GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – Concern is growing, say UN and national authorities in three countries after a 6.9 earthquake shook remote Himalayan areas in India, Nepal and Tibet Sunday. The regions hardest hit by the earthquake that was centered in the northern Indian state of Sikkim are difficult to reach and mountain roads have been blocked by debris in several areas.
At least 70 people have died, including three in Nepal when a British embassy wall collapsed, and the death toll is expected to rise. Structural damage has been heavy in several areas and officials in India say at least 1,000 homes collapsed.
Links to other sites:
BBC, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14967812
Times of India, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Sikkim-earthquake-toll-climbs-to-66-rescue-work-hampered-by-landslides/articleshow/10041847.cms
Xinhuanet, http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-09/19/c_131147529.htm
GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – The International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Geneva and the Bangladesh government have worked out a programme to reimburse the country’s workers who fled Libya, with help from the IOM. Each of the 36,500 workers forced to return to Bangladesh will be allocated $680 in repatriation funds, the IOM says.
More than one million people have fled Libya since February, when the conflict began there.
The IOM to be reimbursed $12.6m
“The agreement, financed by a $40 million World Bank loan to Bangladesh signed in May, will also reimburse to IOM $12.6m – the repatriation costs of 10,000 of the nearly 31,000 Bangladeshi workers that IOM flew home during the early days of the crisis, mainly from Tunisia and Egypt,” the IOM announced 13 June.
The IOM is currently finalizing its database. The grants will be disbursed starting in mid-July, with the IOM responsible for establishing a database of all those returning, verifying their documents and transferring money to their banks.
Bangladesh will face Pakistan on the 16th Asian Games women’s final 19 November.
China, the host country, was defeated by Bangladesh 17 November on a nine-wicket, while Pakistan defeated Japan, also on nine wickets, 16 November.
Links to other sites: Malaysia Star, official website of the 16th Asian Games
Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of Bangladesh, has purchased 10 tons of gold worth $403 million from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The sale 9 September is part of the IMF’s plan to sell 403.3 metric tons of gold, approved of by the Fund’s board late 2009. The Fund has sold 212tn to the Reserve Bank of India, the Bank of Mauritius and the Central Bank of Sri Lanka so far this year.
The IMF held 3005tn of the yellow metal in January 2010, worth $105bn at today’s prices. The IMF’s balance sheet has exploded since the onset of the global financial crisis, from $2bn in 2007 to more than $195bn today.
Links to other sites: Bloomberg, IMF, New York Times
On the second day of the Asia Cup India defeated Bangladesh during a hard-fought opener. The 16 June game was won by 6 wickets by India and with 19.2 overs to spare.
Score: Bangladesh 167 in 34.5 overs.
Links to: Hindustan Times, Asia Cup Cricket 2010
A fire raged late Thursday 3 June in an old neighbourhood in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, killing 114, according to government figures, but the number could rise higher, officials say. The force of the fire and the difficulty of pulling out the dead and wounded make it difficult to assess just what happened, but Reuters reports that “fuelling the flames, which some witnesses said rose up to six-storeys high, were chemicals from illegal, home-based factories in the Kayettuli neighbourhood, one of the most densely populated in Dhaka and in the heart of the city.”
An explosion in the city Tuesday killed 25 people. The government has declared a period of national mourning for the dead.
First reports are optimistic for two conjoined girls who were separated by a medical team in Melbourne, Australia during 27 hours of surgery. Krishna and Trishna, orphans from Bangladesh who were joined at the head, are doing well, although lead doctor Leo Donnan says they have a long road ahead of them, with risks related to recovering from the surgery but also a 50 percent chance of brain damage and 25 percent chance one of them will die. The girls are 2 years 11 months old. They were living at an orphanage in Bangladesh, where the risk of surgery was considered too great by the organization Children First Foundation, which is helping the girls.
Links to other sites: The Age, Melbourne (video), Times, UK, Royal Children’s Hospital page on the twins’ “incredible journey”
Sea levels could rise 7-82cm, and endanger low-lying regions like the Netherlands and delta regions such as Bangladesh and small ocean islands, according to a study published in Nature Geoscience in its July 2009 issue. The findings are broadly in line with Geneva-based Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) findings. The study’s author, Mark Siddall of the University of Bristol warns that the figures are averages and that regional variations could be higher. Related: Le Monde (Fre)
The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century was visible along a 155-mile wide stretch of Asia Wednesday 22 July: from India’s holy Hindu city of Varanasi through Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and along China’s Yangtze River to the Pacific. Coastal areas had cloud cover, but much of the rest of the area had clear skies and the eclipse was easily visible. For scientists in India and China the eclipse provided a rare opportunity to do solar experiments, although Chinese scientists said the cloud cover reduced some of the options. Reuters, Times of India, Xinhua
The mutiny over pay and conditions by border security guards in Bangladesh, which has gripped the country for the past two days appears to have ended with the arrest of some 200 guards. Dozens were injured and 20 people are reported to have died, according to the BBC.
