The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff reporter

Japan and Bangladesh are going to sign US$1.6 million loan agreement next week to build the 360MW Haripur Power Plant, said Ambassador of Japan in Dhaka Masayuki Inoue yesterday.

He also expected that Bangladesh would be able to reduce its system loss up to 10 per cent within the next five years by successful introduction of Total Quality Management (TQM) projects.

"I am going to sign the exchange of note with the Bangladeshi government next week for the loan project. This will assist the government to reach its target to produce an additional 5,000MW electricity within five years," said the Japanese envoy.

He was addressing a workshop in the capital on Total Quality Management (TQM) of Power Sector of Bangladesh, which is a technical cooperation project of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Citing the successful TMQ project in Japan, he expected a positive and effective result from its implementation in Bangladesh as well. In Japan, system loss was reduced up to 15 per cent within 10 years after the first TQM introduction in 1950's, he mentioned.

According to him, distribution and transmission loss now in Bangladesh is about 23 per cent. "Following the successful implementation strategies in Japan, I expect 10 per cent loss reduction might be accomplished in Bangladesh with in next 5 years," said the Japanese Ambassador.

"This much system loss reduction can be equivalent to a construction of a new power plants of 500 MW capacity," he further added.

"Strengthening Management and Performance Standard in Power Sector of Bangladesh through Promotion of TQM," is a technical cooperation project of JICA under implementation in Bangladesh since December 2006.

Experts from the JICA stated, the TQM activities will be disseminated and will be developed in the appropriate and sustainable way by the establishment of training system and development of trainers by the introduction and advice of the expert.

Secretary of Power and Energy Dr, M Fouzul Kabir Khan attended the workshop where four-research papers were presented.

UNB, Dhaka

UK Parliamentary Under Secretary of State of DFID Shahid Malik has said the UK government continues to give practical support in the form of blankets, water cans, clothes, mosquito nets as well as boats to get life-saving items to those who need them most as lives of the people are still at risk following last month's cyclone 'Sidr.'

"My department is playing its part and we stand ready to do more," he said.

"There will be difficult times ahead for those affected but I am incredibly proud of the contribution being made by Muslim communities throughout the UK to help those in need," Malik was quoted by Relief Web as having said.

Twelve lightweight boats that can carry up to one tonne arrived here Tuesday to help distribute supplies to the most remote and inaccessible parts of the country.

The UK Government also flew out 58,000 blankets over the weekend from a warehouse in Abu Dhabi.

The UK's overall support for cyclone survivors is currently seven million Pound Sterling. Funds are helping to provide clean water to 260,000 families, emergency supplies and food to 70,000 families and rebuilding more than 16,000 homes, according to DFID reported by Relief Web.

Malik said the boats would play a vital role in helping Bangladesh cope with natural disasters in the future.

He said UK's contribution will also give people whose employment has been swept away the chance to earn a living and get back on their feet. In addition to the 58,000 blankets sent this weekend, the DFID has already provided 43,000 blankets for people made homeless and 24,000 water cans for carrying clean water.

DFID so far provided clean water to 260,000 families; food for 70,000 families in the form of easy to cook and culturally appropriate dry food ("chira" - flattened rice - and molasses), essential items for 70,000 families including jerry cans, clothes, mosquito nets, blankets and utensils; shelter repairs for 16,750 of the most vulnerable families; funds to undertake repair work such as removing debris that is contaminating water supplies; and four disaster relief experts to support the emergency efforts in Bangladesh and make recommendations on further UK support.

The funds are going through various UN agencies, Save the Children UK, Oxfam, and CARE International who are working with local NGOs. Including the seven million Pound Sterling for cyclone relief the UK's budget for tackling extreme poverty in Bangladesh this year is nearly 117 million Pound Sterling.

Staff Reporter

Ubinig and Noyakrishi Andolan have expressed deep concern over the recent decision to boost Boro hybrid seed cultivation for recovering the crop damages in the cyclone affected region of the country.

These organisations yesterday at a press conference held at the Dhaka Reporters' Unity placed a six-point suggestion criticising the decision that would enhance the farmers' dependency on the hybrid seed traders and technologies, increase production cost of the crops and destroy the general agro system of the country.

The suggestions included to scrap the decision of Boro hybrid seed cultivation in 7 lakh hecters of land, to ignore the companies and NGOs who are opposing the general agricultural system in the country, to reduce the use of technologies in the production of the crops, to ensure the supply of the high quality seed to the farmers in the cyclone hit region from the local stock.

Farida Akter, Executive Director of the Ubinig said the government would have to stop the cultivation of the hybrid seed in the North Bengal region that pollutes soil, water, health and environment of the region. The hybrid seed could not fulfil the production target in the previous years, she added.

She also demanded compensation for the farmers who are victims of hybrid seed cultivation. Claiming the production cost under the general agro method was very low, she said the Government should provide the subsidy for the research on the agro system for its development and the farmers who were cultivating crops without using fertilisers and irrigating underground water.

Researchers Dr MA Sobhan, Golam Rabbi Badol, Deepa Datta, Abdul Jabbar, Palash Boryal, Sima Das Simu, Mahmuda Khatun and Mojahidul Islam, among others, were present at the conference.

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Bank is contemplating various options to devise suitable lending programmes for the Sidr-hit people on as easy as possible terms, even at zero interest, to rejuvenate the battered economic activities.

"We're now preparing a proposal for submission to the appropriate places for necessary decision," Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed told a press briefing at the Bangladesh Bank conference room on Wednesday.

The policy options will take into account the financial involvement against waiver of interest and principal against the previous loans as well as subsidy for low interest or zero interest lending.

"Whatever options the government takes Bangladesh Bank will, by any means, ensure that the hard-earned financial discipline is not affected," Dr Salehuddin said, replying to a query on the possible setbacks of aggressive lending.

The possible setbacks are that the loans may turn bad and will require writing-off from the banks' balance sheets. Replying to another query, he said Bangladesh Bank would consider whether there is any possibility of the financial discipline being affected if banks and NGOs waive previous loans for next four months. The central bank governor, during his visit to Barisal and Khulna on Sunday and Tuesday respectively, advised the commercial banks operating in the southwestern districts to go for aggressive lending to help revive the economic activities.

He asked them to disburse 70-80 percent of their respective yearly targets for agriculture loan by December-January at easy terms.

Dr Salehuddin is scheduled to hold meetings with the NCBs on December 17 followed by private banks on how the excess liquidity of around Tk 11,000 crore in the banking system could be utilised, particularly in the economic recovery process.

AP, Bali

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd urged the United States to follow his country's lead and ratify the Kyoto Protocol, while rich and poor nations appeared divided Wednesday over what a future climate change pact should look like.

Rudd signed documents this week to formally adopt the accord that caps greenhouse gas emissions, reversing a decade of Australian resistance and leaving the United States as the only industrialized country to refuse to sign on.

"Our position vis-a-vis Kyoto is clear cut, and that is that all developed and developing countries need to be part of the global solution," the newly elected prime minister told the Southern Cross Broadcasting radio network in Australia.

"And therefore we do need to see the United States as a full ratification state," he said.

His comments put further pressure on the United States at the U.N. Climate Change conference in Bali, where nearly 190 nations hope to launch a two-year negotiating process that will result in a pact to replace the Kyoto Protocol, which expires in 2012.

Failure to continue reducing emissions, experts warn, will almost certainly lead to catastrophic droughts and floods, and deaths linked to heat waves and disease.

AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan's election commission Wednesday rejected allegations from leading opposition parties that January polls will be rigged, insisting that the vote will be free and fair.

The body's defence of its independence came amid claims by former prime ministers Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif that it is biased because it is appointed by President Pervez Musharraf.

The opposition leaders agreed to join forces on Monday and have now tasked their parties to compile a list of demands that they say the government must meet to stop their parties from boycotting the January 8 vote.

"The Election Commission is a constitutional body and it is fully independent to hold free, fair and transparent polls," the commission's secretary Kanwar Dilshad told AFP.

"The entire election exercise is absolutely free, fair and transparent," he said.

"More than 95 percent of polling stations will be in schools or government buildings, but in some areas where there is no proper building, polling stations are established in tents or some other premises," Dilshad said.

He said such a move was not new and that improvised polling stations would be set up in consultation with the contesting candidates.

Addressing allegations that thousands of ballot papers would be stolen, Dilshad said they would be handed over to officials by January 5 and "there is no question of somebody getting hold of them."

Staff Reporter

On this day (December 6) in 1990, the then autocratic ruler General Hossain Mohammad Ershad was forced to step down from the presidency following mass upsurge that paved the way for the restoration of partliamentary democracy.

The movement was led together by the BNP-led seven-party alliance, Awami League-led eight-party alliance and left leaning five-party alliance. The student community was in the forefront of the movement from the very beginning in 1983.

The Army Chief Lt General Hossain Mohammad Ershad usurped the state power by toppling the elected Government of the then President Justice Abdus Sattar in a bloodless coup on March 24, 1982 and announced martial law in the country.

Staff Reporter

The Government yesterday announced a 7-point strategy to ensure well-being of the Bangladeshi workers abroad and expand the manpower-export market worldwide through removing the prevailing bottlenecks.

Foreign and Overseas Employment Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury has announced the strategies, which include exploring new manpower-export markets in the Scandinavian, European and East European countries like Norway, Sweden and Romania. The strategies are-extension of existing markets in the Middle-East, including Libya, enhancing skills in the English language, exporting manpower from Monga-affected areas, ensuring proper utilisation of remittances, introducing strong monitoring to check fraud in manpower export and working together with the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and the International Organisation of Migration (IOM).

Announcing the strategies at a press briefing at the Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Ministry, the Adviser said the Government adopted the strategies, as it believes that the country's prime foreign earnings would come from the manpower-export sector.

Overseas Employment Secretary Abdul Matin Chowdhury, who was present at the briefing, noted that until September this year, a total of 8,830 Bangladeshi citizens are in prisons in different countries across the world, either in police custody or under remand. Of them, 1,930 have b Of the convicts, the highest number of 636 Bangladeshi nationals are in Saudi jail.

BSS, Rajshahi

A speedy trial court here will deliver today the verdict in a case against 14 persons, including two teachers of Rajshahi University, accused of torching a vehicle belonging to an intelligence agency on the campus.

According to the FIR, some protesters clashed with members of the law enforcement agencies during violence that broke out on the campus on August 22 and at one stage the vehicle was set ablaze.

A case, filed with the Motihar police station on August 23, held the two teachers and four students of the university responsible for the act of arson.

On September 1, sub-inspector Mokhtar Hossain, the investigation officer, submitted charge sheet against 14 persons.

Of them, Prof Golam Sabbir Satter Tapu, Prof Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan Sajal, Senior Information Officer Sadequl Islam and an employee of the university, Ataur Rahman Ata, are in jail custody.

Syful Islam

Thousands of tones of local sugar is being dumped in godowns as those fails to compete with the imported sugar even offering Tk 10.47 less in each kilogram than its production costs.

The operation and planning wing of the Armed Forces Division recently urged the government to increase import duty of substandard Indian sugar, to save the local industry, which was found contaminated with additional hydrogen peroxide.

The Armed Forces Division in a recent letter to the Ministry of Commerce and the Ministry of Industries observed that country's sugar market is being controlled by a syndicate of unscrupulous businessmen and might become unstable again.

According to them, nearly 24 thousands tones of sugar became stockpiled in the godowns of six state owned sugar mills in country's northern districts. As a result the sugar mills faces loss of crores of taka and fails to pay the dues to the farmers, and also salaries of employees.

They said the sugar mills faces acute fund crisis and there will be shortage of place during the new crushing season, beginning from November, if the stock cannot be sold.

It is being reported that the quality of Indian sugar is very low. A recent laboratory test of Indian sugar found extra hydrogen peroxide in the Indian sugar, which is harmful for human body.

Armed Forces Division found that as the substandard Indian sugar is being imported at low price, local sugar mills fails to compete due to high production costs.

Commerce Secretary Firoz Ahmed said being informed by the Ministry of Industries on substandard Indian sugar they have asked the National Board of Revenue to take necessary measures. Recently the NBR has issued a circular asking all concerned to import Indian sugar after proper testing.

Informed sources said neighbouring India is providing huge subsidy on sugar export to continue its control on the Bangladeshi sugar market.

BSS, Dhaka

The government has decided to include basic information in the passport in Arabic side by side with English for travelers to Libya and for Bangladeshi labourers who live in Libya.

Home Secretary M Abdul Karim yesterday told BSS that the government took the decision as per the Libyan government's demand for ensuring Bangladesh's labour market in Libya.

"A notification in this regard will be issued soon from the home ministry," he said.

He said English information would be translated into Arabic and included on any blank page of the passport which will be attested by high officials of the passport office.

On the other hand, the passports of the Bangladeshi labourers who are presently working in Libya would be attested by the concerned officer of Bangladesh high commission in Libya.

After the decision, it is expected that the complexity in manpower export to Libya will be solved to a great extent, he said.

Rice in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA: US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice on Wednesday arrived in Ethiopia for talks with several African leaders on the conflicts in the Great Lakes and Horn of Africa regions. She landed in Addis Ababa early Wednesday and was expected to hold talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, one of Washington's key allies in the region.

The two are expected to discuss the situation in Somalia, where Ethiopian troops supporting the transitional government are battling Islamist insurgents.

'Half-Widows’

Srinagar: A prominent human rights organisation, the Coalition of Civil Society, says there are between 1,500 and 2000 half-widows in Kashmir. Most have given up hope that their men will ever return. Yet hardly any are ready to marry again. "Every day I wake up in the morning, I think he might be at the door. In the evening while I lay the table for dinner, my eyes are fixed at the door in the hope that he may just come in," says Zainab, whose husband went missing 10 years ago. Zainab's husband was allegedly arrested by soldiers fighting separatist militants in Indian-administered Kashmir in a conflict notorious for its human rights abuses. There has been no information about him since then. Zainab is someone that people in Kashmir refer to as a "half-widow".

Heaviest ever baby

JAKARTA: A woman has given birth to Indonesia's heaviest ever baby, a boy weighing 6.9 kilogrammes (15.2 pounds), hospital staff said Wednesday. The baby was born at a private maternity clinic on the outskirts of the Indonesian capital Jakarta, a nurse on duty there told AFP. "He was born at about 4:30 pm (0930 GMT) on Monday, but because of respiratory problems, the baby was taken to Fatmawati (hospital) a few hours later," the nurse said.