Former Foreign Secretary of Bangladesh and immediate-past High Commissioner to India Syed Muazzem Ali was laid to rest with state honours yesterday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi yesterday called his Bangladesh counterpart Sheikh Hasina to extend the new year’s greetings.

Prime Minister’s Personal Secreatry-1 (additional secretary) Md Tofazzel Hossain Miah has been promoted to Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office. The Public Administration Ministry issued a notification in this regard yesterday.

Newly-appointed Foreign Secretary Masud Bin Momen yesterday said the ministry’s focus this year will be to keep the global focus on Rohingya issue unchanged for their early repatriation.

Authorities concerned have finalised preparation for paper books of the sensational August 21 grenade attack cases for the High Court’s hearing on the death reference and appeals in the case. At least 24 people were killed and around 300 injured in the grisly attack on an Awami League rally on the capital’s Bangabandhu Avenue on August 21, 2004.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said their party is taking part in the upcoming city polls to “expose further that no credible election is possible under Awami League.”

Information Minister Hasan Mahmud yesterday said the Media Workers Bill will be placed in the cabinet soon.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday inaugurated installation works of the tracks of the country’s first-ever metro rail.

Countdown to Mujib Borsho -- celebrating the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- will start on January 10, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan said yesterday.

Teachers and students of Rajshahi University (RU) in a human chain demanded the authorities concerned to save the family house of renowned filmmaker and screenwriter Ritwik Ghatak, and declare it a heritage site.

12-year-old Reshma Akhter, a fourth-grader of Katgor Mirapara Government Primary School, woke up early yesterday morning and prepared herself for school. It was the first day of the new year, and Reshma could barely hold her excitement of getting her hands on brand-new books. She set out to attend school in delight.

Police arrested two persons after a group of criminals stabbed a local hawkers’ leader to death and injured another in port city’s Shershah area on Tuesday night.

Police on Tuesday night arrested eight people, including two foreigners, in a drive at Panchaboti area of Rajshahi city on charges of buying and selling drugs.

The authorities concerned have finalised the paper books of sensational August 21 grenade attack cases for the High Court’s early hearing on the death references and appeals in the case.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has vowed to implement the single digit interest rate from April saying the government stood firm on the issue as it would boost investment in the country.

Although there was a decline in the number of road accidents, the country saw more deaths on roads in the immediate-past year of 2019 compared to 2018.

A Dhaka University teacher has been relieved of all academic activities for allegedly threatening some students of his pharmaceutical technology department.

Detectives have seized a consignment of 50,000 yaba pills at Dhaka’s Baridhara area while being carried concealing in packets attached with different covered parts of a truck with powerful magnets.

State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Md Zakir Hossen urges students to prepare themselves as worthy citizens to transform Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous country as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain reconstitutes five High Court benches, as both the Appellate and High Court divisions of the Supreme Court will reopen tomorrow after a two-week annual vacation.