Bollywood actors Nora Fatehi and Pankaj Tripathi have expressed solidarity with students protesting alleged question-paper leaks in India’s National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, or NEET. Students and their supporters have been holding continuous demonstrations at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi since June 20. Their demands include full transparency and accountability in the examination system, justice for affected students, the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, and sweeping reforms to the examination process.

In an Instagram message, Fatehi said education is not only about examinations or marks and that students and their families deserve fairness, dignity and trust. She expressed condolences to families of students who died by suicide and praised protesters’ courage and patience. Tripathi supported the movement in an Instagram story, criticized the police’s strict approach, and urged the government to show compassion toward injured young people. The source also says Alia Bhatt and several other prominent actors had previously voiced support for the students’ demands.

Educator and environmental activist Sonam Wangchuk delivered his first video message after ending a 26-day hunger strike. According to the report, he withdrew the fast late Thursday after assurances from the central government. In a video message on Friday morning, Wangchuk said the fast had ended and that the next phase was accountability.

Wangchuk said the government had provided several important written assurances. The most significant, he said, was that students who participated in peaceful protests would not face punitive action. He also said the issue of accountability over examination paper leaks would be raised in Parliament for discussion with all political parties. The central government also assured appropriate compensation for families of examination candidates who died by suicide in connection with the recent paper leak case.

Wangchuk said the movement was not over and that its future would depend on how effectively the assurances were implemented. He urged protesters to continue their demonstrations through peaceful and democratic means.

President Md Shahabuddin Chuppu has resigned, according to a report published by Amar Desh on July 24, 2026. The president’s assistant personal secretary, HM Sagar, confirmed the development on Friday and said the resignation was due to health reasons.

The president also told Amar Desh by phone that he had resigned and was very ill, asking people to pray for him. The report did not provide further details on when the resignation took effect or on the process that would follow.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has been accused of spending several crore taka on corporate social responsibility activities without a legal framework or policy. Records obtained under the Right to Information Act show that from fiscal years 2021-22 to 2024-25, the regulator allocated funds to individuals and institutions for medical assistance, education, religious facilities, cemeteries, sports, picnics, insurance premiums and other purposes. Spending in those four fiscal years was Tk26.40 lakh, Tk7.1128 crore, Tk2.0242 crore and Tk87.75 lakh respectively.

BSEC spokesperson Abul Kalam said every expenditure was approved at commission meetings and that work on a CSR policy is under way. Former chairman Faruk Ahmed Siddiqui and former commissioner Helal Uddin Nizami said a non-profit government institution has no scope to conduct CSR spending. An official from the Revenue Audit Directorate said such spending would be unlawful without provisions in an institution's own law or a policy. Former commissioner Abdul Halim acknowledged that several institutions in his home area received allocations but denied influencing the approvals.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police arrested 428 people on various allegations during a 24-hour operation across the capital, according to a Friday press release. Police also filed 50 cases at different police stations during the same period and recovered drugs and other items described as evidence used in crime.

The operation covered DMP’s eight divisions, with 86 arrests in Wari, 70 in Mirpur, 65 in Motijheel, 62 in Uttara, 45 in Tejgaon, 39 in Gulshan, 33 in Lalbagh and 28 in Ramna. Seized drugs included 18 kilograms and 250 grams of cannabis, 2,120 yaba tablets, 353 bottles of phensedyl and three grams of heroin.

Police also seized eight mobile phones, a vehicle, three walkie-talkies, a fake RAB identity card and other items. DMP said the regular operations are being conducted to suppress crime and maintain normal law-and-order conditions, while legal action against those arrested is under way at the relevant police stations.

Eight people in Chattogram who were permanently disabled by gunfire during Sheikh Hasina’s government continue to face prolonged medical treatment, unemployment and multiple criminal cases, the report says. The victims allege they were tortured after being detained or held in custody, shot in the legs, and later named in cases to conceal the incidents. They include Abu Taher, Kamal Uddin, Md Rafiq, Enamul Haque, Shahidul Islam, Saju Akter, Arafat and Saiful Islam. Several lost a leg, while cases against them range from five to 65, with many still pending.

Victims say the Torture and Custodial Death (Prevention) Act, enacted in 2013, was not effectively implemented. Most did not seek legal remedies against police because of fear, insecurity and concern about retaliatory cases. Odhikar director S S Nasiruddin Elan said the law was passed but not applied, and alleged that people who filed cases under it were harassed. He said human rights groups would closely monitor progress in such cases after the fall of the Hasina government.

Jamal Uddin, then vice-president of Chattogram South District BNP, disappeared on July 24, 2003 while returning home from his business establishment in Chakbazar. His family paid Tk 2.5 million in ransom after negotiations with abductors, but he was not released. On August 24, 2005, RAB recovered a skeleton from a hilly area of Kanchannagar Union in Fatikchhari, later confirmed through a DNA report from Singapore as Uddin’s remains.

Police and CID investigations resulted in a chargesheet against 16 people, and trial proceedings against 14 accused began after charges were framed in February 2018. Court sources said only three of 84 witnesses have testified, with hearings repeatedly delayed because witnesses did not appear. Ten accused are on bail, one is in jail and three remain absconding. Uddin’s family is considering seeking further investigation. The allegations against the accused have not been finally proven in court.

A key brick-soling road from Islamapur Alim Madrasa through Amtala to Bottola Bazar in Jahangirnagar Union of Babuganj Upazila, Barishal, remains unpaved 21 years after construction. The roughly seven-foot-wide road has developed numerous potholes because of prolonged lack of maintenance, creating severe hardship for students, farmers, patients and other residents. Vehicle movement on the damaged route has become risky.

Residents said the Local Government Engineering Department built the road more than two decades ago, but it has received no major upgrade since. Conditions worsen during the monsoon, affecting students travelling to Islamapur Alim Madrasa, Agarpur Degree College and other institutions. Drivers, farmers and students reported frequent accidents, vehicle damage and higher costs to transport agricultural produce to market. Union Parishad Chairman Kamrul Ahsan Khan Himu said he is aware of the road’s condition and that efforts are under way to upgrade it from brick soling to a paved road.

Satkhira-4 lawmaker Gazi Nazrul Islam may be arrested in an attempted murder case filed by his driver, Obaidur Rahman, according to investigating officer sources. The sources said Nazrul is under police surveillance and investigators are awaiting a signal from higher authorities for his arrest. Police have arrested an accused named Aminur Rahman, who was sent to jail after appearing before a court. Raids are continuing to locate other accused. Nazrul’s second wife, Mariam, may also be summoned to the Detective Branch office to clarify issues in the case complaint.

Obaidur alleged in the complaint that other accused, acting on Nazrul’s instructions, beat him and attempted to suffocate him on July 14. Nazrul, however, claimed in a Facebook post that Obaidur entered his room with others to blackmail him and extort money. After a video involving Nazrul circulated online, Jamaat expelled him from the party over moral misconduct. DB police said field-level inquiries are under way to establish the facts behind both sides’ allegations and that a report will be submitted to court after the investigation.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the government is working to build Bangladesh as a democratic, inclusive and exploitation-free state. Speaking as chief guest at the opening of the Bengal Delta Conference 2026 in Dhaka on Friday, he said strengthening democratic institutions, rebuilding the economy and improving living standards are the government’s main goals.

He said student-public movements, aspirations to restore democracy and expectations of political change had opened new possibilities for the country. He paid tribute to those killed and who struggled in the 1971 Liberation War, as well as people who died in the 2024 movement for restoring democracy. Citing global conflict, economic instability, corruption, money laundering and irregularities as pressures on the economy, he referred to measures on investment, jobs, banking and the rural economy. He also said efforts were under way to build broad consensus on constitutional reform through discussions with political parties.

Seven teachers linked to management of the 2026 HSC examination centre at Cumilla Government Women’s College have been transferred to different government colleges. The Education Ministry first made them officers on special duty at the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education before attaching them to new institutions. A letter signed Thursday by Md. A. Kuddus, deputy secretary of the Government College-2 branch of the Secondary and Higher Education Division, announced the moves. The teachers must be released from their current workplaces by July 29.

Those transferred include vice-principal A K M Zahirul Alam, professor Md. Abdul Malek, associate professor Kanak Barua, Dr. Muhammad Ullah Majumdar, Nur Mohammad Nur Ullah, Md. Al-Amin and Mohammad Mohsin. Kanak Barua was convenor of the examination committee. Zahirul Alam was not involved in examination management, while his son is taking the HSC examination. After heavy rain caused waterlogging at the college on July 13, candidates were taken to the centre by boat and van. Student protests followed the incident, and the centre was later moved to Bhasha Sainik Ajitguha College.

Six-year-old Ria Gop was shot on the roof of her home in Nayamati, Narayanganj, during the anti-discrimination student movement on July 19, 2024, according to the report. Her father, Dipak Kumar Gop, had rushed upstairs to bring her down amid clashes and gunfire when a bullet struck her head. She was taken to hospital and died five days later, on July 24, while receiving treatment.

The report says Shamim Osman and an armed group left Narayanganj Club, fired shots and created fear in the city’s DIT area, with about 50 rounds fired toward protesters. Ria was the only child of Dipak Kumar Gop and Beauty Ghosh, and the family has not overcome its grief nearly two years later.

Narayanganj City Corporation administrator Advocate Sakhawat Hossain Khan said the family still faces unknown fear. He called for justice and said the state must ensure their security so they can testify in court without intimidation.

Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmad has condemned a recent Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board circular directing Alia madrasas to form separate football teams for the Prime Minister’s Gold Cup Football Tournament 2026. In a statement published on July 24, he described the instruction to form girls’ football teams as part of an anti-Islam conspiracy. The circular asks institutions to include one male and one female student from Dakhil classes and one male and one female student from Alim levels, and submit lists to the board by July 30.

Ahmad said the instruction conflicts with the distinct character and religious values of Islamic education. He stated that Alia madrasas operate on Islamic ideals, Shariah rules and religious values. He called for the immediate withdrawal of the circular, an end to imposing such decisions on madrasas, and effective measures to protect the distinctiveness of the Islamic education system.

Saudi Prince Abdullah bin Fahad, 29, died after consuming excessive drugs and alcohol at a luxury hotel in London, according to the source. A UK court concluded, following a post-mortem examination and review of evidence, that the death was accidental rather than suicide. His body was found on the bathroom floor of the Marriott Hotel in Kensington, west London, on November 25 last year.

A toxicology report found high levels of alcohol as well as GHB, cannabis, Xanax and other anti-anxiety medication in his system. The combined toxic effects of the substances caused his heart to stop, the report said. CCTV footage showed that he was alone in his room on the night before his death. The court found no evidence of another person’s involvement or of suicide. The source said the prince had long struggled with alcohol and drug addiction and had received treatment at two rehabilitation centres in London shortly before his death.

Police recovered the body of autorickshaw driver Oli from an abandoned plot in East Badda, Dhaka, three days after he went missing. The body was found buried and wrapped in polythene on Thursday night. Two people have been detained for questioning, police said. After legal procedures, the body was sent to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Oli, from Latifpur village in Kishoreganj Sadar, lived in a rented home in the Jorakhamba area of East Badda. Police said there were injury marks on the back of his head and below his left ear, his skull was fractured, and his face had been tightly bound with a full-sleeved shirt. Investigators initially believe the killing may have been planned.

Family members said Oli had been missing since July 21. His autorickshaw was later recovered, while his sandals and a bloodstained panjabi were found near a rubbish heap in the Balu Math area. Police are examining possible financial disputes and prior enmity, but said the precise motive remains unconfirmed.