Rice imports from India have resumed through the Benapole land port after a four-month hiatus. Before that, the last rice import through Benapole was on Apr 15 this year. He said the nine trucks had been waiting at India’s Petrapole port since Tuesday. Aminul Haque, vice president of Benapole Importers-Exporters Association, said the food ministry invited private-sector applications to import rice to stabilise the market. With approval granted, imports have resumed through Benapole after a four-month halt.

India says US trade negotiations are still going on as fresh tariffs loomUS President Donald Trump and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi shake hands as they attend a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb 13, 2025. Indian goods face additional US tariffs of up to 50 percent, among the highest imposed by Washington, due to its increased purchases of Russian oil. India-US trade talks collapsed earlier this year due to India not agreeing to open its vast agricultural and dairy sectors. He also said Washington's concern over India's Russian oil purchases was not being applied to other major buyers such as China and European Union. The minister also said India's purchases of Russian oil had not been raised in earlier trade talks with the US before the public announcement of tariffs.

‘I might be sent back to Dhaka’: Amartya Sen wary of growing intolerance towards Bengali speakers in IndiaNobel laureate Amartya Sen has raised concerns over what he described as growing linguistic intolerance in India, particularly towards Bengali-speaking people. “I saw in the newspaper that someone was sent to Bangladesh because he was speaking in Bengali. And I do not have much objection to that.”Responding to questions from reporters later, he stressed the need to celebrate India’s cultural diversity and warned against disrespect or discrimination towards Bengali speakers. “I am not claiming that the Bengali culture and civilisation are the best, but we must highlight the history of the Bengali language, culture and civilisation. There must be respect for Bengali culture.

CEC Nasir says election roadmap ‘almost ready’, could be unveiled next weekChief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin has said the roadmap for the parliamentary election is nearly complete and could be announced next week. Speaking to reporters in Rajshahi on Saturday, Nasir noted that the chief advisor had asked the Election Commission (EC) to hold the election in the first half of February next year. Preparations have since been accelerated, and the roadmap was now “more or less finalised”, according to him. The CEC, however, warned that attempts to capture polling centres by force would not be tolerated. On the issue of proportional representation, the CEC said it was being debated at the political level.

Police have arrested one of three suspects accused of beating a man to death on suspicion of theft in Noakhali's Hatiya Upazila. Mostafizur Rahman, 28, who was injured in the incident, filed the case on Saturday, Hatiya Police Station chief AKM Azmal Huda said. The attack took place on Thursday night in Char Hare Asad Nagar of Jahajmara Union. Police said the arrested suspect, Tarek Aziz, 35, is an electrician from Char hare village. According to the case, Lokman and Mostafizur had gone to scrap dealer Babul’s shop in Asad Nagar on Thursday evening to sell 160kg of leftover material after completing electricity supply line work.

The body of veteran journalist and columnist Bibhuranjan Sarkar was recovered from the Meghna River near Char Balaki in Munshiganj’s Gazaria Upazila of Dhaka on Friday afternoon, a day after he was reported missing. Police confirmed that the body, which was found floating in the river, was retrieved by officers from the Kalagachhia River Police Outpost around 3:45 pm and later sent to the Munshiganj General Hospital morgue for autopsy. Sarkar, 71, was serving as Senior Editor at the Bangla daily Ajker Patrika. He had left his Siddheshwari residence on Thursday morning to go to his office in Banasree but never arrived. He was executive editor of Mridubhashon and contributed columns under the pseudonym “Tarik Ibrahim” during the anti-Ershad movement in the 1980s.

A passenger train has derailed near the Airport Railway Station in Dhaka. The incident occurred at 8:17am on Saturday when the Dhaka-bound Jamuna Express came off the tracks in front of the APBn office, according to Kamalapur Railway Police Station chief Joynal Abedin. Train movement on the affected line has been suspended, though services continue on an alternate track. The Jamuna Express had departed Jamalpur's Tarakandi early in the morning and was scheduled to reach Kamalapur station around 8am. No casualties have yet been reported.

A schoolgirl injured in last month’s jet crash at Milestone School and College in Dhaka's Uttara has died after a month of treatment, raising the death toll to 36. Tasnia, an eighth-grade student, succumbed to her injuries at the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery at 7:55am on Saturday. We are still at the burn institute,” he said. In the wake of the incident, 56 people were admitted to the burn institute. Two more victims died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital and United Hospital.

Veteran journalist, freedom fighter, and special correspondent of the Daily Sangbad, Rukunuddoulah, passed away yesterday at the age of 74. He breathed his last at 7:30pm at Jessore 250-bed General Hospital. SM Tauhidur Rahman, general secretary of Jessore Press Club, said Rukunuddoulah will be given a guard of honour today at 1:00pm at Jessore Central Eidgah ground. Rukunuddoulah spent more than five decades in journalism. His regular column Gram-Gramontore in the Daily Sangbad earned him wide recognition.

CHILDREN OVERWHELMING HOSPITALSAt the country’s largest paediatric facility, Shishu Hospital, 4,024 children were treated for cold and cough in June. In the first 20 days of August, 2,229 children were treated, 1,921 of whom (86.18 percent) had cold or fever symptoms. “They’re not showing typical fever symptoms,” he added. But if you do RT-PCR after seven days, you can detect dengue, chikungunya or even Zika,” he explained. Public health expert Mushtuq Husain said the current wave of fever may be caused by influenza, dengue or chikungunya.

Police morale has returned after being shaken during widespread violence in the July Uprising, according to Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md Sazzat Ali. He said police officers were killed, stations and outposts destroyed, weapons looted, and even a revolt broke out in Rajarbagh. But the most damaging impact, he added, was psychological -- the officers lost morale. With collective effort over the past year, the force has managed to rebuild that morale, the DMP chief said. One year on, the DMP commissioner says the morale has now been restored.

Bibhuranjan Sarker (1954-2025)Police yesterday recovered the body of veteran journalist Bibhuranjan Sarker from the Meghna river in Munshiganj. The online news publisher said that in the footnote, he wrote, "You may publish this as my last piece of writing in life." Bdnews24 published the article, titled "Khola Chithi" (Open Letter), yesterday afternoon. After recovery, Bibhuranjan's brother Chiroranjan Sarker and son Wreet Sarker identified the body. Sometime after the filing of the GD, Chiroranjan wrote on Facebook that Bibhuranjan left his Siddheshwari home at 10:00am on Thursday to go to his office but left his mobile phone behind.

"Operations have been shut since Monday," said Masum Zaman, a senior executive of operator Karim Group. "Our higher management is in talks with them, but we don't know when services will resume. "He did not confirm whether RAJUK planned immediate action.Only six weeks ago, RAJUK itself halted the service for five days after Karim Group fell three months behind on its lease instalments. "I normally get home in Rampura within 10 minutes by water taxi," said Sumona Bonik, a government employee. �"bdnews24.com

The “National Minority Conference” at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka’s Khamarbari did not take place, with organisers alleging they faced “police obstruction”. The event was scheduled to begin at 10am on Friday under the banner of the Minority Rights Movement. However, police said that any such programme within the metropolitan area requires formal approval from the police commissioner. Organisers had submitted an application to the Dhaka Metropolitan Police commissioner on Thursday, but were not granted permission. Then why so much fear of a minority community conference?”Organiser and student representative Subrata Ballabh told bdnews24.com, “We had everything ready.

Bangladesh Bank has announced plans to close nine non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) as part of efforts to safeguard "depositors’ interests". Central bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur confirmed the move, saying that the decision was taken to ensure people could recover their savings safely. The nine institutions slated for closure are FAS Finance, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company, Premier Leasing, Fareast Finance, GSP Finance, Prime Finance, Aviva Finance, People’s Leasing, and International Leasing. In January, Bangladesh Bank identified 20 NBFIs as financially weak. “The responses from nine were not satisfactory, so this decision has been taken,” the official said.