The New Nation - Internet Edition

Citycell stands beside underprivileged children

Business Report

Citycell recently joined hands with Dhaka Shishu Hospital. Citycell CEO Michael Seymour handed over a cheque worth Tk 490,000 to Dr Salim Shakur, Director of Dhaka Shishu Hospital at a ceremony at the hospital on March 15, 2008. The donation will go towards a year's maintenance of 14 non-paying beds in the malnutrition ward for the most impoverished patients of the hospital.

This ceremony was organized by SAARC Women's Association which is involved in different projects for raising funds to support disadvantaged communities of society.

Representatives of Dhaka Shishu Hospital, SAARC Women's Association and Citycell discussed the current situation and requirements for the betterment of the institute. Seymour went around various wards of the hospital to observe the condition of the ailing children. He appreciated the sincere efforts of the hospital staff and expressed Citycell's commitment to be a part of this endeavor.

Dr. Md. Hanif, Professor of Pediatric Department, Dr. A. R. Khan, Pediatric Surgeon, Dr. Mahbub Hassan, Deputy Director of Medical, Dr. Shahid Hasan, Deputy Director of Administration, Shah Alam, Deputy Director of Finance and Dr. Riaz Mubarak, Assistant Professor of Dhaka Shishu Hospital were present on behalf of Dhaka Shishu Hospital. Ms. Amna Rahman, President, Sonya Panni Tondorf, Secretary and Munira Tabani, Former Secretary of SAARC Women's Association, Dr. Anand Rajasingham, Head of Marketing, Kym Goldsworthy, Head of Operations Support, Ms. Sania Mahmood, General Manager, Marketing Communications and Branding, Naushad M. Kamal, Senior Executive, Marketing Communications and Branding of Citycell were also present during the program.

HSBC holds environment championship final round

Business Report

The final round of the HSBC Environment Champions was recently held at a local city hotel.

Steve Banner, Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Bangladesh, AKM Zakaria, assistant editor of Prothom Alo and M Sami Hafiz, Corporate Responsibility and Communications Manager were present on the occasion.

HSBC Environment Champions was organised to raise awareness about the environment among the students of Bangladesh. Students of class 8 to 10 from schools across the country were asked to submit their ideas and thoughts about conserving the environment. A total of 194 ideas were received for the competition, out of which, the 10 best ideas were selected for presentation in the final round. The students briefly presented their opinions and ideas about conserving the environment in front of a panel of judges. At the end of the presentations, Steve Banner handed over prizes to the first, second and third prize winners based on the judgment of the panel of judges.

Surobhi Saha Roy from Mohammadpur Preparatory School was the first prize winner. She presented her idea of bio-textile technology to prevent soil erosion. The second and third prize winners were Sohel Rana from Rani Bilashmoni Boys High School, Gazipur and Zahidur Rahman from Uttara High School respectively. Sohel Rana presented his idea of proper waste management and Zahidur Rahman presented the effect and solution of 'Jhum' cultivation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

On the occasion, M. Sami Hafiz said that the environmental awareness amongst the students is very encouraging and he hoped that the students would continue their efforts to conserve the environment in the future.

City Bank Foundation donation to SEID Trust

Business Report

The City Bank Foundation donated to the underprivileged and intellectually disabled children of SEID Trust for their education, medical treatment and other expenses as part of its corporate social responsibility.

Kazi Mahmood Sattar, Managing Director and CEO of The City Bank Limited handed over a cheque to Dilara Satter Mitu, Director of SEID Trust at a simple ceremony recently at the Board Room of the bank. Along with other high officials of the Bank DMDs Raihan Ul Ameen, DH Choudhury and Head of Marketing ASM Obaidul Quader and Member Secretary of The City Bank Foundation were present on the occasion.

Special Education for Intellectually Disabled (SEID) Trust is a voluntary organization to support the intellectually disabled of the society through the therapeutic and educational interventions.

Japan helps NGO build training centre for craftsman of artificial limbs for disability

On 11 March 2008, Masayuki Inoue, Ambassador of Japan to Bangladesh signed a Grant Contract amounting to US$ 85,204 (approximately Taka 58 Lakh) with AHM Noman Khan, Executive Director of Center for Disabilities in Development (CDD) for its project "Construction of Training Complex for Craftsman of Artificial Limbs for Disability".

Since its establishment in 1996, CDD has been actively working to improve social and economic status of the handicapped as one of the leading organizations in collaboration with both international and domestic partners. CDD has held various advocacy campaigns in order to raise public awareness and to acquire supports for the handicapped. Also CDD has engaged in human resource development of partner NGOs by sending CDD staffs as trainers and providing teaching materials, course curriculum etc.

Using the grant from Japan, CDD will build a training complex for craftsmen of artificial limbs for disability in Savar. Currently there is no training center for such craftsmen, while it is said that 5,000 to 7,000 craftsmen are needed against 7.8 million disabled population in Bangladesh. Through this project, the Japanese government hopes that artificial limbs will be more available in Bangladesh and that the handicapped will have more opportunities to participate in social and economic activities.

The Government of Japan has been extending Grant Assistance for Grass-roots Human Security Projects through NGOs since 1989 in Bangladesh. A total number of 137 projects have already received grant amounting to US$9.7 million (approximately Taka 66.5 crore).

JBTI holds foundation training course for probationary officers

Business Report

A 28-day long Foundation Training Course for the newly recruited Probationary Officers (First Batch) organized by the Jamuna Bank Training Institute has recently concluded through a simple closing ceremony.

The closing ceremony was graced by Md. Motior Rahman, Additional Managing Director as the chief guest. He awarded the certificates to the participants and also gave away prizes to three participants who secured first, second and third position in the examinations conducted in the three parts of the course.

In his speech Md Motior Rahman emphasized on the importance of in-house and on-the job training. He urged the participants to reinforce in their work stations what they have learnt in the training course.

He stressed the need for enhancement of knowledge through continuous learning.

He advised the participant to go on with the thirst for knowledge and equip themselves with innovative ideas in banking and finance through learning.

Shahedul Alam Khan, Senior Vice President and Head of Human Resources Division and Mahbubul Huq Chowdhury, Senior Vice President and Head of Sonargaon Road Branch were also present in the function and spoke on the occasion.

Md Anwar Hossain, Principal of the Jamuna Bank Training Institute conducted the closing ceremony and stated that JBTI had tried to infuse in the participants' mind the thirst for knowledge which may help them become able leaders in banking industry in the days to come.

Square launches ophthalmic manufacturing plant

Business Report

Square Pharmaceuticals Limited launched its dedicated and state-of-the-art ophthalmic manufacturing plant at Kaliakoir, Gazipur which has been built in accordance with the US FDA and UK MHRA cGMP specifications.

Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Adviser Dr AMM Shawkat Ali inaugurated the plant. This world-class facility is based on Blow-Fill-Seal (BFS) Technology for maintaining appropriate aseptic environment. It's a specialized technology using in-line forming, filling and sealing of liquid preparation in a single operation without any human touch.

This plant will manufacture eye drops of different category like antibiotics, anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anti-cataracto genic, anti-glaucoma, etc. The annual capacity of the plant is 25 million units of different pack size. The facility is built by Telstar SA of Spain, a world renowned pharmaceutical manufacturing facility expert and the machines are designed and manufactured by Weiler Engineering, USA.

Victoria University holds orientation

The Spring-2008 Semester Orientation Programme of Victoria University of Bangladesh (VUB) was held on March 13 at the university auditorium. Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr MR Khan presided over the ceremony. The total programme commenced in three parts. In the first part the Vice-Chancellor delivered his keynote speech, introduced VUB's teachers, administrative personnel and narrated the code of conduct of the university to the freshers. Besides, the Dean of Business Studies Faculty Professor M Mokarram Hossain, Professor Mustafizur Rahman Chairman, Department of English and Farid Ahmed, Assistant Professor Department of BTHM, Director Accounts and Admission Sheikh Md. Abu Siddique and Librarian Zakirul Islam addressed the newly inducted students. At this stage the Vice-Chancellor declared the conclusion of the 1st part of the orientation programme.

In the second phase of the orientation programme individual departmental heads and other teachers sat with their respective students for open dialogue regarding their academic matters and future career Planning. Also documentary slides on VUB's past activities were shown to the freshers. In the concluding part of the orientation ceremony, a spontaneous cultural show was held with the participation of the students, teachers & officials of the University.

Hatil Furniture’s award giving ceremony

Award giving ceremony of Hatil Furniture Design Competition-2006 was held at a convention center at Gulshan in the City on Saturday. It was presided over by Salim H Rahaman, Managing Director, Hatil Complex Ltd while Architect Bashirul Haq was present as the Chief Guest. AM Saadullah, Senior industrial designer GTZ, Architect Nahas Ahmed Khalil, Architect Mahmudul Anwer Riyaad, Atif Dewan Rashid, Executive Director, DTC were among others present.

The main objective of Hatil Furniture Design Competition-2006 was, to link designers with industries and the theme of the event was "Children Furniture Design." More than 100 participants took part in this competition. It included non-professional to professional designers and architects. According to the Jury committee, the First prize went to Md. Hasan Al Imtiaz Zafree with a prize money of Tk. worth 2,00,00. The Second prize worth Tk. 1,00,000 and the Third prize worth Tk. 50,000 went to AKM Kobir Hasan Mukul and Taslima Gulnar respectively. Besides, as many as Nine participants got Special and General commendation Awards. The next "Hatil Furniture Design Competition-2008" was also formally declared in the program. There will be two categories in the upcoming competition: Student group and Professional group.

Bangla Perfumes Distributors introduce fragrance 'Escada S'

The Grand Launching Ceremony of perfume "Escada S" was held yesterday at at Shell Design, level - 1, Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, Panthapath, Dhaka.The launching ceremony were inaugurated by Model Faisal and Sharmeen Lucky. Khondoker Nazrul Islam, CEO and Faridul Hasan Choudhury, Chairman of Bangla Perfumes Distributors Ltd and M. Bazlur Rahman, owner of Shell Design, were present on this occasion. 'S' is the bewitching new fragrance from Escada; a distinctive and invigorating scent designed to inspire women to celebrate their individuality and unleash their colourful side. The S woman radiates energy and exudes a lust for life which lights up any room that she enters. Her aura can be felt, her presence is magnetic and her allure unmistakable.

Surprising, sophisticated, sparkling and sensational…..Escada S is her signature fragrance. Escada S is available in Shell Design, level -1, Block-C, Shop-25 at Bashundhara City Shopping Complex, Panthapath, Dhaka. Bangla Perfumes also distributing the World noted brands, such as, CARTIER, Azzaro, GUCCI, D&G, HUGO, HUGO BOSS, LACOSTE VALENTINO, PREMER BRAND, DunHill etc.