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Don’t politicise war criminals’ issue: Abstain from doing anything that destabilises democracy: Blake
Staff Reporter
The United States has urged Bangladesh "not to politicise" the issue of trial of 1971 war criminals, stressing accountability of the government.
"Let me say on the question of war crimes that the United States believes strongly in the importance of accountability," the visiting US assistant secretary of state for south and central Asia Affairs Robert O Blake also told yesterday a press conference.
"But in my discussion with the friends here in the government we also urged that this should not become a politicised issue," adding that would be considered by the people of Bangladesh, as a mechanism to weaken democracy and undermine progress the country already achieved.  |
Mubin takes over as Army Chief today, Moeen retires: I tried my best to serve the country, says former Army Chief
Staff Reporter
Principal Staff Officer (PSO) of the Armed Forces Division Lieutenant General Abdul Mubin is going to take over office of the Chief of Army Staff today.
Mubin will replace General Moeen U Ahmed, the outgoing army chief.
With taking over the office by the new Chief of Army Staff, the tenure of contract-based job of General Moeen U Ahmed and his eventful career at the helms of the armed forces will come to an end.
The government decided to appoint Lieutenant General Abdul Mubin as the new Chief of Army Staff on June 6. |
Take concerted efforts for dev of SAARC region: Hasina
BSS, Dhaka
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday called for expediting cooperation in socio-economic, technical and scientific sectors among the SAARC countries for ensuring welfare and improving quality of life of people in the South- Asian region.
"The SARRC countries have to expedite cooperation within themselves in these fields and improve quality of life of 140 crore people living in the SAARC region," she said.
The Prime Minister said this while inaugurating a two-day tri-topic SAARC seminar on 'Current good manufacturing practices in pharmaceutical sector', 'Radiation processing', and 'Insects resistant crop variety for sustainable agriculture' at hotel Sheraton here on Sunday morning. |
Opposition boycott continues: JS discusses supplementary budget, lauds proposed new budget Staff Reporter
General discussions on supplementary budget 2008-2009 started at Jatiya Sangsad yesterday in the absence of the opposition lawmakers who are abstaining from the House demanding more seats in the front row.
In the one-sided discussion, the treasury bench members expressed mixed reactions on the rationale and purposeful utilisation of allocated money and overall performances of the caretaker government.
They were highly critical of the opposition's boycott of parliament, which they said tantamounts to ignoring of people's verdict and irresponsibility on their part. |
BGMEA for cash incentives, more policy support Staff Reporter
BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedy yesterday urged the government to modify the budget and raise assistance to the apparel sector to help save it from possible catastrophe.
He also urged the government to pay the majority share of the Tk 5,000 crore block allocation in favour of readymade garment sector.
Addressing a post-budget press conference Murshedy said the sector may experience a massive blow unless necessary steps are taken to face the effect of global economic meltdown.
He said the sector was left out from the cash incentives during the first phase of incentive package. |
From the Foreign Press: With BNP in shambles, Army now Govt’s biggest problem (Views expressed here are of The Economist of London)
HUNDREDS of thousands of people in south-western Bangladesh remain homeless after a cyclone which struck in late May, killing at least 200 people. Much of the disaster area is still under water. Some 4.8m people have been affected, and recovery will be long-drawn-out. Gabura, an island of 38,000 people surrounded by torrential tidal waters, lost 87 people dead or missing. Locals say no one can live there unless an embankment is repaired before the onset of the monsoon, due any day now. |
Forex reserve rises to $7b for first time UNB, Dhaka
The country's foreign exchange reserve rose close to US$ 7 billion mark for the first time due to a slackened private sector investment, causing worry among the central bank executives about a manufacturing setback in the near future.
Bangladesh Bank sources said the forex reserve stood its highest ever level at US$ 6.94 billion at the closing on Sunday showing signs that the reserve would cross the US$ 7 billion mark within a day or two.
A senior central bank executive said that a slowdown in the private sector investment has contributed to the increase of reserve to that level. |
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Internet Edition. June 15, 2009, Updated: Bangladesh Time 12:00 AM 
