Partha Pratim Bhattacharjee

Who is calling all the shots in government affairs at the moment, the ministers or the bureaucrats? The answer is pretty obvious.

The government is expected to increase the duty and taxes on 300 non-essential and luxury items such as SUVs, mobile phones and home appliances as it looks to rein in imports and ease the pressure on foreign currency reserves.

On Sunday noon, Awami League Presidium Member Kazi Zafarullah did something unusual -- he ditched his SUV, hid his face behind a mask and got on a bus in front of Purabi cinema hall in the city’s Pallabi.

Friday’s unprecedented hike in fuel prices, hot on the heels of increased electricity, fertiliser and gas prices, served as yet another massive blow to the people who are already struggling to barely survive amid surging living costs.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday issued a host of directives that include  stopping non-essential procurement and exercising caution in taking up new development projects.

The repayment of foreign loans in the power sector may worsen the country’s debt-servicing burden as the government will have to pay the lenders Tk 197,677.27 crore in the 30 years from 2024-25 fiscal.

The government’s plan for one to two hours of daily power cuts is failing, especially in the north, and the signs are that the electricity crisis may worsen across the country in the coming days.

The government has assured people suffering from severe power cuts that the situation will improve after September when three new coal-based power plants start operation, but experts expressed doubts about it.

A day after Padma Bridge was opened, two young men died in a motorcycle accident on the bridge on Sunday.

With the next parliamentary election a year and a half away, major political parties, except for the ruling Awami League, are toughening their stance against the use of Electronic Voting Machines in the polls.

A day after Padma Bridge was opened, two young men died in a motorcycle accident on the bridge on Sunday (June 26, 2022).

Gopalganj is considered an Awami League bastion as it is the ancestral home of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The government will make all-out efforts to keep prices of essential commodities stable through measures like lifting all tariffs and taxes on their imports and taking stern action against market manipulation.

Never before has a celebration of such mammoth proportions been planned in the country. 

The government has ramped up its measures to contain the pressure on foreign currency reserves and inflation, drafting an action plan to discourage non-essential imports and bring relief to the poor and the vulnerable from the spiralling cost of living.

The government will make all-out efforts to bring opposition BNP to the next parliamentary election, slated for late next year.

Awami League lawmaker Haji Mohammad Salim, who was convicted with a 10-year sentence in a corruption case, has left the country for Bangkok.

The youths who beat up and hacked 19-year-old Nahid Mia during the New Market clashes on Tuesday have primarily been identified and are now under police surveillance, said multiple sources, including law enforcers.

No uprising is imaginable without slogans -- be it in our country or elsewhere in the world.  

The new Election Commission, led by Kazi Habibul Awal, is the first in the country’s history to have been formed through the enactment of a specific law, as prescribed in the constitution 50 years ago.