Leading women's magazine Anannya has conferred the "Ananya Top Ten Award 2021' on Saturday (November 19, 2022), to recognise the noble work and achievements of 10 successful and distinguished women. The award ceremony was held at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad (AKSB) auditorium of the Bangla Academy in the capital on Saturday at 4 pm. Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury joined the event as the chief guest. Anannya and The Daily Ittefaq Editor Tasmima Hossain presided over the ceremony. Read more: Icons of women's empowerment recognised in Anannya's Top 10 Awards 2019 This year, Nazneen Ahmed (economist), Bitpi Das Chowdhury (corporate personality), Tropa Majumdar (actor, director), Shahinur Akhter (indomitable courage), Salma Sultana (scientist), Rudmeela Nawsheen (tech entrepreneur), Shahriar Farzana (photographer), Santana Rani Roy (martial art instructor), Ichhmat Ara (women entrepreneur) and Jaya Chakma (first woman FIFA referee from Bangladesh) received the prestigious award, a flagship venture of the popular fortnightly magazine. "Women empowerment in Bangladesh has reached a new height because of the relentless hardships of our women, and today we are celebrating 10 of those successful women in the society," Shirin Sharmin said. Tasmima said: "Bangladesh is only 51 years old, while our Anannya's age is just 35. Within this short period, Anannya has honoured 270 successful and influential women. Many of the honourees from Ananya are now continuing their contribution to many important sectors of the country. Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury herself received this award in 2013." Read more: Nadira Majumdar conferred with Anannya Literature Award 1426 This year, the Anannya Lifetime Achievement award was conferred to Sarat Mala Chakma, an eminent indigenous craft artist from Rangamati's Tabalchari Master Colony. The 90-year-old artist has received many awards at home and abroad.

The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has honored six photographers with the first-ever Made in Bangladesh Photography Award for capturing the captivating beauty of Bangladesh through their creative eyes and lens. Sultan Ahmed Niloy, Salahuddin Ahmed, and Md. Asker Ibne Firoz won the Photography Award while S M Yousuf Sharif, Sajib Karmakar and Muhammad Amdad Hossain have become runners up. The awards were handed over to the winners at a grand ceremony organized by BGMEA at International Convention City Bashudhara in Dhaka on Wednesday. Salman Fazlur Rahman, MP, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister, graced the ceremony as the chief guest. Nasrul Hamid, MP, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, attended the ceremony as special guest while Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA, chaired the grand event The Made in Bangladesh Photography Award has been launched by BGMEA to bring the captivating beauty of Bangladesh to the local and global audience through the lens of photographers and recognize the contribution of photographers in branding Bangladesh, said a media release on Thursday. Read more: 2 Bangladesh projects win 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture The photography contest was an exclusive event under the umbrella of "Made in Bangladesh Week", organized by BGMEA from 12 to 18 November. Chosen from hundreds of submissions from all photographers in three categories – 1. Culture and heritage, 2. Industry and the economy and 3. People and landscape, the winning shots depict the beauty of Bangladesh and highlight the diversity of its culture, heritage, people and landscapes. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said Bangladesh is gifted with immense natural beauty, glorious history, rich culture and heritage. Read more: 'Bangladesh Press Photo Contest 2022' underway at Drik Gallery "From the Sundarbans to Bandarban, from rivers to forests, from hills to plains – wherever you go, this beautiful country has a lot to amaze you. With this photography contest, we want to encourage photographers to capture those moments, scenes and images that will testify to why we are proud of our Bangladesh and what makes “Made in Bangladesh” a prestigious brand in the world," he said.

Omar Ishrak, Chairman of the Board of Directors at Intel, Mohammed Mahtabur Rahman (Nasir), Chairman and Managing Director of Al Haramain Perfumes Group of Companies and the Chairman of NRB Bank Limited, and Kiswar Chowdhury, one of the grand finalists of MasterChef Australia, have been honoured with NRB Award. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has honored them in recognition of their contribution to brightening the image of Bangladesh abroad. The awards were handed over to them at a grand ceremony organized by BGMEA as a part of the Made in Bangladesh Week at International Convention City Bashudhara in Dhaka on Wednesday. Read more: BGMEA seeks uninterrupted energy supply by special arrangements Mohammed Mahtabur Rahman was present at the award ceremony while Omar Ishrak and Kiswar Chowdhury joined the event virtually and received the awards through their representatives. Salman Fazlur Rahman, MP, Private Industry and Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister, graced the ceremony as the chief guest. Nasrul Hamid, MP, State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources, attended the ceremony as special guest while Faruque Hassan, President of BGMEA, chaired the award giving ceremony. BGMEA has launched the first-ever NRB Award to recognize the role of non-resident Bangladeshis in the development of Bangladesh. BGMEA President Faruque Hassan said, “It gives me great pleasure to honor the non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) who are upholding the good name of Bangladesh abroad and relentlessly striving to build a better Bangladesh although they are many borders away. Read more: Bangladesh's RMG bracing for next phase of growth: BGMEA They have selflessly contributed immensely to the development of their motherland by sending their hard-earned remittances, promoting Bangladesh abroad and bringing home knowledge and technology. Bangladesh thanks you.”

Bangladeshi singer-songwriter Armeen Musa and her mother and eminent Nazrul exponent Dr Nashid Kamal have been nominated for the 65th Annual Grammy Awards in the category of Best Global Music Album on Wednesday. The mother-daughter duo's song "Jaago Piya," which was featured on the Berklee Indian Ensemble's debut album "Shuruaat," enabled them as the first Bangladeshis to be nominated for the world's most famous musical awards. Read more: 15 receive Aga Khan Music Awards 2022 Confirming the news to UNB on Tuesday night, Armeen Musa said she is overwhelmed by this achievement. “Still in disbelief,” she said although the official website of Grammy also confirmed the nomination on Wednesday. The first in a series of original compositions from the Berklee Indian Ensemble, "Jaago Piya" was originally written and voiced by Armeen Musa, while Dr Nashid Kamal penned the Bengali version of the lyrics. Legendary Asian musicians including Ustaad Zakir Hussain, Shankar Mahadevan and Shreya Ghoshal, to name a few, are also featured on the Berklee Indian Ensemble's (BIE) debut album ‘Shuruaat’, alongside Armeen Musa. Read more: List of Grammy winners in top categories One of the most popular music artists in present Bangladesh and the first-ever the first Bangladeshi student in the Berklee Indian Ensemble and a Visva-Bharati trainee in Indian Classical music, Armeen Musa garnered critical acclaim for songs including “Bhromor Koiyo Giya,” “Lona Deyal” and more. She is the founder of the music troop ‘Ghaashphoring Choir’.  

Bangladesh and four other countries have been awarded the Local Adaptation Champions Awards at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt. “Our winners show that community-centric and locally led solutions to the climate crisis exist, but they require support and recognition to be scaled up and to achieve the most impact,” said Professor Patrick Verkooijen, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Center on Adaptation, explaining what the award signifies.  The award was given to the Rangamati Hill District Council initiative, where it collaborated with five villages in Juraichari Upazila where the residents were combatting worsening droughts, landslides and flash floods. With support from the United Nations Development Programme and Danida, the community worked to set up solar power-based safe water supply facilities and the provision of safe drinking water during crises. Former UN Secretary-General and GCA Co-Chair Ban Ki Moon said the initiative is a combination of local and traditional techniques and it has been done for climate adaptation in marginalised areas. “The initiative is not only sustainable, others can also emulate it and efficiently and appropriately negate the adverse impacts of climate change,” he added. Read: COP27: Developed countries keen to fund vulnerable countries, says Hasan Mahmud “Now communities have clean drinking water, and they can water their dragon fruit, mango and lychee orchards and cultivate their land for food and income,” said Arunendu Tripura, Public Relations Officer for Rangamati Hill District Council. The Council has also established a climate resilience committee and supported local communities in conducting climate vulnerability assessments, which have fed into the creation of local resilience plans. “Also, half of our members are women. I asked them why they chose to install this water facility, and they said as soon as they were able decide a solution, they chose to end the misery they face in fetching water, to curb their suffering. This gave me great satisfaction,” said Tripura. Jona Chakma, a resident of the remote Choumohani Village of Jurachharhi Upazila, talks about her suffering before the initiative: “I would walk an hour to fetch water from Bonjogi Chhorha [stream]. That water would be used for drinking, cooking, washing and showering needs.” “During summer, we needed more water. But the stream would shrink. I spent the whole day just to collect drinking water, bathing was a luxury. I cannot even express the suffering I went through,” she added. Read: Adapting to climate change is the main focus of COP27: Info Minister An earthquake in 2017 hiked the woes by restricting the flow of the stream. It became harder to collect water. The villages of Choumohani, Badalpara, Lokkhi Member Para, NK Para and Chairman Para, all roughly 12 kilometres from Juraichari Sadar, were hit the hardest. The deep tube-well run by solar power was established in Badalpara and has a 5000-litre water storage facility. The water is piped to the other villages. Badalpara village’s Jharna Chakma explains the impact: “Our life has become easier. The time we spent to get water, we can now spend that in taking care of our children or income-generating activities like weaving cloth.” UNDP Assistant Resident Representative Prasenjit Chakma points out that a women-led committee handle the management of the pump. “The local people, both men and women are part of this committee. The women lead the process. They have developed a fund with which they can do the maintenance and repairs of the facility.” The GCA awards recognize locally led efforts to adapt to the negative impacts of climate change across four categories: financial governance, inclusive leadership, capacity and knowledge, and local innovation. The other three countries to receive the award among 170 countries are India, Nepal and Kenya. Read: COP27: Bangladesh wants developed countries to deliver on $100 billion promise Each winner will receive €15,000 in funds to further the work they are doing in the spirit of the locally-led adaptation principles. They will also have access to a global network of changemakers.

Bangladeshi artist Jannatul Fardous Meghla scooped up the first prize at the first Annual Student Art Show (ASAS) in the UAE's Dubai. Organised by UAE-based Art Group Funun Arts at De Montfort University, 320 student artists from 60 nationalities participated in ASAS from November 4-6, focusing on 16 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Artist Meghla won the first prize in the third category for her painting "Give Clean Water," which was based on SDG Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation. She is now pursuing her BSc in architecture from North South University. Also, another Bangladeshi calligraphy artist Shamsunnahar Tasnim, a tenth-grader at Jannatul Banat Madrasha in Dhaka, received an award for her Arabic calligraphy on SDG Goal 3: Good health and well-being. The event was inaugurated by entrepreneur and Chairman of the Al Zarooni Foundation Suhail Mohd Al Zarooni, also a renowned Emirati collector and Guinness Book World Record holder, and Ahmad Al Awadhi Rukni, a renowned Emirati artist. Read: GENTLE GRASS: Faroque unveils his world in first solo exhibition in Dhaka The founder of Funun Arts Shiba Khan and Farah Khan initiated this large-scale student art show and the inaugural edition welcomed 26 self-taught artists from Bangladesh under the mentorship of artist Mahfuzur Rahman through Mahfuz Canvas.

Khondaker Hasibul Kabir and Suhailey Farzana, an architect couple from Jhenaidah in Bangladesh, have shown the world how they co-designed a public space in their own town – keeping in mind the nature and people. Their community-led initiative titled “Urban River Spaces, Jhenaidah” is one of the winners of the 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture. Six award winners, who will share the $1 million award – one of the largest in architecture – show promise for communities, innovation and attention to environment. Read: 2 Bangladesh projects win 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture The award giving ceremony will be held at Royal Opera House of Musical Arts Monday night (Muscat time). “This is not a project, I would say, rather it’s a process that has begun,” Farzana, who came to Muscat with his husband and son, told UNB hours before receiving the prestigious award.

Fifteen musicians have received the 2022 Aga Khan Music Awards at a ceremony held at Royal Opera House Muscat’s House of Musical Arts.  The award-giving ceremony marked the culmination of a two-day celebration in which laureates performed live or were presented in short films.  The 2022 Aga Khan Music Awards concluded on Sunday night with the presentation of awards to 15 laureates by Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham Al Said and Prince Amyn Aga Khan during a gala concert.  A special Award for Lifetime Achievement was presented to acclaimed tabla player Ustad Zakir Hussain during the Music Awards’ opening night concert on October 29. Read more: ​​​​​​​Ustad Zakir Hussain receives Aga Khan Music Award This evening’s programme featured performances by Peni Candra Rini, an Indonesian composer, improviser, vocalist and educator; Yasamin Shahhosseini, an Iranian oud player who is reimagining the place of the oud in Iranian music; the Tehran-based Golshan Ensemble, which performs Iranian classical music; and Soumik Datta, a sarod player from the United Kingdom who fuses his training in Hindustani classical music with pop, rock, electronica and film soundtracks to raise awareness about urgent social issues, including climate change, refugees and mental health. Laureates of the 2022 Music Awards were selected by a Master Jury from a field of close to 400 nominees from 42 countries.  They share $500,000 prize money and will have opportunities for professional development.  These opportunities include commissions for the creation of new works, contracts for recordings and artist management, support for pilot education initiatives, and technical or curatorial consultancies for music archiving, preservation, and dissemination projects. Read More: Bangladeshi Marina Tabassum in Aga Khan Award for Architecture’s Steering Committee

Bangladesh can be an example for other countries if people from all disciplines, not just the architects, can put in their best efforts for the country, says a young architect.  “We got the recognition relatively in a very early stage. It proves that those in the architecture discipline are demonstrating world class examples,” architect Saad Ben Mostafa told UNB. Mostafa is one of the three young architects whose project titled “Community Spaces in Rohingya Refugee Response, Cox’s Bazar” won the prestigious 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA). Six winners, who will share the USD 1 million award, one of the biggest in architecture, show promise for communities, innovation and care for the environment. Read more: 2 Bangladesh projects win 2022 Aga Khan Award for Architecture Mostafa along with his two teammates — architects Khwaja Fatmi and Rizvi Hassan — will receive the award with other winners on Monday. The graduate from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) laid emphasis on focusing on work while understanding people’s needs and roots, not just replicating foreign designs. “I would say, we are going to receive the award on behalf of all. I see it as a big recognition for Bangladesh,” architect Fatmi told UNB. Architect Hassan said they wanted to see whether they can work based on local elements – taking materials and creating a beautiful, sustainable and an advanced design. Read More: Bangladesh project among Aga Khan Award for Architecture Winners In future, he said, they want to work in rural areas. “We want to engage people from the villages in our work. We want to see them join hands with us. We will work together.”

Qatar Airways has won the Airline of the Year award, known as "the Oscars of the aviation industry," for a record seventh time at the Skytrax World Airline Awards 2022. At the event in London Friday, the airline also took home three additional awards, including World's Best Business Class, World's Best Business Class Lounge Dining, and Best Airline in the Middle East. The awards covered the 12 months from September 2021 to August 2022 with over 14 million eligible entries counted in the results, a period when Qatar Airways increased its global network back to over 150 destinations. Earlier, Qatar Airways was named Airline of the Year in 2011, 2012, 2015, 2017, 2019, and 2021, according to a media statement. Qatar Airways Group Chief Executive Akbar Al Baker, said: "To be named as the World's Best Airline was always a goal when Qatar Airways was created, but to win it for the seventh time and pick up three additional awards is a testament to all the hard work of our incredible employees." Read: Qatar Airways temporarily closes Dhaka office  "To win these awards in the same year that we celebrate our 25th anniversary is even more rewarding and I want to offer a sincere thanks to all our passengers who voted for us," he added.  Edward Plaisted of international air transport rating organisation Skytrax said: "Qatar Airways were the largest airline to have flown consistently throughout the Covid-19 pandemic, with their network never falling below 30 destinations, and that determination has been well recognised by customers with this award as Airline of the Year 2022." Qatar Airways now flies to more than 150 destinations worldwide, connecting through its Doha hub, Hamad International Airport.