DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) May 5, 2012: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is in Bangladesh to press tolerance, democracy and development in one of the world's most impoverished nations that is now in the throes political turmoil.
Clinton arrived Saturday in the capital of Dhaka, which has been increasingly tense in recent weeks with general strikes protesting the disappearance of an opposition leader and a crackdown on dissent. Homemade bombs have exploded around the city as the strikes have paralyzed the country, prompting the police to arrest dozens of opposition activists.
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Bangladesh honours 83 ‘foreign friends’
DHAKA, MAR 27: Bangladesh has honoured 83 foreign nationals and organisations for their outstanding contributions in the Bangladesh’s war of independence.
President Zillur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday conferred two categories of honours on distinguished personalities from different countries and organisations at a gala ceremony at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
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Cricket: Bangladesh reach first Asia Cup final
Dhaka, March 20, 2012 Dhaka: Bangladesh reached its first Asia Cup final when it cruised past Sri Lanka by five wickets with nearly three overs to spare in a rain-disrupted match this evening.
Having failed at nine previous Asia Cups, Bangladesh will meet Pakistan in the final on Thursday at the same Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium having upset both finalists from last year's World Cup.
Bangladesh's victory helped it leapfrog World Cup and Asia Cup champion India into the final. Pakistan has won the biennial event only once, in 2000, when it last appeared in the final. Winless Sri Lanka was already assured of missing the final for the first time.
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Bangladesh wins Myanmar battle
Dhaka/Hamburg: Mar 14: In a historic victory at the UN maritime tribunal, Bangladesh has won territorial and economic rights to the vast Bay of Bengal resources even beyond it bargained for.
"We've got all we wanted," an elated foreign minister told bdnews24.com on Wednesday by phone from Hamburg, Germany, where the International Tribunal for Law of the Seas (ITLOS) is based.
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Participation of Bangladesh at CeBIT-2012 Germany
Berlin 6 March 2012: Over the last fifteen years, there has been a remarkable change in IT sector in Bangladesh. Today, there are more than 330 software and IT firms registered as members of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).
In collaboration with Export Promotion Bureau, ten member companies of BASIS, who are specialized in graphics design, software development and pre-press work for media/newspaper industry, participated in the CeBIT 2012, Germany. ...more
Amar Ekushey & International Mother Language Day observed
Dhaka 21 Feb 2012: DHAKA: The nation Tuesady paid homage to the martyrs of the historic language movement of 1952 to mark the Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day.
President M Zillur Rahman, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Begum Khaleda Zia placed wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar to lead the nation in paying floral homage to the martyrs.
The mournful immortal chorus ‘Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February, Ami Ki Bhulite Pari’ was reverberated all around in memory of the language heroes.
President M Zillur Rahman first placed a wreath and then Premier Sheikh Hasina laid another on the altar of the memorial to the martyrs of the 1952 language movement after zero hour amid a tight security in and around the Central Shaheed Minar.
They stood in solemn silence for some time in respect to the memory of the martyrs, who won the last battle for establishing Bengali as a state language during the then exploitative Pakistani regime and paved the way with their blood for Bangladesh’s independence in 1971.
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Army coup foiled in Bangladesh, top officers involved in conspiracy
DHAKA, 19 January 2012: A bid to topple the Bangladeshi government led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been foiled, the Bangladesh Army said on Thursday.
The Bangladesh Army said efforts by some officers to topple the government have been foiled and that the process to bring the culprits to justice has begun.
"Specific information has been unearthed that some officers in active military service have been involved in the conspiracy to topple the system of democratic governance," bdnews24.com quoted army spokesman Brigadier General Muhammad Masud Razzaq as saying at a press briefing. ...more
Bangladesh celebrating 40th Victory Day 40 years Bangladesh
Dhaka, 16 Dec 2011: The nation is celebrating the 40th Victory Day Thursday with a renewed call for establishing the rule of law, institutionalizing democracy and holding war-crime trial as part of the efforts for fulfilling the objectives of the Liberation War. A 31-gun salute will herald the day. The other programmes include hoisting the national flag, placing wreaths at the National Mausoleum, parade, reception to gallantry award-winning freedom fighters, discussion meetings and prayer sessions.The nation is commemorating the country`s triumph in the nine-month of war of independence against the Pakistani forces and their local lackeys this very day in 1971.The day is being marked all over Bangladesh and the country`s missions abroad by paying glowing tributes to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman for relentlessly leading a struggle towards the country`s independence.
On this day in 1971, the chief of the Pakistani forces, general AAK Niazi, along with 93,000 troops, surrendered to the allied forces led by General Jagjit Singh Aurora of India at the Ramna Racecourse, now Suhrawardy Udyan, in Dhaka after their defeat in the war.People from all walks of life will throng the National Martyrs` Mausoleum at Savar to pay homage to the heroes who embraced martyrdom to liberate Bangladesh.
PM Hasina arrives in Berlin World Health Organization Summit
Berlin, Oct 22 - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina arrived at Tegel Airport in Berlin at 3-30 pm local time. She was received by Bangladesh`s Foreign Minister Dipu Moni, Bangladesh Ambassador to Germany Masud Mannan and high German government officials.
On her arrival at the Hotel Adlon Kempinski several hundred Bangladeshi expatriates greeted her with flower bouquet.
Among others, Awami League Europe chapter president Anil Das Gupta, UK Awami League president Sultan Sharif, and Europe chapter Awami League leader Nazrul Islam, were present.
Earlier, Prime Minister Hasina left Dhaka for the German capital in the morning to attend World Health Summit-2011.
The Prime Minister is scheduled to attend a reception to be hosted by students of Bangla Pathshala at Bangladesh House in Berlin Saturday.
She will attend another reception the next day (Oct 23) to be hosted by non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) in Germany at Hotel Adlon Kempiniski.
On October 24, she will attend a seminar titled `Emerging Market-Bangladesh’ at Hotel Adlon.
Germany-Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce has organized the seminar to be participated by leading German business leaders and potential investors.
During her five-day visit, Sheikh Hasina will have official talks with German Chancellor Dr. Angela Merkel on October 25, followed by a luncheon and a joint press briefing.
The Prime Minister is expected to return home on October 26.
PM offers peace model Tells world leaders at UN about 6 things to do
New York Sept. 25, 2011 (UNB) - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday unveiled a six-point multi-dimensional peace model for championing democracy and people's empowerment, coinciding with the UNGA theme “Mediation in the Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes”.
The six multipliers of her proposed model include eradication of poverty and hunger, reduction of inequality, mitigation of deprivation, inclusion of excluded people, acceleration of human development and elimination of terrorism. [source: Daily Star][...more]
Bangladesh filmmaker Tareque Masud and Journalist Mishuk Munir killed in road crash 3 other died - catherine Masud and Dhali Al Mamun injured
Dhaka, 14 August 2011 Bangladesh film-maker Tareque Masud and chief executive officer (CEO) of ATN News Mishuk Munier and three others were killed when their microbus collided with a passenger bus on the Dhaka-Aricha highway in Manikganj on 13 August. Masud's film The Clay Bird won a prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2002 and was Bangladesh's candidate for the foreign film Oscar in 2003. When the birth of a nation, especially one as bloody as the war of independent that birthed Bangladesh in 1971, resides in living memory, it casts a long shadow over the films and literature of the new country. Yet, thanks to the vagaries of politics and history, the memories of that birth itself keep getting rewritten and overwritten as different political parties come to power in Bangladesh. For him, personally, that changed his life.
Catherine Masud, wife of the award-winning filmmaker Tareq, painter Dhali Al Mamun and his wife Dolly also sustained injuries during the crash. They are now undergoing treatment at Square Hospital in Dhaka, reports our Manikganj correspondent.
Bangladesh - Alarming Rise in "Disappearances"
New York April, 27, 2012 New York April, 27, 2012 The Bangladesh government should immediately order an independent and impartial investigation into the growing number of cases where opposition members and political activists have vanished without trace, Human Rights Watch said today. The most recent episode, on April 17, 2012, involved Elias Ali, secretary of the Sylhet Division of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).
Human Rights Watch recently expressed concern over the April 4 abduction and subsequent death of Aminul Islam, a prominent labor rights activist.
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Nation celebrates Pahela Baishakh (Bengali New Year 1419)
DHAKA: 14 April 2012 People from all walks of life burst into jubilation, leaving behind all the sorrows and glooms of the previous year, will celebrate the Bengali New Year 1419 Saturday amid festivities featuring culture and tradition of the Bengalis.
Pahela Baishakh, the first day of the year in the Bengali calendar, has its origin in the Mughal times when Emperor Akbar employed the Bangla calendar to facilitate tax collection.
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Closed, nervy city braces for today - BNP Rally
Govt actions disrupt communications, life; Khaleda to announce fresh agitation for caretaker govt at restriction-strung rally
Almost all highways and waterways leading to the capital remain blocked, hotels and guesthouses closed and intra-city traffic movements restricted -- all in frantic government attempts to keep opposition activists and supporters from joining the BNP rally today.
Opposition BNP is set to stage the much-talked grand rally on Monday afternoon in city’s Naya Paltan with inaugural speech of the party chief Khaleda Zia.
After a long drama, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Sunday gave conditional permission to the party for holding the grand rally.
Historic 7th March: Tight security for AL mass procession
No room for razakars in country: PM DHAKA: Strong security measures have been taken in Suhrawardy Udyan area from Wednesday morning to avert any untoward incident during Awami League mass procession on the occasion of the historic 7th March.
The procession will start from Suhrawardy Udyan (gate in front of Engineers’ Institution) at 3:30 pm of the day and wind up at the historic Bangabandhu Bhaban on Road 32 of Dhanmondi of the city.
Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, also the AL president, is set to address here and later will inaugurate the rally, party sources said. [...more]
15 receive Ekushey Padak-2012
Dhaka 20 Feb 2012: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged all to remain alert about upholding the spirit of ‘Amar Ekushey’ (immortal 21st) and said that those who reject the four main pillars of the Language Movement and the independence are the enemies of Ekushey and our independence. [...more]
Saydee-led rajakars raped my wife: Madhusudan Gharami
DHAKA, February 2, 2012: A prosecution witness on Wednesday told the International Crimes Tribunal that his wife was raped by rajakars led by at his Hoglabunia village in Parerhat during the Liberation War in 1971.
Narrating the painful episode, prosecution witness No. 23 Madhusudan Gharami said rajakars along with some people had entered his house in his absence and gang-raped his wife.
“The man who converted you to Muslim had been here, you go away and I suffer unbearable pain as I’ve been raped by them, I can’t say anymore, don’t think about me,” Gharami quoted her wife as saying. ...more
Bangladesh to honour 124 dignitaries
DHAKA, Dec 12: The cabinet, on Monday, approved a list of 124 foreign dignitaries, to confer the country's state honour, for their outstanding contribution to the War of Liberation in 1971.
The approval came in the weekly cabinet meeting held at the secretariat, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
AB Tajul Islam, state minister for the Liberation War, told The Independent that the foreign heroes would be honoured in an auspicious day between January 10 to March 26 this year, at the south or north plaza of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
Some of the Indian recipients include former chief minister of West Bengal, Jyoti Basu; former foreign ministers – Sardar Swaran Singh and VK Krishna Menon; former chief minister of Tripura, Sachindra Lal Singh; former defence minister, Jagjivan Ram; former diplomats DP Dhar and PN Dhar; former Prime Minister IK Gujral; finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw; Gen. Jagjit Singh Aurora; Pandit Ravi Shankar; Satyajit Ray; singers Manna Dey and Mohmmad Rafi; artist Makbul Fida Hussain; and poet Bishnu Dey.Pakistani recipients of the award include GM Sayeed (nationalist leader of Sindh), Sheikh Ayaz, Master Khan Gul, and Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo.
As many as 83 US nationals, including including senator Edward M Kennedy and Edmond Mulky, diplomat Archer Kent Blood (consul general of the US embassy in Dhaka in 1971), singer Joan Baez, poet Allen Ginsberg, and filmmaker Lear Levin, have been selected for the award.
Russel Johnston, Bruce Douglas-Mann, John Stonehouse and Tom Williams are among the 14 UK politicians on the list, while journalists from that country include Sir Mark Tully, Simon Dring, Nicholas Tomalin and Clare Hollingworth. Singer George Harrison, Donald Chesworth, Paul Connel, Marietta Procope will also be honoured.
There will be five recipients from Australia – political leader William AS Ouderland (who was awarded the Bir Protik), Les Johnson, WA Waderland, Penny Tweedie and physician Dr Geoffrey Davis. [...more]
BNP’s Khulna Roadmarch today Roadmarch to Pabna, Khustia. Jessore, Khulna
Dhaka, Nov. 26 - Chairperson Khaleda Zia will direct a road march towards Khulna today to pulsate up support for her party’s demand that the government reinstate the caretaker government system to oversee in the next parliament elections.
Senior leaders of the four-party alliance and similar minded parties will accompany the road march that will pass through Pabna, Kushtia, Jhenidah and Jessore before reaching Khulna.The BNP leader will stay at Jessore Circuit House tonight and restart the march towards Khulna tomorrow.
The two-day programme will end with a public meeting on Khulna Circuit House premises at 3:00pm tomorrow. Hope BNP’s this long march will carry something for the citizens of Bangladesh.
Govt invites tender for 2nd Padma Bridge project November 19, 2011: Breaking News
The government Friday invited tender for investors’ prequalification for building a $2 billion 2nd Padma Multipurpose Bridge under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative though construction of the first one hit snags over suspension of the World Bank funding over graft allegations.
Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) under the communications ministry floated the international tender on 3 November for building the 6.1-km bridge over the mighty river Padma connecting Paturia and Daulatdia points.
The proposed bridge will be constructed on public-private partnership (PPP) initiative with an estimated cost of Tk US$ 2 billion, according to the Communications Ministry officials.
Both the planned bridges are to connect the country’s cutoff southwest with the eastern part, including the capital Dhaka.
Women demand exemplary punishment to repressors
Is Government paralyzed? Nagorik Uddog Active: Join Facebook group “Bangladesh Civil Society”
RANGPUR 6th July 2011 (BSS): Speakers here at a human chain programme yesterday demanded immediate arrests and exemplary punishments to the criminals involved with torturing two women in a medieval style in Badarganj upazila in the district.
They strongly condemned inhuman torture by some people on housewives Hafiza Begum Happy and Sayeeda Begum at Rajarampur Kashiganj village on last June 26 in broad daylight in presence of hundreds of the villagers.
Nagorik Uddog, RDRS Bangladesh, Bangladesh Mohila Parishad, ASOD, Trinomul Nari Netri Network, Polli Shree, Debi Chowdhurani Polli Unnayan Kendra and several human rights organisations organised the programme in Press Club premises.
Senior Manager of RDRS Bangladesh Bilkis Begum, Coordinator of ASOD Syed Jahangir Kabir Shanto, Programme Facilitator of Polli Shree Rezaul Karim, women leader Mamtaz Begum, human rights activists Rezaul Karim, addressed.
The speakers said that a group of local 'influential people' (Chairman Aynul Haq, Modhupur Union) at a local arbitration falsely termed the two housewives as 'bad women' and as per their orders, some of their followers inhumanely tortured the women violating the law of the land.
They called upon the administrations for immediate arrests of the criminals involved and demanded their exemplary punishments so that no such incident could occur in future anywhere in the country.
Clinton in troubled Bangladesh to press stability
