United News of Bangladesh

Dhaka University Film Society (DUFS) is organising a five-day Bangla film festival marking the 'Month of Language' February named 'Amar Bhasa Cholocchitro Festival.' Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Prof. Muhammad Samad was present as a guest at the opening ceremony. Freedom fighter and filmmaker Nasir Uddin Yusuf, Assistant Professor of Television Film and Photography Department of Dhaka University and Moderator of DUFS Habiba Rahman, and president of DUFS Shian Shahriar Alamgir were present during the opening ceremony. The film screenings began yesterday at the TSC Auditorium, where a total of 22 Bangla classic films will be screened till February 9. Some of the films that have been screened today are Simana Periye, Golapi Ekhon Train-e, Behula, Interview, Abar Tora Manus Ho, Anondo Osru, Silpa Shohor Sopnolok, Bancharamer Bagan, and Mondo Meyer Upakhhyan. Some of the films scheduled to be screened over the next three days are  Chitrangada, Porbashi, Dheu, Dure, Manikbabur Megh, Bollovpurer Rupkotha, Shimu, Kura Pokkhir Sunnye Ura, Haoa, Once Upon A Time in Kalkata, Damal and Satao. Films will be screened in four sessions everyday. The first  screening will start at 10am everyday, 2nd will start at 1pm everyday, 3rd at 3.30 pm and the last screening will start at 6pm. Visitors will beed to buy tickets to enter the venue. The ticket price has been fixed at TK 50. The ticket fee for every film has been fixed to Tk 50.  

A new organisation, Skills Management and Research Training Society (Smart Society) has been launched at Begum Rokeya University, Rangpur (BRUR) to provide students with various pre-employment training free of cost to enhance their skills. Mahamudul Haque, a teacher of Mass Communication and Journalism department also the Chief Patron and Chief Advisor of Smart Society, announced the convening committee of the organisation at BRUR on Saturday evening. Raju Ahmed and Mobesser Ahmed Shipon, students of the university, have been made the conveyor and office secretary of the committee respectively. While launching Smart Society, a not-for-profit and non-political organisation, Mahamudul Haque said this organisation will impart hands-on training in research, writing of articles and books, TV news presentations, public speaking, photography, videography, documentary, English language skills, ICT and other areas of practical skills to deal with the challenges of 4rth industrial revolution. The organization will also provide certificates after the completion of each training workshop.

Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni on Saturday said major changes have been brought in the learning method and evaluation through launching the new curriculum. “A section of people has been spreading falsehood and propaganda deliberately about the new curriculum and some mistakes in textbooks getting no other issues against the Sheikh Hasina government,” she said. She made the remarks while talking to journalists after inaugurating the ‘Intra schools and madrashas athletics competition’ at Sheikh Kamal Stadium in the town in the morning. Corrections will be made if mistakes are detected in the printed textbooks distributed across the country, she said. Read more: NCTB gives corrections for 9 mistakes in 3 textbooks of new curriculum In the new curriculum, the entire teaching and learning methods have been changed and students will be able to learn with joy, Dipu Moni said. She said there should discussions over the qualitative changes in the new curriculum but those have been overlooked. Deputy Commissioner Kamarul Hasan, Superintendent of Police Md Milon Mahmud and Additional DC Rasheda Akter were ,among others, present at the inaugural ceremony.  

The UCSI University, one of the top-ranked and largest private universities in Malaysia, has gone transnational with the soft launch of its first international branch campus in Bangladesh. The new campus will be based in the capital and operations will commence in May this year. It is the first time UCSI is committing to a branch campus overseas. Malaysia's Higher Education Minister Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said the launch dovetailed well with the ministry's internationalisation plans. "The UCSI University Bangladesh will boost Malaysia's status as a global education hub, and I commend UCSI for this post-pandemic initiative," he said at the launch event held at UCSI's Kuala Lumpur campus Friday. Read more: Cheapest countries for Bangladeshi students for higher studies "I encourage more private providers to consider similar arrangements. The Malaysian brand of higher education is synonymous with quality, and we can impact international markets," he added.

The fine arts department students of Chattogram University were asked to leave their hall and the campus by 10pm Thursday due to "renovation work" on the campus, the authorities said. The decision was taken at the 542nd syndicate meeting this evening, Chattogram University Proctor Rabiul Hasan Bhuiyan said. "After the urgent meeting, the students were asked to leave the campus and vacate the Shilpi Rashid Chowdhury dormitory by 10pm. All in-person classes and exams will be suspended in the fine arts institute for the next month to carry out some renovation work," he added. On Wednesday night, the proctorial team and police conducted a raid on the campus. They searched every room of the institution's Shilpi Rashid Chowdhury dormitory and the teachers' club. On November 2 last year, the students staged a sit-in programme and started boycotting classes for an indefinite period to press home their 22-point demand, including renovation of dormitories and the library, and relocation of the campus to Hathazari main campus. On November 16, the students staged a demonstration, locking the main gate of the institute and boycotting classes and exams, as their demands were not met. The students returned to classes on January 23 on some conditions. However, they resumed their protest Tuesday as their "demands were not met." Read more: 22-point demand: CU fine arts students on indefinite class boycott

A first year student of the journalism and media studies department of Jahangirnagar University is on life support after being hit by a bike and dragged under the bike on campus. The incident took place near Maulana Bhasani Hall at 7:30 pm. The victim Jahid was going to "Gerua" near campus.The bike hit from behind and dragged him several yards. Ferdous Mahamud Neon of the philosophy department was driving the bike. Some of Jahid's friends and other students took him to university medical centre then to Enam Medical College Hospital. Ujjal Kumar Mandal, assistant professor of his department, quoting doctors, said that Jahid's condition is not good. "He is on life support. He has scalp fracture on the right side of head. Brain hemorrhage on the left side of head." In this regard, Proctor ASM Firoz Ul Hasan said, "I went to Enam Medical and saw the injured student. I will go out and talk to the students." Meanwhile, students of the journalism department staged a protest before the vice-chancellor's house. Read more: Northern University  student killed in road crash

Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad said that a group of activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League attacked their regular Qwwali programme at the TSC of the Dhaka University on Thursday evening. But a BCL leader rejected the allegation. Asif Mahmud, former vice president of DU Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, said that the BCL activists beat a member of their group when he arrived at the TSC to join about a dozen of them who gathered there to sing Qwwali songs. Mahmud said they left the place after sensing danger, but their friend Lutfor Rahman was attacked when he arrived at the scene late. Mahmud accused Dhaka University Chhatra League General Secretary S Tanbir Hasan Saikat of asking his followers to attack Lutfor, but he denied the allegation. After the attack, Lutfor Rahman was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment as he was injured badly, his friends said. Asked, Saikat said he had no idea about any attack. Lutfor is a student of Arabic Department of Dhaka University of 2016-17 academic session and was former cultural affairs secretary of Chhatra Odhikar parishad of DU unit. He is also one of the founders of Silsila, the Qwwali music brand of Dhaka University. Read more: 4 BCL leaders arrested over attack at Barishal University dormitory

A daylong bird fair will be held at Jahangirnagar University (JU) on Friday, aiming to create mass awareness about wildlife conservation and preserving birds.The Zoology Department in association with WildLife Rescue Centre, Bangladesh Bird Club, Aronnyok Foundation, Prokriti O Jibon Foundation, Bangladesh Zoological Society and International Union for Conservation of Nature will organise the fair, said a press release.JU vice-chancellor professor Nurul Alam will inaugurate the programme in the morning on Zahir Raihan auditorium premises of the university. Read more: 6th convocation of Jahangirnagar University on February 25Convener of the fair professor Md Kamrul Hasan said, ‘We are expecting a successful fair as the previous years. Moreover, the fair will bring more hype this year as we could not organise the fair last two years due to the Covid pandemic.’The daylong fair will include an inaugural session, competition of bird identification through audio and video, debate on environment and bird painting competition for children, award giving session and others.Besides, a total of 7 bird conservationists will be awarded under three categories - Big Bird Bangladesh Award, Conservation Media Award and Scientific Publication Award.

Florida Atlantic University (FAU) has invited Bangladesh students to explore the opportunities it offers to international students to help shape their future. “We are more than happy to invite all of you to join Florida Atlantic University (FAU) and have a very good experience at our campus, and be the next entrepreneurs in the world,” Harshal A. Sanghvi from the US university told UNB in an interview. Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the institution serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students across six campuses located along the southeast Florida coast and is ranked as a top public university by the U.S. News and World Report. “That's what we are here to let students know. We are not just here to promote education but we are here to promote their overall growth and take them to the very next step in their life,” Sanghvi said. He said they are in Dhaka to promote the master's program and the courses they teach at FAU, especially the courses in the department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (EECS). He said he is also here to describe in detail the opportunities they have at Florida Atlantic University, as well as why a student should choose FAU, and the overall benefits that the master's degree program offers. Encouraging the prospective Bangladeshi students, Sanghvi said, “We have a very good culture and environment. We have great academic and financial support that we give to our students in terms of the university offerings – placement, housing and residency, and a lot more to explore in Florida, especially in Boca Raton, where we are situated. And of course the students love Miami.” During his brief visit in Bangladesh, he attended some students’ recruitment events along with StudyGroup and other partner agencies they have collaboration with.

The Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations for 2023 will begin on April 30. Professor Tapan Kumar Sarkar, chairman of Dhaka Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, revealed the schedule to UNB today (January 30, 2023). Read more: SSC results 2022: Average pass rate 87.44% Last year, Education Minister Dipu Moni said SSC and HSC exams in 2023 will be held in April and June, respectively, based on shortened syllabus, just like the previous academic session. SSC exams for 2022 began on September 15 last year considering the flood situation in the country. According to the government's academic calendar, SSC exams are held from February 1 and HSC from April 1 every year. However, these exams were not held on time in the past two years due to Covid-19. Read More SSC Results 2022: Girls slightly ahead of boys with 87.71% pass rate