The New Nation - Internet Edition

A.T.M.Nurun Nabi

It is now being said that the country has suffered an economic losses of taka 1.8 billion (12,000 crore) in the 11/15 hurricane and it will take a long time to rebuild the devastated infrastructure. The concerned ministry has given a statistics as saying that the crops of 4,61,819 acres of land were damaged fully while that of 13,27,399 acres of land partially, from which it reveals that the food output will sure be short of target by about 12 lakh metric tonnes. Earlier the country's northern districts experienced back-to-back floods in August and since then the country has been bearing the burden of huge losses. In that floods, crops of about 11 lakh hectares of land were either fully or partially damaged. Thus in two natural calamities within a span of four months will verily slow down the economic progress.

Those who died in the hurricane are beyond all necessities but those who survived need immediate food assistance and pure drinking water before a third calamity stalks at the door. If it is taken that at least five lakh people out of two million are badly in need of food and water, it is really a gigantic task on the part of the government to supply. To tackle the worsening situation, the co-operation of all the political parties and the socio-cultural organisations and the business community is must. It is wrong to insist on withdrawal of emergency because humanitarian assistance has no link to it. Gesture and good will can save lives of thousands of hungry people. The Prophet Muhammad (SM) said: Feed the hunger, release the (innocent) prisoners and attend the sick. The order is applicable to both the governor and the governed, particularly the rich.

So, none should attach pre-condition to stand by the hunger and the homeless.

Meanwhile, the government has announced an amount of taka 130 crore will be disbursed to the fishermen, the farmers and the micro-businessmen as loan. But this is not enough. The loan amount must reach the genuine hands, and not to the fake ones. It is not yet known whether the loan so announced would be disbursed against equitable mortgage or on easier terms.

In this regard, there is a suggestion from experts that the marginal and the sharecroppers who have no land, the government should ensure availability of loan by them, otherwise both the agricultural output and the fish production will be hampered. In default, if they take loan from the moneylenders on high rate of interest, a very little portion of the products will be theirs after repayment of loan amount.

Grameenphone Ltd. has signed an agreement with The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) recently to provide complete communication facilities under its Business Solutions package to the members of DCC!.

GP Business Solutions is an integrated telecommunications service specially designed for the business entities of Bangladesh, providing customized telecommunications solutions through a consultative approach, tailored to the needs of individual businesses or organization.

DCCI, the voice of the business community, serves as the first point of business contact and a vibrant platform, putting forward research based opinions, suggestions and recommendations in the sphere of trade, commerce and the overall economy, professional education, and CSR activities.

The agreement was signed by Hossain Khaled, President of DCCI, and Anders Jensen, CEO of Grameenphone, on behalf of their respective organizations.

M. Shahjahan Khan, Sr. Vice President; Alhaj Alauddin Malik, Vice President and Directors of DCCI M A Momen, Zafar Osman, Syed Moazzam Hossain, Asif Ibrahim, M S Shekil Chowdhury and AKM Nawsherul Alam, Secretary DCCI were present on the occasion from DCCI. Kafil H.S. Muyeed, Director, New Business; Rubaba Dowla Matin, Deputy Director, Commercial Division; Laszlo Barta, Head of Sales; and Rahat Khan, Manager, Direct Sales of Grameenphone, were also present at the signing ceremony.

GP Business Solutions, comprising of modern mobile telecommunications services for any business, needs, provides voice, text messaging and mobile data and internet services.

Also an offer is a complete Mobile-Office solution, including mobile email, mobile high-speed data access, internet access, mobile fax and more, providing the freedom to work from anywhere within Grameenphone's wide network coverage.

According to the agreement, DCCI is being provided complete communications solutions tailored to the needs of its members, including voice, data and other services. DCCI will use the services to further improve communication amongst its different branches, at an affordable cost.

The new management of Oriental Bank has recovered upto November 21 Tk.664.00 crore of which Tk. 222.00 crores has been recovered from irregular investment accounts and Tk. 442.00 crores from regular accounts. At present the bank has a total outstanding loan of Tk. 1585.00 crores of which over Tk. 1100.00 crores is non-performing. This bank has about 5061 number loan accounts of which 945 number of accounts are classified in itsoperation with 30 branches.

It may be mentioned that after taking over the bank by Bangladesh Bank, a Task Force first of its kind has been constituted by the government to conduct enquiry and investigation of irregularities, misappropriation of money, recovery of bad investments etc. of the Oriental Bank Limited comprising officials from Bangladesh Army, RAB, Anti Corruption Commission and National Board of Revenue.

The Task Force will work together with the bank officials and will provide necessary support for quick recovery of irregular loans including the amount siphoned off the bank by unscrupulous persons through irregular ways and has already started working from its office at Jatio Sangsad Bhaban, Shere Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

An emergency meeting of the Dhaka city Branch Managers of The Oriental Bank Limited was held recently at Bank's Head Office under the chairmanship of Md. Asaduzzaman Khan, Managing Director of the Bank to appraise the heads of branches regarding measures to be taken to ensure effective co-ordination between the Task Force and Bank's Recovery Teams to yield the maximum benefit from the process. The Managing Director asked the heads of branches to provide all related information to the Task Force as and when required.

Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU) of Dhaka University arranged a day-long training of trainers entitled 'Better Management of Migrant's Remittances: 3rd TOT for Capacity Building of Bank Officials', with the support of Manusher Jonnya Foundation on 24 November 2007. The training was organised for the district level bank officials. Dr. Tasneem Siddiqui, Professor, Dept. of Political Science, University of Dhaka 'presented the key note paper on the overall migration scenario in Bangladesh and the contribution of remittance to the economy of Bangladesh.

The training highlighted the remitting experiences of the migrants through banks at both sending and receiving ends. Through participatory process problems that constrained the remittances transaction, including wrong names in the form, name of branch, account name and number were discussed.

Khandakar Muzharul Haque, Executive Director, Bangladesh Bank was present as the guest of honour in the inaugural session. Dr C R Abrar, Coordinator RMMRU, highlighted the need for customer friendly services to the remittance receiving families. Ms. Valerie McNevin, Senior International Legal Advisor, Remittance and Payments Partnership Project, Bangladesh Bank highlighted new methods that will have impact on future remittance transfer flow, such as instant cash, door-to-door services, mobile services, etc.

The participants of the workshop comprised 40 district level bank officials from Comilla and Chittagong. Md Nazrul Islam, AGM, F/C Management Division, Agrani Bank, A K M Mosharraf Hossain, AGM, International Department of Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Mohammad Nazir Hossain, Senior Principal Officer, Janata Bank Training Institute were among the other resource persons to conduct the training sessions.

A FBCCI team distributed relief materials on Sunday among the hurricane shattered people in the districts of Borguna and Bhola, says a press release. The items included saris, lungis, dry foods, rice, pulse, potato, edible oil and salt among others.

FBCCI Director Md. Ghias Uddin Chowdhury, Bhola Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Alhaj Nizam Chowdhury, former President Fazlul Quader Manju and Jahangir Sikder were present among othes while handing the relief materials. Vice President Dewan Sultan Ahmad led the team at Bhola Municiapl premises.

Another team led by President Mir Nassir Hossain distributed relief materials at Gulgulia under Barguna district on Saturday night. The items included saris, lungis, dry foods, rice, pulse, potato, edible oil and salt among others.

Deputy Commisioner Md. Altaf Hossain and three FBCCI directors, Borguna Chamber of Commerce president and senior chamber officials were present at that time.

Top corporate executives of the country recently joined the Citycell Corporate Night at Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Centre in the city. Approximately 700 top corporate executives from different reputed organizations gathered to enjoy this event.

The program was commenced by Michael Seymour, Citycell Chief Executive Officer.

This event provided the audience an opportunity to experience Citycell's high-speed wireless internet service 'ZOOM'. Citycell officially launched this service in July, this year. This CDMA2000 1X technology-based service offers faster data speed than any other nationwide mobile internet service provider, and also the convenience of security, mobility and uninterrupted service and connectivity all over Bangladesh. Many top Bangladeshi corporate houses and NGO's have already found ZOOM to be the best product in the market.

Mr. Ahmed Armaan Siddiqui, Deputy General Manager, Product and Business Development of Citycell presented the more advanced technogy based ZOOM Evolution Prototype through a demo to the audience. He also demonstrated ZOOM devices, modem enabled CDMA handsets and various user related information in his presentation.

Customers can avail ZOOM service through PCMCIA Data Card or USB Data Modem and also through various handsets. The PCMCIA Card device is used for laptop computers, and the USB Data Modem can be used both with laptops and desktop computers. Handsets provide the greatest versatility as they can be used as a phone as well as a data modem.

An innovative auction was conducted to raise funds for the victims of the recent devastating cyclone SIDR. This activity drew much enthusiasm and participation from the guests.

At the end of the program, the audience enjoyed a cultural performance by eminent artists Hyder Hossain, Sonia and LRB.

Social Investment Bank Limited (SIBL) celebrated its 12th anniversary on November 22, 2007. Different programmes were chalked out on this occasion. All the 24 branches and Head Office of SIBL were decorated and the clients were received with bouquet. khatme Quran and doa-mahfil were held in the branches and Head Office.

The mahfil held at Head Office was conducted by SIBL Consultant Abdul Matin. Managing Director K. M. Ashaduzzman and other Senior Executives took part in the doa-Mahfil. A eye camp was held at Head Office premises on the day conducted by East West Medical Hospital, Uttara. The Officers and executives of SIBL were given eye care in the camp. K M Ashaduzzaman, Managing Director, SIBL presided over a programme held in this connection. On the occasion of 12th anniversary a blood donation programme was held at SIBL Foreign Exchange Branch, Motijheel, Dhaka on 24th November 2007. Officers and Executives of SIBL donated blood in the programme, which was inaugurated by Managing Director K. M. Ashaduzzaman.