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8 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 DT News VISA, MasterCard, Amex take away Tk37cr from Bangladesh in 4 years • Tribune Desk ECONOMY Bangladesh must establish its own payment scheme for local credit and debit card transactions to prevent the outflow of money to global payment services, finance sector insiders have said. International payment services like VISA, MasterCard and American Express (Amex) earned about Tk37 crore in charges for credit card transactions from Bangladesh between 2013 and 2016, as the country does not have a national payment scheme. It is estimated that they will earn an additional Tk12.92 crore by the end of 2017. These charges are not taken from the card users directly; rather they are paid by merchants who use point of sale (POS) machines to receive payments from customers. “Bangladesh needs an electronic payment service of its own to help us stop the outward movement of a huge amount of revenue from the country,” said Khaliqdad Khan, a certified smart card industry professional (CSCIP) and adviser of South Korea-based smart card producing firm, Kona I. “Introducing a national payment scheme – similar to RuPay of India, SAMA of Saudi Arabia and Elo of Brazil – can help to reduce the outward flow of revenues to a great extent.” There are currently around 1,080,000 active credit cards in Bangladesh, while the number of active debit cards is 10,570,000, according to sources at Bangladesh Bank. International payment services charge 0.3% of the purchase amount for each credit transaction on POS machines, and 0.1% for each debit transaction. For online transactions via e-commerce platforms, the charges are even higher: 0.7% for credit cards and 0.3% for debit cards. “Besides counting charges for each financial transaction, payments have to be made to get VISA, MasterCard and Amex certifications, as well as their annual renewal charges,” added Khaliqdad Khan. The central bank has taken an initiative to launch a national payment scheme in the future. Sources said a policy would be formulated to create a “base platform” to that end. SM Rezaul Karim, deputy general manager of the Payment Systems Department in Bangladesh Bank, said chip-based specification will be required for the implementation of this initiative. “Coordination among the banks will be required to run this. It will enable us to complete transactions using our own channel,” he said. “However, even when there is a national payment scheme in place, VISA, MasterCard and Amex services will still be needed for international transactions.” Ashish Chakraborty, chief operating officer of payment gateway system SSL Wireless, said Bangladesh is still not ready to take up a national payment scheme. “The near universal acceptance of (plastic) cards is yet to be achieved so it is not implementable straightaway. It will take 5 to 10 years to have a system like that properly implemented and used,” he said. • This article was first published on banglatribune.com 40 die at Barisal hospital as most medics enjoy Eid • Anisur Rahman Swapan, Barisal NATION At least 40 patients died at Sher-e- Bangla Medical College in Barisal due to a lack of proper treatment over the Eid holiday as most physicians, including the interns, went on leave. Sources said at least 224 patients were forced to leave the hospital during the three-day break which started on Friday, while 24 people alone had died on Saturday, the main day of the festival. Before the Eid vacation, the hospital authorities had announced they would continue to provide “uninterrupted treatment”. However, of the 10 doctors who were supposed to be on duty at the emergency ward during the holiday, only three could be seen working. The hospital currently employs 130 physicians, of whom 95 are Muslim. Only 10 Muslim doctors went on Eid leave with most of the others being absent from work without giving any prior notice. In addition, there are 170 interns including 25 non-Muslims. Of them, at least 30 live in Barisal town, but even then only half of the interns turned up to work during Eid. Most of the 451 Muslim nurses from the 735 total also took leave over the same period. Dr SM Sirajul Islam, director of the hospital, denied there was a manpower crisis during Eid. “The patients did not have to suffer much as we catered to them well. I myself monitored the activities of doctors, nurses and other employees,” he said. Dr Sirajul admitted to a shortage of fourth class employees but described the registering of 24 deaths on Eid day alone as “quite normal”. “Those who died were either in a critical state or underweight newborns,” he said. The 1,000-bed hospital has already been reeling from the shortage of fourth class employees - especially ayas, cleaners and sweepers - and this deepened during the Eid holidays. • Hajj pilgrims to start returning today • Ishtiaq Husain CURRENT AFFAIRS Biman Bangladesh Airlines will start transporting Hajj pilgrims back from Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), today. The first of the 139 flights carrying Hajj pilgrims will land at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 6:10pm, followed by four flights today, and will continue till October 5. An additional 30 flights have been arranged by Biman. Biman was supposed to transport 63,599 pilgrims, but this year the number increased to a total of 64,873 pilgrims who travelled from Dhaka to Jeddah. Biman in a press release said the baggage allowance for economy class passengers is 46kg, while business class passengers are allowed 56kgs. Individual suitcases must not exceed 23kgs in economy class and 28kgs in business class. The maximum weight of cabin bags has been set at 7kg. Biman incurred a loss of Tk44 crore in revenue for these 24 cancelled flights The press release also said passengers are not allowed to carry their own Zamzam water. Biman will provide each pilgrim with 5 litres of Zamzam water which will be handed to them after they land at Dhaka airport. The national carrier operated a COLLECTED total of 187 dedicated Hajj flights this year, with 24 of them eventually cancelled because of a lack of passengers. This was caused by people buying airplane tickets without obtaining the necessary visa for their travel. Biman incurred a loss of Tk44 crore in revenue for these 24 cancelled flights. Biman rescheduled regular flights and reduced frequent flights on routes such as Dhaka-London, Dhaka-Muscat, Dhaka-Dubai, Dhaka-Abu Dhabi, Dhaka-Kuala Lumpur, and cancelled all of Dhaka-Doha flights till August 26 to make sure there was enough available aircrafts to service the Hajj pilgrims. The last dedicated Hajj flight of Biman left Dhaka on August 28 carrying 418 pilgrims to Jeddah. •
News 9 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017 DT BNP leader’s body found in Pirojpur’s Tushkhali Secondary School • Arif Mostafa, Pirojpur CRIME Police have recovered the body of BNP Secretary Md Habibur Rahman Talukder, 50, at Tushkhali Secondary School in Tushkhali union, last night. Habibur Rahman was the BNP secretary of Dhanishafa union, ward no 4 in Mathbaria upazila, Pirojpur. The Mathbaria union BNP President KM Humayun Kabir confirmed that Md Habibur Rahman Talukder had been missing since Sunday afternoon. Maleka Begum, wife of the deceased Habibur Rahman, said: “My husband was called away from in front of the mosque of Tushkhali Secondary School by a group of people, under the leadership Awami League (AL) General Secretary of Dhanishafa Union, Ward no 4, Idris Talukder, to an unknown location.” “I later filed a general diary in Mathbaria police station Monday afternoon, after my husband’s disappearance,” she said. Habibur Rahman’s family searched and found his body in Tushkhali Secondary School at night, next to a toilet. Maleka also said that the conflict began when Habibur Rahman refused to work for the Awami League-backed candidate during the last union council election. Tensions also exacerbated when Hafizur Rahman, Habibur Rahman Talukder’s son developed a dispute with Saiful, the son of AL leader Idris Talukder’s brother, during a game of football. Mathbaria police station Officer-in-Charge (OC) KM Tariqul said that the body has been sent to Pirojpur morgue for autopsy. He said Habibur Rahman had rope marks on his neck, with his face completely bashed in. It is thought that the killers might have hit his (Habibur Rahman) head hard against the floor, or a hard wall, killing him in the process. •
Page 1 and 2: SECOND EDITION WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER
Page 3 and 4: News WEDNESDAY, AL’s election pre
Page 5 and 6: News 5 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2017
Page 7: News WEDNESDAY, Why China did not f
Page 11 and 12: Multinationals to pass decision on
Page 13 and 14: Opinion 13 A dictator by any other
Page 15 and 16: Opinion 15 Brexit becomes more comp
Page 17 and 18: What’s on 17 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER
Page 19 and 20: Sports 19 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2
Page 21 and 22: Sports 21 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2
Page 23 and 24: Showtime 23 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 6,

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