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Experts have emphasised that effective steps should be taken to strike a balance between protection for ecosystem and livelihood needs of rising population.
   They also alerted the policymakers to development proposals of multilateral lending agencies.
   ‘We have to make a balance between the pressures of increasing population and our efforts to protect the ecosystem,’ World Conservation Union (IUCN) country representative professor Ainun Nishat said in Dhaka Monday.
   ‘We can protect ecosystems at least at some places if we can take combined and effective efforts keeping the people’s need in mind,’ he said at a workshop.
   He stressed the need for zoning to protect the ecosystem, maintaining pace of agricultural production and development.
   Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee organised the workshop on ‘ecosystem services and poverty alleviation study in South Asia’ in association with the IUCN at BRAC Centre.
   A section of the discussants criticised the global lending agencies and countries for imposing projects to serve their own political and economic purposes. Some discussants also blamed policymakers of the government for giving too much importance to foreigners while deciding on projects.
   Society for Human and Environment Development director Philip Gain said, ‘It is high time to review strategies of the international lenders that put pressure on the government to push their political and economic interests.’
   Research director of Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, M Asaduzzaman said foreigners could not impose the projects if local policymakers did not connive with them.
   ‘In many cases, suggestions of an American electrician become more acceptable to our ministers than the views of a top local electrical engineer.’
   Water Resources Planning Organisation director general Inamul Haque attached importance to upholding of fundamental and historical rights of the people of the downstream countries to international rivers.
   BRAC executive director Mahabub Hossain, Centre for Sustainable Development secretary general Mahfuzullah and Bahreen Khan of Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association, among others, participated in the discussion.

Bangladeshi national Nafees Bin Zafar has been selected for ‘Scientific and Engineering Award’ by the Academy
   of Motion Picture Arts and Science.
   The award will be handed over during the Oscar Season at the Scientific and Technical Awards Dinner and Ceremony at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, on February 9, 2008.
   The academy board of directors has voted to confer
   the award on Zafar, Doug
   Roble and Ryo Sakaguchi of Digital Domain for the development of the fluid simulation system.
   The feature film work of Nafees Bin Zafar includes screen credits on ‘Stealth’, ‘Flags of Our Fathers’, and ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’. He is a software engineering graduate from the college of Charleston with many professional credentials and recognition in his area of expertise.
   Zafar is the son of retried army official Zafar Bin Bashar, a partner at Marcum & Kliegman, and Nafeesa Zafar, who reside in Long Island, New York. He is the nephew of Syed Mainul Hossain, Ekushe Padak recipient architect of National Mausoleum at Savar, and grand nephew of artist Mostafa Monwar.

Energy Division on Monday sent to the council of advisers the draft model production sharing contract and tender documents for the third round bidding for offshore blocks.
   Sources in the division said they were expecting a decision on the draft PSC and tender documents at the next meeting of the council of advisers.
   ‘Once the council approves the model PSC and tender documents, Petrobangla will invite international oil companies to take part in the bidding,’ said a source.
   The bidding could be held by December 31, subject to the approval, he said.
   The division dropped its previous plan to hold ‘road show’ abroad to save time. ‘We have seen much interest among international oil companies and many of them have already approached us. So we feel there is no need to hold road show,’ said a source.
   It also drafted the model PSC amending the one used for the second round bidding in 1997-98. The draft proposes higher gas tariff for IOCs to lure them into the bidding. The interim government hoped to award offshore blocks to IOCs by August 2008, so that exploration activities could be started in the next winter.

Anti-Corruption Commission has now turned its eye on the service sector amid allegations of large-scale corruption in some organisations.
   ‘We are collecting data on those sectors. If any allegation of corruption is proved, stern measures will be taken against the concerned organisation,’ ACC director general for administration Hanif Iqbal said during the commission’s regular briefing on Monday.
   Replying to a question, he also said the commission would take ideas from people and accordingly collect information.
   He declined to give the names of the organisations put under its scanner. ‘Data collection is going on. I don’t want to name any organisation in advance.’
   Asked whether ACC would look beyond the BNP and Awami League regimes and keep corruption during previous Ershad’s rule out of its drive, he said, ‘ACC is not a temporary organisation.’
   Hanif said ACC had approved the filing of cases against former minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, former Khulna city mayor Kazi Aminul Haque and former Chittagong deputy commissioner Mohammad Hasan for concealing information and acquiring wealth beyond their known sources of income.
   The director general gave details about the complaints investigated by the commission against employees of government, semi-government, autonomous organisations and people’s representatives.
   The complaints include acquiring wealth beyond known sources of income, getting benefited or benefiting others through misuse of power, bribing, misappropriation of state property, doing businesses or participating in auctions in others’ names, distorting accounts or making efforts to destroy important files to cover up faults and money laundering.