Dhaka - Archaeologists in Bangladesh have discovered an ancient engraved stone, believed to be of the Gupta era nearly 2,000 years ago, in northern part of the country, a media report said on Saturday.

The sandstone, found on the bank of a pond near Sura Masjid at Ghoraghat sub-district of Dinajpur, has been put on display at an archaeological museum in Bogra, the Daily Start newspaper reported quoting museum officials.

The stonework depicts three figures dancing and holding ancient musical instruments. It escaped earlier excavations in Sura Masjid, one of the important archaeological sites of the country.

Dhaka - A High Court bench on Thursday ordered a three-month stay on all proceedings of a graft case against Bangladesh's former prime minister Khaleda Zia and 15 others, court officials said.

The order came hours after a lower court ordered Khaleda - the chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which led the last elected government - to face a special court.

The High Court bench, comprising Justice Syed Muhammad Dastagir Husain and Justice Farid Ahmed, ordered the stay after holding a hearing upon a repeal petition filed by Khaleda's counsels.

Dhaka- A Dhaka court on Thursday ordered Bangladeshi former prime minister Khaleda Zia to face a special court to expedite a hearing on graft charges.

A senior judge's court issued the order as Khaleda - the chief of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which led the last elected government - and 15 cabinet ministers and officials from her government are charged with corruption in the awarding of a contract for the Barapukuria coal-mine operation to a Chinese company, a counsel of the former premier said.

Dhaka - The number of Bangladesh's poor, who make up nearly half its 153 million population, are rising because of high food prices, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) said Thursday.

Although Bangladesh's macroeconomic growth has been "remarkably resilient" amid last year's repeated natural disasters and global increases in food and fuel prices, life has become more difficult for a large segment of its population, the international lending agency said in a report published Wednesday from its headquarters in Washington and Thursday in Dhaka.

Dhaka- A British minister on Wednesday arrived in Dhaka to weigh Bangladesh's political situation as it prepares to return to democracy with parliamentary elections slated for December
18.

On his arrival, Lord Mark Malloch Brown - minister of state for Asia, Africa and the United Nations - met with Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a Foreign Affairs Ministry official said.

Brown was expected to call on the chief adviser to the military-backed interim administration responsible for holding a fair election.

Dhaka - A British minister on Wednesday arrived in Dhaka to weigh Bangladesh's political situation as it prepares to return to democracy with parliamentary elections slated for December 18.

On his arrival, Lord Mark Malloch Brown - minister of state for Asia, Africa and the United Nations - met with Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a Foreign Affairs Ministry official said.

Brown was expected to call on the chief adviser to the military-backed interim administration responsible for holding a fair election.

Chowdhury said after his meeting with Brown that they discussed political developments toward holding a peaceful election.