Dhaka-Delhi diplomatic meet

The promise of the Group of Eight most powerful countries to halve the world's greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 glosses over some of the most terrifying realities of climate change . At the G8 summit in Hokkaido on Tuesday, the rich western nations may have sought emissions cuts, but US president George W Bush has also indicated that he will not be willing to accept binding cuts unless developing nations China and India  the emergent elite of the greenhouse gas emitters' league  also sign up for such cuts.

CG responsible to contain it

Recurring mild to moderate tremor has been a common phenomenon in Bangladesh. The most recent earthquake shook the northern districts at about 11PM on Saturday, measuring about 5.1 on the Richter scale and lasting several seconds. The epicentre of the earthquake was located about 290 kms north-northwest of Dhaka . The impact of the quake was felt in Chapai Nawabganj ,Rajshahi, Natore and Pabna. districts . Many people ran out of their homes in panic , including and around 300 students of Rajshahi University and local colleges staying at a six-storied private hostel at the centre of Rajshahi city . Around 30 old buildings of the north-western part of the city developed cracks.

It is horrifying that some 73 percent of street children in the city are subjected to abuse and suffer from chronic malnutrition. Mortality and morbidity status among the street dwellers has reached an alarming level due to lack of basic healthcare services. The disadvantaged street children are most vulnerable to various complicated diseases because of overcrowding, poor environmental status, and unhygienic foodstuffs.

Steps by govt. and private sector needed

Floods may come a little early this year spreading miseries amongst an already harassed population. The extent of flooding may not be of 1955 or 1998 levels but in the given situation of today even a much lesser onslaught will result in widespread sufferings. Two major rivers are already flowing above the danger levels and others, numbering about 61, are about to cross the danger levels. Added to this is the extensive erosion that has already devoured many settlements across the country.

Birth registration is one of the fundamental tights of the children. It may eliminate the problem in making a flawless voter list. It will also simplify the process of determination of a person's citizenship. Besides, it will stop early marriages. All these are of very great national interest. But, surprisingly enough, many people are not aware of the Birth and Death Registration Act of 2004.

The caretaker government is trying to revamp the power sector and streamline power delivery systems to industries, business and private consumers. One of the measures undertaken is the creation of the Dhaka Power Distribution Company which is taking over the entire operations of Dhaka Electric Supply Authority from June 30 midnight The newborn entity in the problematic power sector will embark upon its journey from July 1 as per the Cabinet decision of the caretaker government, while the DESA, an 18-year-old power-distribution outfit for the capital, will stand dissolved under the process.

We certainly welcome formation of the Regulatory Reforms Commission(RRC) as it is the first ever institutional attempt to update the centuries-old rules and regulations of the country to infuse dynamism into governance, administration and the economy. The Regulatory Reforms Commission has submitted two proposals to the caretaker government, one for compiling all rules and regulations so far issued and sending any new regulation for eliciting public opinion before gazette notification.

A series of social safety net programmes apart from seeking of international support for expansion of the to provide sustenance to the ultra-poor, now struggling for bare existence has been taken recently. Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam quite correctly said the increase in prices of fuel oil, fertilizer, and especially the food has also threatened family budget, affecting the government ability to provide social safety net for the people.

Chief Advisor’s Special Assistant for Power and Energy Ministry at a workshop on Wednesday revealed the fact that Bangladesh and other such developing nations have been getting into difficulties in dealing with and contracting for public purchases due to the different donor agencies’ and development partners’ diverse procurement guidelines.

Everybody wants democracy though his or her own brand. The latest entrant is our Chief Election Commissioner. According to media reports he said that in future local government representatives would be responsible for development activities not the members of the parliament.

The pace of improvement of the standard of primary education has been very slow despite progress in developing infrastructure of academic institutions. Speakers at a seminar laid stress on a concerted effort of all quarters for making the primary education up to the mark. Otherwise, they rightly said, the prevailing dissatisfactory situation could bring a debacle in the whole education system. We agree with them that primary education is the foundation of all higher education. Children get basic education at the primary schools.

Two successive floods and deadly cyclone have made food situation in the country critical. Economists estimated losses in rice production due to floods and Sidr ranging between 21.39 lakh tons and 23.63 lakh tons. Stocks are being fast depleted as the government is running the Vulnerable Group Feeding programme vigorously. While imports of costly food grains to feed millions can never be a permanent solution, no time should now be lost by one and all in recouping the losses the natural calamities have caused to agriculture.

There are no reliable statistics of how many of our own people are working abroad. The figure that is usually mentioned in table talks is close to four million. On the average fifty women are trafficked across the border daily and 45 of them end up in the red light areas. There are some 400,000 Bangladeshi girls in Indian brothels and 40,000 in Pakistan. In addition to these about 300,000 Bangladeshi boys are also in India engaged in slave labor or flesh trade in Middle East, Malaysia, South Korea, Europe and many other countries.

The replacement of Dhaka Electric Supply Authority by Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd has been approved in principle in a meeting of council of advisers recently. The DPDC is expected to start working from July 1 after it receives the green light from the government. The government has already sent the amendment to the Desa Act 1989 back to the law ministry for final vetting. Once approved, Desa would be dissolved and replaced by the DPDC, which would supply power to the areas covered by Desa.

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh has always played a positive role in helping to make up for the deficit in the demand and supply situation of various essential commodities within the country , and thus stabilize prices. . Unfortunately, in the past the ,activities of TCB had been delayed and made partially ineffective by corruption and bureaucratic delays . It is heartening that under the government, it has engaged in importing and distributing essential items including rice and other food products, so that the people could buy them at reasonable prices.

Tourism might be a choice

Under present financial logjams, rapid privatization of public industries has become imperative. The Finance Adviserhas stressed this need at a seminar recently. He was right when he said he did not believe that a government-run industry could work efficiently. He blamed mismanagement as the main problem for a state-owned enterprise. Mismanagement and subsequent losses are the main features of government industries.