Page 15 - Bangladesh

Bangladesh requested $762 million hike in financial support, says IMF

The International Monetary Fund said Wednesday that Bangladesh sought an increase of about USD 762 million in financial support amid significant macroeconomic challenges, bringing the total financial assistance for the country under various arrangements to about USD 4.1 billion. The IMF staff and the Bangladesh authorities have reached a staff-level agreement on the policies needed to complete the combined third and fourth reviews under the Extended Credit Facility (ECF), Extended Fund Facility (EFF), and Resilience and Sustainability Facility (RSF). The staff-level agreement awaits IMF Executive Board approval and depends on prior actions, including tax reforms and full exchange rate liberalisation, the Fund said in a statement. Amid significant macroeconomic challenges, the authorities requested an augmentation of SDR (Special Drawing Rights) 567.2 million (approximately USD 762 million) in IMF financial support to Bangladesh under the ECF and EFF arrangements," IMF Mission Chief

Bangladesh defends Awami League ban as internal matter, cites security

Elections are entirely Bangladesh's internal matter, Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus' top aide has said, adding the ban on former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's party was necessary to protect national security and sovereignty. Yunus' Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam was reacting to concerns raised by India on the ban imposed on the activities of Hasina's Awami League. Bangladesh on Monday officially disbanded Awami League under an overnight revised anti-terrorism law. Elections are entirely our internal matter. We urge all to respect the sovereign will of our people in matters relating to elections, Alam told Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), the state-run news agency, on Tuesday. The ban on activities of the Awami League is necessary to protect national security and sovereignty, Alam added. India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Tuesday said the ban on Awami League without due process is a concerning development. New Delhi also called for early holding of fr

Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina's party Awami League barred from election

The move comes after the interim government of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, banned all activities of the Awami League under the Anti-Terrorism Act after days of protests

Bangladesh bans Ex-PM Hasina's Awami League under anti-terror law

Bangladesh's interim government led by Muhammad Yunus on Saturday evening banned deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League under an anti-terrorism law. The official gazette notification will be issued in this regard on the next working day, Yunus's office said, describing it as a statement of the council of advisers or the Cabinet. The statement said the council decided that the ban would remain effective until the completion of the trial of the Awami League and its leaders in Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal in the interest of protecting the country's security and sovereignty. It said the decision was also taken for the security of the leaders and activists of the July 2024 uprising that eventually led to the ousting of the Awami League regime alongside the complainants and witnesses of the trial in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The meeting chaired by Yunus simultaneously amended the ICT law allowing the tribunal to try any political party, its front

Bangladesh court issues fresh arrest orders for Hindu leader Chinmoy Das

A Bangladesh court on Tuesday ordered the arrest of detained Hindu leader Chinmoy Krishna Das in four more cases, a day after the court took a similar action against him in a murder case. Chattogram Metropolitan Magistrate SM Alauddin Mahmud issued the order after a virtual hearing, state-run BSS news agency reported. A former ISKCON leader, Das, was arrested at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on November 25 last year in a sedition case over alleged defamation of the national flag. His bail petition was rejected by a Chattogram court, which sent him to jail the next day. His arrest sparked widespread protests, with his followers demonstrating in Dhaka and other places. The four cases on which the court took action on Tuesday include obstruction of police duties at the Kotwali police station and attacks on lawyers and justice seekers, according to Assistant Public Prosecutor Md Raihanul Wazed Chowdhury. "The court granted the plea to show him (Das) arrested afte

Bangladesh's former PM Khaleda Zia returns to country after treatment in UK

Bangladesh's ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia on Tuesday returned to the country from London after four months of medical treatment, according to a media report. Zia went to London on January 8 for advanced medical care and was admitted to The London Clinic. After being discharged from the clinic, the BNP chairperson moved to her eldest son Tarique Rahman's residence, where she has been receiving treatment. An air ambulance sent by the Qatari emir carrying Khaleda and her two daughters-in-law Tarique Rahman's wife Zubaida Rahman and the late Arafat Rahman Coco's wife Syeda Sharmila Rahman landed in Dhaka around 10:30 am, bdnews24 reported. The plane had departed from London's Heathrow Airport at 4:20 pm local time. Tarique had driven his mother to the airport and seen her off, according to Khaleda's private physician, Prof AZM Zahid Hossain. The 79-year-old three-time prime minister has long suffered from liver cirrhosis, kidney disease, heart problems, diabetes, and ...

Five Bangladeshi nationals arrested in Navi Mumbai for staying illegally

Five Bangladeshi nationals have been arrested from a locality in Navi Mumbai for allegedly staying in the country without valid documents, police said on Tuesday. A team from the Anti-Human Trafficking Cell (AHTC) of Navi Mumbai Police raided a premises at Karanjade in Panvel on Sunday morning and found six Bangladeshi nationals, including two women, living there, a police spokesperson said. He said five were taken into custody after preliminary verification of their immigration status. "Three of the accused overstayed in India even after their visas had expired, while the other two had entered the country illegally without any valid travel documents or permissions," the official said. He said investigations revealed that the accused had managed to fraudulently acquire Indian identity documents, including Aadhaar and PAN cards and voter IDs. Three accused had even secured Indian passports, he added. The official said an FIR has been registered at the Panvel Town police station ag

Adani Power's outstanding on Bangladesh stands at around $900 mn: CFO

Adani Power has to receive around USD 900 million (around Rs 7,500 crore) from Bangladesh where the company supplies electricity from its Godda Power plant in Jharkhand, a company official said. "As of now, the total billing we (Adani Power) have done so far is around USD 2,000 million. We have already received USD 1,207 million out of this and we have also billed LPS (late payment surcharge) of USD 136 million," the company's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Dilip Jha said in an earnings call. So, as of now, on gross basis including LPS, the company's outstanding is around USD 900 million, he said. On company's capex plan, Jha said the company has planned Rs 13,307 crore towards expansion capex for FY26, up from Rs 8,000 crore already incurred in FY25. In FY26 capex includes expansion of Mahan phase 2 and 3, Raigarh phase-2, Raipur phase-2, Mirzapur, Kawai Phase-II, and Korba phase-2 and Korba phase-3. Speaking further S B Khyalia, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Adani Power, said th

BSF to get 16 new battalions, 2 field HQs for Pakistan, Bangladesh borders

The Border Security Force is all set to get the government's final nod to raise 16 more battalions, comprising around 17,000 troopers, and set up two forward headquarters for its western and eastern commands guarding the Pakistan and Bangladesh frontiers, respectively, official sources have said. The plan has already received an in-principle approval. Once sanctioned, it will be a shot in the arm for the force that has heightened vigil in the east following last year's fall of the Sheikh Hasina government in Bangladesh and in the wake of a renewed challenge on the Pakistan front after the April 22 Pahalgam massacre. The BSF is soon expected to get the final sanction for raising 16 new battalions which will be raised over the next few years, sources in the security establishment told PTI. Some final approvals including sanction from the Union finance ministry are pending and are expected to be granted soon, they said. The paramilitary force has 193 battalions as of now to guard the

Tie up with China, occupy North East if India hits Pak: B'desh ex-general

A former Bangladeshi army officer close to Chief Adviser Yunus urged Dhaka to ally with China and occupy India's Northeast if New Delhi attacks Pakistan in the wake of Pahalgam attack

Adani Power says hopeful Bangladesh will pay all outstanding dues

Adani had halved supply last year but CFO Dilip Jha said the company has resumed full supply since as the country's monthly payments started covering some of the dues

Starlink's Pakistan, Bangladesh operations under scrutiny in India

The SpaceX subsidiary has been awaiting govt approval to enter the India market

B'desh tribunal issues show-cause notice to Sheikh Hasina in contempt case

Bangladesh's International Crimes Tribunal has issued a show-cause notice to deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her aide in a contempt of court case. The tribunal headed by Justice Golam Mortuza Mozumder passed the order on Wednesday based on the content of an audio through which Hasina interfered in the judicial process and issued threats to the tribunal, state-run BSS news agency reported. The ICT instructed Hasina and Shakil Alam Bulbul, a leader of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), to respond to the show cause notice by May 15, ICT Prosecutor Gazi M H Tamim said on Thursday. The ICT issued the notices after receiving a forensic report on a recently circulated audio clip on social media that features the former prime minister saying, I have received a license to kill 227 people. The leaked audio went viral on social media sometime at the end of last year. In the leaked audio, a voice is heard saying, "227 cases have been filed against me, so I've obtained a lice

B'desh govt moves supreme court to stay Chinmoy Das bail in sedition case

A chamber judge is a judge who handles urgent and temporary matters, often during court vacation or when a full bench is unavailable

Pahalgam terror attack: Bangladesh condemns 'mindless act of violence'

Bangladesh joins its neighbours Nepal, Bhutan, China, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and Pakistan in condemning the Pahalgam terror attacks

Bangladesh rejects India's allegation over Hindu community leader's death

Bangladesh has rejected New Delhi's charge that the recent killing of a Hindu leader was part of a pattern of systematic persecution of minorities in that country. Body of Hindu community leader Bhabesh Chandra Roy, 58, a resident of Basudebpur village of Dinajpur district in north Bangladesh, was recovered on Thursday night. His son has claimed Roy was allegedly abducted from his home in the village, about 330 kilometres northwest of Dhaka, and beaten to death. It is unfortunate that the death of Mr Bhabesh Chandra Roy has been described as part of a 'pattern of systematic persecution' of Hindu minorities under the interim government, interim government chief Muhammad Yunus' press secretary Shafiqul Alam told the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) news agency late Monday. Alam, who is currently accompanying Yunus to an international conference in Qatar, said Bangladesh is not a country where one would find government-sponsored systematic discrimination against ...

Bangladesh police requests Interpol for red corner notice for Hasina

The National Central Bureau (NCB) of Bangladesh Police has submitted a request to the Interpol seeking a red notice against 12 individuals, including ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, a media report said Saturday. Hasina, 77, has been living in India since August 5 last year when she fled Bangladesh following a massive student-led protest that toppled her Awami League's (AL) 16-year regime. The NCB processes such requests based on appeals from courts, public prosecutors, or investigating agencies, The Daily Star said, quoting Enamul Haque Sagor, assistant inspector general (media). Confirming the development, Sagor said at the Police Headquarters: "These applications are filed in connection with allegations that emerge during investigations or through ongoing case proceedings." A red notice is used by Interpol to help locate and provisionally arrest individuals pending extradition or similar legal action. Interpol assists in tracking the whereabouts of fugitives living abroad, a

'Protect minorities without excuses': India condemns Hindu leader's killing

Calling out 'systematic minority persecution', India condemned the killing of Bhabesh Chandra Roy, demanding Bangladesh to ensure safety of minorities

Who was Bhabesh Chandra Roy? Hindu leader abducted & murdered in Bangladesh

Bhabesh Chandra Roy, a Hindu leader in Bangladesh, was abducted from his home and beaten to death in Dinajpur, amid rising attacks on minorities in the neighbouring country

Oilmeals export dip 21% to Rs 12,171 cr in FY25; volume falls 11%

India's oilmeals export fell 21 per cent to Rs 12,171 crore last fiscal mainly due to decline in sales volumes by 11 per cent, according to data compiled by Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA). In a statement on Friday, edible oil industry body SEA said the total export of oilmeals in 2024-25 fiscal fell 11 per cent to 43,42,498 tonnes compared to 48,85,437 tonnes in the preceding year. This was mainly due to reduction in export of rapeseed meal & castorseed meal, it added. In terms of value, the exports decreased 21 per cent to Rs 12,171 crore in 2024-25 from Rs 15,368 crore in the preceding year, said B V Mehta, Executive Director of SEA. Bangladesh in spite of political turbulences become a largest importer of Indian oilmeals. India exported 7.42 lakh tonnes to Bangladesh in 2024-25, down 17 per cent from 892,659 tonnes in the preceding year. South Korea become the second largest importer of Indian oilmeals. India exported 6.99 lakh tonnes of oilmeals last fiscal, ..