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Cabinet okays Bangladesh Flag Vessel (Protection) Act


Bangladeshpost
Published : 24 Jun 2019 09:07 PM | Updated : 06 Sep 2020 02:42 PM

The cabinet on Monday gave final approval to draft of The Bangladesh Flag Vessel (Protection) Act, 2019 with a provision for the vessels to carry 50 percent cargos from the existing 40 percent in a meeting held at the PMO with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair. “Drafts of two laws, The Bangladesh Flag Vessel (Protection) Act, 2019 and The Bangladesh Krira Shikhya Protishthan Ain, 2019 have got final approval of the cabinet,” Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam told a press briefing held at the secretariat in the capital, reports BSS.

It also gave final approval to Antarjatik Matribhasha Padak Nitimala, 2019 (International Mother Language Medal Policy, 2019), he said. “Three changes have been made in The Bangladesh Flag Vessel (Protection) Act, 2019 with provisions for the vessels to carry 50 percent cargos from the existing 40 percent; fixing 30 days for making an appeal by an aggrieved person and Taka 5 lakh as the highest administrative punishment in case of floating the law,” he said.

The vessels registered with Bangladesh are called Bangladesh flag vessels, he continued. Alam added that the government has turned the ordinance of 1982 into an act following an order of the Supreme Court. “Some changes was also brought in the Bangladesh Krira Shikhya Protishthan Ain, 2019 with provision to increase the number of members from four to one-third (out of 20) to make the quorum for holding a board meeting (of the BKSP),” he said.

There are also provisions of holding the board meeting within six months and fixing three years tenure for the elected board members, he continued. Whereas, the Antarjatik Matribhasha Padak Nitimala, 2019 (International Mother Language Medal Policy,2019) with provision of giving it in every two-year ahead of the Ekushey February in the national and international levels, was also approved by the cabinet, said Alam.

A total of Taka 4 lakh has been fixed as prize money for national level and $5,000 for international level, he said, adding that there was a plan to increase the prize money of the Ekushey Padak. The Antarjatik Matribhasha Padak will be given for contributions to preserve and flourish various mother languages across the globe, he added.

The cabinet congratulated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as Bangladesh has become the fastest GDP growth achieving country among the 45 countries in the Asia-Pacific, the cabinet secretary said. The cabinet was informed of the visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Japan from May 28 to May 30, he said, adding that Japan gave Bangladesh an assurance to stand beside Bangladesh on the Rohingya issue and a decision was taken to jointly observe 50 years of diplomatic relations between the countries.

It was also informed of the Prime Minister’s visit to Saudi Arabia from May 31 to June 3 where she attended the 14th OIC Conference and gave speech on behalf of the Asia Group. REMARKS ON TIB REPORT Replying to a query, the cabinet secretary dismissed a Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) report that claimed promotions are being given to senior government officials on the basis of political consideration.

“I have not yet seen the TIB report. Like you (journalists), I knew the thing that came in the news. But, the matter is not exactly the same as stated by the TIB in a wholesale manner,” he said. ON TRAIN ACCIDENT On the rescue operation after yesterday’s train accident, he said, “Our rescue operation is going on involving all the agencies including RAB, BGB and fire brigade. According to the official report till this moment as many as four bodies were recovered and there might be more bodies under the debris.”

He also said, “The train collapsed as it was overloaded. There was no space in it where people didn’t board on.” The railways minister assured the cabinet of resuming the operation of train services on Dhaka-Sylhet route within 24 hours, he said.