After a challenging contest among the top six finalists, team Extra Drill from the Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka (IBA DU) lifted the coveted champion's trophy of Unilever Bangladesh's BizMaestros 2022. The final event saw teams from the Bangladesh University of Professionals (BUP); the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), and IBA of DU. The champion team of Sibbir Riyan, Akibur Rahman and Ferdous Hasan will now prepare for a greater stage, the international level of the competition – Unilever Future Leaders' League (FLL) 2023, that will take place in London with participants from universities across the world. The first runner-up title was awarded to Team Inmates of Ishrat Jahan Ikra, Syed Fatin Ishraq, and Naeem Abrar from DU. Team Final Gambit was named the second runner-up. The second runner-up team members are Marjuka Ahmed Chowdhury, Shelachi Mitra, and GM Naimuz Saadat from BUP. The overarching theme of BizMaestros this year was "Bangladesh Rising With U." The theme focused on the potential and possibilities that the youth dividend can lead Bangladesh from their respective areas of skills and passion. As a platform for skilling youth for employability and entrepreneurship, BizMaestros provides the participants hands-on training, mentorship and exposure to the ways of work of leading FMCG brands throughout various rounds of the competition. Also, the members of the top six teams will get fast-tracked into internship and management trainee programme opportunities with Unilever Bangladesh. The grand finale event was held on Tuesday at a Dhaka hotel where the finalist teams were evaluated by a panel of esteemed judges. Read more: Unilever Bangladesh wins 'Asia's Best Employer Brands 2022' award To develop leadership and analytical skills for the future among the youth, BizMaestros 2022 kicked off early in October. More than 270 teams from over 30 campuses participated in the first round where the three-member teams, from their undergraduate final year, submitted their unique solutions to real business cases. Following a competitive and challenging round, the top 30 teams were forwarded to the semi-final and the top six teams to the final round. Read more: 'The Dependables' wins Unilever BizMaestros 2021

The Army Institute of Business Administration (Army IBA) in Sylhet’s Jalalabad has extended the application deadline for its Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) programme. The latest deadline for free-of-cost application is June 15, the Army said in a release on Saturday. Shortlisted students will be able to participate in the admission test by paying the required examination fee. According to the IBA admission circular, in the primary phase, 5,000 students were given the opportunity to apply. But considering the interest of the admission seekers, 3,000 more students have been given the opportunity to apply till June 15. READ: Cluster admission tests to be held in 32 universities in 2021-22 session: UGC Applicants to this four-year programme must pass HSC or equivalent exams. Brigadier General Ejazur Rahman Chowdhury, Director of Army IBA, said, "Considering the benefit of the admission seekers, the opportunity to apply online has been extended." Among the applicants, those selected for written and oral admission tests will be informed about the next stage, he said. This application can be made directly on https://joinarmyiba.com/instantapply, the release said.

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry (DCCI) and Institute of Business Administration (IBA), University of Dhaka will work together for business-oriented research and innovation. A Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC) was signed between DCCI and IBA in this regard on Tuesday. DCCI President Rizwan Rahman and Director of IBA Prof Mohammad Abdul Momen signed the deed document on behalf of their respective sides. Rizwan said that as per the agreement, mutually agreed training courses will be arranged for DCCI. Both DCCI and IBA will conduct sector wise business research activities, job fair, seminars, workshop, and business conference. DCCI will provide internship opportunities for the students of IBA. Also read: Challenges of 4IR: DCCI, BUET ink MoC He said skill development is the priority area for the government as well as for the private sector because in order to compete with the global standard, we must have better skills in every sector. He called for extensive research and development works under the universities so that they can contribute to the development nation’s economy. Director of IBA, Prof. Momen said that there should have a greater collaboration between industry and academia. “To cope up with the changing global geo-political and technological transformation we have to be competitive in terms of skills and education,” he added. Also read: DCCI plans investment summit in Singapore this year He cited a few examples of some successful countries like USA, Germany, and Korea who are utilizing their universities for extensive wide ranging research and innovation activities. The research facilities of our universities in Bangladesh are still unexplored and under-utilized. He invited the private sector to invest for expansion of university research in the country for the sake of industry development, Prof Momen said.