The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed to provide EUR 82 million to Bangladesh to support more efficient power generation in the country and reductions in emissions.
The project will have important climate change benefits in a country that is especially vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. The project is part of a wider investment programme in the energy sector with an estimated total cost of USD 1.6 billion , whose objective is to facilitate the expansion of power generation, transmission and distribution as well as capacity-building in the country. The EUR 82 million EIB loan will serve to finance two specific projects under the programme, including the conversion of gas-fired plants in Baghabari and Shagibacar to combined-cycle plants.
Amid the growing political tension, a debate is going to be held in the European Parliament on Thursday night for a resolution on Bangladesh focusing human rights and forthcoming election issues.
In the proposal, there are calls for formation of a neutral and impartial transitional government that has the confidence of all political parties and the international community to oversee the next crucial election.

It also calls for the national reconciliation and dialogue between all political parties and a peaceful electio...
Bangladesh has had 40 years of exceptional progress in health, with infant mortality down, life expectancy up and good disease control, all despite being one of the world’s poorest countries, researchers said on Thursday.
Most often in the news for its poverty or natural or manmade disasters, such as a factory fire that killed 1,129 people in April, Bangladesh was described in studies published on Thursday as a “remarkable success story” and one of the “great mysteries of global health”.
“Over the past 40 years, Bangladesh has outperformed its Asian neighbours, convincingly defying the expert view that reducing poverty and increasing health resources are the key drivers of better population health,” said Professor Mushtaque Chowdhury from Dhaka’s BRACUniversity, who co-led a serie...
Since the year began, a series of general strikes have paralyzed Bangladesh, and hundreds have died in violent clashes between rival political factions. Top opposition leaders and human rights activists have been arrested. Courts have delivered guilty verdicts and death sentences that flout the most basic standards of due process.

Responsibility for this crisis sits squarely with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the leader of the Awami League party. Ms. Hasina seems determined to hang on to power in advance of general elections...