New BB wing to promote green banking, CSR

Bangladesh Bank has opened a new wing called Green Banking and CSR Department to promote green financing and corporate social responsibility related activities of the scheduled banks.

The new wing aims at chalking out measures to formulate a policy for green banking and to develop and implement green strategic plan, the BB circular said.

Besides, the new department will take initiative to boost the country’s financial inclusion, it said.

The BB on Thursday issued a circular saying that the department would formulate a sector-wise environment policy.

The department will also develop and implement the sector-wise environment policy in respective field, it said.

The green refinancing scheme of the renewable energy and industrial effluent treatment plant worth Tk 200 crore will be transferred to the new department from the Agricultural Credit and Financial Inclusion Department.

The green banking cell and CSR monitoring section were earlier attached to the Banking Regulation and Policy Department and the ACFID, but the two units are now attached to the Green Banking and CSR Department, the BB circular said.

The new department will monitor the Tk-10 farmer account, school banking and financial literacy related activities of the BB.

A total of 22 officials, including a general manger, one deputy general manager and two joint directors, will be posted to the new department. (Source)

Baira stops manpower export services

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agency on Sunday said they would stop providing all sorts of service regarding manpower export from today, accusing the government of making the market stagnant.

‘We’ve decided to stop providing all sorts of service on manpower export from Monday. In the name of sending people abroad through public initiatives, the manpower export market has been made stagnant,’ Baira president M Shahjalal Mazumder told a press conference at its office.

Baira secretary general Ali Haider Chowdhury was, among others, present at the press conference.

However, the expatriates’ welfare and overseas employment minister, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, welcomed the Baira decision and said it would help the government send workers abroad in a smoother way.

‘The 010decision won’t have any negative impact on manpower export. It’ ll rather help make the process smoother,’ he told UNB over phone when his comments was sought.

He said the government would be able to send workers at a lower cost following the Baira decision and the manpower export would increase remarkably. ‘I welcome them (for their decision).’

The minister urged the Baira leaders to help the government send more workers abroad with minimum costs.

Responding to a question, Hossain said it was taking a bit of time to send workers to Malaysia as the government was bringing the entire thing under a framework.

He also said the government would take those to task who hacked the registered selected workers list that was uploaded on the ministry webpage. ‘The list has been reloaded.’

As per the Baira the decision, the private sector in the manpower export industry will remain off from sending people abroad. However, Baira had taken a similar decision earlier and then stepped back saying they would welcome if the government can send workers abroad.

‘When the private sector will realise the importance of the private sector, only then we’ll start providing services,’ said the Baira president.

While reading out a written statement, Shahjalal Mazumder said they had so far sent abroad 85 lakh people as of 2012 from 1982. ‘As a result, the remittance inflow crossed the $14-billion mark in 2012.’ (Source)

Teachers, students demand release of bloggers

Some Dhaka University teachers and students and cultural activists on Sunday continued with their protests demanding an unconditional release of the all bloggers, including DU student Subrata Adhikari Shubha.

They alleged that the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, arrested the bloggers ‘in line with the compromise she made with the Islamist group Hefajat-e-Islam.’

DU teachers and students organised held the protests at Raju Memorial in Dhaka University on Sunday evening.

The Detective Branch arrested bloggers Moshiur Rahman Biplob, Russell Parvez and Subrata Adhikari Shubho between late Monday night and early Tuesday and Asif Mohiuddin on Wednesday.

They also criticised the home minister, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, for his thanking Hefajat ‘for holding its rally peacefully.’

Speakers at the protests said that it was unfortunate that although the Hefajat rally had made ‘derogatory’ comments about the prime minister, attacked journalists and the Shahbagh protest venue, the home minister thanked Hefajat people for their ‘peaceful’ programme.

Kaberi Gayen, teacher of mass communication and journalism in Dhaka University, said that the people who led sectarian frenzy in different areas of the country and attacked law enforcers were yet to be brought to justice but the government started arresting bloggers.

The university’s Jagannath Hall provost Ajoy Kumar Das said that the government seems to have compromised with Hefajat not thinking about the freedom of expression.

Anthropology teacher Jobaida Nasreen condemned the role of the university administration as the university student was picked up at night.

They also vowed to go for tougher movement if their demand was not immediately met.

Dhaka University Bangla teacher Rafiqullah Khan and Institute of Education

and Research teacher Masuduzzaman, former Rajshahi University Central Students’ Union vice-president Ragib Ahsan Munna, actress Rokeya Prachi, also addressed the rally. (Source)

ACC asks JB to submit Bismillah Group’s loan documents

The Anti-Corruption Commission on Sunday in a notice asked Janata Bank managing director to submit the loan related documents of the Bismillah Towels Group, ACC officials told reporters.

The Bismillah Group allegedly swindled Tk 392.57 crore from Janata Bank; Tk 306.22 crore from Prime Bank; Tk 163.69 crore from Jamuna Bank; Tk 148.69 crore from Shahjalal Bank; and Tk 62.97 from Premier Bank, ACC officials said.

In separate summons the ACC asked two officials of Shahjalal Islami Bank to appear at its head office on April 17 to face interrogation in connection with the alleged swindling of about Tk 1,100 crore from the banks by Bismillah Group.

ACC said that it summoned Shahjalal Islami Bank’s Eskaton branch manager Nakibul Islam and its executive officer Sabina Yeasmin.

The ACC would today send notices summoning seven more officials of Janata Bank to appear at its head office on April 18 to face interrogation over the same allegation, they said.

The ACC would, they said, summon Janata Bank head office’s first general managers Sirazul Islam and Ghulam Mustafa, assistant general managers Abdur Razzak, Laisur Rahman Mia and M Asaduzzman, senior executive officer Ahmed Helal Uddin, and executive officer Baharul Islam on April 18 for interrogation.

The bank officials sanctioned the credit to the Bismillah Group, said ACC officials.

Earlier, an ACC probe team had interrogated 16 Janata Bank officials in this connection, they said.

According to a Bangladesh Bank investigation report, Bismillah Group swindled about Tk 1,100 crore from state-owned Janata Bank and four private commercial banks -- Prime Bank, Shahjalal Bank, Jamuna Bank and Premier Bank.

The BB report said that the Bimillah Group took government’s cash incentives by showing fake export documents saying it would open business firms abroad. (Source)

Bangladesh focused on REDD+ Readiness agenda

Experts on Sunday said that Bangladesh was focused on reducing emissions from deforestation, now called REDD+ Readiness.

They said that the programme was important for Bangladesh where 90 per cent of the people lived in villages and depend on natural resources especially wetlands and forests.

At a workshop on ‘Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation or REDD+ Readiness Roadmap in Bangladesh’, they said that most recent assessment done by FAO in 2010 suggested that forest coverage in Bangladesh declined to 11 per cent.

Bangladesh Forest Department with the support of UNDP and FAO organized the national workshop at CIRDAP Auditorium in the city.

Environment and forest minister Hasan Mahmud told the workshop that Bangladesh had taken major steps in moving the REDD+ agenda since it joined the UN-REDD programme.

In August 2011, he said, the government established the required institutions including a REDD+ cell, national steering committee, a working groups on safeguards, strategy, monitoring, reporting and verification to facilitate REDD+ preparedness in Bangladesh.

Hasan said that Bangladesh was now prepared to move forward in a coordinated and planned way through the three phases of REDD+ programme.

He also said that REDD+ was not only climate finacing mechanism, but also a sustainable forest conservation programme for halting deforestation.

He described the REDD+ programme as critically important for Bangladesh in need to protect livelihoods of millions of extremely poor people.

UNDP country director Pauline Tamesis appreciated the country’s efforts in forest conservation for sustainable forest management with notable success.

She assured UNDP’s partnership with the government in REDD+ readiness for the government’s capacity building in   accessing future climate financing for the forestry sector.

REDD+ specialist Ansarul Karim, UNDP South and West Asia Division chief Elena Tischenko also spoke.

In his paper on ‘REDD+ Readiness in Bangladesh,’ chief conservator of forest Md Yunus Ali said that 90 per cent of the countyry’s population living in villages depended on natural resources especially from wetlands and forests.

He said that most recent forest resource assessment by FAO suggested that forest covers 11 per cent of the country’s land area.

On December 2012, the national REDD+ steering committee headed by the environment secretary approved the Bangladesh REDD+ Readiness Roadmap, said speakers. (Source)