The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) wants to adjust the price of jet fuel (aircraft fuel) every 3 months. Other commissions will remain unchanged, the company is thinking of adjusting only the import price like LP gas.

After the public hearing, BERC has been announcing the price of LP gas every month since April 12, 2021. BERC has been adjusting the price every month by adjusting that part if the international market price of import-dependent LP gas is more or less. BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed said that BERC is thinking about the same formula.

He told Barta24.com that initially, thoughts are being had about adjusting the price every 3 months. A public hearing will be held on March 23. The opinions of all parties will be taken there and then a final decision will be made.

Why not every month like LP gas! In response to the question, the BERC Chairman said that the users of jet fuel are very limited. That is why it has been decided to adjust it every 3 months initially. Later, a decision will be taken after considering the situation.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) itself is the importer of this product and they have been setting the price. This is the first time that BERC is going to set the price of jet fuel. In a notification issued by the Interim Government's Energy and Mineral Resources Division on September 18, the authority to set the price of jet fuel was vested in BERC. After that, BPC has applied for price adjustment.

On the other hand, jet fuel marketing company Padma Oil Company has applied to increase their distribution charges. The company said in its proposal that supply and marketing costs 2.11 taka. According to the existing scheme, only 95 paisa is being collected there.

To participate in the public hearing on jet fuel to be held on March 23 for the first time, names must be registered by March 18. For this, the name must be submitted in writing to BERC.

BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed told Barta24.com, since there is no formula in advance, we have also sat with BPC, and their formula has been taken into account. In addition, the jet fuel prices of Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Jeddah and expatriate-populated countries are being verified. BPC cited the examples of Kolkata, Karachi, Delhi, and the issue of expatriate-populated routes must be kept in mind. The matter will be resolved through a hearing.

According to the BPC report, 73 lakh 46 thousand MT of fuel oil was used in the 2023-24 fiscal year. Of this, diesel is 67.19 percent, furnace oil is 11.99 percent, followed by Jet-A One 6.42 percent while Petrol 6.19, octane 5.36, kerosene 1.05, others 1.80 percent.

BERC was established as a neutral and quasi-judicial body through the passage of the Energy Regulatory Commission Act in 2003. BERC, which was formed to ensure the accountability of gas and electricity distribution companies and the rights of consumers, originally started its journey in 2008. Since the regulations that gave it the authority to set the prices of all types of energy were pending in the law, BERC had been setting the prices of only gas and electricity. So far, 13 regulations have been formulated. And 12 regulations have been pending for more than a decade. The bureaucrats of the interim government are also walking on the path of keeping the matter pending. Suddenly, the law was amended and a provision for price adjustment (lower/higher) was added to the executive order in 2023. Since then, the quasi-judicial body has been practically unemployed. As BERC finalized the prices through public hearings, various inconsistencies of the utilities used to come to light. This created a kind of pressure on them, which was becoming a culture day by day. The Awami League government killed that process by strangling it. After the interim government took office, it abolished the clause for fixing electricity and gas prices through an executive order.

The gazette was published on August 27, abolishing the law for fixing electricity and gas prices through an executive order. The Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) regained the sole power to fix electricity and gas prices at the consumer level. Then, through a notification, the issue of jet fuel was entrusted to BERC.

However, many people have expressed anger over the continued adjustment of diesel, kerosene, petrol and octane prices through an executive order.

Asif Mahmud, adviser to the interim government, has written a book titled 'July: Motherland or Death' on the July Uprising.

The cover of the book, published by 'Prothoma' Publishing, was unveiled at the Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the National Museum on Saturday (March 15) afternoon.

At the cover page unveiling ceremony, Law Adviser Professor Dr. Asif Nazrul said that the book has a fluent narrative. It describes courage and hardship. Asif Mahmud wrote the book very frankly. He was not bothered by the thought of who would be happy and who would be unhappy after hearing his description. One limitation of this book is that it is written very briefly. Due to which the identity of many characters of the movement is not revealed in this book.

Referring to the limitations of this book, Asif Mahmud said that it is not possible to cover all the descriptions of July in just one hundred and twenty pages. The book is a summary of the movement. A more detailed description may be written in the next edition.

Mentioning the need to bring out the stories of people from all walks of life in the history of the July Uprising, he said, "I think that to complete the history of the July Movement, it is necessary to bring out the stories of people from all walks of life. Only when the stories of hundreds of thousands of organizers of the mass uprising from all over the country come out, this history will be complete."

He also said that many people were involved in this uprising. But the participation of many has not been mentioned in this book. The stories of many have come out through social media. Many still do not want their contributions to be mentioned. I hope the reader will forgive the brevity of the book.

Urging everyone to write down the story of the uprising, Asif Mahmud said, "The book is written from my experience. I will urge the participants of the uprising to write down your own experiences so that we can get a complete picture of the mass uprising in the next two to three years."

He further said, everyone should be careful not to distort history. We have seen that the history of the Liberation War has been presented in various ways. Therefore, we should record the histories of the mass uprisings while they are still in our memory.

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizens Party, said, since this movement has taken the form of a mass uprising as a result of the spontaneous participation of the people; this movement has been successful with the cooperation of various people from various sides. Many incidents of the movement are still unknown to us. We still do not know how this movement was organized in Cumilla or Narsingdi or how it was organized in other places outside Dhaka. These stories need to come out more.

He further said, Asif's book has a brief description of the uprising. The main plan of the movement was to involve people spontaneously in this movement. Initially, we started the movement with people known to the student power, but from a strategic point, we went beyond that identity and expanded the scope of the movement with the identity of anti-discrimination and involved more people with it. In that sequence, Sarjis, Hasnat and Mahin joined in.

Also present at the publication ceremony were Mahfuz Alam, information adviser to the interim government, and Rifat Rashid, joint member secretary of the Jatiya Nagorik Party.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed concern over the spread of false information targeting Bangladesh.

Foreign Affairs Adviser Md. Touhid Hossain told reporters at a joint press conference with the UN Secretary-General at the capital's Hotel Intercontinental on Saturday (March 15).

He said his (Guterres') visit will build a positive and strong image of the country against misinformation and disinformation campaigns and attempts to destabilize Bangladesh.

The adviser said he acknowledged the complexity of the reform process for free and fair elections and 'genuine transformation' of Bangladesh.

Noting that the UN has pledged its full commitment to the reform process led by DR. Muhammad Yunus, Touhid Hossain said he (Guterres) will do everything he can to support the efforts of the interim government and stand by Bangladesh and its people.

He said the UN Secretary-General's assurance of support would be instrumental in Bangladesh's successful reform process and transition to democracy, in line with the common aspirations of the people of Bangladesh.

He added that the UNSG's Ramadan Solidarity Visit is being held on the 50th anniversary of Bangladesh's membership in the UN, which is a historic moment for both Bangladesh and the UN.

He said the Secretary-General himself is witnessing the formative phase of a new Bangladesh, in the wake of the supreme sacrifices of the July-August mass uprising in the pursuit of a just, democratic and inclusive society.

Touhid Hossain said that during his visit, the Secretary-General visited the Rohingya camps in Cox's Bazar yesterday and expressed full solidarity with the forcibly displaced people and pledged to work towards their repatriation to Myanmar with dignity, safety and rights.

In the camps, Guterres met with Rohingya children and youth, observing how they are preparing themselves for survival through multi-skills and training, and creating learning opportunities for a dignified return to their homeland.

The UN Secretary-General held a unique historic solidarity iftar with more than 100,000 Rohingya people, including the Chief Adviser. 

In addition to the police’s ‘hotline’ service to prevent violence against women, any incident of violence recorded on the ‘Help App’ will be directly treated as a First Information Report (FIR), said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Commissioner Sheikh Md. Sajjat Ali.

He said this while speaking as the chief guest at the inauguration of the app called ‘HELP’ (Harassment Elimination Literacy Program) on Saturday (March 15) to take action against those involved in sexual harassment of women in public transport. The app has been jointly developed by the Broadcast Journalist Center (BJC) and Switch Bangladesh Foundation.

The DMP Commissioner said that incidents of harassment and torture of women occur in reality much more than what is reported in the media. Therefore, besides the police, various private organizations should also come forward to control crime.

He also said that the harassment that women are subjected to in various places including Magura, Dhaka University, Mohammadpur is very distressing. However, these incidents occur several times more in reality than what is reported in the media. In most cases, the victims do not want to bring the issues to the fore due to social and family reasons.

If you report on the app, the information will reach the volunteers. The victim will be able to call the duty officer of the nearest police station directly. The app will be connected to the 999 emergency service. The reports will be saved through the app, which will be useful for legal assistance later. There will be an opportunity to report on this app even if your identity is kept confidential.

The app will have an 'alert' option, which, if pressed, will immediately reach the volunteers with the 'real-time location' of the victim.