Qatar will provide additional 2 million tons of LNG to Bangladesh



Serajul Islam Siraj, Special Correspondent
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Qatar has agreed to increase its supply of LNG (liquefied natural gas) by another 2 million tons per year in a long-term deal. The Division of Energy and Mineral Resources has confirmed the preparations for the signing of a formal agreement between Dhaka and Doha on June 1 in Qatar.

Qatar has been supplying 2.5 million tons of LNG per year under the previous agreement. If the new LNG is added, the quantity will stand at 3.5 million tons. But this gas is not coming to Bangladesh now. It will gradually increase from 2025 onwards. Sources from the Division of Energy and Mineral Resources will come to full capacity from 2027.

On June 1, a high-level team led by Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid left for Qatar to sign the agreement. Secretary of Energy and Mineral Resources Division Md. Khaeruzzaman Majumdar is with the State Minister in the team along with Chairman of Petrobangla Janendra Nath Sarkar and Deputy General Manager (LNG) Engineer Abdul Mukit of Transforming Natural Gas Company Limited.

The practice of hiding the price of LNG is noticeable at all times. As usual this time too, none of the officers agreed to open their mouths. However, an official of Petrobangla said that compared to the previous contract, this time the price is slightly lower. But other conditions may be a bit uncomfortable for Bangladesh. He could not give an idea about the conditions.

Recently, before the Prime Minister's visit to Qatar, Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid said that there is a difference of opinion regarding some conditions for importing LNG from Qatar. Earlier in the agreement, if Qatar could not provide the supply, Qatar would pay Bangladesh the additional price it would cost to buy a cargo of LNG in the sport market at that time. In the new contract, this condition has been lifted and proposed to be 15 percent. That is, if the price is high in the open market, if they sell, Bangladesh will suffer. We have asked for a review of that condition.

According to Petrobangla sources, the existing agreement with Qatar states that the supply will not be below 1.8 million tons per year, and will not go above 2.5 million tons. 2.5 million tons are being imported from Qatar and 1 million tons from Oman under long-term contracts. Besides Qatar, the two countries also agreed to increase the import of LNG by 1 million tons from Oman.

Our two FSRUs have a daily supply capacity of 1,000 million cubic feet, RPGCL sources said. A maximum of 95 percent can be used on average. That is, Bangladesh has the capacity to import up to 6 million tons per year. In addition, discussions with the Summit Group are continuing for the establishment of another FSRU. The third FSRU will have a daily import capacity of 1500 million. Discussions on the fourth FSRU are ongoing. An LNG terminal is also under construction. It will have a capacity of 1 thousand mmcfd.

The government had been importing LNG from the open market as well as long-term contracts. But due to the war in Ukraine, the price of LNG in the open market has gone up a lot. For the first time, LNG was bought from the open market for less than $4 per unit. The same amount of LNG had to be paid up to 37 dollars. Currently it is trading around $14.

By reducing the temperature of natural gas to minus 160 degrees Celsius through cooling technology, the gas becomes a liquid. This liquefied natural gas is called LNG. When natural gas is liquefied at normal atmospheric pressure, its volume is reduced by about 600 times. That is, 600 liters of gas can be converted into LNG and filled in a small bottle of only one liter. LNG is made for ease of transportation. After being brought to Bangladesh, it is regasified and supplied to the line.

   

Dhaka is the sixth most polluted city in the world, Seoul is on top



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com
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Today, Dhaka is sixth in the list of the most polluted cities in the world. The air quality of the capital has become 'unhealthy' with an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 172 at 6:50 am today.

South Korea's capital Seoul topped the air quality index with 343. South Korea's Incheon, Pakistan's Lahore, Vietnam's Chiang Mai and India's Delhi occupy the second, third, fourth and fifth places in the list with AQI scores of 217, 187, 179 and 177 respectively.

An AQI score between 101 and 200 is considered 'unhealthy' for sensitive groups. An AQI score between 201 and 300 is considered 'very unhealthy'. And an AQI between 301 and 400 is considered 'hazardous', posing a serious health risk to residents.

AQI in Bangladesh is determined based on 5 parameters of pollution, namely - Particulate Matter (PM10 & PM2.5), NO2, CO, SO2 and Ozone (O3).

Dhaka has been suffering from air pollution for a long time. Its air quality generally becomes unhealthy during winters and improves slightly during monsoons.

In March 2019, a report by the Department of Environment and the World Bank stated that the three main causes of Dhaka's air pollution are brick kilns, smoke from vehicles and dust from construction activities.

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Taka 400 crores laundered through digital Hundi, controlled by Dubai



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com
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Police's Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has arrested 5 people for allegedly laundering around Tk. 400 crore abroad through Digital Hundi using Mobile Banking Service (MFS).

CID Chief Additional IGP Mohammad Ali Mia informed this in a press conference at CID headquarters on Thursday (March 28) afternoon.

The arrested are - Nasim Ahmed (62), the owner of Tasmia Associates, Fazle Rabbi Sumon (32), the territory sales manager of Agent SIM, Md. Kamruzzaman (33), Zahir Uddin (37), representative of Jet Robotics Apps Bangladesh and Khairul Islam alias Pius (34).

Additional IGP Mohammad Ali Mia said, a gang has smuggled around Tk. 400 crore abroad through digital Hundi using mobile banking services. Five members of this gang were arrested during the operation.

He said that Tk. 400 crores illegally came to Bangladesh through Jet Robotics app in the last few months. Police traced the app through intelligence.

He also said that the money of this gang was transacted from the Chattogram based distribution house. Five members of the gang were arrested in separate raids in Dhaka and Chattogram on Wednesday night.

He said that Tk. 28 lakh 51 thousand cash was seized from them at the time of arrest. He said that they used to rent development agent SIMS and deliver money through them to the grassroots level.

The head of CID said that Mamun, the master of this gang lives in Dubai. He is using agent SIM here. This app used for smuggling cannot work outside 48 SIM along the specific link sent from Dubai. Only seven people can enter this app.

Referring to this as a modern form of Hundi business, he said, money is being circulated in the country through this app by blocking remittances coming to Bangladesh. Already we got 5-7 more such organizations who are working like this.

He said, in the last three months, Tk. 400 crores have been hindered from coming to Bangladesh through Jet Robotic Apps. Five people using these apps have been arrested and their devices seized.

He said, Chattogram's development distribution house Tasmia Associates company has 1000 Bkash Agent SIMs. These agent SIMs who are not performing well, the agent SIMs provide DSOs to the users of Jet Robotic Apps.

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Demand for punishment for those responsible for electrocution death in Moulvibazar



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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The death of 6 members of the same family due to electrocution in Moulvibazar is very shocking and heartbreaking. The chairman of the National Human Rights Commission Dr. Kamaluddin Ahmed said that the main responsible person and institution should be brought under accountability.

He made this comment at a discussion on 'Role of Media in Protection of Human Rights and Consumer Rights' organized by 'Business Digest' at a hotel in the capital on Thursday (March 28).

The Chairman of the Human Rights Commission said, after investigating the incident of Moulvibazar, appropriate legal action should be taken against those responsible and necessary measures should be taken to prevent the recurrence of such incidents. We could not do anything for one family, but we have to do for hundreds of such families.

He also said that the issue of rights is directly and indirectly the daily practice of the media. Media can question all the irregularities; make people aware of their rights and duties and play an important role in establishing rights. We can carry out reformative activities only in view of the news published in the media.

Dr. Kamal Uddin Ahmed called on the media workers to take all-out efforts to spread the necessary knowledge about the constitution, law and rights among the people.

At one stage of the discussion, he said about the recurrence of fires, we have not learned proper lessons from the big fires and explosions in Nimatli, Newmarket and Bangabazar in the past years. Had we taken effective measures, recurrence of fires could have been prevented.

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Suggestion to introduce Human Rights Wing in the Foreign Ministry



Staff Correspondent, Barta24.com, Dhaka
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Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Foreign Affairs has recommended setting up a new wing on human rights to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The suggestion was made at the parliamentary committee meeting held at Jatiya Sangsad Bhavan on Thursday (March 28). After the meeting, this information was informed in a press release of the Parliament Secretariat.

The meeting recommended taking necessary steps to recognize March 25 as International Genocide Day. A proposal was made in the meeting to visit the Rohingya camps Kutupalong and Bhasanchar with the members of the Standing Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Chairman of the committee AK Abdul Momen chaired the meeting and members of the committee and Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud, Shahriar Alam, Nahim Razzak, Nizam Uddin Jalil, Nurul Islam Nahid, Habibur Rahman, Saimum Sarwar, Zara Zabeen Mahbub took part in the meeting. #

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