The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

Visiting EU Parliament member Robert Evans had expressed the hope that the caretaker government would be able to hold a free, fair and credible election 'as soon as possible.' "We are watching the situation in Bangladesh very closely," Evans, Chair of the South Asia Delegation at European Parliament, told a press conference at Sheraton Hotel on Saturday.

In reply to a question about present political situation, he observed an unusual situation prevails in the country.

The press conference was arranged on the eve of a 4-day 'British Fusion Food Festival' beginning Sunday at Sheraton Hotel where top British-Bangladeshi chefs would present their cuisine. Evans will inaugurate the festival jointly organized by the Curry Life Magazine and Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

He said Bangladeshi restaurant industry in Britain is very successful and the industry earns about 4.2 billion pound sterling a year. The organizers of the food festival informed that the Bangladeshi food is now very popular in Britain.

Currently, there are nearly 12,000 Bangladeshi restaurants in Britain, serving traditional curry meals for British families, the organizers said.

The chefs participating in the festival are all Bangladeshi origin. The chefs are Jamal Uddin Ahmed from Shozna Indian Cuisine (Kent), Mohan Miah from Bengal Brasserie (York), Atiqur Rahman from Exotic East (South Wales), Syed Zohorul Islam from the capital (County Durham) and Shahidur Rahman from the Raj Spice (Rowley Regis, West Midlands).

General manager of Dhaka Sheraton, Trevor Macdonald, among others, was present at the press conference.