Arun Bikash Dey

Electoral campaign of BNP in Chattogram started to become more visible since yesterday, as leaders and activists of the party said they were feeling secure after the army started patrolling in the district.

With less than a week left before the December 30 national election, the polls scenario in Chattogram 14 and 15 constituencies remains dull.

In the neighbouring constituencies of Chattogram-12 (Patiya) and Chattogram-13 (Anwara and Karnaphuli), an opposite situation has been prevailing since the beginning of campaign.

BNP's first-time candidates in Chattogram district have expressed confidence that their lack of experience is not a setback because party popularity would be their key to victory.

With little regards to electoral conduct, supporters of two candidates of the national polls have plastered posters and banners of two candidates on walls of Chattogram city, while gateways were seen erected in favour of another candidate.

Paediatric departments of hospitals in Chattogram are dealing with a large influx of patients, as the advent of winter has brought with it cold-borne viruses and infections, of which infants are being the worst victims.

The combined wealth of environment, forest and climate change Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud and his wife has more than doubled since the last election, driven mainly by bank deposits.

Senior politicians of both Awami League (AL) and BNP are facing challenges within their families in Chattogram, with their sons also vying for respective parties' nomination for the upcoming national election.

Former BNP-backed mayor of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) M Manjur Alam has collected a nomination form from Awami League to contest the upcoming national election from Chattogram-10 constituency.

Political parties contesting the 11th national election under the grand alliance, led by the Awami League, are seeking to persuade the alliance to allocate a minimum of five seats out of the 16 constituencies in Chattogram.

A total of 19 female candidates from Awami League (AL) and six from BNP are trying to secure party nominations for different constituencies in Chattogram in the 11th national polls.

Out of order X-ray machines at most health complexes in Chattogram have left low-income people of the district in the soup.

Kitchen markets in the port city are witnessing a fall in the prices of seasonal vegetables in comparison with last week.

People of low-income group, who saved their hard-earned money with an NGO in Chattogram city for promised high returns, have become victims of alleged fraud as the organisation suddenly closed shop and its officials disappeared.

An allegation of “deliberate harassment” was raised by nine female tenth-grade students against a teacher of their school in Chattogram city.

Twenty-two-year-old Abu Taleb underwent an operation in a private hospital in the port city two days after being injured in a road accident at Chakaria upazila in Cox's Bazar on September 3. Due to post operative complications, Taleb required intensive care support. The hospital, however, lacked this facility.

The government would have to face unimaginable “punishment” if it did not meet the Jatiya Oikyafront's demand for fair polls, said Dr Kamal Hossain, a top leader of the alliance, at a rally in Chattogram yesterday.

The first ever hospital just for pet care is scheduled to begin operation, with the objective of providing treatment and healthcare to pet animals, at Purbachal in the capital later this month.

Taslima Begum, 55, a resident of Fatikchhari upazila in Chattogram, had her uterus removed three years ago through a hysterctomy. As she was feeling unwell recently, her family took her to see a medicine specialist in the port city, and the doctor prescribed her some medical tests.

Chattogram City Corporation started reconstruction work of a roadside temple on Tuesday, a day after it was demolished “mistakenly” during an eviction drive.