Putin appeals for unity on Kremlin return

Moscow, May 7 (sunnews24.com/Reuters)— Vladimir Putin appealed for unity in Russia after being sworn as president on Monday and pledged to strengthen democracy in his new six-year term.

"I will do all I can to justify the faith of millions of our citizens. I consider it to be the meaning of my whole life and my obligation to serve my fatherland and our people," Putin said in a brief speech at his inauguration in the Kremlin.

"We will achieve our goals if we are a single, united people - if we hold our fatherland dear, strengthen Russian democracy, constitutional rights and freedoms."

Putin, who was president of the former Soviet republic from 2000-2008 and is returning to Russia's highest office after four years as prime minister, said he and the Russian people had already trodden a "difficult path" together.

"We believed in ourselves and in our powers, strengthened the country and restored the dignity of our great nation. The world has seen Russia reborn, and this is the result of the efforts of our people - shared, intensive work in which everyone has made a personal contribution."

He praised Dmitry Medvedev, the ally he steered into the Kremlin when he faced a bar on a third straight term in 2008 and who is set to become prime minister in a job swap that has angered many Russians who are tired of the same leaders.

"Today we have everything we need to move forward and create a dynamic and developing state: A stable economic and social basis, an active and responsible civil society," Putin said. "I see in this a great service on the part of Dmitry Anatolyevich Medvedev."

Educational standards improved: Nahid

Dhaka, May 7 (sunnews24.com) – The education minister says he is satisfied with the results of this year's Secondary School Certificate and equivalent examinations.
According to Nurul Islam Nahid, the positive change in all indicators of performance is a mark of improved educational standards.

An average of 86.37 percent students passed the test this year and of them, 82,212 have acquired a full GPA, 5.00, that is, above 80 percent score in all papers. This pass rate is a 4.06 percent increase on that of last year's rate.

At a press conference on Monday afternoon at the ministry, minister Nahid said 904,144 students under the general boards passed the SSC exams this year. Their pass rate is 86.32 percent.

Nahid handed over the results on Monday morning to the prime minister.

"Educational standards have improved and students are more motivated," Nahid said at the conference. He noted that the overall pass rate had improved because more students had passed English, math, physics and chemistry.

Candidates can get their results by typing – SSC 2012 – and send to 16222.

Sylhet board examinees scored the top pass rate at 91.78 percent.

Pass rates of Dhaka, Rajshahi, Comilla, Jessore, Chittagong, Barisal and Dinajpur general education boards are 85.95, 88.33, 85.64, 87.16, 78.96, 86.96 and 87.16 percent respectively.

Of male students, 87.27 percent came out successful and of female students 85.41 percent passed the hurdle. Among Madrasa Education Board students the pass rate is 88.47 percent. Last year this rate was 83.23 percent. In this board, 13,436 students scored GPA 5.00.

Among Technical Education Board students the pass rate is 80.69 percent. This year 3,524 students have obtained the GPA 5.00, a giant leap from last year's 1,205.

Spilt orders help 18-party leaders evade arrest

sunnewsbd24: Online Report
Two split High Court orders have allowed top leaders of the BNP-led 18-party alliance to escape arrest for a certain period.
The presiding judge of a division bench, Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury, granted anticipatory bail to the accused till submission of the charge sheets of blast and arson cases.
While the other judge, Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder, directed the defendants to surrender before a lower court within next seven days.
Justice Moyeenul Islam also issued two separate rules upon the government to explain in four weeks why the petitioners should not be granted regular bail in the cases.
Meanwhile, Justice Nazrul Islam directed the law enforcers not to harass or arrest the accused during the seven day time.
Advocate Khandaker Mahbub Hossain, a defence counsel, told The Daily Star that the accused leaders will surrender before the lower court within seven days as per the junior judge's order.

Spilt orders help 18-party leaders evade arrest

New Delhi, May 7 (sunnews24.com)— Bangladesh and India on Monday agreed to constitute a sub-group within the Joint River Commission to look into all issues related to the controversial 1500 MW Tipaimukh Hydro-Electric (Multi-Purpose) Project, which is proposed to come up in northeastern Indian state of Manipur.
India's External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said that Delhi and Dhaka agreed to set up the sub-group within the JRC to look into all aspects of the issue, including Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's proposal for Bangladesh to join the project.

Krishna and Foreign Minister Dipu Moni were addressing a press-conference after co-chairing the first meeting of Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission in New Delhi on Monday.
India and Bangladesh, however, could not make any significant progress in ending the deadlock over the proposed deal for sharing of water of Teesta, although Krishna told Moni that New Delhi was continuing consultations with all stakeholders to evolve a consensus.
"Since water is a sensitive issue, in accordance with the traditions of consensual decision-making in India's democratic polity, internal consultations are on amongst stakeholders," said Krishna, adding that India remained committed to an early solution on the issue of sharing of water of Teesta.

Dipu Moni told journalists that she requested Krishna to ensure early ratification of the 1974 India-Bangladesh Land Boundary Agreement, including the additional protocol signed last year, by New Delhi.

She said that Bangladesh also stressed on early signing of the agreement on Teesta.

The Foreign Minister said Krishna assured her that India's proposed river-interlinking project would not include the rivers flowing from the Himalayas and hence would not pose any threat of downstream impact on Bangladesh.
Krishna and Moni reviewed the progress in utilisation of India's $ 1 billion line of credit to Bangladesh. "So far, projects worth more than US $ 810 million have been agreed upon and five contracts worth US $ 83 million have been signed.
"The first consignment of busses has arrived in Dhaka and deliveries of railway rolling stock will start by the end of the year," Krishna said.

India's Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday announced in Dhaka that US $ 200 million of the Line of Credit would be converted into grants-in-aid for projects of priority to Bangladesh.

"Our focus now is to ensure timely delivery on the contracts that have been signed by the Government of Bangladesh," said Krishna.
Moni, who is on a three-day visit to India, would also India's Water Resources Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal on Tuesday to explore ways to resolve the impasse over the agreement for sharing of water of Teesta.
Krishna last week had a meeting with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in New Delhi. Banerjee's objection forced New Delhi to put off signing of the interim agreement with Bangladesh during Manmohan Singh's visit to Dhaka in September 2011.
A team of officials of the Indian Prime Minister's Office is also likely to visit Kolkata soon to discuss the issue with officials of the State Government of West Bengal.

"We are trying to develop a political consensus in India. It is important that views of all those who are dependent on the water are taken into account and burden is shared equitably. Meanwhile, there is no change in ground situation, the waters are flowing," the Indian External Affairs Minister told the news conference.

Foreign minister Moni will also have a meeting with Indian Home Minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday. They are likely to discuss the progress in negotiations on the bilateral extradition treaty.
Sources said that a delegation of Bangladesh's home ministry would visit New Delhi shortly to continue discussion on the proposed extradition treaty.
The Bangladesh Foreign Minister will also call on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday.

The Joint Consultative Commission that Krishna and Moni co-chaired on Monday was constituted in accordance with Bangladesh-India Framework Agreement on Cooperation for Development, which was signed during Singh's 2011visit to Dhaka.

The two foreign ministers reviewed bilateral cooperation in the power sector and noted that the work on power inter-grid connectivity was progressing. They expressed hope that 500 MW power would flow from India to Bangladesh during the summer of 2013.
"We are also moving ahead with the setting up of 1320 MW coal based joint venture power plant which is expected to be commissioned by 2016. We welcome the participation of Bangladesh in power projects in India, particularly in the North-Eastern states of India," said Krishna.
He added that India's decision in 2011 to grant zero duty access to all goods from Bangladesh opened new opportunities for expansion of bilateral trade. "I understand that there has been a significant increase of textile exports from Bangladesh to India."
Moni will also represent Dhaka in the concluding ceremony of Bangladesh-India joint celebration of the 150th birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore in New Delhi later on Monday.

Muhith still hopeful of WB fund

Dhaka, May 06 (sunnews24.com) — Finance minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith still hopeful that the Padma bridge would be constructed with funding from the World Bank and other international lenders. 

However he said it would take time until June this year to resolve the complications created due to World Bank's decision to suspend funding for the project alleging corruption. 

Muhith earlier announced that the work of the Padma bridge project would start in November this year. 

And Bangladesh signed a memorandum of understanding with Malaysia over the project last month. 

But on Sunday, the finance minister in an interview with bdnews24.com reiterated his hope on his return from Manila, capital of Philippines, after attending the annual meeting of the Asian Development Bank. 

Muhith said he had meetings with ADB president and Japanese finance minister. 

"In both the meetings, I explained our position. I told them that there was no corruption in Padma bridge project. The World Bank's allegations are imaginary," said Muhith. 

ADB was supposed to provide $ 610 million and Japan $ 140 million for the $ 2.9 billion Padma bridge project. But the highest $ 1.2 billion was pledged by WB for the 6.15-km-long bridge, Bangladesh's biggest infrastructure project. 

"They offered to take initiative to resolve the issue. I am hopeful that it would be resolved this time and would be positive for us. But I don't think any decision would come before June," Muhith said. 

On a question what would happen to the negotiation with Malaysia while he was pursuing the case with the WB, Muhith said, "Right now, we are negotiating with everyone… We will continue to talk to them… We will not stop any of the negotiations." 

"I said earlier that we have only signed MOU with Malaysia, nothing else. If we get any better option we will take that," the finance minister added. 

Bangladeshi experts said that the country would have to pay only 1 percent interest if the finance comes from international lenders like WB and there would be a grace period of 10 years. 

On the other hand, if the bridge is constructed with funding from Malaysia the interest rate would be over 6 percent and the repayment period would start from the first year of construction. 

Muhith travelled to Manila on Wednesday to attend the ADB meeting held between May 3 and 5. The minister returned on Saturday night. 

The finance minister said, "Although ADB's annual meeting is a forum to discuss policy matters, I raised the issue of Padma bridge and briefed the top ADB officials the situation." 

Muhith said he explained them the importance of the project and that Bangladesh wanted to start as early as possible. "But the imaginary corruption allegation by the World Bank are holding us back," he added. 

An investigation by the Bangladesh's Anti-Corruption Commission into the WB allegation did not find any evidence of anomalies in pre-qualification bidding in the project. 

However, WB said they would wait for the result of investigation being run by Canada before taking a decision. WB suspended an unit of a Canadian company for alleged corruption related to this project. 

On a question whether ADB and Japan would finance the project if WB decided to withdraw from 
funding, Muhith said, "The negotiation is yet to reach that stage. They all want to fund the project and want to take a combine decision." 

Hearing on BNP leaders' bail plea at 2pm

sunnews24

The High Court will hear at 2:00pm Monday the bail petitions of 44 BNP leaders accused in blast and arson cases.

The HC bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Nazrul Islam Talukder fixed the time acting on the bail petitions filed by the BNP leaders.

The BNP leaders filed three bail petitions before it around 11:30am.

Barrister Ragib Rouf Chowdhury, a pro-BNP lawyer, told The Daily Star that the HC bench verbally asked the law enforcers not to bar any accused BNP leaders to enter the court premises who wants to seek bail in the cases.

Accused BNP leaders include its acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, standing committee members MK Anwar, Mirza Abbas and Goyewshwar Chandra Roy, Ruhul Quddus Talukder Dulu.

Of them, Anwar, Mirza Abbas, Goyewshwar and Dulu are seen on the Supreme Court premises.

They are expected to appear before the HC bench when the hearing of the bail petition will be held.

Additional law enforcers have been deployed in and around the SC premises ahead of the hearing of the opposition leaders' bail petition.

The senior BNP leaders who sneaked into the High Court premises avoiding strict police surveillance to evade arrest were staying at the office of Supreme Court Bar Association president in the morning.

At least 12 BNP leaders took shelter inside the HC premises avoiding strict police surveillance Sunday evening, SCBA sources said.

As per the convention of the Supreme Court, the law enforcers do not arrest anybody from the inside of SC premises.

Two cases were filed with Tejgaon and Shahbagh police station for exploding a 'bomb' inside the Bangladesh Secretariat and torching a vehicle near the Prime Minister's office on April 29.

Socialist Hollande new French president

Paris, May 07 (sunnews24.com/Reuters) - A victorious Francois Hollande faces a short honeymoon after his election as France's first left-wing president in 17 years, with financial markets eager for clear signals on his policies and how hard he plans to push back against German-led austerity. 

The moderate Socialist beat conservative Nicolas Sarkozy with 51.7 percent of Sunday's runoff vote after a bruising campaign dominated by the same anger over economic crisis that has felled 10 other European leaders since late 2009. 

While jubilant left-wing voters partied into the early hours of Monday in central Paris, Hollande admitted that for him, the festivities would have to be short-lived. 

"There is a lot of joy and pride but also apprehension at taking on this responsibility at a difficult time for the country and for Europe," he said. 

After delivering a victory speech in his rural base of Tulle in central France, he flew to Paris and addressed tens of thousands of supporters in historic Bastille square. 

The new president is expected to be sworn in on May 15. As fears about the euro zone's debt crisis resurface following an inconclusive election in Greece, Hollande will travel to Berlin shortly thereafter to challenge Germany's focus on austerity policies and press new ideas for stimulating growth. 

"In every capital, beyond the heads of state and government, there are people who have found hope thanks to us, who are looking to us and want to put an end to austerity," he declared. 

The left reclaimed Bastille square where revelers danced the night away in 1981 when Francois Mitterrand became the Socialist Party's first directly elected president. Three decades later, a new generation of left-wing voters waved red flags and some carried roses, the party emblem. 

Hollande is expected to include some trusted old hands in his government like Mitterrand's former prime minister Laurent Fabius but add many young politicians and women. 

His economic team, led by centre-left former finance minister Michel Sapin, includes politicians, industry leaders and public officials seen as market-friendly. 

Hollande must quickly outline his domestic plans, likely to centre around a major tax reform, and revise over-optimistic growth targets which threaten France's deficit-cutting goals. 

His plans to tweak a reform that raised the retirement age to 62 and increase the minimum wage are also rattling investors who fear France could drift away from the club of sound northern European borrowers and towards the debt-laden periphery. 

"Hollande's victory has already been priced in by markets, however his promises made during the campaign have not been priced in, so there is risk on the downside if he stands his ground when he announces a first set of measures," said fund manager Christian Jimenez at Diamant Bleu Gestion in Paris. 

"There's a clear need to boost economic growth across Europe, but the debate is on how to achieve that without spooking investors." 

LEFT WELL PLACED FOR PARLIAMENT 

Sarkozy, punished for his failure to rein in 10-percent unemployment and for his brash personal style, conceded defeat within 20 minutes of polls closing on Sunday, telling supporters he had wished Hollande good luck in such trying times. 

"I bear the full responsibility for this defeat," Sarkozy said, indicating he would withdraw from frontline politics.