India and Bangladesh: calculus of territorial dispute settlement
Indian Border Security Force (BSF) soldier patrol along the India-Bangladesh international border at Fulbari BOP on the outskirts of Siliguri on 5 November, 2010. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Sourabh Gupta, Samuels International

On 7 September 2011 in Dacca, the prime ministers of India and Bangladesh signed a landmark protocol to their 1974 Land Boundary Agreement, providing for final settlement of their long-pending boundary issues.

Given that instances of territorial dispute settlement in this sovereignty-conscious region have been few and far between, this exercise in statesmanship is both commendable and long overdue. Read more…

Where are Bangladesh’s businesswomen?
Bangladeshi women labourers carrying baskets full of sands to the shore of the river Buriganga, at Gabtoli, in Dhaka, Bangladesh. 70 percent of the country's labour force consists of women. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Nina Merchant-Vega, The Asia Foundation

Since the 1980s, microfinance institutions in Bangladesh have touted the success of women micro-entrepreneurs in starting and operating thousands of microenterprises throughout the country.

While this is certainly an achievement, Bangladeshi women have not achieved the same level of success in the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector. Read more…

The removal of Muhammad Yunus from Grameen Bank
Microfinance pioneer Muhammad Yunus emerges from the high court building to contest the decision to remove him from his post in Grameen Bank. (Photo: AAP)

Author: John D. Conroy, ANU and FDC

The removal of Muhammad Yunus as Managing Director of Grameen Bank now seems irrevocable.

The Bangladesh Finance Ministry is reported to have prepared a ‘14 point plan’ that will ‘transform the Nobel winning micro-lender into another state-owned bank’, with the government likely looking to increase its equity stake in Grameen (currently less than 4 per cent of paid capital) to restructure the board and ‘establish control over its lucrative sister firms’. Read more…

Why Grameen Bank and Muhammad Yunus need a closer look
Bangladeshis walk past a billboard showing Nobel laureate and Chairman Muhammad Yunus outside the head office of the Grameen Bank in Dhaka. (Photo: AAP)

Author: Mahendra Ved, New Delhi

Bangladesh’s microcredit conglomerate, the Grameen Bank, founded by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, and with its 20,000 employees and 8.3 million customers, has distributed Taka 600 billion (US$8.2 billion) in loans as of January 2011.

The Grameen concept of lending small sums to poor women in rural areas — who would not dare to enter a regular bank — has been replicated in many countries with a fair degree of success. Read more…