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HABIGANJ, Bangladesh: When Joy Sudip Bhadro wasn’t toiling away on a construction site in Singapore, he could be found outside a polytechnic, gazing in awe as students streamed in and out of the school gates. To Singaporeans, it is nothing special to see. But to this Bangladeshi, it was a whole new world, one he never had a chance to be part of and could only watch from afar. As he observed the students, he thought about how he was unable to complete high school owing to financial constraints. He had come to Singapore at the age of 24, earning S$600 a month to support his extended family of 11. “I was a poor man who had absolutely nothing,” says the now 42-year-old. He then, by chance, met a Burmese studying for a diploma here and who “now works in an office” — while he, with his primary school certificate, could only do menial work. And Joy knew, he was not the only one. In his small hometown of Habiganj, many youngsters graduating from primary school were faced with … [Read more...] about Inspired by Singapore’s education system, Bangladeshi migrant worker starts polytechnic

The combined networth of India's 100 wealthiest is $381 billion (nearly Rs 25.5 lakh crore), a rise of 10 per cent from $ 345 billion in 2015 Photograph: Courtesy, Reliance I ndustrialist Mukesh Ambani was, on Thursday, named India's richest person for ninth year in a row with a sharp increase in networth to $22.7 billion, while Sun Pharma's Dilip Shanghvi, below , was ranked a distant second with a wealth of $16.9 billion. Photograph courtesy: Creative Commons The Hinduja Family moved up to the third position ($15.2 billion) on the annual Forbes list of India's 100 Richest People. Wipro's Azim Premji, bottom , slipped one place to fourth with a networth of $15 billion. Patanjali Ayurved's Acharya Balkrishna, known as a close associate of yoga guru Ramdev, has made a surprise entry at the 48th position with a networth of $2.5 billion on the list compiled by the American business magazine known for its rich lists. Forbes said the … [Read more...] about With $22.7 billion in his kitty, Mukesh Ambani is India’s richest

Buddhists pray online due to COVID-19 outbreak Blood shortage warned as donations postponed due to COVID-19 outbreaks The resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic in many cities and provinces in recent weeks has seriously affected the blood supply for medical treatment. Although many people and organisations responded to the call of blood donation by the National Institute of Hematology and Blood Transfusion (NIHBT) on February 19, the amount of blood received per day was still only a few hundred units while the average need for treatment each day is from 1,200 to 1,500 units. There is usually a shortage of blood during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday as the holiday lasts long while blood has a short shelf life and many patients still need blood transfusions during Tết. This year, the pandemic's resurgence has made the shortage after Tết even worse. Before Tết, 30 entities requested to postpone or cancel blood donation plans which meant the NIHBT missed out on … [Read more...] about VIETNAM NEWS HEADLINES FEB. 25

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The Los Angeles Lakers capped an encouraging weekend with a much-needed NBA win on Sunday, using a 16-0 second-half scoring run to down Detroit 114-99. The struggling Lakers had dropped two straight and four of their last five going into the contest. They were buoyed on Saturday by superstar Kobe Bryant's return to practice for the first time since he tore his left Achilles tendon on April 12. After Bryant took part in some shooting drills, Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni found himself fielding questions as to Bryant's expected return. The coach said it was too soon to say. "I know why there's anticipation, but it's too early," D'Antoni said. Bryant, who recently said he was stepping up his fitness training, discussed his progress with sharpening his on-court skills in an interview for NBA TV. "The fadeaway still works, the ball-handling and being able to post," he said. "Those are things that I can do right now." But with the time frame for his … [Read more...] about NBA: Buoyed by Kobe’s imminent return, Lakers rally to down Detroit

LONDON: Reported daily coronavirus infections have been falling across the world for a month and on Tuesday (Feb 16) hit their lowest since mid-October, Reuters figures show, but health experts warned against apathy even as vaccines are being rolled out worldwide. Falls in infections and deaths coincide with lockdowns and severe curbs on gatherings and movement as governments weigh the need to stop successive waves of the pandemic with the need to get people back to work and children back to school. But optimism over a way out of the crisis has been tempered by new variants of the virus, raising fears about the efficacy of vaccines. "Now is not the time to let your guard down," Maria Van Kerkhove, the World Health Organization's technical lead on COVID-19, told a briefing in Geneva. "... We cannot let ourselves get into a situation where we have cases rise again.” READ: New COVID-19 cases down 16% last week: WHO READ: Commentary: Fall in global weekly COVID-19 cases … [Read more...] about COVID-19 infections falling worldwide but WHO warns against apathy