Rashidul Hasan

Bangladeshi hajj pilgrims this year will not have to wait for completing the immigration process at Saudi Arabia airports as the Saudi government is going to do it in Dhaka.

No airlines of Bangladesh would be allowed to operate the Boeing 737 Max family of aircraft until the probe reports of the two 737 Max 8 crashes are revealed, said Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh.

The day began with high hopes of a square Ducsu election pending for nearly three long decades.

Some former Ducsu leaders hope that today's election and the leadership it will create will play a positive role in bringing about a qualitative change in the future national politics.

Ahead of the much-anticipated Ducsu polls on March 11, one burning question has been making the rounds.

Dhaka University authorities yesterday imposed a limit on the number of journalists each media house would be allowed to assign to cover Monday's Ducsu polls.

The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry yesterday instructed all airports to ensure “foolproof” security checks amid allegations of security breaches at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

Due to hazardous levels of air pollution, a parliamentary body yesterday asked the environment, forest and climate change ministry to take measures so that the health ministry issues a public health alert urging people to avoid the capital, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Chattogram cities, unless it is an emergency.

Questions are being raised about the security at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after a handbag containing a firearm passed through the scanners undetected on Tuesday.

Biman high-ups, including some of its board members, have been misappropriating huge money through irregularities in tender process. On the other hand, some officials of CAAB, the aviation regulator, accept bribes from contractors, who are “looting money” by building poor-quality towers and boarding bridges, the Anti-Corruption Commission has found.

Nothing can console Rupa Begum. She lost her two-and-a-half year old son in a fire at Bhasantek slum in Dhaka's Mirpur area early yesterday. Her only child drowned in a ditch inside the slum when the occupants were fleeing from the flames.

The Boeing 737-800 Biman aircraft, which Polash Ahmed reportedly tried to hijack on Sunday, will resume operations within eight to ten days, Civil Aviation Secretary Mohibul Haque said yesterday.

It was a toy gun, not a real one, the suspect was carrying during a plane hijack bid on Sunday, and there were no explosives inside the flight either, a top government official involved in probing the incident told The Daily Star yesterday.

Polash Ahmed, who attempted to hijack a Biman flight to Dubai on Sunday, boarded the plane at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport without raising any flags at the security checkpoints.

The ghastly fire at the Churihatta intersection in Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area leaves some with the last moments of their lives in agony, while others are left with a horrific memory that will haunt them forever.

The Jamaat-e-Islami has formed a five-member high-powered committee to devise a strategy for emerging as a new political party with a different name, say its insiders.

Jamaat's assistant secretary general Barrister Abdur Razzaq has resigned from the party, a move insiders say will create pressure on Jamaat to reform its charter.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's tea party at the Gono Bhaban yesterday was a pleasant gathering of a section of politicians.

The Awami League and its Grand Alliance partners contested the December 30 election together, but the allies of the ruling party would sit on the opposition bench in the 11th parliament which begins its journey today.

Left Democratic Alliance and several Islamist parties may boycott the upcoming upazila polls as they do not see any prospect of a free and fair election.