Kalam stresses efficient water management on regional basis

BSS, Dhaka

Former Indian President APJ Abdul Kalam on Sunday said the co-riparian countries in the region should develop an efficient water management for their mutual benefit.
"Better management of water can ensure regional benefit of this resource," Kalam said during talks with Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus at the Grameen Bank headquarters after his arrival here on a three-day tour.
Kalam's brief comment came as Yunus sought his suggestions about the exploitation of natural resources like water through regional cooperation as the cross-border Tipaimukh issue currently dominates the center stage of Bangladesh-India relations.
Bangladesh is criss-crossed by nearly 230 rivers with 54 being trans-boundary ones and mostly originating from India.
The former Indian president suggested the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) to develop itself following the model of the European Union (EU).
During the 45-minute talks, the Grameen Bank chief, whose experiment of poor men's banking earned Bangladesh the repute of being the home of microcredit, suggested introduction of SAARC passport and visa systems.
Known as an advocate of an action plan to develop India into a knowledge-based superpower and a developed nation by the year 2020, Kalam said he was keenly interested about the Grameen Bank modus operandi for development.
Yunus briefed him about the Grameen Bank activities and reviewed the cross-sectoral development in different fields when Kalam said Bangladesh should lay more emphasis on women education as he observes "32 percent women education rate (in Bangladesh) is low".
"We cannot ensure social development without providing education particularly to the women," Kalam said.
The former Indian president presented two books he authored with one being his own biography and the other 'India 2020.' He also gave him a copy of the Hindi version of one of Yunus's books on microcredit.
An Indian private Jet Airlines aircraft carried him to Dhaka's Zia International Airport where Prime Minister's advisers Dr Syed Modasser Ali and Dr Gowher Rizvi, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Hasan Mahmud and Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Abdul Karim received the high-profile dignitary.
After a brief stay in the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel on his arrival, Kalam went straight to the headquarters of Grameen Bank to meet Yunus and then joined a dinner hosted by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her official Jamuna residence.

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CNG Filling Station Owners to enforce non-stop strike from August 1

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh CNG Filling Station and Conversion Workshop Owners Association is "determined" on their stand to enforce countrywide nonstop strike from August 1 if their 6-point demands were not met by the government by July 31 deadline.
If the strike is enforced, people of all sections will have to suffer limitless sufferings for shutdown of the gas-filling stations as most vehicles nowadays are fuelled with Compressed Natural Gas (CNG).
The steering committee of the association held an emergency meeting on Saturday at a city hotel with the association president, Shafiul Islam Kamal, presiding to reaffirm their action plan. The meeting called upon the government to meet their demands otherwise they would enforce their pre-announced strike.
Presidents and general secretaries of 14 zonal committees of the association allover the country and central leaders attended the steering-committee meeting conducted by the association's secretary general, Zakir Hossain Nayon.
The CNG Filling Station Owners Association on July 11 took the decision in a general meeting to go for strike if their demands are not met.
Earlier, a few days back, the association leaders had a meeting over their demands with the government "but the meeting was not fruitful", according to the association leaders.
The government side told them to withdraw their condition of enforcing strike before the government could consider their matters, the association leaders said.
Talking to UNB on Sunday over phone the secretary general, Nayon, said they have been pressing their demands for last one year, but to no avail.
The six-point demands include to reduce the fed gas price that is purchased by the filling stations from the government gas companies from the present Tk 9.97 per cubic metre to Tk 5.23 and to reduce the CNG tariff (that is consumers have to pay during buying) from Tk 17.75 per cubic metre to Tk 13.26.
The association secretary general mentioned that the immediate-past caretaker government's Chief Adviser's Assistant on Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry Prof M Tamim had increased the prices by issuing a government notification on April 25, 2008. Earlier, the CNG tariff was Tk 8.50 while fed gas price was Tk 2.47 per cubic metre.
The association also demands installation of Electronic Volume Correction (EVC) metre at the filling stations replacing the present ordinary metre so that they can give gas bill as per pressure reading of gas.
It also demands cancellation of the provision for providing mandatory minimum bill of 30 percent gas use of total loaded gas in a filling station per month.

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