Default loans in the banking sector hit an all-time high of Tk 211,391 crore at the end of June of this year, as per the latest Bangladesh Bank data.
The central bank data highlighted that soured loans rose by Tk 29,096 crore from Tk 182,295 crore as of March 30.
Bad loans now account for 12.56 percent of total disbursed loans, which amounted to 1,683,396 crore as of the end of June.
Soured loans stood at only Tk 22,000 crore in 2009 when the Awami League won the first of four consecutive general elections.
In a major reshuffle in the judiciary, eighty-one judges have been transferred and given new postings.
The Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs issued four separate gazette notifications in this regard on Thursday.
The transfer was made following advice from the Supreme Court.
The order was issued in the public interest, reads the notice.
The notifications signed by deputy secretary (admin-1) Mohammad Osman Haider asked all the transferred judges except one to join their new workplaces by handing over their charges to concerned officials on September 3.
Rights activists, researchers and victims of forced disappearance have called for preserving secret jails dubbed as "Aynaghar" and run by different law enforcement or intelligence agencies as museums as proof of the ousted government crimes.
"So far, we have information about at least 13 such secret jails which were run by different agencies," said researcher and rights activist Rezaur Rahman Lenin at a discussion at RC Majumdar Auditorium of Dhaka University on Thursday night.
Lenin, along with other speakers, suggested the secret jails be preserved as proof of the crimes of the ousted government, its ministers and leading figures to let people know the actual stories of their heinous acts.
Over two million children in eastern Bangladesh are at risk as floods sweep through homes, schools and villages, UNICEF has warned.
In all, these floods, the worst in eastern Bangladesh in 34 years, have affected 5.6 million people.
Major rivers in the southeast are overflowing due to unprecedented monsoon rains.
As a result, more than 52 people have been reported dead. Over 500,000 people are seeking shelter, after rising waters from swollen rivers submerged homes, streets and fields in Chattogram and Sylhet Divisions.
Millions of children and families are stranded without food and emergency relief supplies. Government personnel and volunteers are conducting rescue operations, though access remains difficult in some areas. In the coming days, more people will be affected as the monsoon season continues.