Coca-Cola, one of the country's leading beverage companies, has announced Ju-un Nahar Choudhury as the new Managing Director of Coca-Cola Bangladesh Limited. She is the first Bangladeshi woman to take on the role of Managing Director for Coca-Cola Bangladesh Ltd. In this role, Choudhury will work closely with bottling and business partners, customers and other external stakeholders in the country. She started her career with Unilever as a management trainee in marketing, and left her mark in various roles including leading the team who won a Guinness world record for the nationwide ‘Lifebuoy handwashing washing campaign’ covering 86,000 youth simultaneously in over 60 locations, said the comps on Monday. She moved to Indonesia in 2014 with Reckitt Benckiser looking after the Dettol business. She also worked with Danone Indonesia as Head of Innovation and then joined aCommerce, an end-to-end ecommerce enabler present across seven ASEAN countries, as the FMCG director. Read more: Nahida Akter emerges as first Bangladeshi to win 'ICC Women's Player of the Month' award After spending eight years in Indonesia, Choudhury moved back to Bangladesh and joined Apex as marketing director in 2023. Speaking on her appointment, Ju-un Nahar Choudhury, Managing Director, Coca-Cola Bangladesh said, “I am delighted to join the Coca-Cola system and partner with our bottling partners, Coca-Cola Bangladesh Beverages (CCBB) & Abdul Monem Limited (AML), and other stakeholders to refresh our consumers in Bangladesh." She also said, "I am humbled to lead Bangladesh on this Coca-Cola journey and I am committed to steer our brands and franchise operations to new heights.” Choudhury is the first woman to be appointed to this position in Bangladesh and will be replacing former Managing Director, Ta Duy Tung, who was appointed back in 2021.   Read more: BUET Professor Syeda Sultana Razia wins 2023 OPCW The Hague Award Ajay Vijay Bathija, Vice President of Franchise Operations for Southwest Asia (SWA), said, “We welcome Ju-un to Coca-Cola. The Coca-Cola Company reiterates its focus on building a sustainable business in an important market like Bangladesh. Ju-un joins at an exciting time of the company’s journey in the country and our partners will gain a great deal from her wide experience in FMCG and e-commerce.” Coca-Cola is the first company in Bangladesh to launch 100% recycled PET bottles in Bangladesh. Coke Studio Bangla, as a digital music platform, boasts a YouTube channel with 2.86 million+ subscribers, surpassing the combined subscriber count of some of Bangladesh's biggest brands.  As per a socio-economic impact study, the Coca-Cola system in Bangladesh contributes to the continuous economic growth of the country and also supports nearly 22,100 jobs which consist of 833 direct jobs and 21,300 indirect jobs. Read more: Bangladeshi marine biologist Alifa Bintha Haque wins WINGS Women of Discovery Award

The High Court has asked the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to submit an update on the ongoing investigation against Taqsem A Khan, managing director of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) on Tuesday. Justice Md Nazrul Islam Talukder and Justice Khizir Hayat passed the order on Monday after hearing a writ petition challenging the legality of the Taqsem’s appointment as Wasa MD since 2009. Advocate Khurshid Alam, ACC lawyer, said that he will inform the court about the progress of the probe on Tuesday. Read: HC: Writ petition filed challenging Taqsem Khan’s appointment as Wasa MD Barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman, a former prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal filed the writ petition challenging the legality of Taqsem’s appointment as MD of Wasa alleging flawed process in hiring him. Seven officials including LGRD secretary, public administration secretary were made respondents to the writ petition. Barrister Suman said Taqsem has been serving as Wasa MD for the last 13 years since 2009. During his tenure he has raised the water price to Tk 15 per unit from Tk 6 per unit. He has remained in his post despite allegations of corruption against him, he said. In 2009 he was appointed after rewriting and rigging his exam result as it was required to have 20 years of experience for that position and he had no such relevant experience, said Suman. Read: HC Chamber Judge asks Wasa MD to submit salary statement “His appointment letter mentions that the authority is requesting to maintain caution while examining and considering contractual appointments in future. Which means there was some sort of rigging that happened yet his tenure was extended later,” he explained. The writ petition was filed as his recruitment process needs to be probed, he said. Taqsem’s tenure as Wasa MD has been extended three times after his 2009  contractual appointment for three years, he said.

Mobile financial services (MFS) provider upay announced the appointment of Rezaul Hossain as its managing director and chief executive officer Sunday. Rezaul worked for local and multinational companies including, Grameenphone, Citycell, Airtel and bKash. Before joining upay, he was involved with several enterprises, including MFS provider Nagad. Also, Rezaul led the commercial division of bKash from 2011 to 2017 as the chief commercial officer. Read: No data charge for e-transactions on Upay app for Banglalink customers Anisuzzaman Chowdhury, chairman of the board of directors of UCB Fintech Company, said: "Rezaul Hossain is a highly accomplished business leader and brings a wealth of skills and experience that will take us to our strategic goal of becoming one of the leading mobile financial service companies in Bangladesh." "His exceptional telecommunications and MFS background along with a record of building and scaling up business from scratch to success will surely create a strong foothold for upay in the country's digital finance landscape." Rezaul said: "Despite being a new financial service brand, I believe, upay has a huge potential to disrupt the market. As I have a long vision for the advancement of the country's financial technology sector, I would like to dedicate my experience, expertise and industry knowledge to help upay grow and reach its full potential through bringing delightful experiences to our customers." UCB Fintech Company, a subsidiary of United Commercial Bank, has been offering mobile financial services under the brand name upay. Upay launched its commercial operation in March 2021 after securing its MFS licence from the Bangladesh Bank in December 2020.

After a successful stint as Robi’s Managing Director and CEO for five years, Mahtab Uddin Ahmed has decided to step down. Though his five-year term with Robi will officially come to an end on October 31, 2021, he has decided to go on leave with immediate effect, according to a company release issued on Thursday. Read: Robi’s digital employee healthcare platform becomes role-model for Axiata Robi’s Chief Financial Officer (CFO) M Riyaaz Rasheed, in addition to his current role, will serve as the acting CEO with immediate effect. Chairman of Robi Board of Directors, Thayaparan Sangarapillai said: “On behalf of the Robi Board of Directors, I would like to thank Mahtab for establishing Robi firmly as the leading digital service provider of the country.” Mahtab thanked Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission, Posts and Telecommunications Division, ICT Division, Bangladesh Security Exchange Commission, Dhaka Stock Exchange, Chittagong Stock Exchange, and Robi’s employees, business partners and customers for their cooperation. Read: Robi partners with SKS to help Covid-hit low-income people As Robi’s first home-grown CEO, Mahtab took the company to the dizzying height of success that includes achieving leadership position in 4G, a number of path-breaking innovative digital initiatives and the biggest-ever IPO.  He leaves behind Robi on a strong foundation to transform itself into the digital champion of the industry through leadership in digital innovation.

Humaira Azam is set to become the first female managing director of a private bank in Bangladesh when she assumes the role of Trust Bank Limited. She is currently serving as the Additional Managing Director (AMD) at the bank. Banking industry sources said the Trust Bank board of directors in a meeting on Monday selected Humaira for the post of MD and forwarded a proposal to the central bank in this regard. Read Nine public sector banks hold 27 percent assets, deposits in banking sector The appointment will be made after getting approval from the Bangladesh Bank. Humaira served as the first female MD in the IPDC Finance, a private financial institution.  The Dhaka University International Relations graduate started her banking career in 1990 as a trainee officer at ANZ Grindlays Bank.  In her long career, she served different foreign and local banks and financial institutions in various capacities. Read Banks can declare the highest 30% dividend. Humaira joined HSBC Bangladesh in 1996 and switched to Standard Chartered Bank in 2002. In April 2009, she took over as the MD of the financial institution IPDC where she turned the organization into a profitable one. She joined Bank Asia in January 2012 as the Chief Risk Management Officer. In March 2016, she took over as the Chief Risk Management Officer and Additional MD at the Trust Bank. Earlier, Prabasikalyan Bank got the first woman MD in the state-owned banking sector.  Read Legendary Women in Bangladesh with Pioneering Contribution in Diverse Fields.