The United Arab Emirates has cancelled the visas of over 4,000 Bangladeshis, leaving many stranded at home after returning on leave, with no explanation as to why they can no longer return to their jobs and businesses

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday called for ensuring people’s political and economic empowerment to make democracy sustainable and establish it on a strong institutional foundation, reports UNB.

Fifty-two eminent citizens have expressed deep concern over the formation of three new high-level committees on the Chattogram Hill Tracts (CHT), warning that the move could lead to increased militarisation in the region.

Nearly seven months after the new government took office, secretaries of all ministries and divisions have been summoned to a secretaries’ meeting today.

A Supreme Court chamber judge yesterday upheld, for the time being, a High Court verdict rejecting two petitions filed by Grameen Kalyan challenging National Board of Revenue orders reassessing its income tax at around Tk 666 crore for different tax years.

All political parties that took part in the National Consensus Commission process agreed on one important issue: no individual should serve as prime minister for more than 10 years in total, regardless of the number of terms.

Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Md Asaduzzaman yesterday said there is no scope for taking any action outside the legal framework.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday assured business leaders from different sectors that gas and power supplies to industrial units would improve from this evening [Tuesday], following an increase in LNG supply.

The Indian Border Security Force (BSF) returned the body of a Bangladeshi national on Sunday night, a day after he was shot by its personnel about 1.5km inside Indian territory along the Chanderhat border in Thakurgaon’s Pirganj upazila.

The local government elections are likely to begin on November 12 with union parishad elections in 80 upazilas in the first phase, said the Election Commission yesterday.

Two schoolchildren drowned in a pond in the Batkhekhali area of Satkhira town yesterday.

Ducsu’s unauthorised launch of a website to evaluate Dhaka University faculty has sparked sharp criticism from teachers, with university authorities saying there is “no scope for a parallel administration” at DU.

At least eight dengue patients died in the 24 hours till 8:00am yesterday, the second-highest single-day death toll from the disease this year, while 1,733 new cases were reported, the highest daily tally so far.

Around three and a half months after Bangladesh Bank announced guidelines for a loan scheme to reopen closed factories, not a single taka has been disbursed under the Tk 20,000 crore programme.

The Gopalganj district administration has converted the century-old building of a public library into a government officers’ club, frustrating bibliophiles.

A fire broke out at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital yesterday evening, triggering panic among patients and attendants as smoke spread through the building.

Final justice is yet to be delivered in the 2013 murder case in which police officer Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman were killed by their daughter Oishee Rahman.

Student organisations yesterday protested the display of founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s photos in the renovated Ducsu photo gallery. They also tore up two photographs.

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday said it was not investigating National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson and former interim government adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan by “targeting” him, but was dealing with pending allegations in accordance with the law.

The government is planning to conduct an intensified measles-rubella catch-up vaccination campaign from the last week of this month amid a growing number of measles infections and deaths across the country.