Cabinet approves draft of 'BSTI Law, 2016'

"The revised law will be more time befitting and compatible with the international practices," Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told a media briefing emerging from a regular weekly meeting of the cabinet on Monday with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

He, however, said the draft law kept intact the provisions for punitive measures including imprisonment and financial penalty as the cabinet approved the proposed act during the meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat.

Alam said the existing law was framed through an ordinance promulgated during the martial law regime in 1985 while a Supreme Court verdict required enactment of the new law as it declared all martial law promulgations illegal.

The law mainly prescribed the jurisdictions and operational procedures of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI) which is empowered with the authority to issue standard marks and licenses.

In this regard, he said, anyone violating section 23 of the proposed law regarding the notification and conditions of license would be sentenced to one year imprisonment or fine or both.

Besides, for violation of the section 24, the concerned person would suffer jail for four years and be fined as high as Tk one lakh.

The cabinet also approved the draft of "The Joint Venture Agreement between Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) and Consortium of two Malaysian companies -- Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) & Powertek Energy Sdn, Bhd -- to set up 1320 MW capacity Ultrasuper Critical Coal-based thermal power plant at Moheshkhali of Coxs Bazar.

Under the deal, Alam said, the plant would be built under a fifty-fifty joint venture initiative of the TNB-Powertek and BPDB.

Alam said the cabinet also approved in principle the draft of "The Bangladesh Patent Law, 2916" by keeping consistency with the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRAIPS) to make the law more time befitting.

"The draft law has seven chapters and 29 sections," he said.

The cabinet secretary said that the draft of "The Bangladesh Wheat and Maize Research Institute Law, 2016" was also approved by the cabinet in principle.

He said the cabinet gave the final approval to the draft of "The Bangabandhu National Agriculture Award Trust Law, 2016" through transforming the Bangabandhu Award Fund.

Under the proposed law, an 11-member Trustee Board headed by the Agriculture Minister would be formed while the Ministry of Agriculture will perform the secretarial duties of the Board.

Besides, "The Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission Law, 2016" has been given approval in principle through revisiting the Presidential Order of 1973 to this end to make the law a full-fledged one.

The cabinet also approved a proposal for signing a draft agreement between Bangladesh and Kuwait titled 'The Agreement between Ministry of Defense, Kuwait and Ministry of Defense, Bangladesh for the Deputation of the Bangladesh Armed Forces' Personnel to the State of Kuwait'.

It approved another proposal for ratifying an agreement signed between Bangladesh and Kuwait titled 'The Agreement between the government of Bangladesh and the government of the State of Kuwait on mutual exemption of prior entry visa for holders of diplomatic, special and official passports'.

A proposal for signing a deal between Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia titled 'The Agreement on Cultural Cooperation between the government of Bangladesh and the government of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia' was approved by the cabinet.

Besides, the meeting was also apprised of the participation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the G7 Outreach Programme and the bilateral meeting with Japan on May 26-29, 2016.

Apart from this, the cabinet was apprised of the participation of a Bangladesh delegation, headed by the State Minister for Finance and Planning in the V20 and the spring meetings of the World Bank and the IMF held in Washington DC on April 13-17, 2016, the participation of a Bangladesh team, headed by the Food Minister, in 'The 7th OIC Ministerial Conference on Food Security and Agricultural Development' and 'The First General Assembly of the Islamic Organization for Food Security' held in Kazakhstan on April 26-28, 2016 and the participation of the State Minister for ICT in several events in Hong Kong and New York on April 26-29 this year.

At the very outset of the meeting, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith handed over a crest with two specimen copies of newly introduced Taka 5 government currency note to the Prime Minister.

The Taka 5 note or coin was earlier issued as a bank note and coin. But with the passage of Bangladesh Coinage (Amendment) Act 2015 by parliament, Taka 5 note or coin will now be considered as the government currency note or coin.

Besides, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury handed over the 14th Edition of the IDB Prize for Science and Technology 1437H (2016) to the premier.

The Islamic Development Bank (IDB) recently gave the award to Bangladesh Institute of Nuclear Agriculture (BINA) for its outstanding contribution towards science and technology as an agriculture research body.

The cabinet also adopted an obituary reference at the death of State Minister for Social Welfare Advocate Promod Mankin, who died of cancer at a hospital in India on May 11.

It adopted another obituary reference at the death of Weekly Begum Editor and a pioneer of women renaissance in the subcontinent Nurjahan Begum, who passed away on May 23.

Ministers and state ministers concerned attended the meeting, while secretaries concerned were present.