Early-ripening mango buds have started to bloom on trees in Rajshahi. These buds signal the start of the season at the beginning of Magh. There is a possibility of new mangoes.

Mango farmers said that if the weather is favorable, the early mango harvest could be good this time. An abundance of these early buds are being seen in Bagha, Charghat and Puthia upazilas of Rajshahi. Farmers are now hoping for a good harvest.

As much as farmers are happy with the arrival of early buds, there is also a fear of buds being damaged in dense fog. However, the Department of Agricultural Extension said that the risk of mango buds being damaged is low. As the sun rises after the fog, the buds will be fresher instead of damaging the mango buds. However, the Department of Agriculture is advising the use of some fungicides for this purpose.

According to the Rajshahi Department of Agricultural Extension, this year the target for mango cultivation has been set at 93,200 hectares of land in the four districts of Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj, Naogaon and Natore. The production target has been set at approximately 1.25 million tons. Of this, there are mango orchards on 17,900 hectares of land in the district. Last year, a total of 12 lakh 7 thousand 263 tons of mangoes were produced in this region.

It has been found that early mango buds have appeared in Charghat and Bagha upazilas of Rajshahi. Early buds have appeared in many gardens in Nimpara, Bhayalakshipur, Charghat Sadar, Sarada and Shalua of Charghat upazila and in Monigram, Bausa and Gargaria unions of Bagha upazila.

Mango farmers said that early buds have started appearing on the trees. Farmers are quite happy with the early buds. The buds are swaying in the green leaves like the cool breeze of Magh month inviting Fagun. This time, some mango trees have budded in mid-January. In this situation, farmers do not want dense foggy weather. They said that it causes a lot of damage to the buds. They have done primary care of the trees before the buds appear. The farmers said that they have sprayed the necessary medicines as per the advice of the local agriculture department to protect the buds from diseases.

Bahadur Rahman, a mango farmer from Kaluhati village in Nimpara union of Charghat upazila, said that the buds have not appeared in the garden for the last two years. This time, the buds have appeared earlier in the garden. However, if the buds are not damaged in the fog, there will be a massive mango harvest this time.

Mango farmer and businessman Shamsul Haque said that buds have started appearing on some mango trees. And after 10 days, the buds will bloom on the entire garden. Therefore, time has to be spent on caring for small and large mango gardens. In addition, pesticides are being sprayed to control insects, including cleaning the garden. This will not only eliminate insects, but also healthy buds will appear on the trees.

Dr. Md. Shafiqul Islam, Chief Scientific Officer of Rajshahi Fruit Research Center, said, "This time, buds have come quite early. Some trees have started to bud now. However, it will take more time to understand how many buds will come. Hopefully, since there were fewer buds last year, this time there will be more buds."

Umme Salma, Deputy Director of Rajshahi District Agricultural Extension Department, said, "Some trees in Rajshahi have started to bud. However, it will take time until February for buds to appear. The buds that are coming are of the early variety."

He also said that farmers are being instructed to spray garden care drugs. And farmers are also working accordingly in the hope of higher yields. Compared to last year, it seems that more buds will come this time. The yield will also be higher. There will be no significant damage from the fog. As a result, the target that I have set this time will be achieved.

Dr. Motaleb Hossain said that last year, 2024 was the mango of the year. Mango trees that had abundant fruit last year may bear less fruit this year. This situation depends on weather, pollination problems and diseases. Usually, 20 percent of the trees bear fruit every year. However, due to this, there is little variation in yield. He also said that mango orchards in Naogaon district of Rajshahi division have expanded a lot in the last five years, which is almost equal to that of Chapainawabganj. However, the reason why Naogaon's production rate is higher in terms of production is that the orchards are new. Speaking about Rajshahi district, he said that the conversion of cultivated land in various upazilas including Durgapur, Bagha-Charghat in Rajshahi has led to a crisis in cropland. Due to this, many farmers have cut down their mango orchards and converted them into cropland. He sees this as a threat to the future food chain. 

Law Adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul said that all the cases under the Cybersecurity Act will be withdrawn.

He said this at a press conference organized by the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs on Tuesday (January 21).

He said, ‘Initiatives have been taken to reform the Cyber Security Act. The Ministry of Information Technology is working on this.’

Regarding harassment cases, the adviser said, ‘Two and a half thousand political harassment or disappearance cases have been identified in 25 districts of the country. Lakhs of people are accused in these cases. These cases will be withdrawn by next February.’

Mentioning that judges were previously appointed to the High Court based on political considerations, Asif Nazrul said, ‘From now on, judges will be appointed on the basis of competence and party neutrality. A ‘Supreme Court Judge Appointment Ordinance’ is being made for the appointment of judges.’ 

After Petrobangla, 6 distribution companies have also submitted proposals to the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) to increase gas prices. It is known that they have made proposals exactly like Petrobangla in the D-document.

Even the explanation of the rationale for increasing the price has been copied and pasted from the Petrobangla proposal. The cost of importing LNG is high, so the price needs to be increased. Although in the past, the proposal explained what kind of impact raising the price could have on the economy and trade, this time there is no trace of it neither in Petrobangla's proposal nor in the proposal of the distribution companies. The issue has been consciously avoided.

BERC Chairman Jalal Ahmed told Barta24.com that proposals have been received from several distribution companies. The technical committee is working on these. Whatever we do, we want to come to a decision as soon as possible. BERC has delayed so that no one can raise questions.

On January 6, Petrobangla proposed to increase the price of gas supplied to new industrial boilers and industrial generators (captive) from Tk. 30 and Tk. 31.75 respectively, while keeping the prices of existing customers unchanged. It is proposed to set half the bill of promised customers (already approved) at the existing rate and the other half at Tk. 75.72.

Legaly, there is no scope to consider Petrobangla's price increase proposal. Only licensees can propose a price increase. Therefore, BERC sent a letter to Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution PLC, Paschimchanchal Gas Company Limited, Jalalabad Gas Transmission and Distribution System Limited, Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited and Sundarban Gas Company Limited, which are responsible for distribution, seeking price adjustment proposals.

The distribution companies are embarrassed by the proposal for an unusual price increase. None of them see the rationale for increasing prices by 152 percent in industry and captives. Top officials of several companies, on condition of anonymity, said, "Petrobangla is trying to raise prices by putting a gun to our shoulders. Consumers will have to face us in the public hearing. However, we do not agree with this price increase at all. As far as we know, a new price formula has been prepared as per the ministry's request. We have to propose to increase the price despite our reluctance.

Gas is purchased from the state-owned Sylhet Gas Field Company Limited at a rate of 1 taka, from Bangladesh Gas Field Company at a rate of 1.25 taka, and from Bapex at a rate of 4 taka per cubic foot. Then, the average price of gas purchased from multinational companies Chevron Bangladesh and Tallo stands at 6.07 taka per cubic meter.

In Petrobangla's price increase proposal, it said that the current import price of LNG per cubic meter is 65.70 taka. Adding VAT-tax and other charges, it stands at 75.72 taka. As a result, to sustain this sector, the gas price gap will have to be reduced. If LNG is imported as planned, Petrobangla will have a deficit of about Tk. 16,161.71 crore in the current fiscal year.

Business leaders and organizations have reacted strongly to this process of increasing gas prices. They have demanded an immediate stop to the process of increasing gas prices. They believe that industrialization will be stopped if the proposal is approved.

BERC has formed a technical committee to scrutinize the proposal to increase the price of Petrobangla gas. After receiving the report of the technical committee as per the rules, an order was given for a public hearing.

The police have arrested two employees on charges of embezzling Tk. 25 lakh from WASA customers in Chattagram. WASA authorities handed them over to the police on Monday (January 20) afternoon. The arrested are WASA data entry operators Ajmir Hossain and Mithun Das. Preparations are underway to file a case against them on charges of financial irregularities.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Chawkbazar Police Station Jahedul Kabir said that WASA authorities have handed over the two to the police. Although we have not received any written complaint yet, appropriate action will be taken after receiving the complaint. On the other hand, WASA Commercial Manager Kazi Shahidul Islam said that we have found irregularities worth Tk. 24 lakh 66 thousand so far. Efforts are being made to find out who else is involved in this gang through investigation. Legal action will be taken against the culprits.

Sources said that this gang had been regularly stealing customers' bill money since 2019. Although they collected the bill money from customers and showed it as a deposit in WASA's computer system, the money was not actually deposited in WASA's bank account.