State hydrocarbons agency Petrobangla’s is close to receiving the nod from the very top, to invite a round of international bidding for Bangladesh's offshore gas blocks based on its new model production sharing contract (Model PSC) within the current year. A proposal in this regard was recently sent to the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) for its approval to proceed, UNB understands from its sources. “We’ve received initial approval from the Energy and Mineral Resources Division and then, as the next step, it was forwarded to the PMO as Prime Minister is the in-charge of the ministry,” said a top official of Petrobangla, preferring not to be named in discussing the sensitive issue. He said after the PM's approval, it would be placed in the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) for the very final approval, as it acts as the highest policymaking body. Since the PM heads the CCEA, that should be a formality once it passes her desk.  Read:  ‘Excessive delay’ in clearing dues: BPDB could end up paying independent power producers Tk 6000cr more Then Petrobangla will be free to move towards inviting the international bidding round, he noted.  Earlier, Petrobangla updated its Model PSC,  to make it more attractive for international oil companies (IOCs) to explore for oil and gas in the country’s maritime areas in the Bay of Bengal. In the new Model PSC, the gas price will be offered at 10 percent of Brent Crude, the most traded of all the oil and gas benchmarks. It means if Brent is being traded at $75 per barrel, the price at which the government would buy any gas the company is able to produce at $7.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF). “The gas price will always remain linked with the international oil price,” said the official, referring to the new provision in the 'Model PSC 2023'. Read: Bangladesh needs to develop a National Hydrogen Strategy, says Australia-based scientist Dr Nawshad There will also be no difference between the price of gas in shallow or deep water blocks, he said. This is another change from the previous PSC. “If the oil price goes down or up, the gas price will follow it rationally and Bangladesh will purchase the gas from the IOCs at this rate,” said the official. Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets a 40 percent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 percent. The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So if the gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works. Read: Petrobangla initiates move to end foreign company’s monopoly in pre-paid gas metering system The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was set at $5.5 per MCF for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from deep sea blocks. Scottish consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie was appointed last year to update the Model PSC - specifically, to make it more attractive to IOCs. Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker recently said the organisation forwarded its proposal to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division for approval with a plan to go for international bidding by July or August this year. Officials said previously many IOCs were reluctant to participate in the bidding of the exploration due to the low price offered by Bangladesh. Read More: Petrobangla initiates move to end foreign company’s monopoly in pre-paid gas metering system Official sources said the recent excessive hikes in petroleum fuel price, especially that of liquefied natural gas (LNG), prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so that the IOCs get interested to invest here. The country has a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located offshore and 22 onshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas. Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks -SS-04 and SS-09-are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started. Bangladesh's offshore area remains largely unexplored, especially its deep sea (DS) blocks,  despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost nine years ago. Read more: Govt planning to invite int’l bidding for offshore blocks with more attractive PSC Currently, about 2300 mmcfd gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in Bangladesh, while about 700 mmcfd gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 1000 mmcfd daily.

The government of Bangladesh is preparing to invite international bidding for the country's offshore gas blocks by making the model production sharing contract (Model PSC) more attractive for international oil companies (IOCs) to invest in hydrocarbon exploration in the Bay. “We’re going to offer the price of gas at 10 percent of Brent Crude,” a top official of Petrobangla, the state hydrocarbons agency, told UNB, referring to the most traded of all of the oil benchmarks. The official, preferring anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue, said if Brent oil is traded at $75 per barrel, the gas price would be $7.5 per thousand cubic feet (MCF). The gas price will always remain linked with the international oil price, he said, referring to the new provision of the 'Model PSC 2023'. Also read: Petrobangla to amend Model PSC further to attract IOCs in offshore gas exploration But there will be no difference between the price of gas in shallow and deep water blocks, he said. “If the oil price goes down or up, the gas price will follow it rationally and Bangladesh will purchase the explored gas from the IOCs at this rate,” said the official. Under a Model PSC, normally, if any IOC discovers gas, it gets a 40 percent stake while the government obtains the remaining 60 percent. The government also buys the IOC's gas at a certain price. So if the gas price is raised, IOCs feel encouraged to invest in exploration works. Read More: Govt expedites gas exploration activities to increase primary fuel supply: Nasrul Hamid The government had last amended the Model PSC in mid-2019, whereby the price of gas for any participating IOC, that is, the price at which they would sell the gas to the government, was raised to $5.5 per MCF for shallow water blocks, and $7.25 per MCF for gas extracted from its deep sea blocks. The source also informed that the new proposal has been prepared as per the recommendations of a Scottish consultancy firm, Wood Mackenzie, which was appointed last year to work out the new plan for Petrobangla to attract the international bidding for IOCs. Talking to reporters, Petrobangla chairman Zanendra Nath Sarker recently said the organisation has recently forwarded its proposal with the Scottish consultancy firm Wood Mackenzie’s recommendation to the Energy and Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources seeking its approval for the plan. Read More: Amid nationwide gas shortages, new exploration work continues in Sylhet The ministry will now seek the approval of the Prime Minister’ Office for Petrobangla's plan. “Once we receive the nod of the PMO and the ministry, we would place a proposal to the Cabinet Economic Affairs Committee for the final approval,” he added. Another senior official of Petrobangla also said that as soon as the Cabinet body approves the proposal, the organisation will invite international bidding within two months. “In this case, we hope we can go for bidding within July or August next,” he told UNB preferring anonymity. He said previously many IOCs were reluctant to participate in the bidding of the exploration due to the price offered by Bangladesh. Read More: Accelerate gas exploration to overcome energy crisis: ICCB “Now we hope it will be a lucrative offer for the IOCs to invest in the offshore areas of Bangladesh for gas exploration,” he added. Petrobangla appointed Wood Mackenzie last year to help amend the Model PSC 2019, to attract international oil companies amid the volatile international fuel market. Official sources said the recent excessive hike in petroleum fuel price, especially that of liquefied natural gas (LNG), has prompted the government to go for further amending the existing PSC so that the IOCs get interested to invest here. The country has a total of 48 blocks of which 26 are located offshore and 22 onshore. Of the 26 offshore blocks, 11 are located in shallow sea (SS) water while 15 are located in deep sea (DS) water areas. Read More: Russian Embassy refutes TIB statement on Dhaka-Moscow grain deals, gas exploration Of these, 24 offshore gas blocks remain open for IOCs while two blocks -SS-04 and SS-09-are under contract with a joint venture of ONGC Videsh Ltd and Oil India Ltd where drilling works have recently started. There was a target to invite international bidding in March 2020 for exploration in offshore areas, but that got postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic that emerged at exactly the same time. "The recent upward trend in oil and gas price has pushed the policymakers to further raise the gas price by introducing much more flexibility and incentives including keeping the export option open in the PSC," said another Petrobangla official. He mentioned that the government had to import LNG at $36 per MMBtu while it was just below $10 early last year. Read More: Gas Fields in Bangladesh: Exploration of 2 more wells expected to begin this year The latest Russian invasion of Ukraine has further deepened the global market volatility pushing up the petroleum fuel price over $100 per barrel, the highest in the last 7 years. Now again the oil and gas prices are on a downward trend and Brent crude oil is traded at $75 per barrel while LNG price is at below $14 per MMBtu. Bangladesh's offshore area remains unexplored despite the settlement of its dispute with neighbouring Myanmar and India over the maritime boundary almost nine years ago. Currently, about 2300 mmcfd gas is being produced from 22 gas fields in the country, while about 700 mmcfd gas is being imported from abroad to meet the demand of about 4000 mmcfd, leaving a deficit of about 1000 mmcfd. Read More: US companies encouraged for oil, gas exploration in Bangladesh's offshore

The UN experts Wednesday commended the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for considering allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports competitions as neutral athletes. "We urge the IOC to adopt a decision in that direction, and to go further, ensuring the nondiscrimination of any athlete based on their nationality," he added. On January 25 and following discussions with two special rapporteurs, the executive board of the IOC issued a statement referring to the need to respect the rights of all athletes to be treated without any discrimination, following the Olympic Charter. A few days after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the IOC recommended the ban of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials such as judges from international competitions. The experts said the recent statement appeared to be a reversal of that policy. "The IOC recommendation raised serious issues of direct discrimination because athletes should not be discriminated against based on their nationality," the UN experts said. "We understand the desire to support Ukrainian athletes and the Ukrainian Olympic community, who suffer terribly from the war, together with all other Ukrainians," they said. "But the Olympic Committee and more widely the Olympic community has also the compelling obligation to abide by the Olympic Charter, and more widely international human rights norms prohibiting discrimination." "When states so flagrantly ignore human rights, we have a greater obligation to stand in support of our common values," the experts added. They said while understanding that all precautions must be taken to prevent sports competitions from being instrumentalised, no athlete should be required to take sides in the conflict. Read more: Bangladesh elected to chair IOC Regional Committee for IOCINDIO Referring to the IOC's condition that only Russian and Belarussian athletes who have not actively supported the war in Ukraine would be permitted to compete in a neutral capacity, the experts urged the IOC to take more steps to align its recommendations with international human rights standards on non-discrimination. "This condition opens the door to pressure and interpretation. The same rules must apply to all athletes, whatever their nationality. This includes the rule that any advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence shall be prohibited," they said. The experts are Alexandra Xanthaki, special rapporteur in cultural rights, and Ashwini KP, special rapporteur on contemporary forms of racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s right to compete in the imminent women’s event at the Beijing Olympics will be decided at an urgent hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The International Testing Agency — on behalf of the IOC -- said Friday it would fight a decision by Russia’s anti-doping agency to allow the 15-year-old Valieva to skate. The Russian agency had provisionally banned Valieva this week because she failed a doping test in December. Valieva is the heavy favorite in her event which begins Tuesday after setting world record scores this season and landing the first quad jump by a women at an Olympics when the Russian Olympic Committee won the team event Monday. The ROC said it will fight to keep that gold medal. The ITA confirmed reports that Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in St. Petersburg six weeks ago. The positive test was flagged by a laboratory in Sweden only on Tuesday — the day after Valieva helped the Russians win the team event and just hours before the medal ceremony, which was then postponed. Whether the Russians will lose that gold medal will be decided later. Also read: US-born freeskier Gu wins Olympic big air gold for China An AP request for an interview with the Swedish lab has gone unanswered. Valieva was hit with an immediate interim ban from the Beijing Olympics by the Russian anti-doping agency known as RUSADA, which oversaw testing at the national championships. On Wednesday, a RUSADA disciplinary panel upheld her appeal and overturned the skater’s interim ban. The rushed hearing at CAS will only consider the question of the provisional ban at these Games, said the ITA, which is prosecuting on behalf of the IOC. The ITA was formed by the IOC in 2018 in the wake of the Russian doping scandal to manage international testing and to design the anti-doping program for the Olympics. “The IOC will exercise its right to appeal and not to wait for the reasoned decision by RUSADA, because a decision is needed before the next competition the athlete is due to take part in,” the testing agency said. As a 15-year-old, Valieva has protections in the sports’ rule book – the World Anti-Doping Code. Under these guidelines she could ultimately receive just a simple reprimand. When a minor is implicated in doping rules violations, the rules state her entourage, such as coaches and team doctors, must be investigated, too. That isn’t typically the case for athletes aged over 18. Also read: How China got blue skies in time for Olympics “Such cases are not helpful to the Games,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “These cases need to be prosecuted properly, taken care of properly and due process needs to be gone through. Otherwise I think the confidence of people would be even less. So I think it’s very important for everybody concerned, not least the 15-year-old athlete that’s concerned, that we have due process, that it’s seen to be done properly, and that people can have confidence in the decisions that are taken.” Valieva will likely be stripped of her Russian national title in December. “The Russian Olympic Committee will take comprehensive measures to defend the rights and interests of the ROC team and to keep the honestly-won Olympic gold medal (in the team event),” the ROC said in a statement. It added that a doping test Valieva took while at the Olympics came back clean - all medalists are tested at the Olympics. “The ROC also assumes that a full investigation will be carried out, as a result of which all significant legal and factual circumstances regarding what has happened will be established.” For the second straight day, Valieva worked out early at the main rink inside Capital Indoor Stadium as if nothing was amiss. She was flanked by Russian teammates Alexandra Trusova and world champion Anna Shcherbakova, both of whom are also coached by Eteri Tutberidze, During the 45-minute session, Valieva threw down four quad jumps, including one in a potentially high-scoring combination with a triple salchow. Despite missing on that combo at the Rostelecom Cup in November, when she did a quad-double, Valieva still set a world record there for her free skate. She also set the world record for the short program and total score at the same Grand Prix event in Russia. A ruling on the Olympic team event likely will take much longer, preventing any medals being awarded in Beijing before the closing ceremony on Feb. 20. RUSADA will first investigate the full merits of the doping case and give a judgment. That verdict would lead to an appeal and could also end up at CAS. “The decision on the results of the ROC team in the Team Figure Skating event can be taken by the ISU only after a final decision on the full merits of the case has been taken,” the ITA said. The latest doping case involving a Russian athlete could have broader implications for the country’s sports program. Russia is competing in the Beijing Olympics as ROC, short for Russian Olympic Committee, without its anthem or flag. That’s because of the fallout from years of doping disputes including steroid use and cover-ups at the 2014 Winter Olympics, which Russia hosted. Another scandal could extend its two-year ban beyond the scheduled December end.

Noble Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has said he is "honoured and overwhelmed" to receive the Olympic Laurel. "I'm honoured and overwhelmed to receive this Olympic Laurel. And so sad I can’t be there with you," he said in his acceptance speech. Prof Yunus received the Olympic Laurel as only the second person in history when the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics took place on Friday. The distinction was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to honour outstanding individuals for their achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport. The IOC is taking the social dimension of sports very seriously, Prof Yunus shared on his verified Facebook page on Friday. "You, athletes of the world, can provide the leadership in transforming this world," he said. Prof Yunus called for creating a world of three zeros - zero net carbon emission, zero wealth concentration to end poverty and once for all, zero unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship in everyone. Read: Prof Yunus renews call for ensuring vaccine equality breaking profit wall He wished the IOC success with its mission to help transform this world to a more peaceful world through sport. "I wish all of you best of luck for your competitions," he said, thanking all for this award. "That’s so special to me. Thank you." “Bangladesh will be so proud of this award because Bangladesh is a country that doesn’t get close to an Olympic medal. But they’ve a cause to celebrate now. The whole world will watch a Bangladeshi receiving an Olympic award which will make every single person of Bangladesh proud of it. I believe it’ll be something that Bangladesh will remember for long,” said Prof Yunus during a virtual press meet recently. Prof Yunus is also the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavours and is a member of the board of the United Nations Foundation. In 2006, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding Grameen Bank, which pioneered the concepts of microcredit and microfinance for people living in poverty. The first-ever Olympic Laurel was awarded to the Kenyan Olympian and social changemaker Kip Keino on 5 August 2016, during the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro. Initiated for Rio 2016, the Olympic Laurel is to be awarded at the opening ceremony of each summer edition of the Olympic Games.

The organizers of this summer's Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics will hold an online meeting on Saturday and most likely agree that overseas spectators will not be allowed to attend the games amid the coronavirus pandemic, officials familiar with the schedule said Thursday.

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach reiterated Friday that vaccination for the coronavirus will not be a requirement for athletes competing at the Tokyo Games following concerns about the slow pace of the vaccine rollout in Japan.

Japan will not take part in China’s offer — accepted by the International Olympic Committee — to provide vaccines for “participants” in the postponed Tokyo Games and next year’s Beijing Winter Games.

The Chinese authorities intend to organize the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in line with the earlier approved plans despite the novel coronavirus pandemic, Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on Monday.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Japan reiterated on Friday their commitment to hosting the Tokyo Olympics this year and denied a report of a possible cancellation.