Bangladesh PM Hasina wants to retire to make way for young leaders
Dhaka : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who won a historic fourth term, becoming the country's longest-serving leader, has indicated that she will retire after the current term to promote young leaders, according to a media report.
In an interview with the German broadcaster Deutsche Welle (DW) 71-year-old Hasina, who assumed office just a month ago, for the fourth time as the prime minister, said she wanted to retire after the five-year term, the Bangladesh daily Dhaka Tribune reported.
"It's the third consecutive term and before that I was prime minister (1996-2001), so it's my fourth term. I don't want to continue for more (time). I think that everybody should take a break so we can accommodate the younger generation," she said.
On Tuesday, at a cultural event in Gazipur, the prime minister said she would like to go back to her ancestral village of Tungipara in Gopalganj to spend her retirement, the daily said.
Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's founder Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won the 11th parliamentary elections in December last year with a landslide victory even as Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party rejected the polls marred with violence that claimed 18 lives, making it one of the deadliest polls in the country.
The Awami League chief was pitted against a united opposition Jatiya Oikya Front (United National Front) led by octogenarian Kamal Hossain, an Oxford-educated jurist and former foreign minister.
Her arch-rival ex-premier and BNP hief Khalida Zia, who has been serving a 17-year sentence for corruption, was barred from contesting the polls.
Asked about her plans about the rest of her tenure, Hasina said the fight against poverty will continue to be her first priority.
"Food security, housing, education, healthcare, job opportunities; these are basic needs," she said, "Definitely, every human being wants a better life We have to ensure that.
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Fire guts 22 furniture sheds in Hyderabad
Hyderabad (PTI): As many as 22 temporary roadside sheds where furniture was manufactured and sold have been gutted after a fire broke out in one of them here, and no one was injured in the incident, police and fire department officials said on Wednesday.
This massive fire accident occurred in an area under the Bachupally police station limits at around 11 pm on Tuesday. After originating in one of the sheds, the flames spread quickly to adjacent sheds, destroying wooden furniture and other materials required for manufacturing furniture.
Six fire tenders were rushed to the spot, and the fire was extinguished, a police official said.
Based on preliminary investigation, the official said the blaze started due to a short circuit.
Eye-witnesses have stated that there was a short circuit on a pole, and the wire fell onto the sofas, which caught fire. Within minutes, the fire spread, police said.
