The Cabinet yesterday approved a proposal to open seven new Bangladesh embassies abroad in addition to clearing another proposal for giving retrospective approval to 17 already established missions abroad.
The approval came at the regular weekly meeting of the cabinet held at Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohamed Shafiul Alam said the seven new Bangladesh missions will be established in Kabul, Khartoum, Freetown, Bucharest, Chennai, Sydney, and Toronto.
The 17 Bangladesh missions, already in operation and given retrospective approval, are in Athens, Milan, Mumbai, Istanbul,  Lisbon, Kunming, Beirut, Mexico City, Brasilia, Port Luis, Copenhagen, Warsaw, Vienna, Abuja, Addis Ababa, Algiers and Guwahati.
Out of these missions abroad, Shafiul Alam said, four missions — Bucharest, Brasilia, Warsaw and Sydney — have been reopened.
According to the Rules of Business, he said, there is a need for approval from the cabinet before setting up new missions abroad.
But, the cabinet approval had not been taken earlier while setting up 17 missions. “That’s why such a retrospective approval has been given now.”
The cabinet also approved a proposal for ratifying the ‘Framework Agreement on Facilitation of Cross-Border Paperless Trade in Asia and the Pacific’.
As per a decision of the 72nd session of UNESCAP, the cabinet secretary said, it will become effective once five countries ratify this agreement. He said the deadline for the other countries remains open till September 30 this year.
Shafiul Alam said once this agreement becomes effective, paperless trade would start among these five countries which will also make doing business easy as well as reduce cost and save time.
The cabinet meeting also gave the final approval to the draft of the Nazrul Institute Bill, 2017 after translating the original ordinance into Bangla.
Shafiul Alam said the National Nazrul Institute Ordinance was first promulgated in 1984 and there is no such change in the new draft law.
As per the new draft law, the number of Board members has been raised to nine from the previous seven.
At the outset of the meeting, the cabinet adopted a felicitation motion congratulating Saima Wazed Hossain who was awarded the International Champion Award from Shema Kolainu, a New York- based School and Centre for Children with Autism, for her relentless and innovative works for the well-being of the persons with autism.
Saima, daughter of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and member of WHO’s Expert Advisory Panel on Mental Health and Chairperson of National Advisory Committee on Autism of Bangladesh, has been a inspirational figure at the international level for her Autism work.
 Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina  has ordered the authorities concerned to strengthen their efforts to keep the four rivers surrounding the Bangladesh capital free from pollution.
“These four rivers will die if not freed from waste and pollution,” she said while speaking at the 4th meeting of the National Committee on Environment held at the Prime Minister’s Office yesterday.
PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting. Putting emphasis on development activities in a planned way protecting cultivable land, forests and water bodies, she said green afforestation has to be strengthened in the country’s coastal and northern regions.
The prime minister laid emphasis on ensuring use of ETPs and STPs in industries alongside improvement of the sewage system.
She also gave directions to keep water-bodies free while implementing any housing scheme and setting up infrastructure.
Regarding recent heavy rain across the country including the capital, Hasina said though people suffered due to the heavy rain, it also helps to free rivers from pollution, reduce salinity and recharge the underground water level.
She also alleged that except the tenure of the Awami League, the canals and lakes in the city were filled at various times, which is the main reason behind the water logging. 
Turning to the world’s largest mangrove forest Sundarbans, she said employment opportunities have been created for those who were earlier engaged in cutting trees.
She said Bangladesh is one of the first among the least developed countries to create a Climate Change Trust Fund without relying on others to deal with climate change.