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Interest rates for microcredit
In the NTV talk show "Ai Shomoy", two very respected personalities in the field of microcredit in our country-- Mr Muyeed (ED, Brac) and Dr Salahuddin (MD, PKSF)--commented on different aspects of the issue on the eve of the Microcredit Summit.
I would like to differ from their unanimous opinion that the interest rate should be market driven. Let me quote from their analysis. They claimed that BKB or RAKUB are not sufficient in meeting public demand, so the NGOs are coming into agricultural credit. Here lies the truth - rates can only be market driven when there is abundance
Anwar's ordeal
Tears rolled down my face when I read how Anwar was kidnapped and how he came back home. It is only a miracle and God's extreme kindness that this young lad is back in his parents' arms.
My thanks to Mother Teresa Home in Delhi and Mr. Shamsul Bari who reunited young Anwar with his parents. I am not asking for justice. In a country where even ministers' kith and kin get kidnapped and killed, I cannot hope that a poor person's son will get justice.
I would like to establish a contact with Anwar and extend some help to him in future. Can anybody let me know through e-mail (my e-mail is rkalita2000@yahoo.com) his postal address?
R Kalita
Chicago
Maglev melodrama: Act II
I would like to respond to Mr SA Mansoor of Gulshan, Dhaka, February 18, with regard to the Maglev Monorail project. What should be noted at the outset is that the Shanghai project was much too expensive and that is why the Chinese have decided not to go further at this time. But whereas the costs of the German technology utilised at Shanghai would be around US$65M per mile, I believe that there are much cheaper and newer Maglev technologies now being pursued commercially. One of these is in Japan and another is in the US and their costs are less than US$20M, I am told.
Yes, I agree that a careful feasibility study is required, but let us not write off a technology merely because it is foreign to us. Of course, we need railways in Bangladesh, and why not Maglev if it works, is energy efficient and creates jobs ? in demand and supply, and there is competition in the market. In Bangladesh, the demands from the downtrodden people (right of receiving credit) are enormous and the suppliers ( lenders) are doing a sort of monopoly business in their own areas.
M Musleh Uz Zaman
On e-mail
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Microfinance plays a pivotal role to alleviate poverty and ameliorate the lifestyle of the marginalized people in Bangladesh. Actually, Bangladesh deserves kudos for its micocredit success. Many organisations such as Brac,
Zabidur Rahman
Amsterdam
French ban on hijab
The French National Assembly (Lower House of the Parliament) has already passed the Hijab ban Law. Now it will go to the Senate (Upper House of Parliament) and then it will be submitted to President Chirac for signing it into law. This law is an attack on Islam and also totally negates religious rights, human rights and fundamental rights. This is not an ordinary law. It seeks to destroy the identity of Muslims.
This is not democracy because democracy does not mean negation of human rights or religious rights, rather democracy means affirmation of human rights. A country cannot do everything in the name of democracy. This is also not secularism by any definition of political science.
In view of the above, I feel that the government of Bangladesh should issue a statement expressing its concern over the matter and request the government of France not to proceed with this law.
Shah Abdul Hannan
Chairman, The Centre for Human Rights
Mother Language Day Ekushey (International Mother Language Day) has come again. Ekushey book fair is abuzz with crowd. There are many festivals going on in the Central Shaheed Minar. Every year during this month we try our best to pay some attention to our mother language. I am trying to draw a little attention to some matters relating to our language and culture.
The present time can be labelled as one of the worst times in our history . The rich Bangla movies have disappeared from our mem- Grameen Bank, and ASA work in both rural and slum areas.
Microfinance is very fruitful in poverty alleviation, women empowerment and small entrepreneurship. NGOs in Bangladesh can be a model if they are not used as shopping bags of donor agencies. Through the Dhaka summit, the participants could share their experiences and help each other to insert impetus in NGO activities.
The govt should back the NGOs by removing the bureaucratic bottlenecks.
Molla Mohammad Shaheen Dept of English,
Dhaka University
ory. They have been replaced with vulgar films. The same thing has happened in the field of our songs. Quality songs have also disappeared. Many so-called band groups are mushrooming here and there. With peculiar names, these are making loud noises which they call pop songs.
Nowadays we use too many English words. I don't oppose English. We have to give importance to it as it is an international language. But this does not mean that we will use a mixture of Bangla and English.
Our intellectuals as well as the educated people should not ignore the issue.
Mithun
Kabi Jasim Uddin Road, Kamalapur, Dhaka
Intolerance gripping our politics
The following lines in your February 14 editorial caught my attention: "It seems both the government and the opposition are bent on punishing the ordinary people -- one by its lack of governance and doing practically nothing to give the people even a minimum sense of security and the other by its determination to create as much obstacle to normal life as possible."
You will find very few people who will disagree with this view. People know who is doing what and for what purpose, regardless of what they say in their speeches. And this brings us to the main question: If these people are hell-bent on punishing the public and destroying this country as much as they can; why do we put up with them?
If we can answer the above question, I believe we can solve a lot of our problems.
Azad Miah
Oldham, UK