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6 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT News Celebrating 10 years of National Birth Registration Day • Bilkis Irani CURRENT AFFAIRS Bangladesh will celebrate Birth Registration Day today, marking 10 years since July 3, 2007 that it was officially declared as National Birth Registration Day. Birth registration is now compulsory to get 16 basic services for every citizen. A birth certificate serves as a legal age verification document acknowledging the individual’s existence and status before the law. Birth registration falls under the Birth and Death Registration Act, 2004 (Act No. 29 of 2004), where name, gender, date and place of birth, parents name, nationality and permanent address of a person are provided to get a birth certificate. It is mandatory to have a child’s birth registration completed with 45 days of their birth. The service is free of cost. There are legal penalties if the process is not completed with two years of a child’s birth. The applicant can get the certificate within 15 working days. If the person or organization responsible for birth registration fails to perform the duties properly, actions can be taken against them under the Right to Information Act. The 16 basic services that can be availed with a birth registration are: Passport, marriage registration, admission to school and colleges, applying for jobs, driving license, over ID, land registration, opening a bank account, import and export license, getting water, gas and electric connections, Tax Identification Number (TIN), Contractor license, approval of the home design, vehicle registration, trade license and getting on the voter list. Expatriates also can register the birth of their children by providing a certified copy of a birth certificate. One can register births in the city they are currently living in or where their permanent address is listed in their passport. The place where can go to register for birth are with the chairman or councilor of their Union Council or any officer or member empowered by the Government, with the mayor of their municipality or any Stakeholders worried over extension of Accord’s inspection tenure • Ibrahim Hossain Ovi BUSINESS The Bangladesh government and RMG manufacturers have expressed deep concerns over a decision taken unilaterally by global trade unions, European apparel brands and retailers on Thursday, extending the Accord’s inspection tenure by three years without holding discussion with stakeholders. Describing the decision as unexpected, the government and stakeholders asked them to submit a proposal to extend the tenure if the extension deems necessary. Accord, a platform of European buyers, has been tasked with monitoring safety standards at the country’s apparel factories. Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed expressed worries over the decision in a meeting at his office in Dhaka yesterday. US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, European Union Ambassador Pierre Mayaudon, Canadian High Commissioner Benoît-Pierre Laramée and Dutch Ambassador Leoni Margaretha Cuelenaere, BGMEA President Siddiqur Rahman and Vice president Mahmud Hasan Khan Babu were present there. “The decision is unexpected and unacceptable as the Accord has taken it unilaterally without holding discussion with stakeholders,” Tofail told reporters after the meeting. He said: “As per agreements, the Accord will be operational until June 30, 2018, and inspection and remediation tasks will have been completed by the time. If the extension is necessary, the Accord will have to be in a different form where all the other officer or councilor authorized by him, with the mayor of the City Corporation or an officer or councilor authorized by him,the president of the cantonment board or any officer empowered by him, and with the ambassador of Bangladesh Embassies or with any officer empowered by him. From July 2016 to June 2016 a total of 1,39,580 Births were registered in Dhaka North City Corporation while the number is significantly lower in Dhaka South City Corporation with just 26,994 registered births in the same period of time. • stakeholders will be included. “If there is no representation of the government and local stakeholders, the decision will be meaningless one. Also, it will not be logical to forcibly impose such a decision on factories under the Accord.” The ambassadors present there agreed with him on the issue and called it a proposal rather than a decision, Tofail claimed. “Since Bangladesh gets trade benefits from the European Union, we have raised the issues with the ambassadors so they cannot be dissatisfied over them,” the minister said, adding that some of the companies were surprised at the time extension as they had not been informed of this. There are 215 brands under the existing agreements. Thirteen brands and retailers signed the extended agreement, while eight more brands committed to signing it. The Steering Committee of the Accord informed the issues to the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), but it did not inform the government. Meanwhile, in reaction to the move, the BGMEA said it had been closely working with the Accord for four years and was certain that none would move forward without holding consultation with stakeholders including manufacturers and the government. “We hope that you [who took the decision] will engage in consultation with us and the government, and the Accord version 2 remains flexible to ensure all of us are a part of a unified vision of improving the fate of those who work within the industry,” the trader association said in a statement. •
News MONDAY, Khagrachhari-Rangamati road link still suspended 3 weeks into landslide • Nuruchsafa Manik, Khagrachhari NATION Disconnected by fatal landslides on June 13, the road link between Khagrachhari and Rangamati districts have not been restored yet, causing immense suffering to the locals. Sources said because of heavy rainfall, at least three sections of the 63km Khagrachhari-Rangamati road is inundated in water. Moreover, due to the landslides, the road is covered in muds and potholes; commuting is particularly risky through 10-12 points between Mahalchhari, Khagrachhari and Manikchhari, Rangamati. Locals in both the districts complained that some unscrupulous CNG-run autorickshaw and motorcycle drivers, as well as boatmen, were taking ill-advantage of the crisis by charging high fare. Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday, several commuters at Fishery Ghat in Mahalchhari said they were being extorted as there were no other means of communication other than boats. “The bus fare to Rangamati was Tk70. But now, the boatmen are charging us Tk200,” said Makbul Hossain. Sudarshan Chakma said: “I have to take boat rides twice every day to go to work, which takes much longer than usual. Before, it took an hour to go to the office, now it takes three.” Commuters at Kesing in Mantula Para, Rangamati said CNG-run Sweden-Bangladesh relationship in hot water after journo harassed in Hasina’s Stockholm event • Tribune Desk FOREIGN AFFAIRS Bangladesh ambassador to Sweden was summoned by the Nordic country’s Foreign Ministry on Saturday to explain an incident of harassing a Bangladesh-born Swedish journalist by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s security detail during the premier’s recent trip to Stockholm. On Friday, the journalist, Anwar Hossain, while being interviewed by the Radio Sweden, claimed he was literally tossed out from the official photo op, taking place at Stockholm’s Rosenbad building, of the Bangladesh premier and her Swedish counterpart, Stefan Löfven, by people protecting Sheikh Hasina, just because “he looked like a Bangladeshi and they did not want any Bangladeshi without state press credentials around.” autorickshaws were charging double fare for a single trip. “Before, the autorickshaw fare for a trip to Khagrachhari from Rangamati took Tk200, but now it costs Tk500-600 per person. In addition, we have to walk around 4km on the way,” said Bir Bala Tripura. “It has been 20 days since the road link was snapped, yet the road authorities have taken zero steps to repair the broken parts of the road. Because of this situation, Anwar went further in claiming that the security men forced him to delete the pictures he had captured on his smartphone. Radio Sweden introduced Anwar as a “dissident journalist who fled to Sweden after being falsely accused of murder in Bangladesh.” It also reported that the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs has expressed regret over the incident. In a failed attempt to water down the controversy, Bangladesh’s envoy in Stockholm, Golam Sarwar, on Thursday, told the Radio Sweden on record that he believed that the Swedish Foreign Ministry’s security and media officers had been involved in the decision to force journalist Anwar Hossain to delete photos. Officials at the Swedish Foreign Ministry were not happy with Sarwar’s statement. “It is extremely important to more than 500 families in Manikchhari are facing a lot of inconvenience,” said Bijoy Chakma. The lack of road connectivity is affecting locals farmers too. Uday Sankar Chakma, owner of a fruit orchard in Rangamati, said fruits and vegetables were going to waste because a good number of buyers were unable to come and collect the produce. “We faced extensive losses due to the landslides and the heavy rains. Whatever we had left is now rotting in the orchards,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. When contacted, Md Emdad Hossain, executive engineer at the Rangamati office of Roads Highways Department, said it would take around 15 days to filled up the cracks and potholes and remove the mud from the road. “Then, hopefully, light vehicles will be able to use to road,” he added. • A section of the Khagrachhari-Rangamati road in Kutubchhari area in Rangamati collapsed during the landslides on July 13, 2017. The authorities concerned have not taken any initiative yet to repair the road DHAKA TRIBUNE stress that what the ambassador [Golam Sarwar] said was not right. We are going to ask the ambassador to come in tomorrow [Saturday] and will ask how he managed to get that impression,” Patric Nilsson, a press officer of the Swedish Foreign Ministry, said while talking to the Radio Sweden later on Thursday. Meanwhile, after the meeting on Saturday, Sarwar told the Bangla Tribune that the journalist Anwar is actually a defendant in a murder case in Bangladesh and has taken political asylum in the Nordic country. He also clarified details of the meeting between him and Swedish Foreign Ministry officials. “The Swedish authorities stressed on the fact that officials and personnel from their side were not involved in the incident. However, I managed to settle the issue. Relations between the two countries cannot be strained over such a small matter,” he said while talking to the Bangla Tribune. The Swedish Bar Association and the country’s premier union of journalists, Journalistförbundet, however, do not believe that the incident of ejecting Anwar is a small one. Strongly criticising Sweden Foreign office officials for failing to protect Anwar, Anne Ramberg, general secretary of the Swedish Bar Association, called on her government to demand an apology from the Bangladeshi envoy to Sweden. In a letter addressed to Swedish Foreign Minister Margot Wallström and issued on June 30, the Journalistförbundet’s chairman Jonas Nordling expressed frustration over the incident and asked his government to distance itself from the “violation of Anwar’s right to work as a journalist.” • 7 JULY 3, 2017 DT Budget deficit likely to be 7.46% of GDP • Asif Showkat Kallol ECONOMY Even as the National Board of Revenue imposes more supplementary duties on imports, the budget deficit is likely to widen further to 7.46% of gross domestic product by the end of the new fiscal year, according to Finance Division prediction. The budget deficit will increase to Tk1,66,000 crore from the current target of Tk1,12,276 crore, officials said. The total rise of the deficit will be Tk44,834 crore while the size of the total GDP outlay will be Tk22,23,600 crore. Finance Division officials said the NBR may collect Tk2,05,000 crore compared to earlier target of Tk2,48,190 crore in tax because of the non-implementation of the new value-added tax law. According to the preliminary data, the NBR exceeded the revised target of overall tax collection of Tk1,85,000 crore last fiscal year. The achieved amount is Tk1,85,071 crore. “It’s a good news that the NBR achieved the revised tax collection target last fiscal year though the actual target was Tk1,70,000 crore,” said an official. The total tax collection target set for the NBR in the last fiscal year was Tk2,03,152 crore. NBR Chairman Nojibur Rahman, on his Facebook post, said the if NBR was “not so engaged with the efforts to implement the new VAT law, there would have been more collection last fiscal year. He said an additional amount of Tk22,579 crore could be collected as VAT, especially from large business organisations this fiscal year, if the new law was implemented. Finance Division sources said the deficit could be wider than Tk1,66,000 crore this fiscal year if the planning ministry fails to implement development projects of Tk57,000 crore funded by foreign sources. According to the Planning Commission, an amount of up to Tk40,000 crore foreign aid, out of Tk57,000 crore, can be disbursed in the current fiscal year. A high official of the Finance Division said the budget deficit will widen by up to Tk10,000 crore. But he said the deficit will be met by loans from banking system and saving instruments. However, State Minister for Finance MA Mannan said the current fiscal year’s budget deficit will increase by up to Tk20,000 crore. He said the deficit will be met by loans from commercial banks.•
Page 1 and 2: SECOND EDITION MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
Page 3 and 4: PM Hasina warns government secretar
Page 5: Who poisoned Nibras’ mind? • Nu
Page 9 and 10: Advertisement 9 MONDAY, JULY 3, 201
Page 11 and 12: Over 30m mobile banking accounts in
Page 13 and 14: Opinion 13 DT MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017
Page 15 and 16: The right brand Behind every great
Page 17 and 18: Feature 17 MONDAY, JULY 3 , 2017 DT
Page 19 and 20: Sports 19 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 Nazm
Page 21 and 22: Sports 21 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT S
Page 23 and 24: Showtime 23 MONDAY, JULY 3, 2017 DT

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