Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman -- a leader who brought to fruition a centuries-long quest for freedom and an ideology now inextricable from Bangalee identity -- was assassinated along with most of his family on this day 46 years ago.

Taliban forces have finally taken Kabul and Afghanistan has once again become a stage for the conflict between global politics and extremism. The lives of crores of people are at stake, as is a culture thousands of years old. Similar changes of power were seen in 1994, when Taliban took power back then as well. The Daily Star Editor and Publisher Mahfuz Anam has been a witness to both events.

Manasa Puja is celebrated on the last day of the month of Srabon in the Bengali calendar. The Pala community of Shimuleshwar village of Jhalakathi are busy preparing ghats (water jars or clay pots) of the goddess Manasa in preparation for the occasion.

In the course of merely a month, 4 incidents of ferries hitting the Padma Bridge have occurred -- with multiple cases of injuries and wrecking of vehicles, and visible damage to the pile cap of a pillar of this much-awaited mega project.

The story of Gouranga Saha Roy is one of cruel irony -- of being among the diaspora Bangalees who raised funds for the Liberation War of 1971 only to find his name listed with embezzlers after.

Vehicles are blocked on the Barishal-Kuakata highway, and passengers are forced to pay hefty sums to mahouts riding elephants. People are intimidated with the gentle giants into paying more.

Roads in Dhaka and other districts saw severe traffic congestion today as the withdrawal of lockdown took effect.

Toxic, reeking chemical waste floods fields, roads and even houses every monsoon in Tongi and other industrial areas. A BSCIC survey reveals that at least 48 factories all over the country do not have effluent treatment plant (ETP) installed -- disregarding environmental laws and polluting rivers and residential areas.

“Work for Money”, a government programme intended to generate income and ensure food security for the rural poor, has turned into a mess of corruption and irregularities in Natore.

With the end of the lockdown, people are diving into usual activity in all divisional towns and cities including the capital. Launches, buses and trains have started transporting passengers. But in some places the gathering was thin due to rain. Markets and roadside shops were seen opening for business.

Tens of thousands of Bangladeshi migrant workers across the globe are waiting for months after applying for renewal of their passports. The entire process of issuing and renewing passports has been halted due to the delay in updating the Machine Readable Passport (MRP) server.

People stood in line for hours and still could not get vaccinated because there was a severe shortage of vaccines in Narayanganj General Hospital.

When most of the restrictions are lifted tomorrow, buses, trains, launches and other modes of transportations will start operating. Preparations were underway for activities to resume in full swing. In the capital, the roads were congested with traffic jams forming in several areas.

The mass vaccination trial run has raised a wave of complaints about disorder, corruption and public suffering.

When the government has ensured that Covid-19 vaccines are free, some people are complaining that they were being charged to get vaccines at a centre in Radda, Mirpur.

Traffic on the roads was usual today across the country. In some areas, law enforcement forces were busy controlling movement of people and vehicles, while in other places, people were seen opening shops breaking the lockdown.

The ground floor and the playing field of Kajlarpar Government Primary School has practically become a pond as it remains under knee-deep water almost throughout the year.

Despite extension of lockdown due to severity of the Coronavirus situation, the monitoring of restrictions on movement seemed lax.

In Araihazar, Narayanganj, mere 35 kilometers away from Dhaka, militancy has been rearing it's ugly head for years. Now, at least 25 to 30 youths are missing and the law enforcement agencies suspect that they have left home to join militant groups.

Mass vaccination program has started in the unions, municipalities and city corporations. But most people crowded at the vaccination centres without wearing masks.