Rashidul Hasan

Thousands of people began gathering at Kathalbari Ghat on the Padma in Shibchar early yesterday to attend an Awami League rally marking the inauguration of the Padma Bridge.

The people of the country’s southern districts are elated over the inauguration of the Padma Bridge today.

The authorities have made grand preparations ahead of the much-anticipated inauguration of the Padma Bridge, which is scheduled to be held tomorrow in a festive manner.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has warned Biman and Saudia airlines for carrying hajj pilgrims to Jeddah instead of their scheduled destination -- Madinah, making pilgrims suffer.

The parliamentary standing committee on information ministry will sit with stakeholders before finalising the much debated “Mass Media Employees (Services Conditions) Bill 2022”.

A total of 254 people are going to perform hajj this year at government expense.

Although authorities have installed electronic immigration gates or e-gates at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA), the system still does not have all the planned functions.

The Gono Commission has recently been facing a backlash from religion-based organisations over submission of a “white paper” that named 116 religious leaders and Islamic speakers for their “involvement in laundering money, funding militancy and spreading communal hatred”.

Passengers who have e-passports can now use e-gates and complete their immigration within a short time at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

A parliamentary body yesterday expressed resentment over the industries ministry’s “deliberate delay” in shutting down the tanners inside the Savar Tannery Industrial Estate,which are severely polluting the Dhaleshwari river.

A parliamentary committee yesterday strongly recommended to save the river Buriganga, the lifeline of the capital, from pollution within the next one year.

A team from Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday launched an investigation into the reported corruption centring Biman Bangladesh Airlines taking lease of two Boeing 777 aircraft from Egypt Air in 2014.

The days of lengthy immigration formalities at Dhaka airport will soon be over as 27 electronic gates are set to become operational from June 7.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh is filling up a large waterbody on the eastern side of the Hajj camp at the capital’s Ashkona for a housing project for its officials and employees, violating a conservation law.

With things slowly getting back to normal, airlines, tourism and hospitality sectors are expected to turn around this year, following immense loss due to the pandemic.

The religious affairs ministry dropped a bombshell on potential hajj pilgrims yesterday telling them that they would have to pay Tk 59,000 by Monday on top of the already hiked hajj package costs.

Biman’s struggle to decide where to make a stopover for its ambitious Dhaka-Toronto route demonstrates its inefficiency and lack of professionalism, aviation experts said.

In a latest decision, Biman Bangladesh Airlines is now saying that they have again changed its earlier decision of selecting Manchester as a stopover for its ambitious Dhaka-Toronto route and is considering making Istanbul its technical landing or any other suitable destination.

A Bangladeshi aspiring Haji will have to pay Tk 59,000 in addition to the Hajj package, earlier announced by the religious affairs ministry and Hajj Agency Association of Bangladesh (HAAB).

Biman Bangladesh Airlines has decided to operate this year’s hajj  flights with its own aircraft, scrapping its earlier plan to ferry pilgrims in leased aircraft.