Dhaka, Oct 20 (UNB) – The Jatiya Sangsad (JS) will go into its 23rd session on Sunday which is likely to be the last session of the 10th parliament formed after the 2014 national election.

Prior to the start of the session at 4:30pm, the business advisory committee of parliament will meet with Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury in the chair to fix the duration and businesses of the coming session.

This session is likely to be the last session of the current parliament as there is no obligation to summon any session of parliament during the national election.

The Election Commission has already said it will declare the schedule for the 11th national election any day after October.

On October 4, President Abdul Hamid convened the session exercising his power bestowed upon him by article 72 (1) of the Constitution.

The 10th parliament went into its maiden session on January 29, 2014.

Dhaka, October 20 (UNB) – Speakers at a dialogue on Saturday stressed for the need to nurture innovation as the key driver to realise Bangladesh’s goal in reaching developed country status by 2041.

They joined together for discussion at Bangladesh Innovation Conclave’s (BIC) “Bangladesh Innovation Dialogue 2018” at Le Meridien Dhaka, which was also the precursor to the first ever Bangladesh Innovation Award 2018 later the same night.

The dialogue comprised of two panel discussions and two keynote speeches. The keynote speakers were Varun Sakhuja, Director, Innovation Management-Mastercard Labs, Asia Pacific and Manoj Kulkarni, Executive Director at Nielsen South Asia.

In his keynote speech, Varun Sakhuja said that Change is the new constant and innovation is important for long-term success, while Manoj Kulkarni urged companies to be receptive to new ideas, a philosophy which he followed and experienced success.

Topics for the panel discussion included “How Companies Should Drive Innovation” and “Innovation the Bangladesh Model.”

The discussants included Abdul Kalam Azad, Principal Coordinator, SDG Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office, Shehzad Munim, President, FICCI and Managing Director British American Tobacco Bangladesh (BATB), Syed Almas Kabir, President, BASIS, Hossain Khaled, Managing Director, Anwar Group of Industries and others.

“The upward GDP growth over the last 15-20 years did not happen overnight,” said Hossain Khaled, “it was the result of a multitude of factors, including the country’s demographic dividend, the RMG boom and more.”

“We really need to rethink everything and bolster innovation in Bangladesh, if we are to gear towards becoming a developed country by 2041,” said K.A.M Morshed, Director, Technology and Partnership Strengthening Unit at BRAC.

Shariful Islam, Founder of Bangladesh Innovation Conclave and Bangladesh Brand Forum, said that Bangladesh Innovation Conclave has taken that vision to push the dialogue on innovation across the country.

“Innovation is what drives the entire world,” said Syed Mohammad Kamal, Country Manager, Mastercard, “in line with that, we are envisioning a cashless Bangladesh very soon.”
A special dialogue session preceded the programme between BIC founder Shariful Islam and founder of Ten Minute School Ayman Sadiq. They talked about why every youth should know and be ready for the innovation era.

The Bangladesh Innovation Award is designed to recognise the vibrant community of innovators – from startups to established companies – and its breakthrough creations and ideas.

In celebrating successful innovations from startups and veterans alike, the award programme aims to build Bangladesh’s economy by acknowledging and rewarding the creative mind, fueling innovation within it.

The competition got 168 entries and the awards were given under nine categories and another special category.

The main categories of the award were designed for sectorial innovation which took place in multiple disciplines such as RMG, healthcare, product development, etc.

An initiative of BIC, The Bangladesh Innovation Award was powered by Mastercard and organised by Bangladesh Brand Forum.

Dhaka, Oct 20 (UNB) - Industries and power plants in Bangladesh can save upto 50 percent of energy through using heat recovery technologies. 

An energy efficiency expert, based in Singapore, made this observation at a workshop organised by German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) in association with Sustainable and Renewable Energy Development Authority (Sreda) and Sustainable Energy Association of Singapore (SEAS) at a hotel in the city.

Dr. Chandra Sekhara Reddy Chirla, who works for Singapore Refinery Company Private Limited, said there is very proven technology running for last 10-15 years which can save energy use upto 50 percent. 

“Normally, heat recovery technology can increase energy efficiency by 25-30 percent. But there are some technologies being used in USA and UK which have potential to increase efficiency upto 50,” he told the workshop, participated by senior officials from different power and energy related organisations from public and private sectors.

He said there are many technologies in the world which are being used by developed countries in their industries. 

Through these technologies, exhausted heat is recovered and reused in the industries, he noted.  

Sharing his experience in conducting studies in a Bangladeshi textile industry, Dr. Chandra Sekhara Reddy Chirla said generally textile industries uses boilers for dyeing fabrics. 

“If they use flue gas for their energy, it could easily increase their energy efficiency,” He said.

So, textile, garment and power plants have a good potential to use the technology, he said adding that the government has a role to play in this regard.

“Government must encourage the industries and power plants by providing them some sort of incentives to move for using energy efficient technology,” he said.

He also mentioned that if the industries and power plants use heat recovery technology, they can get the returns of their investment within only two years. 

In addition, they can get the benefit of carbon credit facilities from it as well, he said adding that there must be specific policy framework from the government in this regard. 
 

Dhaka, Oct 20 (UNB) - BRAC has won the 'AGFUND International Prize for Pioneering Human Development Projects' for 2017 for its non-formal primary education model especially designed for children who have dropped out of or never gone to school.

BRAC vice-chairperson Dr Ahmed Mushtaque Raza Chowdhury received the award from Prince Abdulaziz bin Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, special representative of AGFUND, at a ceremony at the United Nations Office in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday.

Queen Sofia of Spain, member of AGFUND prize committee, was also present at the event, BRAC said on Saturday.

AGFUND International Prize is awarded by the Arab Gulf Program for Development (AGFUND), founded in 1980 by Prince Talal Bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud with support from Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Working with a strategic focus on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the organisation introduced the AGFUND International Prize in 1999.

The prize committee selected two orgaisations and one individual as winners for the 2017 award themed on “Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning". A total of 76 projects competed for the prize.

BRAC has won the First Category Prize, awarded for projects implemented by UN, international or regional organisations, for its non-formal primary education model. The award comes with prize money worth US$ 400,000.

Nepalese organisation Jeevan Bikas Samaj has won the Second Category Prize for its 'Accelerating sustainable solution for quality education' project, which comes with US$ 300,000 prize money. This category is reserved for national level non-governmental organisations.

Sunitha Krishnan, an Indian anti-trafficking champion and co-founder of Hyderabad-based Prajwala, won the Fourth Category Prize, reserved for projects implemented by individuals. The money worth of the prize is US$ 100,000.

The Third Category Prize allocated for projects by government agencies has been withheld for failure to meet the award criteria, according to the AGFUND website.

Theme of AGFUND Prize 2018 is 'Eradication of Poverty', goal 1 of SDGs 2030.

Dhaka, Oct 20 (UNB) - President Abdul Hamid will leave Dhaka on Monday for attending two international conferences on investment, and security in the Palais des Nations of Geneva, Switzerland.

A regular flight of Emirates Airlines carrying the President will take off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 1.40 am on Monday, press secretary to the President Joynal Abedin told UNB.

He said that the President will join the 20th edition of ‘Global Leaders Investment Summit’ and 20th annual session of ‘Home Land and Global Security Forum’ there.

More than 5,000 participants from 160 countries will meet in Geneva to thrash out major new investment-for-development initiative in the World Investment Forum 2018 from October 22 to 26.

Organized under the overall theme – ‘Investing in Sustainable Development’ – the Forum will address global challenges for international investment in the new era of globalization and industrialization.

Fourteen heads of states and governments will attend, including those from Armenia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Cambodia, the Central African Republic, Kenya, Lesotho, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malawi, Mongolia, Montenegro, Namibia, Sierra Leone and Switzerland in the World Investment Forum 2018. 

Marking its 10th anniversary, the biennial World Investment Forum remains the premier venue to forge partnerships between investment and development stakeholders to close this gap.

This year’s event comprises of some 60 events, including three summits, five ministerial round tables, private-sector led sessions and several award ceremonies.

On the other hand, the 20th annual session of the Homeland and Global Security Forum organised by Crans Montana Forum will take place in Geneva (Switzerland) from October 24 to 27, 2018.

This Forum will address major security challenges in a world facing rejections and hardenings.
This Forum brings together heads of states and governments, ministers, international organisations, parliaments, justice and police administrations and businesses from around the world.

President Abdul Hamid is scheduled to return home on October 27 wrapping his five day trip in Geneva, said the press secretary.
  
Previous World Investment Forums took place in Accra, Ghana (2008), Xiamen, China (2010), Doha, Qatar (2012), Geneva, Switzerland (2014) and Nairobi, Kenya (2016).