Leader & Leadership

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hopes World Cup will strengthen fraternity among nations

by Mokthel Hossain Mukthi on Saturday, February 19, 2011 at 11:32am
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hopes World Cup will strengthen fraternity among nations


Bangladesh Prime minister Sheikh Hasina Thursday hoped the fraternity among nations will be further strengthened through the cricket World Cup and said her country felt privileged to be one of the co-hosts of the 14-nation tournament.

“We feel greatly privileged to co-host the cricket extravaganza in our beautiful country,” Hasina said in her inaugural speech at the tournament’s opening ceremony at a packed Bangabandhu National Stadium here.
“I hope the fraternity among the nations will be further strengthened through this World Cup,” she said, drawing applause from the 25,000-strong crowd.


She recalled the martyrs of the Bengali language movement and referred to her father Bangabandhu Shaikh Mujibur Rahman for the way he steered the language movement which catalysed the liberation movement later.
“I also recall the greatest Bengali of all time, Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who had steered the language movement,” she said in her speech delivered in both English and Bengali.
“I congratulate the cricket loving public for their great enthusiasm and cooperation to make this event a grand success. I would like to extend my thanks to the ICC for selecting Bangladesh to host the opening ceremony and eight matches.” 
Steps on to curb terrorism, improve power situation: PM Sheikh Hasina
Sheikh Hasina holds talk with outgoing Italian Ambassador
October 19,2010
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday said steps are being made to curb terrorism at all levels and generate power to improve the electricity situation. Sheikh Hasina stated this when outgoing Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Dr Itala Maria Marta Occhi paid a farewell call on her at her office. The Prime Minister thanked Italy and other European countries for helping Bangladesh holding a free and fair election in December 2008 that eventually restored democracy in Bangladesh. Referring to Bangladesh’s high quality products like ceramics, pharmaceuticals, jute and jute goods, home textile and handicrafts, the Prime Minister said Italy can import more such products from Bangladesh. She also urged Italy to invest more in Bangladesh’s renewable energy, power generation, oil, gas and mineral exploration, ICT, tourism agro-processing and water treatment.

Birthday of Sheikh Russel being observed
October 18,2010
Today is the 46th birthday of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Eleven-year-old (1964-1975) Sheikh Russel was killed brutally along with Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975. Awami League, its different wings and various socio-cultural organizations are observing the day amidst various programs. Awami League central leaders placed wreaths at the graves of Sheikh Russel and other martyrs of August 15, 1975 at 8-30 AM in the morning at the Banani cemetery. Fateha, Milad and Doa were offered for the martyrs of 15 August 1975 seeking divine blessings. Different organizations also placed floral wreaths at the graves of martyrs of 15 August paying rich tribute.

46th birth anniversary of Sheikh Russel tomorrow
Awami league & various socio-cultural organizations chalked out programs to observe the day
October 17,2010

The 46th birth anniversary of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will be observed tomorrow (Monday). Eleven-year-old (1964-1975) Sheikh Russel was killed brutally along with Bangabandhu on August 15, 1975. Bangladesh Awami League along with other social and cultural organisations have organised different programmes to observe the birthday of Russel. The programmes include offering Fateha and special munajat, placing wreaths at the grave of Russel and organizing discussions, painting competitions and cultural programmes. The day's programmes will begin with hosting of the national flag at 7 in the morning at the central office of Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu-Kishore Parishad in the city. AL will place a wreath at the portrait of Bangabandhu in front of Bangabandhu Museum at 7:30 am and then it will offer a special prayer at 8 am at the graves of all martyrs, including Sheikh Resell at Banani graveyard, who were killed on August 15, 1975. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the elder sister of Sheikh Russel, will attend a programme at Osmani Memorial Hall in the city at 10 am, organised by Sheikh Russel Jatiya Shishu-Kishore Parishad. At the programme, the students who achieved outstanding results in the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations will be awarded along the winners of a painting and a cultural competition, a press release of the Parishad said.
State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury and Janata Bank Chairman, economist Dr Abul Barakat, will attend the programme.
Besides, AL associate organizations and different social and cultural bodies have taken elaborate programmes to observe the day.

Godfathers running in polls on BNP tickets : Sheikh Hasina      
December 19, 2008

The Awami League president, Sheikh Hasina, on Thursday accused BNP of giving party tickets to godfathers and persons tainted by corruption and crime for contesting the parliamentary polls, scheduled for December 29.
Addressing rallies on her campaign trail in southern districts, she warned the voters that lawlessness would return and the country would be in danger if the BNP-Jamaat alliance returned to power.
Sheikh Hasina addressed six election rallies in different areas in Bagerhat and Khulna districts and urged the people to vote for the candidates of the AL-led grand alliance to save the country.
‘The people were persecuted and tortured and the image of the country was ruined by the BNP-Jamaat coalition which came to power in 2001through conspiracy’, she said. ‘Plunderers will destroy the country if they get a chance to assume state power again’, she added.
Sheikh Hasina slammed the BNP-Jamaat coalition for persecuting and torturing minorities and pledged that the AL-led alliance, if voted to power, would take effective steps so that not a single person of the minority communities was repressed. ‘Stamp the symbol of boat on the ballot and I will build a secular and democratic Bangladesh free from all types of intimidation, oppression, poverty and the curse of unemployment where minority groups will perform their rituals without fear’, she told a rally in Bagherhat where minorities, like in many other places, were persecuted after the BNP-Jamaat coalition assumed power in 2001.
Terming Islam as the religion of peace, Sheikh Hasina said that those who had unleashed terror and indulged in corruption using religion were enemies of Islam. ‘I do not want to see any more bomb attacks, corruption and militancy in the country… I will take initiatives to build Bangladesh as a developed and peaceful country in Asia’, she told her audience.
The former prime minister also pledged to take initiatives to feed the extreme poor and free healthcare services for them if her party was voted to power.
Referring to the promise made in the AL’s election manifesto, she said her party would modernise the Mongla sea port and construct a deep sea port in Mongla which would be opened to all countries of Asia.
‘Prices of essentials will be reduced, production of power will be increased, education up to degree level will be made free, agricultural inputs will be subsidised and community health care facilities will be ensured,’ Sheikh Hasina said.
The AL President addressed campaign rallies at AK Fazlul Haque government primary school ground in Chitalmari, Mollahat Government College ground and Kazi Azhar Ali College ground at Fakirhat in Bagerhat 1 constituency for which the AL president is contesting the polls besides two other seats.



She also addressed rallies at Khanjahan Ali College ground in Bagerhat 2 constituency, Rupsha Amdabad school ground in Khulna 4 and circuit house ground in Khulna 2 constituency and introduced AL-led alliance candidates Shawkat Ali Badsha, Molla Jalal Uddin and Mizanur Rahman Mizan to the voters amid cheers.


Sheikh Hasina, accompanied by her younger sister Sheikh Rehana and Rehana’s daughter Azmina Siddique Ruponti, left Dhaka on December 16 for poll campaigns in districts. She is scheduled to return to the capital today after addressing rallies in Jessore, Narail, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Magura and Faridpur districts.
She also pledged to ensure power supply to every village, resolve the problem of water logging in the southern districts, ensure arsenic-free water, develop educational and religious institutions and increase allowances for freedom fighters, widows and elderly people.
Addressing a huge rally in Khulna, she assured the voters that Khulna city would be industrialised and the city dwellers would get gas supply. She also committed to set up a new wage commission for industrial workers.
Sheikh Hasina pledged to offer loans to shrimp farmers on easy terms.
Hundreds of thousands of people gathered at the rallies to hear Sheikh Hasina.
Mollahat thana Jubo League leader Warid Chowdhury, 25 was killed as a truck knocked his motorbike at Garfa in Mollahat Thursday morning.
He was on way to Chitalmari to attend a campaign rally of Sheikh Hasina. Hasina visited the house of the deceased.




Mr. Shah A.M.S.Kibria, M.P. (1931-2005)
Former Minister of Finance, Govt. of Bangladesh

***Biographical Data--------

Mr. Shah A.M.S.Kibria, M.P. (1931-2005)
Former Minister of Finance, Govt. of Bangladesh
Biographical Data

Date and Place of Birth
Born on May 1, 1931 in Habiganj.
Father's name: Late Shah Imtiaz Ali. He was a pioneer in the field of primary education in the greater Sylhet region.

Education:
Matriculation Examination, Calcutta University in 1947. First Division. Awarded Scholarship
Intermediate Arts Examination in 1949. First Division. Stood first in the Dhaka University
B.A. (Hon.) in Economics, 1952, First Class First, Dhaka University
M.A. (Economics), 1953, First Class First, Dhaka University.

Language Movement 1952
As a student of B.A.(Hons.) of the Dhaka University , joined the Language Movement of February, 1952. Imprisoned for a month and a half.

Pakistan Foreign Service (8 October 1954-August 4, 1971)
Appeared at the Central Superior Services Examination in 1954 and stood first in Pakistan . Selected for Pakistan Foreign Service.

Trained for the diplomatic service at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in Boston , U.S.A, British Foreign Office, London and French Language Training in Paris , France.

Upon completion of training programme, served in Pakistan diplomatic missions in Calcutta , Cairo , UN mission, New York , Director RCD, Teheran, Jakarta , Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Islamabad and the Pakistan Embassy, Washington , D.C.

Liberation War 1971
While serving as political counselor in the Pakistan Embassy, Washington DC , declared allegiance to Bangladesh and quit the Pakistan Embassy on August 4, 1971.

Organized the Bangladesh Mission in Washington , DC and mobilized public opinion in favour of the independence of Bangladesh . Lobbied in the State Department, Congress and senior columnists in Washington . Issued a bulletin to inform the American people about the progress of the Liberation War in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Foreign Service (4 August 1971-30 April 1981)
Recalled to Dhaka in January 1972 as Director general (Political) in the newly established Ministry of foreign Affairs in Dhaka.

Promoted Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 11, 1971 and placed in charge of the administration of the Ministry. Organized the Bangladesh missions abroad.


January 1973, appointed High Commissioner to Australia , New Zealand and Fiji.

February 1976, appointed Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the European office of the UN in Geneva : (Chairman Of the Group of 77, UNCTAD), Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Dhaka on September 8, 1978 as Foreign Secretary and served until April 31, 1981.

Service with the United Nations (May1, 1981-March 31, 1992
Executive Secretary of ESCAP ( UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) with the rank and status of Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. Headquarters in Bangkok . In 1986, assumed the additional assignment of Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Cambodian Humanitarian Relief.

Return to Dhaka : Politics and Journalism, April, 1992
Upon completion of the UN assignment, returned to Bangladesh in April, 1992. Wrote columns on political and economic issues in English and Bengali in national daily and weekly newspapers.

Joined the Bangladesh Awami League in September 1992 as a member of the Awami League Advisory Council.

Appointed Political Advisor to the Awami League President, 1994.

Finance Minister June 1996 –July 2001
After the general election on June 12, 1996, joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as Minister of Finance. Served in this capacity until the government's term expired in July 2001.

Major achievements: Bangladesh achieved, for the first time, GDP growth at average rate of 5.83 % during 1996-2001. Average rate of inflation was well below 5%. The inflation rate in June 2001 was only 1.53%. Exports rose from $3884m in 1995-96 to $6477m in 2000-2001. Investment in the social sector, (education, health etc) increased from 21.02% of the total budget in 1995-96 to 24.7% in 2000-2001. The rate of national savings increased over the five-year period of the Awami League from 20.17 to 23.78 percent. Similarly, rate of investment increased from 19.99% in 1995-96 to 23.63% in 2000-2001.

The physical infrastructure was improved and modernized. Electricity generating capacity rose from 2105 megawatts to 3600 megawatts.

For the first time in half a century, Bangladesh achieved food self- sufficiency.

Rice and wheat production in 1995-96 was 190.6 m metric tons. In 2000-2001 the figure rose to 264.91 tons.

Expectation of life at birth: The figure rose from 58.7 years in 1995-96 to 61.8 years in 2000-2001.

Per capita calorie intake: rural areas, from 2206.1 to 2274.2 kilocalorie, in urban areas, from 2220.2 to2283.3 kilocalorie during the five-years of the Awami League..

Literacy rate: Literacy rate for 15old and above was 47.3 percent in 1995-96; the rate went up to 64 percent in 2000.

Infant mortality rate: 67 per thousand in 1995-96. The rate went down in 1998 to 57 per thousand live births.

Elected Chairman of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 1997 annual session

Elected President of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agricultural Development 1998.

In the general election on October 1, 2001, elected a Member of Parliament from Habiganj-3 constituency.

Chairman , Bangladesh Foundation for Development Research.

Alternate Chairman, Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs

Hobbies
Reading books mainly on history and economics and listening to music ( Rabindra Sangeet) and playing golf.

Publications
Wrote four books, published by the University Press Ltd.

"Mridubhashan", (Bengali) “The Emerging New World Order”, and “Bangladesh at the Crossroads”, Chitta Jetha Bhoyshunya (Bengali)

Editor and Publisher of a Bengali weekly, "Mridu Bhashan".

Wrote hundreds of articles both in Bengali and English.

Family
Mrs.Asma Kibria, Mr. Kibria's wife, is a noted painter who has held 11 solo exhibitions at home and abroad. He has a son, Dr. Reza Kibria (DPhil, Oxford) and a daughter, Dr. Nazli Kibria (PhD, Univ of Pennsylvania) and five grand children.

Service with the United Nations (May1, 1981-March 31, 1992
Executive Secretary of ESCAP ( UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific) with the rank and status of Under Secretary-General of the United Nations. Headquarters in Bangkok . In 1986, assumed the additional assignment of Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Cambodian Humanitarian Relief.

Return to Dhaka : Politics and Journalism, April, 1992
Upon completion of the UN assignment, returned to Bangladesh in April, 1992. Wrote columns on political and economic issues in English and Bengali in national daily and weekly newspapers.

Joined the Bangladesh Awami League in September 1992 as a member of the Awami League Advisory Council.

Appointed Political Advisor to the Awami League President, 1994.

Finance Minister June 1996 –July 2001
After the general election on June 12, 1996, joined the cabinet of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as Minister of Finance. Served in this capacity until the government's term expired in July 2001.

Major achievements: Bangladesh achieved, for the first time, GDP growth at average rate of 5.83 % during 1996-2001. Average rate of inflation was well below 5%. The inflation rate in June 2001 was only 1.53%. Exports rose from $3884m in 1995-96 to $6477m in 2000-2001. Investment in the social sector, (education, health etc) increased from 21.02% of the total budget in 1995-96 to 24.7% in 2000-2001. The rate of national savings increased over the five-year period of the Awami League from 20.17 to 23.78 percent. Similarly, rate of investment increased from 19.99% in 1995-96 to 23.63% in 2000-2001.

The physical infrastructure was improved and modernized. Electricity generating capacity rose from 2105 megawatts to 3600 megawatts.

For the first time in half a century, Bangladesh achieved food self- sufficiency.

Rice and wheat production in 1995-96 was 190.6 m metric tons. In 2000-2001 the figure rose to 264.91 tons.

Expectation of life at birth: The figure rose from 58.7 years in 1995-96 to 61.8 years in 2000-2001.

Per capita calorie intake: rural areas, from 2206.1 to 2274.2 kilocalorie, in urban areas, from 2220.2 to2283.3 kilocalorie during the five-years of the Awami League..

Literacy rate: Literacy rate for 15old and above was 47.3 percent in 1995-96; the rate went up to 64 percent in 2000.

Infant mortality rate: 67 per thousand in 1995-96. The rate went down in 1998 to 57 per thousand live births.

Elected Chairman of the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 1997 annual session

Elected President of the Governing Council of International Fund for Agricultural Development 1998.

In the general election on October 1, 2001, elected a Member of Parliament from Habiganj-3 constituency.

Chairman , Bangladesh Foundation for Development Research.

Alternate Chairman, Bangladesh Institute of Law and International Affairs

Hobbies
Reading books mainly on history and economics and listening to music ( Rabindra Sangeet) and playing golf.

Publications
Wrote four books, published by the University Press Ltd.

"Mridubhashan", (Bengali) “The Emerging New World Order”, and “Bangladesh at the Crossroads”, Chitta Jetha Bhoyshunya (Bengali)

Editor and Publisher of a Bengali weekly, "Mridu Bhashan".

Wrote hundreds of articles both in Bengali and English.

Family
Mrs.Asma Kibria, Mr. Kibria's wife, is a noted painter who has held 11 solo exhibitions at home and abroad. He has a son, Dr. Reza Kibria (DPhil, Oxford) and a daughter, Dr. Nazli Kibria (PhD, Univ of Pennsylvania) and five grand children.

Bangabandhu Bangladesh

Father of Nation bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Image Hosted by PicturePush Sk Hasina & bangabandhu Image Hosted by PicturePush Sheikh Hasina Image Hosted by PicturePush Bangabandhu & boat Image Hosted by PicturePush