|
Bangladesh launches probe into Grameen Bank
Wednesday January 12, 2011 05:31:32 PM,
DPA
|
|
Dhaka: Bangladeshi
authorities have launched an investigation into the Nobel Peace
Prize-winning micro-lender Grameen Bank, following allegations it
diverted Norwegian aid money.
The bank and its founder Mohammad Yunus, who shared the 2006 Nobel
prize with the institution, are suspected of diverting money from
Norwegian state development agency NORAD from one project to
another.
"We will review the management of foreign funded micro-credit
schemes by the Grameen Bank and report back to the government in
three months' time," Monowar Uddin Ahmed, head of a five-member
investigation team, told DPA Wednesday.
The probe was announced in December, and formally launched
Tuesday.
Criticism of the bank came to light after a Norwegian documentary
in November alleged the bank transferred $100 million provided by
NORAD and other donors to Grameen Kalyan, another of its ventures,
in 1996, without respecting procedures laid down by the donors.
In December 2010, Yunus said that he had received no undeclared
benefits from Grameen, and that there was no question of
corruption in the organisation.
The matter regarding the diversion of money via the bank's
so-called revolving funds was "an honest disagreement between GB (Grameen
Bank) and NORAD, but never prompted by any dishonest intention,"
he was quoted as saying by Bangladeshi daily the Financial
Express.
He also said that an investigation by the Norwegian authorities
found no evidence of a breach of its rules.
But Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accused Yunus, who briefly
set up his own political party in 2007, of using "tricks" to avoid
taxes, and "sucking blood from the poor" with his bank's loans.
The Grameen Bank is widely regarded as the pioneer of
micro-finance, which consists of lending very small amounts to the
poor at rates slightly higher than other banks.
The system, originally praised for reaching those excluded from
normal commercial credit, has come under criticism in recent years
for encouraging debt and taking excessive profits.
|
|
Home |
Top of the Page |
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Top
Stories |
|
 Relatives, local leaders meet Maha CM; demand release of Muslim
youths
Close relatives of the Muslim youths
arrested in 2006 Malegaon blast case and local leaders January 11
met
»
Release
Muslim youths held for Malegaon blast, say scholars
Demand
for withdrawal of cases against Muslim youths gathers momentum
Aseemanand confesses his involvement in 2006 Malegaon blast:
Report
A prelude to Malegaon bomb blasts
An Inside Narrative of Nanded Blast
Malegaon Blasts: Partisan approach
and
biased
police
Malegaon 2006 blast witness turns hostile
Was Malegaon
Blast really a handiwork of Muslims?
|
|
|
|
Picture of the Day |
|
 |
|
Foreign
Secretary Mrs. Nirupama Rao with the Prize winners at the
Commemoration of World Hindi Day, in New Delhi on January
10, 2011.
(Photo:
Manoj Kumar) |
|
|
|
|
Most
Read |
|
 Those
involved in terror misinterpret Islam: Egyptian grand mufti
The grand mufti of Egypt - an African
country with a 90 percent Muslim population - has raised his voice
against global terror, saying its root cause is ignorance and
»
|
|
Azamgarh redefined: An educational hub in 'nursery of terror'
This small village is redefining the
image of Azamgarh, branded as the 'nursery of terror' after the
2008 Batla House shootout in Delhi. With a population of just
5,000, it boasts of seven institutions imparting technical,
medical and general education.
» |
|
|
|
News Pick |
|
 Malegaon
honours film artists - in 'Filmfare Award' function of its own
In a glittering function January 07,
the film artists associated with Mollywood were awarded by
a local NGO amid loud applauds and
»
|
|
Beware,
ATMs are as dirty as public toilets
The next time you take out money from
an automated teller machine (ATM), make sure you either wear gloves
or wash your hands. Cleanliness tests have revealed that cash
machines are as dirty and carry the same
» |
|
Egypt recalls envoy
over Pope's comments on church attack
Egypt Tuesday recalled its ambassador
to the Vatican over "interfering" comments made by Pope Benedict XVI
following the bombing of a Christian Coptic church in Alexandria.
"Egypt considers the latest statement
» |
|
Sangh
involved in destruction always, kept changing tactics: Urdu daily
Sangh Parivar is involved in
destruction and violent activities ever since its establishment, a
Mumbai based Urdu daily claimed January 10 and urged the
government to
»
|
|
Gulf
NRIs seek exemption under new direct tax rules
The
proposed changes in the new direct tax code, which makes NRIs
liable to pay tax if they stay in India for over 60 days a year,
has led to some distress among the Indian diaspora in the Gulf
region as they tend to spend a
» |
|
|
|
|
Comments
|
Quick links