Education Minister Dr. A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon said MPO-enlisted teachers and employees at private educational institutions will be included in the new pay scale and receive salaries and allowances accordingly. He made the announcement in a post on his verified Facebook page on Tuesday, following cabinet approval of the National Pay Scale 2026 on Monday afternoon.

After the cabinet meeting, Cabinet Secretary Nasimul Ghani had said no decision had yet been made on including MPO-enlisted teachers and staff in the new scale. The MPO-Enlisted Education Nationalisation Aspirants Alliance, representing more than 625,000 teachers and employees, immediately expressed anger and demanded a notification formally including them in the pay scale.

MPO-enlisted personnel receive the main portion of their salary and some allowances from the government each month. BANBEIS data list 398,000 under secondary and higher education, nearly 175,000 under madrasa education and more than 23,000 under technical education. Their house-rent allowance was recently raised to 15 percent of basic pay in two stages, with the final 7.5 percent effective from July 1 this year.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has temporarily banned three people, including former director and former Audit Committee chairman Muhammad Mokhlesur Rahman Shamim, from all cricket activities over serious corruption allegations linked to the 12th Bangladesh Premier League. The BCB Integrity Unit took the action under multiple provisions of the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Code.

The other two accused are former BCB Security Liaison Officer Zakir Hossain and former Bogura district BCB councillor and former Audit Committee member secretary Rakibul Islam Sani. A BCB-compiled investigation report alleged that the three directly or indirectly tried to improperly influence match results or the natural course of play, encouraged corrupt activity, concealed information about unethical proposals and failed to cooperate with investigators.

Shamim faces specific allegations of attempting to fix or influence parts of BPL matches, encouraging others to engage in wrongdoing, failing to report proposals to BCB ACU and deleting sensitive evidence. BCB has given all three 14 days to submit written explanations. After reviewing their responses, the board will determine final disciplinary action or further legal steps under the ICC code.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) has urged traders not to raise prices of essential goods by citing the newly announced pay scale. FBCCI Convener Md Fazlul Haque made the appeal on Tuesday morning at a consultation meeting with businesses at the organisation’s headquarters, convened to help keep stocks, supply, imports and prices of daily necessities stable.

Haque said the public had become concerned about essential-goods prices after approval of the pay scale and called on businesses to assure consumers that there was no connection between the pay scale and price increases. Traders, wholesalers and importers said prices need not rise if supplies remain normal, but warned that fuel shortages, supply-chain obstacles and unchecked middlemen could make market stability difficult.

Participants sought uninterrupted fuel for production-oriented factories, solutions to letter-of-credit complications, stronger monitoring of prices at mill gates and wholesale and retail markets, and action against harassment in supply channels. Haque said observations from the meeting would be conveyed to the government and that he would pursue discussions with relevant ministries and agencies within his three-month term.

US President Donald Trump has expressed hope of meeting Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman in person soon, according to a letter sent to the prime minister on Monday, August 31. The information was disclosed by the prime minister’s additional press secretary, Atikur Rahman Rumon.

In the letter, Trump said he firmly believes Bangladesh and its people have a bright future under Rahman’s leadership, despite facing various adversities. He also conveyed his sincere greetings and affection to the people of Bangladesh.

Trump additionally thanked the prime minister for the decision to purchase Boeing aircraft from the United States. He said Boeing would not disappoint Bangladesh and noted that he would always remember the prime minister’s personal attention to the matter.

Fishers and wood collectors were allowed to re-enter the Sundarbans on Tuesday after a three-month closure, with entry passes issued for fishing and ecotourism activities. In the Satkhira Range, 159 passes had been issued by noon, allowing more than 400 forest-dependent workers to enter. Persistent rain and adverse weather, however, delayed many departures and kept tourist numbers low on the first day.

Authorities renewed 2,938 boat licence certificates across four stations in the Satkhira Range for the current season. The Kolagachhi and Dobeki ecotourism centres are ready for visitors, according to Assistant Forest Conservator Mashieur Rahman, who said tourist traffic could rise when weather conditions improve. A fisherman from Shyamnagar said workers must enter the forest despite storms because fishing in the Sundarbans sustains their households.

Workers also voiced fears of water and forest bandits, while alleging that brokers collected extra money beyond official costs during boat licence renewal. Forest officials said joint patrols with the Coast Guard continued during the closure and remain ongoing. Access is closed annually from June 1 to August 31 to protect fish breeding and biodiversity.

Punjab National Bank found counterfeit notes worth about Rs 74 million in a currency chest in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. The discovery emerged after a Rs 436,000 cash shortfall was detected while reconciling money sent to the Reserve Bank of India on August 10 and 11. An audit team identified the fake notes during a regular verification process.

PNB chief manager Nisha Singh said the accounting discrepancy prompted an inquiry that uncovered broader irregularities involving notes held in the currency chest. A senior PNB official informed police. The bank said the counterfeit notes had not entered the market and had not been sent to any other bank branch.

Media reports said police filed an FIR against four bank officials and one other person, while a special investigation team has been formed. PNB suspended four officials and took disciplinary action against another employee. Separately, cleaner Vishal Kumar was accused in connection with the cash shortage. Police are examining transaction records and CCTV footage, treating the shortage and counterfeit-note case as two separate matters.

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has called on Ansar and Village Defence Party members to play a more effective role in constructive national work alongside maintaining law and order at the field level. He made the call on Tuesday afternoon at বঙ্গভবন during a courtesy meeting with Ansar and VDP Director General Major General Abdul Motaleb Sajjad Mahmud, according to Presidential Press Secretary Md Sarwar Alam.

The president praised the force’s work in ensuring public safety after the mass uprising, the thirteenth general election and other state activities. He stressed improving members’ professionalism, discipline and public engagement, while providing foreign-language, technical and technological training to make them more skilled and employable.

The director general congratulated the president on assuming office and briefed him on training programmes, a members’ database, microcredit activities and grassroots solar-power initiatives. The president described Ansar and VDP as the country’s largest public-engagement security and discipline force. He also praised its contributions to solar energy, human-resource development, sports, culture and public-oriented programmes, and assured continued overall support for the force’s development.

The Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has instructed all secondary schools and colleges in Bangladesh to organise cultural competitions under their own arrangements to mark Nazrul Year. The directive was issued in a letter sent on Tuesday and applies to institutions offering higher secondary and equivalent, undergraduate and postgraduate education under the directorate.

The instruction cites memorandums from the Ministry of Cultural Affairs dated August 27, 2026, and the Ministry of Education. DSHE said the competitions must be arranged in accordance with guidelines set by the Ministry of Cultural Affairs. The government has decided to observe Nazrul Year from May 25 through May 25 of next year, and the ministry prepared the guideline for institution-based competitions nationwide.

Under the guideline, winner lists from schools and colleges in Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Chattogram, Rajshahi and Khulna city corporations must be sent to the relevant city corporation’s chief executive officer. Winner lists from institutions in Sylhet, Barishal, Narayanganj, Cumilla, Rangpur, Mymensingh and Gazipur city corporations, as well as all upazilas including municipalities, must be sent to the respective upazila nirbahi officer.

Fifty-two members of four pirate groups active in the Sundarbans surrendered to Bangladesh’s Rapid Action Battalion on Monday, August 31, according to RAB-6. The surrender came a day before the forest was scheduled to reopen to tourists and forest-dependent workers on September 1 after a three-month closure.

A RAB-6 press release said the surrendering members included 16 from the Boro Jahangir group, 13 from the Anarul group, 15 from the Afzal, also known as Dulabhai, group, and eight from the Aftab group. RAB said piracy and forest banditry, including kidnapping and ransom collection, had created insecurity among fishers, woodcutters and honey collectors.

RAB said it had maintained intelligence surveillance and conducted operations to control such crimes. It also cited sustained operational activity, the difficult forest environment and uncertainty in criminal life as factors behind the surrender decisions. The forest had been closed from June 1 to August 31 to protect wildlife breeding, movement and biodiversity. RAB-6 said legal action would be taken against the 52 men under existing laws before they are produced before a court.

Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon said the prime minister wants national budget allocations for education raised to 5 percent. He made the remarks on Tuesday as chief guest at the KUET Day programme at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology. He said Bangladesh has talented human resources that must be properly used for national development and progress.

Milon said a decision has been made to provide a tablet each to 116,000 students who achieved GPA-5, aiming to encourage strong academic results. The government is also planning to provide bicycles to encourage girls’ education at the secondary level. He said complications involving the recruitment of about 4,500 teachers at the Education Ministry are under discussion for prompt resolution.

The minister called for reviewing the need before opening new university departments and stressed technology-based education. He said courses related to electric vehicles, artificial intelligence and robotics should be introduced. He expressed frustration that an application to introduce an AI course had been pending at the UGC for two years. KUET observes its university day annually on September 1, marking its 2003 conversion from BIT into a full engineering and technology university.

Bangladesh’s Meteorological Department on Tuesday afternoon issued local cautionary signal number 3 for the seaports of Chattogram, Cox’s Bazar, Mongla and Payra due to a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. The warning was announced in a department bulletin as the system continued to affect maritime conditions.

The well-marked low was located over the northwest Bay of Bengal and the adjoining West Bengal-Odisha area, according to the bulletin. It was expected to move west-northwest. The department said squally weather could affect the seaports, the northern Bay of Bengal and adjacent coastal areas of Bangladesh.

Fishing boats and trawlers operating in the northern Bay of Bengal were instructed to remain close to the coast and navigate carefully until further notice. The weather department said the sea could become rough under the influence of the low-pressure system and advised vessels to monitor weather conditions while operating.

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami expressed deep sorrow and condolences over extensive loss of life and destruction caused by severe floods and a glacier collapse in Nepal. On Tuesday afternoon, the party’s Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar visited the Nepal Embassy in Dhaka, signed the condolence book and conveyed sympathy to the Nepali government and people.

After signing the book, Porwar held a courtesy meeting with Nepal’s ambassador to Dhaka, Ghanashyam Bhandari. The ambassador briefed him on the recent disaster and fatalities, and thanked Jamaat for regularly offering assistance and sincere sympathy since the onset of the calamity.

Condolences were also conveyed on behalf of Jamaat ameer and Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Dr Shafiqur Rahman MP. Porwar said Bangladesh and Jamaat stood with Nepal’s people, expressing solidarity with the government, rescue teams and affected people. He hoped humanitarian efforts to address the disaster would succeed and said the longstanding friendly ties between the peoples of Bangladesh and Nepal would become stronger during this difficult period.

Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said the government will strengthen technology-based surveillance along Bangladesh’s borders to curb smuggling, drug and arms trafficking, human trafficking and illegal entry. Speaking Tuesday as chief guest at the inauguration of the Border School of Surveillance and Drone Warfare at the BGB Sector Headquarters in Sylhet, he said thermal-capable and night-mission drones would be used in difficult border areas.

Ahmed said effective monitoring of remote border zones is difficult using personnel alone. He said drones could identify activities on the other side of the border and enable authorities to take necessary action quickly. After the event, the minister inspected the training centre’s activities and watched a practical drone demonstration.

The minister said Border Guard Bangladesh is being modernised to tackle crime in border areas, alongside efforts to establish technology-based surveillance and build skilled, trained personnel. He also said initiatives are being considered to manufacture and assemble drones in the country, and that drone technology could assist relief distribution and rescue operations during disasters. He added that the government remains alert to prevent mob culture and has brought it under control to a significant extent.

Al-Haiatul Ulya Lil-Jamiatil Qawmia Bangladesh has made fingerprint registration mandatory for female candidates sitting Dawra Hadith examinations under its authority. The directive was issued in an official statement on Tuesday, following a decision at the organisation’s 68th standing committee meeting on July 4. The measure is intended to protect veiling requirements while making candidate identification more accurate and modern.

For the past 10 years, male students have had photographs taken online during registration for the examinations, while female candidates’ photographs were not taken because of concerns related to veiling. Office manager Md Asiur Rahman said fingerprints will replace photographs for female candidates from this year, and registration will not be completed without them.

For registration for the 1448 Hijri, or 2027, Dawra Hadith (Takmil) examinations, madrasas have been instructed to use the ZKTeco SLK20R Biometric Fingerprint Scanner. The body warned against purchasing other models because of possible software integration and data-matching problems. It said no supplier has been designated, and madrasas unable to obtain the device may use a nearby madrasa that has one.

Dhaka South City Corporation conducted an integrated drive from Chankharpul to Bakshibazar in Old Dhaka on Tuesday afternoon, in the presence of administrator freedom fighter Md Abdus Salam. The operation targeted illegal occupation, mosquito control, waste management and verification of trade licences at business establishments.

Authorities removed illegal structures and shops built by occupying roads and footpaths, saying the action was intended to keep public walkways clear and restore urban order and appearance. Teams also identified potential mosquito breeding sites, applied larvicide and carried out mosquito-control work where required. Accumulated waste was removed from roads, footpaths and nearby areas, while residents were urged to dispose of waste at designated locations.

Officials checked trade licences at shops and businesses and warned operators against running without valid licences or violating licence conditions. The administrator said those concerned were initially being warned and given time to comply, with legal action planned at a later stage if they fail to act under the law. DSCC said such field operations would continue regularly in different areas to ensure clear footpaths, cleaner surroundings, mosquito control and orderly business practices.