percent. The unexpectedly low growth figure was mainly the result of a surprise 0.2-percent shrinkage in Germany, usually the reliable eurozone growth engine, and stagnation in an already fragile French economy. However,  the setback reflects a combination of technical factors and external weakness, but not fundamental problems in the economy, according to officials.