A grandfather and his grandson drowned in a pond in Chitalmari upazila of Bagerhat on Thursday (18 September). The incident occurred in Shibpur village.

The victims were identified as Nur Kader Molla, 9, and his grandfather Shahjahan Molla, 80. Locals said the boy drowned while bathing, and his grandfather also went under while trying to rescue him.

Both were taken to Chitalmari Upazila Health Complex, where doctors declared them dead. Police confirmed that preparations for burial at the family graveyard are underway.

The government has taken a series of steps to address pension-related complications for retired civil servants, including a proposal to reduce the waiting period for pension restoration from 15 years to 10 years for those who surrendered their full pension.

The decisions were made at a meeting chaired by Cabinet Secretary Dr Sheikh Abdur Rashid, where retired Additional Secretary A K M Saiful Islam Chowdhury highlighted the problems faced by pensioners.

Under the proposals, if a pensioner dies before restoration, their spouse or legal heirs will be entitled to pension benefits. In case of a second marriage, the surviving spouse will also be eligible for family pension.

The meeting also recommended providing medical assistance from the Government Employees Welfare Board to retired officials suffering from serious illnesses. For expatriate employees, ministries will review procedures to simplify paperwork and formalities.

Other measures include increasing festival allowances for full pension surrenderees, restoring allowances upon reinstatement, and reconsidering monthly pension payments for those who had taken lump-sum withdrawals. The government has also instructed authorities to intensify awareness campaigns about the universal pension scheme.

The Cabinet Division has already communicated these decisions to the Finance Division and relevant agencies. An official from the finance ministry said implementation work has begun.

A woman has given birth to quadruplets at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) on Monday morning. The delivery took place around 10:30 am through a cesarean section, resulting in the birth of two boys and two girls.

Hospital sources confirmed that both the mother and babies are in stable condition. However, the newborns were admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) due to low birth weight. The babies weighed 1.4 kg, 1.3 kg, and two at 1.2 kg each, compared to the average healthy newborn weight of 2.8 to 2.9 kg.

The surgery was led by Dr. Taslima Begum, Associate Professor and Head of the Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility Unit at CMCH. She explained that the case was a rare quadruplet pregnancy, with the mother successfully carrying all four babies despite medical complications.

This birth comes after two similar rare incidents earlier this year in Chattogram. On April 27, a mother gave birth to five babies, while on May 10, another woman delivered six babies at a private hospital in the city.