Bangladesh

RANGAMATI, Bangladesh (AP) — A quarter century ago, Modhumala Chakma says it was impossible to leave her house in the evening and walk around the nearby hills because they were controlled by a tribal insurgent group seeking autonomy in southeastern Bangladesh.

“It was a difficult time,” says the 60-year-old farm worker from an ethnic minority in the Shuvolong area of Rangamati, one of three districts bordering India and Myanmar collectively called Chittagong Hill Tracts. “We lived in constant fear of being raped or killed.”

“Those bad days are gone,” she says.

DHAKA, Nov 28 (NNN-BSS) – In an apparent bid to conserve eroding forex reserves, Bangladeshi prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, directed the country’s relevant authorities to squeeze imports of luxury items.

Sheikh Hasina, however, stressed the need for importing more essentials. She gave the directives at a secretary-level meeting, held in the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, yesterday.

Bangladeshi cabinet secretary, Khandker Anwarul Islam, briefed journalists about the premier’s directives, after the high-profile meeting.

DHAKA, Nov 15 (NNN-BSS) – The World Bank’s Vice President for South Asia, Martin Raiser, reaffirmed the bank’s continued support, to help Bangladesh navigate through the current economic challenges and achieve resilient and inclusive growth.

“We’re ready to lend our full support to these efforts at this challenging time,” he said, after meeting with Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, during his visit to the country, which concluded on Sunday.

DHAKA, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- Power outage has hit several areas of Bangladesh, including capital Dhaka, port city of Chattogram and Sylhet, due to a collapse of the South Asian country's national grid on Tuesday.

Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) director of public relation Shameem Hasan informed that the national power grid failed and caused the power outage in many areas except some parts of the north, national news agency Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) reported.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s prime minister said Monday that the prolonged stay of more than 1 million Rohingya refugees in crowded camps in the country has become a serious security and stability concern.

“Apart from their own miseries, their prolonged presence is causing a serious impact on the economy, environment, security and sociopolitical stability of Bangladesh,” Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said at the opening ceremony of a three-day meeting of military officials from 24 countries in the Indo-Pacific region.

DHAKA, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government on Sunday launched a special sales drive of essentials at subsidized rates across the South Asian country to help millions of low-income families cope with soaring prices.

Senior secretary of Bangladesh's Ministry of Commerce Tapan Kanti Ghosh inaugurated the special sales drive at a dealer point in the national capital Dhaka.

The drive run by the state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) is aimed at selling essentials at subsidized prices for 10 million low-income families across the country.

DHAKA, Sept 9 (NNN-BSS) – At least nine people were killed yesterday, by a massive lightning strike in Bangladesh’s Sirajganj district, 134 km north-west of the national capital, Dhaka, a local police official said.

Md Noor Alam Siddiqui, additional police chief of the Sirajganj district, said, “Nine people, including five of the same family, were killed in lightning strike in Sirajganj’s Ullapara sub-district.”

Two others were injured in the incident, he added.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority Rohingya refugees marked the fifth anniversary of their exodus from Myanmar to Bangladesh on Thursday, as the United States, the European Union and other Western nations pledged to support the pursuit of justice in international courts.

At a sprawling camp in Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar district, thousands of refugees gathered to commemorate what they term Genocide Remembrance Day, with speakers demanding safety from persecution inside Myanmar so they can return to the country.

DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — Bangladesh’s leader told a visiting U.N. official on Wednesday that hundreds of thousands of ethnic minority Rohingya refugees living in overcrowded camps in Bangladesh must return home to Myanmar, where they had fled waves of violent persecution.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the comment to U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet in Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka. Bachelet arrived on Sunday and visited Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar district near the border with Myanmar.

DHAKA, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Sunday during his visit to Bangladesh that the United States is mistaken in three aspects regarding a reckless tour to China's Taiwan region by Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi.

He made the remarks in response to the latest situation and the quibbling of the U.S. side.