Bangladesh | DD News

March 18, 2026 6:20 PM

Railways draws $942 million FDI in 11 years; exports at ₹26,000 crore:Ashwini Vaishnav

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Wednesday informed the Lok Sabha that the railway sector has attracted foreign direct investment (FDI) equity inflows of $942 million between 2014-15 and 2025-26 (up to December 2025). Citing the FDI policy circular dated October 15, 2020, he said 100% FDI is permitted under the automatic route in railway infrastructure. The permitted areas include suburban corridor projects through public-private partnerships, high-speed train projects, dedicated freight li...

March 9, 2026 11:26 AM

Bangladesh shuts universities early to save power amid energy crisis

Bangladesh will close all universities from Monday, bringing forward the Eid al-Fitr holidays as part of emergency measures to conserve electricity and fuel amid a worsening energy crisis linked to the conflict in the Middle East. Authorities said the decision applies to all public and private universities across the country, a move that officials said will not only reduce electricity consumption but also ease traffic congestion, which leads to fuel wastage. Officials said university campuses ...

February 17, 2026 4:43 PM

Tarique Rahman sworn in as Bangladesh’s PM after landslide election victory

Bangladesh Nationalist Party leader Tarique Rahman was sworn in as Bangladesh’s prime minister on Tuesday, marking a decisive political shift in the South Asian nation after his party’s sweeping parliamentary election victory. Rahman, 60, son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and assassinated President Ziaur Rahman, takes office facing urgent challenges, including restoring political stability, rebuilding investor confidence, and reviving key industries such as the garment sector after t...

February 17, 2026 10:16 AM

Tarique Rahman to take oath as Bangladesh Prime Minister as BNP returns to power after two decades

Tarique Rahman, chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), is set to take oath as Prime Minister of Bangladesh on Tuesday, marking the party’s return to power after nearly two decades. The swearing-in ceremony of the new cabinet will be held at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad in Dhaka at 4:00 p.m., according to local media reports. 297 newly elected Members of Parliament will also be sworn in by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the Parliament’s oath room. While...

February 11, 2026 3:29 PM

Bangladesh election offers hope to garment sector battered by tariffs and unrest

Millions of Bangladeshi garment workers and their bosses will vote on Thursday for a new government hoping it can save the country's biggest industry, which has suffered six straight months of falling exports due to U.S. tariffs and domestic political and labour unrest. The garment sector is Bangladesh's economic lifeblood, driving 80% of exports and more than 10% of the economy, and supplies some of the world's global brands. In a country of 175 million, nearly four million workers, mostly wo...

February 11, 2026 3:27 PM

Why is Bangladesh holding a national referendum alongside its general election?

Bangladesh will hold a national referendum on Thursday together with its first parliamentary election since violent protests ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in August 2024. The referendum will give people a chance to vote on reforms to state institutions. Here is a look at why the referendum is being held, and what it entails. WHY IS A REFERENDUM NEEDED? The referendum focuses on implementing the 'July Charter' drafted after the 2024 uprising to establish good governance, democracy...

February 11, 2026 12:27 PM

Bangladesh’s Tarique Rahman: From exile to edge of power

Less than two months after returning from nearly two decades of self‑imposed exile in London, Tarique Rahman could win one of Bangladesh's most pivotal elections and become prime minister, leading the country as his parents once did. If opinion polls hold, Thursday's election would mark a remarkable reversal of fortune for the soft‑spoken 60-year-old, who left the country in 2008 saying he needed medical treatment after his release from detention under a military‑backed caretaker administ...

February 11, 2026 12:21 PM

Islamist leader rises from obscurity to challenge for Bangladesh’s top job

Shafiqur Rahman has long been on the margins of Bangladeshi politics, but his bearded face now appears on posters and billboards across Dhaka, urging voters to elect the country’s first Islamist‑led government in a general election on Thursday. The 67‑year‑old doctor and Jamaat‑e‑Islami party chief has risen from near obscurity to be a serious contender for prime minister, after decades of being mostly known only in Islamist circles. A Jamaat coalition is expected to put up a close...

January 28, 2026 9:22 AM

Bangladesh: Tarique Rahman questions Jamaat’s past silence as parties trade barbs during campaign

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Chairman Tarique Rahman on Tuesday questioned Jamaat-e-Islami over its role in the BNP-led four-party alliance government from 2001 to 2006, asking why Jamaat ministers did not resign at the time if the administration was truly corrupt, as is now being alleged. Addressing an election rally at the Mymensingh Circuit House ground, Tarique said BNP was being branded as a “champion of corruption” using rhetoric similar to that employed by a former autocratic...

January 13, 2026 10:24 AM

Bangladesh: Hindu auto-rickshaw driver brutally murdered in Feni district

A 28-year-old Hindu auto-rickshaw driver, Samir Kumar Das, was brutally murdered in Daganbhuiyan upazila of Bangladesh’s Feni district on Sunday night with assailants fleeing the scene with his vehicle. According to police and local sources, Samir Kumar Das—also known as Samir Chandra Das—was beaten and stabbed with country-made weapons near the Daganbhuiyan Upazila Health Complex. His battery-operated CNG auto-rickshaw was taken by the attackers. Locals discovered his blood-soaked body a...