nobel laureate - Dhaka Mirror

It’s a black day

Admin — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:02:52 +0000

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Thursday termed the amendment to Grameen Bank Ordinance ‘a black day’ for the nation and said it would mark the beginning of the end of the glorious history of Greameen Bank.’
The founder of Grameen Bank made the remarks in a press statement within hours of the government
notifying the amended ordinance in its official Gazette.
The amendment empowers Grameen Bank chairman to take decisions ignoring the majority opinion of the bank’s board of directors.
Since Grameen Bank was founded three decades ago, its chairman took decisions reflecting the majority opinion of the 12-member board of directors.
The chairman is one of the three government nominees to the 12-member board.
Muhammad Yunus was relieved as the managing director of Grameen Bank last year by the government saying he was well past the retirement age of 60.
He was 70 last year.
The future of the bank has been vested in the chairman through the amendment, said Yunus.
The amendment would also abrogate the powers of borrowers who are actual owners of the bank to the chairman, he said.
From now onwards, he said, Grameen Bank would be run under direct and indirect influence of the government.
Muhammad Yunus expressed the hope that someday a government would consider it to be its first task to restore the powers of Grameen Bank’s borrowers who are mostly poor women.

-With New Age input

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Autonomy curbed

Admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:37:58 +0000

4 leading personalities censure govt move
Civil society leaders yesterday condemned the government move to curtail the autonomy of the Nobel winning Grameen Bank as an undemocratic decision that they believe would give negative signals to the world.
The cabinet approved of an amendment to the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983, which would reduce the power of GB board, giving more authority to the chairman to choose its new managing director.
“It is a move in the wrong direction and is unlikely to help preserve the autonomy and integrity of Grameen Bank,” said Prof Wahiduddin Mahmud, a noted economist.
The success of the microcredit organisation came mostly because of its unique institutional structure, he said, adding the bank is created and empowered by a government statute and yet its management and board can function autonomously within its statutory provisions.
The government should ensure that those statutory provisions are not violated, the economist said. He, however, said he believed the proposed changes were aimed at concentrating power at the government-appointed chairman to an extent that is beyond the norm of any corporate culture.
The move would most likely change the basic character of the institution, undermining the authority of the board in which over eight million members have majority representation, said Prof Mahmud.
The government has become hostile towards Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus, civil society members said, referring to the cabinet’s order to the finance ministry to carry out an investigation into the facilities he had taken as managing director of the GB since he had passed the retirement age of 60 until his resignation in May last year.
The GB members should have given the authority to run their organisation, said Akbar Ali Khan, a former adviser to caretaker government. Nearly 97 percent shares of GB are owned by its members.
Akbar described the government move as “nationalisation of GB” that would hamper the interests of the members.
Also a former cabinet and finance secretary, Akbar said the cabinet rarely dealt with such issues.
“The country’s impression outside the world will seriously be affected,” he noted.
Hafizuddin Khan, another former adviser of caretaker government, said the government’s move to take control over the GB board was motivated.
“The board should enjoy the authority to run the Nobel winning microcredit organisation,” he said.
Hafizuddin, a member of the Trustee Board of Transparency International Bangladesh, also criticised the government’s decision to probe the issues involving Prof Yunus during his extended period in the bank.
“It is to harass him [Yunus],” he said, giving an opinion similar to that of Akbar Ali Khan that those issues were not supposed to be discussed at the cabinet meeting.
With the latest move, the government proved that it wants full control over GB, said Hossain Zillur Rahman, executive chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre.
Zillur, another former adviser of caretaker government, said the government had claimed that GB was a state-owned organisation, but its move to take control of it proved that their previous argument was wrong.
The government speak of public-private partnership, but its decision about GB and Prof Yunus would discourage the private sector to work with it.
“It will create a crisis of trust in future economic initiatives in partnership with the government. It is setting a bad precedent in economic partnership in Bangladesh,” Zillur said.
He said he hoped the government would have second thoughts before implementing its decision.

Courtesy of The Daily Star

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Save the bank

Admin — Thu, 02 Aug 2012 20:35:25 +0000

Appeals shocked Nobel hero
Shocked. Speechless.
This is what Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus said after the government empowered the Grameen Bank chairman in choosing a managing director for the microlender.
Here is the statement of the Grameen Bank founder:
“I had always expressed this apprehension. Now my apprehension has started to translate into a reality. I am extremely sorry that we could not be successful in forestalling this process. I am very disheartened to see that the poor is being deprived of the ownership of the bank they run and of the power to exercise their ownership.”
“I am so dejected that I have become unable to express my feelings. I am requesting the people of Bangladesh who are feeling dejected like me to tell the government that a big mistake is being done and the government should abstain itself from doing it.”
“This government decision will destroy the bank of the poor and the country’s bank of pride. I request the countrymen to come forward to protect the property of the poor and the country. I also request the poor owners of Grameen Bank to urge the government and their fellow countrymen so that they do not curb their rights to exercise ownership.”

Courtesy of The Daily Star

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I’m fearful of its future

Admin — Thu, 31 May 2012 04:12:34 +0000

Grameen Bank
I’m fearful of its future
Says Yunus in an open letter
Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday urged stakeholders and the government not to take any step to change the legal structure of the Nobel-winning Grameen Bank.
In an open letter to the borrower owners of Grameen Bank, Yunus expressed his fear that steps are afoot to alter the management system of the bank.
The government on May 16 formed a four-member commission to probe Grameen Bank and its 54 associated organisations, and make recommendations on how to run the organisations in future.
“I can see clearly that the future of Grameen Bank will be at stake if the government increases its role in the bank’s management by amending the legal structure,” Yunus said in the 24-page letter.
The terms of reference, given to the commission, raise fears that Grameen Bank will never be the same again, according to Prof Yunus.
The commission has been assigned to identify institutional strengths, weaknesses and constraints of Grameen Bank over a period of 27 years from its inception in 1983 to 2010.
Yunus, who won along with the Grameen Bank the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his work making small loans to poor entrepreneurs, said poor women were the real owners of Grameen Bank and they had the supreme authority to make decisions on the bank.
“To take away the decision-making power from the poor women and their ownership would derail Grameen Bank from its mission,” said the founder of the bank.
Any step to change the current structure of Grameen Bank will turn the bank into another government run or directed bank which will destroy the unique nature and character of Grameen Bank, said Yunus.
The Nobel laureate stressed the need for keeping up the current law, management structure and work policy through which Grameen Bank has become one of the world-renowned organisations.
“Grameen Bank is a disciplined bank. If it becomes a government organisation, different conflicts and vested interests may infiltrate into the bank including politicisation and bureaucratisation,” Yunus said.
He has questioned how it would be possible for the commission to complete its huge task with its inadequate manpower in just three months.
“If the commission gives wrong advice due to time-constraint and lack of experience in the field of micro-credit, the consequences might be terrible for the poor Bangladeshi women, who own 97 percent of the bank,” he said.
“This type of task is usually given to the best researchers of the best research organisations as a long-term project. To prepare the inquiry report, it is necessary to confer with people who have set up and managed such organisations. It is also necessary to talk to such organisations and those who are familiar with its operation.”
About the other organisations, Yunus said, Grameen Bank did not establish any organisation itself as the law does not permit the bank to do so.
Yunus said he created many organisations with his own initiative to address problems surrounding education, agriculture, communication, electricity and health.
“There are reasons behind the creation of these organisations. When we go to work with poor people we have to face many problems besides loans,” said Yunus.
“When I faced problems, I created a company as a way to solve it. I got such a mechanism in place so that they can operate from their own earnings and without counting on others. In that way, if any company fails it will not take others down with it,” he said.
These companies have not been created for anyone to earn profit from them. There is no scope of making personal profit from these organisations, he said.
“I have no share or ownership in Grameen or any of these companies. I have no share in Grameen Bank. So there was no scope for me to get profit from these companies, neither before nor now.”
Yunus said there should be a national consensus about Grameen Bank as it is an organisation of national pride.
“Regardless of your political affiliation or profession or age or any other circumstance you may find yourself in, we can make an effort together as citizens of Bangladesh to convince the government that changing the legal structure of Grameen Bank would most definitely be a wrong decision,” he said.

-With The Daily Star input

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No Yunus

Admin — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:48:10 +0000

Muhith rules out Nobel hero-led search committee for Grameen Bank MD
The government yesterday dismissed the proposition of making Prof Muhammad Yunus the head of a committee to find the managing director for Grameen Bank.
“Some members [of the Grameen Bank board] proposed appointment of Dr Yunus as the chairman of the search committee. But we cannot accept this as a previous MD should not have any role in selecting his successor,” said Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
He was talking to journalists at his secretariat office after a meeting with US Ambassador Dan W Mozena.
The post of the MD fell vacant after Prof Yunus, who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize along with Grameen Bank, was unceremoniously relieved of his duties at the microfinance institution in March last year. In May, he stepped down from the post in order to avert disruption in the Grameen Bank activities.
Mohammad Shahjahan is now serving as the acting MD of the bank.
“Delay has already been made regarding the appointment issue. There has been an election to the Grameen Bank board and it will now nominate the search committee,” said the finance minister.
The United States had been showing interest in Grameen Bank for long, particularly on the issue of appointing its MD, said Muhith.
“Prof Yunus is a famous name. He has done a lot of things in America and won a number of awards there. The US wants a good search committee and an amicable settlement of the appointment issue,” he said.
Muhith claimed he had tried to settle the issue amicably from the very beginning but Prof Yunus did not give the government the opportunity. “If he gives us the chance now it can be done in a satisfactory manner.”
Emerging from the meeting with the finance minister, US Ambassador Mozena said the Grameen Bank issue was on the US-Bangladesh agenda. “I am encouraged that all parties want a strong effective Grameen Bank.”
“I am very encouraged that a way will be found to make sure that Grameen Bank will be strong and will continue to bring hope to over eight million of the most vulnerable people in Bangladesh, almost all women, not entirely but almost all women,” he said.

-With The Daily Star input

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Yunus among 12 greatest entrepreneurs

Admin — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 16:46:54 +0000

Fortune Magazine’s List
Yunus among 12 greatest entrepreneurs
Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus has been named by Fortune magazine as one of the 12 Greatest Entrepreneurs of Our Time.
This list published in the magazine’s latest issue places Prof Yunus among the band of highly exclusive individuals, all of whom are known throughout the world for their innovation, vision and ability to get things done.
“His desire to do something to help the local citizens led to a simple but powerful gesture: Yunus loaned $27 to destitute basket weavers in a village next to his university’s campus,” the magazine says.
“He could not believe the excitement the small amount of money caused. For people living on pennies a day, just a few dollars could transform their lives — and in many cases it did. The gift was used to support and expand these very small businesses, and that helped many overcome their poverty.
“Much to Yunus’ surprise, the basket weavers actually paid off the loans — and on time too. He then moved from one village to the next, finding all sorts of entrepreneurial projects to fund,” Fortune says.
While the bank could not eradicate poverty, it lifted many lives, the magazine adds.
“No less critical, Yunus’ idea inspired countless numbers of young people to devote themselves to social causes all over the world.”
The Fortune places the 12 individuals in the following order:
1) Steve Jobs of Apple, 2) Bill Gates of Microsoft, 3) Fred Smith of FedEx, 4) Jeff Bezos of Amazon, 5) Larry Page and Sergey Brin of Google, 6) Howard Schultz of Starbucks, 7) Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, 8) John Mackey of Whole Foods, 9) Herb Kelleher of SouthWest Airlines, 10) Narayana Murthy of Infosys, 11) Sam Walton of Wal-mart Stores, 12) Muhammad Yunus of Grameen Bank.
Ten of these entrepreneurs are American and one is an Indian.
The list was prepared considering economic and social impact, world changing vision of the entrepreneurs, ability of the entrepreneurs to inspire and motivate their employees, their record of innovation and their actual results, Yunus Centre said in a statement yesterday.
The companies that they have created have benefited hundreds and thousands of people and other businesses, while creating employment for millions of people, according to the statement.
Prof Yunus was chosen by Wharton School of Business for PBS documentary, as one of the 25 Most Influential Business Persons of the Past 25 Years.
In 2006, Time magazine listed him under 60 Years of Asian Heroes as one of the top 12 business leaders.
In 2008, in an open online poll, Yunus was voted the second topmost intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by Prospect Magazine of the UK and Foreign Policy of the United States.
He was also voted second in Prospect Magazine’s 2008 global poll of the world’s Top 100 Intellectuals.
The news has enthralled leading economists and businessmen.
Former caretaker government adviser Hossain Zillur Rahman said his inclusion in the top 12 is a recognition of his philosophy and social responsibility.
“We are very proud of his achievement in two senses; first, he has been recognised as a Bangalee and secondly, he is a great role model for us,” he told The Daily Star.
Besides, the honour would uphold the image of the country, maintained Zillur. “We have many problems and weaknesses. It is an example of how creative thinking can take an individual to a new height amid many problems.”
Syed Nasim Manzur, a leading entrepreneur, said, “Of course, it is a great inspiration for us. It is a great thing that Fortune magazine has honoured a Bangladeshi and a social entrepreneur.”
He said the Banker to the Poor has shown that business can have a conscience. “Business does not mean that it should ignore society’s welfare to be successful. Dr Yunus is an example for this.”
“It will inspire us to do business with a social conscience and become successful,” said Manzur, managing director of Apex Adelchi Footwear Ltd, one of the top footwear brands of the country.
Annisul Huq, a former president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said Prof Yunus had really established some good institutions. “There is no doubt about his entrepreneurial credibility.”

-With The Daily Star input

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Yunus unwilling to be WB chief

Admin — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 17:42:05 +0000

Thanks PM for proposal; says he would rather head ‘World Social Business Bank’ in future
Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus has said he is not interested in taking the helm of the World Bank, as he wants to dedicate his life to social business.
In a statement issued yesterday, he, however, thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for proposing his name for the WB presidency. He described the proposal as “an unexpected good news”.
The microcredit pioneer also said the prime minister’s proposal and description of his qualifications for the job made clear that the impressions she previously had about him and Grameen Bank no longer existed.
Earlier on February 22, Hasina requested the visiting European Parliament delegation that the EU put forward Yunus’s name for the top position at the Washington-based anti-poverty lender.
Robert Zoellick, the incumbent president of the World Bank, will step down at the end of his five-year term on June 30.
In his statement, Yunus said that he had been a regular critic of the World Bank for its policies and programmes. His criticism also included the fact that this bank’s top position is always reserved for an American citizen. “But I never had any interest in stepping out of the work that I have dedicated my life to, to take up the highest responsibility of the World Bank.”
The Grameen Bank founder said that in 1995, the then US president Bill Clinton had requested him to be the WB president, but he declined the offer, saying he would rather like to concentrate on his own work.
Yunus also mentioned that in 2005, the then prime minister Khaleda Zia had wanted to propose his name as secretary general of the United Nations. When her office approached him for his consent, he conveyed his thanks to the prime minister and said he should instead be allowed to continue with his work.
In the statement yesterday, Yunus expressed hope there would be a “World Social Business Bank” sometime soon, and if requested, he would take the presidency of that bank with great pleasure no matter what his age might be then.
Below is the full text of Prof Yunus’s statement:
MY SINCERE THANKS TO THE HONOURABLE PRIME MINISTER
On February 22, 2012, Honourable Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made a very important proposal about me to the visiting European Union’s parliamentary delegation. She proposed that the EU should put forward my name as a candidate to become the next President of the World Bank. She also presented a strong statement regarding my competence for this job to the EU delegation. Since then, there has been a lot of animated discussion about this proposal in the media.
This proposal was an unexpected good news for me. I would like to sincerely thank the Honourable Prime Minister for the kind gesture that she has shown by requesting to propose my name for the top job in such a prestigious and influential global institution.
Another special reason for me to be happy on hearing this good news is that this proposal itself, and the generous list of my qualifications for the job that the Honourable Prime Minister presented to the delegation, make clear that the impressions she previously had about me and Grameen Bank no longer exist. Now I am hopeful that the government’s policy towards the Grameen Bank and me will be in line with the Prime Minister’s latest position. This will remove a huge burden of pain and worry from me, also from many others in the country.
When the Honourable Prime Minister’s proposal was published in the media, many came forward expressing their strong support for the proposal. Honourable US Ambassador assured that the US Government would give special consideration to such a proposal, if I agree to be considered for the position. I would like to thank the US Ambassador and all others who supported the proposal, for their confidence in me.
I never thought of taking up the top job of the World Bank or any other such multi-lateral institutions. I have been a regular critic of the World Bank for its policies and programs. My criticism also included the fact that this Bank’s highest post is always reserved for an American citizen. But I never had any interest in stepping out of the work that I have dedicated my life to, to take up the highest responsibility of the World Bank.
In the past I found myself at the centre of a similar discussion about WB top job. In 1995, President Bill Clinton had invited me to the Oval Office. Among other issues, he discussed the role of the World Bank and asked for my advice. Then he said that a new president was to be appointed for World Bank and asked whether I had any interest in this. I earnestly requested him to allow me to concentrate on my own work. Later, I gave a description in my autobiography “Banker to the Poor” of an interesting interview with an irritated American journalist, after my name was mentioned in the press as a possible World Bank president.
I was asked by the journalist, what steps would I take after becoming President of the World Bank. Sensing his negative feeling about the proposal, I told the journalist that my first step would be to move the headquarters of The World Bank from Washington D. C. to Dhaka, Bangladesh. The journalist was shocked at my response.
President Clinton appointed James D. Wolfensohn as the President of the World Bank. Mr. Wolfensohn probably was not aware of the conversation I had with President Clinton. After taking up his position at the World Bank, Mr. Wolfensohn offered the second highest job in the World Bank, the position of one of the Managing Directors at the Bank. I could not accept it either, for the same reason.
In late 2005, the then Prime Minister, Khaleda Zia decided to nominate me for the position of the Secretary General of The United Nations. I was approached for my consent. According to the UN convention, this post was to go to an Asian in the coming term. A few European and Asian countries were encouraging me to get interested in the position. When approached for my consent by the office of the Prime Minister, I conveyed my thanks to the Honourable Prime Minister for her kindness in wanting to nominate me for this post and requested her to let me continue with my work. The Prime Minister’s office followed up with the request a number of times on this matter. But I could not change my mind.Those who are feeling encouraged by the present proposal from the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, may become disappointed with me that I am not giving importance to such a big opportunity for the country. I am requesting them to consider my situation and have sympathy for my position.
All my life, I have dedicated myself to do things in my own way, and do things which I thought important for me to do. Making the world aware of the potential of social business, the successful implementation of social business, making the next generation across the globe optimistic about the future of humanity and encouraging them to take the leadership in creating a new, and better world, is the work that I am involved in. I want to remain completely focused to these tasks. I hope some time soon, there will be a “World Social Business Bank” and this bank will have an important role in solving the fundamental economic, social and environmental problems faced by the world today. When this bank is created, if someone requests me to take the Presidency of the bank, I’ll accept that responsibility with great pleasure, no matter what my age will be at that point of time.

-With The Daily Star input

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Let poor prove their ability

Admin — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 12:42:52 +0000

Prof Yunus tells Vienna Social Business Summit
Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday said the poor people of Bangladesh were like Bonsai, who have been stunted by oppression. But they have the ability to grow if they are given the opportunity.
He was addressing the concluding session of the third Global Social Business Summit, hosted by Germany-based Grameen Creative Lab at the Congress Centre in the capital of Austria.
Prof Yunus said the government’s job in a country is like that of the conductor of an orchestra. It will not play all the instruments alone, rather it will work with all.
But the governments in many countries are not following this. Instead, they are creating obstacles.
The government needs to decide what to do and what not to in ensuring that the orchestra plays well and produces great music, he added.
Over 800 representatives, including ministers from different countries, joined the conference.
Laszlo Andor, the European Union’s commissioner for employment, social affairs and inclusion, said the EU has included social business in its activities. It has also officially accepted the social business initiative and social responsibility.
At the event, it was announced that the EU would hold a conference on social business on Friday in Brussels.
Prof Yunus will deliver the keynote address at the conference. British Prime Minister David Cameron, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, Greek Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and World Bank President Robert Zoellick will also attend the meeting.

-With The Daily Star input

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Yunus meets Hillary Clinton

Admin — Sun, 14 Aug 2011 10:58:43 +0000

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus met the US secretary of state, Hillary Rodham Clinton, at her office in the state department on Thursday.
They discussed a broad range of issues relating to microcredit and social business as tools to fight poverty, and other issues relating to women and global justice, according to a message from Yunus Centre.
Yunus is in Washington to address a convention of US and international NGOs organised by InterAction, an umbrella organisation of more than 180 US NGOs.
This convention was attended by 1,000 guests including more than 350 professionals from the international NGOs, government, business and philanthropic sectors.
The US secretary of state was pleased to hear about the progress of Grameen America, which now has four branches in NYC, one branch in Omaha, Nebraska, one branch about to be launched in Indianapolis, in spreading microfinance programmes in the USA, and the expansion of social business activities around the world.
Yunus invited Hillary Clinton to attend the Global Social Business Summit to be held in Vienna, Austria which will take place on November 10-12 this year, as well as the Global Microcredit Summit in Valladolid, Spain from November 14-17.

-With UNB/New Age input

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Yunus’s lawyers call HC order ‘perverse’, ‘biased’

Admin — Mon, 02 May 2011 23:39:12 +0000

Lawyers acting for Mohammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank, argued on Monday before the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court that the High Court order, which had ‘summarily dismissed’ their application challenging the legality of Bangladesh
Bank’s attempt to remove their client from his post of managing director, was ‘perverse’, ‘biased’ and a ‘gross error of the judicial process’.
Attorney-general Mahbubey Alam and Bangladesh Bank’s lawyer Tawfique Nawaz will respond to the arguments today (Tuesday).
On 2 March the Bangladesh Bank sent a letter to the chairman of the Grameen Bank, informing him that Mohammed Yunus should have retired from his position of managing director when he reached the age of 60 and should now be removed.
The application, lodged the following day by Yunus’s lawyers at the High Court, was ‘summarily dismissed’ on 9 March, with the court ruling that ‘he has no legal right or even no locus standi to challenge the impugned orders’.
Dr Kamal Hossain argued before the seven-judge bench that the failure of the High Court to ‘issue a rule’, allowing a full hearing of the facts, was a ‘denial of access to justice’ for the country’s only Nobel Laureate as well as a ‘breach of established principles of due process set out in Article 31 of the Constitution’.
Article 31 specifies the right of citizens to ‘enjoy the protection of the law, and to be treated in accordance with the law’.
Kamal argued that the country’s ‘constitutional jurisprudence calls for issuance of a rule where there are prime facie grounds’ that show that the impugned orders are without lawful authority.
He went on to argue that the ruling of the High Court that Yunus had no right to seek a remedy from the court revealed ‘a lack of impartiality on the part of the judges’ as the petitioner was ‘unquestionably a person aggrieved’.
Mahmudul Islam, who addressed the court next on behalf of Yunus, started by arguing that the High Court judgment ‘turned the principles of natural justice upside down’.
‘The High Court order says that there is no necessity of giving him notice as the petitioner was not prejudiced. I will show that the principle of natural justice is just the reverse,’ he told the court.
He said that if the court does not reverse this decision, it will ‘give a wrong signal’.
‘One of the reasons to give leave is to correct inaccuracies in law. If it is left [as it is] it will create confusion. You must give leave to appeal if only to correct this gross error,’ Mahmudul told the judges.
He argued that the High Court’s description of the petitioner as ‘a squatter, a usurper, a trespasser’ showed ‘a bias’ in the High Court.
‘He was lawfully appointed. These three words cannot be used in relation to this man,’ he said.
Mahmudul then argued that the 1993 staff regulations, which required all ‘workers’ to retire at the age of 60, did not apply to Yunus.
He contended that the person who held the post of managing director could not be considered a ‘worker’ in the context of these regulations, as the regulations defined the term ‘managing director’ separately and also said that the managing director ‘appointed the workers’.
‘How can the managing director be a worker if he also appointed the workers,’ Mahmudul asked the court.
Rokannuddin Mahmud, the petitioner’s third lawyer, focused his arguments on how the Bangladesh Bank had not only ‘given consent by implication and conduct’ to Yunus continuing in office as managing director for the last ten years, but also ‘by express consent’.
He read out extracts of the Bangladesh Bank’s audit of Grameen Bank conducted in 2001, along with the minutes of subsequent meetings held between the officials of the two banks and stated that these showed that the initial objection of Bangladesh Bank’s officials had been resolved.
On 6 April the Appellate Division dismissed the application for an appeal against the High Court order filed by Yunus’s lawyers, but later that day agreed to consider an application by the same lawyers ‘recalling’ the unsigned order on the basis that the ruling was made before they were able to present all their arguments.
The court gave no ruling on whether it had recalled the order, but allowed the petitioners to present their additional arguments for four hours.

Courtesy of New Age

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