Mahbubur Rahman Khan

A shipbuilder is making wooden classroom benches! No matter how weird it may appear, the former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University in Gopalganj has actually made it possible.

Almost every graduate has some sweet memories of being a freshman at university. But if anyone asks the students of botany at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, they will probably share something that reflects how irresponsible the university authority was.

Have you ever heard of a chairman of a university department officially recommending himself for his enrolment in a Master’s course at that very department and eventually having the degree?

MM Vegetable Oil Products Ltd, a subsidiary of Mostafa Group of Industries, has allegedly misappropriated around Tk 174 crore from Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd using fake documents.

Even as Jaha Alam languished in jail for a crime he did not commit, eight of the 11 Anti-Corruption Commission officials whose faulty investigations led to his wrongful imprisonment were promoted and given more serious responsibilities.

Many small scale cattle traders, who came to Dhaka with sacrificial animals and expectation of making a fortune ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, incurred big losses this year.

As Eid-ul-Azha draws nearer, city dwellers have begun rushing to cattle markets to buy sacrificial animals of their choice.

Cashing in on the growing demand for spices ahead of Eid-ul-Azha, the second largest religious festival of the country, traders have increased prices of spices to earn some extra buck.

With the Eid-ul-Azha only two days away, sale of sacrificial animals at the capital’s cattle markets is yet to pick up pace. Visiting three markets yesterday, this correspondent found low presence of buyers. Sellers were seen spending time gossiping and wiping dirt off their cattle.

Heavy rains in Dhaka since Wednesday have increased the chances of Aedes mosquitoes breeding in cattle markets.

Small farmers of flood-hit districts, who raised cattle for the Eid-ul-Azha markets, have started selling off their animals at low prices as they are struggling to feed them because of food shortage in the affected districts.

There is no visible decline in corruption by government officials and employees despite significant increases in their salaries and other benefits over the years, the Transparency International Bangladesh has found in a study.

Although traffic congestion has become way too common in the capital, the Eid shopping spree and ongoing construction work of metro rail in the middle of roads has exacerbated its severity.

Ramadan has been a little different this time. Unlike the previous years, prices of most of the essential commodities have remained stable so far, except for fish, red meat and fruits.

The two landfills in the capital have almost reached their limit with no immediate remedy in sight. Mountains of garbage are being formed in the landfills at Matuail and Aminbazar and there are fears that the waste will spill over into adjacent areas.

The family planning directorate has been suffering from manpower crisis as large number of post have remained vacant for the last couple years thanks to the procrastination of different government bodies related to the recruitments.

Although tuberculosis (TB) infections have been a concern for Bangladesh for quite a long time, screening facilities are still not available in every upazila.

Biman high-ups, including some of its board members, have been misappropriating huge money through irregularities in tender process. On the other hand, some officials of CAAB, the aviation regulator, accept bribes from contractors, who are “looting money” by building poor-quality towers and boarding bridges, the Anti-Corruption Commission has found.

As the call for relocating the warehouses of chemicals and inflammable goods from Old Dhaka gets louder, an industries ministry probe committee claimed that there was no chemical factory or warehouse at the scene of Wednesday's devastating fire in Chawkbazar.

The grief for the loss of at least 67 lives in the chemical-fuelled Chawkbazar blaze is giving way to the fury against chemical factories and warehouses in Old Dhaka with the demand for their removal from the area getting louder.