Bangladeshi travellers will from now on be able to purchase airline tickets for any international destination directly from home, using any internationally accepted payment card. There will be no need to visit a travel agency or bank. Bangladesh Bank, which issued a circular on the matter, is allowing this facility to make it easier for outbound travellers to purchase tickets and to ensure they can do so at competitive prices.

Under the new instruction, travellers may purchase tickets with no cap on the price from home, provided the transaction falls within the foreign currency limit of their credit cards. Previously, there was a cap of $300 on foreign currency transactions to purchase any product or service. This restriction has now been lifted specifically for the purchase of airline tickets. The circular further states that foreign airline companies must deposit the proceeds from ticket sales into their foreign currency accounts held with authorised dealer banks in Bangladesh.

In a landmark verdict that has been in the works for over a year, the Supreme Court "restored and revived" the provision of a non-party caretaker government system in the constitution, for holding the national elections in a free, fair and credible manner. The Appellate Division of the SC overturned its verdict that had scrapped the system in May, 2011. The non-party caretaker government system had been introduced through the 13th Amendment to the constitution in 1996.

A seven-member bench of the apex court headed by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed unanimously delivered the judgment after allowing two separate appeals and four review petitions filed against its 2011 verdict. The Appellate Division, in the short verdict, said, "This court is satisfied that the judgment under review is tainted by several cited errors apparent on the face of the record." The judgement also stipulates it would be formed again to organise the 14th parliamentary elections, with the upcoming 13th edition held under the current interim government.

Renowned baul singer Maharaj Abul Sarkar was sent to jail in Manikganj after being arrested in a case filed on charges of hurting religious sentiments. The case was filed by Mufti Md Abdullah, Imam of Ghior Bandar Mosque, at Ghior Police Station on Thursday (Nov. 20). The imam made the allegation based on Sarkar's performance in Ghior, an upazila of Manikganj, on November 4. Sarkar was arrested in Madaripur by the Detective Branch (DB) of police within hours of the case being filed.

Later in the afternoon, he was produced before the Manikganj Chief Judicial Magistrate Court, where the judge ordered to send him to jail. Md Kohinur Islam, officer-in-charge of Ghior Police Station, said, "It has been alleged in the case that baul singer Abul Sarkar made religiously misleading remarks while performing a song. The case is under investigation."

The multinational port-handlers managing the Laldia Container Terminal and the Pangaon Inland Container Terminal will receive full tax exemptions for 10 years, Md Abdur Rahman Khan, chairman of the National Revenue Board (NBR), disclosed. "Just a few days ago, at a ceremony at Hotel Intercontinental, we signed agreements for the Laldia terminal and Pangaon terminal. These agreements granted 10 years of 100% tax exemption to the companies, including exemptions for technical staff, royalty payments, and dividends," Khan said at the unveiling ceremony of a study by the United Nations in Dhaka.

The Chittagong Port Authority recently inked two deals with two foreign companies to manage the terminals. As per the deals, Danish company Maersk's logistics division APM Terminals will develop and operate the Laldia terminal in Chattogram for the next 30 years, while Switzerland-based logistics firm Medlog SA will manage and operate the Pangaon terminal on the Buriganga in Keraniganj. The almost woefully low number of taxpayers as a percentage of the population in the country was a constant refrain.