It is with deep sadness that we let you know that the first female Mathematician and Academician Professor Rowshan Ara Rashid, mother of Mr Anir Choudhury, founder member and Governing Body member of D.Net is no longer with us (Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi raji'oon). She passed away in the morning on July 30, 2010 at the Square Hospital. She was suffering from bronchitis.
She spent most of the time of her life for achieving knowledge and in teaching. She started her professional life as Lecturer at Eden Collage in 1967 after completing her education in 1966. Then she successfully fulfilled her duty as Vice Principal, Responsible Principal and Principal in this college. She retired in 2002 from her loyal duty. Her body had laid to rest at Mirpur Intellectuals Graveyard after Asar prayer at 30th July.
May her soul rest in eternal peace, and may the healing effect of time help her family bear this misfortune with the grace that she always embodied.
D.Net and BIBM jointly organised a seminar on Access to Finance and Access to Information
D.Net (Development Research Network) and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) jointly organised a seminar on Access to Finance and Access to Information on 27 December, 2009 at the BIBM auditorium.
Dr Atiur Rahman, Governor, Bangladesh Bank and Chairman, BIBM Governing Board was attended the as seminar Chairman. Dr Bandana Saha, Director General, BIBM delivered the welcome speech. Dr Shah Md Ahsan Habib, Associate Professor and Director (Training) presented the key note titled Economics of Integrating Access to Finance and Access to Information: The Bangladesh Perspective.
Mr Khondker Ibrahim Khaled, Chairman, Bangladesh Krishi Bank; Dr Uttam Kumar Deb, Additional Director and Head of Research, Centre for Policy Dialogue and Dr Ananya Raihan, Executive Director, D.Net, also attended the seminar as Designated Discussants.
In the seminar, it was told that 80 per cent of the population lived in the rural areas of Bangladesh. Of them, a very small number had access to the formal financial system. It was suggested that a linkage of commercial banks and micro-finance institutions (MFIs) with "telecentres" could help the poor people to have access to the formal sector lending and contribute to economic growth.
The central bank governor has said, Bangladesh economy, supported by growth in exports and imports of capital machinery, now turns around from sluggishness. We have done well on various fronts. Exports have grown 12 percent during July-October of the current fiscal, while the latest trend shows the signs of a rise in capital machinery imports. It is due mainly to the outstanding ability of our young entrepreneurs to face challenges.
To reach out the benefits of economic growth to the majority of the population, the central bank chief said, a growth-supportive monetary policy will soon be announced for the first half of 2010. We want to help reach out the growth benefit to all
BB is set to launch a fully automated Credit Information Bureau (CIB) to facilitate banks and financial institution to ascertain a full credit exposure of borrowers, the governor informed the seminar. "This is now in a mature stage and hopefully will go live very soon. Banks will get credit related information directly from the CIB online information storage from mid-2010," he said. Referring to the issue of access to information and financial services, the governor said these two could be viewed as two sides of the coin. He said telecentres can play a role in gathering information about clients and channeling remittances to the recipients in rural areas timely and cost-effectively.
Echoing Rahman's view, the Krishi Bank chief said telecentres could be useful in rural areas in disseminating information about various financial products, as bank branches are inadequate at union parishad level. Taking part in the discussion, Kh. Ibrahim Khaled advised the policymakers of the telecom companies operating in the country to avert possible setback due to lack of ethical business practice.
Dr Raihan, Executive Director, D.Net said the commercial banks and MFIs could use the telecentres as their service agents and extended booths.
You can read more at http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=119540, http://www.theindependent-bd.com/details.php?nid=155662, http://www.thefinancialexpress-bd.com/2009/12/28/88066.html
