Page 60 - Bangladesh

Bangladesh to hold elections on Sunday, PM Hasina expected to win

Bangladesh will go to the polls on Sunday in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which on Saturday began a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government" amidst sporadic violence. A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country's Election Commission. More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates. Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security. The election commission said voting will start at 8 am and will end at 5 pm. The results are expected to start flowing from early on January 8. Prime Minister Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of

Bangladesh elections 2024: Sheikh Hasina set for historic win amid boycotts and bans

Bangladesh is poised for its general elections on Sunday, an event shadowed by a sense of inevitability. The Opposition's boycott seemingly paves the way for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

Ahead of polls, Bangladesh Nationalist Party holds massive protest in Dhaka

Ahead of the general elections set to be held on January 7 in Bangladesh, the country's opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) staged a massive protest in Dhaka's Paltan area

B'desh to hold elections on Sunday; PM Hasina poised to win another term

Bangladesh will go to the polls on Sunday in which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to win a fourth straight term in the absence of the main Opposition BNP which is boycotting the elections amidst violence and has called for a 48-hour nationwide strike against the "illegal government." A total of 119.6 million registered voters are eligible to vote at Sunday's polls in more than 42,000 polling stations, according to the country's Election Commission. More than 1,500 candidates from 27 political parties are contesting in the election besides 436 independent candidates. Over 100 foreign observers, including three from India, will monitor the 12th general election, which is being held under tight security. The election commission said it expected the results to start flowing from early on January 8. Prime Minister Hasina's ruling Awami League is expected to win for a straight fourth time as the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) of former premier Khaleda Zia,

Bangladesh's main Oppn party calls train fire 'sabotage', demands UN probe

Bangladesh's main opposition BNP has demanded a UN-supervised investigation into a fire on a passenger train that killed four persons, calling it a "pre-planned" act of sabotage ahead of the general elections being boycotted by the party. The incident happened around 9 pm on Friday when four carriages of the Benapole Express that runs from Benapole, a town bordering the Indian state of West Bengal, were set on fire as it nearly reached its destination of the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station. Railway officials said that most of the train's nearly 292 passengers were returning home from India. Shahjahan Sikder, deputy assistant director of the Fire Service and Civil Defence Media Cell, said they recovered four bodies from the gutted coaches of the train. In a statement, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) senior Joint Secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi expressed concern over the "heartbreaking incident of casualties due to arson by miscreants on the Benapole Express train headed from ...

Four killed after train travelling from town bordering India set on fire

At least four people were killed and many injured after suspected arsonists set on fire a passenger train coming from the port town of Benapole, bordering India, in the country's national capital on Friday, two days ahead of Bangladesh's general elections that have been boycotted by the main opposition BNP, officials said. The incident happened around 9 pm when four carriages of the Benapole Express that runs from Benapole, a town bordering the Indian state of West Bengal, were set on fire as it nearly reached its destination of the capital's Kamalapur Railway Station. "So far we have found four bodies . . . searches are still underway," Shahjahan Shikdar, the spokesman of Fire Service and Civil Defence, told newsmen at the scene. Railway officials said that most of the train's nearly 292 passengers were returning home from India and the train was set on fire at 9 PM as it reached the Gopibagh area near the station. When we tried to bring out a middle-aged man through a window of t

3 EC members from India reach Dhaka to observe Jan 7 Bangladesh polls

More than 100 foreign observers, including three from India, reached Dhaka on Friday to monitor Sunday's general election in Bangladesh boycotted by the main Opposition party which has called for a 48-hour nationwide general strike. Foreign Ministry officials said a three-member delegation from the Election Commission of India reached Dhaka on Friday while 122 others from different countries were set to be here ahead of the January 7 polls, which the United Nations said would watch closely. "So far 60 foreign observers or experts have arrived here and all together 127 have scheduled to come. Besides, 73 foreign journalists have received accreditations and among them, 17 have already arrived," Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen told reporters late Thursday. He said the observers will monitor the polls in the capital Dhaka and elsewhere in the country. But we have suggested to them that they choose the destinations having air connectivity (for convenience)," the foreign secretary said

Anti-India activity won't be tolerated: B'desh minister ahead of elections

Ahead of Sunday's general elections in Bangladesh, the country's Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan asserted that Dhaka will never permit its territory to be used for any anti-India activity or terrorism, as long as the Awami League is in power. The senior minister in the Sheikh Hasina government also expressed confidence that Chinese investments in his country should not be a cause for concern, emphasising that nothing can be compared to the enduring Indo-Bangladesh relations, that are set to strengthen further in the coming days. In a telephonic interview with PTI from Dhaka, Khan stated that the Awami League government is for free and fair general elections on January 7, and claimed that the main opposition BNP has boycotted the polls "out of fear" of not securing a majority. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has boycotted the elections after the Awami League refused to cede power to a caretaker government to conduct the polls. "The BNP and Jamaat, during their tenure, had give

Bangladesh's forex stands at $17.20 bn, short of IMF's relaxed target

Bangladesh's foreign exchange reserves stood at USD 17.20 billion at the end of December 2023, falling short of the relaxed target of a minimum of USD 17.78 billion set by the IMF, according to media reports here on Wednesday. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved a USD 4.7 billion loan for Bangladesh in January last year and fixed a minimum Forex Reserve, also called the Net International Reserve (NIR) of USD 26.81 billion by December 2023 end. However, that target was later relaxed to USD 17.78 billion, USD 19.27 billion for March and USD 20.11 billion for June, The Daily Star newspaper reported quoting the IMF document. We set a target to keep an NIR of more than USD 17 billion till December 31 and we fulfilled the goal because the NIR stood at USD 17.20 billion on Sunday (December 31), the daily quoted Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and Spokesperson Md Mezbaul Haque as saying. Our net reserve is close to the IMF target and this is not mandatory to fulfill the goal,

Fear, panic plague Opposition in Bangladesh ahead of Jan 7 elections

The United States, the biggest buyer of Bangladesh's garments, has condemned the violence, and curbed visas for citizens of the South Asian nation believed to have a role in undermining elections

LIVE: 'Govt, transporters agreed workers will resume work immediately'

Catch all the latest LIVE updates from across the globe here

Bilateral trade between India, Bangladesh down during pre-election season

The India-Bangladesh bilateral trade, already strained by economic headwinds during the year, has dampened in some land ports due to the upcoming general elections in the neighbouring country, exporters said on Tuesday. Bangladesh is set to hold its 12th general election on January 7 and the pre-election atmosphere has cast a shadow on the cross-border trade. Indian exports to Bangladesh between April and October 2023 declined by 13.32 per cent, while imports saw a marginally smaller 2.3 per cent dip, according to data from the Department of Commerce. "Trade activity has been affected for some time now due to Bangladesh's forex shortages and liquidity crunch. The election-related slowdown is expected to be temporary, but stricter rules like the 110 per cent margin on letters of credit compared to the earlier 10 per cent have been a major concern for traders," a commodity exporter told PTI on condition of anonymity. Stakeholders point to the general slowdown in trade activity during

Statsguru: Neighbourhood ties weaken as global economic partnerships evolve

The share of its neighbours in India's trade shows signs of weakening from an already low base amid a review of regional trade agreements

Bangladesh court sentences Nobel laureate Yunus to 6 months in jail

A labour court in Bangladesh's capital on Monday sentenced Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus to six months in jail for violating the country's labour laws. Yunus, who pioneered the use of microcredit to help impoverished people, was present in court and was granted bail. The court gave Yunus 30 days to appeal the verdict and sentence. Grameen Telecom, which Yunus founded as a non-profit organisation, is at the centre of the case. Sheikh Merina Sultana, head of the Third Labour Court of Dhaka, said in her verdict that Yunus' company violated Bangladeshi labour laws. She said at least 67 Grameen Telecom workers were supposed to be made permanent employees but were not, and a "welfare fund" to support the staff in cases of emergency or special needs was never formed. She also said that, following company policy, 5 per cent of Grameen's dividends were supposed to be distributed to staff but was not. Sultana found Yunus, as chairman of the company, and three other company director

Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus convicted, to face jail in Bangladesh

Yunus was awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2006 for pioneering the use of microcredit and lifting millions out of poverty

Sam the brave

As the nation experiences a resurgence of nationalism, a biography of Manekshaw by his aides-de-camp is poised to resonate widely

'Awami League has found way to create illusion of multiparty election'

Sreeradha Datta tells how this week's general elections in Bangladesh could turn out to be a friendly contest for the ruling Awami League

Bangladesh polls: Hasina's party manifesto pledges friendly ties with India

The reaffirmation came as she unveiled the manifesto of the ruling Awami League party on Wednesday for the upcoming general elections scheduled for January 7

The Bangladesh model

India needs many more low-skill manufacturing jobs

India evaluating implications of FTA as Bangladesh mulls RCEP membership

India is worried because of Bangladesh's greater dependence on China for imports as compared to India and fears it can become an issue if Bangladesh joins RCEP