Twenty-two shops were destroyed in a fire that broke out at Prodhan bazar in Charfesson upazila on early Saturday.

Quoting locals, Shamsul Arefin, officer-in-charge of Charfesson Police Station, said the fire broke out at a mattress shop around 1am from an electric short-circuit and engulfed the adjoining shops.

On information, two firefighting units rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire after two and a half hours of frantic efforts, said the OC.

The fire gutted 22 shops.

Affected shop owners claimed that the estimated loss caused by the fire was around Tk 5 crore.

A 12-year-old boy was arrested from Kayettuli area in old Dhaka for allegedly raping a first-grader girl.

Inspector Hasan Matabbar, also investigation officer of Bangsal Police Station, said the incident reportedly occurred on January 15.

The victim’s mother filed a case on Friday, he said.

Police later arrested the body and sent him to Tongi Juvenile Correction Centre, the IO said.

“We’re investing the incident,” he said.

Five more students of Dhaka University fell sick on the third day of their fast unto death demanding deferment of polls to the two Dhaka city corporations slated for January 30.

The students are – Abhi Das Pritom of marketing, Arnob Hore of Leather Engineering Institute, Dipom of Theatre and Performance Studies, Akash Chowdhury of tourism and hospitality management.

Ten other students had fallen sick on Friday, the second day of the protest.

About 40 DU students went on hunger strike on the campus on Thursday afternoon demanding deferment of the polls that coincides with the Saraswati Puja.

The Election Commission (EC) announced the date on December 22 last year, triggering criticism and protests. Dr Kamal Hossain said the decision was unjust.

In Hinduism, Saraswati is the goddess of knowledge and learning, and the Puja is held at educational institutions. Polling stations will be set up at different educational institutions in the city during the polls, which, many fear will hamper the Saraswati Puja celebrations.

See also: Dhaka City Polls: 10 DU students fall sick during hunger strike

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof M Akhtaruzzman expressed solidarity with the students on Friday and said the students’ demand was logical.

“I urge the EC to defer the voting date considering the Saraswati Puja,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chamber Judge is likely to hear an appeal challenging a High Court order the rejected a writ petition to defer the polls.

‘Dataful’ is offering training on data journalism for journalists and students of journalism in Dhaka.

The training, spanning six weeks, will take place in the city’s Mohammadpur from February 7.

Dataful project lead Polash Datta will conduct the sessions every Friday.

“Young working journalists and journalism students’ keen interest in this comparatively new field of journalism has inspired us to introduce the course,” Datta told UNB.

This training will help the participants bring diversity to news formats, and add new dimensions to the presentation of reports, he said.

The course fee is Tk 1,400. Participants will first need to pay the fee via mobile transaction system bKash and then register.

Datta said Dataful, the first data journalism initiative in Bangladesh, was recently included among 100 startups that will get a chance to pitch ideas before investors in this year’s Startup Istanbul.

“As far as we know, Dataful is the first startup at Startup Istanbul with specific focus on data journalism and open data-based content,” he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday expressed deep shock and sorrow at the death of Awami League leader and Member of the Parliament Abdul Mannan.

In a condolence message, the Prime Minister recalled the contribution of the former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League in various democratic movements.

"Awami League lost a skilled organiser and a devoted activist," she said.

The Prime Minister prayed for the eternal salvation of the departed soul and expressed sympathy to the bereaved family.