The Election Commission (EC) has extended the deadline for holding any fresh election to the Gaibandha-5 parliamentary seat by three months, or till January 20, 2023. While there was no concrete decision over if a new election will be held, pending an investigation into malpractices on the election day, the Election Commission said that the deadline has been extended to follow the rule of 90 days in holding an election after a seat falls vacant. According to Section 123(4) of the Bangladesh constitution, if a parliamentary seat becomes vacant, it must be filled through election within 90 days. Read: Gaibandha-5 by-election cancelled over 'malpractices' The new deadline came in line with law as the EC said the incident at Gaibandha-5 was “unwanted, unimaginable and beyond control.” Following the death of Gaibandha-5 lawmaker and Deputy Speaker of the Parliament Fazle Rabbi Miah on July 22, 2022, it became a constitutional obligation to hold election for the parliamentary seat by October 20, 2022. But the EC cancelled the election because of “widespread malpractices” on the election day on October 12.

Chevron Bangladesh has  secured approval for the expansion of the Bibiyana gas field on its northern flank, augmenting the existing contract zone by 60 square kilometres.    Senior secretary of the Energy Division Mahbub Hossain disclosed the development while addressing a function to celebrate the US oil giant’s 25th year of operations in Bangladesh at the InterContinental Hotel on Tuesday. “The government has approved Chevron’s proposal to allow Chevron to add a 60-square-kilometre "flank" area outside its existing contract zone in the north of the Bibiyana gas field,” said Mahbub. The senior secretary said it may add an additional 1.5 trillion cubic feet of gas to the country’s current stock. Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, Advisor on Energy Affairs to the Prime Minister, Petrobangla Chairman Nazmul Ahsan and Chevron Bangladesh’s managing director Eric Walker also addressed the function. Chevron is currently producing around 1481.3 million cubic feet of gas per day (mmcfd) from three gas fields  -Bibiyana, Jalalabad and Moulvibazar- which is about 60 percent of the country’s total gas production. The new extended area will be drilled under the same production sharing contract (PSC) now applicable for the three gas fields. Read: Gas crisis persists as Bibiyana field yet to resume full production Dr Tawfiq Elahi Chowdhury urged Chevron to participate in the upcoming bidding round for the country’s offshore blocks. He said Bangladesh wants Chevron’s cooperation to address its energy crisis. “We want our partnership with the American company to continue,” he said. Eric Walker, president of Chevron Bangladesh, said the country has been producing and supplying gas for the country safely and reliably. “We want the partnership with Bangladesh to continue for its development as the country made excellent economic  progress,” he added.

If the Covid-19 situation improves, the government will consider the time extension of Ekushey Book Fair, 2022 scheduled to be held from February 15- 28, said State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid on Wednesday. “The issue of time extension of the book fair will be considered if the corona situation improves,” he said. The state minister was addressing the 3rd meeting of Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2022 Management Committee at Poet Shamsur Rahman Seminar room of Bangla Academy in the capital. READ: Amar Ekushey Book Fair postponed by two weeks He said the Ekushey book fair will continue till February 28, beginning on February 15 and it will run from 2pm to 9pm every day. The visitors will be allowed to enter the venue till 8:30pm, he added. But the fair will remain open for the visitors from 11am to 9pm on weekends – Friday and Saturday—and government holidays. On February 21, the event will be open from 8am, he said. The State Minister said a taskforce will remain active to prevent the sale of pirated books in the fair. READ: Bangla Academy on war footing ahead of Amar Ekushey Book Fair He said a spectacular children's corner will be installed in the fair this year. Director General of Bangla Academy Mohammad Nurul Huda, its secretary (joint secretary) AHM Lokman, member secretary of the book fair management committee Dr Jalal Ahmed and its member Prof Dr Mohammad Kaikobad, among others, were present at the meeting, said a PID handout.

The government has extended appointment of Muhammad Imran by three more years as Bangladesh High Commissioner to India. His three-year new contractual appointment will be effective from February 28 or from the date of joining, said the public administration ministry. Read: Dhaka-Washington ties to reach new heights, says outgoing US envoy High Commissioner Imran was appointed as Bangladesh High Commissioner to India in November 2019. He served as Bangladesh Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates before replacing Syed Muazzem Ali. He is a career foreign service officer belonging to the 1986 batch of Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) Foreign Affairs cadre, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. During his diplomatic career, Imran worked in various capacities at Bangladesh Missions in Jeddah, Bonn, Berlin and Ottawa as well as Deputy High Commissioner at the Bangladesh Deputy High Commission, Kolkata. Read:Indian envoy for avoiding all inessential travels He also served as Ambassador of Bangladesh to Uzbekistan. At the headquarters, he served in various capacities in different Wings. Imran obtained his MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College under the University of Dhaka.

The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase (CCPP) on Wednesday approved 5 proposals of the Power Division-four for extension of contracts with 4 gas-based rental power plants and one for setting up a new independent power producer (IPP) plant. Another 7 proposals of different departments under different ministries also received approval of the CCPA. Besides, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) gave nod to another proposal of the Power Division for signing an unsolicited contract for operation and maintenance of a public sector power plant. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the consecutive meetings of the two cabinet bodies where their respective members were present. The four rental power plants which got the cabinet body approval are 50 MW Kumargaon power plant, 50 MW Fenchuganj plant, 20 MW power plant in Bogura and 53 MW Ashuganj power plant. READ: Cabinet approves President’s draft speech to be delivered in Parliament About the approvals, the finance minister said that state-owned Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) will purchase electricity from them on “No Power, No Payment ” basis for which the government will have no obligation to buy power from the plants. Of these, the contract with Energy Prima Ltd.’s 50 MW plant in Kumargaon will get extension for another one year till December 31 in 2022 at a cost of Tk 86.52 crore while the same company’s contract for 50 MW power plant in Fenchuganj will be extended for 3 years at a cost of Tk 278.64 crore, contract for 20 MW Bogura plant will be extended for 3 years at a cost of Tk 106.92 crore and United Energy Ltd’s contract for 53 MW Fenchuganj plant will get extension for another 5 years at a cost of Tk 451.20 crore. The contracts with these companies were extended several times in the past, said additional secretary to the Cabinet Division Shamsul Arefin adding that this time the contracts will be extended at a lower tariff than that of previous contracts.  For instance, he said Kumargaon power plant's tariff was set at US 2.4691 Cents, equivalent to Tk 1.97 in the new contract while it was US 3.4737 Cents in the previous contract. READ: Cabinet committee seeks Law Division’s opinion to retrieve e-commerce customers' money stuck in gateways The CCPA approved a proposal of the Consortium of (1) Confidence Power Holdings Ltd, (2) GE Capital US Holding Inc, (3) Confidence Power Ltd and (4) Electropac Industries Ltd for setting up a 660 MW base-load power plant as independent power producer (IPP) at Mirsarai of Chattagram. The BPDB will purchase electricity from it for 22 years tenure at levelised tariff of US 3.679 Cents, equivalent to Tk 2.943 per kilowatt hour (each unit) if the plant runs through gas. But if the plant runs through imported re-gasified liquefied natural gas (RLNG), each unit’s levelised tariff will be US 6.69 Cents, equivalent to Tk 5.4368. The BPDB will have to pay Tk 69,152.16 crore over the 22 years of contract period for purchase of electricity from the plant. The committee approved a proposal of the Food Ministry to import 50,000 metric tons of wheat from Bagadiya Brothers Pvt. Ltd., India, at a cost of Tk 173.36 crore. Directorate General of Family Planning’s proposal to procure 29.76 million oral pills from three drug companies at Tk 148 crore received the approval. Meanwhile, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in principle approved a proposal of the BPDB to procure the operation and maintenance service of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for 4th unit of the Ghorasal Power Plant through direct procurement method.