State Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Dr Md Enamur Rahman yesterday said the government will purchase equipment worth Tk 17 crore to boost the country’s capacity to fight disasters.

Police have detained 50 people in the capital over various drug offences.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-11) claimed to have arrested four members of banned militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Narayanganj early yesterday.

The deathtrap of road accidents created many a new tragedy over the last two days, as 12 people were killed and at least 21 were injured in separate incidents across the country, report our correspondents and news agencies.

Around19,200 students from 128 schools in Khulna city participated in a programme at Khulna Zila Stadium yesterday, to celebrate Bangabandhu’s March 7 historic speech.

Police yesterday arrested three individuals on charges of extortion in the name of “Mujib Borsho celebration” in Chattogram city’s Kotwali area.

Sylhet International Trade Fair (SITF) began on the city’s Sheikh Russel Mini Stadium in Shahi Eidgah area yesterday.

President Abdul Hamid returned home yesterday afternoon, wrapping up his 11-day visit to Uruguay and England.

Women’s Mathematics Olympiad Committee and AF Mujibur Rahman Foundation is set to organise the “Women’s Mathematics Olympiad 2020” to mark the International Women’s Day today. This will be the fourth iteration of the event.

A speech-impaired seven-year-old was raped in the city’s Kamrangirchar area last night.

Three weeks have passed since the murders of Munni Rahman and her two children in Dhaka’s Dakshin Khan. The prime suspect, Munni’s husband Raquib Uddin Bhuiyan, still remains traceless.

Two more bodies have been recovered following capsize of two boats carrying a bridal party in Rajshahi’s Sreerampur last evening.

Bodies of two minor sisters are found from their residence in Dakshin Goran area of Dhaka.

Participants of a rally yesterday urged everyone to join the movement to stop repression and violence against women.

Industries Minister Nurul Mazid Mahmud Humayun yesterday said the government will form a salt board in Cox’s Bazar and provide sufficient subsidy, considering salt cultivation an agricultural pursuit.

Dr Monowar Hossain, former chairman of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS), passed away at United Hospital in Dhaka on March 4. He was 81.

Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud yesterday said two proposed laws -- “Broadcast Act” and the “Mass Media Employees’ Act” -- will give legal protection to broadcast journalists and workers.

Family members, different cultural, political and social organisations and people from all walks of life observed the seventh death anniversary of Tanwir Mohammad Taqi, son of Rafiur Rabbi, a renowned cultural activist in Narayanganj.

Two people were killed and two were injured after a lightning bolt struck them at Anforer Danga area of Sylhet’s Gowainghat upazila early yesterday.

Senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed yesterday said their party chairperson Khaleda Zia will never be freed from jail without the “will” of the government, as the judiciary is now not ‘independent’.