Rashidul Hasan

The government has decided that passengers arriving from abroad on special flights will have to stay under institutional quarantine in government-designated hotels for five days instead of 14 days.

A total of around 24,600 migrant workers have left the country for their respective workplaces in five countries, including Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, and UAE, in the last five days since April 17 via special flights.

Under pressure due to the ongoing crackdown on its top leaders, Hefajat-e-Islam is now trying to negotiate with the government.

Irked by Hefajat’s violent activities starting with the protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit last month, the government has decided to bring to book everyone involved in the mayhem in different parts of the country, especially Brahmanbaria.

The return of several thousand Bangladeshi migrants to their workplaces abroad faced another blow as suspension of regular international flights to and from Bangladesh was extended for another week from April 22.

Seven out of 12 scheduled special flights left the Dhaka airport as of 9:00pm yesterday.

Top Hefajat-e Islam leader Mamunul Haque was arrested in the capital yesterday as the government continues crackdown on the Islamist outfit for its recent violent activities.

The return of several thousand Bangladeshi expatriate workers to their workplaces abroad, particularly in Saudi Arabia, suffered a major blow yesterday due to cancellation of eight flights from Dhaka.

Expatriate workers only having clearance from the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training will get priority in getting special flights to return to their workplaces in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Oman and Singapore.

Although the top leaders of Hefajat-e-Islam repeatedly denied the organisation’s involvement in recent countrywide vandalism and violence, photographs and footages testify the opposite.

The government’s decision to suspend all international flights for a week from Wednesday onwards to contain the spread of Covid-19 has put aspiring migrant workers in a perplexing situation.

The Police Bureau of Investigation in a probe report says Hefajat-e Islam Amir Junaid Babunagari and 42 others were involved in “creating an atmosphere that hastened the death” of the Islamist outfit’s supremo Shah Ahmad Shafi.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) yesterday wrote to the Prime Minister’s Office, urging it to toughen restrictions in order to curb the transmission of Covid-19.

Some 272 Bangladeshi migrant workers returned home from Lebanon yesterday amid a ban on incoming passengers from the Middle East country due to a rapid surge in coronavirus infections.

The recent strong criticism of the government by Jatiya Party has raised questions in the country’s political arena about its intentions.

The increasing jet fuel price will deliver a severe blow to the local airline industry which might even lose its competitiveness in the global market.

Two new project proposals, including one on the operation and maintenance of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), will be placed at a high-level meeting between representatives of Bangladesh and Japan today and there will be discussion whether those can be implemented under public private partnership (PPP).

Australia is set to lift its ban on direct cargo flights from Dhaka, a move that is expected to boost Bangladesh’s shipments to the continent.

The seat of independent lawmaker Mohammad Shahid Islam, also known as Kazi Papul, has been vacated yesterday on grounds of moral turpitude.

A decision on parliament membership of Mohammad Shahid Islam alias Kazi Papul is likely to be made in two to three days, around three weeks after a Kuwait court sentenced him to four years in prison in a bribery case.