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The government is on the lookout for a new contractor to run operations at Kamalapur inland container depot in Dhaka after cancelling the controversial agreement with Global Agro Trade Company.
   The agreement with GATCO will stand cancelled from the day the new contractor runs the affairs at the Kamalapur ICD, said the Chittagong Port Authority chairman, M Faruque, on Sunday.
   The CPA chairman said the plan might be implemented ‘in a couple of months’.
   Faruque said a pre-bid meeting with interested parties set for July 7 at the Bandar Bhaban would discuss the terms and conditions of the new agreement.
   The tenders will be floated on July 20 in the presence of bidders, the chairman said. The two pre-bid meetings had earlier been cancelled because of cases pending with court, he said.
   Unwilling to be named, a CPA official involved in the bidding process told the news agency that 30 firms had turned in bids until Thursday, quoting prices for the job.
   The CPA chief said the GATCO deal was scrapped on March 2, 2007 on charges of inefficiency and breach of contract. The CPA invited fresh bids on April 25, 2007.
   The move prompted GATCO, which had been awarded a seven-year contract, to get a court order that froze the new tendering process, he said.
   The court in May this year, however, ruled that the cancellation of the GATCO deal had been right, clearing way for the search for a new contractor.
   Faruque added that firms bidding for a deal this time were far greater in number than the previous occasion.
   He said GATCO was nonetheless allowed to handle ICD until a new contractor took over the charge of the depot.
   Under the new arrangement, no organisation will be given a longstanding contract and some stringent terms and conditions will be added to the existing ones, Faruque said.
   The new terms and conditions make it mandatory for the bidder to be able to buy new equipment for handling containers and have at least 10 years’ experience in the relevant work.
   In case the bids were not competitive or fell short of the lowest minimum acceptable rates, the CPA will consider fresh bidding, the chairman said, adding GATCO may also come and participate as a bidder in the new bid if it fulfils the eligibility criteria.
   The CPA can execute a contract involving Tk 24 crore, but the ministry and the cabinet committee on public purchase will intervene for a deal beyond the amount, he added.
   GATCO was awarded the contract during the BNP-led coalition government’s rule through bending the rules.
   Former prime minister Khaleda Zia and five of her cabinet ministers are facing trial on charges of corruption over the scam.

Politicians at a discussion assured the ethnic minorities that they would take up their issues of contentions to the next elected government to get them resolved.
   ‘I hope your demands will be met if a progressive government comes through elections. We’ll take up your issues to the government’, Amir Hossain Amu, one of the presidium members of the Awami League, said on Sunday at a discussion organised to mark the 153rd anniversary of the Santal rebellion.
   ‘We will try to address all your problems including the long-standing land disputes,’ said the AL leader, adding that the AL had recognized the demands of the ethnic minorities in the past and it would continue to do so.
   Organised by the Bangladesh Adibasi Adhikar Andolan, the discussion was addressed, among others, by the president of Bangladesh Communist Party, Manzurul Ahsan Khan, the Gana Forum general secretary, Pankaj Bhattacharya, and a senior ethnic minority leader and also a language movement hero, U Sueya. A Dhaka University teacher H K S Arefin presided over the session.
   The speakers highlighted the struggles of the ethnic minorities for their existence and their participation in the historic Santal rebellion. They recalled the contribution of Sidhu-Kanhu in the rebellion against the British colonial rule more than a century and a half ago.
   They said the sacrifice of the ethnic minority leaders still inspired the mainstream politicians while launching any movement to establish the people’s rights.
   Expressing solidarity with the demands of the ethnic minorities, the CPB president urged the authorities concerned to resolve their problems. He also asked for constitutional recognition of their rights.
   Pankaj Bhattacharya called for immediate steps to halt grabbing of the land belonging to the minority groups in different places.
   He also stressed full implementation of the treaty of 1997, signed between the government and the Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity, to ensure peace in the CHT.
   In another session, a panel of speakers highlighted the significance of the Santal Rebellion Day. The organisers handed over the Sidhu-Kanhu-Fulmni award to a relative of Manabendra Narayan Larma, in the afternoon, in recognition of his sacrifice for the ethnic minorities.
   M N Larma was the founder of the PCJSS and its armed wing Santi Bahini. Larma was assassinated by his rivals in 1983.

Stakeholders and resear-chers called for a strong political will to ensure access of the marginal people like poor women and ethnic minorities to land, water, and forest resources.
   They called for bringing necessary reforms to the forest laws, forming a land commission to resolve land disputes, and
   incorporating marginal people in the forest and water body management for establishing their right.
   They also underscored the need for bringing changes in the judicial structure to ensure access of the poor people to justice.
   They came up with their views at the inaugural session of the South Asian Workshop styled ‘Access to Land, Water and Forest Resources’, organised by the Association of Land Reform and Development at the YWCA auditorium in Dhaka on Sunday.
   The organisers said the workshop aimed at focusing on and sharing the experiences gathered from the grassroots activism and movements in different countries of the South Asian region on these issues, and identifying common issues and understanding to replicate the good practices and positive learning.
   The adviser for women and children affairs, Rasheda K Chowdhury said the issue of political will and sincerity came first to implement the rights of the marginal people. ‘The matter of their rights is mentioned in the constitutions of the all the countries across the world but in most cases they are rarely implemented’, she said.
   She also stressed adequate campaign for ensuring the rights of marginal people and the ethnic minorities.
   The chief adviser’s special assistant, Devashish Roy
   suggested formation of a special land commission for the people who own small pieces of land.
   ‘These poor people are unable to come to Dhaka, hire an attorney and fight in the court.’
   Reforms in the forest laws are also necessary for the conservation of forests but it should be done by an elected government, he said, adding ‘Guarding with guns will not ensure forest conservation rather it can be ensured by recognising the rights of the people who reside in forests or nearby areas’.
   The session chair, Khushi Kabir, said they were holding the workshop to collect suggestions on the issue of implementation of the existing laws for ensuring the rights of marginal people. ‘Every nation has such laws in papers’, she said.
   The Danish envoy Jan Moller Hansen said his country expected an administration in Bangladesh which would work for ensuring human rights for the women, indigenous communities and other marginalised people.
   ‘Denmark will always stand by Bangladesh in its efforts on these issues’, he said.

All the amendments to the constitution that undermined the country’s social harmony particularly communal harmony were made during the regimes of military rulers, an ex-adviser to the caretaker government said at a seminar on Sunday.
   ‘All the changes in the constitution that destabilised the social harmony were made during the military regimes,’ M Hafizuddin Khan said at the seminar on ‘social harmony and rights’, organised by Development Organisation of the Rural Poor at IDB Bhaban in association with Manusher Jonno.
   Awami League leader Abdus Shahid and Dhaka University Professor Dalem Chandra Barman also echoed the same.
   Speakers at the seminar stressed the need for raising awareness to ensure fundamental rights of all including the minorities in the country. They said increasing awareness among all sections of the people about fundamental rights would help uphold and protect all social rights in the country.
   Noted banker Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled and Sawal Khan presented two keynote papers on ‘constitutional rights of minority: Banshkhali incidents’ and ‘poverty and women rights’.
   Professor Dalem said various political and economic reasons were largely responsible for the current social discord in the country. He suggested reinstatement of the 1972 constitution that ensured secularism in the country.
   Abdus Shahid held lack of good governance and narrow political interests of the parties responsible for upsetting social and communal harmony. ‘No religion allows violation of other religion’s rights,’ he observed.
   Manik Lal Samaddar, special assistant to the chief adviser for science and ICT, attended the programme as chief guest. Awami League leader Rahmat Ali, the New Nation editor Mostafa Kamal Majumder and Rana Das Gupta also addressed the seminar moderated by AHM Nouman, secretary general of DORP.

Post and telecommunications secretary Iqbal Mahmud was made chairman of both the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd and Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd on Sunday for a two-year term.
   The boards of the newly formed companies in their first meetings also appointed managing directors for the two companies for a two-year term.
   The companies, formed by dividing the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board, will replace BTTB on Tuesday.
   BTTB chairman Ashraful Alim was made managing director of BTCL while project director of BTTB’s submarine cable project Monowar Hossain appointed as managing director of BSCCL.
   The nine-member board of the BTCL and seven-member board of SBCCL gave the appointments in separate meetings, chaired by post and telecommunications secretary Iqbal Mahmud.
   Mahmud told New Age before the meeting that all the BTTB staff would work for BTCL and BSCCL until the formulation of organograms for the two companies.
   ‘Initially the BTTB staff will be given chance to work for the companies for two years. During this period, their performance and activities will be monitored. After two years, the staff will have option to remain at BTCL and BSCCL. The government will take a decision about the staff who cannot be absorbed in the companies,’ he said. The BTCL will absorb 12,636 staff and BSCCL 66 staff for the time being.
   About valuation of assets and liabilities of BTTB, Mahmud said the German consulting firm Detecon was yet to submit the report on it. ‘Once we get the report, we will take steps in this regard,’ he said.

The government has appointed MAK Mahmood, now working as additional secretary at the foreign ministry, as Bangladesh’s next ambassador to Germany.
   Mahmood, who received his MSS in political science from Dhaka University in 1988, worked in various capacities in Bangladesh missions abroad.

The president, Iajuddin Ahmed, on Sunday returned to Bangabha-ban, his official residence, after taking treatment of viral fever at Com-bined Military Hospital in Dhaka.
   The president was admitted to the CMH on the night of June 23 as he was suffering from viral fever with high temperature.
   The medical board for the president after checking up his physical condition recommended his release from the hospital on Sunday.
   Iajuddin thanked the members of medical board, attending doctors and nurses of the CMH and all concerned for extending their sincere services to him. He also expressed his gratitude to the Almighty and the countrymen for his early recovery.

The foreign and expatriates welfare and overseas employment adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, on Sunday said the overseas market for Bangladeshi workers continued to expand and the government planned to pursue such an expansion.
   Quoting the adviser, a release of the foreign ministry said the overseas employment for Bangladesh could easily surpass the 900,000 mark by the end of 2008 and make a new record.
   He said, ‘This year, we have so far cleared 464,000 workers for employment abroad. At this rate, we should easily surpass 900,000 by the yearend, which will be an all-time record.’
   In 2007, some 832,000 Bangladeshis went abroad on job.
   As for remittance, Iftekhar said, ‘They [Bangladeshi workers] have remitted about $4 billion so far. If the trend continues, and there is no reason why it should not, we are also likely to hit record figures in this respect as well.’
   He said, ‘In consonance with our nine-point strategy, we will emphasise welfare and skills development. Problems still exist, but we are preparing to confront and overcome them.’ ‘The search for new markets is going on. We are also in the final stages of preparing manpower agreements with Bahr-ain and Jordan,’ the adviser said.

A sector commander-level flag meeting between the border security forces of Bangladesh and Myanmar was held in Cox’s Bazar town on Sunday.
   The meeting agreed to conduct a joint survey to identify the border pillars.
   Both the sides agreed upon jointly removing the landmine from the no-man’s-land along the border.
   They consented to address different problems like drug trafficking, insurgency and other trans-border issues by holding joint flag meetings.
   Colonel Syed Yousuf Mahabub Ali, sector commander of the Bangladesh Rifles, led the 20-member Bangladesh team while U Aung Gyi, director of the Border Immigration Headquarters, Mongdow, led the 15-member Myanmar delegation.
   The meeting was informed that the Nasaka had handed over a total 108 Bangladeshis to the BDR between January 1 and May 31 this year.
   Besides, more 18 Bangladeshis would be returned soon through a battalion-level flag meeting.

UNESCO Daimler Mondialogo Partnership has launched the third Mondialogo Engineering Award to promote inter cultural dialogue particularly among students and young engineers from the developing countries.
   UNESCO invites and encourages student engineers to form tea-ms to design project proposals ai-med at improving the quality of life in the developing countries. The award consists of a total amount of 3 lakh euro, said a news release.
   Interested students may apply through online at www.mondialogo.org by October 31. For further information they may contact to Leszek Baily at email: 1.bialy@unesco.org and over telephone: (+33145681294), fax: (+33145685521).