Khwaja Shahriar, the chairman of the newly formed board of directors, has said that there was no irregularity or corruption in the bank during the tenure of Abdus Samad Labu, the former chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank (AIBL). He said this in a recent interview with a national daily.

Earlier, on September 3, the central bank dissolved the board of directors of Al-Arafah Islami Bank (AIBL) and appointed an independent board of directors over allegations of involvement with the S. Alam Group. However, the new board of directors did not find any investment in the name or name of the S. Alam Group after auditing the head office and branches.

In that interview, Khwaja Shahriar also said that there is no loan of the S. Alam Group in this bank. Compared to other banks, Al-Arafah is an exception in this regard.

Customers, officials and employees of the bank said that good governance was maintained in the bank during the tenure of former chairman Abdus Samad Labu. Currently, since the formation of the new board of directors, bank officials and employees have been subjected to various forms of harassment. Many officials have been dismissed without notice even though there are no allegations of irregularities or corruption in the bank personally. Many officials are being harassed by being made OSDs in human resources and various zonal offices without any reason just by looking at the employer's reference. Executives and officials of various branches and departments are being forced to resign on the pretext of receiving orders from the Governor of Bangladesh Bank. They are being threatened that they will be dismissed if they do not resign.

Recently, panic has spread among bank officials due to transfers from Chattogram to various distant branches and zones including Dhaka, Rajshahi, Khulna, Bogura, Sylhet. Even officials in their forties and fifties have to run to different parts of the country with transfer orders.

A pregnant female officer who was transferred expressed her anger, saying, 'I have not committed any irregularities in my career. How can I go from Chattogram to Sylhet and work in this condition of my health? If the human resources department cannot be humane, who will we go to?'

In this situation, they expect that the Bangladesh Bank nominated board will return the responsibility of managing the bank to the previous board led by Abdus Samad Labu after the interim responsibility entrusted to them. The current chairman of the board of directors has been forced to admit, 'The second largest Islamic bank in the country is Al-Arafah Islami Bank. That means that this bank already has a very good position in the country. This bank already had fairly good governance. It has been strengthened further.'

It is known that prominent industrialist Alhaj Abdus Samad Labu was elected as the chairman of the bank in three terms by direct vote of the directors of the board of directors. During his tenure, he gave full independence to the management committee in managing the bank. In order to strengthen the internal control of the bank, he made the audit department a stronger department than in the past and provided it with sufficient independence, so that the real picture of the bank emerges. He did not interfere in the normal activities of any department or branch. Rather, during his time, the bank has become a much stronger and more sustainable bank. Due to timely promotions, increments, and bonuses, he is widely popular among the bank's executives, officers, and employees. The bank's corporate and retail customers are also satisfied with the bank's activities during the former chairman's tenure.

After the mass uprising of students and the people on August 5, the newly appointed Governor of Bangladesh Bank dissolved the boards of 11 banks in the country, one of which was Al-Arafah Islami Bank. Although the S. Alam Group has ownership in this bank, they have not played any role in controlling the normal operations of the bank. Like other good banks, this bank has a good reputation in the corporate area. Although there has been a cash crisis in various banks for more than a year, this bank was the opposite. Rather, during this time, Al-Arafah Islami Bank provided cash liquidity support to banks in crisis. As a result, this bank has finally reached a place of trust among its customers. However, although there has been no incident of any irregularities or corruption, a group that owns the bank has influenced the board of directors and transferred hundreds of officers to remote areas without any reason. The board of directors has been told that all these officials are appointed from Patiya and S Alam of Chattogram.

Despite the fact that there was no investment by S Alam Group in the bank or any irregularities during the time of former chairman Abdus Samad Labu, it is necessary to find out whether the agenda of a special group is being implemented through the recent controversial dismissal, transfer, and OSD of executives and officers in the bank. The management and Bangladesh Bank should investigate whether there is any discriminatory behavior against innocent officials. Otherwise, one of the best banks in the country will lose the trust of the people in a short time.

Dhaka: The state has saved 42 million dollars by reducing the premium cost of fuel oil brought on a G2G (government-government) basis.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) had been paying premiums at an increased rate for a long time. It will have to pay about 42 million dollars less in bills against imported fuel oil during the July-December period alone. The state-owned company hopes to reduce it further later.

Md. Amin ul Ahsan joined BPC as chairman a few months ago. He told Barta24.com, after joining, I saw that the premium cost of oil brought on a G2G basis was two to two and a half dollars higher than that of oil brought through tenders. We then met with them and said, even if it is 1 paisa lower than that of the open tender, the price has been given as a condition. I told them that there are several issues in the open tender, there is no G2G, so it has to be lower.

References were made to the tender we had recently given at the meeting. At that time, they agreed to reduce the premium cost by accepting our demands. It will be possible to reduce it further in the future. The BPC Chairman said that more competitive rates are being moved in the future.

He said, they had raised objections to reducing the premium cost, their statement was that we do not receive bills on time, which is causing losses. We have taken their points into consideration, now there are no more arrears. At one time, there were arrears of about 200 million.

In addition to saving money, BPC's important projects have returned to speed. It is known that the Dhaka-Chattogram oil pipeline is going to be inaugurated in January. Although the preliminary survey was completed in 2017, the project did not go ahead at the scheduled speed due to various reasons. Under this project financed by BPC, a 237-kilometer Dhaka-Chattogram pipeline, 59 kilometers from Cumilla to Chandpur, and 8.5 kilometers from Fatullah to Godnail depot will be laid. If the pipeline is commissioned, transportation costs will be saved by at least Tk. 65 crore per year. BPC hopes that transportation losses will also stop. Yet, it was neglected during the previous chairmen's time.

Bangladesh set a record for fuel oil consumption in the 2022-23 fiscal year. That year, 73,46,095 metric tons of fuel oil were used. That year, 49,35,483 metric tons of diesel were used. In terms of demand, furnace oil was next after diesel at 8,80,000 tons. However, in the next fiscal year 2023-24, the demand for fuel oil decreased to 6,361,320 tons. 50 percent of the country's total demand is being supplied by importing refined fuel oil from various sources on the basis of G2G term contracts and the remaining 50 percent is being supplied by importing refined fuel oil from various sources on the basis of international tenders.

Of the annual demand for fuel oil in the country, Eastern Refinery supplies only 1,545,245 metric tons. To meet the remaining demand, refined fuel oil is imported at a relatively high price. If crude oil is refined instead of refined oil, diesel costs can be saved by at least 5 to 6 taka per liter. That is why the ERL-2 project was taken up in 2008. A decade has passed before the work can begin due to various reasons including bureaucratic complications. Although the budget was initially set at Tk. 13 thousand crore, the expenditure has been increased more than 10 times. The latest revised DPP has set a cost of Tk. 23 thousand 736 crore. The production target of the second unit has been set at 30 lakh metric tons.

The BPC Chairman said that strong steps have been taken to implement the ERL-2 project. Hopefully, its progress will be visible very soon.

In addition to cost savings, many bold steps have been taken in internal affairs. There were also many officials who had been in the same department for 20 years. Despite various allegations of irregularities and corruption, no action was taken against them. It is said that they have been able to intimidate the corrupt and influential by transferring them.

Despite the increase in international market, the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has reduced the price of LP gas in a strategic move. The new price of 12 kg LPG has been set at Tk. 1,455.

Autogas has been reduced by 3 paisa from Tk. 66.84 per liter to Tk. 66.81. The new price will be effective from 6 pm, BERC said.

BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed announced the new price for November through a press conference at the BERC hall room on Tuesday (November 5).

The price per ton in the international market has increased by about 10 dollars compared to last month, and the average dollar rate has increased from Tk. 119.63 to Tk. 120.21. That is why the price was expected to increase a lot. But BERC is providing relief to customers by pulling up the ship rent. It has calculated the average premium cost for the 10 months of this year and set it at 108 dollars per ton.

Until April 12, 2021, the price of LPG was at the discretion of the companies. When BERC announced the price on April 12, it was said that the price announced by the Saudi state company Aramco, which is an import-dependent fuel, would be considered the base price. At that time, the ship fare was set at 95 dollars, later it was increased to 123 dollars for LPG importers in two stages. The current commission has reduced it to 108 dollars. Although the international market price has increased, it has decreased in Bangladesh.

When the price was announced in 2021, it was said that the base price would fluctuate if the Saudi price fluctuated. Other commissions will remain unchanged. Since the announcement, BERC has been announcing the price of LPG every month. But there are many complaints about getting the price at the price determined by BERC.

India's Adani Power has told Bangladesh that it will completely cut off power supply if the dues of 850 million dollars are not paid by November 7.

This information was reported by the Indian media Times of India.

India's Adani Power Jharkhand Limited has recently reduced power supply to Bangladesh by half. It is said that they have taken this decision after not receiving the due bills on time.

Citing sources, the Times of India report said that after the dues payment deadline passed on October 31, the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) tried to open a 170 million dollar letter of credit through Krishi Bank. But BPDB did not fulfill the conditions mentioned in the power purchase agreement. Due to the delay in paying the dues, Adani Power has reduced its power supply from Jharkhand to Bangladesh from October 31.

The Times of India said that according to data from Power Grid Bangladesh, Adani's Godda plant supplied only 724 MW of electricity out of its 1,496 MW power generation capacity on Friday (November 1). Production at other major plants including Payra, Rampal and SS Power 1 has also been reduced due to fuel shortage.

The report said that NTPC's joint venture Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company's Rampal plant in Bagerhat and SS Power I are already producing less than half due to coal shortage.

Quoting a source, the Times of India said that as Bangladesh has not paid its dues on time, the arrears have been increasing day by day. Although Bangladesh paid about 90 million dollars to Adani Power in October. In the previous months, Bangladesh had paid 20-50 million dollars arrears every month against a monthly bill of 90-100 million dollars.