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The World Bank will provide $62.60 million in IDA credit to Bangladesh to assist in revitalising the national agricultural technology system for boosting agricultural productivity and farm income.
   The IDA credit approved by the bank on Thursday is meant for National Agricultural Technology Project designed to enhance the effectiveness of the country’s agricultural technology system.
   The project will be implemented in 15 years in three phases, with a total IDA commitment of around $180 million, said a press release.
   The credit from the International Development Association, the WB’s concessionary arm, has 40 years to maturity with a 10-year grace period. It carries a service charge of 0.75 per cent.
   The project will finance activities related to agricultural research, agricultural extension, and supply chain, including strengthening of national institutions involved in agricultural research and extension.
   Accounting for about 22 per cent of GDP, agriculture is vital to Bangladesh. Another 33 per cent of GDP is contributed by the rural non-farm economy, which is largely linked to agriculture.
   Over the last three decades, there has been a significant increase in the production of rice to achieve near self-sufficiency in food grains. However, this is threatened by increasing population, declining land base, and stagnating yields, the release said.
   ‘Growth of the agriculture and the rural non-farm sectors is critical to reducing poverty in Bangladesh,’ said the WB country director, Xian Zhu.
   ‘Improved agricultural research and technology will be critical to achieve this growth and accelerate the process of diversification into higher value crops and post-harvest processing,’ he said.
   The project will also support a decentralised demand-led agricultural extension programme with greater accountability and responsiveness to farmers, with a focus on small and marginal farmers.
   To increase and diversify sources of income for small and marginal farmers, the project will support development of supply chains of selected commodities through financing activities related to strengthening farmer-market linkages.

The British foreign secretary, David Miliband, on Friday said his government supported the Election Commission’s roadmap for holding the stalled parliamentary elections by December 2008.
   ‘We strongly support the timeframe given by the Election Commission that the elections will be held this year. We also support the local body elections scheduled for April this year,’ he told reporters after a meeting with the Election Commission in the evening.
   Replying to a question about holding the elections without lifting the state of emergency, he said, lifting the emergency is important to restore people’s confidence that the polls would be held in a free and fair manner.
   ‘We’re very much impressed after hearing the progress of the EC activities. The commission has told me about the progress and it seems good,’ he said.
   Miliband also appreciated the judicial activities, but said, ‘Showing respect to human rights is also important. Human right is a concern.
   ‘Similarly, ensuring fair trial without fear and favour for the people of all levels of society is important.’
   The chief election commissioner, ATM Shamsul Huda and election commissioners M Sohul Hussain and M Shakhawat Hussain attended the meeting with the British foreign
   secretary.
   After the meeting, the chief election commissioner told reporters that they informed the British secretary that the EC is on the right track for holding the elections by December.
   Asked how the elections would be arranged without lifting the emergency, Huda said, ‘We’ve told the chief adviser to create an atmosphere for holding the elections. It’s the government that will decide whether the elections will be held under the emergency or not.’
   When asked about confusion of the political parties in holding the elections keeping the two key leaders in jail, Huda said all the major parties are demanding elections and have asked their leaders to get ready as there is no way to come to power other than elections.
   ‘Political parties can demand elections as early as possible. It’ll work as a pressure on us (EC). We’re now more active,’ Huda said.

Paediatricians and neonatal experts on Friday recommended strengthening the existing healthcare facilities and resources across the country to provide newborns with quality health services, especially of poor families, from the beginning at home.
   This was one of the 10-point recommendations adopted at the concluding session of the first three-day international conference of the Bangladesh Neonatal Forum.
   ‘Home is the place where we must intervene as most neonatal deaths occur at home, especially in poor families, in the first hours and first week of life,’ Nazmun Nahar, the chief adviser to the organisation, said in a keynote paper.
   The organisation president, Kishwar Azad, echoed Nazmun Nahar’s views.
   Stressing the need for making institutional delivery services available to the poorest,
   paediatrician MQK Talukder said newborns in the poorest
   families die at home in
   far-flung areas.
   ‘The mother in such families cannot afford to get institutional delivery services.’
   Expressing his frustration at the state of public healthcare services and programmes,
   he said the country had an
   excellent healthcare infrastructure.
   ‘But, unfortunately, they are not functioning properly.’
   He also suggested strengthening maternal healthcare facilities to ensure mothers’ access to such services.
   The Prothom Alo editor, Motiur Rahman, said media should discharge their responsibilities in containing neonatal deaths.
   Munira Parvin of UNICEF suggested improving upazila health services by putting in place skilled physicians, nurses and health workers.
   Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University professor Md Shahidullah stressed the need for taking multi-dimensional, but coordinated approaches to reduce inequalities in services to improve maternal and neonatal health.
   Additional director general of the Directorate General of Health Services Hosne Ara Farmi and the director of the Directorate General of Family Planning, Mostafa Kamal, also addressed the session, presided over by National Professor MR Khan.
   The organisation held the conference at a time when, according to UNICEF, Bangladesh has ranked among the few countries with a major share, 1,20,000 deaths a year, of the four million global neonatal deaths.
   Most of such deaths occur at home because of high
   percentage of home delivery and lack of skilled midwives or birth attendants and inadequate coverage of newborn care programmes.

The inspector general of police, Noor Muhammad on Friday called upon all to protest instantly if any member of the police force found involved in wrongdoing.
   'If the protest doesn't work, then complain to the higher authorities. The police will no longer take the blame of misdeeds by its any particular member,' he said addressing a rally of community police at the district police lines.
   The police chief said the mentality of the police has not changed since forming of the police force in 1861 although its uniform, vehicles and arms have been changed. He said the police force was hardly allowed to work independently in the last 36 years and there was no scope to perform work maintaining professional dignity.
   The IGP said the number of criminal incidents has marked a significant fall after the introduction of community policing. This system has been introduced to reduce the gap between the police and the people.
   Presided over by Moulvibazar police super M Khurshid Hossain, the rally was addressed, among others, by DIG (Sylhet Range) Abdus Salam,Moulvibazar deputy commissioner Alkama Siddique and former municipality chairman Mahmudur Rahman.

The foreign adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, has said since climate change is a
   priority issue, Bangladesh will continue to play an active role in the global debate on the subject.
   He made the remark when a nine-member delegation of European Parliamentary Committee on Climate Change met the foreign adviser Thursday night at the state guesthouse Padma.
   Iftekhar said countries like Bangladesh, which is also the current Chair of the Group of LDCs, are least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions and global warming, yet they suffer the most from their consequences.
   He said developed countries including those of the
   European Union have an obligation to help implement requisite preventive and adaptation projects.
   The foreign adviser said the chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed co-chaired the
   UN debate on climate change during the last General Assembly session with
   Dutch prime minister Belkenende.
   He said Bangladesh made an active contribution to the Bali Conference and will continue to play a major role in the debate during the lead-up to the planned Copenhagen Conference in 2009.
   The delegation led by Romana Jordan Cizeli of Slovenia appreciated the priority that Bangladesh placed on the subject and expressed the confidence that Bangladesh’s active engagement would enrich the deliberations.
   The foreign adviser also briefed the delegation on the current institutional reforms being undertaken by the government to ensure stable and sustainable democracy.

A sixteen-day programme, organised by Sammilita Sangskritik Jote, began at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on Friday to mark the International Mother Language Day.
   Language movement hero, Professor Rafiqul Islam inaugurated the programme as chief guest. Jote president Nasiruddin Yousuff chaired the inaugural function.
   Rafiqul Islam said, ‘We are not following the Constitution’s suggestion to use Bangla language. We as well as the media are neglecting and distorting our mother tongue. The defeated forces also have started rearing their ugly heads.’
   Professor Muhammad Samad, Asaduzzaman Noor, Golam Quddus, Mizanur Rahman, Jhuna Chowdhury and Maskur A Sattar spoke in the function.
   The opening function was followed by recitations and musical performances. The programme at the Shaheed Minar will begin at 4:00pm every day and continue till February 19.
   The organisation will also hold different programmes at Rabindra Sarobar in Dhanmondi from February 15-21 and at Mirpur Outer Stadium from February 17-23.

The Workers Party president, Rashed Khan Menon, on Friday feared an imminent food crisis if the government does not make concerted efforts to ensure the supply of agricultural inputs.
   The country will face a famine which will be difficult to address, Menon said at an extended committee meeting of the Jatiya Krishak Samiti and Bangladesh Khetmajur Union at the Asad Auditorium in Dhaka. The farmers are facing shortage of fertilisers, diesel and seed during boro season, but the government has yet to take proper steps to address the issues, Menon said.
   The Jatiya Krishak Samiti general secretary, Aminul Islam Golap, placed a report where he said the boro production target this year could not be achieved if the government does not take immediate measures for smooth supply of agricultural inputs.
   Farmer leader Abdus Sattar presided over the meeting. Noor Mohammad, Nazrul Haque Nilu, Manoj Saha and others took part in discussion on the report.

The 24th edition of the BBC Bangladesh Sanglap will be held at the Feni Government College on Saturday.
   Former lawmaker and Feni district BNP president Mosharraf Hossain, former minister and Awami League leader Zafar Imam, senior journalist ABM Musa and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal joint general secretary Shirin Akhtar will take part in the programme as panellists.
   The Sanglap, to be moderated by Kamal Ahmed of the BBC Bangla Service, will begin at 2:45pm.
   The recorded programme will be aired on BBC Bangla Service at 8:00pm Sunday and on Channel i at 8:00pm Monday, said a release on Friday.

The local government ministry suspended Sailkupa municipal chairman, Khalilur Rahman, on Thursday.
   The order was issued after Khalilur’s conviction in an extortion case and submission of the charge sheet against the chairman, also a BNP leader, in another case.
   Khalilur was accused of being involved in illegal sand extraction from the River Kumar and extortion. One Saber Hossain filed the extortion case with a court in Jhenaidah.
   A speedy trial court earlier sentenced Khalilur to four years’ imprisonment for his involvement in sand extraction.
   He was later remanded on bail.
   The Sailkupa upazila nirbahi officer Mahmudul Hossain Khan confirmed the suspension.

The police recovered four cocktails and a petrol bomb from near the Jagannath Hall at Dhaka University Friday morning.
   The police said a cleaner of the hall first saw the bombs near the graveyard at about 8:00am and informed the hall authority.
   On information, the police from Shahbagh thana rushed to the scene and recovered the bombs.

The Kalapara circle assistant police superintendent of Patuakhali, Safizul Islam, was closed in the afternoon on Friday.
   The police superintendent, Ashrafur Rahman, said he had received a letter from the home affairs ministry on Friday in this regard.
   He said he was not aware of the reason behind it.
   Shafizul said the ministry had made him an officer on special duty and asked him to report to the police headquarters in Dhaka.

The Indian high commissioner, Pinak Ranjan Chakravorty, on Friday hoped the interim government would hand over power to an elected government by holding the national election by December according to its polls roadmap.
   ‘The Indian government strongly believes Bangladesh will soon return to the path of democracy and the elected government takes power,’ he said while exchanging views with reporters after inaugurating a two-week exhibition on contemporary fine arts at the Indian Assistant High Commission’s Gallery at Khulshi.
   Asked about protecting human rights of the detained political leaders in Bangladesh during trial process, the Indian envoy said the caretaker government should be respectful to human rights as per the constitution.
   Addressing the inaugural function of the exhibition, Pinak said Bangladesh and India have long cultural and friendly relations, as people of both the countries have a similar cultural heritage.
   He said Bangladesh and India signed agreement on cultural exchange and the Indian government awarding scholarships to Bangladeshi students in the fields of dance, fine arts and music.