The New Nation - Internet Edition

Donors' team visits NCDP projects in Sherpur

A high profile donor organisations' team led by outgoing Country Director of Asian Development Bank (ADB) Hua Du visited various high valued crop projects in remote village Chhoto Fulbari under Sherpur upazila in Bogra on Saturday. The seven-member team included Sebastin Past of Germany, Kiyung Hu Kim of South Korea, Purl William Carry of the United States of America, Druk Roken Smith of Australia, Patrick Burnd of the Nederlands and Ashok Lahiri of India. Hundreds of male and female member farmers of the North-west Crop Diversification Project (NCDP), boys, girls, adolescents, men, women and people of all ages of the village welcomed the

delegation in a festive mood at their arrival.

Grameen Shakti wins green energy award

Grameen Shakti, which has installed 160,000 solar home systems in the country and is adding around 7,000 new systems each month, was awarded the 2008 Outstanding Achievement Award at the Ashden Awards ceremony in London on Thursday.

The rural based renewable energy company--a 2006 Ashden Awards prizewinner--bagged the award for its role in income generation among rural population through installation of solar home systems, says a press release received in Dhaka. Dipal Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti received the award from Nobel Laureate Ms Wangari Maathai at a ceremony on June 19. He also met with Prince Charles the Patron of Ashden Awards.

The Ashden Awards for Sustainable Energy was founded in 2001 by the Ashden Trust, a Britain-based charity that works to increase the use of local sustainable energy worldwide.

In November 2007, when cyclone Sidr struck Bangladesh, solar was a lifeline: solar mobile phones warned people of the cyclone's approach, and the majority of solar installations survived its impact.

Sarah Butler-Sloss, founder and chair of the Ashden Awards said: "We continue to be astounded by the way Grameen Shakti links renewable energy technologies with income generating activities, and provides efficient services at the local level through renewable energy entrepreneurs. We hope that the Outstanding Achievement Award supports Grameen Shakti in the ambitious goal of installing one million solar home systems and 10 million improved cooking stoves by 2015."

Grameen Shakti promotes, develops and popularises renewable energy technologies in remote, rural areas of Bangladesh. Nearly 70 percent of homes in the country have no electricity and rely on kerosene for lighting, which is smoky and a fire risk.

It sets out to make solar systems affordable to the poor by supplying small 20Wp systems -- typically for two lights and a radio or phone charger -- that can be paid for through micro loans. It also a special program in Monga affected Chilmari under which livestock is provided with biogas plants to the local poor people so that they can earn a living.

Grameen Shakti continues to make impressive inroads with solar energy, and is now diversifying, using its robust infrastructure to roll out programmes for biogas plants and improved cooking stoves.

The organisation now has 400 local offices and opens 10 new offices every month. It also has a network of 20 'Grameen Technology Centres' which have trained 1,000 women entrepreneurs to assemble solar home systems and cooking stoves. 50 of these women have now set up their own businesses.

Accepting the award, Dipal Barua, managing director of Gameen Shakti, said: "When I was here two years ago, I was inspired by my fellow Ashden Awards winners to diversify into improved cooking stoves and biogas systems. In those two years we have installed 15,000 improved cooking stoves, 3,500 biogas plants, and expanded our solar home systems to 160,000.

"For the future, I plan to install one million solar home systems by 2010, 10 million cooking stoves, and one million biogas plants; and will be able to create 100,000 green jobs by 2015 in Bangladesh," he added.

ACI declares 85pc dividend

Advanced Chemical Industries Limited organised its 35th Annual General Meeting yesterday at Darbar Hall of Bangladesh Rifles, Pilkhana, in the city.

The meeting was presided over by M Anis Ud Dowla, Chairman, ACI Ltd. The shareowners approved the proposal of declaration of dividend at 85 per cent, i.e. Tk 8.50 per share of Tk 10. The meeting was attended by large number of shareowners.

The financial results presented to the shareowners showed an increase in sales turnover by 40 per cent over the previous year. The gross profit also increased by 41.7 per cent to Tk 1,667 million and profit after tax increased by 103.5 per cent to Tk 313 million over the previous year. The EPS (Earning Per Share) stood at Tk 19.36 this year against Tk 9.51 during the previous year.

The company's contribution to national exchequer during the year amount to Tk 738.5 million in the form of corporate tax, customs duty, sales tax, development surchage, VAT, etc which was 34.52 per cent higher than that of the previous year.

All the Strategic Business Units of the company delivered commendable results.

The shareowners highly appreciated the management for the outstanding performance and excellent dividend. The chairman described a prospective outlook of business in the days ahead and assured good governance and sound management of the affairs of the company.

The chairman thanked all share owners for their active participation and deliberations.

Renovated Islampur Branch of National Bank Ltd opened

BUSINESS REPORT

Renovated and newly decorated Islampur Branch of National Bank Ltd has recently been inaugurated at 15-16 Islampur Road, Dhaka.

Md Abdur Rahman Sarker, Managing Director of the bank formally inaugurated the branch as chief guest.

A doah mahfil was held on the occasion.

Among others, Masqur Ahmed, Senior Executive Vice President and Manager of Dilkusha Branch, Sayed Moazzam Hussein, Executive Vice President, Shamsul Huda Khan, Executive Vice President and AKM Shafiqur Rahman, Executive Vice President and Company Secretary and other officials of the bank and local businessman and clients of the branch were also present on the occasion.

Md Abdur Rahman Ansari, Senior Vice President and Manager of Islampur Branch delivered the address of welcome.

Kay & Que declares 10pc stock dividend

Kay and Que (Bangladesh) Limited declared 10 per cent stock dividend at its 24th Annual General Meeting of the shareholders held on Saturday at Seminal Hall, Bashundhara City, Panthapath, Dhaka.

The meeting was well attended by the shareholders. Participating in the discussion on the performance and expansion plan in the field of CNG filling station, pesticide business, green bricks, oil and gas related business of the company the shareholders gave valuable suggestions in the operation and future planning of the company.

The company earned Tk1.62 crore as gross profit and Tk 6.07 lakh as net profit for the year 2007, despite the increased price of imported raw materials in the international market. The members endorsed the financial statements of the company and 10 per cent stock dividend as recommended by the Board.

Prior to AGM, an Extraordinary General Meeting was also held on the same day at the same venue and adopted some amendments to the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the company.

Tabith M Awal, Managing Director of the company presided over the meeting. Abdur Rob, Adviser and Directord AKM Rafiqul Islam, Tafsir M Awal, MA Motalib Chowdhury and Md Nuruzzaman with Company Secretary Col (Retd) MM Jahangir were also present.

DBBL holds orientation course for the newly recruited officers

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited organised a week-long Orientation Course for the newly recruited Assistant Officers.

Managing Director of the bank Md Yeasin Ali inaugurated the course held at the bank's Training Centre in the city yesterday.

The course aims at familiarising the participants with the principles, rules, regulations, roles and functions of the bank.

In his inaugural speech, Md Yeasin Ali welcomed the officers in banking profession and laid emphasis on the need for commitment, devotion, sincerity and professionalism to meet the ever-growing business needs of the clientele.

He also mentioned that the success of a bank mostly depends on the core work force of the bank.

He advised the officers to update themselves with the art of modern technology in order to perform their duties efficiently.

Among others, Additional Managing Director AHM Nazmul Quadir and Head of Human Resources Division and Training Wing Md Shams-uddin Ahmed also spoke on the occasion.

HNB to venture into Bangladesh

Having moved into India, Hatton National Bank (HNB) is now gearing to enter Bangladesh, possibly within this year, joining Sampath Bank and Commercial Bank who have branches there.

"We are exploring the potential in Bangladesh to set up an investment banking operation there. We want to exploit the opportunities we have there," Rajendra Theagarajah, Managing Director HNB said.

HNB struck a Memorandum of Understanding with City Union Bank of India (CUB) last January with the intention of setting up a Joint Venture Investment Banking operation in India. He said the proposed venture is subject to sanction from the Securities and Exchange Board of India [SEBI] and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Pran Group's CEO, DMD selected CIPs

BUSINESS REPORT

Managing Director of PRAN Foods Limited Maj Gen (Retd) Amzad Khan Chowdhury and Director of Agricultural Marketing Company Limited (AMCL-PRAN) Ahsan Khan Chowdhury have been selected as Commercially Important Persons (CIPs) by the Ministry of Industries for their outstanding contributions to the fields of medium industries and large industries respectively.

Maj Gen (Retd) Amzad Khan Chowdhury is also the Chief Executive Officer of PRAN Group, while Ahsan Khan Chowdhury is the Deputy Managing Director. Both of them are father and son.

It may be mentioned that the government has selected 22 business personalities as CIPs according to the CIP (Industries) Guidelines 2008 in recognition of their outstanding contributions by setting up industries in private sector, producing goods, creating employment opportunities and increasing the gross national income.

Both the father and the son received the CIP cards with the other CIPs at the conference room of the Ministry of Industries on Sunday.

The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) awarded PRAN Group the National Export Trophy for three consecutive years for its outstanding contributions to export.

PANTENE YGTL 2008 in Bangladesh

In its seventh year, the ultimate pageant of beauty and brains - PANTENE You Got the Look - is back for the 2008 edition. Sensation surrounding the event is palpable already. Sponsored by Procter & Gamble, this year's YGTL has an impressive array of patrons. With Co-Sponsor - Gallery Apex; and with Herbal Solution Spa & Beauty Studio as hair and make-up partner; www.bangladeshinfo.com as online partner; and Radio Foorti as radio partner - backing the event, YGTL 2008 has all the makings of a spectacular event.

The call for entries has begun already. Entry forms are already available at the lifestyle outlets. A lot of young people have registered and more are joining the fray everyday. The last date for applications is 2nd July. Online registration is also open at www.bangladeshinfo.com

Once the event starts, a painstaking selection process will shortlist ten female and ten male participants for the final. These participants would then begin on a three-week grooming period under the guidance of various experts for beauty and hair styling, fitness, ramp choreography, stage presence and presentation skills. Mr. Xiya will be in charge for grooming and choreography for this event.

Bigger, better and with more event based activities, this year's Pantene YGTL promises to be a grand exhibition of talent, beauty and self-confidence.

Grey Worldwide, like previous years, will manage this year's Pantene YGTL. All questions and comments can be addressed to the following numbers: 01712610295 or 9881689.