The 41st BCS preliminary examination is going ahead on March 19 after the High Court rejected a writ petition filed by a BCS candidate seeking its deferral due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and the recent surge in infections and fatalities.

On the morning of March 17, the Mujib-Yahya talks resumed. Today was Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 51st birthday. Bangabandhu reiterated his demand for the withdrawal of martial law and the immediate transfer of power to elected representatives.

Tens of thousands of Bolivians answered an opposition call Monday for protests against the arrest and detention of former president Jeanine Anez on charges of leading a coup d’etat against her socialist predecessor Evo Morales.

Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg yesterday said European allies had increased defence spending in 2020 despite the economic pain inflicted by the coronavirus pandemic.

The United States yesterday accused Chinese state media of publishing “disinformation” about its diplomats in Hong Kong as it denied its staff invoked immunity to avoid isolating after positive coronavirus tests.

A mob yesterday attacked SM Munim Lincoln, Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) of Jibannagar in Chuadanga, as he tried to free a tractor that was held by the locals for killing a man.

The High Court yesterday observed that a specific law or rules need to be formulated soon regarding imposition of embargo on corruption suspects or accused’s leaving the country.

Two cases were filed with a speedy trial tribunal in Noakhali yesterday in connection with violence in Companiganj upazila on March 8 accusing a freedom fighter and Basurhat municipality mayor Quader Mirza.

Human Rights Watch said yesterday that “unidentified projectiles” launched by Yemen’s Huthi rebels caused a March 7 blaze that killed dozens of migrants at a holding facility in the capital.

India has conveyed to Bangladesh that any progress on the long-pending Teesta water-sharing issue will be possible only after the completion of the assembly elections in West Bengal.

China yesterday offered to provide 100,000 doses of Chinese coronavirus vaccine to Bangladesh for emergency use.

New York, the US city most bereaved by the coronavirus, paid a moving tribute Sunday to its 30,258 dead, one year after the start of the pandemic.

The Ministry of Information has been renamed as the “Ministry of Information and Broadcasting”.

Bangladesh and India hold the water-secretary level meeting in Delhi today ahead of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Bangladesh on March 26-27.

Muslims can receive Covid-19 vaccine shots during the fasting of Ramadan, said Islamic Foundation.

Myanmar security forces fired on pro-democracy demonstrators yesterday, killing 11 people, media and witnesses said, a day after dozens of protesters were shot dead and attackers torched several Chinese-financed factories in the city of Yangon.

Another case was filed yesterday in connection with the February 19 clash between two Awami League factions in Noakhali’s Companiganj upazila, which left a local journalist dead.

The High Court yesterday asked the Anti-Corruption Commission why ex-deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank SK Sur Chowdhury and its Executive Director Shah Alam have not been arrested for helping PK Halder embezzle and launder a huge amount of public money from four non-banking financial institutions.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said yesterday that its advisory panel was reviewing reports related to AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 vaccine but there was no evidence that any health incidents were caused by the shot.

The government increased prices of edible oil yesterday, less than a month after doing the same citing price hike in the international market.