Mahbubur Rahman Khan

Bangladesh has approved the human trial of a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine in the country, a move experts say will help develop skills needed for producing the vaccine locally.

For years, a fear of eviction chased labourer Md Anis as he had been living as an illegal occupant at a khas land once owned by zamindars of Manikganj.

A few yards south of the capital’s Bahadur Shah Park, near Sadarghat terminal, is a bend where you will find the age-old Banglabazar Government Girls High School and missionary-run Heed International School. And surrounding them is a long series of book stores and stationery shops, where students and their guardians would throng to on a usual day to buy books, pens and pencils.

A steel almirah typically costs about Tk 23,000, but the authorities of the 250-bed TB Hospital in the capital bought 100 such items at Tk 96,000 each, according to an Anti-Corruption Commission enquiry.

Concerned over the sharp rise in Covid cases, the civil surgeons in six bordering districts have called for complete lockdown in the infection-prone areas to prevent further spread of the virus.

The price of computers and IT accessories has shot up 20 per cent in the last 14 months as pandemic-induced restrictions prompted educational institutions and businesses to heighten focus on home-based schooling and work.

Two assistant professors of Pabna University of Science and Technology have allegedly plagiarised from a book in their joint paper published in an academic journal last month.

At least two dozen river dredging and embankment protection projects aimed at combating floods and erosion across the country are set to miss the deadline of this June due to fund crunch, red tape, and mistakes in assessments.

The government has extended the closure of educational institutions till June 12, saying the reopening is subject to the drop in Covid infection rate below 5 percent and inoculation of university students.

The Anti-Corruption Commission has formed a three-member committee for an enquiry into the illegal wealth of Hefajat-e-Islam leaders.

The pending requests with the Bangladesh Medical Research Council (BMRC) on running trial of vaccines might see some positive outcome as the ethical committee is expected to hold a meeting in a day or two over the issue.

At a time when the country has begun to see a decline in Covid-19 infections and deaths, the government decision to reopen shops and malls can jeopardise all its efforts to fight the virus and worsen the situation, experts warned.

Small and medium poultry farmers, who have been struggling to recover from last year’s Covid-induced economic shock, are facing fresh troubles due to the ongoing lockdown.

The rising prices of daily essentials, driven by travel restrictions, are making it difficult for the middle and low income people to make ends meet.

Last year’s prolonged shutdown had left Ainal Haque with no option but to give up driving inter-city buses and take up driving a three-wheeler to survive the economic shock.

The soaring prices of daily essentials, including chicken, edible oil, onion and vegetables, have added to the woes of the people living on a fixed income.

Investigators have so far been able to trace the whereabouts of Tk 1,150 crore out of about Tk 2,500 crore misappropriated allegedly by PK Halder and his accomplices from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited (ILFSL).

First of all, the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is a statutory body tasked with combating, preventing and controlling corruption and also promoting the best practices in professional conduct.

The five-year tenure of the Anti-Corruption Commission is about to end and a new one is to take charge this month but the fate of the probes into 56 cases filed in connection with the BASIC Bank loan scam remains uncertain.

Proshanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder had played tricks on four non-bank financial institutions in such a way that no one could suspect anything before around Tk 10,000 crore were siphoned from those.