Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) Chairman Engineer Md. Riazul Islam has assured that the agency’s server will be fully operational by February 1. He gave this assurance during a meeting with leaders of the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) in Dhaka, where discussions focused on urban development, housing sector progress, and improving citizen services.

During the meeting, REHAB leaders, including Senior Vice President Liaquat Ali Bhuiyan and Vice President Engineer Abdul Latif, urged faster approval of designs under the new Detailed Area Plan (DAP). The RAJUK chairman pledged to simplify processes for land mutation and easement deeds, reduce customer harassment, and make digital services more efficient and transparent. He explained that software updates are underway following the issuance of new regulations and the revised DAP notification.

According to the chairman, once the software update is completed, design approvals will resume before February 1, ensuring smoother service delivery and improved transparency in RAJUK’s operations.

A magnitude 6 earthquake struck Pakistan’s northwestern Kashmir region on Monday, killing one person and causing several houses to collapse, according to the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC). The quake’s epicenter was about 35 kilometers below the surface. The tremor triggered landslides that sent heavy rocks tumbling onto roads, damaging infrastructure and blocking access routes.

Regional Information Minister Ghulam Abbas said that in Gilgit-Baltistan province, multiple mud houses were destroyed or damaged. Falling rocks from surrounding mountains struck several roads, closing entry points and damaging a major highway. Government agencies quickly deployed machinery to clear debris and restore normal traffic flow.

Authorities are assessing the extent of the damage, and local alerts remain in effect in the affected areas as cleanup and recovery operations continue.

Bangladesh’s two leading garment associations, BGMEA and BKMEA, have demanded the government cancel its initiative to withdraw the bonded warehouse facility for importing 10–30 count cotton yarn. The Ministry of Commerce recently recommended ending this benefit to reduce yarn imports from India, citing misuse of the facility. At a joint press conference in Dhaka’s Sonargaon Hotel, industry leaders warned that removing the facility would raise raw material costs, reduce export competitiveness, and threaten the apparel sector’s stability.

BGMEA acting president Selim Rahman said the decision was taken unilaterally despite ongoing discussions with the Tariff Commission. He argued that imposing duties amid global market slowdown, geopolitical tensions, and domestic energy shortages would further strain the sector. The associations noted that apparel exports fell 2.63 percent in July–December of fiscal year 2025–26 compared to the previous year, with a 14.23 percent drop in December alone.

The Commerce Ministry, however, justified its proposal by citing protection of local textile mills, which are operating at 60 percent capacity and facing losses. It warned that continued bonded imports could make the knitwear sector import-dependent, increasing lead times and reducing foreign exchange reserves.

Brigadier General (Retd.) Dr. M Sakhawat Hossain, adviser in charge of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, announced that a court has ordered the sale of Nasa Group’s assets to settle the lawful outstanding wages and service benefits of its workers. He made the statement on Sunday at the ministry’s conference room in the Bangladesh Secretariat during the 15th meeting of the advisory council reviewing labor and business conditions at Beximco Industrial Park.

According to the adviser, the court-appointed administrator has already sold Nasa Group shares and paid Tk 76 crore to the workers. The group has also made down payments to eight banks under Bangladesh Bank’s directives. The remaining payments to 15 banks and the rest of the workers’ dues will be cleared through the sale of additional Nasa Group properties via open competition, as directed by the court.

Senior officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bangladesh Bank, industrial police, and other relevant ministries and institutions, along with Nasa Group representatives and commercial bank officials, attended the meeting.

The government of Bangladesh plans to fully implement the proposed new pay scale for public servants from July 1, 2026, marking the beginning of the 2026–27 fiscal year. According to the Ministry of Finance and the Pay Commission, the new structure has been partially effective since January 1, 2026. The Pay Commission is scheduled to submit its report on January 21 to Economic Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed, after which it will be presented to the advisory council for review.

As part of preparations for partial implementation, the Ministry of Finance has allocated an additional 22,000 crore taka in the revised 2025–26 budget for operating expenses. The commission estimates that full implementation will require an additional 70,000 to 80,000 crore taka. The proposed structure recommends higher increases for lower-grade employees, with the minimum salary—currently 8,250 taka—suggested to more than double, and the maximum salary—currently 78,000 taka—to rise above 120,000 taka. The commission also proposes maintaining a 1:8 ratio between the highest and lowest pay grades.

The 21-member Pay Commission, formed on July 27 of the previous year under former finance secretary Zakir Ahmed Khan, was tasked with submitting its recommendations within six months.

China’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1949, according to official data released Monday. The National Bureau of Statistics reported that only 7.92 million babies were born in 2025, resulting in a birth rate of 5.63 per 1,000 people. This marks the fourth consecutive year of population decline, with the total population dropping by about 3.39 million to 1.4 billion, as deaths outnumbered births.

Experts cited declining marriage and childbirth trends, rising living costs, and difficulties balancing work and family life as key reasons for the sustained drop in births. Despite government measures such as child allowances, tax breaks for housing, and free preschool education, younger generations remain reluctant to have children due to economic uncertainty and the high cost of raising families.

The continuing demographic decline is reducing China’s labor force and increasing the proportion of elderly citizens, posing a significant long-term challenge for the world’s second-largest economy.

Uncontrolled sand extraction from the Teesta River’s char areas in Dakshin Kolkond of Gangachara upazila, Rangpur, has put the river protection groyne embankment at risk of collapse. According to local reports, a syndicate has been illegally removing and selling sand by cutting into the embankment. The groyne, originally built to protect homes, farmland, schools, roads, and infrastructure, is now being damaged by these activities. Police attempted to stop the illegal extraction on December 20, 2025, but were attacked by the accused while trying to seize sand-laden vehicles.

Upazila Nirbahi Officer Jesmin Akter stated that legal action will be taken against those cutting the embankment for sand extraction. Water Development Board Executive Engineer Mehedi Hasan warned that if the groyne is damaged, the Teesta River’s flow could shift, affecting not only Dakshin Kolkond but also wider areas including Rangpur city. Locals have demanded strict action against all members of the syndicate, including landowners, occupiers, and vehicle operators.

Residents fear that without immediate repair of the damaged groyne, the upcoming monsoon could bring severe river erosion and humanitarian disaster across greater Rangpur.

In Keshabpur upazila of Jashore, waterlogging across 20 wetlands has raised concerns that boro rice cultivation on about 500 hectares of land may not be possible this season. The local agriculture office reported that due to the refusal of several fish farm owners to release water for irrigation, around 195 hectares will remain uncultivated. The upazila set a target of cultivating 13,000 hectares with an expected yield of 84,500 tons of rice worth Tk 34.2 crore, but production could fall short by about 12,067 tons, affecting nearly 1,000 farmers.

According to the agriculture office, boro planting has been completed on 8,000 hectares so far, with preparations continuing on the remaining land. Farmers in areas such as Bil Baldhali, Burli Banar Bil, and others have expressed frustration as they cannot prepare seedbeds due to stagnant water. The government has launched a project to dredge 81.5 kilometers of five rivers, including the Harihar, to address long-term waterlogging in the Bhobdah region.

Local farmers have sought assistance from the upazila administration and agriculture office to resolve the irrigation crisis and save their crops.

Default loans in Bangladesh’s non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) have risen sharply, reaching about Tk 29,409 crore by the end of September last year, accounting for over 37 percent of total loans. Bangladesh Bank Executive Director and spokesperson Arif Hossain Khan confirmed the figures. The central bank’s report shows that total loans in the sector increased to Tk 79,251 crore in September from Tk 77,092 crore in June, while defaults grew by Tk 1,868 crore during the same period.

Sector insiders attribute the ongoing crisis to long-standing irregularities and fund misappropriation in several institutions, particularly those linked to PK Halder. Bangladesh Bank has issued notices to 20 NBFIs for failing to repay deposits and plans to close nine of them, including FAS Finance, Bangladesh Industrial Finance Company, and People’s Leasing. These nine hold about 55 percent of total default loans in the sector.

Governor Ahsan H. Mansur announced that individual depositors of the nine institutions will receive their principal amounts before Ramadan in February. The government has verbally approved Tk 5,000 crore to facilitate repayments, though no interest will be paid.

At least 19 people have been killed and more than 50,000 displaced as uncontrolled wildfires swept through southern Chile’s Ñuble and Biobío regions, about 500 kilometers south of Santiago. Fueled by strong winds and high temperatures, the fires have destroyed homes, vehicles, and infrastructure over two days, leaving towns like Penco and Lirquén in ruins. Most of the deaths occurred in Penco, while residents in Lirquén described flames spreading within seconds.

President Gabriel Boric declared a state of emergency in the affected regions, enabling the deployment of armed forces to assist nearly 4,000 firefighters battling the blazes. He visited Concepción to oversee firefighting efforts and imposed a nighttime curfew in the hardest-hit areas, calling the situation extremely difficult. The national disaster agency reported that most evacuations took place in Penco and Lirquén, home to about 60,000 people.

Officials warned that weather conditions remain unfavorable, with high temperatures and strong winds complicating containment efforts. The report noted that climate change has intensified wildfire risks in central and southern Chile in recent years.

The Bangladesh government has launched multiple measures to keep essential commodity prices stable ahead of the upcoming Ramadan. According to Trade Adviser Sheikh Bashir Uddin, preparations for supply and market management are satisfactory, with import letters of credit exceeding last year’s levels. The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has reduced import duties on dates by 40 percent, lowering the rate from 25 to 15 percent until March 31, and removed VAT on several daily essentials including mustard oil, flour, lentils, LPG, biscuits, salt, and spices.

The NBR has also halved advance income tax on fruit imports from 10 to 5 percent, maintaining a 50 percent rebate introduced last year. Market visits show lower prices for chicken, beef, mutton, sugar, onions, and potatoes compared to last year. Residents and traders in Dhaka report improved affordability, crediting government oversight and increased imports. The Department of Agricultural Marketing’s data indicates that prices of 20 key agricultural products have fallen since the 2024 mass uprising, with notable declines in potatoes, onions, garlic, and pulses.

Officials and traders expect further price reductions before Ramadan if current monitoring and supply conditions continue.

The Forest Department has recovered and destroyed more than 200 traps used for deer hunting in the Satkhira range of the western Sundarbans. The operation took place on Sunday morning through noon in the Phulkhali area under the Kolagachhia patrol outpost. Forest officials and members of the local Community Patrolling Group (CPG) participated in identifying and dismantling the traps.

Forest Ranger Md. Fazlul Haque stated that regular foot patrols in the forest can help protect wildlife. He noted that poachers often enter the forest using various tactics to set traps in convenient locations, endangering deer and other important wildlife species. The operation was led by foresters Taibur Rahman and Shahinur Rahman, along with CPG members.

Fazlul Haque expressed hope that strengthening regular foot patrols would significantly reduce wildlife poaching in the Sundarbans, contributing to the protection of its biodiversity.

Power generation at the 525-megawatt Barapukuria coal-based thermal power plant in Parbatipur, Dinajpur, has been completely shut down due to mechanical failures. The shutdown has caused load-shedding across Dinajpur and nearby areas. The plant’s first unit, with a capacity of 125 megawatts, stopped production on Sunday morning after its boiler tube burst. The chief engineer, Md. Abu Bakar Siddique, said repairs would begin once the boiler cools, but it is uncertain when production will resume.

The plant’s second unit, also 125 megawatts, has been inactive since November 2020, while the third unit, with 275 megawatts capacity, has been offline since November last year due to mechanical issues. The Barapukuria plant, operated by the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB), relies on coal from the Barapukuria mine. The third unit, managed by Chinese contractor Harbin International, awaits spare parts from China for repair. The engineer expects it may return to production by March, though delays persist as the contractor cites increased equipment costs.

The prolonged outage underscores the aging condition of the plant’s infrastructure and its dependence on foreign parts for maintenance.

Bangladesh’s interim government is awaiting China’s approval to begin implementing the Teesta Master Plan, a major initiative aimed at boosting economic growth and water resource management in the country’s northern region. According to Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, all required documents have been sent to the Chinese government, and final discussions on financing have been completed. She made the remarks on Sunday afternoon during a voter awareness meeting in Nilphamari.

Hasan stated that a team of Chinese experts is currently reviewing the technical, financial, and implementation frameworks of the project. Once the evaluation is complete and China gives its final consent, work on what is described as the country’s largest development project will officially begin. She added that the plan’s implementation would bring positive changes to agriculture, irrigation, flood control, and environmental balance in the northern region, fulfilling a long-standing expectation of local residents.

The event was chaired by Nilphamari Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Nayiruzzaman and attended by officials from the Rangpur divisional administration. The nationwide campaign was organized with support from several ministries.

Bangladesh Bank has decided to withhold profits for 2024 and 2025 from depositors of five Islamic banks currently undergoing a merger process. The affected banks are First Security Islami Bank, Global Islami Bank, Union Bank, EXIM Bank, and Social Islami Bank, which are being consolidated into a new entity named Sammilit Islami Bank. The central bank announced the decision last Wednesday, stating that depositors will not receive profits for the two years, and any previously withdrawn profits will be deducted from their accounts.

The decision has sparked widespread anger among depositors, leading to disruptions in normal banking operations at some branches and a human chain protest in Dhaka’s Gulshan area. Depositors argued that they should not bear the burden of bank mismanagement and demanded full repayment of their deposits and due profits. Bank officials requested the central bank to reconsider, but the governor reaffirmed that the decision, based on Shariah principles, would not be reversed.

According to Bangladesh Bank sources, withholding two years of profits will reduce liabilities by about Tk 10,000 crore, lowering total deposits from Tk 1.31 trillion to an estimated Tk 1.21 trillion across the five banks, which currently serve around 7.5 million depositors.