ULFA General Secretary Anup Chetia seeks withdrawal of his appeal for political asylum in Bangladesh; Indian President thanks Prime Minister and the government of Bangladesh for their support in making a power plant project possible in Tripura; Bangladesh
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  • According to reports, detained since 1997, Anup Chetia, general secretary of the separatist group United Liberation Front of Assam (ULFA), has sought withdrawal of his appeal for political asylum in Bangladesh. “Earlier, I wanted to stay in this country. I have changed my mind and I have decided to live the rest of my life with my children in my country (India),” Anup was quoted as saying in a petition submitted on May 13 to Rajshahi Central Jail where he has been in detention. The jail authorities forwarded the petition to the home ministry of Bangladesh.1

    Reports noted that India’s President Shri Pranab Mukherjee called for increased cooperation between India and Bangladesh in the power sector. He thanked the president, the prime minister and the government of Bangladesh for their support in making a power plant project possible in Tripura while speaking at a function organised to inaugurate the first unit of 726 MW gas-based power plant at Palatana in Tripura on June 21, 2013. 2

    According to reports, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) gave the special “Diploma Award” to Bangladesh in recognition of the country’s reaching a key millennium development goal (MDG-1) well ahead of the target year 2015. MDG-1 sets targets for countries to halve the incidence of hunger and the number of ultra-poor in the target year 2015 from that in the base year 1990. Bangladesh along with 19 other countries received the FAO award at the UN body’s 38th conference held at its headquarters in Rome with participants from 194 countries. During the period from 1990 to 2012, Bangladesh’s population below the poverty line dropped to 29 percent from over 58 percent and the percentage of ultra-poor dropped to a little over 16 from 37. The number of ultra-poor in Bangladesh was 3.72 crore in 1990 and it dropped to 2.53 crore in 2012, the release added. 3

    In other developments, according to reports, after more than a decade of talks, Bangladesh government on June 17, 2013 finally gave the go-ahead to the signing of a crucial deal that is expected to accelerate trade and investment with the US. The draft Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) that the cabinet approved says the two countries will foster an open and predictable environment for trade and investment. Washington has welcomed the cabinet’s decision to approve the TICFA while Dhaka is waiting for an opportune moment to sign the agreement either in the United States or in Bangladesh. 4

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