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| March 08, 2013: BDRC recognizes International Women's Day 2013 Recognizing International Women's Day 2013, the BDRC provides: 1) links to some recent videos on women's issues in Bangladesh, and 2) a list of recent developmental publications related to women in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ February 22-24, 2013: BDI-CSAS Conference in Berkeley, California As announced previously, the Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI) and the Center for South Asia Studies (CSAS) at the UC Berkeley have organized an international conference on “Bridging the Policy-Action Divide: Challenges and Prospects for Bangladesh”. BDRC volunteers are presenting a total of 4 papers at the conference. For one of the papers to be presented by the BDRC President, Dr. Bernhard Gunter, please click here (PDF). LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ February 21, 2013: Bangladeshi Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day Recognizing Bangladeshi Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day 2013 (February 21, 2013), the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to Bengali and development in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Call for Funding Proposals for Social Accountability in Bangladesh The World Bank’s Global Partnership for Social Accountability (GPSA) has announced its First Call for Proposals, which is open to Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and CSO networks based and operating in one of 12 countries that have ‘opted-in’ to the GPSA. Bangladesh is one of the 12 countries. The deadline is March 14, 2013. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ January 23, 2013: Bangladesh makes progress with Open Budget Index, but… Based on the latest Open Budget Index (OBI, released today, January 23, 2013), Bangladesh made significant progress in its relative ranking. While Bangladesh ranked 46th among 94 countries in the 2010 OBI, it now ranks 26th among 100 countries in the OBI 2012. However, in most other recent rankings, including the most recent Corruption Perceptions Index, the Ease of Doing Business Index, the Economic Freedom Index , the Global Climate Risk Index, the Global Competitiveness Index, and the Press Freedom Index), Bangladesh’s relative ranking deteriorated compared to previously published indices. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ January 6, 2013: Government borrowing from banks is expected to exceed US$12.5 billion in FY2013 As reported today by the Financial Express, unveiling an analytical review of Bangladesh's macroeconomic performance in fiscal year 2013, the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) projected on January 5, 2013 that government borrowing in FY 2013 (July 2012-June 2013) is expected to exceed Taka 100 billion (which is about US$12.5 billion using current exchange rates). CPD Executive Director Dr. Mustafizur Rahman said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) collected revenues during the first five months ending November 2012 at a level which was 15 percent higher than those of corresponding period last fiscal year. However, this is below the targeted 18.9 percent, and hence, the NBR would need to collect revenues at an incremental rate of around 22 percent in the next seven months to achieve its annual target. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 20, 2012: Preparing a launching pad for industrialization Is Bangladesh ready to transform itself from an agriculture-based economy to an industry-based economy? This is the issue addressed in an op-ed by Md. Joynal Abdin in The Financial Express today. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 10, 2012: BDRC recognizes Human Rights Day 2012 Recognizing Human Rights Day December 10, 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to human rights in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 5, 2012: Bangladesh is finding new ways to adapt to climate change As the latest round of United Nations climate talks are wrapping up in Doha, Deutsche Welle has interviewed the Bangladeshi scientist Saleemul Huq on what developing nations are aiming toward at the conference. Bangladesh is among the countries most affected by climate change. Storms and floods are occurring ever more frequently and, if sea levels continue to rise, millions of people in the densely populated country could be forced from their homes. But the country is also finding new ways to adapt to climate change - a role that countries at the Doha talks could emulate. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 1, 2012: New HIV/AIDS infections are falling in Bangladesh As reported by bdnews24.com, the number of people newly-infected with HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh fell from 445 in 2011 to 338 in 2012, which is slightly below the 343 new HIV positive cases of 2010. Recognizing World AIDS Day, the BDRC also provides a list of new publications related to HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ BDRC recognizes International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, Universal Children's Day, and World Diabetes Day Recognizing International Diabetes Day (November 14), Universal Children's Day (November 20), and International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women (November 25), the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to each of these days. New Publications related to violence against women in Bangladesh New publications related to children in Bangladesh New publications related to diabetes in Bangladesh ______________________________________________________________________________________________ November 3, 2012: Women on bikes bring the Internet to Bangladesh villages Based on a project that was created in 2008 by D.Net and other organizations, women on bicycles, called Info Ladies, bring the Internet to remote areas of Bangladesh. The project offers the possibility of being up-to-date on what is happening around the world. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ October 17, 2012: BDRC recognizes International Day for the Eradication of Poverty Recognizing International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, October 17, 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to poverty eradication in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ October 16, 2012: BDRC recognizes World Food Day Recognizing World Food Day 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to food security in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ 10/11/12: BDRC recognizes First International Day of the Girl Child Marking the first International Day of the Girl Child (October 11, 2012), the BDRC provides two website links: 1) a video about The Girl Effect by www.girleffect.org that has inspired millions of people around the world, and 2) the BDRC task on Children in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ October 3. 2012: ADB releases its 2013-15 Country Operations Business Plan for Bangladesh Based on this new Country Operations Business Plan, the indicative Asian Development Fund (ADF) planning figure in 2013–2014 is $438 million per year. Actual allocations for these years will be based on the updated estimate of ADF commitment authority and the results of the 2012 country performance assessment. For 2015, the indicative ADF allocation is $450 million. The indicative ordinary capital resources (OCR) allocation for 2013–2015 is $410 million per year. The tentative annual technical assistance (TA) program is $7.6 million for 2013–2015. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Jibon Tari - A Floating Hospital for the Poor September 21, 2012: Global Voices posted today the English translation of a story on a floating hospital for the poor. Based on Bangladesh’s large network of waterways, a river barge called the Jibon Tari has been sailing to the most remote regions of the country, bringing doctors, nurses and medicines closer to people who, until then, did not have ready access to such medical facilities. The boat is funded by Impact Foundation Bangladesh, which is a branch of a London-based aid organization specialized in helping to cure disability in the developing world. LEARN MORE ---> SEE ALSO: Bangladesh’s Floating Schools ______________________________________________________________________________________________ September 15, 2012: Rights group blasts new value added tax (VAT) law Criticizing the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for pursuing discredited tax policy in Bangladesh, civil society members at a discussion Saturday urged the government to reconsider a new VAT law 2012, which has been prepared to fulfill the IMF conditions. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ September 8, 2012: BDRC recognizes International Literacy Day Recognizing International Literacy Day, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications and other information related to literacy in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ September 6, 2012: Global food situation: A threat for Bangladesh? “Global food situation: A threat for Bangladesh?” This is the heading of an editorial by Wasi Ahmed in today’s Financial Express. Ahmed writes that despite the looming global food crisis there are skeptics who appear to look at the issue more as a media hype than as a potential threat for the millions of the world’s impoverished people. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ August 9, 2012: BDRC recognizes International Day of the World's Indigenous People Recognizing International Day of the World's Indigenous People, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications and other information related to the indigenous people in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ July 18, 2012: UNESCO calls for investigation into murder of Bangladeshi journalist UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova denounced the murder of a Bangladeshi journalist, Jamal Uddin, last month. “It is essential that the authorities investigate this outrageous attack on freedom of expression and on press freedom, which is its corollary.” Mr. Uddin, a reporter for the Bengali-language newspaper Gramer Kagoi, was the third journalist to have been killed in Bangladesh this year. According to Reporters without Borders, Mr. Uddin had been the target of death threats in connection with his reporting on the local drug trade. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ June 13, 2012: Bangladesh faces a protracted political crisis A new report by the International Crisis Group (entitled: Bangladesh: Back to the Future) shows that Bangladesh could face a protracted political crisis in the lead-up to the 2013 elections unless Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government changes course and takes a more conciliatory approach towards the political opposition and the military. Following the December 2008 election, in which the Awami League (AL) secured a landslide victory, the hope, both at home and abroad, was that Sheikh Hasina would use her mandate to revitalize democratic institutions and pursue national reconciliation, ending the pernicious cycle of zero-sum politics between her AL and its rival, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Three and a half years on, hope has been replaced by deep disillusionment, with election-related violence rising daily. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Deadline for research paper abstracts approaching As announced previously, Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI) is (in partnership with the Center for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley) organizing another two-day international conference on Bangladesh, scheduled for February 22- 24 (was previously March 29-30), 2013 at Berkeley, California. The deadline for submitting abstracts is June 15, 2012. LEARN MORE ---> (pdf) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ June 5, 2012: BDRC recognizes World Environment Day 2012 Recognizing World Press Environment Day 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to the environment and development in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ BDRC’s Working Paper Series surpasses 2000 paper downloads June 3, 2012: The Bangladesh Development Research Working Paper Series (BDRWPS), which was created in April 2008 and currently contains 14 papers, has recently surpassed more than 1000 paper downloads via RePEc as well as more than 1000 paper downloads via the SSRN website. The combined abstract views exceed far more than 12,000. These paper downloads and abstract views do not include downloads and abstract views from other websites. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ May 24, 2012: Early Childhood Education is a Strategic Investment for the Future An UNICEF news article by Sabine Dolan illustrates how early childhood development centers in Bangladesh provide children with the best possible start by helping them develop their thinking and boosting their language and social skills. The centers teach the basics of reading, writing and counting to prepare preschool children and their families for school enrolment and future success. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ May 3, 2012: BDRC recognizes World Press Freedom Day 2012 Recognizing World Press Freedom Day 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to press freedom in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bangladesh Conference in February 2013: Call for Papers Following the success of the 2008 and 2009 conferences, Bangladesh Development Initiative (BDI) is once again organizing a two-day international conference to examine the gap between development policies and their implementation in Bangladesh. The goal of the conference is to generate new ideas for transforming Bangladesh into a prosperous nation in the early decades of the twenty first century. The conference, planned in partnership with the Center for South Asia Studies, UC Berkeley, is scheduled for February 22-24 (was previously March 29-30), 2013 at Berkeley, California. LEARN MORE ---> (pdf) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ April 25, 2012: Ameerah Haq Appointed UN Under-Secretary-General The Secretary-General has selected Ms. Ameerah Haq of Bangladesh as Under-Secretary-General for the Department of Field Support. Ms. Haq is since 2009 the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Timor-Leste and Head of the United Nations Integrated Mission in Timor-Leste (UNMIT). She has previously held various other positions, serving an overall 37 years at the United Nations (19 in the field and 18 at HQs). LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ April 25, 2012: BDRC recognizes World Malaria Day 2012 Recognizing World Malaria Day 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to malaria in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ April 7, 2012: BDRC recognizes World Health Day 2012 Recognizing World Health Day 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to health in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ April 5, 2012: Walmart launches groundbreaking initiative to empower women Today Walmart launched its Women in Factories program, a five-year initiative that will empower 60,000 women working in factories that supply products to Walmart and other retailers in India, Bangladesh, China and Central America. The program, which is being implemented in collaboration with local NGOs, will teach critical life skills related to communication, hygiene, reproductive health, occupational health and safety, identifying personal strengths and gender sensitivity. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 22, 2012: BDRC recognizes World Water Day 2012 Recognizing World Water Day 2012, the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to water in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 16, 2012: How Bangladeshis are tricked to sell their kidneys As reported by ABC News, a new study by Monir Moniruzzaman (published in the latest issue of Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Vol. 26, No, 1, pp. 69-91) documents how poor Bangladeshis are tricked into selling their kidneys; in the end, they were brutally deceived. As Moniruzzaman shows, the current practice of organ commodification is both exploitative and unethical, yet, it is deliberately silenced by vested interest groups for their personal gain. LEARN MORE (ABC News story) ---> LEARN MORE (Moniruzzaman’s study (PDF)) ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 08, 2012: BDRC recognizes International Women's Day 2012 Recognizing International Women's Day 2012, the BDRC provides: 1) links to some recent videos on women's issues in Bangladesh, and 2) a list of recent developmental publications related to women in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 01, 2012: Bangladesh and UK sign MOU on renewable energy research The Government of Bangladesh, the UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC), and the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on joint research on renewable energy. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ February 23, 2012: Selima Ahmad wins 2012 IDB prize Selima Ahmad, founder and president of the Bangladesh Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BWCCI) won (jointly with others) the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) prize for women's contribution to development. LEARN MORE ---> _____________________________________________________________________________________________ February 21, 2012: Bangladeshi Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day Recognizing Bangladeshi Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day (February 21, 2011) the BDRC provides recent developmental publications related to Bangladesh’s Mother Language. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Call for Abstracts for First National Conference on CBA to Climate Change Action Research for Community Adaptation in Bangladesh (ARCAB), which is a long term research program on Community Based Adaptation (CBA) to climate change, jointly managed by Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS) and the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), is looking for abstracts for its first national conference on CBA to climate change. Abstract should be submitted by 31st January 2012. LEARN MORE ---> _____________________________________________________________________________________________ January 3, 2012: Bangladesh Development Bibliography reaches over 18,000 entries The BDRC’s fully searchable Bangladesh Development Bibliography, which is the world’s largest list of books, journal articles, working papers, reports, etc. relevant for Bangladesh’s development published in this Millennium (since January 1, 2000) has surpassed 18,000 entries. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 10, 2011: Human Rights Day Recognizing Human Rights Day 2011, the BDRC provides new publications related to human rights in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bangladesh in the 21st century: Democracy, Education and Economy University Press Ltd. (UPL), Bangladesh’s premier book publisher, published three volumes of papers written for and presented at two conferences organized at Harvard University: “Bangladesh in the 21st Century” held on June 13-14, 2008, and “Ideas and Innovations for the Development of Bangladesh: The Next Decade” held on October 9-10, 2009. The three books cover a broad range of issues authored by many of Bangladesh’s top scholars on Bangladesh’s future with regards to democracy, education, and economy. Respectively, the three volumes are entitled as “Democracy in Bangladesh: Political Dimensions of National Development”, “Education and National Development”, and “Bangladesh Economy in the 21st Century”. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ HDI 2011: Despite progress, falling behind in relative terms Bangladesh’s Human Development Index (HDI) has increased significantly from 0.496 in UNDP’s Human Development Report (HDR) 2010, to 0.500 in the HDR 2011. However, largely due to the inclusion of many more advanced countries in this year’s HDI, Bangladesh fell behind in relative terms (from being ranked 129th among 169 countries in the HDR 2010, to being ranked 146th among 187 countries in the HDR 2011). Furthermore, Bangladesh also fell further behind India, as India’s HDI increased from 0.542 in 2010 to 0.547 in 2011. However, as a more detailed analysis shows, this falling behind India is due to a lower increase in Bangladesh’s gross national income (GNI) per capita relative to that of India’s increase in GNI per capita. Indeed, looking at the non-income HDI, Bangladesh has basically caught up with India as Bangladesh’s non-income HDI increased from 0.543 in 2010 to 0.566 in 2011, while India’s non-income HDI increased from 0.549 in 2010 to 0.568 in 2011. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 1, 2011: Bangladesh makes progress with reducing corruption According to Transparency International’s 2011 Corruption Perception Index (CPI), released today, Bangladesh made some progress with reducing corruption, and especially if comparing Bangladesh with other countries. While Bangladesh was ranked 134th among 179 countries in the 2010 CPI, it now ranks 120th among 183 countries. Bangladesh shares the 120th position with 8 other countries (Ecuador, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Iran, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Mozambique, and the Solomon Islands). Still, corruption continues to hamper Bangladesh’s development prospects. For example, the World Bank suspended its US$1.2 billion financing for the Padma bridge project on October 10, 2011 (based on charges of corruption in river dredging, the appointment of consultants and the selection of preliminary contractors in the project). Following the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) also deferred their loans for the project. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ December 01, 2011: World AIDS Day Recognizing World AIDS Day 2011, the BDRC provides new publications related to HIV/AIDS in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ November 30, 2011: Germany wants stronger relations with Bangladesh Visiting German President Christian Wulff said yesterday his country would explore new areas of cooperation with Bangladesh in trade, investment and power. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ November 25, 2011: International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women Recognizing International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, the BDRC provides new publications related to violence against women in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ November 20, 2011: Universal Children’s Day Recognizing November 20, 2011 as Universal Children’s Day, the BDRC provides a list of new publications related to children in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ November 14, 2011: World Diabetes Day Recognizing November 14, 2011 as World Diabetes Day, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to diabetes in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ October 17, 2011: International Day for the Eradication of Poverty Recognizing October 17, 2010 as International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, the BDRC provides a list of new publications related to poverty eradication in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ October 16, 2011: World Food Day Recognizing October 16, 2011 as World Food Day, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to food security in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ October 12, 2011: Bangladesh makes large progress in reducing hunger According to the just released 2011 Global Hunger Index (GHI), Bangladesh is among the seven countries that made the largest absolute progress between the 1990 GHI and the 2011 GHI, with scores falling by 13 points or more. Despite this progress, the hunger situation in Bangladesh is still alarming (the worst category after extremely alarming). For example, Bangladesh, India, and Timor-Leste have the highest prevalence of underweight in children younger than five–more than 40 percent in all three countries. LEARN MORE ---> (pdf) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Why do more girls survive in Bangladesh than India? In India, old forms of discrimination have been exacerbated by the advent of new technologies that permit female- selective abortion so that not only do more girl children die in the early years of life but fewer are born. The picture in neighbouring Bangladesh seems to be rather different. There, the survival chances of girls have improved and there is little evidence of sex selective abortion. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ September 25, 2011: 45 researchers join rank of Researcher of the Millennium The BDRC’s list of Bangladesh Development Researchers of the Millennium reaches 45 researchers (each researcher has published at least 25 publications since 2000). LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ September 8, 2011: BDRC recognizes International Literacy Day Recognizing September 8, 2011 as International Literacy Day, the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to literacy in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ August 25, 2011: World Bank approved a US$300 million credit for PEDP III The World Bank approved today a US$300 million credit for the Third Primary Education Development Program (PEDP III) to support primary education in Bangladesh. Despite significant progress with school enrollment, only 60 percent of children enrolled complete grades 1-5 in five years and only 44 percent of these go onto secondary school. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ August 9, 2011: International Day of the World’s Indigenous People Recognizing August 9, 2011 as International Day of the World’s Indigenous People the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to indigenous people in Bangladesh and some additional information. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ July 25, 2011: BDRC launches fully searchable Bibliography After half a year of testing, the BDRC has now moved its whole Bangladesh Development Bibliography (which is the world’s largest bibliography on development issues of Bangladesh) to a fully searchable web-based application. The new website allows anybody to easily search currently more than 13,000 records completely free. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Easy Like Water / Bangladesh’s solar powered floating schools “EASY LIKE WATER” is a feature documentary film, currently in production, on Bangladesh’s solar powered floating schools and the fate of the earth more generally. For a trailer and more information about the documentary film, please click here. For more general information, please see the BDRC’s task on solar powered floating schools. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ June 5, 2011: World Environment Day 2011 Recognizing World Environment Day (June 5, 2011), the BDRC provides a list of recent publications related to key environmental issues in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Tell Walmart: Intervene Before Labor Activists Are Sentenced to Death Change.org (which is an online activism platform for social change that raises awareness about important causes) has posted a petition to sign to “Tell Walmart: Intervene Before Labor Activists Are Sentenced to Death”. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ May 3, 2011: World Press Freedom Day 2011 Recognizing World Press Freedom Day (May 3, 2011), the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to press freedom in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Domestic prices for rice grew by 21 percent since June 2010 An April 2011 report by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) shows that Bangladesh’s increase in domestic retail prices of rice has outpaced the increase in international prices. As shown in Figure 5 of the ADB report, between June 2010 and February 2011, global rice prices increased by 16.8 percent. However, domestic rice prices since June 2010 went up by 21.4 percent in Bangladesh. During the same period, the domestic wheat prices in Bangladesh grew by 50 percent (which is about half of the international price increase). These sharp food price increases have negative impacts on poverty reduction as well as efforts to reduce inflation. LEARN MORE ---> (PDF) ______________________________________________________________________________________________ April 25, 2011: World Malaria Day 2011 Recognizing World Malaria Day (April 25, 2011), the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to malaria in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Bangladesh can teach us how best to adapt to rising sea levels “The people of Bangladesh have much to teach us about how a crowded planet can best adapt to rising sea levels. For them, that future is now.” This is the abstract of an outstanding photo story published in the May 2011 issue of the National Geographic (Vol. 219, No. 5, pp. 58-83). Recognizing that the world’s population will reach 7 billion later this year, the highly informative article by Don Belt (enhanced by Jonas Bendiksen’s photographs) is part of a series on what it will take to feed nine billion people in 2045. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ April 7, 2011: World Health Day 2011 Recognizing World Health Day (April 7, 2011), the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to health issues in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 25, 2011: Bangladesh judiciary is the top most corrupted sector Dr. Md. Saidul Islam writes in an editorial of the “Holiday” that Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) recently made a sector -wise survey and found that the Bangladesh judiciary is the top most corrupted sector, followed by the law enforcement agency and the land administration. The precarious state of the Bangladesh judiciary has also been depicted in the July 2010 issue of Asian Culture and History, where Dr. Md. Abdul Jalil and Dr. Md. Saidul Islam write (p. 64): “The common practice in Bangladesh is not to take any legal action against the criminals of ruling party or alliance, while often harsh legal actions are taken against the opposition leaders and activists though sometimes there might have no evidence of corruption against them. The legal apparatus in Bangladesh therefore largely serves the interest of the ruling elites, and provides a powerful tool for them to abate and crush the political opponents.” LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 22, 2011: World Water Day 2011 Recognizing World Water Day (March 22, 2011), the BDRC provides a list of recent developmental publications related to water issues in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 13, 2011: Microfinance helped to reduce poverty in Bangladesh In a Daily Star op-ed, Dr. Shahid Khandker and Dr. Hassan Zaman write that poverty among micro-credit borrowers has been reduced by 1.6 percentage points per year due to microfinance. Furthermore, due to spillover effects of microfinance programs, poverty levels of non-borrowers have gone down by 0.3 percentage points a year. It is clear that microfinance can protect households from shocks, contribute to changing societal norms about the role of women in society and lead to some households moving out of poverty. Overall, it has played its part in the impressive progress Bangladesh has made in poverty reduction over the past two decades. Clearly, not everyone utilizes loans productively, and there is a risk of falling into over-indebtedness. So, the role of microfinance should be strengthened through further innovations which take into account these pitfalls. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ March 8, 2011: International Women’s Day 2011 Recognizing International Women’s Day (March 8, 2011), the BDRC provides 1) links to two recent videos telling stories of women in Bangladesh and 2) a list of recent developmental publications related to women and gender issues in Bangladesh. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ February 24, 2011: World Bank approved a US$1.2 billion IDA credit for Padma Bridge In order to improve connectivity and boost opportunities for people in Southwest Bangladesh, the World Bank approved a US$1.2 billion concessional IDA credit to Bangladesh for the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project. Spanning the Padma River (the world’s third largest), the 6.1 km long bridge will connect nearly 30 million people in the Southwest region to the rest of country, enhancing their access to markets and services while accelerating growth in the country as a whole. The bridge is the largest IDA credit ever. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ February 21, 2011: Bangladeshi Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day Recognizing Bangladeshi Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day (February 21, 2011) the BDRC provides recent developmental publications related to Bangladesh’s Mother Language. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ February 12, 2011: Bangladesh on track with MDG5 Based on the nationwide Maternal Mortality Survey 2011, maternal deaths fell from 322 per 100,000 in 2001 to 194 in 2010, which is consistent with the target of the fifth Millennium Development Goal (MDG5) to reduce the maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2015 by three quarters. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ January 22, 2011: Opening of Banglabandha Land Port Bangladesh and India started today their long-awaited trade through Banglabandha port in Bangladesh’s most northern part. From now, goods from both countries can pass through the land port. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Energy experts vouched for alternative energy solutions in Bangladesh On January 8th, 2011, The Daily Star (Bangladesh's most prominent English newspaper) organized a Leadership Colloquium to bring together major stakeholders from government, industry, academia, and resident and non-resident Bangladeshi experts to discuss new ideas for the energy sector and practical innovative solutions to the country's energy crisis. LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Search the BDRC’s Bangladesh Development Bibliography across years To allow searching the BDRC’s Bangladesh Development Bibliography across years, we are in the process of moving the whole bibliography to a new searchable web-application. At this point, you can freely access and search all the publications published since January 1, 2010 (that is all publications of 2010, 2011, and forthcoming) at: http://creator. zoho.com/bgunter/bibliography_selected_years Update of July 25, 2011:The BDRC now moved the whole bibliography to a searchable web-application, available at: http://creator.zoho.com/bdrcproject/bibliography LEARN MORE ---> ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Please click here for hot topics / features before January 1, 2011 |
| Hot Topics / Features (in reverse chronological order) Features are a task of the Bangladesh Development Research Center (BDRC) BDRC tasks are a combination of BDRC research and BDRC projects |