Rashidul Hasan

The agriculture ministry yesterday took some initiatives and put forth several recommendations to improve the transportation and marketing of seasonal fruits in an attempt to reduce food waste as well as the loss of farmers amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) has issued guidelines for air operators, airports and passengers as part of its efforts to resume flight operations on domestic and international routes on a limited scale after May 16.

Over one lakh Bangladeshis in different Middle Eastern countries are suffering acute hunger while many other Bangladeshis have become unemployed amid the shutdown of economies across the world.

On the first day of the reopening of some markets in the capital yesterday amid the Covid-19 outbreak, many shoppers and store staffers were found to have flouted the directives of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, laying people’s health safety on the line.

Although the government had announced that shopping centres and malls would reopen today ahead of Eid, most owners in Dhaka and Chattogram cities have decided to keep the establishments closed as the number of Covid-19 cases keeps surging in the country.

A government-appointed committee has said the Covid-19 outbreak may peak in the weeks around the Eid, but several independent experts said it is too early to make such a prediction.

Stating that Covid-19 pandemic was badly affecting the police department, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday instructed the authorities to give priority to the treatment of police members.

Even a month ago, small trader Didar Hossain had quite a decent life.

In a major progress, 95 percent boro paddy in haor areas has been harvested till yesterday despite a shortage of harvesters due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

After around a month, the government yesterday lifted restrictions on people gathering at mosques, but said the mosque authorities must follow some health guidelines.

More than one lakh doctors, nurses and staff of 69 private medical colleges and hospitals will not get any bonus during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, but will get their full salaries.

The government has suspended all hajj activities following lukewarm response from intended hajis and advice from Saudi Arabia amid the coronavirus outbreak.

The coronavirus fallout and slumping oil prices may lead to the deportation of up to 10 lakh Bangladeshi migrant workers from Saudi Arabia in the next three to five years, according to the Bangladesh mission there.

Allowing Bangladeshis returning from abroad, especially the Middle East, to go into self-quarantine poses a big risk for public health. To avert that, the authorities concerned should arrange institutional quarantine facilities for the returnees and make it mandatory, recommended experts.

The government is likely to extend the ongoing shutdown for most public and private offices until May 16.

Sonali Bank has approved a loan of Tk 1,000 crore to Biman Bangladesh Airlines, which sought Tk 1,500 from the state-owned bank as it was reeling from a fund crisis due to ongoing global travel restrictions thanks to Covid-19 pandemic.

Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) is working to resume operations of domestic and international flights on a limited scale after May 8 if the coronavirus situation improves or remains steady by then.

Thousands of garment workers yesterday returned to work in industrial belts in Dhaka and elsewhere amid the nationwide shutdown, raising fears of a rapid spread of the novel coronavirus.

The government yesterday decided to waive the demurrage fees on the storage of imported raw materials of garment items piled up at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) warehouse.

The government of Bahrain this month declared an amnesty programme for undocumented migrant workers to get regularised. This should come as good news for undocumented Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf nation, about 30,000 of whom are expected to avail the programme which runs until December 31 this year.