Educational institutions across Bangladesh will remain closed for 12 consecutive days during the upcoming Durga Puja festival. According to the latest circular from the Ministry of Education, schools and colleges will observe holidays from 28 September to 7 October.

Students will enjoy an extended break as the weekly holidays on 26 and 27 September fall just before the official vacation. In addition, 6 October, the day of Laxmi Puja, has been declared as an optional holiday for schools and colleges.

The holiday package also covers other religious occasions, including Fateha-i-Yaj Daham, Prabarana Purnima, and Sri Sri Laxmi Puja. However, universities, being autonomous, will set their own vacation schedules through their respective syndicates.

Meanwhile, office employees will enjoy a shorter holiday period. They will get three consecutive days off — beginning with the official holiday on 2 October for Bijoya Dashami, followed by the regular weekend holidays on 3 and 4 October.

A rare 2.5-kg hilsa was caught in the Bay of Bengal near Kuakata and later sold at auction for Tk 8,850. The fish, caught on September 8, was brought to the Alipur fish market on September 11, where it was sold at Tk 3,550 per kg.

Fisherman Masum Billah said the hilsa got trapped in his net and was later auctioned at the local market. Kuakata Fresh Fish owner P.M. Musa purchased it and plans to send it to the home of a US expatriate in Gazipur.

Upazila Senior Fisheries Officer Opu Saha said the arrival of such large hilsa is good news for local fishermen and reflects a positive trend in coastal fishing.

A small tea stall in Fakirhat upazila of Bagerhat received an electricity bill of Tk 301,746 for the current month, leaving the owner, Apurba Kundu, and his family in shock.

Locals said the family has been running the tea stall at Lakhpur Bazar for years, using only two bulbs, a fan, and a refrigerator. Their usual monthly bill ranged between Tk 250 and Tk 500. Last month, an inflated bill of Tk 1,876 was issued but later corrected to Tk 316.

This month, after receiving the unusually high bill, the owner reported it to the electricity office. Officials later took back the bill and issued a corrected one of Tk 310.

Fakirhat Palli Bidyut Samity’s Deputy General Manager, Ananda Kumar Kundu, admitted it was due to a billing assistant’s mistake and confirmed the staff member had been served a show-cause notice.

Residents allege that such errors are frequent as bills are often prepared without checking meters properly. In December 2023, another tea stall owner in Bagerhat’s Boitpur village was billed Tk 1.38 million, while his actual bill was only Tk 162.