e_Paper, Tuesday, December 13, 2016

GFMD summit
ends with
agreement on
governance of
migration
• Jebun Nesa Alo
Global Forum on Migration and
Development (GFMD) summit
ended yesterday with an agreement
on an instrument for migration
governance.
Germany chaired the closing
session of the three-day long
summit where representatives
from 130 countries came to
Bangladesh to participate in the
summit.
The 9th GFMD was the biggest
event Bangladesh has ever hosted
with 600 government delegation in
attendance, said Shahidul Haque
foreign secretary of Bangladesh
and chair of GFMD 2016.
“Bangladesh pressed home the
idea of designing a global compact
on migration that would ensure
the rights of emigrants. Most of the
countries present were in favor of
an international law on the issue
while some countries wanting a
convention on it.
“Regardless of their difference
of opinion, all countries agreed that
there needs to be an agreement on
a global governance of migration,”
said Shahidul.
Migration issues will no longer
just be mitigated bilaterally but
through a global mechanism, he
added.
It was a positive sign that
during the summit no destination
countries expressed negativity
towards the home countries of
emigrants and vise versa.
Topics such as geopolitics,
economy, migration cost, security
etc were discussed during the
summit.
The global compact on migration
was also discussed heavily and
how it should be designed with
migration cost being a focal point
of discussions as well. •
News 5
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016
Service chief tenure capped at 4 years
• Shohel Mamun
The cabinet has approved in
principle the draft of the “Defence
Forces Chiefs (Appointment,
Retirement and Salary and
Allowances) Act 2016,” capping the
service tenure of army, navy and
air force chiefs at four years.
The approval came in a weekly
meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat
with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
in the chair yesterday.
Briefing reporters after the
meeting, Cabinet Secretary M
Shafiul Alam said the proposed
legislation was expected to be
framed regarding the services of
the three services chiefs in line
with the constitutional provision
enacted 44 years back.
“So far the process [of their
appointment, retirement, salary
and allowances] was being done
by the official order Joint Service
Instructions,” Alam said.
The draft proposed that the
president will appoint the chiefs
of defence forces and they will
hold the offices for maximum four
years at a stretch or with extension
if they are not given retirement in
public interest or opt for voluntary
retirement themselves.
According to the proposed law,
the chiefs of three services will
receive salary in same scale of the
cabinet secretary in addition to
Geo-data for advanced farmers soon
• Abu Siddique
Pillars that demarcated the land of Turag River can be seen lying on the field broken and removed from the ground. These were placed to fight encroachment of river
land. The photo was taken yesterday near Birulia in Savar
RAJIB DHAR
A tripartite Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) was signed yesterday,
with the aim of developing
a satellite based agricultural information
system in Bangladesh. The
three parties were the Department
of Agricultural Extension (DAE),
Advanced Chemical Industries Ltd
(ACI) and the Netherlands Development
Organisation (SNV).
The information services will be
created under project Intelligent Decision
Support System (IDSS) to provide
customized advisory services to
smallholder farmers through the use
of advanced Geo-data.
The MoU was signed by Director
General of DAE Md Hamidur
Rahman, Executive Director of ACI
Agribusiness Dr. F H Ansarey and
Country Director of the SNV Jason
Belanger. Project Team Leader
Shamim Murad was also present
IDSS aims to raise awareness for
advanced agronomic practices and
increased resilience by providing
monitoring and early alert services.
Initially, the project will be implemented
in 12 districts of the
country, before expansion to the
national level. •
allowances.
On expiry of their four-year
tenure, they will be deemed
disqualified to be reemployed in
any civil or military administration.
However, they can get
appointment in any constitutional
position and work contractually in
any private organisation, the draft
law said.
Border haats
The cabinet also approved the
draft of a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) and a modus
operandi to renew the tenure of the
border haats between Bangladesh
and India, increasing the time to
five years from the existing three
DT
years.
The cabinet secretary said:
“Border haats began in October
2010 and was extended in 2013.
There are four haats along the
border of the two countries which
have already expired. As per the
new MoU the tenure of the haats
will be increased. The number of
haats will also be increased.”
The draft also proposed to
increase the number of traders
from each side to sell products in a
border haat to 50 from the present
25.
“The purchase limit for
customers will also be increased to
$200 from $100,” Cabinet Secretary
M Shafiul Alam added. •
TEMPERATURE FORECAST FOR TODAY
Dhaka 27 13 Chittagong 27 17 Rajshahi 26 12 Rangpur 26 12 Khulna 28 12 Barisal 28 13 Sylhet 28 11
Cox’s Bazar 28 18
DRY WEATHER
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13
DHAKA
TODAY
TOMORROW
SUN SETS 5:13PM
SUN RISES 6:33AM
YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW
31.1ºC
9.8ºC
Teknaf
Rajshahi
Source: Accuweather/UNB
PRAYER
TIMES
Fajr: 5:50am | Zohr: 1:15pm
Asr: 4:00pm | Magrib: 5:22pm
Esha: 7:30pm
Source: Islamic Foundation