Ministers outline plans for reopening BJMC mills, report jute exports in FY 2024–25

Claims fake votes, voter obstruction; calls on EC to suspend polls and take legal action

Primary and Mass Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon yesterday told parliament that 2,839 villages across the country do not have any primary schools.

Attorney General Md Ruhul Quddus yesterday said the issue of establishing the Supreme Court Secretariat will ultimately be settled by the Appellate Division, as the government plans to appeal against the High Court verdict.

The government has advanced the launch of a special measles and rubella vaccination drive to April 20 from May 3 as measles cases continue to surge.

BNP is still struggling to finalise its nominees for the Jatiya Sangsad seats reserved for women, as a large number of leaders are seeking nominations, whereas Jamaat-e-Islami has completed its preparations and is ready to name its candidates for the 13th parliament.

An audit has found that Tk 3,088 crore was misappropriated from Premier Bank between 2018 and September 2025 through inflated office rent, misuse of CSR allocations, manipulation of general ledger entries, abuse of procurement processes, and false renovation claims.

Thirteen international human rights organisations have urged the government to urgently pass the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Ordinance and the Enforced Disappearance Prevention and Redress Ordinance in parliament to prevent them from expiring.

The US-Israel war on Iran is casting a long shadow over Bangladesh’s economy, threatening to slow growth, stoke inflation, deepen poverty, cut jobs, and raise debt burdens, according to the World Bank’s latest Bangladesh Development Update.

LPG users are not getting cylinders at the government-set rate anywhere in the capital despite a record 29 percent hike by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) amid the US-Israel war on Iran.

Bangladesh yesterday requested India to increase supplies of diesel and fertiliser, citing global supply chain disruptions caused by the war in the Middle East, according to a foreign ministry statement.

The Jatiya Sangsad yesterday ratified 14 ordinances issued under the interim government, including one that enabled a ban on the activities of the Awami League and another that granted indemnity to participants in the 2024 July uprising.

A Dhaka court yesterday denied bail for the third time to Sheikh Tasnim Afroz Emi, former vice-president of Shamsunnahar Hall union at Dhaka University and a central vice-presidential candidate in the 2025 Ducsu election, in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act over playing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s March 7 speech on a loudspeaker.

An Australian parliamentary delegation led by Speaker of the House of Representatives Milton Dick will visit Bangladesh this week to strengthen parliamentary-to-parliamentary engagement between the two countries.

National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyian yesterday alleged that the BNP is following a path similar to that once taken by the Awami League.

Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon yesterday said the government is planning to introduce hybrid classes, combining online and offline lessons, on a pilot basis at selected educational institutions in Dhaka.

A CNG-run autorickshaw driver was killed after a bus hit him in the capital’s Farmgate area yesterday.

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pranay Verma yesterday said they are exploring areas of cooperation between the two countries based on national priorities, noting that environment and climate change naturally appear very high on that list.

A chilling photograph of the mutilated body of a victim of enforced disappearance was produced before the International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday, leaving the courtroom in silence.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman yesterday told the parliament that the BNP government considers family, not the individual, as the fundamental unit of development.