The government has invited Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus to join the opening programme of the Padma Bridge on June 25. The Bridges Division sent the invitation card to Yunus Centre on Wednesday, Director (Administration) of Bangladesh Bridge Authority Rupam Anwar told UNB on Thursday. Read: BNP turns down invitation to join Padma Bridge opening programme Yunus Centre Deputy General Manager (DGM) Rahima Khatun received the invitation card. Rahima told UNB that they have already sent the invitation to Prof Yunus. The inauguration of the Padma Bridge will be celebrated in 64 districts of the country simultaneously on June 25.

Noble Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has said he is "honoured and overwhelmed" to receive the Olympic Laurel. "I'm honoured and overwhelmed to receive this Olympic Laurel. And so sad I can’t be there with you," he said in his acceptance speech. Prof Yunus received the Olympic Laurel as only the second person in history when the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics took place on Friday. The distinction was created by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to honour outstanding individuals for their achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport. The IOC is taking the social dimension of sports very seriously, Prof Yunus shared on his verified Facebook page on Friday. "You, athletes of the world, can provide the leadership in transforming this world," he said. Prof Yunus called for creating a world of three zeros - zero net carbon emission, zero wealth concentration to end poverty and once for all, zero unemployment by unleashing the power of entrepreneurship in everyone. Read: Prof Yunus renews call for ensuring vaccine equality breaking profit wall He wished the IOC success with its mission to help transform this world to a more peaceful world through sport. "I wish all of you best of luck for your competitions," he said, thanking all for this award. "That’s so special to me. Thank you." “Bangladesh will be so proud of this award because Bangladesh is a country that doesn’t get close to an Olympic medal. But they’ve a cause to celebrate now. The whole world will watch a Bangladeshi receiving an Olympic award which will make every single person of Bangladesh proud of it. I believe it’ll be something that Bangladesh will remember for long,” said Prof Yunus during a virtual press meet recently. Prof Yunus is also the recipient of numerous international awards for his ideas and endeavours and is a member of the board of the United Nations Foundation. In 2006, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for founding Grameen Bank, which pioneered the concepts of microcredit and microfinance for people living in poverty. The first-ever Olympic Laurel was awarded to the Kenyan Olympian and social changemaker Kip Keino on 5 August 2016, during the Opening Ceremony of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio de Janeiro. Initiated for Rio 2016, the Olympic Laurel is to be awarded at the opening ceremony of each summer edition of the Olympic Games.

Asian Institute of Technology (AIT), the leading university in Asean, has launched the Yunus Professional Masters in Social Business and Entrepreneurship. The professional post-graduate programme will start enrolling students in August and is likely to appeal to its intended audience of mid-career professionals and aspiring entrepreneurs. Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus and AIT President Professor Eden Woon addressed the global launching of the programme online on Wednesday. Professor Faiz Shah, director of Yunus Centre at AIT and also the academic head of Yunus Professional Masters Programme, presented the details of the content of the programme, the Yunus Centre said on Friday. Also read: Dr. Yunus made chancellor of Malaysian University He said this programme is a one-of-a-kind masters degree to translate the vision of the Nobel peace laureate. Professor Yunus, a thought leader in social business and enterprise-led development, said: "The problems of the world are created in classrooms; they pass on to students only a narrow selfish narrative of the world." He said education is like watching the same side of the moon, again and again, never allowing the students to ask the question of what is on the other side of the moon. "In our campuses, we have to build new rockets and spacecraft to take us to the forbidden side of the academic moon. This masters degree will be an initiative to build that rocket to explore the other side," Professor Yunus said. President Eden Woon said Professor Yunus has inspired millions around the world. "This programme will be highly attractive in this day and age when the world is not doing very well." Also read: It’s universities’ job to redesign economic theories: Dr Yunus The degree will be a curated programme, built from the School of Environment, Resources and Development and School of Management of AIT, containing an integrated practicum led by Professor Yunus, and connected with the social business academia network connecting 91 universities located in five continents. Students learn development precepts and management principles through regular coursework and acquire practical exposure through the internship integrated into the Yunus Colloquium. AIT, the entrepreneurial heartland of Asia, has accomplished the rank of top 20 in a global ranking for its commitment and performance around integrating the UN SDGs, particularly eliminating poverty, into the curriculum and research.

History of human beings is a history of being driven basically by collective interest, not by personal interest. Economists made us believe that we are driven only by personal interest, and act accordingly through profit maximization. It is time to restore our core identity by making businesses to serve society’s needs first and foremost; profit cannot come at the expense of human well-being, and human life. Nowhere should that be more true than our health—which was enshrined by our leaders as a fundamental right when I was merely 6 years old, in the 1946 constitution of the World Health Organization.

Dhaka, Sept 14 (UNB) - Sedrick Huckaby, an American artist, visited Yunus Centre last week to paint a portrait of Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus for the Vanderbilt Trailblazers portrait series which honours members of the Vanderbilt community who broke barriers.

Dhaka, Aug 5 (UNB)- Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus attended several events and meetings in Shanghai on the last day of the Social Business Week in China on August 1.