Bangladesh jute price report on July 5

Rates supplied by the Bangladesh Jute Association
JUTE VARIETY BALES FOB Narayanganj
(One bale = 180 kg) (Taka per bale)

Ready Position (in taka) Bangla white special (BW special) 14,000 Bangla white A (BWA) 13,700 Bangla white B (BWB) 12,800 Bangla white C (BWC) 11,300 Bangla white D (BWD) 10,850 Bangla white E (BWE) 10,400 Bangla tossa special (BTS) 14,300 Bangla tossa A (BTA) 14,000 Bangla tossa B (BTB) 13,100 Bangla tossa C (BTC) 11,600 Bangla tossa D (BTD) 11,150 Bangla tossa E (BTE) 10,700 WRS/TRS, HABIJABI, CUT ROPES Bangla white rejection (BWR) 9,250 Bangla white habijabi (BWH) 7,300 Bangla tossa rejection (BTR) 9,500 Bangla tossa habijabi (BTH) 7,300

CUTTINGS Bangla white cuttings A (BWCA) 6,800 Bangla white cuttings B (BWCB) 6,600 Bangla tossa cuttings A (BTCA) 7,100 Bangla tossa cuttings B (BTCB) 6,900

MESHTA Meshta special 14,000 Meshta A 13,700 Meshta B 12,800 Meshta C 11,300 Special meshta cuttings 6,800 Ordinary meshta cuttings 6,600 Meshta- SMR 9,000

STATE OF THE MARKET--REMARKS Quality - good Condition - fair Narayanganj imports - About 3,000 Qntl. Daulatpur imports - About 8,000 Qntl. Market trend - As usual

NOTE Raw jute exports during 2010-2011 (01.07.2010 to 31.03.2011) = 1,378,551 bales Value 13.05 billion taka ($1=74.27 taka) Source: Bangladesh Jute Association, Dhaka +880-2-9552916, Narayanganj +880-2-7630904
http://in.reuters.com/article/2011/07/05/idINL3E7I303O20110705

COSCAP HQ to shifted in Dhaka

Headquarter of Cooperative Development of Operational Safety and Continuing Airworthiness Programme- South Asia (COSCAP-SA) was shifted from Colombo to Dhaka today for next five years.

COSCAP-SA is a regional cooperative forum consisting of eight countries of SAARC for enhancement of safety, regularity and efficiency in civil aviation of the region. It had been commenced in 1998 under the care of International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister G M Quader inaugurated the headquarters of COSCAP at Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) office here as the chief guest, while ICAO President Roberto Kobeh Gonzalez present as the special guest.



While speaking the inaugural ceremony at VVIP lounge of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, the minister said transfer of the headquarter in Dhaka has been marked a success and pride of the country's civil aviation sector.

"Such achievement and success have given an opportunity to Bangladesh to play a leading role in the civil aviation network of the region," he said.

The minister said the COSCAP programme would help CAAB to remove Significant Safety Concern (SSC), imposed by ICAO. "After removing the SSC, the CAAB will be upgraded from category two to category one by the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)," he added.

Quader said proper implementation of the objectives of the programme would bring harmonization of the civil aviation authorities of the South Asian countries that will ensure safe and secure air operation in the region.

The minister also said some new aircrafts would be added to the national flag carrier Biman soon as well as few more private airlines are in the pipeline to operate in the country.

He also said the government will enhance capacity of the country's international airports as per the increased trend of air trafficking here.

ICAO President Gonzalez said establishment of COSCAP headquarter in Dhaka opens the door for Bangladesh to take leading role of development of civil aviation in the region.

He said presently the major challenge of Bangladesh civil aviation sector is to produce skilled aviation related professionals and pilots as air movement has been increased remarkably in the country from 2005.

The ICAO President also said the civil aviation sector has been contributing eight percent of global GDP while the Air traffic was recorded 52 million and passenger movement 2.3 billion in 2010.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Secretary M Atharul Islam and CAAB Chairman Air Commodore Mahmud Hussain, who was appointed as the Chairman of COSCAPSA for next two years, also spoke on the occasion.

The CAAB officials hoped that the new COSCAP HQ would help CAAB to get technical assistance for increasing efficiency of local aviation personnel as well as to conduct surveillance, inspection and audit of the Air operators. The core objective of the COSCAP-SA is to evolve itself into a Regional Safety Oversight Organization (RSOO).

The other objectives are to overcome deficiencies in the safety oversight capabilities of the member states by providing a regional core of highly qualified inspectors specialized in the field of personnel licensing, aircraft operations, airworthiness, aerodromes and air traffic services to support the national inspectors of the respective countries.-BSS

Safe Motherhood project in Bangladesh

The government has adopted a US dollar six million project with assistance from Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to enhance Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNH) service in three districts in next five years.

The project titled Safe Motherhood Promotion Project (SMPP) phase-II will start tomorrow in Narsingdi, Jessore and Satkhira districts to support the government's strategic plan for the Health Population and Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP), JICA's senior Programme Officer Salma Akhter told BSS on June 30, 2011.

The Japan government is assisting the project aiming at helping the Bangladesh government to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in the country, she said.


The project is designed to enhance maternal and neonatal health activity coordination among stakeholders at national level, to strengthen upazila health system and to disseminate good practices and lessons learnt from this project to all over the country.

The ultimate goal of the project is provide quality MNH services with proper care for women and newborn babies of the target areas, Salma said.

With the support of JICA, the health and family welfare ministry earlier implemented the Safe Motherhood Promotion Project Phase- 1 in Narsingdi district from July 2006 to June 2011 as pilot basis, which is recognized as 'Narsingdi Model' by the government.

Under the Narsingdi Model, the health status of women and neonates was improved through strengthening safe delivery service and supporting women and neonates to utilize obstetric and neonatal care services. As a result of the project, the death rate of pregnant women in Narsingdi has declined from 1.7 to 0.4 percent at the health facilities where emergency obstetric care is available, sources related to the project said.

Local union parishads are active partners of the project while regular meeting, pregnancy registration and mapping, securing transportation for emergency referrals, funding support for poor pregnant women, awareness raising on safe motherhood and birth planning sessions are the key elements of the system.

This is a successful model of Maternal and Neonatal Health built on the cultural and economic context of Bangladesh for achieving number four and five of Millennium Development Goals.