Prof Dr. AHM Habibur Rahman, Chairman, Board of Directors of Sonali Bank Limited, distributes blanket to a cold-hit poor man in the city on Wednesday.

 Sonali Bank Limited distributed blankets among the cold-hit poor people at different places in the capital on Wednesday under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

Professor Dr. AHM Habibur Rahman, Chairman, Board of Directors of Sonali Bank Limited inaugurated the function, said a press release.

Nazibor Rahman, Shekhar Dutta, Selima Ahmad, Md. Mahbub Hossain, Saheb Ali Mridha, Md. Enamul Haque Chowdhury, Directors and Prodip Kumar Dutta, Managing Director and CEO were present at the moment.
The blanket distribution function will continue countrywide.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of Pubali Bank Ltd, seen with the newly-promoted Assistant General Managers at a function to distribute promotion letters recently.

Some 59 Senior Principal Officers (SPOs) of Pubali Bank Limited were promoted to Assistant General Managers (AGMs) as recognition to their outstanding performance in the profession.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director and CEO of the Bank handed over the letters to the newly promoted AGMs at a function as the chief guest recently, said a press release.

The CEO of the bank urged the bankers to work sincerely and honestly. “One can become successful banker by exploring skills and talents at the highest level,” he said. He advised all to abide by the rules and regulations of the Bangladesh Bank and other regulatory bodies to make the successful as a very compliant bank.

MA Halim Chowdhury, AMD, Syed Aziz Ahmed, GM of HRD and other senior executives of the bank were also present on the occasion.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) started giving loans at 10 percent interest for publication of books of creativity and knowledge.

The central bank is disbursing the loan from its Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) fund through the scheduled banks.

Under this arrangement, Chandraboti Academy has already received loan from the Kakrail branch of AB Bank and a number of other publishing houses have applied for loans at Dilkusha branch of Prime Bank.

General Manager of BB M Masum Patwari told BSS that a publisher can get a loan of up to Taka 50 lakh. But the applicant would have to meet the criteria fixed by the scheduled banks.

The BB has no separate budget for the publication sector loan. Therefore, such loans would be disbursed from the SME fund, he added.

Like all state-owned banks, private banks are also bound to provide information under the Right to Information (RTI) Act 2009, the Information Commission (IC) said yesterday, reports BSS.
Referring to the opinion of the law ministry, the Commission said anyone can seek information from the country’s private banks in a prescribed form and the banks concerned should respond accordingly under the RTI Act 2009.
The law ministry on Monday said all private banks would also be considered as ‘information providing unit’ and ‘information providing authorities’ like the public sector’s banks. The law ministry’s comment came after the Information Commission sought the ministry’s opinion to resolve a dispute that came up during a hearing on an allegation of unwillingness of the Rajshahi branch of First Security Islami Bank to provide information under the Act.

News:The Independent/22-Jan-2014

Fourth from right, Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank, hands over a cheque to Muhammed Ali, managing director of United Commercial Bank, at the Westin hotel in Dhaka yesterday. UCB and Trust Bank will disburse about $20 million loans to a power plant in Chittagong

Bangladesh Bank yesterday disbursed about $20 million loan for Baraka Patenga Power Ltd to set up a 50-megawatt power plant in Chittagong.
The fund, first of its kind in the power sector, is part of the Investment Promotion and Financing Facility funded by the World Bank and managed by BB.

Baraka Patenga Power will receive the loans from United Commercial Bank and Trust Bank, UCB Managing Director Muhammed Ali told The Daily Star. The loans carry a 4 percent interest rate.

“Power is a vital sector to accelerate economic growth and investment. Such a fund will help the country generate more electricity,” BB Governor Atiur Rahman said at a programme at Westin Hotel in Dhaka.
The central bank has undertaken many innovative steps so that entrepreneurs have access to the foreign currency loan at low interest rates, he said.

Trust Bank Managing Director Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury and Baraka Patenga Power Chairman Faisal Ahmed Chowdhury were also present.  

BB, with the financial assistance of the World Bank, is implementing the IPFF to finance nine areas: power, ports, environment and solid waste management, highways and express ways, airports and terminal, water supply, economic development, social sector and information technology.