Dhaka - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon arrived in Dhaka Saturday to discuss topics including politics, the economy and social affairs ahead of Bangladesh's December general elections.

Receiving the UN chief at Dhaka's Zia International Airport, Bangladesh's Foreign Affairs Adviser Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury said that Ban's visit was significant for both the UN and Bangladesh, especially given the upcoming elections.

The elections are considered pivotal, as it will give the country the chance to return to democracy after two years of rule by an unelected, military-backed interim government.

Dhaka - Bangladesh's military-backed government on Saturday dismissed Indian media reports alleging involvement of a Bangladesh-based group in the recent serial blasts in north- east India that left 77 people killed.

"The allegation is totally baseless and, as in the past, have no evidence to back them up," Bangladesh foreign ministry said in a statement trashing the Indian claims.

Indian agencies have alleged that Bangladesh-based banned Islamist organisations are involved in the blasts.

An Indian opposition political leader, L K Advani also pointed a finger to Bangladesh for the violence that injured more than 300 others asking Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for action against the perpetrators of the Thursday's carnage.

Dhaka - Bangladesh's Supreme Court on Thursday denied bail in a graft case to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed, now paroled for medical treatment abroad.

A five-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin passed the order during a hearing into the case filed by a businessman last year.

Dhaka, Oct 27: A number of medieval structures, located in Chapainawabganj, Bangladesh, are in danger of decaying through relentless neglect by officials.

According to a report in The Daily Star, the Department of Archaeology does not have the funds or manpower necessary to conserve and carry out necessary restorations of the edifices that are gradually wearing away.

These structures, which were built between 1494 and 1519 AD, include Sona Masjid (mosque), Tahkhana, Kotwali Darwaza (main gate to the ancient capital) and many more.

There are a few others mosques in the area and some are decked with exquisite terracotta plaques, though most have lost their gleaming glory.

Dhaka - Two Bangladeshi development workers based in war- torn Afghanistan were kidnapped by unidentified gunmen on Thursday, an official from the non-governmental Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) said on Saturday.

Akhter Ali and Mohammad Shahjahan Ali, BRAC area managers in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province, were taken from their office in Moi Mobarok in the provincial capital, the Dhaka-based organization said in a statement.

The gunmen attacked another Afghan national working for the organization, according to BRAC.

Dhaka- Bangladesh's military-backed interim government said Thursday that it would provide the highest security to two former prime ministers and leaders of the country's two biggest political parties during the December general election.

"We have decided in principle to provide them with the highest security coverage as they deserve it," an adviser to the government, Hossain Zillur Rahman, told reporters after electoral talks with the opposition Awami League party.