SECOND EDITION

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016 | Falgun 3, 1422, Jamadiul Awal 5, 1437 | Regd No DA 6238, Vol 3, No 300 | www.dhakatribune.com | 32 pages | Price: Tk10

INSIDE

In recent years, ATM machines have changed the way people withdraw money from their banks. Although e cient and time-saving at times, the recent news of card cloning has put a dent in clients con dence FILE PHOTO

200 ATM cards at forgery riskn Tribune ReportBangladesh Bank has identi ed some 200 ATM cards of 26 banks that are running the risk of forgery.

The central bank on Saturday sent the card numbers to the re-spective banks, asking them to block the cards immediately.

These debit cards are believed to have been read by skimming devices during February 7-9, said a senior executive of the central bank.

All the cards suspected as risky were identi ed from the ATM booths located in the capital as they are not protected by an-ti-skimming devices, he said.

Banks have also been asked to inform the respective cardholders immediately about their decision to block them until new cards are issued.

The move came after some un-authorised transactions took place on Friday at several ATM booths of the Eastern Bank Limited (EBL).

The bank suspended ATM network services from 12pm to 6pm on Friday after getting com-plaints from clients about with-drawal from booths beyond theirknowledge.

Similarly, some other banks also suspended their ATM services for a while and reduced the ceiling of withdrawal immediately after the card forgery news went viral.

Subhankar Saha, executive di-rector of Bangladesh Bank, said: Still, we are trying to understand the situation and then necessary measures will be taken.

He also assured the clients that PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Skimming at ATM booths on the riseNow UCB complains to police that Tk1.26 lakh were withdrawn illegally from its ATMsn Mohammad Jamil Khan and Arifur Rahman Rabbi

Organised criminal gangs are clon-ing debit cards of bank customers using special devices and with-drawing money from ATM booths.

Members of these gangs would rst enter booths by showing fake identity cards and set up micro-chip-enabled devices with the au-tomated teller machines (ATMs). These devices, mounted with the

ATM, would copy information stored on an ATM card when a cus-tomer inserts their card into the machine.

Later, the information copied would be used to make fake debit cards and later used to withdraw money from other booths.

The revelation came to light in the rst information report (FIR) that the o cials of the United Com-mercial Bank (UCB) led with the Banani police station on Saturday.

Mahbub Ul Islam Khan, head of UCBs Fraud Control and Dispute Management of Cards, Branches Control and Development Division, led the complaint.

Abdul Ahad, additional depu-ty commissioner (ADC) of polices Gulshan Division, told the Dhaka Tribune that the UCB authorities are also providing them with foot-age from the CCTV cameras in-stalled inside its ATM booths.

PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

ILLEGAL MIGRANTS IN MALAYSIA

Is getting a worker ID good enough?n Abu Sayeed Asiful Islamand Adil Sakhawat

Malaysia has begun to register undocumented labourers today, including those from Bangladesh, with less than a week to go before Bangladesh and Malaysia nalise a new labour deal.

The issue of importing Bangla-deshi workers has been a conten-tious one in Malaysia, where the government and local trades bod-

ies have been mired in a heated ex-change over the issue all week.

On February 18, Malaysias Hu-man Resources Minister Datuk Seri Richard Riot will be in Dhaka to -nalise an agreement to import 1.5 million Bangladeshi workers over the next three years.

Bangladeshi labour market ob-servers said the two issues regis-tering lapsed workers and import-ing new workers are separate and should remain so.

Owing to the design of its labour permit system, a majority of the for-eign workers in the Southeast Asian country some 3.2 million out of a total of 6 million foreign workers are undocumented because their labour permits have lapsed.

Under the registration scheme, only those whose employment per-mits have lapsed will be registered, not those who migrated illegally.

This means that conditions for the most vulnerable migrants are

not likely to change, rights activists point out.

Malaysia has created an un-derclass of workers called migrant workers, migrant rights group Tenaganita said in a press state-ment on February 13, adding that it was imperative not to compro-mise on the protection of rights, lives and dignity.

The joint secretary to Bangla-deshs Expatriate Welfare Ministry

PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Springer-dance time for Windies U19

It was Keemo Paul whose controver-sial mankad dismissal helped his side reach the quarter- nals and it was the same person yesterday who struck the winning boundary, guiding the West Indies to their rst ever Under-19 World Cup title. PAGE 25

Good turnout on Valentines Day

The heavy visitor turnout at Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2016 during the weekend continued yesterday as young couples celebrating Valentines Day visited the fair. PAGE 32

Drive against fake currency rackets soonIn a bid to check currency forgery, the law enforcers have planned to launch a crackdown on the identi ed rackets across the country. PAGE 3

China or Jica - ministry undecidedThe Civil Aviation and Tourism Minis-try has sought the Finance Divisions advice on whether to build a third terminal at the Dhaka airport with Chinese or Jica nancing. PAGE 5

US Supreme Court vacancy upends presidential raceThe sudden death of US Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia opened a new and incendiary front in the al-ready red-hot 2016 presidential race, one that promises to divide Demo-crats and Republicans and, perhaps, Republicans from themselves. PAGE 23

News2DTMONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Skimming at ATM booths on the riseHowever, for the sake of investi-gation, he did not want to disclose any detail about what they have found by analysing the footage.

The FIR reads that a person, identifying himself to the securi-ty guard as a technician from the bank, entered a UCB ATM booth in Banani at 10:42am on February 7 and installed a skimming device on the machine. Later, he collected the copied information, used it to clone cards and withdrew money.

Primarily, the bank has found that Tk1.26 lakh was withdrawn us-ing cloned cards. In an immediate response, the bank has suspended all kinds of debit card transactions and noti ed the customers about it.

The UCB also said in the com-plaint that they had not been able to identify the criminal but the se-curity guard would be able to do it if the criminal was brought to him. Moreover, the forger appeared to have attributes of a foreigner.

The bank requested the law en-forcers to collect a still photograph of the suspect from the CCTV foot-age and circulate it to all the land ports and airports to prevent him eeing the country.

When contacted, Maruf Hos-sain Sarder, deputy commission-er of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said: Along with regular police, our Detective Branch o cials are also conducting a shadow inves-tigation. They are also checking whether the suspect has any sim-ilarity with criminals previously arrested for similar cases.

In July 2013, the DB arrested

four in di erent parts of Dhaka for credit card forgery. They used similar technologies to clone credit cards and withdraw money from ATMs.

Interestingly, the prime ac-cused of the gang, named Selim, was a young inventor and got Tk14 lakh as grant from the Science and Technology Ministry during 1989-91. Another accused Manzurul was an o cial at the Information Tech-nology (IT) Department of the Mu-tual Trust Bank Limited.

Law enforcers said that the banks concerned also have some responsibilities in stopping such crimes.

When contacted, Subhankar Saha, executive director of Bangla-desh Bank, told the Dhaka Tribune that some banks do not monitor the CCTV footage from their ATM booths regularly.

He also said banks are supposed to have the necessary protective measures in place such as an-ti-skimming devices.

We will see whether the glitch-es are at the banks end and take necessary steps in this regard, he added.

Meanwhile, following media reports on suspicious transactions at several ATM booths of the East-ern Bank Limited (EBL) in Dhaka, the banks head of communication gave a clari cation of their stance yesterday.

The o cial said they were yet to nd out exactly what technolo-gy was being used to in connection with the suspected ATM forgery at

their booths which they are now trying to nd out.

He also said that 21 individual cards were used to withdraw cash from the ATM booths of other banks.

To safeguard cardholders fur-ther, we temporarily stopped EBL card access to other bank ATMs and vice versa.

All EBL ATMs are fully func-tional and all EBL cardholders can use any EBL ATM and POS devices 24x7. We are closely monitoring everything and with consultation with Bangladesh Bank we will be able to revert back to inter-bank operation, the statement reads.

The bank also advised its cus-tomers not to panic. l

200 ATM cards at forgery riskthe respective banks would com-pensate them for their losses.

Meanwhile, the central bank sent an inquiry team to the three banks UCB, EBL and The City bank yesterday to examine if there was any negligence on the parts of the banks.

Panic gripped the banks and the clients following the card forgery case. Bangladesh Bank has, howev-er, asked the banks not to suspend their ATM services from mere panic.

To stop people from panicking, the Bangladesh Bank has issued an instruction to the banks asking them to strengthen security at ATM booths. l

Mahfuz Anam sued again in 6 distsn UNB Ten cases, including a sedition case, were led against the Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam yesterday for carrying confusing and de-famatory reports in the newspa-per about Awami League President Sheikh Hasina during the 2007-08 military-backed caretaker regime.

Of the cases, nine were led against Mahfuz Anam in Sylhet, Khulna, Patuakhali, Rangamati and Shariatpur districts while the sedi-tion case was led in Netrakona.

In Sylhet, Bangladesh Chhatra Leagues Sylhet city unit President Abdul Basit Rumman and former president of the unit Rahat Taraf-der led defamation cases, each of Tk100 crore, with the Chief Metro-politan Magistrates Court.

Taking cognisance of the cases, the court summoned Mahfuz Anam.

Advocate Humayun Kabir Babul, lawyer of Abdul Basit Rum-man, said Mahfuz Anam published reports against Sheikh Hasina based on information provided by DGFI without any scrutiny in 2007 and he confessed to running such

stories in his newspaper in a tele-vision talk show recently.

In Khulna, two defamation cas-es were led against the editor for the same reason.

Chhatra Leagues Khulna dis-trict unit Secretary M Taslim Hos-sain Taj led a Tk10 crore case against Mahfuz with Khulna Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court, while Joint Secretary M Parvez Alam led another Tk5 crore defa-mation case with Khulna Chief Ju-dicial Magistrates Court.

Later, the Chief Judicial Mag-istrates Court issued a warrant for the arrest of Mahfuz and xed March 29 for the next hearing.

Khulna Chief Metropolitan Mag-istrate Aeysha Akhter Mousumi asked the o cer-in-charge of Sadar police station to submit a report af-ter an investigation.

In Shariatpur, three other defa-mation cases were led against the editor with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court of the district.

Chhatra Leagues district units former president Nurul Amin Kotwal, Awami Muktijoddha Prajanma Leagues central

organisation Secretary Hasibul Islam and Chhatra Leagues Jajira upazila units General Secretary Hanif Miah led the cases.

In Patuakhali, district Swech-chasebak League General Secre-tary Advocate Ujjal Bose led a Tk5 crore defamation case against the editor with Senior Judicial Magis-trate Court 5 of the district.

Taking cognisance of the case, the court summoned Mahfuz Anam.

In Rangamati, Kaptai upazila Jubo League President Nasir Uddin led a defamation case against the editor with Rangamati Chief Judi-cial Magistrates Court.

In Netrakona, a sedition case was led against the editor with Additional Chief Judicial Magis-trates Court.

District Public Prosecutor Go-lam Mohammad Khan Pathan led the case under section 120(k), 124(k) and 501 of the Penal Code.

After recording the initial state-ment of complainant, the court asked the o cer-in-charge of Ne-trakona Model police station to submit a preliminary report before the court by March 6. l

EC shrugs o BNPs UP polls argumentn UNBTurning down BNPs request not to hold the Union Parishad (UP) polls along party line, Election Commis-sioner Shah Nawaz yesterday said the Commission has nothing to do with it.

Parliament has enacted a law and decided to hold the UP polls under the party banner so, weve nothing to do in this regard at this stage, he told reporters at his Election Commission Secretariat o ce.

He also said the rules and code of conduct regarding the UP polls have also been amended in line with the act passed by Parliament while the schedule for the polls also announced.

About BNPs fear of violence if the polls are held along party line, Shah Nawaz said they think there is no possibility of escalating vio-lence and hampering social bond-age because of arranging the UP polls under party line.

Weve held the municipal elec-tions under party line as well. The situation did not deteriorate that much. I think neither there will be any disruption in social harmony nor violence during the UP polls, he said.

Earlier in the day, a four-mem-ber BNP delegation, led by partys joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, met EC secretary Sirajul Is-lam and handed over a letter rais-ing the partys an objection to hold-ing the upcoming UP polls along the party line.

In the letter, the party said it thinks the election along party line in the UP polls may damage social bonds at the grassroots level.

Political violence and con ict may spread to families, villages and localities following such polls, it said.

On Thursday last, the Election Commission declared election schedules for the rst phase elec-tion in 752 Union Parishads xing March 22 for balloting. l

Is getting a worker IDKazi Abul Kalam, told the Dhaka Tribune that getting lapsed work-ers back into the system is the rst priority.

This will help to determine how many Bangladeshis are illegal mi-grants as opposed to lapsed ones, he said. Knowing this will give a clearer sense of the magnitude of the problem and will help the gov-ernment deal with the issue later.

The labour wing of the Bangla-desh High Commission to Malaysia has been asked to keep an eye on the issue and to follow up as cases arise, he said.

A public debate on whether or not to import the additional 1.5 million Bangladeshi labourers has pitted the Federation of Malay-sian Manufacturers (FMM) and the Malaysian Trades Union Congress against the Malaysian government.

Both trades bodies say labour imports should be halted until the registration process is completed.

But the FMMs opposition to a new labour import deal is compli-cated by the fact that many of its members are actually in favour of labour imports.

Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi, Ma-laysias deputy prime minister, said requests for more foreign workers were made by industry players, including FMM members, The Ma-laysian Insider reported on Febru-ary 13.

[FMM] members had applied to the Human Resources Minis-try, Immigration Department and Home Ministry on the matter, Za-hid Hamidi, who is also the home

minister, said. At the heart of the matter, as

Malaysias deputy prime minister pointed out while speaking at a youth event, is the unwillingness of most Malaysians to do 3-D jobs jobs that are dirty, dangerous and demanding.

Opposition politicians respond-ed by saying that more locals would do those jobs if the minimum wage were to be raised. But that seems to miss the point imported labour is willing to do 3-D jobs at existing wage levels.

The key issues for Bangladeshi labourers working abroad are to uphold workers rights and en-sure safe working conditions, both Bangladeshi and Malaysian rights groups said.

Responding to repeated allega-tions of exploitation made by Bang-ladeshi foreign workers, Abul Kal-am said the MoU due to be signed will include a clause on health care coverage for Bangladeshiworkers.

Expatriate Welfare Ministry o cials expressed concern over mistreatment and hazardous work-ing conditions reported by Bangla-deshi labourers and said workers must have avenues to express their grievances and have their concerns meaningfully addressed.

Abul Kalam said that while workers did not nd jobs upon arrival on previous B2B and G2G labour recruitment schemes, this would not happen again.

Jobs will be guaranteed, he said. l

News 3DT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Performers stage a dance routine at Friend to Friend: Celebrating Spring and Friendship, a cultural event organised jointly by the Department of Dance of Dhaka University and the EMK Center, in front of the Faculty of Arts building on the DU campus yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Drive against fake currency rackets soonn Mohammad Jamil Khan In a bid to check currency forgery, the law enforcers have planned to launch a crackdown on the identi- ed rackets across the country.

The initiative is taken by the Home Ministry after it received an intelligence report on 255 criminals involved in the illegal business.

The report submitted last week also suggests that the BGB strength-en its e orts to check cross-border smuggling of fake currency.

Bangladesh has also shared the information with India as the two

countries are set to hold the fourth meeting of the joint task force on currency forgers in Delhi from Feb-ruary 22-25. A delegation of Bangla-desh Police will join the meeting to be held in India.

The last meeting was held in No-vember in Dhaka.

Md Moniruzzaman, assistant inspector general (con dential) of the Police Headquarters, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they would sit again this month to share updates on action taken against the currency forgers by the two coun-tries.

Also a member of the task force, Monir said that they were working on case-to-case basis.

We take action whenever there is an incident of seizure, no matter whether it is in Bangladesh or In-dia.

In the last couple of months, we conducted several drives while a number of cases were led in Dhaka and Chittagong, he said, adding that it would be a continue process.

The intelligence report men-tioned that the organised forgers were collecting huge sum of money

from the market by deceiving peo-ple, mainly the bank clients and businessmen. They get bail from the courts and again engage in the same o ence.

Apart from launching awareness campaigns, the report suggests that the authorities set up fake note detection machines at the business centres and speed up trial of the ongoing cases.

Of the groups engaged in cur-rency forgery, the intelligence o cials have found the trace of at least 12 gangs in the capitalthat include Jakir group, Huma-

yun group, Alauddin-Polash group, Emon-Babu group, Kamal group, Duruzzaman group and Sagir Mas-ter group.

Monirul Islam, the joint com-missioner of DB police, said that the law enforcers were work-ing against the currency forgers throughout the year.

We arrested a number of gang leaders during our operations, but many of them come out of jail on bail and engage in the same crime again, he said, adding that they were trying to locate the criminals now on bail. l

PM: Help classroom digitalisationn BSSPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina yes-terday urged a uent section of the society, particularly the former stu-dents, to help their schools in digi-talisation of classrooms.

The government alone cannot do everything. Its a huge task to provide digital equipment to every 63,601 schools in the country, she said urging the former students and a uent section of people to come up with the support to have multimedia, laptop and other com-puter accessories in their schools.

The prime minister made the call while inaugurating interactive multimedia digital content for pri-mary education at a function at her Tejgaon o ce yesterday.

She said the government has laid importance to provide students with computer education from pri-

mary level as primary school is the basis of education.

In view of this, the government has given multimedia projectors in 1,500 schools and laptop in 5,000 schools, she said.

Multimedia classroom would make easy for students to know and understand about a thing as well as learning a subject, she said adding its not a di cult task at all to make at least one multimedia classroom in a school.

During the programme, State minister for Information and Communication Technology Zu-naid Ahmed Palak handed overthe CD of the digital contents to the PM.

Information and Communica-tion Technology division has made digital version of 17 textbooks of primary education with the techni-cal support of non-government de-

velopment organisation BRAC and Save the Children.

Minister for Primary and Mass Education Mosta zur Rahman, State minister for Information and communication technology Zu-naid Ahmed Palak and Chairman of BRAC Sir Fazle Hasan Abed ad-dressed the function.

Secretary of Primary and Mass Education Humayun Khalid, Re-gional Director of Save the Children Michael McGrath and Secretary of the Minister of Information and Communication Technology Shy-amsundar Sikder also spoke on the occasion.

Sheikh Hasina extended her thanks to the developers of the dig-ital contents for primary school as well their collaborators saying, it has ful lled one of our long cher-ished dream to introduce multime-dia education in schools. l

Khaledas petition rejectedn Ashif Islam Shaon The Supreme Court yesterday reject-ed BNP Chairperson Begum Khale-da Zias petition for cancellation of plainti testimonies in the Zia Or-phanage Trust graft case clearing the way for trial at the lower court.

The ve-member Appellate Division bench led by Chief Jus-tice Surendra Kumar Sinha turned down her fresh prayer upholding a High Court judgment.

Now the plainti will be cross-examined at the special court in Dhaka on March 3, Anti-Corrup-tion Commission (ACC) counsel Khurshid Alam told media.

The petition was led challeng-ing the HC verdict that rejected another plea seeking expunge of an investigation o cers deposition in the case, said her counsel Barrister AKM Ehsanur Rahman.

Khaleda had led the petition with the HC seeking its directive upon the lower court to expunge deposition of the investigation of- cer Harun-or-Rashid.

The court rejected it on June 29 saying there was no illegality in re-cording statement of the IO.

On July 3, 2008, the ACC led the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case with Ramna police station accusing Khaleda Zia, her eldest son Tarique Rahman, now living in the UK af-ter securing bail, and four others for misappropriating over Tk2.10cr which came as grants from a for-eign bank for orphans.

On August 5, 2010, Harunur Rashid submitted a charge-sheet to the court against six people, in-cluding BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and a special judges court in Dhaka began the trial proceedings in March 2014. l

President to UK govt: Reinstate visa processing from BD n UNB President Abdul Hamid yesterday urged the UK government to take steps so that British visa can be processed from Bangladesh.

He made the call when a delega-tion of Labour Friends of Bangla-desh (LFB) in the UK, led by Sir Keir Starmer MP, made a courtesy call on him at Bangabhaban.

Mentioning that the UK is the home to the largest number of Bangladeshi nationals living abroad, President Hamid ex-pressed hope that the UK govern-ment would review its decision of transferring the visa point at New Delhi, as this has caused di culties to visa applicants in Bangladesh.

Presidents Press Secretary Joynal Abedin briefed reporters af-ter the meeting. l

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016News4DT

SC upholds Amar Desh editors bail order n Tribune ReportThe Supreme Court yesterday upheld a bail order granted by the High Court to the Daily Amar Desh acting editor Mahmudur Rahman in a case.

The chief justice-led bench of the Appellate Division gave the order turn-ing down a states petition against the bail order yesterday.

Mahmudurs counsels told the media that Mahmudur Rahman could be re-leased from jail as he had already been secured bails in other cases. He has been in prison since April 2013.

Lawyer Md Salehuddin said the case was led in 2012 over a report pub-lished in the newspaper over an alleged Skype conversation between an Inter-national Crimes Tribunal judge and an

expatriate Bangladeshi legal expert.A Cyber Crime tribunal denied his

bail and he was later granted bail by the HC on January 15 this year.

Later the chamber judge of the Su-preme Court accepted government plea against his bail order and forward-ed it to the regular bench for hearing.

The bench nally rejected the peti-tion after the hearing. l

DT photojurnos bike stolenn Tribune ReportAmid tightened security at the Ekushey Boi Mela, a pho-to journalists motorbike was stolen yesterday afternoon.

Dhaka Tribunes Sta Pho-tographer Rajib Dhar went to the book fair on an assignment.

After coming back from the fair he found his bike missing. He immediately contacted po-lice. There was a CCTV camera

installed nearby but no footage was found in the police station.

Police said they could not preserve the footage or inform any patrol policemen as the CCTV camera could not record the incident due to power cut from around 1pm to 3pm.

The bike was stolen in be-tween 1pm and 1:30pm.

A case was led with the police station concerned yes-terday evening. l

Anwarul Islams 22nd death anniversary todayn Tribune DeskToday marks the 22nd death anniversary of late Anwarul Islam Bobby. He passed away in Dubai after a battle with leukaemia on this day 22 years ago.

Bobby was the youngest and rst Bangali to hold the post of secretary-general of All Pakistan Newspapers So-ciety while representing the now defunct The Bangladesh Observer before the Libera-tion War. After independence,

he went on to help late Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni in found-ing The Bangladesh Times and also Banglar Bani. Later he founded the rst regional English daily newspaper in Chittagong titled The Daily Life and a medical weekly called The Pulse. He had also founded the now defunct The Morning Sun in Dhaka. He was known as a newspaper wizard among his peers.

His family requests all friends and well-wishers to pray for his departed soul. l

RPGCL assigned to handle LNG-related worksn Aminur Rahman RaselState-owned Rupantarita Prakritik Gas Company Limit-ed (RPGCL) has been assigned to operate lique ed natural gas (LNG) related activities.

According to Energy and Mineral Resources Division (EMRD), Petrobangla has as-signed one of its own compa-nys RPGCL to the task.

On December 29 last year, a letter signed by Petrobangla Director Md Quamruzzaman asked that RPGCL be assigned to operate LNG-related works instead of forming a new com-pany for the job.

The government is expect-ed to sign the nal deal with Singapore-based Excelerate Energy Limited Partnership this month for building the countrys rst oating LNG terminal on Moheshkhali Is-land in the Bay of Bengal, a Petrobangla o cial told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Excelerate Energy has al-ready carried out a met-ocean study and found building the terminal viable.

The rm will also carry out a geo-technical study and de-tailed engineering design be-fore starting the construction.

It will build the terminal within 16 months of signing the nal deal. LNG import might start in early 2017.

Petrobangla will pay 0.474 cents per million BTU (mmbtu) a measure of the energy con-tent in fuel for the unit on a build-own-operate-transfer ba-sis for 15 years. It will receive the LNG within the range between 500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) and 600mmcfd.

The LNG storage capaci-ty of the unit will be 138,000 cubic metres. Petrobangla will pay the port service charges and tax on behalf of Exceler-ate Energy during the period.

A Petrobangla o cial said once the terminal is set up, the government would have to im-port LNG from Qatar or other countries for $16-$18 per unit.

On the other hand, Petrobangla has invited expres-sions of interest (EoIs) from prospective bidders to imple-ment two more land-based LNG terminals at Moheshkhali in Coxs Bazar and Payra mari-time port area. The last date of EoI submission is February 15.

At present, the coun-trys gas production is about 2,700mmcfd against a de-mand of 3,300mmcfd. l

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016News 5

DT

PRAYERTIMES

Coxs Bazar 31 26Dhaka 32 18 Chittagong 28 19 Rajshahi 33 15 Rangpur 30 15 Khulna 32 19 Barisal 33 20 Sylhet 31 15T E M P E R AT U R E F O R E C A S T F O R TO DAY

Source: Accuweather/UNB

D H A K ATODAY TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:53PM SUN RISES 6:32AM

YESTERDAYS HIGH AND LOW31.5C 12.5CTeknaf Rajarhat

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Fajr: 5:13am | Zohr: 12:13amAsr: 4:17pm | Magrib: 5:55pmEsha: 7:23pm

FOGGY

UK minister concerned over irregular Bangladeshisn Sheikh Shahariar ZamanBritish Immigration Minister James Brokenshire yesterday discussed about irregular Bangladeshis living in the UK during his meetings with the policymakers in Dhaka.

Brokenshire arrived in Dhaka yesterday on a two-day visit and had technical meeting with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque in the morning. It was followed by back-to-back courtesy calls on Foreign Minister Ah Mahmood Ali and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal.

Diplomatic sources in di erent meetings said Brokenshire raised the issue of irregular Bangladeshis, whose visa or passports had expired.

According to an o cial, Broken-shire was told that the government has a clear policy of repatriation from anywhere in the world.

We have crystal clear policy on repatriation of irregular Bang-ladeshis. After proper citizenship veri cation, if someone is found to be a Bangladeshi, we instantly take steps to bring him or her back, the o cial said.

Brokenshire was also apprised of the security arrangements at the airports, the o cial added.

After the meetings at the Foreign Ministry, Brokenshire said he had useful discussions on shared inter-ests of both countries, especially on tackling illegal immigration, organ-ised crime and extremism. l

THIRD TERMINAL AT DHAKA AIRPORT

China or Jica - ministry undecidedn Asif Showkat KallolThe Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry has sought the Finance Divisions advice on whether to build a third terminal at the Dhaka airport with Chinese or Jica nanc-ing.

According to sources, the Civil Aviation Ministry is in fact now in a dilemma because both the Chi-nese government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) are among the biggest de-velopment partners of Bangladesh and both have shown interest in nancing the project.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Min-ister Rashed Khan Memon has re-cently wrote to Finance Minister

AMA Muhith, seeking the latters opinion in this regard immediately.

According to the letter that the Dhaka Tribune has seen, the min-istry was almost ready to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Chinese govern-ment under the G2G scheme for the project.

This preparation was made after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told authorities several months ago to implement the project with Chi-nese assistance.

However, on his return from a visit to China last month, Finance Minister Muhith said Bangladesh should be careful while imple-menting projects with Chinese ex-pertise and nancing.

Recently, after Jica showed inter-est in nancing the project, the Civil Aviation Ministry fell could not de-cide which party to choose as Bang-ladesh has good terms with both.

Menons letter also says that the Hazrat Shahjalal International Air-port in Dhaka is now a major inter-national communication route and a total of seven million passengers travel through it every year.

Experts predict that the number will rise to eight million by the end of 2018 and so the third terminal has become absolutely mandatory.

Ministry sources said that three consultancy rms one each from South Korea, Singapore and Bang-ladesh have already conducted feasibility study, laid out a master

plan and basic design of the third terminal at a cost of Tk39 crore. Es-timated cost of the project, slated for a start sometime between 2016 and 2018, will be Tk13,465 crore.

The letter reads that the du-ration of the project will be four years.

Earlier, in June 2014, after the Civil Aviation Ministry got the nod for building the terminal, the Eco-nomic Relations Division (ERD) approached Jica for a nancing proposal but they did not respond at that time.

Besides China, the government of Malaysia had also shown interest in building the terminal under the G2G (government to government) scheme. l

Govt plans to build 12 barracks for policen Kayes Sohel andArifur Rahman Rabbi

The government is mulling over a plan to build 12 police barracks across the country to accommo-date thousands of policemen re-cruited over the last ve years.

The Tk219.17cr project tilted Construction of 12 Barracks at Dif-ferent Units of Police Department is expected to be placed at the ex-ecutive committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) meeting scheduled for tomorrow.

Under the proposed project by the Home Ministry, 12 barracks will be constructed at 12 thanas under 10 districts Dhaka (Ashulia), Gazi-pur (Sadar), Narayanganj (Sadar and Fatullah), Chittagong (Dou-ble Mooring and Khulshi), Comilla (Kotwali), Rajshahi (Rajpara), Khul-na (Sadar ), Barisal (Kotwali ), Sylhet (Kotwali ) and Rangpur (Sadar).

We are trying to resolve the ac-commodation problems faced by the police department, said Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Ka-mal while talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

However, its an ongoing pro-cess. The prime minister is sincere about the police force.

The proposed project is expected to be completed by June, 2019 under the supervision of Bangladesh Po-lice and Public Works Department.

About 30,000 policemen have been recruited over the last ve years and 50,000 more will be recruited in next few years in line with the grow-ing demand for police service.

But the accommodation has not been raised in accordance with the rising police members. At pres-ent, residential facilities at the po-lice units are inadequate compared to the police force, it said giving logic for the proposal.

Currently, around 15,000 police members are getting 5,888 resi-dential facilities in the proposed 12 barracks and 6,000 more residen-tial facilities have been proposed to construct at the same barracks, the proposal said.

The project evaluation commit-tee, in its observation, said police members will be able to play their roles with more e ectively and ef- ciently in maintaining the law and order, once the project is completed.

Earlier, Inspector General of Po-lice AKM Shahidul Haque described the housing problem of police and said now 2% police is getting hous-ing facilities, but the remaining 98% is su ering from residential crisis. l

Kamal: Stop drug smuggling, human tra ckingn Mohammad Jamil KhanHome minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday urged the Bangla-desh Coast Guard to continue their e ort to combat drug smuggling and human tra cking.

He made the call in a programme held at the Bangladesh Coast Guard headquarters to mark the 21st founding anniversary of the force.

He said: The coast guards have to become more e cient and con-tinue their e ort to combat traf- cking of humans and illegal prod-ucts, specially drugs.

The minister said the number of

coast guards has increased to 3,329 from 2,225 in the last couple of years.

Kamal said: Around 94% of the import and export activities are taking place on the sea ports and this is where the coast guards pro-vide security.

Meanwhile, a total of 31 o -cials and sta were awarded with Bangladesh Coast Guard Medal and President Coast Guard medal for their e orts and activities last year.

Although it is the 21st founding anniversary the award giving tradi-tion started in 2013.

Coast Guard Director General Rear Admiral M Makbul Hossain

said: The port judgement authori-ty INB has declared Chittagong port safe only because of the e orts of the coast guards.

Presently, the forces are provid-ing security to 1,11,631 square kilo-metre economic area, which is to-tally in the territory of Bangladesh.

Chief of Bangladesh navy, in-spector general of police, director general of RAB, director general of DGFI, director general of NSI, director general of re service and civil defence and high o cial of Navy and Bangladesh Coast Guard were also present, among others, on the occasion. l

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard take part in a parade during a programme celebrating the forces founding anniversary at the Coast Guards headquarters in the capitals Agargaon yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016News6DT

14-party protest against Khaleda, Pakistan todayn Abu Hayat MahmudLeaders and activists of the ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance will form human chains at 14 points of the capital today to protest against the conspiracy of the BNP and Paki-stan against the 1971 Liberation War.

The human chain will be held for an hour from 4pm at 14 points from Gabtoli to Jatrabari via Technical intersection Kallyanpur, Shyamo-

li, Asad Gate, Sukrabad, Karwan Bazar intersection, Banglamotor, Shahbagh, National Press Club, Gulistan, Ittefaq intersection and Sayedabad Bus Terminal.

Earlier, central leaders of the alli-ance, lawmakers, Dhaka mayors and professionals held several meetings to make the programme successful.

Dhaka city unit Awami League also held an extended meeting with its a liated bodies at its o ce

yesterday. After the meeting, Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said that BNP chief Khaleda Zia made acrimonious remarks on the number of martyrs of the war as she had lost popularity.

This not the rst time she has expressed her loyalty to Pakistan. Khaleda Zia inspired the Pakistani soldiers against the Bangalis during the war. She even did not listen to her husband's call to leave the can-

tonment, he said.After her remarks, several cas-

es including one for sedition have been led against the three-time former premier.

From the event, the ruling alli-ance would also protest against the stance of Pakistan as it repeatedly interferes in Bangladesh's internal a airs and tries to make the trial of war criminals controversial.

Earlier, 14-party spokesperson and

Health Minister Mohammad Nasim alleged that Pakistan was conspiring against Bangladesh with the help of BNP and Jamaat. Khaleda Zia is their agent and her statements regarding the martyrs is a part of the conspiracy.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina wants to maintain good relation with Pakistan as it is a Saarc member. But if it continues conspiring against us, I doubt whether we will maintain the relation in future, he said. l

PM to lay foundation stone for burn institute in Marchn Abid AzadPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina will lay the foundation stone for the proposed Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Surgery Insti-tute in the capital's Chankhar-pur area in the rst week of March.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammad Nasim said this at a press conference at the ministry conference hall yesterday.

He said: Over the last few years hundreds of people have been admitted into the Dha-ka Medical College Hospital's burn unit. Many of them died as the DMCH could not cope with the growing number of patients.

This is why the government

took the initiative to establish an international-standard burn and plastic surgery institute in the country.

The Health Ministry pro-posed the name as Sheikh Hasina Burn and Plastic Sur-gery Institute. The premier will lay its foundation stone in the rst week of March, he added.

The deadline for the com-pletion of the construction of the institute is December 2018, he said.

He also informed that the total project cost will be Tk-522cr 49 lakh which includes a donation from the Indian gov-ernment.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project on November 24, 2015. l

Minister: Fishermen to get govt subsidy n Tribune ReportThe government is planning to bring the shermen under subsidy provision as they face ban on catching mother hilsha during its peak breeding sea-son, said Fisheries and Live-stock Minister Mohammed Sayedul Haque.

We will give the shermen rice and cash incentives dur-ing the peak breeding season to motivate them not to catch hilsha during the period, the minister told the parliament yesterday.

Replying to a query, he said: The government with a view to providing nancial support to marginal sherman has so far registered some 1,428,000 shermen from 482 upazilas and brought 1,310,000 sher-men under data entry system.

We have taken photo-graphs of 1,050,000 shermen and prepared identity (ID) cards for them.

The minister said the

government distributed 153,784.80 metric tonnes of food grains and around TK193 crore among 384,462 sher-men families as nancial sup-port for ve months during the 2015-2016 nancial year.

Meanwhile, the govern-ment is considering pro-viding 30,756.96 metric tonnes of food grains and Tk 384,462,000 among 384,462 shermen during the one month ban on catching mother hilsha sh in 2016, added the minister.

Replying to another query, the minister said: Bangladesh is producing 3,548,000 metric tonnes of sh while the demand of the per capita sh of the country is 2,190,000 kilogram yearly whereas the consump-tion rate is 1,930,000 kilogram.

Replying to another query, the minister said that country will be self-su cient in sh production by 2021 through producing 4,200,000 metric tonnes of sh. l

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016News 7

DT

Commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Abdul Jalil Mondol o ers a red rose to a rickshaw puller yesterday marking the Valentines Day DHAKA TRIBUNE

VALENTINES DAY

Police o er roses to peoplen FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Marking the Valentine Day, the Chit-tagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) took an exceptional programme yesterday titled Love Not Hate by o ering red roses among the people when a number of incidents came to light against police in the country.

The police also o ered the sym-bol of love to legal aid seekers who went at 16 police stations in the city under CMP to sought legal service, said the police sources.

CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandol inaugurated the programme through o ering red roses to the commuters and di erent vehicle drivers in citys GEC and New Market area in the morning.

During the programme the CMP commissioner also called upon the city dwellers to follow the law to cre-ate a Lovely Bangladesh. l

One held for beating up eighth-gradern Our Correspondent, RajshahiOne person has been arrested af-ter an eighth-grader was tied and beaten up and the video of the as-sault recorded in Rajshahis Paba upazila on Friday.

Jahid Hasan, a student of the local Bagsara High School, was accused of theft and beaten up by a group of men between 3pm and 10pm on Friday at Choubaria village. He is now receiving med-ical attention at the Paba Upazila Health Complex.

Jahids father Imran Hossain led a case with the Paba police

station on Saturday night, accusing 13 men for the assault.

One of the suspects named Azizul has been arrested, con rmed Paba OC Shariful Islam.

The other accused are Nasir, Pa-lash, Tuhin, Sandi and his son Anik, Razzak, Sagar, Ujjal, Masim, Kamal, Fazlul Bari and his son Rakib.

Plainti Imran told the Dhaka Tribune: The accused Palash and Razzak have been issuing threats ever since the case was led. We are worried about our security.

Paba police station O cer-in-Charge Shariful, however, assured the victims family that they had no reason to worry about their safety.

He added that e orts were on to arrest the other suspects, who have all gone into hiding following the ling of the case. l

GP sta found dead n Our Correspondent, BograA worker at Grameenphone, who went missing on Saturday, was found dead yesterday in a river in the district.

The victim was Mamunur Rashid Manik, son of Ahshanullah Mantu, a freedom ghter, resident of Talo-ra Garibelgharia of Dupchanchia upazila. He was a sales representa-tive at Grameenphone Fast Distri-bution o ce in the upazila.

On Saturday morning, Manik went to Dublagari bazar for collec-tion money, said SM Shahnewaz, managing director of the o ce.

We have tried to contact with Manik several times in the after-noon, but his mobile had been switched o , he said.

The father of Manik went to Shahjahanpur police station to le a general diary after he was miss-ing. But police did not le the dia-ry, added he.

Locals found the body packed in a bag in the morning near the Kor-towa River and informed the police.

The police found the body and sent it to hospital morgue. Alamgir Hossain, o cer-in-charge of the police station, Manik might have been killed over previous enmity. l

Bandarban main road subsides at many pointsn Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Communication between Bandar-ban district town and Thanchi upazila may suspend anytime as the main thoroughfare which con-nects the upazila and district head-quarters lies in a sorry state.

The road at 17 spots has subsid-ed making the communication of thousands of people risky.

According to Roads and High-way Department sources, Thanchi upzila is 82 kilometre away from district town. A good portions of the road at Sotero Mail, Purabang-la, Gelanga Rastar Matha, Kapru-para, Nilgiri, Jibon Nagar, Balipara,

Kolaipara and Sakhaypara have remained subsided for long, but no step has been taken to mend the road.

Kei Hlia Ching Marma, chair-man of Thanchi union parishad, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had informed the matter to dep-uty commissioner, State Minister for Chittagong Hill Tract A airs Bir Bahadur, MP and o cials of Roads and Highway Department, but the problem was yet to be xed.

Local people said the road at several points have subsided into 10 to 15 feet depth. Sometimes ve-hicles plying on the road got stuck on the big potholes not only caus-ing su erings for commuters, but

also posing life risk to them. Due to the dilapidated state of

the road, local people cannot trans-port their agri-produces properly and they have to count additional fare.

Md Jasim Uddin, general secre-tary of Thanchi Bazar Committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that as the road lied in a rundown state they had to count extra money to trans-port crops.

Thats why production cost of vegetables have increased and growers are getting less pro t, he said.

Remakri, Nafakum, Boromadak and Amiyokum are the main attrac-tion of tourists. This year, presence

of tourists has declined to a great extend and for this reason people who depend on tourist-sector are passing bad time and incurring huge losses.

Dablu Borua, a tourist guide, told the Dhaka Tribune that he was passing days with hardship as his income had reduced in these days because tourists did not dare to come to the upazila to visit seeing terrible situation of the road.

Former chairman of Balipara un-ion parishad Kasao Marma told the Dhaka Tribune that the road lied in a poor state due to the negligence of Roads and Highway Depart-ment. He said: We are frustrated with the matter.

Upazila Nirbahi O cer of Thanchi Mohammad Anwar Hos-sain said the Army had temporarily repaired the road after road com-munication between district town and Thanchi upazila suspended for a month. But later the road later turned back to its previous state.

Engineering Construction Bat-talion 16s Major Humayun Kabir said maintenance of the road had been handed over to Roads and Highway Department. But Exec-utive Engineer of the Roads and Highway Md Yunus told the Dhaka Tribune that rstly they were en-trusted with the renovation work of the road, later, Bangladesh Army had taken the charge of the road. l

The accused Palash and Razzak have been issuing threats ever since the case was led. We are worried about our security

News8DTMONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Eateries ned Tk1.73 lakh in Chittagongn Tribune ReportA mobile court conducting separate drives in the port city ned six eateries with Tk1.73 yesterday.

Md Foyez Ullah, assistant director of Department of National Consumer Rights Protection, ned ve eateries with Tk73 for making food in unhygien-ic environment.

Zilani Hotel was ned with Tk18,000, Ruhul Amin and Restau-rant with Tk10,000, ABP Hotel with

Tk25,000, Iran Hotel with Tk5,000 and Monjenis with Tk15,000, said the assis-tant director.

Meanwhile, Ruhul Amin, executive magistrate of Chittagong District Ad-ministration, led another mobile court at Chawk Bazar area in the city and ned Chawk Malancha with 1 lakh.

Chawk Malancha was ned for mak-ing food in unhygienic condition. Al-though the eatery was authorised for using two burners, it was using four burn-ers, added the executive magistrate. l

Fake police o cial heldn Tribune Report Members of law enforcers arrested a fake police o cial in Chawakbazar area under the city early yesterday.

The arrested, Himadri Biswash, 28, completed his study in BSc En-gineering from a private university, said police sources.

According to Detective Branch (DB) of police sources, introducing as an o cer of SB, Himadri com-mitted crime holding the common people hostage in di erent places and realised money. l

5 bullet-hit in AL clashn Tribune Report At least ve people were shot in a clash between local Awami League (AL) and Jubo League (JL) in districts Banshkhali upazila on Saturday night.

Swapan Kumar Majumdar, o cer-in-charge of Banskhali police station, said the clash erupted between the support-ers of upazila ALs President Ka- l Uddin and Banskhali upazila president Maksudur Rahman at Boiltol union around 11:30pm.

Witnesses and police sourc-es said a rally was arranged

in Boiltol area in the evening where the supporters of Ka l Uddin had locked into an alter-cation with Maksud group over getting upcoming nomination in UP election.

At one stage, both groups clashed with each other equipped rearms at around 11:30pm leaving ve persons injured, said the OC.

Police went to the spot and brought the situation under control while the injured were sent hospital, added the OC.

The OC said no case was led in this connection. l

Station masters protest pay scale discriminationn Tribune Report The station masters threatened to go for tougher programmes, including work abstention, if the ongoing process for re-cruiting assistant station mas-ters is not scrapped.

The station masters issued the threat at a press conference held at Chittagong Press Club yesterday.

Bangladesh Railway Station Master and Employees Union (BRSMEU) organised the press conference to press home their demands and protesting pay scale discrimination in the re-cently published recruitment advertisement.

We deeply frustrated with the scale degradation for as-sistant station masters. The railway authorities had pub-lished an advertisement on Oc-tober 30 last year for recruiting 270 assistant station masters. However, the advertisement mentioned Tk4,700 as the pay scale keeping the education quali cation same as before. The assistant station master have been receiving Tk4,900 as salary as per the national pay scale of 2009, said Mokh-lesur Rahman, president of Bangladesh Railway Station Master and Employees Union.

A revised recruitment ad-vertisement has to be pub-lished by February 25. Be-sides, the existing pay scale of Tk4,700 has also to be revised. We also demand upgrading the assistant station masters to second class. Otherwise, we will be compelled to go for tougher programmes, vowed Rahman.

While reading out written statement at the press confer-ence, Rahman said, Bangla-desh Railway is now reeling from acute shortage of sta-tion masters. Out of total 340 stations across the country, the rail authorities have shut down as many as 140 stations due to shortage of the station masters.

A total of 680 assistant station masters are required for oper-ating 340 stations across the country. It is not clear to why the rail authorities sanctioned only 114 posts, added the president of the BRSMEU.

As per Hours of Employ-ment Act, a station master is supposed to work eight hours a day. A station master is made to work 16 hours and in some cases 24 hours. However, the station masters are deprived of the overtime allowances, said the station masters.

The press conference was attended by the BRSMEU sec-retary SN Bhattacharya, ex-ecutive president Md Hossain Majumder, Chittagong chap-ter president and secretary Showkat Ali Chowdhury and Md Nejam Uddin, convener of Dhaka divisional Moron Chan-dra Das, member secretary Be-layet Hossain, among others. l

A revised recruitment advertisement has to be published by February 25

Education 9DT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

IELTSdates and locations

Venue: Banani

Test date: February 27, 2016Module type: IELTS AcademicRegistration deadline: February 20, 2016

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: February 27, 2016

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS AcademicRegistration deadline: February 27, 2016

Venue: Dhanmondi

Test date: February 27, 2016Module type: IELTS AcademicRegistration deadline: February 20, 2016

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS General TrainingRegistration deadline: February 27, 2016

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016

Venue: Bashundhara, Baridhara

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS General Training Registration deadline: February 27, 2016

Test date: March 19, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: March 12, 201

Venue: Uttara

Test date: February 27, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 20, 2016

Test date: March 05, 2016Module type: IELTS Academic Registration deadline: February 27, 2016 l

n Rafi d Ahnaf Do you ever feel lucky to just be able to read the newspaper? Or hear the doorbell? Call someone and talk? The answer is probably no. We take seeing, hearing and speaking for granted and fail to realise that some people do not have these gifts.

We tend to see these unfortunate friends and spare a sigh at their situation, but thats it. Have we ever thought of how these special people attain their basic education?

Actually, yes. Education is a fundamental right, for everyone including the visually impaired and the deaf and mute.

People with visual impairments are introduced to many educational techniques among which the following are essential.

Technology and computer pro ciency By using computers tted with assistive technology such as a screen reader, the visually impaired can have the information on monitors read out to them, or printed in Braille output for them to read themselves.

LiteracyReading and writing with braille, optical devices and large fonts are all methods used to improve literacy of those who are visually impaired.

Safe and independent mobilityUsing speci c methods and

maneuver techniques, long canes, or other mobility tools, the visually impaired can still achieve a reasonable level of safe and independent mobility and live regular lives.

Social interactionSocial interaction can also be improved by understanding nonverbal behaviour, speech recognition and by using touch.

Independent living skillsLearning specialised techniques for personal grooming, food preparation, money management, and other tasks can all contribute to making life easily for the visually impaired.

People with speech disabilities can often tend to have hearing troubles as well, and this can a ect the quality of education they are getting. As a result,

people with hearing di culties tend to have a di erent kind of education system.

The Manual MethodSigns, the manual alphabet, and writing are the principal ways of teaching. One handed or two handed alphabets are also used.

The Oral MethodSpeech and speech-reading, together with writing, are made the most important means of instruction, and ease in speech and speech-reading, as well as mental development and written language, is aimed at.

The Auricular MethodThis method utilises the hearing of semi-deaf students to the fullest and even develops it. This method also uses accessories to aid in hearing, and can prevent

students from completely losing their speech and hearing abilities.

The Combined SystemThe combination of all the methods and practices mentioned above is considered to be the best way to improve education and enhance the mental development of deaf students.

Lastly, even though these people are unfortunate in terms of seeing, hearing and talking, they do learn to develop their other senses. They make good dancers, craftsmen and even authors.

There is a popular belief that people who are at a loss of one of the ve senses develop a sixth sense. This is idea is further popularised by Marvels Daredevil, a sightless lawyer, ghting crime by night with the help of his powerful hearing. l

Limited learning, unlimited prospects

IELTSPractice with us to step up your IELTS game.

Heres a sample of the IELTS General Training Writing.

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task. Write at least 250 words.

Write about the following topic. The rst car appeared on British roads in 1888. By the year 2000 there may be as many as 29 million vehicles on British roads. Alternative forms of transport should be encouraged and international laws introduced to control car ownership and use.

To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your knowledge or experience.

Writing Task

needs in products and nancial education.

However, as we have found from the pilots, it is not easy for a rural woman to master mobile money. These women often report that they are satis ed with the ability to simply receive calls and may lack the basic numeracy skills required to navigate the mobile money menus. This has prompted us to begin providing nancial education, where we provide basic numeracy skills and develop nancial management skills. In places like remote Hatiya, where literacy levels are low, it can take three to six months of nancial education before a woman feels con dent carrying out her own transactions.

While this is a lot of work, it is easy to assume that women are lagging behind in adopting mobile money because of an information gap. Certainly, limited information and literacy create challenges, but in fact, the barriers to adoption go much deeper.

A recent exploration of the problem using human-centered design techniques solidi ed these

convictions. One of the central comments heard repeatedly from women is that they do not identify themselves with becoming users of mobile money, which is the domain of the businessman. Additionally, many women lacked con dence in their ability to use the service preferring to use cash instead. This shows that, like most of us, they are present-biased and seek to avoid the immediate di culties associated with learning to use the service even though it would bring them greater bene t in the future. By simply relying on agents their basic needs were being met and many commented on carrying out transactions with agents as ne. Fortunately, these issues can all be addressed, but not through traditional nancial education. Instead, this requires more creativity from mobile money providers and NGOs on how they design their services.

What inspires BRAC the most is the increasing number of women from Hatiya to Panchargarh who, despite all of these issues, are now expert mobile money

users, con dently buying airtime, making deposits into their savings accounts, and managing their remittances. Their needs superseded their unfamiliarity and fear of technology. Many received signi cant support from BRACs sta and/or local bKash agents, who they trust and can access as needed. Given the challenges of reading the English menu, many used rote memorisation through mnemonic techniques to make these transactions.

Ultimately, necessity drives innovation. Till date, despite the potential present, womens demand for mobile money in Bangladesh has not been activated. Reaching these women is a must, if a banking revolution is to be ignited for the poor through mobile money. l

Hitoishi Chakma is a Management Professional for BRAC Micro nanceMaria A May is a Senior Programme Manager for BRAC Social Innovation Lab and the Research and Development Unit of BRAC Micro nance

nHitoishi Chakma and Maria A May

In a recent Bloomberg interview, Bill Gates shares: Banking is more fundamental than I realised. There have been attempts (at banking for the poor) by micro nance groups, cooperatives, but the transaction fees were always too high. Until we get those services down with very low fees and in digital mode, banking will only be for those who are better o . In Bangladesh, where 95% of the population have access to mobile phones but only 20% have a formal bank account, the signi cance of such an opportunity for a banking revolution is even more pronounced. Indeed, since 2011, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has made over $21 million in grants and equity investments in bKash.

Bangladesh has seen one of the worlds fastest growing mobile money ecosystems develop in the past two years. This growth has propelled bKash to become the second largest mobile money provider in the world, only behind Kenyas mPesa. Ideally, this growth in digital money is also an opportunity for pro-poor nancial service providers such as micro nance institutions to signi cantly expand nancial access.

We are only to look at Kenyas M-Shwari, that gives users instant access to short-term credit and secure savings for inspiration. As of 2015, one in ve Kenyan adults are active M-Shwari customers. With the use of mobile money picking up here in Bangladesh, it is fast turning into an opportunity

to ensure that everyone can enjoy the full bene ts of banking products. Mobile money fees in Bangladesh, when comparing small transactions such as Tk400, are among the lowest in the world.

Yet for all the adoption of mobile money we have seen in Bangladesh, there remains one key segment of the population that has yet to embrace it - women, especially poor women living in rural areas. Despite the rich history of womens participation in micro nance and savings groups, when it comes to mobile money, over 80 percent of the mobile money users turn out to be men. What explains this lag and what can we do about it? Especially when poor rural women can bene t immensely from access to such services that would enable easier remittances, create new savings mechanisms, and even make purchasing airtime hassle-free.

Since 2014, through the Gates Foundation-funded Innovation Fund for Mobile Money, BRAC has been piloting di erent projects in providing digital nancial services for the poor. This experiment with mobile money aims to see how existing BRAC services can be transformed into more e ective and valuable solutions for the poor. Over the past one-and-a-half years, these experiences ranged from providing digital micro nance in remote communities to o ering exible school fee payments that allows low-income parents to pay in small installments. Overall, the projects have targeted women and girls, focusing on their

Feature10DTMONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Photos: BRAC

Mobile money in Bangladesh

These women often report that they are satis ed with the ability to simply receive calls and may lack the basic numeracy skills required to navigate the mobile money menus

Will it revolutionise banking for poor women?

INSIDE

It is unacceptable that the Banks and Financial Institutions Division is seeking Tk15,000 crore ($1.9 billion) in extra funding to recapitalise six state-owned banks (Basic, Bangladesh Krishi, Janata, Rupali, Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan, Sonali) in the coming three years.

These capital short-falls come on top of the Tk5,000cr the government has already set aside for the current scal year, and follows years of tax-payers spending thousands of crores on bailing out SOBs.

The government needs to heed the warning made by the former governor of Bangladesh Bank that the latest re-capitalisation plan risks only adding to the government liabilities, while doing nothing to stop future capital short-falls.

Breaches of rules intended to safe-guard capital remain endemic in the state bank sector which has repeatedly fallen victim to scams and defaults by small numbers of large borrowers, despite reform e orts by the central bank.

It is the policy of endless bail-outs that enables state bank boards to continue outing rules and failing to end the corruption and incompetence that keeps increasing their losses.

While privately-run banks accountable to share-holders in Bangladesh have consistently shown they are better managed and pro table, the knowledge that tax-payer funds will be found to bail out SOBs has made their management incapable of improving and recovering bad debts.

It is time to accept that enough is enough, and the only prudent course is to end the policy of bail-outs.

Valuable public money should not be wasted propping up state banks which have consistently shown their inability to reform.

Tax-payer funds can be better spent on education and health.The government should stop SOBs taking on further liabilities

and begin a managed process to transfer viable state bank assets to private management and begin disposing and close down the rest.

This is the only way to end this costly and harmful drain on the public purse.

It is the policy of bail outs that prevents the reform needed to end corruption and incompetence in state banks

The pearly gates

The road to loveToday 32% people live in urban areas in Bangladesh, compared to only 7% in 1971. However, the issue of urban disaster had been only taken into consideration in 2012. The progress appears unpromising compared to the improvement in coastal areas

PAGE 13

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A short shirt charadeDo I love this Dhaka? Lets answer it this way: Our love for the city blossomed when Dhaka was a magical place to live and grow up, in the 70s and 80s. Since those images are still vivid, we just cant hate it

State-of-the-art security system and clean, congestion-free roads are prime reasons behind the burgeoning demand for gated communities across the globe. Entry privileges for pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are strictly controlled. Parents can safely allow their children to roam around within the community

SOBs will never prosper on life support

11DTEditorial

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Be heardWrite to Dhaka Tribune

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Jamilur Reza Chowdhury

Our population is soaring at a meteoric pace. Coupled with aggressive unplanned urbanisation, it is over-burdening our beloved Dhaka. E cient management of a modern metropolis depends on its infrastructure and meticulous development plans, and is pivotal not only for the survival of the area, but also for the well-being of its inhabitants.

The infrastructural expansion of a city or a country is directly proportional to its development. Increased use of homes, transport, and resulting tra c, production, and land usage becomes inevitable. If these indicators of development cannot be controlled, it gradually becomes a burden and starts hampering stable and healthy growth of the economy. It will also undermine our performance as responsible predecessors to our future generation, who will have no option but to inherit this burden from us. We will have failed them.

There is no way we can deny our responsibility to ensure a live-able world for our future genera-tions. A planned, safe, and lasting haven that we call home is a vital part of it.

To ensure that our future gen-erations inherits from us a healthy, liveable environment with better living facilities, we must start me-ticulous planning and developing safe havens for them, with ade-quate greenery and space for them to be able to play and physically engage rather than staying back home attached to their computers and cell-phones.

Especially in the urban regions, the best solution to this need can now be provided by gated commu-nities. Gated communities, which are rising in popularity world wide, are upgraded and more se-cure versions of conventional res-idential areas or housing estates. They remain under continued surveillance and a strict umbrella of security. These communities contain all the elements needed for a healthy environment.

A separate locality outside the hustle and bustle of regular busy cities, gated communities contain clean air, playing grounds for children, physical working out facilities, swimming pools, and abundant greenery.

All these essential components are organised in a planned man-ner. Children, especially, nd an

environment integral for healthy growth. They learn to understand the importance of learning about the world by direct engagement with nature along with technology.

State-of-the-art security sys-tems and clean, congestion-free roads are the prime reasons behind the burgeoning demand for gated communities across the globe. En-try privileges for pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are strictly controlled. Parents can safely allow their chil-dren to roam around within the community. A posh and comforta-ble ambiance at a reasonable cost adds to the value.

For reasons mentioned above, residences in gated communities retain their value despite instabilities in local property prices. Gated communities can develop with either public or private patronisation, further adding to their credibility.

Almost all economically-de-veloped nations in the world have

gated communities. According to research data, the residential system in the US is increasingly becoming gated community-ori-ented. As early as 1997, there were 20,000 such projects in the US, with more than three million individual units. 40% of houses in California are situated in gated communities.

In the book Fortress America: Gated Communities in the United States, authors Edward J Blakely and Mary Gail Snyder mention that: In this era of dramatic demographic, economic, and social change, there is a growing fear about the future in America. Many feel vulnerable, unsure of their place, and the stability of their neighbourhoods in the face of rapid change. This is re ected in an increasing fear of crime that is unrelated to actual crime trends or locations, and in the growing number of methods used to control the

physical environment for physical and economic security. The phenomenon of walled cities and gated communities is a dramatic manifestation of a new fortress mentality growing in America.

As a society grows more sophisticated, it needs more customised solutions. Bangladesh, moving towards urbanisation akin to the US a few decades back, now has the solution that the US adopted to address a similar issue.

The concept of gated communities is anything but new. The current system, simply, is a polished version of what always was. In the middle ages and the age of Renaissance, royalties used to live in gated communities for extra security. The need is still prevalent, and people have more scope to avail a solution than ever before. Since the 1980s, the concept of gated communities has spread like wild re across continents.

In neighbouring India and Pakistan, gated communities have already become a dependable residential system. While already established in Pakistan, it is rapidly catching up in India as well. In Indias Maharashtra, Ambi Valley City and Lasava City are prominent examples of highly sophisticated gated communities.

More such projects are developing in Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bangalore; Bahria Town in Pakistan is the largest gated community in Asia. There are di erent types of gated communities. For example, in Malaysia, there are four types of gated communities: Elite community, lifestyle community, security zone community, and security zone community and lifestyle.

It is extremely important that we adopt the highest possible measures we can for our security. Gated communities o er the best solution in that regard. A positive development in Bangladesh is that the concept has already started taking baby steps towards materialisation here.

It not only indicates that Bangladesh is catching up with global trends, but in hindsight, also shows that Bangladesh is well on its way to gradually accomplishing its dream of a developed nation. l

Jamilur Reza Chowdhury is the Vice Chancellor of University of Asia Paci c.

Opinion12DTMONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

Gated communities are a great way of dealing with increasing urbanisation BIGSTOCK

State-of-the-art security system and clean, congestion-free roads are prime reasons behind the burgeoning demand for gated communities across the globe. Entry privileges for pedestrians, cars, and bicycles are strictly controlled. Parents can safely allow their children to roam around within the community

As Bangladeshi society becomes more sophisticated, we need more customised solutions to treat its problems

The pearly gates

Opinion 13DT

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

n Ziaul Haque HowladerFor this was on seynt Volantynys dayWhan euery bryd comyth there to chese his make

[For this was on St Valentines Day, when every bird cometh there to choose his mate]

Geo rey Chaucer

Valentines Day -- February 14 -- is celebrated in Bangladesh with as much fervour as anywhere else in the world. It is a day that has been celebrated for hundreds of

years, often considered the ideal occasion to show ones partner or spouse just what they mean to you.

Romance is palpable on this day -- young boys and girls are busy seeking out the perfect gift for each other. Everybody comes out on to the streets and celebrates their feelings of a ection towards their partners, and indeed the whole world.

The earliest description of February 14 as an annual celebration of love appears in the Charter of the Court of Love in France. The Charter is believed to have been issued by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie in 1400,

describing ostentatious festivities attended by members of the royal court.

Amidst such festivities, the attending ladies, apparently, would hear and rule on disputes from lovers.

Early medieval history por-trays St Valentine as a priest who refused the decree of Roman Em-peror Claudius II which decreed soldiers to remain single. Valentine preached that falling in love was magical, and that the heart was close to the divine. Infuriated, Claudius incarcerated Valentine and ordered his public execution by a single arrow to the heart.

At present, Valentines Day is

observed as a testament of love for couples and those who seek love and romance. O ering greeting cards, owers, chocolates, and special gifts is common practice on the day.

Though observing Valentines Day is still banned in a handful of countries, the underpinning message of the day crosses borders both real and unreal.

Celebrations bring us joy, happiness, and, most importantly, a chance for recreation, and behind this chance for recreation sits opportunity for good business -- with greeting card companies and restaurants always there to cater to love-struck couples.

Love and romance are as old as human beings, if not older. And, even though the form and nature of expressing love has changed, the emotion that fuels it is still more human than human.

It might sound a bit too far-fetched, but Valentines Day has helped innovate the service indus-try to the point where it is today.

An entire industry thrived by piggybacking on Valentines Day.

It would greatly bene t Bangladeshs tourism industry to try and seize the opportunity that Valentines Day gives us, by o ering special services such as romantic cruises, special o ers at the many beautiful tourist spots which dot our map, sight-seeing tours, and so on.

Such initiatives would make great headway in encouraging more people to travel with their dear and near ones. l

Ziaul Haque Howlader is the Deputy Manager of Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

Falling in love is magical -- and expensive BIGSTOCK

Valentines Day is too great an opportunity for our tourism industry to ignore

The road to love

Love and romance are as old as human beings, if not older. And, even though the form and nature of expressing love has changed, the emotion that fuels it is still more human than human

n Towheed Feroze

It appears that Valentines Day has become more localised with this term: Bhalobasha Dibosh. Must say, our version sounds a little more romantic. Of course, this bhalobasha (or love) does not have to be romantic love, it can be for relatives, for the nation, and for friends. Someone told me, on this day, a Love Dhaka congregation has been organised where rallies carrying banners with slogans professing a ection for the city will be brought out, among many other things.

Dhaka is indeed our city and we love it even though the current day relation is somewhat bittersweet: During the work days, caught in tra c, I hardly see a smiling face.

Come to think of it, Dhaka is perhaps at its most pleasant during the Eid holidays when, for about two weeks, the roads are quiet, tra c smooth, and the noise well below blood pressure-raising levels. Dhakas problem is not with tra c alone, we hardly see the sky; the city su ers from claustrophobic congestion with too many people and high rises.

Do I love this Dhaka? Lets answer it this way: Our love for the city blossomed when Dhaka was a

magical place to live and grow up in, in the 70s and 80s. Since those images are still vivid, we just cant hate it.

Ar thakum na ai shohore (will not stay a minute in this blasted city) I have heard from many exasperated people but they soon forget it once they manage to take a rickshaw ride within the Dhaka University campus on a Friday afternoon or after 10 at night, especially during the monsoon.

Right, lets get into the Valentine mode: There is a palpable sense of bhalobasha everywhereon that day.

With so much happening, a Valentine Day role I played about 27 years ago came to mind. One of my friends, a true romantic, had developed a relationship with a girl over the phone. Back then, many such relations happened

via the TNT line. Conversations took place usually at night, using a spare telephone receiver connected surreptitiously to the main household telephone connection.

So for Valentines Day, my friend decided to send the girl some gifts and I was to be the bearer cum messenger.Plans started well ahead of February 14. One could not walk into a store and ask for romantic gifts because there were none.

My pal made a card using art paper on which one of his senior cousins painted a rather surreal image: A blood red bird lost in thought with a centipede not too far away.

What do you think of the painting, he asked me, obviously expecting a gushing response.

Umm, well, it was very

metaphysical! The gifts had to be bought from special places, some collected. From my end came a small tissue box from Harrods.

Hand tissues were something of a novelty; scented ones with refreshing cologne almost non-existent in Dhaka. We began looking for chocolates but failed to get something exotic from the Ruma and Popy stores -- the top-end departmental shops of the time. It was frustrating. My friend was adamant in getting large Cadbury bars. Bonalim and Picnic would be too banal. Things became so bad, he started dreaming of Cadbury in his sleep.

Luckily, we were saved because my friend discovered that in our area lived a Biman Bangladesh steward.

We didnt know him but went to his place anyway.

Everythings fair in love and war, my buddy reasoned. The man was a bit puzzled but we pleaded: Something out of the ordinary is a must.In the end, he got us a box of assorted chocolates on the condition that the moment the local video store had a clean copy of Hero Hiralal (a Nasiruddin Shah movie), we would get it from him.

My friend paid with the monthly tuition fees kept for his coaching for the chocolates. A round cardboard box was ordered from the shops selling bridal accoutrements, and after all the items were put inside, we sprayed some Brut and Charlie cologne inside. The moment she opens the box, there must be an explosion of perfume, my pal said. Who would disagree with him!

On February 14, I was on my way in a baby taxi to Mirpur. Still dont know why, but I wore a shirt which was short. I mean a little too short. This style would nally come after 20 years but back then it seemed really odd. Waiting outside the girls house carrying the gift wearing a shirt, which was small, led many to give me a queer look. Finally, as the Maghrib azaan sounded and the girls father walked out to the mosque for prayers, I was given a signal.

Hurriedly, I entered the gate and handed the box and walked out. The girl didnt say anything but looked a little surprised.

I later found that my shirt was the dominant topic for the phone conversation that night. I guess my buddy tried his best to rationalise my choice of clothes. I found much later that he told the girl: Oh, he is a bit nuts; spent some time in a sanitarium as a child.

Tui amar prestige puncture korsos, (you have dented my prestige), he came to me the next day, half angry, half amused.

Why did you wear that short shirt?

This is from Pearsons, I replied, to which he said: Gulli maari tor Pearsons

Really, I still wonder, why did I wear it!

Well, look at it this way, if I had been proper, this piece would not be written; to be frank, we were all romantic fools then; perhaps a little stupid but we had some memorable days in a Dhaka which is now a dream.

Valentines Day wishes/bhalobasha to all the readers who have had the patience (or not) to read my column. l

Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Opinion14DTMONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

With all its problems, why do we still love this city?

Do I love this Dhaka? Lets answer it this way: Our love for the city blossomed when Dhaka was a magical place to live and grow up in, in the 70s and 80s. Since those images are still vivid, we just cant hate it

Love in Dhaka was once a very di erent thing

A short shirt charade

15DTBusiness

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2016

No reason for yuan to fall furtherChinas central bank chief has blamed foreign speculators in part for volatility in the yuan and said there is no basis for further depre-ciation, according to an interview in Caixin magazine. PAGE 18

Desperately seeking signs of in ationNow markets have delivered their verdict on in ation - its not picking up any time soon - economic data due next week will show whether price pressures are rising meaning-fully or falling back in some of the worlds major economies. PAGE 17

Oil bosses upbeat on market reboundMovers and shakers from the oil industry descended on London last week and expressed optimism over a sharp rebound in the beleaguered crude market later this year. PAGE 17

Capital market snapshot: Past WeekDSE Broad Index 4,580.6 -0.0%

Index 1,122.3 0.3%

30 Index 1,760.6 0.1%

Turnover in Mn Tk 4,276.0 -15.4%

Turnover in Mn Vol 92.3 -22.1%

CSEAll Share Index 14,158.1 0.1%

30 Index 12,768.5 0.1%

Selected Index 8,599.1 0.1%

Turnover in Mn Tk 263.7 -16.4%

Turnover in Mn Vol 7.6 -16.5%

INSIDE

Unani drug producers may face legal actions for VATn Tribune ReportThe National Board of Revenue has asked its eld o ces to launch legal actions if Unani medicines manufacturers fail to clear out-standing value added tax.

The business stage VAT on the Unani medicines has, however, re-mained suspended since July, 2014.

But the manufacturers alleged-ly refused to pay the tax they kept due before exemption.

When asked about the row, NBR sources said the manufactur-ers continued to refuse to pay the outstanding tax as the eld o ces asked them to pay.

The manufacturers rationale was that as the VAT had been ex-empted, they wont pay it.

They, however, refused to un-derstand that the VAT being asked for was due before the exemption came into e ect, sources said.

In this situation, the eld o ces communicated the matter with the headquarters in Dhaka.

On February 10, the VAT imple-mentation wing responded with a clari cation that the VAT due be-fore exemption should have to be paid.

The letter reads if the manufac-turers fail to pay the due VAT, they should be brought under legal pro-ceedings.

They were also asked to submit a report to NBR headquarters in next seven days with details of ac-tions taken in this regard. l

60 RMG factories seek Accord recognition n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi A total of 60 RMG factories pro-ducing clothing products for Accord signatory brands have sought recognition as they have completed Corrective Action Plans (CAPs) outlined by the re-tailers platform.

According to the Advisory Board Meeting Report of the Ac-cord on Fire and Building Safety held in Dhaka, it has received in-formation from approximately 60 factories, claiming that they have completed all remediation works.

The Accord has received an update that approximately 60 factories have completed all re-mediation works. Of them, two have been veri ed as having com-pleted all initial remediations and have accordingly received rec-ognition letters from the retail-ers platform, said Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector (CSI).

He added that the advisory meeting report was posted on the Accord website on February 8,2016.

These factories will be special-ly