A campaign against factories producing polythene and polypropylene will begin next Sunday (November 3).

On Friday (November 1) morning, Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Tapan Kumar Biswas, said this during a campaign at the capital's Mohammadpur Krishi Market to stop the use of banned polythene shopping bags.

He said that a campaign and mobile court will be conducted against producers nationwide to stop polythene.

Earlier, at around 10 am, 7 to 8 members of the Monitoring Committee of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change led by Tapan Kumar Biswas conducted a campaign at the Mohammadpur Krishi Market.

At this time, the general public coming to the market was requested to use jute and cloth bags instead of polythene. At the same time, shopkeepers were instructed to stop using polythene bags and strict action will be taken if polythene bags are found in the next campaign, he said.

Earlier, measures were taken to stop the use of polythene and polypropylene bags in supermarkets from November 1. Most supermarkets are now using jute, paper and cloth bags instead of polythene. Products are being given to customers in those bags.

On September 24, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, said that from November 1, all types of polythene bags will be banned and no customer will be given these bags. In addition, raids will be conducted in raw markets and polythene manufacturing factories as part of the polythene bag ban campaign. The use of polythene has been banned by law since 2002.

Dhaka: Electricity, Energy and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Fauzul Kabir Khan said, ‘There is a huge fuel gas crisis in the country, so a huge amount of foreign exchange has to be spent on gas import. To overcome the gas crisis, five gas wells will be drilled in Bhola by 2025. And there is a plan to drill 14 more, making a total of 19 gas wells by 2028.’

He said this in response to questions from journalists after visiting the Ilisha-1 gas field in Bhola on Friday (November 1) afternoon.

The energy adviser said, ‘Our country is still facing a severe gas crisis. We now need 4,000 MC of gas, but we are getting only 2,000. We are currently importing gas from different countries, which is spending a huge amount of foreign exchange. LNG worth about Tk. 6,000 crore is imported annually to meet the deficit. We are trying hard to create new gas fields and become gas production-oriented.’

Fawzul Kabir Khan said, ‘From now on, no project will be taken up without open competition and we will give work to those from whom we get good proposals through tender. Advice from an expert committee will be taken in these cases. No irregularities will be allowed.’

He said, ‘We have taken up all the big projects. But we did not give importance to the needs of the people, so corruption has increased in such big projects. We want to give importance to the needs of the people.’

The adviser said, ‘At the moment, gas will be provided to homes, this is a false assurance for us. Since I will not do politics, I will not give such false assurances. However, in the future, when the gas supply increases across the country, then this issue will be considered.’

Regarding the visit to Bhola, he said, ‘The purpose of coming here is to see the possibility of getting more gas and what can be done to get more gas. The gas that has been discovered here (in Bhola) is not being fully utilized.’

During the one-day visit, the adviser inspected Elisha-1, Bhola North-1 gas well, Borhanuddin Shahbazpur gas field and two power plants in Borhanuddin.

At that time, he assured to solve the power problem of Bhola and establish gas-based industrial plants. Secretary of the Ministry of Power and Energy, Chairman of Petrobangla, Bhola Deputy Commissioner Azad Jahan and other senior officials were present.#

The government has completely lifted the duty on rice imports to control rice prices and increase stocks.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) issued a notification in this regard on Thursday (October 31).

It said that, by virtue of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 25 of the Customs Act, 2023 (Act No. 57 of 2023), in consultation with the National Board of Revenue, in the public interest, all customs duties and regulatory duties applicable to the import of parboiled rice and parboiled rice other than parboiled rice among the products included in the first schedule of that act have been exempted.

Stating that the notification will come into effect immediately, the NBR also said that before importing rice at a concessional rate under this notification, written approval must be obtained for each consignment from an officer of at least the rank of Joint Secretary nominated by the Ministry of Food.

Earlier, on October 20, the NBR reduced the existing import duty on rice from 25 percent to 15 percent, the existing regulatory duty from 25 percent to 5 percent, and the existing 5 percent advance tax was completely withdrawn.

However, on October 29, due to the disruption of rice production due to floods, the Bangladesh Trade and Tariff Commission recommended the complete withdrawal of the currently applicable import duty on rice imports in order to increase the supply of rice in the local market and keep the price stable. In a report, the organization said that the report said that the widespread disruption of rice production due to natural disasters such as floods in the country has led to a negative impact on the supply of rice in the country as per the target in the upcoming production season. In addition, if the current duty on rice imports is withdrawn, local producers and farmers will not be affected.

Dhaka: The interim government is taking effective steps to develop the domestic industry. Commenting that this is increasing the confidence of businessmen, Finance and Commerce Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, our reserves have already started increasing. Overall, the country's economy is turning around.

The Commerce Adviser said this at a special review meeting held at the conference room of the Ministry of Commerce at the Secretariat on Thursday (October 31) afternoon. In addition to the country's top business leaders, senior officials related to the Ministry of Commerce participated in the meeting.

Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, it is not possible to do everything in three months. However, we are working whether today or tomorrow, a political government will come to power. We will work for the country as long as we have time.

Stating that the government is prioritizing the food, fuel, fertilizer and pesticide sectors, Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed said, the government will support the private sector in these sectors. We are trying to develop the private sector.

At the meeting, business leaders highly appreciated the steps taken by the interim government to develop domestic industries. Along with this, they called for the establishment of one-stop service centers for the overall development of the private sector, as well as reducing customs duties on imports of medicines, leather, garments and other industrial-related products, and ensuring uninterrupted gas and electricity supply.

Among others, Commerce Ministry Secretary Selim Uddin, Square Group Managing Director Tapan Chowdhury, Incepta Pharmaceutical Chairman Abdul Moktadir, Apex Group Managing Director Syed Nasim Manjur, Pran Group Director Ujama Chowdhury, among others, spoke at the event.