Anti-IMF protesters brings out a rally on the Tokyo street. The demonstrators chanted slogan ‘No more IMFs. Power to people’. REUTERS

TOKYO: Protesters calling for an end to the International Monetary Fund hit the streets of Tokyo today as the last-resort lender held meetings in the Japanese capital.

About 200 demonstrators marched through the city’s upscale Ginza shopping district near the Tokyo International Forum, which is playing host to the IMF and World Bank’s annual meetings which wrap up Sunday.

Some protesters also called on Japan to abandon nuclear power in the wake of last year’s Fukushima crisis, the worst atomic accident in a generation.

Inside the hall, finance chiefs from the IMF’s 188 member countries and representatives from non-governmental organisations gathered for meetings, with a heavy police presence on the streets outside.

“No more IMFs. Power to the people,” demonstrators yelled as they marched with anti-IMF banners.

The demonstration in conservative Japan was tiny compared with earlier anti-globalisation protests at meetings of the IMF, World Bank and organisations such as the World Trade Organization.

“We want to tell the world that there still are a certain number of people joining the global anti-IMF movement,” said organiser Goro Fujita.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/14th-Oct-12

Badiur Rahman, Chairman of Al-Arafah Islami Bank, presides over a meeting at a city hotel Saturday.

The 43rd Managers’ Conference of Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited was held at a city hotel Saturday.

Badiur Rahman, Chairman of the Bank, presided over the meeting as the chief guest, said a press release.

Ekramul Hoque, Managing Director of Al-Arafah Islami Bank, spoke at the meeting.

Alhajj Abdul Malek Mollah, Alhajj Engineer Khondoker Mesbahuddin Ahmed and Alhajj Md Harun-Ar-Rashid Khan, Directors of the Bank, Md Rafiqul Islam, Md Mofazzel Hossain, Kazi Towhidul Alam and Md Golam Rabbani, Deputy Managing Directors and senior executives of the Bank attended the meeting.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/14th-Oct-12

Deputy Governor of Bangladesh Bank Md. Abul Quasem underscored the importance of general peoples’ inclusion in to the financial system to achieve economic development of the country. He was addressing a day long seminar on “Financial Inclusion” at Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) in the city Wednesday.

BIBM organised this seminar to discuss various problems and prospects of financial inclusion, farmers accounts and sharecroppers financing.

Dr. Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, Director General of BIBM chaired the Seminar. He said although efforts for financial inclusion started in Bangladesh after the nationalisation of banks, but it got momentum under the leadership of current Governor of Bangladesh Bank. He has particularly taken initiatives to open a farmer’s account with only Tk 10 and sharecroppers financing.

Two keynote papers were presented in the seminar by Md. Mohiuddin Siddique, Associate Professor and Director of BIBM presented the paper on ‘Inclusive Banking and Inclusive Growth: Bangladesh Perspective.’

The other keynote paper was on ‘Innovation in Rural Banking: Farmers Accounts and Share Croppers Financing’ presented by Abed Ali, Faculty Member of BIBM.

Mohammed Nurul Amin, Managing Director of National Credit and Commerce Bank Ltd., Dr. Md Zillur Rahman, Managing Director, Bangladesh Development Bank Ltd., and Md. Abdus Salam, Managing Director, Bangladesh Krishi Bank were present as designated discussants.

News: The Daily Independent/Bangladesh/11th-Oct-12

Air Commodore M Naim Hassan, Air Officer Commanding, BAF Base Basher, inaugurates ESB of DBBL at BAF Shaheen School and College premises in Dhaka recently.

Dutch-Bangla Bank Lim-ited (DBBL) opened an Electronic Student Booth (ESB) at of BAF Shaheen School and College premises to facilitate students pay tuition and exam fees without any hassle.

Air Commodore M Naim Hassan, Air Officer Commanding, BAF Base Basher, inaugurated the ESB at the school premises in Dhaka recently, said a press release.

AHM Amirul Ahsan, Principal of BAF Shaheen School and College Wing Comma- nder, Sayem Ahmed, Chairman of the EC of the Board of DBBL attended the inaugural ceremony.

The booth, an innovation banking introduced by DBBL in 2011 for educational institutions, has been designed with one or more cash counters.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/11th-Oct-12

Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) in cooperation with Trust Bank Limited and Business Initiative Leading Development (BUILD) organised a seminar on 'SMEs - a Catalyst of D-8 Economy' at a hotel in Dhaka to mark the D-8 Industries Ministers' conference.

One hundred fifty representatives from government officials, academics and private sector organisations from Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey participated in the seminar.

Industries Minister Dilip Barua attended the seminar as chief guest. Asif Ibrahim, DCCI president presided over the seminar recently. Widi Agoes Pratikto, D-8 Secretary General and Shah Alam Sarwar, Managing Director and CEO of Trust Bank Ltd. were present as special guests.

Dr. Toufic Ahmad Choudhury, Director General, Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) presented the keynote paper on 'Bangladesh perspective and scope of co-operation' portraying the present scenario of SMEs of the D-8 countries.

Ferdaus Ara Begum, CEO of BUILD, made a presentation on 'Public-private dialogue for private sector development'.

News: The Daily Sun/Bangladesh/11th-Oct-12