Over 2,100 ponds and 500 fish enclosures affected

Agreement reached on election committee; operations normalised after daylong strike

A Panchagarh court yesterday sent a battery-run rickshaw van driver to jail after he was arrested on allegations of raping two children on separate occasions in Boda upazila, police said.

After daylong student protests in Dhaka and several other districts, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon yesterday apologised in parliament for his remarks about HSC examinees.

The local administration in Bogura’s Sariakandi upazila has launched an investigation into an anti-drug activity after videos showed a union parishad chairman and his associates publicly beating suspected drug users and sellers.

About one in every 13 Bangladeshi women experiences menopause before the age of 45, according to the largest multi-country study led by researchers at icddr,b.

Footpaths across Khulna city, renovated at a cost of hundreds of crores of taka to improve pedestrian mobility, are increasingly being reoccupied by hawkers, forcing people onto busy roads and creating daily safety risks.

As monsoon rains swell the pond beside her home in Bajitkhila village of Sherpur, Nusrat Jahan Ritu grows increasingly anxious.

The leader of the notorious Chhoto Jahangir gang and 26 of his associates surrendered to the Bangladesh Coast Guard in the Sundarbans on Monday, handing over a cache of firearms and ammunition.

Seven more children died from measles and measles-like symptoms in the last 24 hours until 8:00am yesterday, bringing Bangladesh’s combined tally of confirmed and suspected measles-related deaths to 766.

The chairman of Bandarban’s Alikadam Sadar Union Parishad and three ward members have been suspended over allegations of issuing fake citizenship certificates and “non-Rohingya” attestations to facilitate the inclusion of Rohingyas in the voter list.

The Teesta river has crossed its danger level for the second time this monsoon, inundating low-lying areas and riverine chars and raising fears of fresh flooding along its banks.

The government will welcome ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina if she returns from India to face the cases against her, Prime Minister’s Information Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman said yesterday.

More than 1,000 new hospital beds are set to be added to Bangladesh’s public healthcare system as the government expands capacity to meet rising demand for treatment.

The government is considering setting up dedicated, permanent centres for public examinations, said Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon yesterday.

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and lawmaker from Dhaka-11, yesterday said most political parties, including his own, had failed to honour commitments on nominating women candidates in the parliamentary elections.

Stephen Rodriques has been appointed as the new United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Resident Representative in Bangladesh, succeeding Stefan Liller.

Groundwater in seven districts of the northwest region in Bangladesh is replenishing at just 100-210 millimetres, far below the normal rate of 100-515 millimetres, raising concerns over long-term water security in the already drought-prone region, according to a recent study.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday assured young entrepreneurs of the government’s full backing, saying it will do its best to help them build successful businesses, as they are vital to Bangladesh’s future and economic transformation.

Four fishermen were killed and another remained missing after a fishing trawler capsized in rough seas off Kutubdia in Cox’s Bazar early Monday amid adverse weather and high waves.