Earlier Tk. 50-70 excess than the fixed rate was collected. Now there are reports of LP gas being sold at a higher price of Tk. 100 to Tk. 200 depending on the place.

In this month, the maximum retail price of a 12 kg cylinder has been set at Tk. 1284, but Omera Group dealers in Rangpur are charging Tk. 1330 and Beximco Group dealers are charging Tk. 1350. Sellers are selling at Tk. 1400 by adding Tk. 50. Again, there are reports of sales at the rate of Tk. 1500 in some areas.

Neither the retailers nor the dealers, the importers themselves comply with the fixed rates announced by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC). Bashundhara LPG, Omera LPG, Total LPG and United Group's Unigas are not paying attention for keeping higher prices. After multiple rounds of notices, only Omera Group responded. And a few months later, Total asked for time to respond. Total and United were condemned on July 11, while Omera and Bashundhara were condemned by BERC on May 22.

Omera, in its reply, said that they mentioned the transport cost and distributor's commission on the invoice. Adjust this amount later. Others are still ignoring BERC's letter. Others, including Omera, have continued to sell at higher prices than before.

In July, 12 kg cylinders were sold at dealer level at Tk 924, but United LPG sold at Tk 1074, Total Gas at Tk. 1019, BERC found evidence. On the other hand, Bashundhara was condemned for selling at a higher price of Tk. 50 and Omera at a higher price of Tk. 75.

United LPG Limited AGM Raisa told Barta24.com that BERC fixed the rates on 3rd, subject to system updates. Do we stop selling until then?

As per the BERC guidelines, the new rates are to be effective from 6 pm on the 3rd. The invoice is dated 5th, for the sake of argument, if we assume the previous month's rate, it is also an average. In the previous month (June) it was supposed to be sold to the distributor for Tk. 1002. And the highest retail price was Tk. 1074. So does United LPG never pay distributor and retailer commission. When asked such a question, she did not answer.

BERC Chairman Nurul Amin told Barta24.com, I was out of the country, no updates are known at this moment. I have heard that some companies have responded to the complaint. Their answers will be scrutinized, and legal action will be taken against those who don't.

Asked what kind of action is available, he said, "They are our licensees, we have the power to cancel their license."

He said, no one is above the law. Everyone has to sell LP gas at fixed rate. Importers objected to the dollar rate, so we increased it there. Some other places are also given benefits. Even then those who do not comply with the price will not be given a discount.

He said, we have strengthened the drives. On the 4th of this month, I conducted an operation with the magistrate in Narayanganj. I raided Gazipur again on September 9, where a distributor was fined Tk. 50,000. Two retailers were also fined. Now I went and saw that it will not happen. If any irregularity is found, immediate punishment will be given.

The question was that the big culprits are the importers; they are the ones charging higher prices. What do distributors and retailers have to do? In response, BERC chairman said, we sent a team to the market and conducted a survey. Those committing this crime will not be spared. We will definitely bring them under the law.

On April 12, 2021, BERC announced the first LP gas price. Then a total commission of Tk. 359.40 per 12 kg cylinder was fixed for LPG importers, dealers and retailers. Loab (LPG Importers' Association) raised objections on the amount of commission on the same day of price announcement. They also put pressure on BERC by boycotting monthly rate announcements. Loab president Azam J Chowdhury even threatened to stop the import of LPG. BERC was forced to increase the commission from Tk. 359 to Tk. 441 on October 10 after 7 months. Still, companies are charging higher prices.

After the announcement of the first rate, BERC had said that it would take some time to adapt to the new system. Everything will be fine with time. Two and a half years have passed, and now there is more decline than improvement day by day.

BERC was just a stickler for retailers. After the new chairman joined the commission, this is the first time it has looked at the LPG Company. Even then, the violence has not subsided. This constitutional institution looks very helpless. Not only importers but also many government companies are not willing to pay attention to it. Some have called it the Paper Tiger.

Kazi Habibbul Awal Commission is indifferent in the implementation of Election Commission (EC) rules. In response to the comments made by prominent media persons, the constitutional body said that their statements on talk shows and various newspapers may mislead the public. That is why the constitutional institution has highlighted the actual position of the laws and rules of the Election Commission.

On Saturday (December 2), the EC's real position was highlighted through the Election Commission's public relations wing circular.

According to the EC, some of the dignitaries are commenting in various electronic media talk shows or newspapers that the Election Commission is lax in enforcing the code of conduct. Such concocted statements by prominent figures in the media can mislead the public. By undermining public confidence in the Election Commission as a constitutional body, it may negatively affect the upcoming parliamentary elections, which is not desirable at all. Because of this, the actual position of laws and regulations is revealed.

According to the agency, there is a statutory regulation called Political Candidates Conduct Rules, 2008 to regulate the conduct of campaigning in general elections and by-elections of the Jatiya Sangsad(JS). According to rule no. 5 of these rules, political parties, nominated candidates or independent candidates must follow the instructions given in rules no. 6 to 14 of the rules. In this case, the main subject of the code of conduct is political parties and candidates. A candidate can be a party nominee or an independent. Rule 12 of the rules says 21 days before. This means candidates will not get more than 21 days to campaign.

Regarding the rules, the EC also said that no candidate nominated by any political party or independent is a candidate within the meaning of the Act and Code of Conduct until the candidature is finalized through the Returning Officer. Election campaigning shall take place after scrutinizing of Returning Officers, decision of appeals, etc., finalizing the list of candidates for a constituency and allotment of symbols to open the field for campaigning. Then all the candidates in the constituency will be equally one candidate. From that time the Code of Conduct will apply to them.

Rule 12 regarding conduct prohibits any election campaign by or on behalf of a candidate 21 days before. The campaign period for the candidates has been fixed from December 18 this year to January 5, 2024 at 8 am. No person is legally eligible to become a candidate before December 18. As a result, there is no opportunity to campaign for or against any candidate in any constituency.

In order to make the 12th Jatiya Sangsad(JS) elections fair, the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Mymensingh has been withdrawn and the DC of Sunamganj has been transferred.

This information was informed in a notification signed by Bhaskar Debnath Bappi, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Public Administration by the order of the President on Saturday (December 2).

In the letter, it was informed that the Ministry of Public Administration has issued an order to withdraw the DC of Mymensingh and at the same time transfer the DC of Sunamganj to Mymensingh as per the instructions of the EC in connection with the upcoming 12th JS Elections.

When asked about this, EC Additional Secretary Ashok Kumar Debnath said that this decision was taken in the wake of the request of the commission. Because if we don't want to, there will be no transfer now. Also, we wanted to withdraw the DC of Mymensingh.

As per the schedule announced by the EC, the time for submission of nomination papers ended on Thursday (November 30). The Returning Officer will scrutinize the nomination papers of the candidates from December 1 to 4. Appeals against the decision of the Returning Officer can be filed and disposed of in the Commission from 5 to 15th December; last date for withdrawal of candidature is 17th December. The Returning Officers will allot the symbols on December 18. The election campaign will continue till 8 am on January 5. Polling will be held on January 7, 2024 (Sunday).

This time, the total number of voters in the JS election is 11 crore 96 lakh 91 thousand 633 voters. The Election Commission (EC) released the final vote list for the JS election on November 2. According to EC data, 6 crore 7 lakh 71 thousand 579 male voters are among the total voters this time while 5 crore 89 lakh 19 thousand 202 female voters. And the number of Hijra voters is 852.

Earthquake was felt in different parts of the country including the capital Dhaka. The magnitude of the earthquake was 5.5 on the Richter scale. Its origin was 45 km south of Cumilla. No damage was initially reported.
 
The tremor was felt around 9:35 am on Saturday (December 2).

The people of Jamalpur are happy getting the Vijay Express train on the first day of the month of Vijay. So people crowded the platform to welcome the train. The passengers on the train were welcomed with flowers and sweets. The common people of the region are happy and excited to get the train after a long decade of agitation.

When the Vijay Express train arrived at Jamalpur Junction railway station at around 8:30 pm on Friday (December 01), locals including Awami League Organizing Secretary Mirza Azam and former Principal Secretary to the prime minister Abul Kalam Azad welcomed the passengers by distributing sweets and flowers.

Meanwhile, the whole station area was filled with joy. The people of several nearby districts will benefit from the Vijay Express train from Jamalpur station.

It is known that the Vijay Express train from Mymensingh to Chattogram was launched in 2014. This train has 227 seats for Jamalpur. Seat fares are fixed at a minimum of Tk. 430 to Tk. 1527. The train will leave Jamalpur at 8:10 PM 6 days a week and reach Chattogram at around 5:00 AM.

Passengers said that earlier they had to go to Mymensingh and wait to board the Vijay Express train. It was a waste of money and time. Save valuable time and money by leaving this train from Jamalpur. Thousands of students, businessmen and general passengers traveling on this route will benefit from this. Vijay Express train will be extended from Jamalpur to Cox's Bazar via Chattogram. They will get more benefits.

However, the station authorities said that based on the demand of the passengers, they will discuss with the authorities to increase the number of seats and extend the train to Cox's Bazar.

Jamalpur Railway Junction Station Master Asaduzzaman said, today the desired Vijay Express train has arrived among us. With the arrival of the Vijay Express train, the hopes of the people of Jamalpur have been fulfilled. People of Jamalpur can travel to Chattogram at a very low cost.