Rashidul Hasan

The ruling Awami League is going to propose introduction of electronic voting for the next general elections and request the Election

Private tour operators involved in various irregularities in hajj operations this year will have to face the music as a parliamentary body

A parliamentary body yesterday made several recommendations to the government including taking long-term measures to deal with

Almost all the pilgrims have reached Saudi Arabia to perform hajj by last night, officials at the Hajj Camp, Biman Bangladesh and Saudi Airlines say.

Although over 100 pilgrims yesterday staged demonstrations at the city's Hajj Camp for uncertainty over performing hajj, officials at the camp and Biman said all pilgrims will now be able to fly to Saudi Arabia as the national flight carrier got approval to operate eight additional hajj flights.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines yesterday got permission to operate 12 additional hajj flights paving the way for trips of all intending pilgrims to Saudi Arabia, a top official of religious affairs ministry said.

Hajj agents have sent visa applications and documents of almost all pilgrims to the Saudi Embassy in Dhaka within the deadline that expired yesterday.

The pilgrimage of over 2,000 Bangladeshis still remains uncertain as their hajj agencies are yet to apply for visas, Hajj camp sources said yesterday.

Around 2,500 pilgrims are yet to get visas as the extended deadline for completing the visa procedure expires today, according to Hajj Camp sources.

The religious affairs ministry yesterday gave a 48-hour “final ultimatum” to 16 hajj agencies for completing all procedures to send around 3,000 pilgrims to Saudi Arabia by August 26.

Biman yesterday took a number of emergency measures including suspending operations on Dhaka-Doha and Dhaka-Kuwait City routes until August 26 to ferry the hajj pilgrims who could not fly due to flight cancellations.

As many as 90 hajj agencies could not send a single of the 13,415 pilgrims till yesterday despite getting their visas weeks ago, as the tour operators failed to book flight tickets and arrange their accommodation in Saudi Arabia. Eight other agencies have been able to arrange flight for one pilgrim each though they obtained visas for 1,157, according to a list prepared on Thursday by the Hajj Office, which operates under the religious affairs ministry.

The religious affairs ministry yesterday issued a “red notice” for four hajj agencies for their failure to submit visa applications of around 800 pilgrims.

Twelve hajj agencies are yet to complete visa procedures of around 2,400 pilgrims, creating uncertainty over their pilgrimage this

Spending Tk 10.15 crore of public money, the religious affairs ministry is sending 318 “pious Muslims”, including financially solvent

Hajj Agencies Association of Bangladesh (Haab) has requested the religious affairs ministry to increase the number of replacement hajis to 10 percent from seven percent of the total pilgrims sent from each agency.

Arabian civil aviation authority to operate 12 extra hajj flights that might clear the backlog of pilgrims who had earlier missed their flights due to visa complications.

At least 163 of the 171-member “Hajj Assistant Delegation” the religious affairs ministry sent to Saudi Arabia to help a Bangladeshi medical team treat pilgrims have no background in medicine.

Biman Bangladesh and Saudi Arabian Airlines yesterday used their full capacity, for the first time in around a week, to carry pilgrims to Saudi Arabia.

Around 40,000 pilgrims are facing uncertainty over performing hajj this year due to frequent cancellation of Biman flights, and