United News of Bangladesh

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Sunday said he would focus primarily on three areas - digital healthcare development, youth entrepreneurs development and ‘Three Zero’ agenda as part of his post-election work. He conveyed this to Akie Abe, head of Foundation for Encouragement of Social Contribution and wife of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, when she wanted to know about the Chief Adviser's plans and priorities for the period following Bangladesh's national election scheduled for February 12. The meeting was held at the State Guest House Jamuna. Chief Adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder briefed the media about the meeting at the Foreign Service Academy. Akie Abe is currently visiting Bangladesh leading a delegation over work of her foundation. Former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was assassinated in July, 2022. During the meeting, Prof Yunus recalled his warm and sincere relationship he had shared with her husband Shinzo Abe. As Akie Abe wanted to know about the Chief Adviser's plans and priorities for the period after the national election of Bangladesh, Azad said Prof Yunus explained that his post-election work would focus primarily on three areas. Prof Yunus will work on digital healthcare development so that women and vulnerable groups in the country can gain greater access to the healthcare system. He would also work so that expatriate Bangladeshis could stay informed about their family members' health conditions through a digital platform and provide necessary advice and support. Prof will continue his longstanding work on youth development, particularly in nurturing young entrepreneurs. The Chief Adviser said, he will continue his ongoing work related to the "Three Zero" agenda, which he has been pursuing previously. Prof Yunus also informed Akie Abe that, following the election on February 12, he is scheduled to visit Japan in the third week of March at the invitation of the Sasakawa Foundation. Prof Yunus urges joint research to explore marine resources During the visit, he will participate in a conference organised by the foundation, which conducts research on various issues, particularly ocean research. Prof Yunus said, during his visit, he will also discuss ways to enhance collaboration between Bangladesh and the foundation in these areas.

The highest number of TV viewers during the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics 2020 was recorded when Nobel Laureate Prof. Muhammad Yunus delivered his “Three Zeros” speech, following his acceptance of the Olympic Laurel.  Yunus Centre in Dhaka shared the information on Monday quoting a Toshiba report published on Yahoo News Japan. According to the report, Japanese TV viewers were listening to his speech on 47 per cent of all TV sets in Japan. Also read: ‘Honoured and overwhelmed’: Dr Yunus after receiving Olympic Laurel Toshiba's viewer monitoring was based on the sample size of 340,000 TV sets in Japan.  This programme calculates the audience rating every second.  According to it, the audience rating rose to 10 per cent of TV sets in the first 10 minutes of the opening ceremony broadcast.  The number of viewers continued to rise until it reached the peak during Prof. Yunus's speech.  At the time Japanese audience were watching the ceremony on 47 per cent of all TV sets in Japan. The Yahoo News Japan report also says audience rating of the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics was three times that of the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.  Yuji Suzuki, a well-known Japanese journalist who specialises in analytics, reported on the size of audience during the opening ceremony in an article published on Yahoo News Japan on July 24.  Prof. Yunus, in his Olympic Laurel acceptance speech, urged all athletes to build a world of Three Zeros.  Also read: Prof Yunus renews call for ensuring vaccine equality breaking profit wall He defined the Three Zeros as: Zero net carbon emissions, zero wealth concentration to end poverty once and for all, and zero unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurs in everyone. If the whole world had the same percentage of tuning in to their television sets as in Japan (47%), that would mean 3.2 billion people all over the world were listening to his speech at the time. When the march past of country delegations of athletes began after his speech the audience rating, however, began to decline sharply, according to Yunus Centre. Athletes from more than 200 countries participated in the parade.