Obama accepts Hasina’s invitation to visit Bangladesh

September 6th, 2009 DHAKA - A "congenial ambience" between Bangladesh and India would be of help when issues like Tipaimukh dam, trade and transit are taken up during the visit of Foreign Minister Dipu Moni to New Delhi in the coming week. Political and diplomatic observers see a congenial ambience in place with an Awami League government in Dhaka and a Congress-led government in Delhi.

August 19th, 2009 DHAKA/NEW DELHI - Bangladesh Foreign Minister Dipu Moni will undertake her maiden official visit to India on September 8 and is expected to discuss several bilateral issues, including border security, water and maritime boundary issues. Foreign ministry officials, however, said the details of the visit are yet to be finalised.

August 14th, 2009 DHAKA - A speeding bus hit a tree and crashed into a canal in Bangladesh, killing at least 13 people and injuring 10, reports said here today. The accident occurred in Feni, a town 80 miles east of Dhaka, United News of Bangladesh said.

July 27th, 2009 DHAKA - The Bangladesh team preparing to study the Tipaimukh dam project in India has promised to do its 'best', but says it would depend upon the extent to which the hosts facilitate all its movements. "We will not be able to roam around at will while visiting the Tipaimukh dam, as we will be guided by the Indian counterpart," chief of the delegation Abdur Razzaq, who is also chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources, told the media Sunday.

July 21st, 2009 NEW DELHI - U.S. President Barack Obama's invitation to Indian Prime Minister Dr.

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.

April 18th, 2009 WELLINGTON - President Barack Obama will be invited to visit New Zealand by the Maori king. King Tuheitia, who is expected to lead a Tainui delegation to New York next week, would invite Obama to visit New Zealand, the New Zealand Herald reports.

April 14th, 2009 DHAKA - India has invited Bangladesh to send a delegation to visit the construction site of the proposed Tipaimukh Dam on the Barak river to allay Dhaka's fears. New Delhi made the gesture Monday during a 'surprise' visit by Indian Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon, media reports said Tuesday.

February 22nd, 2009 DHAKA - The restoration of democracy in Bangladesh is a 'positive development' for the entire South Asian region, Lok Sabha Speaker Somnath Chatterjee said here. Chatterjee, who arrived here Saturday on a three-day visit, praised the landslide victory of the centrist and left-of-centre grand alliance led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

February 8th, 2009 DHAKA - The US has expressed its willingness to assist Bangladesh in maritime patrol and secure its unprotected territorial sea lanes, but has said that it has no plan to set up a military base. Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, Sunday clarified this point while winding up his two day visit here.

February 7th, 2009 DHAKA - The US plans to help Bangladesh protect mineral-rich waters it claims in the Bay of Bengal through maritime patrolling, a senior US official said Sunday. 'I think there is some interest in maritime patrols to protect your sea areas better.

February 2nd, 2009 DHAKA - Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, daughter of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, arrived here Tuesday afternoon on a two-day visit amid tight security to see rural development projects in the country. 'She is the first high-profile Indian dignitary to visit Bangladesh since (Prime Minister Sheikh) Hasina's new government came to power in early January,' Star Online said.

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'.

December 29th, 2008 KOLKATA - West Bengal's principal opposition leader, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, was 'happy' that 'friend'' Shiekh Hasina had won Bangladesh's ninth general election, she said here Tuesday. 'Hasina is a very good friend of mine and we share a special bonding.