Fifty trees have been cut down to implement the third phase of Swadhinata Stambha project at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital and 50 more may have to be felled for the project, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said yesterday.

Cutting down trees from a public space in the name of development work in a city like Dhaka is sort of a crime, said architect Rafiq Azam.

The government has directed all supermarkets, malls and shops of Dhaka city to adopt precautionary measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. However, the markets are struggling to maintain proper health and safety measures as there are large crowds of people shopping before Eid-ul-Fitr.

A total of 52 Bangladeshi citizens, who were stranded in Nepal due to suspension of regular flights after a surge of Covid-19 in the state, returned home yesterday by a special flight.

The stock of vaccines in Barishal division is running out quickly. According to Barishal Divisional Health Office, the vaccines would get used up in the next nine days only.

The stock of vaccines in Barishal division is running out quickly. According to Barishal Divisional Health Office, the vaccines would get used up in the next nine days only.

The government should allocate 20 percent of the next national budget (2021-22) for the education sector, to mitigate the learning loss of an estimated 4 crore students, and to tackle the predicted increase of dropout rate, demanded educationists and development workers, yesterday.

The Jatiya Sangsad will go to budget session on June 2.

With the killing of blogger Ahmed Rajib Haider in February 2013, banned militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team started a spate of attacks against free-thinkers, which continued till 2016.

The government’s recent approval of a study centre of a foreign university is conflicting with the Private University Act 2010 and the policy of non-profit higher education, said Association of Private Universities of Bangladesh (APUB) yesterday.

Prices of cigarettes and other tobacco products should be increased through specific taxation to bring the goods beyond people’s purchasing capacity to achieve a tobacco-free Bangladesh, speakers said at a virtual roundtable yesterday.

Chief Justice Syed Mahmud Hossain has decided to operate necessary number of courts at all tiers during Eid holidays so litigants can get remedy.

Hefajat-e-Islam’s former joint secretary general Mamunul Haque and Rafiqul Islam Madani, widely known as “Shishu Bokta”, were sent to jail yesterday on completion of their remand.

Turning communities and villages across the country into “Coronavirus-Resilient Villages” can significantly reduce the risk of infection, speakers said at an online discussion yesterday.

Retired schoolteacher Ratna Raha received her first dose of Covid-19 vaccine at Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) General Hospital on March 25. She is scheduled to get the second dose on May 25, but then news broke of the shortage of vaccines in the country and Ratna has been worrying for her second dose ever since.

Return of several hundred Bangladeshi migrant workers to their workplaces in the UAE has become uncertain as the Gulf country yesterday suspended entry for travellers from Bangladesh and three other Asian countries.

Although the number of diarrhoea patients in Barishal division has decreased, officials said the threat is far from being over.

Jatiya Party Chairman and Deputy Leader of the Opposition GM Quader yesterday said people of the country want to know why the government is yet to give permission for carrying out trial of Bangavax.

Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming yesterday officially announced that 5 lakh doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine will reach Bangladesh on May 12.

A freedom fighter was injured after being attacked over land dispute in Gafargaon upazila of Mymensingh yesterday morning.