e_Paper, Tuesday, July 18, 2017

8
TUESDAY, JULY 18, 2017
DT
News
Three-year jail or Tk10 lakh fine
for illegal trade in human organs
• Tribune Desk
GOVERNMENT
The Cabinet on Monday approved
the draft law Transplantation of
Human Organs Act, 2017, providing
for three years’ rigorous imprisonment
or Tk10 lakh fine or both as
punishment for the illegal trade of
human organs.
The approval came during the
regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet
held at the Cabinet Division
with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
in the chair, reports UNB.
Additional secretary M Ashraf
Shamim told reporters after the
meeting that without government
approval no hospital could conduct
human organ transplantation in
the country. He added that public
hospitals which have specialised
transplantation units can do the
job without taking any approval.
He also said private hospitals
have to apply to the authorities
concerned for approval within 60
days of enactment of the law.
As per the proposed law, there
will be a medical board in every
hospital for deciding transplantation
matters and a National Cadaveric
Committee will oversee
human organ transplantation
across the country.
Organ donation is the donation
of biological tissue or an organ of
the human body, from a living or
dead person to a living recipient
who needs a transplantation.
In the name of organ donation,
illegal trade of organs has reportedly
been going on in the country for
over a decade.
Wealthy recipients and brokers
trick poor and illiterate people into
selling their organs by making false
promises of money, jobs and travel
to foreign countries.
The existing law stipulates imprisonment
for three to seven years,
Tk3 lakh as fine or both for violating
the law. •
Salt import ban
withdrawn for four
months
• Asif Showkat Kallol
BUSINESS
The government has allowed
authorised importers to import
0.5 million tonnes of
unrefined salt from abroad to
stabilise local market.
The import ban on salt has
been withdrawn for the next
four months.
NBR issued a statutory regulatory
order (SRO) yesterday
to allow import of 0.5 million
salt for the next four months.
According to the SRO, the
authorised importers can bring
One killed after BCL
infighting in a Sylhet
college
• Mohammed Serajul
Islam, Sylhet
NATION
An activist of Bangladesh
Chhatra League (BCL) has
been shot dead after a factional
clash on Beanibazar
Government College campus.
The deceased is Khaled
Ahmed Litu, 25, hailing from
Khasa Ponditpara area of
Beanibazar.
Suggan Chakma, additional
Superintendent of Sylhet
district police, said the supporters
of upazila Swechchhasebak
League President
consignments, and later refined
edible salt will be marketed
after quality assessment.
Bangladesh imported 0.5
million tonnes of unrefined
salt in two phases this year.
The Industries Ministry
found a deficit in salt after
the last salt cultivation season
ended in June. About 1.3
million tonnes of salt were
produced during the season
whereas the annual demand
is around 1.5 million tonnes.
Unrefined salt is currently
on sale at Tk15 a kg while the refined
packaged salt is selling at
Tk40 per kg in local markets. •
Pallab and district Chhatra
League’s hospitality affairs
secretary Pavel locked into a
clash on Monday morning.
Pavel group supporter Rifat
Ahmed said they were
holding a meeting at a classroom
after the morning clash
when some unidentified people
shot Litu through the window
in the afternoon.
Being informed, police
rushed to the spot and sent
Litu to Beanibazar Health
Complex where the duty doctor
declared him dead.
Police detained three Chhatra
League activists in connection
with the murder. •