Haque Specialized Group's News

Bangladesh Bank (BB) is likely to fix a deadline for banks to take 'compliance measures' to prevent fraudulence as the incidents of credit card forgery are on the rise. According to a UNB story, reports are there that the swindling of both credit and debit cards is growing these days across the country in connivance with even the international gangsters. Banking industry insiders say such crime is taking place due to weak and very old systems of the banks, which could easily be broken using advanced technology. They say whenever such fraudulence takes place, banks do not want to make it public considering their reputation, and secretly compensate the victims. But a study of the Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) shows that the most frequent type of fraudulent activities resulting from a cyber intrusion reported by banks was ATM/point-of-sale schemes (23 per cent). The BBIM study found that 30 per cent banks have Online Payment Gateway Service for e-commerce payment processing. As of December 31 last year, 928 online shop owners and merchants were selling products using the banks' payment gateways. Admitting the credit and debit card-related crimes, BB Executive Director Subhankar Saha said the central bank receives many complaints about credit card-related crimes. "We're now scrutinising the cases of the credit card fraudulence. On completion of our assessment and investigation, we'll ask the banks to take adequate cyber security measures, and set a deadline for them to comply with the instructions," he told the news agency. Mr Subhankar, who is also the BB's spokesman, said after last year's incidents of debit card forgery at the ATM booths, the central bank issued a series of instructions, including installation of anti-skimming devices at the booths, to check any fraudulence. "We think the anti-skimming devices have so far been installed at 90 per cent of the ATM booths, and the remaining ones will see the devices installed shortly," he said. About the introduction of chip-based credit cards, the BB spokesman, however, said the banks have started the task to this end as per instructions of the central bank. "But, it'll take some time to replace the current magnetic-stripped credit cards with the chip-based ones." At present, the banks are issuing magnetic-stripped credit cards whose information can easily be copied at the point-of-sales (POS) terminals at a merchant bank's outlet. There are, however, over 30,000 POS terminals, calculator-like devices used for swiping cards, in the country. After copying the information, the criminals can make cloned cards and use them to take out money from the ATM booths. The BIBM survey reveals that 67 per cent of ATMs have anti-skimming devices and 52 per cent cards are compliant with Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV). Such EMV-compliant card is a global standard for inter-operation of integrated chip cards, which are used at POS terminals and ATMs for authenticating credit and debit card transactions. But if such EMV-compliant card is used at a non-compliant ATM, the cardholder could be vulnerable to identity theft, said the BIBM study.....

Published at: 2017-08-20 05:00:04

At least 23 people were killed and more than 60 injured when a train derailed in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Police said that at least eight carriages jumped the tracks near Muzaffarnagar, about 130km (80 miles) north of the capital Delhi. The cause of the crash, which happened on Saturday evening, is not yet clear. Rescuers worked into the night to find survivors. TV footage showed carriages piled on top of one another. The train had been travelling to the Hindu holy city of Haridwar, in the foothills of the Himalayas, from Puri, in eastern Odisha state. "We are struggling to pull out the injured and are waiting for gas cutters to arrive," said police officer Ajay Pandey at the scene.  "It's too dark to launch a fully fledged search operation but our teams are trying their best." Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences to families of the victims and pledged all possible assistance.  Train accidents are fairly common in India. The railway system carries more than 22 million passengers a day and much of the equipment is out of date. An accident in Uttar Pradesh last November killed 150 people and another in the same state a year before killed 39.   ....

Published at: 2017-08-20 05:00:04

Iraqi ground forces have begun an operation to retake Tal Afar, one of the last cities in the country held by the Islamic State group, officials say. In a televised speech announcing the offensive overnight, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said the jihadists had the choice between "surrender or die". The army targeted Tal Afar after seizing Mosul, IS's main stronghold 55km (35 miles) to the east, in July. Tal Afar, which has a mainly Shia-Muslim population, fell to IS in 2014. It sits on a major road between Mosul and the Syrian border that was once a key supply route for the jihadist group. Iraqi warplanes have bombarded IS positions in the city for several days, in preparation for ground operations. On Sunday Mr Abadi, dressed in a black military uniform and standing in front of an Iraqi flag and a map of the country, announced the "start of an operation to free Tal Afar". "I am saying to Daesh [the Islamic State group] that there is no choice other than to surrender or die," he said. He finished his speech with an address to Iraqi troops: "The whole world is with you." Hours before Mr Abadi's statement, the Iraqi air force dropped leaflets over the city warning people to "prepare" for the latest assault. "The battle is imminent and the victory is coming, God willing," the leaflets read. Correspondents say Iraqi forces are expecting fierce resistance from IS despite the group being weakened by recent aerial bombardments and a lack of fresh supplies. Last month, a senior Iraqi commander who once served as mayor of Tal Afar said there were between 1,500 and 2,000 militants and their family members left in the town. Maj-Gen Najm al-Jabouri told Reuters news agency the jihadists were "worn out and demoralised" and that he did not expect a fierce battle for the town like the one for Mosul, which lasted almost nine months and took a heavy toll on Iraqi forces. He also noted that only one part of the town had narrow streets comparable to those in Mosul's Old City. Few civilians are believed to be left in Tal Afar, with 49,000 having fled since April. Beside Tal Afar, IS controls territory around Hawija, 170km (105 miles) to the south-east; and from Ana to Al-Qaim in the Euphrates river valley, 220km to the south. ....

Published at: 2017-08-20 05:00:04

Two motorcyclists were killed in a road accident at Mail Bus Stand in Dupchanchia upazila of Bogra district on Saturday evening. The deceased were identified as Rabbani, 32, son of Sakhawat Hossain of Bhangapara village, and Rocky, 30, son of Biradan Islam, hailing from Hapunia village, reports UNB. Police said Rabbani and Rocky were going to Dhupchanchia from Bogra riding on a motorcycle. When they reached Mail Bus Stand area, a covered van knocked down the motorcycle from backside around 7:30 pm, leaving the driver of the two-wheeler Rabbani and its pillion rider Rocky injured, said officer-in-charge of Dhupchanchia Police Station Abdur Razzak. Later, they were taken to Dhupchanchia Upazila Health Complex where doctors declared them dead, said the OC.....

Published at: 2017-08-20 05:00:04

Stocks witnessed moderate correction in the shortened week that ended Thursday, snapping a three-week winning streak, as risk-averse investors opted for booking profits on sector-wise issues. Dealers said investors mostly preferred to pocket profit on sector-specific stocks that saw significant gain in the past few weeks, taking the core index below 5,900-mark. "The retail investors sold shares to bag profit, especially from non-bank financial institutions, engineering, pharmaceuticals, banks and food & allied sectors, which contributed to fall of indices," said an analyst at a leading brokerage firm. The week witnessed only three trading sessions instead of five as the market remained closed on Monday and Tuesday due to public holidays on the occasion of Janmashtami and National Mourning Day respectively. Of them first session closed higher while last two faced correction. Week-on-week, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), which replaced the DGEN in four-and-a-half-year back, went down by 40.69 points or 0.69 per cent to settle at 5,861. "This correction was triggered by slow participation and pursuance of profit booking by the investors, made some selling pressure on market," commented City Bank Capital Resources, a merchant bank. Two other indices also faced major correction. The DS30 index and the DSE fell 16.62 points or 0.78 per cent to settle at 2,109. The Shariah Index (DSES) lost 10.36 points or 0.79 per cent to finish at 1,304. The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE), also finished lower with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, losing 61 points or 0.54 per cent to settle at 11,002. The bearish sentiment also reflected on turnover activity. The total turnover for the week stood at Tk 24.46 billion, registering a decline of 50 per cent on premier bourse against Tk 48.79 billion in the week before, as last week saw only three trading sessions.  The daily turnover averaged at Tk 8.15 billion, which was more than 16 per cent lower than the previous week's average of Tk 9.75 billion. Block trade contributed 0.70 per cent to the total weekly turnover where stocks like Desh Garments, GP, City Bank, Salvo Chemical and BATBC dominated the block trade board. The heavyweight bank sector kept its dominance in the turnover chart, grabbing 30 per cent of the week's total turnover, followed by engineering with 14 per cent and textile 11 per cent. International Leasing Securities, a stockbroker, said, "Stocks slipped into the red, snapping a three-week winning streak amid choppy trading throughout the week as the cautious investors went on selling spree". The stockbroker noted that the market faced mild correction in the week as the investors preferred to book quick-gain on their investment over the recent price surge while others were busy to rebalance their portfolios. "The news of extending the share transactions from investors' accounts which were suffering with negative equity burden since the market crash in 2010-11 for another 16 months couldn't attract the investors to remain buoyant on the trading floor," said the stockbroker.   Rather, quick profit booking tendency of the investors pushed down the benchmark index to below 5,900 points mark after hitting its record high in the week before, the stockbroker said. The total market cap of the DSE also inched down by 0.07 per cent last week as it was Tk 3,973 billion on the opening day of the week, while it reached to Tk 3,970 billion on closing day of the week. Most of the major sectors posted negative return. The non-bank financial institutions witnessed the highest correction of 0.82 per cent, followed by engineering with 0.64 per cent, pharmaceuticals 0.61 per cent, banks 0.11 per cent and food & allied 0.09 per cent. Telecommunication posted the highest gain of 2.87 per cent, followed by fuel & power with 0.05 per cent. Most of the securities traded on the week down on the premier bourse. Of the 334 traded issues, 230 declined, 90 advanced and 14 remained unchanged. The newly listed BBS Cables topped the week's turnover chart with shares of Tk 1.40 billion changing hands, closely followed by IFIC Bank with Tk 838 million, Uttara Bank Tk 733 million, IFAD Autos Tk 719 million and C&A Textiles Tk 562 million. BBS Cables was also the week's highest gainer, posting 19.45 per cent gain, while Sunlife Insurance was the worst loser, losing 12.45 per cent. babulfexpress@gmail.com....

Published at: 2017-08-19 05:00:04