Grameen fettered

Changes to ordinance give govt-appointed chairman almost absolute power to pick MD, Yunus’ income under scrutiny
The cabinet yesterday approved a proposal for amending an ordinance to give more powers to the Grameen Bank chairman to choose the managing director of the microlender.
The amendment to the Grameen Bank Ordinance 1983 will undermine the autonomy of the bank started by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus

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Autonomy curbed

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

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Yunus banks on youths

Says they will change politics
Prof Muhammad Yunus yesterday called for an alternative political stream in the country, saying politicians were failing to fulfil the aspirations of the people.
He said frustration over politics was deepening among the people. “People are not satisfied with the politicians. So, politics has to be pursued in new ways. Alternative political stream has

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Let poor prove their ability

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

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Another world order at play

A social business is a non-loss and non-dividend company where investors can recoup their dividend but nothing beyond that. All profits will be used to improve the products and services, and/or to increase the company’s reach.
Social business campaigners and experts from 15 countries joined Prof Muhammad Yunus in

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Social business will change society: Yunus

The second annual Social Business Day was observed on Tuesday in the capital to celebrate Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus’s concept of social business and its implementation.
Prof Yunus opened the daylong events held at Hotel Sonargaon marking the day.
Inaugurating the events, he elaborated the role of social business in the country towards

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Yunus worried about GB future

Tells The Daily Star it’s not wise to amend law to ensure govt control
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has warned that Grameen Bank could run into deep trouble if the government amends the law to take control of the microfinance bank founded by him.
“If those amendments [proposed by the review committee] come and the government penetrates the bank, it will not survive very long,” Prof Yunus said in an exclusive interview with

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Do not let go of GB ownership

Prof Yunus writes to members
Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus yesterday urged the 83 lakh members of Grameen Bank to remain vigilant against any attempts to take away the microfinance bank from the majority shareholders.
The caution came after his resignation as the bank’s managing director amid widespread speculation that his removal was part of a coordinated government ploy to take the full control of the

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Govt plans to overhaul GB

14-pt blueprint to raise govt stake in Grameen Bank
The government has planned to raise its stake in the Grameen Bank and establish control over its lucrative sister firms in a move that will transform the Nobel winning micro-lender into another state-owned bank.
The finance ministry has outlined the plan in a 14-point blueprint, which follows the controversial sacking of the Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus from the micro-lender he

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Prof Yunus resigns

Prof Muhammad Yunus has stepped down as the managing director of Grameen Bank in order to prevent undue disruption in the activities of the microfinance bank, the Nobel laureate confirmed yesterday.
“I am today [yesterday] relinquishing the post of managing director of Grameen Bank on the basis that the Deputy Managing Director Nurjahan Begum would hold charge until a managing director is

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Let Grameen Bank flourish further

Appeals Prof Yunus
Grameen Bank’s future is connected with 40 million borrowers, and it should be ensured that its achievements in the last four decades are not undone, Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus said in a statement yesterday.
“Now our challenge is to create the opportunity so that the second generation of Grameen Bank

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Prof Yunus to remain MD until decision by GB board

Prof Muhammad Yunus is still the managing director of Grameen Bank and will continue to be so until the bank’s board of directors appoints a new MD, said Rokanuddin Mahmud, a counsel for the Nobel laureate, yesterday.
Rokanuddin’s statement came a day after the Supreme Court (SC) affirmed a High Court verdict

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Achievements in 10 ‘unlawful’ yrs

When a person passes a decade in a position “unlawfully” and then is suddenly removed for that “unlawful” occupation, one tends to ask what he did and how his organisation fared during that passage of time. For Prof Muhammad Yunus and Grameen Bank in which he served as the managing director, those ten years were the golden time of phenomenal rise and glorious shine. Bangladesh also shone bright with

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Make Yunus chairman

Demand Grameen Bank staff
The board members and employees of Grameen Bank have urged the government to appoint Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus as the bank’s chairman.
Grameen Bank Karmachari Samity (employees’ association) made the call yesterday, hours after the Supreme Court refused Yunus’ petition to overturn an order that dismissed him from the

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Utilise Yunus’ experience in running GB

Suggest 3 economists
Three senior economists yesterday said the government should utilise the expertise of Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus in running Grameen Bank.
Akbar Ali Khan, formerfinance adviser to a caretaker government; Debapriya Bhattacharya, distinguished fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue; and former central bank governor

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SC dismisses Yunus petition

The Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed two petitions filed in connection with Dr Muhammad Yunus’ removal from the post of managing director at Grameen Bank.
The seven-member bench of the Appellate Division headed by Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque passed the order at about 10:20am

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

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’,

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Appoint Yunus as chairman

Grameen Bank employees urge govt
Employees of Grameen Bank yesterday urged the government to appoint Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus as chairman of the microfinance bank to ensure its smooth running.
“If Prof Yunus cannot be allowed to work as managing director for crossing retirement age, he should be appointed chairman,” said Md Shamsul Alam, president of Grameen Bank

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Yunus wants to see Grameen Bank unharmed

Nobel laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus on Wednesday said he want to see Grameen Bank remains unscathed in future.
The microcredit guru told this to the review committee on the issues relating to Grameen Bank while presenting his exit plan at a meeting at

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