Page 24 - Bangladesh

Will take up Bangladesh embankment issue with Centre: Tripura CM Saha

Chief Minister Manik Saha on Wednesday assured the Tripura Assembly he will take up with the Centre the issue of Bangladesh government's move to build a massive embankment opposite Kailashahar subdivision in the state's Unakoti district. The assurance came after Congress legislator Birajit Sinha drew Saha's attention on the matter. "The Bangladesh government has been constructing a massive embankment opposite Kailashahar. We have a 40-year-old embankment at Rangaoti. If our embankment is not strengthened on an urgent basis, people will suffer in case of floods," Singh said. State's fisheries minister Sudhangshu Das, who hails from Unakoti district, said the matter is international and a few patches of the India-Bangladesh border in Tripura are still unfenced leading to cattle smuggling in bordering areas. "This is an international matter. I have already sent reports to Delhi suggesting strengthening of embankments. I will refer the matter to the Centre again", Saha assured.

Bangladeshi court sentences ex-Army chief, 18 others to 12-yr imprisonment

A Bangladeshi court on Wednesday sentenced former army chief Harunur Rashid and 18 others to 12 years of imprisonment and also slapped fines worth more than Tk 4,500 crore for embezzlement and money laundering. The Dhaka Special Judge Court-4 sentenced former army chief Lieutenant General (Retd) Rashid and Rafiqul Amin, managing director of Destiny Multipurpose Co-Operative Society Limited to 12-year imprisonment each in a case lodged over embezzlement and money laundering. A court official said Judge Md Rabiul Alam simultaneously fined them Tk 4,515.57 crore (USD 1=Tk 120.93), an amount double to what they were accused of misappropriation involving the MLM company or network business firm. MLM companies sell products to family and friends and recruit other people to do the same. Rashid was recruited by the firm as a director years after his retirement from the army while he was granted bail as the hearing was underway since the trial began in 2016. The Destiny group chairman, Ras

Bangladesh HC reduces ULFA leader Paresh Baruah's life term to 14 years

Bangladesh High Court has commuted the life imprisonment of separatist ULFA leader Paresh Baruah to 14 years imprisonment in a case under the country's Arms Act while acquitting several others. The two-judge bench commuted the life imprisonment of ULFA's Paresh Baruah and four Bangladeshis, an official of the attorney general's bureau said on Wednesday. United Liberation Front of Assam's (ULFA) now absconding military commander Baruah and several Bangladeshis, including former junior home minister and former military generals, civil officials and private citizens, were convicted of two charges in 2014 for their alleged attempt to smuggle 10-truck loads of weapons to ULFA hideouts in Assam. On December 18 last year, the High Court commuted the death sentence of Baruah. Baruah, who is believed to be living in China, was sentenced to death after a trial in absentia in 2014. His name also figures in the most wanted' list of India's National Investigation Agency (NIA). Ten truckloads o

Pakistan, Bangladesh armies meet, say outsiders can't harm 'brotherly' ties

In a rare high-level meeting in Rawalpindi, Pakistan and Bangladesh's militaries stressed that their 'enduring partnership' must 'remain resilient against external influences'

Sheikh Hasina's niece Tulip Siddiq resigns as UK Treasury minister

The niece of Bangladesh's deposed former leader Sheikh Hasina, Labour Party MP Tulip Siddiq, on Tuesday resigned as Treasury minister to prevent her family connections becoming a distraction for the work of the British government. Last week, the British Bangladeshi minister in charge of tackling corruption in the UK financial markets as Economic Secretary to the Treasury and City Minister had referred herself to Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Independent Adviser on Ministers' Interests over allegations of corruption and a lack of transparency surrounding her use of properties in London. In her resignation letter released by 10 Downing Street, Siddiq pointed out that the watchdog had not found her in breach of the Ministerial Code and noted that she had not acted improperly. I want to assure you that I acted and have continued to act with full transparency and on the advice of officials on these matters. However, it is clear that continuing in my role as Economic Secretary to the ...

Party of Bangladesh's former PM Khaleda Zia urges elections by August

Yunus has said elections might be possible by the end of 2025, but only following electoral reforms

India summons Bangladesh envoy amid border fencing row with Dhaka

Bangladesh's Foreign Ministry voiced concern over India's BSF allegedly building unauthorised fencing along the 4,156-km border

UK PM urged to fire Hasina's niece Tulip Siddiq as Yunus calls for probe

Bangladesh Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus urged the UK government to launch a thorough investigation into properties linked to Tulip Siddiq, UK's anti-corruption minister

Bangladesh summons Indian envoy Pranay Verma over border tensions

The development came hours after Dhaka alleged that India was trying to construct fences at five locations along the Indo-Bangla border, in violation of a bilateral agreement

Bangladesh's SC upholds HC verdict scrapping cases against Muhammad Yunus

Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Saturday said that its judgement of upholding a High Court ruling which scrapped five labour law cases against Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus had no legal weakness or interference, according to a media report. A three-member bench of the apex court headed by Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam passed the order last month, dismissing a leave to appeal petition filed against the High Court judgment, state-run BSS news agency reported on Saturday. The full text of the judgment was published recently where the Supreme Court said there was no legal weakness or interference in the High Court judgment, the report said. Five cases were filed with the Labour Court in Dhaka against Yunus in 2019 when he was the chairman of Grameen Telecommunications. The cases were filed after the termination of employees under a proposed trade union act. In 2020, the Nobel laureate appealed to the High Court to quash the cases, after which the Court issued a ruling. Later, on October 24 l

An open letter to Prof Mohd Yunus: From revenge to responsibility

Hasina took away your bank, you've now served revenge. Here's the test: Now that you have public office, it implies public trust. Can you have it and do nothing? And if you would, what would it be?

B'desh's ex-PM Khaleda Zia in London for treatment, meets son after 7 years

Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia was admitted to a specialised hospital in London on Wednesday for advanced treatment, her party said. Earlier, the 79-year-old chairperson of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had an emotional reunion with her eldest son, Tarique Rahman, at the Heathrow International Airport after more than seven years of separation. Begum Khaleda Zia was admitted to the London Clinic under Professor Patrick Kennedy at 6.30 pm (BST), BNP Media Cell member Shairul Kabir Khan quoted Khaleda Zia's personal physician Professor AZM Zahid Hossain as saying. Zia was driven to the London Clinic directly from Heathrow Airport by her son and BNP acting chairman Rahman. Rahman's wife Dr Zubaida Rahman accompanied them. Bangladeshi physicians, who accompanied the former premier to London, handed over treatment related documents to the doctors of the London Clinic, state-run news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) said. Later, the physicians of the clin

Hasina may continue staying in India despite Dhaka's extradition request

Sheikh Hasina left Bangladesh amidst violent student-led protests that erupted in July 2024, leaving over 500 people dead

Bangladesh revokes Sheikh Hasina's passport, cites crimes against humanity

Sheikh Hasina and 11 others are summoned to a Bangladesh court on February 12. The former Prime Minister fled to India in August after student protests ended her 16-year Awami League rule

B'desh's ex-PM Khaleda Zia leaves country to undergo treatment in London

Bangladesh's ailing former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia left the nation's capital for London on Tuesday for medical treatment, said one of her advisers. Zahiruddin Swapan, an adviser to Zia, told The Associated Press by phone that the three-time former premier and also the head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party left Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport late Tuesday on an air ambulance. Our senior leaders left the airport seeing her off, Swapan said. Zia's motorcade took nearly three hours to cross about a 10-kilometer stretch of road to get to the airport from her residence in Dhaka's Gulshan area as thousands of her desperate supporters greeted her on the way, creating traffic chaos. Her hours-long journey to the airport was broadcast live by television stations. An interim government headed by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus is running the country and plans to hold elections in December this year or in the first half of 2026. Zia was sentenced to 17 years in jail und

For extradition, offender gets protections: Ex-official on Hasina's arrest

ICT issued an arrest warrant against Hasina and 10 others, including her former Defence Adviser Major General (retired) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and former IGP Benazir Ahmed

Bangladesh's crime tribunal issues 2nd arrest warrant against Hasina

The warrants relate to two cases involving allegations of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances

Bangladesh former PM Khaleda Zia to seek medical treatment abroad

The 79-year-old former prime minister, who has been battling multiple health complications, including liver cirrhosis, heart disease, and kidney issues, will stay at her son Tarek Rahman's residence

Bangladesh releases 95 Indian fishermen in reciprocal repatriation

Bangladesh on Sunday handed over to India 95 Indian fishermen while New Delhi released 90 Bangladeshi fishermen. The process of reciprocal repatriation of fishermen in each other's custody came amid frosty ties between the two countries. The decision to release the fishermen was announced by New Delhi and Dhaka on Thursday. The exchange of the fishermen was coordinated by the Indian Coast Guard and the Bangladesh Coast Guard. The Bangladeshi side handed over 95 fishermen and four fishing vessels to the Indian Coast Guard, according to an official statement. The Indian Coast Guard released 90 Bangladeshi fishermen including 12 rescued from sunken fishing boat "Kaushik", it said. "Idian fishermen are being handed over to West Bengal State fisheries authorities at South 24 Parganas post repatriation from Bangladesh," the Indian Coast Guard said in the readout. In recent months, several Indian fishermen have been arrested by Bangladesh authorities when they happened to inadvertently

Bangladesh cancels scheduled judges' training in India amid strained ties

Bangladesh's interim government on Sunday cancelled a planned training programme for 50 judges and judicial officers in India, scrapping a previous notification. The notification has been cancelled, a law ministry spokesman said without elaborating. The Daily Star newspaper, however, reported the cancellation came in compliance with a directive from Bangladesh's Supreme Court. The cancellation order came a day after the state-run Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha reported that 50 lower judiciary judges would undergo a one-day training programme from February 10 at the National Judicial Academy and the State Judicial Academy in Madhya Pradesh. The trainee judges selected under the programme were district and sessions judge or its equivalent officers, additional district and sessions judge, joint district judge, senior assistant judge and assistant judge. The Indian government was supposed to bear all the expenses for the training programmes. India and Bangladesh have witnessed strained