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Yunus, the Guru of microcredit



Muhammad Yunus is the proud of Bangladesh. He is also personality of proud of South Asia and the whole of the world. He is mostly known as Dr. Yunus or Professor Yunus in Bangladesh, a South Asian country. Now, his name is echoed with Grameen Bank, a Bank built for poor, made for poor, maintained for poor and worked for poor by him & his initiative.

Mr. Yunus born on 28th June in 1940. He was mainly a university professor in Bangladesh. Though, he is now mostly known as a Bangladeshi banker. He is also known as an economist and Nobel Peace Prize winner.

He previously was a professor of economics at Chittagong University in Bangladesh where he developed the concepts of microcredit and microfinance. He has become mentor for Grameen (Rural) Development in Bangladesh as well as in the world. Microcredit and microfinance are the loans given to entrepreneurs too poor to qualify for traditional bank loans.

In 2006, Yunus and Grameen received the Nobel Peace Prize "for their efforts through microcredit to create economic and social development from below". Yunus himself has received several other national and international honors.

In 2012, he was installed Chancellor of Glasgow Caledonian University in Scotland, serving in this capacity as the university's titular head. He is also a member of advisory board at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology.  He is the author of Banker to the Poor and two books on Social Business Models and a founding board member of Grameen America and Grameen Foundation. Grameen Intel is just one of hundreds of public and private partnerships now mediated through Youth & Yunus.

In early 2007 Yunus showed interest in launching a political party in Bangladesh named Nagorik Shakti (Citizen Power), but later discarded the plan. He is one of the founding members of Global Elders.

Yunus also serves on the board of directors of the United Nations Foundation, a public charity created in 1998 with entrepreneur and philanthropist Ted Turner’s historic $1 billion gift to support UN causes. The UN Foundation builds and implements public-private partnerships to address the world’s most pressing problems, and broadens support for the UN.

In March 2011, after months of government attack, the Bangladesh government controversially and  fired Yunus from his position at Grameen Bank. The Bangladesh government took the decision even avoiding the people's mandate, criticism, opinion, and even influencing of much talked pro-government Supreme Court of country. The government also tried to show cause before the world and people of Bangladesh citing legal violations and an age limit on his position. Yunus and Grameen Bank are appealing the decision, claiming Yunus' removal was politically motivated.

Professor Yunus was chosen by Wharton School of Business for PBS documentary, as one of 'The 25 Most Influential Business Persons of the Past 25 Years'. In 2006, Time magazine listed him under "60 years of Asian Heroes" as one of the top 12 business leaders. In 2008, in an open online poll, Yunus was voted the 2nd topmost intellectual person in the world on the list of Top 100 Public Intellectuals by Prospect Magazine (UK) and Foreign Policy (United States).


Younus in Brief: 
Born: 28 June 1940 (age 72) at Chittagong,  Bangladesh (A South Asian country).
Nationality: Bangladeshi
Institution: Chittagong University, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Middle Tennessee State University Glasgow, Caledonian University
Field: Microcredit, Welfare economics, Ethics
Contributions: Grameen Bank, Microcredit, Microfinance, Social Business. 
Awards: Independence Day Award (1987), World Food Prize (1994), Nobel Peace Prize (2006), Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009), Congressional Gold Medal (2010).

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