Analyst who served in India is Sheikh Hasina’s new adviser

October 6th, 2009 DUBAI - The Crown Prince of Dubai, Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum, and the visiting Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Shashi Tharoor discussed bilateral ties between the UAE and India here Tuesday. Sheikh Hamdan expressed satisfaction over the economic relations between the two countries and said the two countries enjoy their historic and long-standing relations, WAM news agency reported.

October 1st, 2009 Obama deputy national security adviser takes leaveWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama's deputy national security adviser is taking a leave of absence. The White House says Mark Lippert is returning to active duty in the U.S.

September 24th, 2009 DHAKA - US President Barack Obama has accepted an invitation by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Bangladesh, media reports said Thursday. Seated next to Obama at a working dinner hosted by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Hasina spoke on Bangladesh's woes in an era of climate change.

August 27th, 2009 LAHORE/ISLAMABAD - Over 100,000 people in India, including former test cricketers and chief justices, have signed a petition addressed to Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari seeking clemency for Sarabjit Singh, an Indian currently on death row in a Pakistani prison. Awais Sheikh, the counsel for Sarabjit, was quoted by a private television channel as saying that said he had brought back a mercy petition with more than 100,000 signatures from a recent visit to India.

August 14th, 2009 ABU DHABI - United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan has greeted Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on his country's Independence Day, WAM news agency reported. UAE Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan have also sent congratulatory messages to Zardari.

August 13th, 2009 ABU DHABI - United Arab Emirates (UAE) President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al-Nahyan has greeted his Indian counterpart Pratibha Patil on the occasion of India's Independence Day. Vice President and Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al-Maktoum has also wished the Indian president on the occasion, WAM news agency reported Thursday.

August 4th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has showered praise on his Indian counterpart Dr. Manmohan Singh, saying that he had no doubt about his sincerity towards the peace process.

July 15th, 2009 Sharm-el-SHEIKH - After his late night meeting with Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon, which the two sides described as frank and detailed, Pakistan's Foreign Secretary Salman Basheer expressed regret that relations between the two South Asian neighbours had come to such a pass that they have to meet thousands of miles away here in Egypt. He said: "We would be happy to come to New Delhi, I have been there before and we would be happy to have the Indian side over at Islamabad." Was that an invitation or a signal that the process of regular interactions between foreign secretaries, home secretaries, director generals of military intelligence will be back on track is anybody's guess.

July 5th, 2009 DHAKA - Advisors of Bangladesh's former caretaker government have denied the charge that they were responsible for serving 'poisoned' food to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina when she was in jail and have demanded a fair probe. Hasina's current health advisor, Syed Mudassar Ali, repeated the charge levelled a week earlier by deputy leader in parliament Syeda Sajeda Choudhury.

June 29th, 2009 DHAKA - Bangladesh opposition leader Khaleda Zia Monday sought the help of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for sending a separate team to visit the Tipaimukh dam project site located in India's northeast. She accepted a suggestion made last week by Hasina that the opposition was free to send its own team, Star Online reported.

April 19th, 2009 DHAKA - Security for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been stepped up following a warning by India that there could be an attempt to kill her. Senior political leaders were also covered under the new security beef-up, but media reports quoting Home Minister Sahara Khatun did not elaborate on this aspect.

February 15th, 2009 DHAKA - Three independent MPs have joined the ruling Awami League (AL) led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, swelling the treasury benches in parliament. The party that swept the polls last December now has 232 members in a house of 300.

January 5th, 2009 DHAKA - Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the nation's founding father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was sworn in as prime minister of Bangladesh for a second time Tuesday following her landslide win in last month's general election. She was premier previously 1996-2001.

January 5th, 2009 DHAKA - A five-member delegation of lawmakers-elect will represent former prime minister Khaleda Zia at Sheikh Hasina's oath-taking ceremony at the Bangabhavan Tuesday evening, a media report said. The delegation will be led by Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, a top advisor of Zia, The Star Online said quoting Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) sources.

January 1st, 2009 DHAKA - Captains of Bangladesh's trade and industry have hailed Sheikh Hasina's poll victory this week and want her to promote private sector for more jobs and higher exports. Leaders of the country's chamber bodies and trade associations Thursday said in a joint statement that they were enthused by the Charter of Change - as she had called her poll manifesto last month - and want her to keep her promise of achieving a 'digital Bangladesh'.