Haque Specialized Group's News

About 51 per cent overseas jobseekers experienced fraudulence or degrading treatment at different stages of their migration process, said preliminary findings of a study. Among the cheated jobseekers, 19 per cent failed to go abroad after paying a part or full amount of money while 32 per cent experienced fraudulence in the destination countries, according to the study conducted by Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU). The study also found that each of the total 693 households had lost Tk 243,247 being victim of fraudulence while processing migration. The findings were revealed at a dialogue on 'Fraudulence in Migration Process' at Senate Bhaban in the Dhaka University Wednesday. It was organised by RMMRU. Because of involvement of a section of dishonest sub-agents in the manpower sending process, workers fall victim to fraudulence regularly, said RMMRU founding chair Tasneem Siddiqui while releasing findings of the study. So the government should introduce a mechanism to identify sub-agents to check their malpractices, she said. RMMRU under the PROKAS project of British Council carried out the research on the role of dalals (sub-agents) in the migration process. The findings are from a near census that was conducted for identifying the extent of fraudulence in Tangail district, said Ms Tasneem Siddiqui. Some 300 households from each village/ward constituted the enumeration area and altogether 5,407 households were covered under the census, she said. The study showed that 44 per cent of those who went to Libya had faced fraudulence and degrading treatment while 42 per cent in the Maldives, 40 per cent  in Oman, 39.2 per cent in Qatar, 37 per cent in the UAE, 36 per cent in Malaysia, 25 per cent in Saudi Arabia and 24 per cent in Singapore. Some 32 per cent workers experienced fraudulence or degrading treatment in the countries of destination. About seven per cent faced jail or detention; six per cent were subjected to extortion and blackmail, 10 per cent faced police harassment, 14 per cent physical and mental torture, 12 per cent led inhumane life in deserts, jungles and remote islands and 10 per cent experienced non-payment or irregular payment of wages. Besides, 52 per cent said that they were not provided with adequate and appropriate food and accommodation. Some 97 per cent workers were dependent on close family members, friends or sub-agents to go abroad with jobs. Speaking as chief guest, retired judge of Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Justice Mohammad Nizamul Huq Nasim said it is necessary to take proper steps to check deceitful activities from this section. He also emphasised on bringing middleman under legal framework to help ensure safe migration. Jabed Ahmed, additional secretary, KM Ali Reza, deputy chief at the ministry of Expatriates' Welfare and Overseas Employment, CR Abrar, executive director of RMMRU, Benjir Ahmed, president and  Shameem Ahmed Chowdhury Noman joint secretary general of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA),  Rahnuma Salam Khan, national programme officer of ILO among others were present at the programme. arafat_ara@hotmail.com....

Published at: 2017-07-20 00:00:07

Asian shares scaled a near-decade peak on Thursday, bolstered by a surge in global stocks to new records on strong US corporate earnings, while investors awaited the Japanese and European central bank meetings for insight into their policy outlooks. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan added 0.1 per cent, hovering near its highest level since December 2007. Japan's Nikkei gained 0.4 per cent. Australian stocks rose 0.6 per cent and South Korea's KOSPI was fractionally higher. Chinese shares were mixed, with blue chips pulling back slightly, while the Shanghai Composite edged higher. Hong Kong's Hang Seng crept up 0.1 per cent. The MSCI World index inched up in its 10th straight session of gains on Thursday and set a record high for the sixth consecutive day, lifted by all-time closing highs on Wall Street in the wake of strong earnings reports. "In the US, the earnings season seems to be surprising a little bit on the upside," said Bruce McCain, chief investment strategist at Key Private Bank in Cleveland. "What we have seen recently in the economic reports suggests it should be even better overseas...So we have come to the point where things look pretty good in the US and it looks even better in prospect overseas, so what's not to like about equities," he said. The yen was steady at 111.91 to the dollar on Thursday. The Bank of Japan ends its two-day policy meeting on Thursday and is expected to paint a brighter picture of the economy but cut its inflation forecasts again. It is set to keep policy unchanged and reinforce that it will lag well behind major global central banks in scaling back its massive stimulus programme. The decision is expected between 0330 and 0530 GMT. The euro was up about 0.1 per cent at $1.1524 on Thursday, after hitting a 14-month high this week following seemingly hawkish comments by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi. At Thursday's meeting, the central bank may drop a reference to its readiness to increase the size or duration of its asset-purchase programme before announcing in the autumn how and when it will start winding down its bond buying. "The euro has surged enormously on the back of hopes that the ECB is going to start the process of shutting the door on loose monetary policy," Naeem Aslam, chief market analyst at ThinkMarkets UK, wrote in a note. "The ECB needs to be clear about its forward guidance and it should reinforce that in a subtle manner. Coming out of the gates too aggressively would create shock waves in the market." The dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of trade-weighted peers, was flat at 94.784. The Australian dollar set a new two-year high on Thursday, still heady from the minutes of the last Reserve Bank of Australia meeting, released Tuesday, which showed the central bank had turned more upbeat on the economic outlook. It pulled back from that high to trade little changed from Wednesday's close at $0.7943. The Canadian dollar was flat at C$1.2603 to the dollar. On Tuesday, it touched a 14-month high on record domestic factory sales and stronger oil prices. Oil prices, which hit a two-week peak on Wednesday on a bigger-than-expected weekly draw in crude and gasoline inventories in the United States, were marginally lower on Thursday. US crude fell 0.1 per cent to $47.07 a barrel, after jumping 1.6 per cent overnight. Global benchmark Brent also lost 0.1 per cent to $49.64, holding on to most of Wednesday's 1.8 per cent gain. Gold pulled back 0.1 per cent to $1,238.50 an ounce on Thursday.   ....

Published at: 2017-07-20 00:00:07

New Zealand shares slipped on Thursday after the three major US indexes hit record highs as technology stocks surpassed the dot-com era record. The benchmark S&P/NZX 50 index fell 32.64 points, or 0.4 per cent, to 5,765 at 0211 GMT. The bourse was pulled into the red by material stocks, led by Fletcher Building.  Its shares fell as much as 8.8 per cent to its lowest in over a year after it said chief executive Mark Adamson was stepping down and it was cutting its earnings guidance for the second time in four months, according to Reuters. ....

Published at: 2017-07-20 00:00:07

Oil prices held steady on Thursday following solid gains the previous day when falling US fuel inventories lifted the market. However, Brent crude oil prices remain below the key $50 per barrel mark on concerns about high supplies from producer club OPEC despite a pledge to cut output in a bid to tighten the market. Brent crude futures LCOc1, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at $49.67 per barrel at 0132 GMT (2.32 am BST), just 3 cents below their last settlement. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures CLc1 were at $47.08 per barrel, 4 cents below their last close. Prices jumped nearly 2.0 per cent in the previous session on news of falling fuel stocks in the United States. US crude inventories USOILC=ECI fell by 4.7 million barrels in the week to July 14 to 490.6 million barrels C-STK-T-EIA. That compared with analyst expectations for a decrease of 3.2 million barrels. OPEC, together with some non-members like Russia, has pledged to cut production by 1.8 million barrels per day (bpd) between January this year and March 2018, according to Reuters.....

Published at: 2017-07-20 00:00:07

India will propose another road route from its state Meghalaya to its another state Bengal through Bangladesh.  Indian ministry of external affairs has sought the attention of Bangladesh to further the proposed plan to connect Mahendraganj in South West Garo Hills of Meghalaya to Hili Land Port -- Balurghat in Bengal through Goraghat, Palashbari and Gaibandha in Bangladesh, said a report by thenortheasttoday.com As per an official release issued by the Movement Committee for Corridor from Balurghat-Hili to Mahendraganj this week, an official communication has been initiated by the ministry of external affairs to the Bangladesh to examine the proposed route. Sanjay Jain from the ministry of external affairs in its letter dated June 30, 2017 informed the movement committee that they have conveyed the matter to external affairs mission in Dhaka to take up the matter with Bangladesh and examine the feasibility of the proposed route. The stretch from Mahendraganj via Bangladesh to Bengal will be about 100 km and boost trade and commerce between the two countries. Furthermore, the movement committee has called upon the people of Northeast to join the movement and mobilize public support to further its mission and vision and to strengthen the spirit of the movement. They have also asked the people to petition the Government of India to convince the latter to adopt all possible steps in order to open up the corridor from Mahendraganj (Meghalaya) on and through Bangladesh to Hili (Bengal) so as to fulfil people's long standing demands to which everybody's attention is drawn. The committee has also taken up the matter with Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee requesting them to take up the matter with the central leadership.....

Published at: 2017-07-19 00:00:08