It also approved 'The Private University (Amendment) Act, 2004' in principle.

The meeting was held at the cabinet room of the Prime Minister's Office, with Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in the chair.

The draft of the seeds act proposes increasing the amount of fines from Tk 500 to Tk 2,000 for marketing low-quality cereal seeds, meeting sources said.

In the draft, the government also proposed to make it mandatory for all kinds of cereal and non-cereal seeds to go through a three-year 'agro-ecological suitability' test before the supply of the seeds to the markets.

About 'The Private University (Amendment) Act, 2004', the sources said some changes were brought to the act for its proper enforcement in order to streamline the private universities.

The act will help check malpractice and irregularities now plaguing the private university sector, they added.

The amendment bill will be placed before the parliament for approval, said Education Secretary Faruque Ahmed Siddique.

The proposed act clearly defines the nature and scope of the board of trustees, he said.

The proposed amendments also suggest regulating the introduction of distance education.

Besides, the cabinet also decided to extend by two more years the time limit of 'general waiver' facility, now being enjoyed by foreign ships under 'The Bangladesh Flag Vessels (Amendment) Act, 2003'.