BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday alleged that the government itself is carrying out the fire incidents in different markets to mislead people. "You (govt) have failed (to ensure safety to public life and property) as you don’t monitor anything. There are fires everywhere every day. You are behind this fire,” he said. Speaking at a demonstration programme, the BNP leader said the government is trying to divert people’s attention from the people’s demand for lowering the prices of daily essentials, fertiliser, and the demand for credible election and the restoration of voting rights. “That’s why you (govt) are carrying out the fire incidents in different markets.” Jatiyatabadi Krishak Dal arranged the programme in front of the Jatiya Press Club to protest against the ‘unusual’ increase in the price of fertilisers. About the fire in New Super Market, Fakhrul said the government is trying to involve BNP in the fire to shift the blame onto the opposition party. Fakhrul said the affected traders of the New Super Market themselves told the media that some people wearing the uniform of Dhaka South City Corporation were demolishing the foot-over bridge in front of the market around 5:30am. “The traders said they saw for themselves that fire broke out from the electricity line being used by the City Corporation employees during the demolition work of the bridge.” He also the employees of the city corporation fled the scene after being failed to control the fire that spread to the market. “I am not saying this because it is the words of market traders. The person in charge of the City Corporation now belongs to the Awami League. So the Awami League and this government are completely responsible for the incident.” Quoting experts, Fakhrul said the incidents of fire are growing due to environmental hazards and wrong policies. “This government is allowing construction of buildings everywhere and turning any building into markets anywhere.’ He said the ruling party ‘cadres’ set up illegal shops in markets by taking extortion money, making the markets unsuitable for people to move. The BNP leader questioned who permitted to set up hundreds of shops on the second floor of the New Market where there is no fire extinguishing system. “The shops were set up by bribing the Awai League leaders there.” A massive fire broke out at Dhaka’s New Super Market --next to New Market-- around 5:40 am on Saturday and it gutted over 1,000 shops.

Field level police officers have been  instructed to regularly monitor markets to prevent any abnormal increase in prices during the upcoming holy month of Ramadan. They have also been instructed to take necessary steps to ensure that no one creates any untoward situation by spreading rumors about price hike, short supplies, etc. The directives were given from a virtual meeting on monthly crime review held at the police headquarters on Tuesday with Additional IGP (Crime and Operations) Md. Atiqul Islam in the chair. All Metropolitan Police Commissioners, Range DIGs and District Superintendents of Police (SPs) of Bangladesh Police participated in the meeting virtually. Among others, DIG (Operations) Md Haider Ali Khan and concerned officials of police headquarters were present at the virtual meeting. Also Read: Govt orders DCs to strictly monitor markets during Ramadan Information regarding the overall crime situation of the country in the month of January 2023 was also presented in the meeting, says AIG (media) of the police headquarters Md Manzur Rahman. During the meeting, importance was given on taking precautionary measures and increasing police activity so that no group can create any kind of conspiracy by exploiting the communal issue. District and highway police were instructed to jointly perform their duties to prevent all types of extortion to ensure the transportation of essential goods during the month of holy Ramadan. In his address,  Additional IGP (Crime and Operations) Md. Atiqul Islam gave instructions to make preparations from now on to make the Eid journeys of the homebound people smooth during the coming Eid. He also directed the field level police officers to remove illegal structures on both sides on the highway and take necessary action against unfit vehicles. The meeting review of the statistics of various cases placed in the meeting shows that in the month of January 2023, there was a decrease in the total number of registered cases, robbery cases, murder cases, rape cases, women and children abuse cases compared to the previous month of December 2022.  

From now Samsung TVs will be available at the official outlets of Singer. Samsung recently came into an agreement with Singer Bangladesh to provide customers the opportunity to buy Samsung TVs from Singer outlets. A Singer Samsung partnership celebration event took place Thursday at Singer Mega Store in Shewrapara, Dhaka. Read more: Samsung Bangladesh brings new B Series TVs Samsung Bangladesh Country Manager Hwansung Woo and Singer Bangladesh Director and Head of Business (Consumer Electronics Division) Shahriar Bin Lutfor were present, according to a media statement. Woo said: "With this partnership, we are hopeful of strengthening our relationship with Singer as well as making Samsung TV more accessible for our beloved customers." Read More: 10 Smart TVs Under Tk50000 in Bangladesh Fairoz said: "With this new partnership with Singer consumers will be able to get Samsung television at our stores across the country with convenient purchase options such as Singer's unique in-house hire purchase facility."

Even though the government and experts urged people to avoid public gatherings to prevent the spread of coronavirus (Covid-19), many people are thronging shopping malls and kitchen markets in the city.

U.S. companies buffeted by supply chain chaos and a growing awareness of the scope of a viral outbreak are facing new threats to begin the week. The price of U.S. crude fell as much as 34% to $27.34 a barrel, the lowest price since early 2016, as an oil war between Saudi Arabia and Russia broke out. Typically, falling energy prices are good for markets and for businesses. However, in times of economic duress, energy prices come to be seen as a barometer of the global economy overall. That appeared to be what happened Monday with crude prices suffering the largest single-day decline since the 1991 Gulf War. Here are some of the developments that are affecting businesses and potentially, the economy as a whole.