BANGLADESH

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated her government's commitment to root out terrorism and terrorists at any cost.

Claiming that the previous BNP-Jamaat four-party alliance government had made Bangladesh a terror-infested country, Hasina on Tuesday said, "We have been able to highlight Bangladesh's image in the global arena."

She said the country has established itself as a model for curbing terrorism under this government.

Hasina made the statements while addressing a function to unveil the much-awaited container terminal management system (CTMS) and the radiation detection system of Chittagong port.

She said the government is sincere in developing Chittagong port since it handles 90 percent of the country's exports and imports. She said several steps were taken for the port's development, while many others are in the offing.

Hasina assured that the government is taking various measures to see to it that there are no snags for the port-users and ensure transparency in export and import. She said Chittagong port has been digitised through introduction of the CTMS and the radiation detection system.

EFFICIENT PORT

According to Hasina, the Mega Port Initiative Project being implemented would make Chittagong port a part of the global anti-terror mechanism by enabling it to check transportation of illegal goods and radioactive substances.

She took the opportunity to thank the US government for providing financial assistance to set up the radiation detector.

She also said work on introducing global maritime distress and safety system (GMDSS) has already begun for smooth movement of ships and saving life of sailors in Bangladesh's maritime boundaries. "We have also taken initiatives to procure modern passenger ferries to check capsize of ships on inland river routes," Hasina said.

Presided over by shipping minister Shahajan Khan, the inaugural function was also addressed by Chittagong port chairman Anwarul Islam. Among other dignitaries present were chairman of parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury Liton, shipping secretary Abdul Mannan Hawlader and US ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena.

The government has taken initiatives to buy a survey vessel to find out the current fish reserves in the Bay of Bengal, fisheries and livestock minister Abdul Latif Biswas has said.

The government has undertaken a Tk 1 billion 'Marine Fisheries Capacity Building Project' to make appropriate plans for breeding and development of fish, control fishing, as also to introduce proper management. A marine fisheries survey vessel is being bought for Tk 500 million as part of this project, he told .

According to Biswas, Islami Development Bank (IDB) and the Malaysian government are jointly financing the project.

The southern coast of Bangladesh has a huge reserve of fish and the total area of the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in the Bay of Bengal is around 41,000 sq nautical miles, not much smaller than Bangladesh's land area, he said.

At present, about 170 trawlers and 50,000 machined and non-machined vessels are regularly involved in netting 475 different species of fish and 20 species of shrimps. But, he warned, sea fish reserves may run out due to over-fishing in near future, and their numbers would steadily decline soon.

Assistant director of marine fisheries department Mohammad Sharif said, "Fish reserve in the Bay of Bengal is not infinite; it is a renewable source. This property [fish] can be used for a long time if fished in line with directions that would follow the surveys."

Otherwise, he said, the stocks would continue to dip.

Officials of fisheries and livestock department and Marine Fisheries Capacity Building Project said they have given work order after consulting international tender to buy the survey vessel.

A fish survey is set to be conducted in the Bay of Bengal after almost 22 years once the ship arrives next year, officials said.

MARINE SURVEYS IN BANGLADESH

The first marine fisheries survey in the Bay was conducted after independence with Japan's assistance. Bangladesh got RV Onushondhani in 1982 and RV Maasranga in 1983 as grants. Surveys were conducted till 1990 with these two vessels and with assistance of the World Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).

RV Maasranga sank in the Karnaphuli during the 1997 cyclone. Though it was recovered later, the vessel became useless and is at present stationed at the Bangladesh Fish Development Corporation's basin.

RV Onushondhani was also rendered useless by a technical glitch during a ground survey at the sea in 2001. From then, it is resting at the Karnaphuli dockyard.


VESSEL TRACKING MONITORING SYSTEM

Officials in the ministry said initiatives have been taken to buy Vessel Tracking Monitoring System (VTMS) to monitor trawlers in the Bay of Bengal.

Once VTMS is introduced, position of sea-bound fishing trawlers can be observed and controlled from the Chittagong Marine Fisheries Office. Moreover, it will be possible to restrict intrusion of foreign fishing vessels and illegal fishing in the Bay, officials said.

Marine fisheries contribute 3.74 percent of the country's total Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The sector also contributes 4.04 percent in the country's export income.

The government will set the maximum retail price of edible oil on Thursday after talks with traders.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) president Abul Kalam Azad, following a meeting with commerce minister G M Quader at his Secretariat office on Tuesday, told reporters that chairman of Tariff Commission of Bangladesh (TCB) Mojibur Rahman would chair the meeting.

Earlier in the day, the commerce minister held a meeting with traders following the hike in edible oil prices across the country. The meeting ended without a decision.

The minister nor the commerce secretary talked to the media on the issue.

The government on July 20 fixed the maximum retail price of sugar at Tk 65 per kilogram, and loose palm and soybean oil at Tk 99 and Tk 109 per litre, respectively.

According to TCB, per litre loose soybean oil was sold at Tk 124 to 128 and per kilogram sugar at Tk 56 to 57 in the retail markets of the city on Tuesday.

The chief of the country's apex trade body, Azad said that the prices will be reset at Thursday's meeting after revising the import costs of the oil traders and their tax calculations.

He said since July, some one million metric tonnes of edible oil had been imported to date, while there was a market of 1.4 million metric tonnes edible oil in the country this year.

Pointing out that the sugar traders had since long been seeking certain benefits in the export of the commodity, the FBCCI president said, "There is a capacity of producing 3.5 metric tonnes sugar a year against a demand of only 1.4 million metric tonnes."

Before the export of sugar, he said the FBCCI would ensure an assurance from the traders to keep the internal markets stable.

"We'll recommend to the commerce ministry in this regard only when the traders assure us on the issue," he added.

The three maritime ports of the country -- Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Mongla -- have been advised to hoist cautionary signal number 2 as a deep depression over southeast Bay and adjoining areas has intensified into a cyclonic storm 'Thane'.

The cyclonic storm over southeast Bay and its adjoining areas moved slightly northwestwards and lay over the same area on Tuesday.

A Met office weather bulletin said at on Tuesday noon it was centred about 1,260 km south-southwest of Chittagong port, 1,180 km south-southwest of Cox's Bazar port, and 1,185 km south of Mongla port.

It is likely to intensify further and move in a northwesterly direction. Maximum sustained wind speed within 54 km of the storm centre is about 60 kmph (km per hour), rising to 70 kmph in gusts or squalls. Sea will remain rough, the Met office predicted.

All fishing boats and trawlers over the North Bay have been advised to remain close to the coast and proceed with caution until further notice. They are also advised not to venture into deep sea.

The dream of a fully automated cargo handling system at Chittagong port has turned into a reality, with prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurating the container terminal management system (CTMS) and radiation detection system at the port.

The system would enable online maintenance of all operational activities at the country's premier port. These include loading and unloading of containers from ships, shifting of container in the yard, stacking, tracking, delivery and gate control.

Introducing CTMS -- the modern, digitised system of container handling -- and the radiation detection system on Tuesday, Hasina said: "We (the Awami League-led government) have been able to highlight Bangladesh's image in the global arena."

Suggesting that the opposition, when in power, had aided militants and made Bangladesh a terror-infested state, she said, "We have established ourselves as a model for curbing terrorism in the region and globally.

"The Awami League government wants to root out terrorism at any cost."

The CTMS was experimentally introduced on Oct 10. Initially, it did not include containers of the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters' Association (BGMEA) for exporting, though the situation was eased for the RMG sector following requests from BGMEA leaders.

Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) secretary Syed Farhad Uddin told that under the new system, loaded containers would have to be handed over to the port authorities 24 hours in advance.

Exporters at present enjoy an extra 24 hours for handing over and loading containers, thanks to the privilege of cut-off time (time frame for loading goods). "After BGMEA's demand, its containers will have to be deposited 12 hours before a ship anchors," Farhad Uddin said.

He also said the system would help identify the position of any container with its online facility. "The container storage capacity of all jetties will be increased by 50 percent," he said.

Among those present at the inaugural function were shipping minister Shahajan Khan, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury Liton, shipping secretary Abdul Mannan Hawlader, US ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena, and Chittagong port chairman Anwarul Islam.

BNP has agreed to join the presidential dialogue on a new Election Commission to demand revival of the caretaker government system, its spokesperson said on Tuesday.

"We are joining the president's talks as part of our protests [against the removal of the caretaker government system]," acting secretary-general of the party Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said.

"We will take our issues up with the president, on (the demand that) the elections to be overseen by a caretaker government and reconstitution of the Election Commission..."

Asked about the proposals the other parties recommended in the talks with president Zillur Rahman, Fakhrul said, "We think that holding election under the caretaker government is a prerequisite of fair and impartial election. So, this is the major issue."

"There will be no success for steps like forming search committee to appoint election commissioners if the election is not held under a caretaker government. It won't create confidence among the people," he added.

On Dec 22, on the first day of the dialogue, Hussein Muhammad Ershad-led Jatiya Party proposed a search committee drawn from people from constitutional posts while Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JaSaD) suggested that a guideline be put in place to appoint new election commissioners.

On the second day, the president heard opinions of the Workers Party and Anwar Hossain Manju-led Jatiya Party (JP). The Workers Party proposed a law in line with the constitution and the JP said the existing provision on appointing election commissioners is fine but they have no objection to any new law.

BNP had been voicing its doubts about the president's dialogue since it began.

On Dec 22, Fakhrul had told the press: "We're not clear why the president is conducting the dialogue.

"What happens is that the prime minister sends a proposal to the president in line with the constitution [on the EC] and the president approves it," the spokesperson had said.

But the BNP-led opposition alliance decided to take part in the dialogue after a meeting with the allies of the four parties Monday evening.

The president will hold talks with Islami Oikya Jote on Jan 1, Bangladesh Jatiya Party on Jan 2, and BNP on Jan 11. The three allies have already received invitations.

Jamaat-e-Islami, another opposition ally, has not received any invitation yet, the party's assistant secretary general Nurul Islam Bulbul said.

ALLIES AND ROAD MARCH

Fakhrul said a decision to expand the four-party alliance has been taken but added which parties are joining the alliance will be announced 'in time'.

About BNP's road march programme, he said it is yet to be decided where rallies that chairperson Khaleda Zia will address, will be staged.

He alleged that the government is not cooperating.

"We applied for the Railway Ground and Polo Ground. But we haven't got permission. Now only the Laldighi Maidan is left," he said.

Not a single student has passed in the primary terminal and Ebtedayee examinations in 470 institutions.

This year, students of 87,832 schools sat for the primary terminal examinations while madrasah students of 11,519 institutions took the Ebtedayee examinations.

A total of 371 educational institutions, including seven government schools, had a zero percent success rate in the primary terminal exams.

In 99 madrasas, no candidate could pass the Ebtedayee examinations.

Primary and mass education minister Afsarul Amin on Monday disclosed this at a press conference at the Secretariat.

"Investigation will be carried out regarding the seven government schools, which have zero success rate," he said.

Afsarul, however, expressed his satisfaction over the overall results.

A total of 97.26 percent candidates passed this year's primary terminal examination. The pass rate for Ebtedayee examination is 91.28 percent.

The results have been published in grade system for the first time since the terminal examinations started in 2009.

A training aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force caught fire at the Osmani International Airport in Sylhet on Monday, but no casualties were reported.

"The training aircraft's left engine caught fire around 12:10pm during a training session. The fire-fighting staff at the airport were able to put the fire out," the airport's manager Hafiz Uddin said.

The aircraft did not suffer any major damages and no one was injured in the fire, he added.

The C-130 aircraft had earlier came from Dhaka to Sylhet around 10:15am.

The government has lodged a strong protest with International Maritime Bureau (IMB) against its depiction of piracy incidents in Bangladesh.

"We have recently sent IMB a letter protesting the way it depicted the piracy situation in Bangladesh," said additional foreign secretary Mohammad Khurshed Alam at a press briefing on Monday.

The Kuala Lumpur-based Bureau reported a number of piracy incidents in Bangladesh without proper investigation.

Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Laws of the Seas (UNCLOS), and according to its definition, no incident of piracy took place in the country, Alam said.

"The IMB never investigated a single incident reported to it, though we urged them to come to Bangladesh to see the actual situation," he said.

At least in two incidents, ships reported to the IMB about pirate attacks in Chittagong, but the reality is the ships never came to Bangladesh, he said.

"In the letter, we have annexed all the evidence."

The misreporting of piracy by the ships has maligned the image of Bangladesh and it has a detrimental effect on trade and commerce as well, Alam said.

Insurance companies used to charge $500 for each trip to the ports located in the west of India, but now they have increased the rate to $150,000 as it is a piracy-prone area, he said.

"Each year about 2,400 ships come to Bangladesh and this year only 11 incidents of petty theft or robbery were reported. But due to the misreporting by foreign ships, the image may take a dip and insurance companies may increase their rates for Bangladesh."

Coast Guard and Chittagong Port Authority have taken a number of measures to protect the ships, Alam said.

In several cases, ships reported incidents of theft or robbery hours after the incident, he said.

"…if the incident takes place mid-night, they report four or five hours later, meaning the ships do it intentionally," he explained.

The cabinet has given its approval to the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill-2011 authorising investigation of suspicious transactions in banks and other financial institutions, and freezing of bank accounts.

The approval came at a regular cabinet meeting at the Secretariat on Monday, with prime minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The cabinet also approved drafts of the Disaster Management Bill-2011 and the Power of Attorney Bill-2011.

The prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad told reporters after the meeting that Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill-2011 was approved in a bid to prevent all kinds of terrorist and militant activities in the country and funding of such activities.

The law proposes death penalty to anyone guilty of providing funds for terror and militant activities.

For such crimes, it also proposed a maximum 20 years' rigorous imprisonment, apart from providing for a life term imprisonment, and a minimum three years' imprisonment or additional fine (minimum Tk 1 million).

On July 11 this year, the cabinet approved in-principle the draft of the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill-2011 formulated by the home ministry to safeguard the country's sovereignty. But the meeting recommended inclusion of some more provisions in the Act.

The Act is being amended to stop use of Bangladeshi land for conducting terrorist activities either inside the country or in other countries, all types of illegal arms, carrying explosives and creating panic among people through terror.

After necessary scrutiny, inclusions and exclusions of some provisions of the Act, the home ministry placed it in the cabinet meeting following endorsement by the law ministry.

It was amended in the changed perspective of international terrorism, as terror activities these days are not limited to national boundaries.

Officials said the amendment Bill would be placed in parliament in the upcoming session.

MORE POWER TO PROBE

According to the home ministry, the government can investigate any kind of suspicious financial transaction of banks, NGOs and other financial institutions under the amended Act. The financial institutions are also obliged to provide all information to the government once the Act comes into force.

The existing Anti-Terrorism Act empowers the government only to investigate financial transaction of banks. But the amended law also empowers the Bangladesh Bank to gather information in terms of money laundering from Bangladeshis based abroad.

It also authorises the government to freeze any account for a maximum of six months in case it finds some transaction suspicious.

Ministers, advisors and state ministers concerned attended the meeting held in the conference room of the Cabinet Division.

OTHER POLICIES OKAYED

The council of ministers also endorsed a proposal for turning a project titled 'RAKUB Small Enterprise Credit Programme (SECP)' of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank (RAKUB) into its subsidiary company.

The meeting also okayed the draft of Jute Policy 2011 to increase production of jute and jute products in line with local and international demand.

The Cabinet also gave its nod to a proposal for an agreement between Bangladesh and Belarus on military and technical cooperation.

POWER OF ATTORNEY ACT

The approved draft of the Power of Attorney Bill, to prevent irregularities and forgery, makes it mandatory that registration be done within three months after the Act is enforced.

The draft says the Power of Attorney Act will be ineffective after three months but will remain effective until a certain period in terms of registration.

"The Act formulated in 1882 has been revised and some necessary provisions have been included in it for modernisation," the press secretary said.

Power of attorney is a legal document that allows a person to appoint another for carrying out certain specified acts and conducts on behalf of executants of the document.

In 26/12/2011 result published.Students of Monipur High School of Dhaka have come out on top in the nationwide primary terminal examinations.

A total of 1,994 students of Grade-V took the primary terminal examinations from the school while 1,438 of them secured the maximum GPA of 5.

This year, the Directorate of Primary and Mass Education has prepared the list of the country's 20 best schools on the basis of number of registered students, pass rate, GPA-5 achievement rate and number of absent students.

Monipur High School scored 74.39 points, with a 100 percent success rate.

The other schools on the list are Viqarunnisa Noon School (44.75 points), Motijheel Ideal School and College (41.45 points), Milestone Preparatory K.G. School (40.65 points), Gulshan Ideal School and College (40.16 points), Motijheel National Ideal School (40.02 points), Comilla Modern School of Comilla Sadar (39.48 points), K K High School of Demra, Dhaka (38.98 points), Mohammadpur Preparatory School (37.69 points), Shamsul Haque Khan School of Demra (36.73 points), Mirpur Bangla High School (36.43 points), Motijheel Model High School and College (36.08 points), Banani Bidyaniketan, Dhaka (34.61 points), B N School and College of Chittagong (34.23 points), Dhanmondi Government Laboratory High School (33.66 points), Motijheel Ideal Government Primary School (33.26 points), Uttara High School, Dhaka (33.25 points), Khulna District School (33.23 points), Faizur Rahman Ideal Institute, Motijheel (32.98 points) and Shaheed Police Smrity School and College of Dhaka Cantonment (32.78 points).

Earlier in the day, primary and mass education minister Afsarul Amin handed over the results of primary and equivalent Ebtedayee terminal examinations to prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

Around 2.5 million students of primary schools and madrasas around the country sat the examinations that began on Nov 23 and ended on Nov 30.

The average pass rate in this year's primary terminal exams is 97.26 percent, while it is 91.28 percent in Ebtedayee terminal exams.

The results have been published in the 'grades' system for the first time since the terminal examinations started in 2009.

This year, some 22,000 students would be awarded scholarships in the Talent Pool Scholarships category and another 33,000 in the general category for outstanding results.

The opposition alliance will join the president's dialogue on forming the new Election Commission, the BNP acting secretary general has announced.

"We've decided to take part in the president's dialogue. The matter has been discussed with the allies of the four parties," Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told the press after a meeting on Monday evening.

Bangladesh Jatiya Party chairman Andalib Rahman Partho said the subject matter of the dialogue was discussed in the meeting.

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia led a meeting of the leaders of the four-party alliance at her Gulshan office.

President Zillur Rahman will hold talks with Islami Oikya Jote on Jan 1, BJP on Jan 2, and BNP on Jan 11. The three allies have already received invitations.

Jamaat-e-Islami, another opposition ally, has not received any invitation yet, the party's assistant secretary general Nurul Islam Bulbul said.

The meeting, which started around 9pm, also discussed expansion of the alliance, Chittagong road march and liaison committee formation.

Fakhrul said the alliance's expansion would be announced soon. The decision will be finalised on Dec 29 at an alliance meeting.

Khilafat Majlish Amir Muhammad Ishaq said the alliance would also get a new name in that meeting.

Top leaders of the four opposition parties were present at the meeting.

BNP has been voicing its doubts about the president's dialogue since it began.

On Dec 22, Fakhrul had told the press: "We're not clear why the president is conducting the dialogue.

"What happens is that the prime minister sends a proposal to the president in line with the constitution [on the EC] and the president approves it," the spokesperson had said.

The premier bourse of the country opened the week's second trading day with an uptrend on Tuesday.

Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) general index shot up around 42 points in the first five minutes of the day's trading.

It lost slightly afterwards but rose again to stand at 5197.86 points with a gain of 42.72 points or 0.82 points at 11:35am.

The index gained 63.72 points or 1.23 points to stand at 5218.86 points at 12:02pm.

Shares worth Tk 1 billion changed hands until then with prices of 215 issues advancing, 16 declining and five remaining unchanged.

On Monday, the DGEN had lost 77.24 points or 1.47 percent to close at 5155.14 points.

Sunday was a public holiday for Christmas.

The benchmark index had advanced 232 points or four percent last week. Last week's turnover rose by 32 percent than the previous week.

The opportunity to invest undisclosed money in the capital market will remain valid until end of the current fiscal year, the chief of the National Board of Revenue said Tuesday.

NBR chairman Nasiruddin Ahmed told a media briefing that a newspaper report that the opportunity would be suspended was not correct.

The new assurance by the NBR chief made it clear that the rule would last at least until June next year when the fiscal year ends.

Any person can invest his money in the capital market without facing any question from the revenue regulator about its source -- a provision the government has made amid crisis to revamp the drooping share market.

Victoria and Agrani Bank have confirmed their tickets to the final round of the Grameenphone Federation Cup.

Both sides earned solitary-goal wins against Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) and Uttar Baridhara at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday.

Striker Toklis Ahmed scored the winner for Victoria in the 40th minute.

Capitalising on a through-pass, the striker entered the box to shrug off Air Force defender Abdul Kader before tapping the ball home.

Forward Nur Hossain Ripon put 10-man Agrani Bank ahead in the 27th minute tapping a cross of Sujon Mahmud.

The bankers had to play the final 15 minutes a man down after Hanif Prodhan was sent off for a second bookable offence.