Srinagar: The National Institute of Technology (NIT) Srinagar in collaboration with Yonus Centre–Dhaka and School of Management, Zhejinag Univerty–Hangzhou will host an ‘Open to Public’ Fireside Chat with Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus of Bangladesh on ‘Rethinking Innovation and Growth Models in Post-Covid World’ on March 11.
Professor Yunus has been testing his social banking and small finance methods since the time Bangladesh saw a massive famine in 1974. At that time, a small loan of US$27 given to a group of 42 families as seed money turned out to be a successful experiment. More than four decades later, the Grameen Bank established by Prof Yunus had about 2,600 branches and nine million borrowers, with a repayment rate of 99.6% and 97% of the borrowers being women. As of now more than 300 million people around the world have benefitted from micro-finance.
This performance has made the founder of Grameen Bank “one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time,” a success that in 2006 fetched Prof Yunus and the Grameen Bank the Nobel Peace Prize. Prof Yunus is also the recipient of 61 honorary degrees from universities across 24 countries. He has received 136 awards from 33 countries including state honours from 10 countries. He is one of only seven individuals to have received both the Nobel Peace Prize and the United States Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Those interested in conversing with him online on March 11 can register by sending an email to, “Iiedcnit2020@gmail.com” to participate in the 40-minute webinar with Professor Yunus. The event will be live streamed from Dhaka and Kashmir.
The chief discussant for the event will be Prof Xiaobo Wu, Professor of Innovation and Strategic Management at School of Management, Zhejiang University, and member of World Economic Forum. Dr. Sheikh Fayaz Ahmad, a Kashmiri who coordinated the event and works as an innovation researcher with Zhejiang University China, will moderate the discussion, while Prof Saad Parvez, Head of Innovation at ‘Incubation and Entrepreneurship Development Centre’, NIT-Srinagar, will be the convener for the session.
“The aim is to get insights from Professor Yunus about the post-pandemic world, and to discuss the possibility of exploring alternative forms of innovations and business models,” Dr Fayaz said.
He said that Prof Yunus will be coming to Kashmir after April. “Earlier he was supposed to come here in 2019, but due to the tense situation arising between India and Pakistan, the visit was delayed,” Dr Fayaz said.
“In 2019, Prof Yunus agreed to set up a few Yunus Centers in Kashmir which I believe will help us lift people out of poverty,” Dr Fayaz said. “The Yunus Centre is a Bangladesh-based think tank that works in the field of poverty alleviation and sustainability, based on Professor Yunus’ philosophy.”
Dr. Fayaz expressed his gratitude to Talat Parvez Rohella, Commissioner Secretary to Government, Department of Higher Education, Government of Jammu and Kashmir, the Director of NIT -Srinagar, Prof (Dr.) Rakesh Sehgal, Dean School of Management, Zhejiang University, Yonus Centre Dhaka for helping facilitate this event. He also thanked STC-Srinagar and Raheem Greens for agreeing to offer the technical support for the session.
