Dhaka, Aug 8 (UNB) – The final stage of a competition for young women innovators to provide them with an opportunity to unleash their potential and find innovative solutions to advance gender equality will be held on September 5.

The boot camp, held on August 5-6 at Daffodil International University, will be followed by two pre-incubation sessions where they will be further groomed for the next stage of the competition- the Pitch Deck on September 5.

They will do a brief presentation and a quick overview of a business plan to a judging panel for the opportunity to win US$ 5000, said UN Women on Thursday.

In March 2019, UN Women launched the Innovators against Gender Based Violencecompetition supported by Global Affairs Canada.

UN Women sought innovators with ground-breaking ideas and solutions to empower women, especially within the area of preventing and eliminating violence against women.

The competition closed on April 30, with 75 applications from all over Bangladesh. The applications were shortlisted, and 11 finalists were selected in July 2019.

UN Women programme specialist Giulia Pelosi said, “We want women creating innovation for women because who can better understand women’s needs than women themselves.”

“For the longest time we have been trying to play our part in bringing about change regarding Gender Based Violence(GBV) in whatever capacity we possess. UN Women is giving us the perfect platform to work for an initiative that canactually help in this regard,” said Manshiah Anis.

She and her team are one of the 11 finalists of Innovators againstGender Based Violence competition, who intend to work with students using behavior modeling and active learning in schools to transform gender norms, toxic masculinity and gender-biases.

Dhaka, Aug 6 (UNB) — Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) on Tuesday urged the authorities concerned to ensure quality education and made 12 recommendations to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs).

The suggestions came at a human chain held at Dhaka University’s Teacher-Student Centre premises, marking the International Youth Day to be observed on August 12.

“Specialists often allege that education quality didn’t improve even as the accessibility grew [in Bangladesh]. There’s no alternative to quality education to prepare the youth for achieving SDGs,” TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said.

He suggested ensuring proper environment for the youths’ participation to utilise their potential.

Students of schools, colleges and universities and people from various walks of life took part in the human chain around 11am.

Iftekharuzzaman put forth recommendations to fulfill SDGs through ensuring active involvement of the youth.

The first recommendation was to ensure quality education through active participation of the experts and the youth.

TIB also suggested allotting adequate budget and building modern infrastructure to carry out the strategies and taking comprehensive measures to increase institutional abilities.

Increasing budget allocation for research and taking effective steps to establish research-based communications among universities and industrial sectors were also recommended.

TIB suggested proper implementation of youth development guidelines. It also recommended increasing budget allocation and bank loans for youth entrepreneurs and creating markets and self-expression opportunities for them.

Another recommendation was to ensure merit-based recruitment in government and private sectors.

Dhaka, Aug 6 (UNB) – Four renowned researchers of the country have been selected as professors of University Grants Commission (UGC) for the next two years.

The decision was made at a meeting chaired by UGC Chairman Professor Dr Kazi Shahidullah on Tuesday, said a press release.

The selected UGC Professors were- Dr Fakrul Alam, retired Professor of English department of Dhaka University, Dr Khorshed Ahmed Kabir, retired Professor of Nuclear Engineering of Dhaka University, Dr ABM Abdullah, retired Professor of Medicine of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Dr Md Abdul Mannan Akanda, ex-Vice Chancellor and retired Professor of Plant Pathology of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University.

According to UGC Professorship guideline, the retired renowned researchers were given the UGC Professorship.

The UGC Professors will receive a monthly honorium, which shall be equivalent to the highest monthly salary of a selection grade professor. The UGC professor will be attached to a university or an approved research institution of his/her choice.

Dhaka, Aug 6 (UNB) - Dhaka University (DU) authorities have suspended 69 students on charge of cheating and adopting unfair means in the university admission test.

The decision was taken at a meeting of the disciplinary council chaired by Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Md Akhtaruzzaman, said university Proctor Prof AKM Golam Rabbani.

"The decision to suspend them was taken as allegations against them were found to be correct," he added.

The 69 students got admitted to the university in the academic sessions 2012-13 to 2017-18, said a media release.

It said show-cause notices will be issued against the students asking them to respond to those within seven days.

After the seven days, the release said, the fate of the students will be finalised at a syndicate meeting and the recommendation for expelling them will be forwarded to the highest policymaking body of the university.

Dhaka, Aug 5 (UNB) - The online application process of admission into the first year honours courses of Dhaka University (DU) under 2019-2020 academic session began on Monday.

DU Vice-chancellor Prof Dr Md Akhtaruzzaman inaugurated the process at the central admission office at the university’s Administrative Building in the afternoon.

The application process will continue till August 27. 

The admission test of Ga (C) unit will be held on September 13 while that of 'Cha' (Fine Arts) unit -- general knowledge section on September 14 and the drawing test on September 28, Ka (A) unit on September 20, Kha (B) unit on September 21 and Gha (D) unit on September 27.

This year, a total of 7,118 seats are available -- 1,795 under Ka (Science) unit, 2,378 under Kha (Arts) unit, 1,250 under Ga (Business) unit, 1,560 under Gha (combined) unit and 135 under the Fine Arts faculty.

The details of the admission process will be available on the website of the university.