COVER STORY
EBL Corporate Banking
A Cut Above The Rest
C
orporate Banking provides a one stop solution to the financing needs of its valued clients. The centralized operation allows seamless banking services to its clients. A wide
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range of products starting from working capital, term financing, structured trade finance, cash management solutions to large syndication capability coupled with service excellence has placed the corporate banking division
as a role model among the peer group. The Financial Institution Unit of Corporate Banking Division has relationship with all major global banks and multilateral agencies (i.e. IFC, ADB, DEG, FMO, PROPARCO etc.).
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
EBL Corporate Banking Leaders
Starting it journey back in early 2004, EBL Corporate Banking Division has been growing in a sustainable pace without comprising the quality of the portfolio. This has been possible mainly because of sound corporate
governance and compliance culture. At present, there are 75 members in the Corporate Banking Division. The team comprises of highly skilled Relationship Managers and seasoned Unit Heads.
75
members in the Corporate Banking Division
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Organogram:
CORPORATE BANKING Business Relationship Units
Structured FInance Units
Transcation Banking
Cash Management Unit
Financial Inctitutions Unit
Trade Sales Unit
Key Statistics Corporate Contribution in Total Loans - July 2017
6% Commercial
21% Consumer
73% Corporate
Corporate banking contributed to 73% of total loans outstanding for EBL as of 30 July, 2017.
Corporate Contribution in Total Liability - July 2017
14% Commercial
25%
61% Consumer
Corporate
Corporate Banking contributed to 25% of the total liability (deposit) for EBL as of 20 July, 2017.
Corporate Banking has been successfully working with multilateral agencies for a decade and has developed many tailor made products for the corporate customer. 4
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
Ahmed Shaheen: An energetic leader
Seamless co-ordination between units is key to sustainable growth of the EBL Corporate Banking
Activities in Focus Corporate Banking serves its customers with well-structured products and solutions both in local and foreign currency. Corporate Banking has been successfully working with multilateral agencies for a decade and developed many tailor made products for the corporate customer. Innovative products such as Aircraft PDP Financing, Commercial Paper, UPAS LCs, OBU Bill Financing and Structured LCs were developed by EBL Corporate Banking for the first time in Bangladesh. In many cases, EBL Corporate Banking worked closely with Bangladesh Bank for development of the banking industry in the country. Corporate Banking FI team also drives sales for EBL Finance (HK) Ltd. Corporate Banking
did the advisory service for its
facility for the 100,000 MT/PA
customer for preparatory work in
Steel Melting Plant of Magnum
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant.
Steel Industries Ltd. equipped with environment friendly Fume
Leading by Innovation Structured Finance Unit of Corporate Banking Division has been known to
Extraction Plant.
amounting to BDT 401.5
be a pioneer in terms of developing
Million for setting up an auto
new products, arranging large ticket
brick manufacturing plant with
syndications, short term working
tunnel kiln technology for SAS
capital syndication, commercial
Building Materials Limited.
paper, bond, preference shares, agency function and trustee role. Few noteworthy deals are:
Arranged USD 40 Million and BDT 2,065 Million syndicated
Arranger of syndicated long
term loan facility for Meghna
term loan for the expansion
Pulp & Paper Mills Limited.
project of Confidence Cement Limited to the tune of BDT 1,707 million.
Arranged Green Project Finance
Raised financing of BDT 1,500 Million for KSRM Steel Plant Ltd. and BDT 500 Million for
Arranged BDT 1,250 million
Ifad Autos Ltd. in the form of
deal of syndicated term loan
unsecured Commercial Paper.
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Arranged BDT 1,000 Million for BSRM Steels Ltd. and BDT 500 Million for Max Infrastructure Ltd. in the form of unsecured Commercial Paper.
Debt re-structuring to the tune of BDT 645 Million for HG Aviation Ltd. under syndication arrangement.
EBL has been the 1st bank to obtain approval followed by draw-down under LTFF facility of Bangladesh Bank for 03 (three) of its valued clients namely ACI Group, DBL Group and Rising Group.
Cash Management Unit Cash Management unit is a wing of EBL corporate banking. CMU
EBL Corporate Banking arranged BDT 1,000 Million for BSRM Steels Ltd. and BDT 500 Million for Max Infrastructure Ltd. in the form of unsecured Commercial Paper. has recently completed forward looking deals to get ahead in the cash management game including but not limited to signing agreement with bKash for payment collection, EBL Connect agreement with Grameenphone for managing online transactions and introducing
Corporate Banking’s nerve centre is located at Uday Tower, Gulshan in the city
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EBL Cheque Pro software for use of corporate cash management customers.
Way Forward EBL Corporate Banking business focus will revolve around infrastructure (power & energy and transport services), Health and pharmaceuticals, agriculture development of economic zones and associated sectors. At the same time the division will continue to deliver balanced business growth with high focus on asset quality, deepening existing relationships, selective on boarding in the identified sectors by the bank. Overall taka liquidity will continue and margins will be thin; as such, the corporate bank will continue its pursuit to build a low cost liability portfolio.
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
Corporate Banking Event Highlights
EBL signs a participating agreement for long-term financing at central bank head office. The Financial Sector Support Projects (FSSP) is funded by World Bank
Dinner hosted by EBL Finance (HK) Limited
H1-2016 Business Review meeting
Corporate clients enjoying Borsho Boron 1424 musical evening
Corporate Soccer Team
Team EBL at Corporate Conference
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EXPRESS YOURSELF Banking in 2030: The Invisible Bank While we don’t have access to a fortune teller to predict how the banking landscape will look in 10, 20 or 30 years, we can make some highly educated guesses about what’s on the horizon based on what we currently know. By 2030, technology will drive an even deeper fundamental shift in banking, moving it from being structural to completely invisible. However, it will be more involved in the lives of consumers than ever before. It’s time to introduce a new fledge of banking.
A
n invisible bank isn’t simply the end of the brick and mortar establishment. Nor does it mean that all banking transactions will occur on a mobile app or online portal. Rather, the evolution into invisibility will see traditional aspects of banks fade away as financial institutions become more of a white labeled product provider. Things like customer service call centers, branches and even sales teams will gradually be replaced by digitized self-service technologies. In the near future, banking will be made of three distinct components: The Platform Layer,
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the Product Layer and the Process Layer. Together, they will make the new Invisible Bank; introduce opportunities and challenges for the industry.
The Platform Layer Standing for Virtual Assistant (VA) is the platform through which consumers will connect with the Bank. VAwill use advanced data analytics, voice authentication, artificial intelligence, connected devices, application programming interface (API) and cloud technology.VA is all about connectivity. Rather than simply making an automatic
payment, perhaps it will coordinate information from a customer’s calendar, their social media, wearable devices and music apps to determine that they have been stressed lately. It will be constantly available and can be personalized to each customer’s needs. Customers are on the path to accepting this type of platform.
The Product Layer Banks currently consist of three vital economic functions: creating money through making loans, giving people a safe place to store cash and facilitating maturity transformation. These functions are possible
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017 because of a strong regulatory and risk management environment, access to government support and an understanding of credit risk. Banks are well placed to build on these core strengths and develop bespoke products that suit the lives of customers in the new landscape of 2030.
The Process Layer Process layer brings a new wave of utilities to operate the transactional infrastructure of banking. The biggest banks might well retain an element of transactional infrastructure the Process Layer but that will be opened up to competitors as a distinct utility business. According to the vision presented by KPMG (a global network of professional firm), large parts of the traditional banking organization could disappear. Functions and operations like customer service call centers, branches and sales teams could be a thing of the past. According to KPMG, the winners will be those that are best positioned to utilize their data, drive down costs, build effective partnerships with a broad range of third parties, and drive this new engagement with a robust cybersecurity infrastructure. Competition in this market will be intense led by a range of industry wide solutions in payments, settlements, core platforms and client on boarding. A rich ecosystem of new fintechs, major outsourcers and existing industry players will serve the banks. In the world of the Invisible Bank, cyber risk becomes even more acute, and regulation will have to quickly change to meet it. With a Platform Layer like VA, there is massive systemic risk. Banking regulation will need to become real time and potentially even present at the point of sale. If it can be proven that platforms like VA make the customer outcomes better, lower cost and more accessible, then regulators will need to keep step with the industry to ensure that these risks are managed. At the very
same times the bank of the future will still own the balance sheets, security and custody of access. Banking customers will be the ones most impacted by this transformation, yet also the least impacted. With the current operational model, individual branches and ATMs scattered across different locations handling various customer requests and dispensing cash, on its way to extinction, customers will no longer have to worry about doing any of these things personally. The experience with and access to banking products will remain the same no matter which channel or product set the individual is using. They will receive a personalized customer experience that relies on market information gleaned from social media and other behavior analytics. Using this data, the invisible bank will be able to design customized digital experiences for the customer, with products specifically configured to his or her demands and needs. For example, by analyzing a person’s Facebook posts and internet search history, the bank will know a particular customer might need a short-term loan at the same time the customer figures out his or her needs one. Or the bank will notice an uptick in a person’s spending, with many purchases being made at stores the person doesn’t typically patronize. This reduces a bank’s exposure to risk and allows the financial institution to optimize its capital reserves more efficiently. There are regulatory challenges, since this model of banking does not fit or comply with much of the current regulatory requirements. This could be one of several roadblocks to advancement of the Invisible Bank concept. For instance, in the platform layer component, there is the potential for systemic risk if the algorithms driving the decision-making process are wrong, resulting in wrong recommendations. In the product
and process layers, there could be the integration of dozens of new entrants, some of whom may not be directly monitored by existing regulation. The Invisible Bank is just one possible future of how banking’s transformational journey will play out. The technology required to build the Invisible Bank already exists today. Components such as APIs, cloud-based services, artificial intelligence and mass personalization are already becoming the foundation for the future at many financial institutions. But, in most cases, these technologies are being used in the peripheral systems rather than the core. A real shift in banking would require building out core platforms from scratch. The winners will be those that are able to utilize their data, drive down costs, build effective partnerships with a broad range of third parties, and of course, those with robust cyber security. Kazi Md. Miraj Hossain Relationship Officer Narayangonj SME/Agri Branch
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Criminal Mind Profiling: Perspective Cybercrime is an Essential but Immature Science
T
he innovative hacker categorize is a smart, lonely deviant - a teenage or adult person who’s long on computer smarts but short on social skills. Some computer criminals are techie individualists who take pleasure in writing and releasing destructive software codes. Others are suit-wearing professionals who steal copies of their employers’ customer databases to take with them when they quit. Some are con artists with plans to scam personal information from consumers and use it for financial gain. Experts agree knowing more about the different skills, personality traits and methods of operation of computer criminals could help the people pursuing these criminals. But a lack of information delays efforts to create substantive, reliable profiles of the people behind today’s computer crimes. “Like in traditional crimes, it’s important to try to understand
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what motivates these people to get involved in computer crimes in the first place, how they choose their targets and what keeps them in this deviant behavior after the first initial thrill,” says Marcus Rogers, an associate professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., where he heads cyber forensics research in the university’s department of computer technology. Rogers’ expertise spans technology and behavioral sciences. He has identified eight types of cybercriminals, ranging from “newbies” with limited programming skills who rely on pre-written scripts to conduct their attacks, to welltrained professional criminals and cyber terrorists with state-of-the-art gear. In addition to skill, these criminals differ in their motivations. Some computer criminals are motivated by status or money, others by revenge, says Rogers, who worked as a detective in a computer crimes
unit in Canada and earned his doctorate in forensic psychology at the University of Manitoba. “The kid who’s running prewritten scripts, his motivation is not to collapse the American economy. He’s usually driven by experimentation, looking for a thrill. It’s like cyberjoyriding.” Whereas for a professional criminal, the motivation is income, Rogers says. “He doesn’t want to brag or be all over the press. He wants to be very quiet and fly under the radar as long as possible.”
One man’s hacker taxonomy Marcus Rogers has identified eight types of cyber-criminals, distinguished by their skill levels and motivations. Rogers is an associate professor at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., where he heads cyber forensics research in the university’s department of computer technology.
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
Novice
Coders
Limited computer and programming skills.
Rely on toolkits to conduct their attacks.
Can cause extensive damage to systems since they don’t understand how the attack works.
Act as mentors to the newbies. Write the scripts and automated tools that others use.
Motivated by a sense of power and prestige.
Dangerous — have hidden agendas, use Trojan horses.
Looking for media attention.
Old guard hackers
Cyber-punks
Capable of writing their own software.
Appear to have no criminal intent.
Have an understanding of the systems they are attacking.
Alarming disrespect for personal property.
Appear to be interested in the intellectual endeavor.
Many are engaged in credit card number theft and telecommunications fraud.
Have a tendency to brag about their exploits.
Internals a)
Disgruntled employees or ex-employees
May be involved in technology-related jobs.
Aided by privileges they have or had been assigned as part of their job function.
Pose largest security problem.
b)
Petty thieves
Include employees, contractors, consultants.
Professional criminals
Specialize in corporate espionage.
Guns for hire.
Highly motivated, highly trained, have access to state-of-the-artequipment.
Information warriors/cyber-terrorists
Increase in activity since the fall of many Eastern Bloc intelligence agencies.
Computer literate.
Well-funded.
Opportunistic: take advantage of poor internal security.
Mix political rhetoric with criminal activity. Political activist
Motivated by greed or necessity to pay off other habits, such asdrugs or gambling.
Possible emerging category.
Engage in hacktivism.
Companies aren’t going to solve computer security issues just by throwing technology at the problem, agrees Steven Branigan, president of security company CyanLine and author of High-Tech Crimes Revealed: Cyberwar Stories from the Digital Front. “It’s about understating where the risks are and understanding how people behave,” he says.
says Branigan, a founding member of the New York Electronic Crimes Task Force. “My experience has been that those who get into computers first, and then start hacking, are more motivated by curiosity,” he says. “Those who have criminal tendencies to begin with, when they learn about using computers, they then figure out how to apply that to their trade.”
Hackers are motivated to do what they do for different reasons, such as money, ego, revenge and curiosity,
Some wind up being more destructive than others. Script kiddies aren’t generally driven to
be destructive, but they’ll take advantage of some weakness that exists in an operating system, Branigan says. Cybercriminals looking to make money aren’t bent on being destructive either, he says. “[Like] any parasite, they don’t want to kill the host.” “The people I’ve found to be the most dangerous are the ones seeking revenge,” Branigan says. Insider criminals - those who go after things like customer and
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In today’s world, the number of computer criminals successfully captured and prosecuted is embarrassingly low, says Gary Jackson, founder and CEO of Psynapse Technologies. supplier databases, business pipeline information, future product prototypes and strategic business plans - are particularly good at exploiting companies’ vulnerabilities. “They have the most access, they know how systems work, and they really know where to hit you,” Branigan says. Of course, not all experts view the hacker nation through the same discriminating lens. For Patrick Gray, there’s really only one driver that matters today: Money. Motivations have changed dramatically in the last decade, says Gray, who is director of X-Force operations at Internet Security Systems (ISS). X-Force is the R&D division of ISS, responsible for vulnerability and threat research. “We’ve gone from five or 10 years ago, where hackers were dabbling in other people’s systems to see how they were configured and really not doing anything wrong in those systems, to now where it’s become incredibly malicious. We’ve come a full 180 degrees.” Instead of being driven by curiosity, hackers today are driven by money. “They’re trying to get anything of value that they can market,” Gray says. “The stereotypical image of the lone hacker sitting up in a loft somewhere, eating Ding Dongs,
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drinking Jolt cola until it comes out of his ears, and just hacking away, is gone.”
The hard part Digging into the parallels that exist between crimes committed in the physical and electronic worlds could unlock some of the mystery of who’s behind the computer crimes. Rogers and others like him want to see traditional criminal profiling adapted for use in computer forensic investigations. “It’s about looking at the computer and the Internet as an electronic crime scene, and looking for indicators of signature behaviors and MOs that allow us to paint a picture of the individual who’s responsible,” Rogers says. “We can do a fairly good job of this in the physical world - can we do a fairly good job in the electronic world?” The next step is to take that understanding and use it in practical ways, such as to harden systems and improve investigation techniques. But what’s missing is sound data. People have spent a lot of time developing theories, but there isn’t a lot of solid information, Rogers says. “We really have to . . . study it with scientific rigor.” Branigan agrees. “Ultimately, right now we don’t have enough information to make that really
good profile,” he says. “We’re at the anecdotal stage, where we’ve collected some information, but I don’t think we have enough.” One obstacle is victims’ reluctance to report computer crimes. “My biggest gripe is that we don’t share information very well,” Gray says. “The hacking community shares info with each other all the time. If a hacker is having a problem accessing a router, or getting through a firewall, he’ll throw it on the table, into the channels, looking for help. People are more than willing to help him complete the hack.” The same type of information sharing doesn’t happen among businesses, Gray says. “Until we recognize the need to share information with one another, we’re going to continually be reacting to the whims of this hacking community,” he says. Extortion, in particular, goes unreported, says Marty Lindner, a senior member of technical staff at the CERT Coordination Center at Carnegie Mellon University. “That’s very hard to document, very hard to prove. Most companies won’t talk about that,” he says. But experts agree it’s on the rise. Organized criminals in areas such
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017 as Eastern Europe are increasingly penetrating businesses’ systems and threatening to release sensitive corporate data if they aren’t paid money, Gray says. They’re also launching denial-of-service (DoS) attacks to interrupt companies’ electronic business operations. “Then they say, ‘We’ll stop this DoS attack on your company and let you back on the Internet if you pay me.’” From conversations with law enforcement, Gray estimates only about 10% of online extortions are being reported. Hoping to reverse the trend of unreported computer attacks, CERT offers a venue for companies to talk without being identified publicly. Companies understand they can talk to CERT without worrying what they say will be attributed to their companies, Lindner says. “We can take that info, make it nonattribution and then push it out to others so that they know what to look for now.” When companies don’t report crimes, they miss an opportunity to potentially protect the criminals’ next targets. “I’ve seen cases where three or four companies - all of a similar kind - have been attacked in the exact same way,” Lindner says. “But none of them was willing to tell the others about the style of the attack. If they had, the first guy would have been hit, but the other guys might have had a better chance.” In today’s world, the number of computer criminals successfully captured and prosecuted is embarrassingly low, says Gary Jackson, founder and CEO of Psynapse Technologies. A spinoff of the American Institutes for Research, Psynapse makes intrusion-protection products that are designed to respond to
the behavior of attackers - even anticipate the actions of site visitors by assessing their intent. “Very few cases actually come to trial. I’ve seen estimates as low as one out of 300 or 400 actually get caught,” Jackson says. That’s one reason more traditional criminals are getting into computer crimes. “There aren’t the penalties. If you get caught, more often than not it’s a misdemeanor,” he says. Plus the small percentage of computer crimes that do get attention tend to be those perpetrated by less-skilled deviants, which doesn’t do much to shed light on the highly skilled and more dangerous criminals operating in the world. “I’m not really worried about the kid sitting in his basement running the latest SQL Slammer attack,” Rogers says. “I’m concerned about organized crime. I’m concerned about its use in white-collar crime and in the dark side of information warfare - that being the ability to launch terrorist attacks. But the groups that we unfortunately only tend to see are at the real low end of the skill spectrum.”
Looking ahead Changing that scenario is going to require a concerted effort to collect and share data about the types of computer crimes being committed and the people doing it. But it won’t be easy. “Trying to obtain enough data that we can start making enough meaningful comparisons is not an overnight effort,” Rogers says. “Collecting good data is important, and it has to be done worldwide.” In the past, global roadblocks have contributed to hackers’ veils of anonymity, Rogers says. “There are
When companies don’t report crimes, they miss an opportunity to potentially protect the criminals’ next targets. “I’ve seen cases where three or four companies - all of a similar kind have been attacked in the exact same way,” Lindner says. issues with jurisdiction, issues with extradition. Computer criminals can throw up a lot of smokescreens between themselves and their victims, and the authorities on the other end.” Fortunately that’s starting to change. There’s some momentum behind international movements to harmonize computer crime statutes, Rogers says. And those pursuing the bad guys are getting better at what they do. “Law enforcement is a lot more technically savvy than the public and underground community give them credit for,” Rogers says. Vigilance is a must. “What we’ve learned as professionals is that we can never, ever underestimate the creativity out there,” Jackson says. “A lot of hackers tend to be very bright, very focused. They might have a string of college degrees behind them, and they might be as good as the people protecting the systems.” Md. Mushfiqur Rahman Senior Manager, Specialized Audit Internal Control and Compliance Division
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Do not FEAR the FAILURE
S
o, here we are, sometimes, mired in the mud of a stalled Career, wondering why success keeps dancing just beyond our fingertips. But many experts tout failure as the castor oil of success. The idea isn’t to fling ourselves into certain disaster in order to be mystically rewarded with triumph. Rather it’s a simple recognition that people who willingly risk failure and learn from the loss
have the best chance of succeeding at whatever they try. If we haven’t crashed yet, maybe we are in the snooze mode, coasting and taking too few risks to be challenged. We must remember that “Everyone gets a chance. No one lives a failureproof life forever”.
status. At very least, it simply not getting what you want. It teaches about our strength and acquaints of us with our limitations. People who profit from loss are the kind of foot soldiers business leaders seek. Failure is merely the cost of seeking new challenges.
Failure is easy to recognize. It usually involves loss of money, self esteem, career growth or social
So, if the thought of Failure paralyzes us here are some cheat codes that can help us to rise from the ashes.
Replace the word “Failure “by Glitch / Bollix/ Course Correction in your life. The Language you use to describe yourself powerful reality. Don’t take it personally; you are the winner from birth. Be prepared by catastrophe plan. Keep in Mind that the Chinese ideogram for crisis consists of the characters for both “Danger” and “Opportunity”.
Broadening your support system is also crucial.
Learn to fail intelligently; learn to reload and ready to shoot again.
So, we always have to seek for improvement. With that attitude, tempered by failure we likely to be on top for years to come.
Sheikh Md. Aktar Uz Zaman Relationship Manager Dhanmondi Branch
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EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
From the Lost Pages of a Philosopher’s Diary A Road Named Fate
more than you know; you are playing a role far greater than you’d care to admit. Give yourself some credit. Instead of measuring life by the limited years we’ve got, let’s try to live in the countless moments we have. I know you didn’t get to choose your life, and I’m sorry for that. But with whom and how you live it; is purely your choice. And that’s something, right?
Light and Darkness: Circle Eternal
The roads that you take, each tells a different story. Each unfolds a different version of the same truth and changes you a little with every journey. The ‘you’ who starts and the ‘you’ who finishes, how can be the same traveler? The fellow wanderers you meet, each imparts a unique part of the story that we call ‘you’. You so unknowingly absorb a part of them and carry it till the very end. Ironically, they do so too. It may not seem so, but you don’t decide which one to take; it’s the road that chooses the traveler. Perhaps it’s kismet that throws the stone towards the road that you think you walk out of your own free will. Or who knows, maybe the road is fate itself, lying there; waiting!
The Choice
The truth will set you free. Is that always the case, always the truth? While some truth will indeed give you freedom or at least a sense of it, others will not be so kind. Some will bind you, take you even deeper. But which is more forgiving; a cruel truth or a soothing lie? Is ignorance really bliss, even for the time being? What would you choose if given the choice: to go with the flow until your lies betray you eventually or to live with the ugly truth from the very first day. But then again, sometimes life is just an either-or situation; a choice between accepting that simple no, or keep fighting for the yes that you yearn. But in-between these fights of yours, don’t forget to judge this seemingly black and white life from a gray standpoint. Because just as from the light comes the darkness, from the darkness can also come the light, making the circle full.
Contrary to the popular belief, our life isn’t an endless journey. It has a specific beginning and a predestined end. But the many roles we get to play in between make it endless. So don’t try too hard to fit into your life while it’s already trying harder to accommodate you. This world needs you
Sheikh Hasin Fayez Associate Manager Digital Banking Solutions
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Inspirational Leadership Traits for themselves. They get up every morning and they see every effort they make as part of a great plan to accomplish something wonderful with their lives and push forward with a positive attitude.
The below are the collection of few inspirational buzzwords, some quotes, that helped me to think differently and give a new perspectives of my day to day activities. Shared with everyone and hope this would reshape our thoughts and reenergize ourselves.
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1.
Leaders help to ignite the passion
2.
“ Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion” – Jack Welch
3.
Great leaders inspire other people, their friends, customer, associates and even their children because they are inspired themselves. They are excited about the possibility of creating an exciting future
4. Be assured, the journey of improving our ability to quiet our minds, to focus on the other person, and to become a fully present listener, will significantly improve our effectiveness as a leader. 5.
Great leaders understand how to balance emotion with reason and make decisions that positively impact themselves, their employees, their customers and stakeholders, and their organizations
6. Influential Leadership” is the ability of a leader to incite action in others simply through mastering the skills of communication and motivation tailored to individuals. A leader of influence is one who will work to remove the obstacles preventing people from performing effectively. 7.
Micromanaging dents your team’s morale by establishing a tone of mistrust—and it limits your team’s capacity to grow ( meaning Stop Micro Managing)
8. 7 basic leadership traits: •
Integrity
•
Passion
•
Accountability
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017 •
Delegation
22. Leaders ignite enthusiasm
•
Creativity
•
Communication.
23. Integrity and objectivity are two major qualities of leadership
•
Respect.
24. Believe in change management
9.
Organizations Must “innovate or die,” - Bill Gates
25. Leadership do not encourage bullying
10. A great team doesn’t necessarily build a great culture, but a great culture almost certainly builds a great team. 11. Leaders have to be Rationale, the quality or state of being reasonable, based on facts 12. Leadership should never be one-sided, nor should the leader always be the one generating the ideas or making the decisions. Leadership means actively listening and advancing the ideas of others (and injecting recommendations along the way to further strengthen or add value to them)
26. Admit- if you don’t know 27. Leaders have to be proactive not reactive 28. Know- don’t perceive 29. Listen – don’t judge 30. Leaders need to dream something “ Big” 31. Leaders- leading from the front 32. Leaders possess “ open mind “ as opposed to “ block mind” 33. All activity has to be goal driven 34. Characteristics of High Assertiveness : •
Value competition, success, and progress.
•
14. Leaders always motivate and inspire team members
Communicate directly and unambiguously.
•
15. Leaders are not afraid off taking risks
Try to have control over the environment.
•
16. Deliverables and Value addition is the key parameters
Expect subordinates to take initiative.
•
Build trust on basis of calculation
13. Leaders always keep cordial relationship with the team mates
17. Humility- leaders always admit mistakes 18. Leaders empower their team members , delegation of authority is a big step towards subordinate development 19. Never be shy-off communications, always speak up 20. Good leadership ensures “ Governance and Growth” goes hand in hand 21. Leadership creates a vibe that creates positive energy
35. Leaders possess high ethical and moral standards 36. Clearly communicates expectations 37. Communicates often and openly 38. Open to a new ideas and approaches
41. Effective leaders foster innovation. 42. Effective leaders manage complexity. 43. Effective leaders leverage networks 44. Effective leaders inspire engagement. 45. Effective leaders develop personal adaptability. 46. Effective leaders cultivate learning agility. 47. Prioritize your task 48. One thing at a time 49. Look at the bigger picture: 50. Let your work be louder than your words
39. Helps team members grow into a new-generation leaders 40. Effective leaders act strategically.
Maskur Reza FCA Head of Business Information Systems
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Blissful Bandarban I am a backpacker through and through. When I am on the road, I live reasonably, I stay in hotels to hostels whichever seems suitable, I search out deals and groups, and I try to avoid spending money. To me, traveling isn’t just about visiting different places. I don’t often plan my destination. Yes, I love exploring certain parts of the world, but what I really want to explore is life on this planet. I want to know how cultures fit together, why people think and act the way they do. To me, traveling is about understanding the people and their culture as well as expecting the unexpectedness. To quote the author John Early, ‘Expectation is the dirtiest word in a traveler’s vocabulary.’
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EBL Xpress July Issue 2017 The more “Chander Gari” goes up, the cooler breeze starts to flaunt around travelers. The clear blue sky will amaze you instantly and the green valley will give you heavenly feeling. The sceneries through the whole journey are breathtakingly picturesque and soothing for the eyes.
Blissful Bandarban
Will you go to Nafakhum? That was the first question my friend asked over the mobile when he called just two days before the journey. Suddenly, one of the members fell sick and they have a spare ticket. It was a four day journey including weekend, so I will have to take two days leave from the office. On that moment, I had no idea about the place, about getting leave from the office but I agreed instantly. That is how it should be in the religion of wanderlust! I believe. And it was worth saying yes, that I knew after six days. The journey began on a thrilling Thursday night of April 2017. After crossing the check post at Bandarban at dawn, I just felt the air. Even without opening my eyes, I could feel that the air is telling me that I am not in any mechanical city anymore. As I have opened my eyes, the Non-AC bus is running its last five or ten minute journey to reach the last bus stand. The cool breeze was kissing my cheeks and refreshing my breaths from the heart. The trees both sides of the road were welcoming with wide green branches. The bus was passing through like shadows. Finally we reached and got down from the bus. We had our breakfast near the bus stand and booked a “Chander Gari” from Bandarban to Thanchi. It takes an hour to reach Thanchi. As we have stopped at several places to take photos and eat some formalin free fruits from the locals, it took us more than an hour to reach our destination. All should try fresh fruits (Banana, Pineapple, Papaya or any other seasonal fruit) sold by locals because it was so tasty and chemical free.
Chander Gari
On the way to Thanchi: Glimpse of Sangu River
We, a group of eight wanderlusts, reached Thanchi. We hired a tour guide and boats to go further from Thanchi. A maximum of five people can sit in one boat and we had to take two boats to go to Remakri. After confirming the tour guide, we went to finish other formalities. The tour guide helped us to fill up the forms and then we went to police station to register our names. The duty officer took our photo with our guide. We had our lunch at Thanchi Bazaar then we were free to flow!
On the way to Remakri: Sangu River
Boat was the only way to suit us to travel to the Remakri and the journey did not disappoint us. It was one of the memorable memories of our lives. A Journey by Boat! I can’t remember how many essays I have written while studying on this topic and only after this journey I felt it was worth writing for! Now I can visualize a journey by boat and understand the fascination of people that why it makes soothingly fascinating to travel by a boat. The boat trip along the Sangu River, upstream from Thanchi, is about as exquisitely picturesque and fabulously peaceful as you can possibly get in Bangladesh. Rustic river boats drift down the river to Remakri from Thanchi accessible from Thanchi boat stand. From Thanchi, the lazy ride to Remakri is magical, I passed villages only accessible by boat and enjoyed some mesmerizing scenery; sometimes rugged, sometimes rural, but always stunning.
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Ratargul Swamp Forest
Ratargul Swamp Forest: The Amazon of Bangladesh
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atargul, locally this forest is called the Amazon of Bangladesh. There are only twenty-one more freshwater forests in the whole world! Ratargul is one of them. Various wild animals and birds live here and wander from branch to branch of trees. Rainy season and just after the rainy season (from July to October) is the suitable time to visit Ratargul. It is also called as Amazon of Bangladesh or Deshi Amazon or you can say Banglar Amazon. It is an evergreen and mystic forest as well as one of the best freshwater swamp forests in this world. The beauty of this forest is bloomed mainly in the rainy season. The traveling taste of Ratargul is like to visit the Sundarbans but the water is not salty like Sundarban. It’s fresh and clean water forest
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in the bank of Goain River and linked with the canal Chengir Khal. But the flow of the river is extreme during the rainy season. I am here explaining and sharing some photos and the real taste of visiting the Ratargul Swamp Forest from my true experience.
Discover Ratargul We were about eight friends and everyone was very excited to visit the Banglar Amazon. We started our journey from Dhaka by train on Thursday night (But it is not necessary to start your journey at night). It was a beautiful morning in Sylhet .We arrived at the Amborkhana Road, Sylhet just after the 5:30 am at morning. Immediately after that, we have entered into a local restaurant for breakfast. We took some time to
refresh ourselves to reduce the fatigue of this long journey. There are two ways to reach Ratargul. One is Sylhet City to Goain Ghat then Ratargul and another way is to use Motorghat then Ratargul Forest. We decided to use the second one which is the easiest one as well as cost effective and time savings. We hired a micro bus for a comfortable journey which was also reasonable for us. Our car has started the journey to the way of Motorghat. Well, we talked with boatman there with their light dinghy type boat (Kosha is the local name) and started what we have dreamt of for so long, Expedition Ratargul! We started our adventurous tour with two tiny wooden boats and trying to slither across the deep
EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
green water, snakes hissing from the adjacent trees and unknown birds and species are flying over our head. No sound but water drops. Everyone was speechless and trying to adjust to the surface of this precious green forest. We feel an adventure as time goes on. After a few moments, we found a dark green point where we can’t see the sky due to the density of trees and bunch. In many places, sunlight doesn’t enter. If the rain stops for one or two days, the water becomes crystal clear. At that time you can observe the reflection of another green forest under that clean water. It’s a life time experience. Some of my friends couldn’t resist there temptation to jump in the water (It’s actually not safe enough). They swim in the river like our childhood come again. Inside the
forest, we extremely felt the natural attraction of this jungle. This is an extraordinary and mind-blowing natural forest. The more time you spend the more will you amazed. It’s an experience which is never to forget.
How to go to Ratargul At first, you have to go to Sylhet city. Then, there are two options you can enjoy the beauty of Ratargul. First, Ride on to a CNG Auto rickshaw/ micro from Ambarkhana point of Sylhet city to Motorghat. (It can be BDT 450 - 500 for auto and BDT 1500 -2000 for Micro) Hire a boat or more (according to your team, a boat can carry 5 or 6 persons), each of them will cost BDT 400- 600 for the trip and take total 1-2 hours to visit the whole forest.
After finishing the visit, you can return to Sylhet in the same way. This is the easiest way and takes less time and cost effective as well. Second, Hire a CNG auto-rickshaw from Ambarkhana point of Sylhet city for Goainghat Bazar. It will cost BDT 300-500 and take 2-3 hours. Then hire a motor boat from the Engine Nouka Ghat near the bazar. It will cost BDT 800-1400 and take 1-2 hours to reach Ratargul. The way is the little bit costly and time-consuming, but if you plan to visit Jaflong in the same route, you should go this way.
Rahul Das Assistant officer People’s Pay and Benefits Human Resources Division
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Qutub Minar
Taj Mahal
The Architecture of India This year I went to India with my family members for vacation though it was summer there but we enjoyed a lot. We have been to many places at India, especially we were overwhelmed by the sight of certain landmarks such as Qutub Minar and The Taj Mahal. The architecture of India is rooted in its history, culture and religion. Indian architecture progressed with time and assimilated the many influences that came as a result of India’s global discourse with other regions of the world throughout its millennia-old past.
Qutub Minar The origin of Qutab Minar is shrouded in controversy. Some believe it was erected as a tower of victory to signify the beginning of the Muslim rule in India. Others say it served as a minaret to the muezzins to call the faithful to prayer. Qutub Minar is a World Heritage Site and has survived the ravages of time impressively. The Minar of Delhi is surrounded by a lush green garden, which is an ideal leisurely place for visitors. No one can, however, dispute that the tower is not only one of the finest monuments in India, but also in the world. Qutub-ud-din Aibak, the first Muslim ruler of Delhi, commenced the construction of the Qutab Minar in 1200 AD, but could only finish the basement. His successor, Iltutmush, added three more stories, and in 1368, Firoz Shah Tughlak constructed the fifth and the last storey Qutub Minar a prominent example of Islamic architecture in India is a minaret that forms part of the Qutb complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Mehrauli area of Delhi, India. Made of red sandstone and marble, Qutub Minar is a 73-meters (240 feet) tall tapering tower of five stories, with a 14.3 meters (47 feet) base diameter, reducing to 2.7 meters (9 feet) at the peak. It contains a spiral staircase of 379 steps. Its design is thought to have been based on the Minaret of Jam, in western Afghanistan.
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EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
Terracota on the walls of Qutub Minar
The minar is built many years ago using red sandstone, sandstones and marbles. It contains several flanged and cylindrical shafts and its storey is separated by balconies. The first three stories of the Qutub minar are built using red sandstone however fourth and fifth stories are built using marble and sandstone. There is a Quwwat-ulIslam Mosque (considered as the first mosque built in India) at the base of this minar. There is an iron pillar of height 7 meter in the Qutub complex written with Brahmic inscriptions.
The writer in front of Qutub Minar
It also contains its history written in Devnagari and Arabic characters. The nearby pillared Cupola known as “Smith’s Folly” is a remnant of the tower’s 19th century restoration, which included an ill-advised attempt to add a sixth storey. How to reach: Delhi is well connected with domestic and international flights, to all the major cities within and outside India. From Delhi city you can go to Qutub Minar by Metro or by Taxi Cab. Uber is also available at Delhi City.
Nearest Metro Station: Qutub Minar Open: All days Entry Fee: 500 Rupees Best time to visit: The best time to visit Delhi is from October to March when the weather is at its best. Qutub Minar is the favorite destination of tourists. It is India’s most visited monument attracting around 3.9 million visitors every year.
Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque
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Taj Mahal Taj Mahal was built in 22 years (1631-1653) with the orders of Shah Jahan and it was dedicated to Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Bano Begum), the wife of Shah. 20,000 workers labored and 32 crore rupees were spent during the construction of the monument and it was built according to Islamic architecture. It is one of the UNESCO world heritage site. The building is influenced mostly from central Asian and Persian architecture combined with Muslim architecture. Taj Mahal is built from expensive white marble. It looks beautiful in day and shines in night. Beauty of Taj Mahal is enhanced by its finial and large dome. Dome resembles the shape of onion. The height of the dome is 35 meters and there are four long splendors each of 55 meters in height. Although the Taj Mahal provide a best scene from all corners but view from east direction is special. Although such a devotion to a wife reaching to build a monument seemed like a weakness for an emperor, Shah Jahan was clearly determined. He chose a peaceful site by the River of Jumna about one and a half miles away from Agra on the southern edge of the city, where could be seen from the Agra Fortress. The closeness to the river also met the water need for the construction and garden. Shah Jahan decided to move Mumtaz to Agra in December 1631 and was buried in a domed building temporarily on the construction site of the
unique mausoleum in January 8, 1632. Decoration of Taj Mahal includes stones inlays stucco and paint. There are the white marble dadosb on the lower walls of the tomb. It has sculpted with some realistic vines and flowers contented relief depictions. Polishing of marble is done with the help of some shining metal and thus it emphasis the detailing of carvings. Archway spandrels have been designed and decorated with highly stylized inlays of pieta dura and some flowers, fruits and vines. Inner stones of Taj Mahal is covered with yellow marbles. These stones are well polished and leveled at the wall surface.
Interesting facts about Taj Mahal
The Taj Mahal was built by a whopping 22,000 laborers, painters, stonecutters, embroidery artists.
Legend has it that Emperor Shah Jahan intended to build another Taj Mahal in black marble across the river but a war with his sons interrupted these plans.
The changing moods of the Emperors wife are well captured by the changing hues of the Mausoleum at different times of the day. It takes a pinkish hue in the morning, milky white in the evening and golden at night when illuminated by moonlight.
It intricate work of art and architectural genius took 17 years to complete.
The most recognizable feature is the white dome at the peak of the mausoleum. Often called the ‘onion dome’, it rises to about 35 meters (115 feet)
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EBL Xpress July Issue 2017
Calligraphy on the walls of Taj Mahal
and is surrounded by four other domes.
As always, rumor mills are on the overdrive about this mausoleum. It is rumored that the Emperor ordered that all the workers who worked on the mausoleum get their hands chopped of so that no one could make anything like it ever again. Many of the precious stones on the mausoleum were ripped off from the walls of the mausoleum by the British army during the Indian rebellion of 1857.
The writer in front of Taj Mahal
When to go: The most proper time for a comfortable visit to Agra is probably from November to April. How to reach there from Delhi: Driving to Agra is also easy and comfortable with new modern highways. From Delhi you can take the NH2 highway (200 km) and can reach within 2-3 hours. Visiting Hours: Taj Mahal is open from sunrise to sunset during normal operating days. Taj Mahal is closed on Fridays for general viewing and is opened on Friday afternoon only for those who have to attend prayers at the Taj Mosque. There is no limit to how long tourists may
stay inside the monument complex within the normal operating hours. Entry Fee for Taj Mahal: Citizens of SAARC Countries- 530 Rupees. Taj Mahal is a famous Indian landmark and tourist magnet, attracting more than a million tourists every year. It’s our bad luck that we couldn’t see the real beauty of Taj Mahal because maintenance work was going on at that time. Sabrina Nasir Associate Manager Organization Development Human Resources
A panoramic view of the Taj
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