Kalurghat Bridge crash: Train ‘ignored’ signal as death toll rises to 2
The death toll has risen to two after a Dhaka-bound train ploughed through multiple vehicles on Chattogram’s Kalurghat Bridge. In the wake of Thursday night’s fatal collision, a station master has said the Parjatak Express train from Cox’s Bazar had entered the bridge without heeding a “dead stop” signal. After crossing the Gomdondi Station in Boalkhali, the train reached the Kalurghat Bridge, which leads to the city’s Jane Ali Hat Station. Jane Ali Hat Station Master Nezam Uddin said Kalurghat is a “dead stop bridge”, where every train must come to a complete halt before crossing. “On Thursday night, the Parjatak Express entered the bridge at high speed without stopping at the dead stop signal after passing Gomdondi Station.
Source:bd News24
June 06, 2025 09:36 UTC
Padma Bridge collects record toll of Tk 534m in 24 hours
As many as 52,487 vehicles have crossed the Padma Bridge in the last 24 hours, generating a record toll collection of Tk 543.28 million, the highest ever in a single day. Altaf Hossain Sheikh, joint secretary and director of the Bangladesh Bridge Authority, said: "The Padma Bridge plays a crucial role in ensuring a smooth journey home for Eid travellers. An additional 16,502 vehicles entered via the Zajira end, adding Tk 226.84 million to the total toll collection, he added. The previous daily toll collection record was Tk 489.94 million on Apr 9, 2024. The Padma Bridge will mark its third anniversary on Jun 25.
Source:bd News24
June 06, 2025 07:16 UTC
National Eidgah ready to host 35,000 worshippers for Eid prayers
The National Eidgah in Dhaka is all set to host the main Eid-ul-Azha congregation, with the preparation to accommodate around 35,000 worshippers. Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Administrator Shahjahan Mia said the main congregation will be held at 7:30am on Saturday at the National Eidgah grounds on the Supreme Court premises. Speaking to reporters after inspecting the preparations at the National Eidgah on Thursday, Shahjahan Mia said: “All arrangements for the Eid prayers have been completed. A special gate through the Supreme Court compound will be used for VVIPs. “We have made preparations for nearly 35,000 people to perform Eid prayers at the Eidgah.
Source:bd News24
June 06, 2025 07:03 UTC
Suffocating gridlock brings endless suffering for Eid travellers
ROAD TRAFFIC CONGESTIONTraffic was light early in the Eid travel period but surged after Wednesday afternoon as more people began their journeys. He said he took a longer route to avoid traffic jams on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway. Abdullah Al Mamun, who planned to take his family to Dinajpur, turned back home after spending hours stuck in traffic from Uttara to Gazipur. Say the buses are stuck in traffic.”United Paribahan drivers confirmed many buses were stranded while returning from Mymensingh. Besides passengers with standing tickets, many without tickets boarded trains from Kamalapur, and at Airport, Tongi and Joydebpur stations.
Source:bd News24
June 06, 2025 04:43 UTC
Eid travel: Suffocating gridlock bring endless suffering on every road
ROAD TRAFFIC CONGESTIONTraffic was light early in the Eid travel period but surged after Wednesday afternoon as more people began their journeys. He said he took a longer route to avoid traffic jams on the Dhaka-Tangail Highway. Abdullah Al Mamun, who planned to take his family to Dinajpur, turned back home after spending hours stuck in traffic from Uttara to Gazipur. Say the buses are stuck in traffic.”United Paribahan drivers confirmed many buses were stranded while returning from Mymensingh. Besides passengers with standing tickets, many without tickets boarded trains from Kamalapur, and at Airport, Tongi and Joydebpur stations.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 22:27 UTC
Immediate action will be taken against complaints of excess fares, Advisor Fouzul says
Immediate action is being taken whenever complaints are received about harassment faced by people travelling home to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha, Road Transport and Bridges Advisor Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan has said. He visited the Sayedabad Bus Terminal and several bus counters in Dhaka between 11am and 11:45am on Thursday, reports bdnews24.com. Highlighting that Eid travel is going well despite some limitations, Fouzul said: “Necessary steps have been taken to ensure a smooth journey for everyone. In view of the evidence, a counter of the bus service at Sayedabad terminal has been fined Tk 5,000. At the end of the terminal inspection, Fouzul told the journalists present: “We haven’t received any major complaints.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 21:54 UTC
A culture of cruelty: Enforced disappearances tied to systematic torture
The report offers a grim panorama of enforced disappearances intertwined with deliberate acts of torture aimed at silencing dissent and instilling fear. TORTURE AS ROUTINE PROCEDUREAccording to the report, survivors recounted forms of torture that were not only brutal but clearly premeditated and systematic. In several accounts, survivors described the torture being repeated over days, leaving permanent damage to their physical and mental health. Despite differences in the device types, survivors described both as “machines of punishment” intended to break both body and mind. “Victims of torture were often held in enforced disappearance during these horrific practices,” the report read.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 20:34 UTC
Bangladesh records first COVID death in a year and a half
Bangladesh records first COVID death in a year and a halfThe Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has reported the first death due to COVID-19 in nearly a year and a half, alongside three new cases of infection. On Thursday, the health directorate said in a statement that the deceased was undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the capital. Since the onset of the pandemic in 2020, Bangladesh has tested 15,726,224 samples, confirming a total of 2,051,739 COVID-19 cases. In 2023, as many as 37 people died due to COVID-19 after 1,368 had died in 2022. The virus caused 7,559 fatalities in 2020 before another 20,513 people died in 2021, registering the deadliest year of the pandemic in Bangladesh.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 16:17 UTC
5 underperforming banks to merge into Islamic bank
Bangladesh Bank will merge five underperforming Islamic banks into a single entity, which will be structured in line with Shariah-compliant banking principles. The decision came at a meeting on Wednesday, where Bangladesh Bank Governor Ahsan H Mansur met with the managing directors and chairpersons of the five banks. According to First Security Islami Bank Chairman Abdul Mannan, the banks involved are Social Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, First Security Islami Bank, Union Bank, and EXIM Bank. EXIM Bank’s board was under the control of Nazrul Islam Mazumder, also a close associate of Hasina. It has also been decided that the newly formed bank must reduce its total defaulted loans to below 10 percent.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 12:29 UTC
Stop-start traffic on Gazipur highways disrupts Eid rush
Traffic on the Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways in Gazipur is markedly busier than usual as holidaymakers stream out of the capital ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. The pressure of outbound traffic has resulted in hold-ups along several points of the highways. Delays were also caused by frequent stops at bus stations, where parking issues and passengers getting on and off slowed traffic further. The traffic is very slow and we’re suffering from long waits.”Officials expect traffic to worsen later in the day, as the remaining 50 percent of garment factories in Gazipur are scheduled to close for Eid. Passengers have also reported being charged excessively high fares by transport operators, a common grievance during the Eid rush.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 10:02 UTC
Drought bakes China’s wheat belt, slashing harvests for some
Drought bakes China’s wheat belt, slashing harvests for someAbout an hour by road northwest of the famed Terracotta Warriors, combine harvesters send out clouds of dust as they work their way through the parched wheat fields of Maqiao village in China’s northwestern Shaanxi province. “I’ve been growing wheat for over 20 years, and I’ve never seen a drought this bad,” said Zhou, 50, during a late May visit. Parts of China’s wheat belt in Shaanxi and Henan provinces have been hit hard by hot, dry weather, with the sun baking the soil into cracked slabs and scorching the wheat before it could ripen. In some parts of the province, the drought was so bad farmers brought the harvest forward by a week. As of May 30, about 60% of the wheat crop in Henan and more than 20% in Shaanxi had been harvested, according to state news agency Xinhua.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 05:06 UTC
Deposit growth slips to 8.21pc in April
Deposit growth in the banking sector slowed to 8.21 percent in April, down from 8.51 percent in March, despite a slight rise earlier. The central bank's figures show deposit growth was 7.89 percent in February and 8.28 percent in January. Senior officials at Bangladesh Bank and economists, however, say several factors are behind the slow deposit growth. “When businesses and entrepreneurs borrow less from banks, deposit growth naturally slows,” he told bdnews24.com. Another senior official at the central bank said rising unemployment is also affecting deposit growth.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 04:57 UTC
Trump reinstates US travel ban, bars citizens of 12 countries
Zinat Khan Zadran, daughter of Afghan refugee Wazir Khan Zadran, serves her father a hot tea as they have breakfast, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, US, April 29, 2025. REUTERSZinat Khan Zadran, daughter of Afghan refugee Wazir Khan Zadran, serves her father a hot tea as they have breakfast, in Bowling Green, Kentucky, US, April 29, 2025. The countries affected by the latest travel ban are Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. "Somalia values its longstanding relationship with the United States and stands ready to engage in dialogue to address the concerns raised," Dahir Hassan Abdi, the Somali ambassador to the United States, said in a statement. The travel ban threatens to upend a 31-year-old Myanmar teacher's plan to join a US State Department exchange program, which was slated to start in September.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 03:16 UTC
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman no longer Bangladesh’s ‘Father of the Nation’ as interim government drops historic title
Dhaka: Bangladesh’s interim administration has removed the designation ‘Father of the Nation’ for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in a latest amendment to the country’s freedom fighters’ legislation, according to multiple media sources. The update “alters” the recognition of freedom fighters and notably “modifies the term ‘Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’”. The bdnews24.com portal stated that “The words ‘Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’ and portions of the law that mentioned the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman have been deleted.”Further, The Daily Star reported that the ordinance introduces subtle adjustments to the description of the 1971 Liberation War. “The new definition of Liberation War drops the name of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. In addition, women who suffered wartime atrocities—referred to as Birangona—will be officially acknowledged as freedom fighters under the new criteria.
Source:bd News24
June 05, 2025 02:28 UTC
At least 11 die in crowd chaos outside Indian cricket stadium
At least 11 die in crowd chaos outside Indian cricket stadiumAt least 11 people died on Wednesday in a crowd surge outside a cricket stadium in the Indian city of Bengaluru where fans were celebrating Royal Challengers Bengaluru's first Indian Premier League title win, authorities said. As the celebration proceeded, some people outside without passes tried to push through gates and there was further trouble between the perimeter and main arena, police said. UNCONTROLLABLE CROWDPolice started caning people at one gate, leading to more chaos, said Mithun Singh, a software engineer among the crowd. Bengaluru metro stopped services near the stadium, where the ceremony continued despite the turmoil outside. Bengaluru were celebrating beating Punjab Kings in the T20 tournament's final match in the 18th edition of the IPL, the world's richest cricket league.
Source:bd News24
June 04, 2025 19:59 UTC