Fahmida Khatun

Against all the odds 2021 ushers in with a lot of expectations. The Covid-19 pandemic which engulfed our economic and social lives in every possible manner in 2020 is expected to be brought under control as hopes are high with the approval of vaccinations developed by a number of companies.

A year has passed since the world learnt about the attack of the novel coronavirus. Countries around the world are still grappling with the fallout from the devastating Covid-19 pandemic.

The Eighth Five Year Plan (8FYP) of Bangladesh is going to be finalised and approved soon. The duration of the Seventh Five Year Plan (7FYP) ended in June 2020.

On the eve of its 50th birthday, Bangladesh basks with glory and pride. The country has crossed several milestones along the way and is set to achieve many more in the coming years.

Urban people have been affected more than rural people in terms of the health crisis during the Covid-19 pandemic. One reason for higher urban suffering is the high population density in urban areas and inadequate facilities for them.

The significance of this year’s “16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence” initiative of the United Nations is greater than ever before in view of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

Mixed opinions followed after the signing of the new trade bloc—the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) on November 15, 2020.

As the world awaits US President-elect Joe Biden’s formal inauguration in January 2021, discussions on the implications of his domestic and international policies are mounting.

As the Democrat Presidential candidate Joe Biden wins the US election, expectations are mounting on several fronts.

The global financial landscape has been under stress for a long time.

Rural Bangladesh is changing. This change has been happening rather fast during the last two decades.

The latest report on World Economic Outlook by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) published in October 2020 has created a lot of noise both in Bangladesh and India.

Over the last five decades, our economic performance has been impressive, despite various limitations such as resource constraints and weak governance.

Some indicators of the Bangladesh economy have started to show positive signs in the recent period. Among those are remittances and exports of readymade garments (RMG), which were affected hugely since the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bangladesh in March 2020.

While economies around the world are reeling from distress due to the debilitating impact of the coronavirus pandemic, some sectors are facing the brunt of Covid-19 the most.

All crises—natural disasters, wars, pandemics—affect different sections of people in different ways. Like any other crisis, Covid-19 has differing impacts on society.

Every year, Bangladesh suffers from floods that cause loss of life, livelihoods, crops and property. However, in certain years, due to heavy rainfall and the flow of upstream water, floods become devastating.

Almost a year ago, in this column, I wrote about the obsession of our policymakers’ with the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (“Our incomprehensible obsession with GDP”, May 19, 2019). I discussed in brief how GDP is estimated, and its inherent weaknesses which is why this indicator should not be taken so seriously.

Since March 25, 2020, the government of Bangladesh has unveiled 19 stimulus packages to help the economy recover from the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic.

During the ongoing corona-virus pandemic educational institutions all over the world have introduced online medium for imparting lessons to students. Indeed, classroom lessons in many advanced countries had become technology dependent even before the pandemic. Now it is no longer a choice but a necessity if students are to be taught.