Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus was on Tuesday appointed as the head of Bangladesh's interim government by President Mohammed Shahabuddin, a day after Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country following deadly protests against her government over a controversial quota system in jobs. (Pics/AFP)
Updated On: 2024-08-07 03:02 PM IST
Compiled by : ronak mastakar
The decision was made in a meeting of President Shahabuddin with chiefs of the three services and a 13-member delegation of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at Bangabhaban tonight, President's Press Secretary Md. Joynal Abedin said
An economist and banker, Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his groundbreaking work with microcredit, aimed at aiding impoverished individuals, especially women. The Nobel Committee recognized Yunus and his Grameen Bank for their efforts to foster economic and social development from the grassroots level
Yunus established Grameen Bank in 1983 to offer small loans to entrepreneurs who were typically ineligible for traditional credit. The bank's success in alleviating poverty inspired similar microfinance initiatives globally
Yunus won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for his anti-poverty campaign through the Grameen Bank, a mode; which was replicated across continents
He had been in a protracted row with Hasina's government due to obscure reasons while authorities initiated a series of investigations against him after she came to power in 2008
Bangladesh authorities launched a review of the statutory Grameen Bank's activities in 2011 and fired Yunus as its founding managing director on charges of violating the government retirement regulation
He was charged under dozens of cases. In January, Yunus was sentenced to six months in jail by a court on charges of labour law violation
Many people believe Hasina became enraged when Yunus announced that he would form a political party in 2007 when the country was run by a military-backed government and Hasina was in prison
Yunus, however, did not follow through on the plan but at that time he criticised Bangladeshi politicians alleging they were only interested in money