United News of Bangladesh

Parliament on Sunday formed a 10-member special committee with a 30-day tenure to submit a report with recommendations for addressing the country’s energy situation stemming from the Middle East crisis. The committee, headed by Power and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku (as the chairman), was formed under the rule 266 of the rules of procedure after Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni placed a proposal for the formation of the body in the House. The joint committee was constituted with five members each from the treasury bench and the opposition bench. The five members from the treasury bench are Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku, State Minister Anindya Islam Amit, and BNP MPs ABM Ashraf Uddin Nizan (Laxmipur-4), Moinul Islam Khan (Manikganj-2) and Miah Nuruddin Ahmad Apu (Shariatpur-3). The five members from the opposition bench are Jamaat lawmakers Md Saiful Alam (Dhaka-12), Md Nurul Islam (Chapainawabganj-3) and Md Abdul Baten (Dhaka-16), NCP MP Md Abul Hasnat (Cumilla-4) and Khilafat Majlis lawmaker Mohammed Abul Hasan (Sylhet-5). On April 23, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman proposed in Parliament the formation of a 10-member joint committee seeking five names from the opposition to work together on ‘rational solutions’ to the country’s ongoing energy problem. He also proposed five names from the government side for the committee. Hours later on the same day, Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman in the House proposed five MPs from his side for a 10-member joint committee.

A total of 133 ordinances issued during the tenure of the interim government have been referred to a special parliamentary committee for review, with the panel asked to submit its report by April 2. Law Minister Md Asaduzzaman moved the proposal in the Parliament on Sunday to send the ordinances to the special committee. The House later adopted the proposal, formally placing the ordinances under the committee’s scrutiny. The ordinances had earlier been tabled in Parliament by the Law Minister during the first sitting. On that day, the House also constituted the special committee to examine and sort the ordinances. The committee will review the ordinances and place its recommendations before Parliament within the stipulated timeframe.  

The government has formed a special committee to keep the prices of daily essentials stable during the holy month of  Ramadan, said Commerce secretary Md Jafar Uddin on Saturday.