The ongoing pandemic has caused huge economic losses for the world. In 2020, growth in South Asia contracted by 5.4 percent, which does not capture the whole story of how terribly its people have actually suffered but it is an indicator of how the region has struggled over the last year.
In late last March, the World Bank said in a report that South Asia is expected to grow by 7.2 percent this year and that the expansion will be driven mainly by Bangladesh and India. This expectation was predicated on the success of South Asian nations in containing the virus. Less than a month after the WB s bold prediction, both India and Bangladesh are now again struggling to contain the spread of the virus, making the WB s prediction look premature and optimistic at present.
2 45 crore new poor created by pandemic
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Pandemic creates 2 45cr new poor
thedailystar.net - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thedailystar.net Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been nominated as one of the top three women leaders who tackled the Covid-19 crisis well. While her efforts to bring Bangladesh into the limelight has been highly appreciated, addressing gender gaps remains a challenge that needs attention, not only through policy adjustments but also by getting down to the nitty-gritty where real challenges lie for ordinary women.
When the Bangladesh Government decided to shut down all its educational and training institutions back in March 2020, many students wanted to venture into the online space for education, which seemed like a plausible way forward. Due to the economic recession during Covid-19, it became evident that many parents could also not buy devices or afford connectivity, given the uncertainty of household incomes. As such, 69.5 percent of students did not participate in distance learning as per the Education Watch Survey released in January 2021. While all youth suffered due to this shift, the chal