18-10-2020

SUNDAY, OCTOBEr 18, 2020
2
The water of all the rivers of Gaibandha has started decreasing. So the fishermen are busy rolling the
nets. The photo was taken from Tiagachha village in Bhatgram union of Gaibandha Sadullapur
upazila on Saturday.
Photo: PBA
Experts for single-digit
cash-out charge
DHAKA : Experts have suggested
mobile financial service (MFS)
providers to cut cash-out charge down
to a single-digit as high transaction cost
is keeping marginal people as well as
more micro and small enterprises
(MSEs) away from availing this
services.
They also urged the regulator -
Bangladesh Bank (BB) to intervene in
MFS charge by imposing ceiling to
materialize the government's ongoing
digital Bangladesh campaign.
Talking to BSS, former BB deputy
governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled
said in this present circumstance BB
has no alternative of intervention for
reducing the cash-out charge as the
MFS operator would not do it willingly.
"MFS operators have been doing
business as per their wish as BB is yet to
impose any restriction," he said.
Besides, e-Commerce Association of
Bangladesh (e-CAB) director Ashish
Chakraborty said cash-out charge in
Bangladesh as much as high compared
to other countries in the world and it
should be single-digit to boost country's
financial inclusion and digitalization
process.
At this moment, cash-out charge is
Taka 18.50 for per Taka 1,000 although
the agents of MFS providers have been
charging Taka 20.
Meanwhile, Nagad, a MFS arm of
Bangladesh Post office (BPO), has
reduced cash-out charge to Taka 9.99
for every Taka 1,000 cash-out to make
transaction process of customers easier
and comfortable.
To get this minimum rate, a customer
has to use the Nagad app and the
minimum cash-out amount should be
Taka 2,100. On top of the cash-out
charge, the customer has to pay a
supplementary duty at the rate of 15
percent fixed by the government.
However, if someone goes for cashout
through mobile operators USSD
technology without using the app, the
rate will be Taka 12.99 for Taka 1,000
and here 15 percent VAT will be added.
Welcoming Nagad's move of
trimming down cash-out charge,
Ashish Chakraborty said it might help
their customers, but he feared how long
Nagad can continue this offer defying
the pressure of other MFS operators.
Ashish said
other carriers
should follow
Nagad's move as
low cash-out
charge might
boost transaction
tremendously
and expand
industry size by
many folds.
Although
Nagad has
slashed charge
categorically, other carriers are still
reluctant to do it rather they are in
persuasion against this move of Nagad
which would give benefit to the
customers.
To implement the new cash-out
charge, Nagad has slashed their income
from the previous portion. However,
other operators in the market are still
charging cash-outs as before.
Nagad said even after bringing down
the cash-out charge to single digit, its
income from this segment is still
prevailing.
They said if Taka 1,000 was cash-out
using app at previous rate, its revenue
would have been Taka 2.74, which has
now been brought down to less than
Taka 0.02.
In case of full calculation of cash-out,
the cost of SMS is Taka 0.064 as before
while this cost is same like all MSF
operators.
In the new charge structure revenue
portion for distributors also reduced,
however income of the agents remains
same as before. Moreover, their income
has already increased more than before
due to the increase in transactions. In
the new charge structure of Nagad,
agents are getting Taka 4.10 for cashout
of Taka 1,000 as before.
Nagad Managing Director Tanvir A
Mishuk told BSS that they have been
providing customer-friendly service
from the beginning with lower charge
than all other operators.
"Single-digit cash out charge would
expedite financial inclusion in the
country," he said mentioning that over
the past decade, several MFS operators
have been cutting customer pockets
imposing high charges.
European nations strive
to rein in COVID-19 as
rising new cases paint
grim picture
BRUSSELS : The second wave of COVID-19 continued to
exert pressure on Europe on Friday as daily cases surged to
new highs in more countries. Faced with the grim picture, the
governments have decided to take or mulled over stricter
restrictions to contain the coronavirus. Germany, Greece and
Slovenia saw a troubling trend as their new COVID-19
infections within one day set new records on Friday, a day
after Italy, Portugal and Lithuania hit their single-day highs.
German national disease control agency, the Robert Koch
Institute (RKI), announced Friday that new COVID-19
infections in the country broke Thursday's record with 7,334
cases confirmed within one day, bringing the total number to
348,557.
Thursday's daily figure of 6,638 had marked a jump of
some 1,500 over the day before. The previous daily infection
peak, at around 6,300 cases, was registered in late March,
German news agency dpa reported, reports UNB.
Increased infection numbers were linked particularly to
private celebrations with family and friends. However, there
were also more COVID-19-related outbreaks reported in
older people's homes and nursing homes, according to the
RKI.
Helge Braun, head of the Chancellery, told the broadcaster
RTL/n-tv that the COVID-19 situation in Germany was
"considerably more serious" than in the spring. "We do not
expect the numbers to decline tomorrow," said Braun.
Meanwhile, France confirmed 25,085 COVID-19
infections in the past 24 hours, pushing the total count to
834,770, according to data released by health authorities.
The number of new infections was lower than a record
30,621 registered on Thursday, but it remained at a high level
unseen during the first wave.
In Italy, the first European country battered by COVID-19,
10,010 new coronavirus infections were reported on Friday,
pushing the total number of current active infections to
107,312, showed the latest data from the Ministry of Health.
U.S. COVID-19 cases
surpass 8 mln-Johns
Hopkins University
NEW YORK : The total
number of COVID-19 cases
in the United States
surpassed 8 million on
Friday, according to the
Center for Systems Science
and Engineering (CSSE) at
Johns Hopkins University.
U.S. COVID-19 case count
rose to 8,008,402, with the
national death toll reaching
218,097, as of 1:24 p.m. local
time (1724 GMT), according
to the CSSE, reports UNB.
California reported
868,755 cases, at the top of
the U.S. state-level case
count list. Texas registered
the country's second largest
caseload of 837,691,
followed by Florida with
748,437 cases. New York
state confirmed more than
470,000 cases.
Other states with over
210,000 cases include
Illinois, Georgia, North
Carolina, Arizona,
Tennessee and New Jersey,
according to the CSSE.
By far, the United States
remains the world's worsthit
nation, with the most
cases and deaths, making up
more than 20 percent of the
global caseload.
U.S. COVID-19 cases
topped 5 million on Aug. 9,
hit 6 million on Aug. 31, and
exceeded 7 million on Sept.
25.
Multiple regions across
the United States have seen
days of continuous highlevel
surge in new cases after
entering October.
U.S. cases gained 63,610
on Thursday, the highest
daily increase since the
country registered daily
cases of 64,601 two months
ago.
In addition, an ensemble
forecast released Thursday
by the U.S. Centers for
Disease Control and
Prevention predicted that
the virus may have caused a
total of 229,000 to 240,000
deaths in the United States
by Nov. 7.
Turkey, Ukraine vow
to boost cooperation
amid COVID-19
pandemic
ISTANBUL : Turkish
President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan and his Ukrainian
counterpart Volodymyr
Zelensky on Friday
pledged to enhance
cooperation in a wide
range of areas amid the
COVID-19 pandemic,
reports UNB.
"Ukraine and Turkey are
ready to develop their
strategic partnership in
every field in which they
have mutual benefits,"
Erdogan told reporters at a
joint press conference in
Istanbul.
The Turkish leader said
the two countries have
been taking steps for a
trade volume of 10 billion
U.S. dollars shortly, noting
the recent developments in
the field of tourism are
promising.
"Despite the global
pandemic, we hosted more
than 500,000 Ukrainian
guests this year, which
clearly shows the closeness
among our peoples and the
trust of our Ukrainian
guests in the measures we
have taken as part of our
safe tourism initiative,"
Erdogan said.
The leaders also agreed
to conclude the free trade
agreement negotiations
between the two countries
in short order, according to
the Turkish president.
Zelensky, for his part,
said the number of Turkish
companies involved in
infrastructure projects in
Ukraine should increase.
"I would like to note that
we have very similar
approaches regarding the
energy investments," he
said, noting the dialogue
between the two countries
continues dynamically
despite the pandemic.
Judge refuses to block New York
COVID-19 restrictions
A federal judge has refused to block Gov.
Andrew Cuomo's order limiting worship to
as few as 10 congregants in communities
seeing spikes in coronavirus infections,
reports UNB.
Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Roman
Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, U.S. District
Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis said in an
order Friday that even though the rules harm
religious groups, it is not in the public
interest to block them if they are helping
prevent a wave of new infections.
"In fact, if the court issues an injunction
and the state is correct about the acuteness of
the threat currently posed by hotspot
neighborhoods, the result could be avoidable
death on a massive scale like New Yorkers
experienced in the spring," Garaufis wrote.
The ruling doesn't end the lawsuit, but
denied the church's request for a temporary
injunction.
Garaufis said it was conceivable the
diocese could end up ultimately winning the
case, but that the worst that could happen in
the meantime to the diocese's churches is
that 26 of them would have to curtail inperson
ceremonies for several weeks.
"That is not meant, in any way, to
downplay the seriousness of that
constitutional harm," the judge said. But he
said the potential to save lives outweighed
the damage the church would suffer.
Cuomo on Oct. 6 announced that he was
limiting attendance at houses of worship,
closing schools and shuttering nonessential
businesses in six parts of New York City,
Binghamton and Rockland and Orange
counties where COVID-19 infections have
spiked.
The cover of the publication `Brihattar Noakhalite Bangabandhu'
(Bangabandhu in Greater Noakhali) has been unveiled in Noakhali on the
occasion of Mujib Borsho. Valiant Freedom Fighter Farida Khanam Sakhi
MP inaugurated the book as the chief guest. Photo : Manik Bhuyan
Case against Nixon Chy: Section 144
imposed in Faridpur sadar upazila
FARIDPUR : Local administration imposed
section 144 in Faridpur sadar upazila
headquarters on Saturday apprehending
trouble as two groups called meetings at the
same venue and time, reports UNB.
The restriction will remain in force until 9
am on Sunday, said Purobi Goldar, Sadar
Upazila Nirbahi Officer. Supporters of
Faridpur-4 MP Mujibur Rahman Nixon
Chowdhuryand their rival group called
meetingsaround 10 am at Sadarpur Stadium
in sadarupazila headquarters on Saturday.
Apprehending possible clash, the local
administration imposed a restriction on
public gatherings in an around one kilometer
area of Sadar Upazila Headquarters.
Sadarpur Upazila Chaiman Kazi Shafiqur
called a rally protesting the case filed against
MP Nixon while a member of Jubo League
central committee Sayedid Gamal Lipu
called another rally demanding arrest of MP
Nixon.
GD- 1358/20 (4 x 3)
Most of the affected areas are home to
large communities of Orthodox Jews, which
has prompted protests from Jewish leaders
who say they are being unfairly targeted.
Garaufis wrote in his decision that it was
clear the state's restrictions had been "guided
by science, not a desire to target religious
practice."
The Brooklyn diocese had argued that its
congregations hadn't seen a big increase
coronavirus cases, and that it had
implemented successful social-distancing
measures for religious services, including
placing communion wafers in congregants'
hands rather than on their tongues.
Despite that, the governor "continues to
run roughshod over the diocese's right to
worship, without any basis-not a rational
one, not a narrowly tailored one, simply
none," the church's lawyers said in court
papers filed Friday.
Similar lawsuits have been filed by Jewish
groups.
In their filings, state lawyers said that
within the state's so-called "red zones," just
under 5% of all people who took a COVID-19
test were testing positive, down from nearly
8% in late September. They said that shows
the restrictions are working, but said things
had not improved enough to lift restrictions.
State lawyers also noted that the rules let
houses of worship remain open, while
nonessential businesses in "red zone" areas
were required to close entirely.
"This response respects the rights of
worshipers while curtailing the spread of the
virus and protecting the public health from
this deadly disease," Assistant Attorney
General Seth Farber said in a Friday filing.
A case was filed on Thursday against
Faridpur-4 MP Mujibur Rahman Nixon
Chowdhury for violating electoral code of
conduct during by-election to the post of
chairman of Charbhadrasan Upazila
Parishad.
Senior District Election Commission
officer Nauabul Islam filed the case with
Charbhadrashon police station around 10
am, said Saiful Islam, an election
commission officer.
In the FIR of the case, legal action was
sought against the MP under Upazila
Parishad Electoral Code 2013 and Upazila
Parishad Elector Code of Conduct 2016.
Faridpur-4 MP Mujibur Rahman Nixon
Chowdhury reportedly threatened the
deputy commissioner and the assistant
commissioner (land) of Faridpur district
over the arrest of his supporters during bypolls
to the post of chairman of
Charbhadrasan Upazila Parishad.