Competition
Rainbow Paints art competition winners honoured
RFL Group paint brand Rainbow Paints has honoured the winners of the art competition "Rainbow Rong a Tomar Bijoy."
RFL Group Managing Director RN Paul handed over the prizes to the nine winners at a restaurant in the capital Saturday.
The competition received 920 paintings in three categories – A, B and C; 45 artists were selected for the final round.
Group A contestants were under 10 years of age, Group B between 11-20 years and Group C between 21-35 years of age.
READ: Rainbow Paints introduces 3 new products
Shuaib Wasit secured first position, Norah Muhsanat second, and Joyeeta Bonik third in Group A.
Group B, Prabal Dey secured first position, Md Shahadat Hossain second and Nabanita Haldar third.
Mithun Kundu earned the first position, Md Abdul Malik Nobel and Shamim Ahmed second and third positions in Group C.
The winners received prize money of Tk50,000, Tk30,000 and TTk20,000.
Professor Dr Malay Bala and Assistant Professor Amit Nandi of the Department of Oriental Art of Dhaka University were the judges in the final round of the competition.
Kamrul Hasan, executive director of Rainbow Paints, said: "We got a good response in the drawing competition. From now on, we want to organise this event every year."
Bangladesh ICT Competition enters second round with 127 contestants
Bangladesh ICT competition, powered by Huawei and the Bangladesh Computer Council, will move to the second round this week.
The top 127 students from the country will take part in this round for the next 15 days.
Around 1,000 4th year students from around 30 universities of Bangladesh took part in the competition's first round, which started in January this year.
After that, the participants went through training on a designated web portal of Chinese telecom giant Huawei and sat for a test to qualify for the second round.
Also read: 500-plus students compete in Bangladesh ICT Skills Competition
Now, 127 students, selected based on their consistency during training and exam results of the first round, will join the second round.
In this round, students will enrol in online courses from HCIA (Huawei Certified ICT Associate), and later, they will have to take part in an exam to qualify for the third round.
The third and final round of the competition will be the national final. Selected participants from the second round will form teams of three students and one faculty from every participating university.
Instructors from Huawei headquarters will train the contestants, who will have to pass a simulation test. The top three teams will be announced as winners.
In addition to the laptops or Huawei mobiles, Huawei smartwatches, or smart bands as prizes, the champion team will take part in the Huawei ICT Competition regional final and global final competition.
If the Covid-19 situation improves, they will also visit Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen. They can also get a chance to work with Huawei Technologies Bangladesh in the future.
The competition is considered in two parts – "Practical Competition" and "Theory Competition."
This year's contest will cover network switching, routing technical areas; new technology such as big data, AI, and cloud (artificial intelligence) will be introduced.
Also read: Huawei's largest cybersecurity, privacy protection transparency centre launched
ICT state minister Zunaid Ahmed Palak said, “Bangladesh ICT Skills Competition is specially designed for 4th-year students who are studying engineering, and it is good to see a big bunch of those optimum students going through this program, arranged by Huawei and BCC. I believe, at the end of the competition, the students will gain a comprehensive understanding of the ICT field and acquire more practical and advanced knowledge about global ICT.”
He also appreciated Huawei Bangladesh, BCC & involved universities to make this competition meaningful and open up the ICT knowledge door for students.
Zhang Zhengjun, CEO of Huawei Technologies Bangladesh said, "The sole focus of the Bangladesh ICT Competition is to fortify the digital backbone of Bangladesh by helping cultivate the local ICT talents."
UN Women’s 2021 WEPs Awards competition opens
UN Women on Monday began accepting nominations for its annual Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) Awards, which award Asia-Pacific business action and leaders that champion gender equality.
The awards are organised by WeEmpowerAsia, a UN Women programme funded by the European Union that promotes women’s participation and leadership in the workplace, marketplace and community.
Nominees will compete in six categories: Leadership Commitment; Gender-inclusive Workplace; Gender-responsive Marketplace; Community Engagement and Partnerships; Transparency and Reporting; and Youth Leadership for Generation Equality.
The latter three categories are new to this year’s awards. Also new are three Champion titles for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
National WEPs Awards ceremonies will be hosted by WeEmpowerAsia in October in its seven programme countries: China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Viet Nam.
All nominees will be eligible for the regional awards to be announced on 18 November 2021.
Nominations for the 2021 WEPs Awards are being accepted until Bangkok midnight (GMT+7) on 31 July 2021.
READ: Facebook, UN Women partner to train community orgs on online safety in Bangladesh
“We are proud to recognize businesses that are persevering through the unprecedented upheaval of COVID-19 and leading us to a more gender-inclusive economic recovery,” said Mohammad Naciri, Regional Director for UN Women Asia-Pacific.
This year, Investing in Women (IW), an initiative of the Australian Government, is supporting the awards together with the Philippine Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (PBCWE) and Indonesia Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (IBCWE).
“Investing in Women are delighted to partner with UN Women for the 2021 WEPs Awards and awarding the Gender-inclusive Workplace category this year, as we know improving performance in gender equality is linked with positive business outcomes,” said Dr. Julia Newton-Howes, CEO of IW.
“Recognising the work some companies are doing towards workplace gender equality will demonstrate the benefits this brings such as better risk management, greater innovation and increased profitability.”
Diverse Participation
WeEmpowerAsia received more than 400 nominations from 17 countries for the inaugural WEPs Awards in 2020. The 111 winners included SMEs, as well as large multinational companies and financial services organizations.
“Last year’s awards attracted some of Asia-Pacific’s highest achieving and most diverse companies, and we thank the European Union for helping us put a spotlight on those who are challenging the status quo and empowering women across wide reaching value chains between Asia and Europe,” said Katja Freiwald, Regional Programme Manager of WeEmpowerAsia.
READ: Women often assaulted online in Asia but find limited recourse: UN Women study
Katrina Chan, Executive Director of QBO Innovation Hub in the Philippines, which won in the Youth Leadership category last year, said: “The awards was an amazing opportunity for QBO, a young startup, to network with established organizations that share our vision. Attaining this recognition raises our profile around the efforts to ensure equal gender representation in tech becomes the norm.”
Doreen Shanaaz, Founder and CEO of Impact Investment Exchange (IIX), Singapore, who won the Leadership Commitment category, explained why she applied for the awards: “There is still a long way to go to achieve gender equality, and we want to highlight the integral role of [gender-inclusive] finance and making financial systems work for the 99 percent.”
“We wanted to push ourselves to do more, and to inspire others to do the same. It makes business sense to empower women on all levels and on all fronts,” added Jonah De Lumen-Pernia, Director for Public Affairs, Communications and Sustainability of Coca-Cola Philippines, winner of the Community and Industry Engagement category.
Chinese Embassy invites essays from Bangladeshi friends
Chinese Embassy in Dhaka has invited essays from its Bangladeshi friends for a competition with prizes and awards for the best writers.
The year 2021 marks the 100th founding anniversary of the Communist Party of China (CPC), said the Embassy on Monday.
Read Walton AC free for writing slogan or tagline
On this special occasion of enormous significance to the entire Chinese nation, the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh is holding the competition as part of the grand celebration.
The competition details are shared on verified Facebook page of the Embassy.
The deadline for uploading and emailing the essays is 17:00 (5 pm) of June 10th, 2021.
Read Visa office remains open for special, urgent needs: Chinese Embassy
Walton AC free for writing slogan or tagline
Walton announced various prizes including free ACs for writing attractive slogans or taglines for the Walton air conditioners.
Under the ‘Creativity Challenge Season-1’ campaign, 10 best taglines or slogans will be awarded. Of them, the best three writers will get 2, 1.5 and 1 ton Walton AC respectively.
The remaining seven writers will get a Walton blender of WBL-10GX65 model each. The competition will run until May 31.
Also read: Walton AC records 450% sales growth during Jan-April
Khalilur Rahman, brand manager of Walton AC, said the participants will be able to submit their taglines or slogans through Google form or making comment or sending message on Walton AC’s verified Facebook page.
After submitting the slogans or taglines, participants have to share the photo banner of Walton Smart AC’s Creativity Challenge on their Facebook timelines. The person who submits first will be given preference in case of the same taglines or slogans.
The Google form can be found on this link- t.ly/tu7Q. Phone calls can be made to these numbers- 16267 or 09612316267 for more information.
Also read: Air Conditioner Brands, Buyer Guide, Models, with Price in Bangladesh
Walton Hi-Tech Industries Limited’s Deputy Managing Director Humayun Kabir said that most of the people are staying home during this pandemic.
“Walton’s AC department is working to develop people’s skills and talents by involving them in creative works during this lazy time. I think participants’ creative skills will be developed through this campaign,” he said.
He added that the taglines or slogans related to Walton AC could be written in Bengali or English using elegant language. Creating awareness about Walton and information about its products should be given emphasised in this creative writings.
Also read: Air Cooler price in Bangladesh with Buying Tips
Besides, Walton is providing various facilities to its AC customers. Among them, up to 200 percent sure cashback is given under the ongoing digital campaign season 10. Customers are enjoying free installation and home delivery services. Walton is also providing up to 40 percent discount on specific models of ACs. There is also 1 year EMI and installment facility up to 36 months with 0 percent interest.
Customers can also purchase new ACs of Walton brands at a 25 percent discount in exchange for their old ACs of any brands. Walton released various new models of inverter technology ACs with dual-defender, ioniser, ultra-violet care features which helps protect houses from virus or bacteria.
Its Inverna series ACs consume electricity only Tk 2.8 per hour in eco-mode which is tested by BUET.
Read How to Use ACs (Air Conditioners) Safely Amid COVID19 Pandemic?
Besides, 1, 1.5 and 2 ton split ACs, Walton is producing and marketing 4 and 5-ton cassettes and ceiling type ACs for medium establishments like school-college, mosque, madrasa, hospital, hotel, restaurant, conference hall. For larger establishments like factories and offices, Walton has variable refrigerant flow (VRF) and Chiller.
Walton is providing one-year replacement guarantee as well as 10-year guarantee on the compressor of its split type ACs.
Walton has 76 service centres across the country under the ISO Certified Service Management System to provide fast and best after sales service. Walton’s skilled and experienced engineers and technicians are providing free service to AC buyers after every 100 days.
Read Walton TV offers big discounts ahead of Eid
Kishwar wins Australians hearts with her Bangladeshi recipe on Masterchef
A Bangladeshi woman has won much applause following her participation in MasterChef Australia, a competitive TV cooking show that is a global phenomenon.
The Bangladeshi expatriate Kishwar is a 38-year-old lady with two kids who finds delight by presenting Bangladesh dishes to her family members, she said at the programme.
Kishwar, who lives in Melbourne of Victoria with her family, prepared a Bangladeshi dish with sardines at the competition.
Her dream was to write a cooking book presenting Bangladesh food recipes and Bangladeshi flavor, she explained at the show with wet eyes.
Also read: French chef Bocuse restaurant loses 3rd star after 55 years
“If I don’t do that this food recipe and flavor will fade with me, I really want to pass them to my children,” she said while describing her small dream.
The judges of the show immediately passed her a Yes card after tasting the food, making her qualify for the round of 24 in the competition. One of the judges said “This is testament to the fact that simple food, you have nowhere to hide with it, can be the best and most triumphant in the world.”
MasterChef Australia is an Australian competitive cooking show based on the original British MasterChef.
Initial rounds consist of a large number of hopeful contestants from across Australia individually "auditioning" by presenting a food dish before the three judges in order to gain one of 50 semi-final places.
Also read: Celebrity chef Gary Rhodes dies at 59 with wife by his side
The semi-finalists then compete in several challenges that test their food knowledge and preparation skills.
The contestants will then be whittled down through a number of individual and team-based cooking challenges and weekly elimination rounds until a winning MasterChef is crowned.
The winner plays for a prize that includes chef training from leading professional chefs, the chance to have their own cookbook published, and $ 250,000 in cash.
Read Iftar Items, Recipes for Ramadan in Bangladesh
Winners of “What Liberation means to me” writing competition announced
Winners of essay writing competition titled "What Liberation Means to Me?” have been announced and awarded.