Mala Santal is an indigenous tea worker at Baikunthapur Tea Garden in Habiganj’s Madhabpur.

“Media reports on recruiting syndicates for Malaysia are nothing but trash,” remarked Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Imran Ahmad, while talking to The Daily Star yesterday.

The Election Commission (EC) is “depriving voters from their rights” by not disclosing wealth information of candidates, claimed Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar.

The lockdowns were grim for workers of the transport, hotel-restaurant and retail sectors, as they saw their jobs, incomes and savings disappear.

Police yesterday foiled a protest rally against the attack, allegedly by Chhatra League activists, before a Qawwali performance at Dhaka University’s TSC on Wednesday.

Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations, Ambassador Rabab Fatima, has been unanimously elected as president of the UN Women Executive Board for the year 2022.

Awami League lawmaker Moslem Uddin Ahmed yesterday said he was not involved in “nomination trade” centring union parishad election.

Ten BNP activists sustained minor injuries as a portion of a rally stage in CDA Residential Area Field in Chattogram broke down all of a sudden while they were delivering speeches yesterday.

A mobile court of Department of Environment (DoE) yesterday demolished six illegal brick kilns in Savar for polluting the environment. The brick kiln owners were also fined a total of Tk 62 lakh.

Four people were killed and 11 injured in road accidents in two districts during the last two days, according to reports from our correspondents.

The Covid-19 infection rate in Chattogram hit almost 13 percent yesterday, the first time after four months.

Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) claimed to have arrested six Nigerians and a South African along with two Bangladeshis on charges of fraudulence.

Inmates are using cellphones, assisted by guards at Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur, finds Anti-Corruption Commission.

Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday said human trafficking cannot be prevented by only enforcing laws.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam yesterday said Bangladeshi migrant workers are facing inflation in Lebanon which needs to be addressed.

To reach the SDG target by 2030, private caregivers should be incorporated in the healthcare system, said speakers at a programme yesterday.

All infrastructural projects in Bangladesh should be climate-smart as the country aims to achieve the goals committed to the UN in reducing carbon emission, said officials and development experts yesterday.

Jatiya Party chairman GM Quader yesterday said the government is not well prepared to deal with the highly-contagious omicron variant of Covid-19.

The government should provide constitutional recognition to the indigenous people and take special measures for their economic, social and cultural development, urged the Parliamentary Caucus on Indigenous Peoples and Minority Affairs at a discussion yesterday.

Bangladesh Railway yesterday signed a contract with a local private company to construct a shopping mall and a hotel/guest house in Chattogram, with the aim to increase its income.