Four persons were killed in separate road accidents in Faridpur, Comilla and Gopalganj on Wednesday and Thursday.
   In Faridpur, a young man was killed on the Dhaka-Barisal Highway at Talma crossing on Thursday.
   The deceased was Saidur Rahman, 22, of village Gonggaboddi under Bhanga upazila of the district.
   Locals said Saidur died on the spot when a Barisal-bound bus ran over him at about 12:00pm. A case has filed with the police.
   In Comilla, two persons were killed when a Brahmanbaria-bound bus hit an auto-rickshaw from behind on the Comilla-Burichang road in the Digirpar area on Wednesday night.
   The deceased were Mohammad Alauddin, 38, and Mohammad Ahmed, 20, of Hossainpur village in Debidwar upazila of the district.
   A case was filed with Brahmanpara police station.
   The Gopalganj correspondent of New Age reports a man was killed and 25 others were injured in separate accidents on the Dhaka-Khulna Highway.
   An unidentified man died on the spot when a Dhaka-bound bus ran over him at village Prasannadi in the district headquarters.
   The police seized the bus of Modhumoti Paribahan and filed a case with the police.
   In another accident, at least 25 passengers were injured when a bus coming from Kotalipara lost its control over the steering and plunged into a roadside ditch at village Majhigati of the upazila.

Mango-orchard owners are now busy taking modern horticultural care of their groves as trees start coming into flower at the outset of growing the mouth watering Rajshahi mangoes.
   Thousands of mango trees have started sprouting, generating expectation in the minds of the fruit growers about good returns on their investments.
   This News agency correspondent found the growers applying modern methods of horticulture to reap a good harvest.
   They are spraying pesticides on the mango trees for protecting the blossoms from pest attack. Besides, they are watering the mango trees or orchards for greater yields.
   ‘Poush’ and ‘Magh’, the two Bengali months, are the prime time for the blossoming of mango trees when the mango growers take all preparations for nurturing the trees.
   According to statistics, about 270 varieties of mostly sweet and tasty mangoes grow in Rajshahi-Chapainawabganj region, against the country’s total of 350 varieties. Fazli, Lengra, Gopalbhog, Khisrapat, Mohanbhog and Rajbhog are the premier names.
   Once only Chapainawabganj was famous for mango production, but huge mangoes are also produced in Rajshahi district nowadays.
   Many newer high-quality mango trees are being planted here even along the boundaries of croplands.
   These grafted mango plants quickly start to bear blossoms only a year or two after the planting.
   A mango grower, Abur Rahman, said, ‘Dense fog somewhat damaged blossoms of my mango trees at the beginning of the season. I am not getting good effect after spraying pesticides.’
   Mango, a leading seasonal cash crop of the northwestern region, bears importance for the overall economy of especially Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj districts where there are hardly any major industries.

The LGRD and cooperatives ministry has suspended the Gopalganj municipal chairman in Sylhet.
   The Sylhet deputy commissioner, Harunur Rashid Khan, said he had received on Wednesday a copy of the order that suspended the chairman, Zakaria Ahmed Paplu. The order said the chairman was suspended as the ministry found it was improper to run the municipality by the serving chairman as a case has been failed against him which is pending trial in a criminal court.