The Police headquarters was forced to urge its all concerned units to take necessary steps for preventing the incidents of mob beating. The police headquarters issued a notice in this regard addressing all superintendents of police and unit chiefs. The PHQ urged them to strengthen vigilance at the educational institutions and conduct awareness campaign there. It also asked the cops to create public awareness through social media and newspaper and electronic media.

It also urged all unit chiefs of police to submit a report containing the steps taken in their regard within three days. Incidents of mob beating have increased alarmingly in the last few days even after the Padma Bridge authorities on July 9 issued a warning against the spreading of rumours about the bridge authorities needing to sacrifice people at the construction site. Since Friday, mobs beat to death at least eight people, including three women, and injured over 10 others on suspicion of being child kidnappers.

Stock investors lost Tk 23,142 crore in the last three weeks but the regulator is yet to take any action to stem the tide. Since June 27, the DSEX, the benchmark index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, shed a staggering 397 points to close at 5,033 yesterday, which is the lowest in two-and-a-half years.

The slide began when news emerged that fiscal 2019-20's budget would be passed in the parliament on June 30 without any significant incentive for stocks and the market hardly rebounded since. And yet, the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission is not taking action to calm down the jittery retail investors and lift their confidence. Its actions thus far have been to form a committee to find out the reason for the slump and ask institutional investors to bump up their investment.

The overall dengue situation in the country remains grim as 403 new dengue patients were admitted to hospitals in 24 hours across Sunday till Monday morning, the highest in a single day this year. According to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), 7,179 people have been infected with dengue this year until yesterday. Of them, five have died.

The number of dengue patients between January and July last year was 1,374, meaning the figure has already grown by more than five times this year. Cases of dengue have been on the rise since March this year -- 17 in March, 58 in April, 184 in May, 1,814 in June and 5,050 till July 22. The High Court summoned the chief health officials of the two Dhaka city corporations to appear before it to inform the court about the steps taken to prevent outbreaks of mosquito-borne diseases like dengue and chikungunya.

Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said that non-performing loans has come down in state-owned banks from December last. "Similarly most of the banks have brought interest rate down to single digit. Others will implement it soon," the minister said at a meeting with chairmen and managing directors of state run banks of the country at the Finance Ministry's conference room in the secretariat.

According to the minister, the percentage of NPLs decreased to 25% in June of 2019 from 30.38 % in December of 2018 in Sonali Bank; similarly it came down to 35.18 % from 37.32 % in Janata Bank; 14.50 % from 20.25 % in Agrani Bank; 17 % from 17.92 % in Rupali Bank; 58.25% from 57.55 % in BASIC bank; 56.35 % from 65.54 % in Bangladesh Development Bank in the same period.