Mohiuddin Alamgir

A Tk 453-crore literacy project meant to benefit 45 lakh people has suffered setbacks for fund crisis, a deviation from the original plan and wrong selection of beneficiaries.

Around 26 percent of adults in Bangladesh are still illiterate though the ruling Awami League in its 2008 election manifesto had promised to eradicate illiteracy from the country by 2014.

Bangladesh stands to lose $7 billion in export earnings every year once it graduates into the developing country bracket in 2027 as the trade benefits it currently enjoys will be phased out then, a Planning Commission report says.

Five hours and 15 minutes. That is how long it took Mohammad Alauddin, a mason from Mirpur’s Kazipara, to get a bed at the Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College Hospital in the capital. Even then, it took the intervention of the hospital’s director to get him admitted.

Doctors and hospital staffers are at a higher risk of being infected with dengue while treating patients and also due to Aedes mosquito breeding grounds in and around hospitals, healthcare professionals said.

Authorities will review the deaths of 89 people, amid confusion over the number of fatalities from dengue.

After the failure of the second repatriation attempts for Rohingyas, concerns have risen again about the insufficient international funding to face the refugee crisis and there are worries that donors may shift their resources supporting other issues.

The number of dengue patients reported at hospitals has been decreasing over last three weeks, said hospital sources and health professionals.

A section of Dhaka dwellers has voluntarily taken measures to kill mosquitoes and prevent them from breeding, aiming to curb further spread of dengue in the capital.

In February 2017, when Dhaka University took back the responsibility of seven government colleges after more than two decades, the university was neither prepared nor adequately staffed to handle the added burden.

Students and officegoers are most vulnerable to dengue infection, according to a government survey.

Public examinations will now take less time than before as the government looks to increase academic hours.

The government is planning to provide daily school meal for all the 1.73 crore primary school students in efforts to increase attendance and reduce dropout.

Health experts fear the exodus of thousands city dwellers during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha vacations could further spread the dengue outbreak in the city, as mosquitoes might use the empty homes, schools and offices as prime breeding grounds.

Dengue has spread to 50 districts with a record 1,096 patients having been diagnosed with the viral disease yesterday alone.

Many Dhaka dwellers have complained that Election Commission’s (EC) designated enumerators did not visit their homes for registering new voters.

The government has failed to fully introduce a uniform admission test for public universities even nine years after taking a decision in this regard to ease the hassle of admission seekers and their guardians.

For the last five years, girls have been doing better in terms of pass rate in the HSC exams than boys, but the boys have been getting more GPA-5s.

The trials for two long running cases against former military dictator Hussain Mohammad Ershad, who died yesterday, still remain pending.

HM Ershad is dead. But before his death at the age of 90, the longest serving autocrat managed to remain a formidable political force, especially in the politics of vote, even after his downfall in 1990.