Vowing to work together for the greater good of wildlife conservation, WildTeam’s two-day Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation workshop came to its closure on Monday at Cosmos Centre in the capital. The two-day workshop, an exclusive collaboration between WildTeam and the Bangladesh Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka University, Jagannath University, and Noakhali University of Science and Technology, turned into a rendezvous with the enthusiastic participation of a large number of aspiring wildlife researchers, educators and students. Continuing the successful and effective series of sessions, the second day of the exclusive workshop began with the ‘Basics of Radio-telemetry for monitoring wildlife’ session which was conducted by Dr Rajiv Kalsi from 10 am to 10:45 pm, followed by his two other sessions - ‘Estimating densities using distance sampling’ from 11:00-11:30 am and ‘Use of Mark-Recapture for generating estimates’ from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm. A group activity session was then conducted for the participants, from 12:00 pm to 1 pm by Dr Kamalka Bhattacharyyay alongside Dr Rajiv Kalsi.  After that, two virtual sessions were held following the lunch break: ‘Estimating and conserving the patterns of diversity using field survey data’ by Dr Md Anwar Hossain and ‘Human-Tiger Interactions’ by Dr Medha Nayak (from India). The later session comprised another activity: ‘List causes and drivers of Human Tiger Conflict in Sundarbans’. Read more: WildTeam’s tiger conservation workshop begins at Cosmos Centre The final session of the workshop was conducted by Prof M Abdul Aziz from Jahangirnagar University from 3 pm to 4:30 pm, titled ‘Camera trapping in the Sundarbans and demonstration’. After a 15-minute post-training evaluation test for participants followed by another feedback session of the same duration, the workshop officially came to its closure with its closing ceremony and certificate distribution among the participants and the workshop conductors-associates.  Chaired by WildTeam Founder and Cosmos Foundation Chairman Enayetullah Khan, the concluding session was moderated by Dr Md Anwarul Islam, CEO and spokesperson for WildTeam and also joined by WildTeam Chairman and renowned Ornithologist Enam Ul Haque, Deputy Managing Director of Cosmos Group Masud Khan, JU Professor M Abdul Aziz, innovative conservationist Noam Bedein and two of the workshop facilitators from Wildlife Trust India, Dr Kamalka Bhattacharyyay and Dr Rajiv Kalsi. “When one stops to learn, the person stops to live - and it is as simple as that. We all have to die, today or tomorrow; but I think many people die much before their physical death when they lost the inspiration to learn. Personally, I am very happy to see all of you aspirant wildlife researchers here together and especially the participation of our female participants, as I believe the contribution of our female population to society is enormous,” Enayetullah Khan lauded the participants at the closing ceremony. “I have seen WildTeam’s journey and struggles from its beginning,” Masud Khan said at the ceremony. “My father Enayetullah Khan, alongside Enam Ul Haque, Professor Anwarul Islam and the entire WildTeam has been working for effective conservation through struggles, efforts and sacrifices. I am very happy to explore this successful workshop, and I wish the best to all the participators-facilitators and the whole team.” Lauding WildTeam for hosting this exclusive research workshop, Dr Rajiv Kalsi said, “Wildlife conservation is an urgency of our time. No government can do it alone, so I really appreciate Cosmos and WildTeam for this workshop.”

The young generation needs to understand what information they share with the masses, speakers said at a workshop. Information technology is advancing in leaps and bounds, and the dangers of disinformation, misinformation and fake news loom large, they said. The youth must be aware of these dangers and prepare themselves accordingly, said the speakers, noting that malinformation or fake news could bring anyone under the regulations of the Digital Security Act (DSA) 2018.

Dhaka, Feb 25 (UNB) – WildTeam, a leading environmental conservation organization, is set to host a two-day workshop titled ‘Integrated Tiger Habitat Conservation Programme’ on February 26 and 27 at the Padma Conference Room, Cosmos Center in Malibagh, Dhaka. The workshop aims to provide participants with the knowledge and skills necessary to plan, design and conduct successful wildlife research projects. The WildTeam workshop is an exclusive collaboration with the Bangladesh Forest Department, Wildlife Trust of India, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka University, Jagannath University, and Noakhali University of Science and Technology. Participants with an interest in wildlife research, including research students, researchers, and professionals will have the opportunity to learn from experienced researchers and practitioners in the field of wildlife biology and conservation. This will be the first time that researchers from India and Bangladesh will gather and share their thoughts, knowledge, and practice initiatives on what should be done for the betterment of wildlife conservation. Also Read: 300 sheltered at WildTeam’s Conservation Biology Centre during Sitrang Imran Ahmed, Conservator of Forests, Wildlife and Nature Conservation Circle, Bangladesh Forest Department, will join the workshop as the guest of honour, while the workshop will be chaired by Enayetullah Khan, Founder of WildTeam and Chairman of Cosmos Foundation. The workshop will cover a range of topics, including the principles of research design, field data collection techniques, data analysis, and report writing. In addition, participants will learn about the latest tools and technologies used in wildlife research, including GPS tracking, remote sensing, and camera traps. A total of 50 participants are set to join the two-day workshop, from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm on day one (February 26) and 10:00 am to 4:45 pm on day two (February 27). “We are thrilled to host this workshop and provide participants with the skills and knowledge they need to conduct successful wildlife research,” said Professor Dr Md Anwarul Islam, CEO and spokesperson for WildTeam. “We believe that this workshop will be an excellent opportunity for participants to learn from experienced researchers and practitioners and to network with others in the field.” The event includes all workshop materials, refreshments, and lunch on both days. Participants will also receive certificates at the closing ceremony of this exclusive workshop. About WildTeam: WildTeam is a leading environmental organization committed to protecting wildlife and their habitats. The organization's mission is to work with communities, governments, and other stakeholders to promote sustainable wildlife conservation and management practices.  

Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (UN) has said that the cities of Bangladesh need rooftop agriculture in order to ensure sustainable food and reduce food wastage. To stress on the importance of rooftop gardening, the UN body conducted a training workshop for the ward councilors of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) on Wednesday under a project titled Dhaka Food System (DFS).   DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam attended the event as the chief guest, while Xavier Bouan, the project’s Senior Technical Adviser, addressed the event  focusing on the need to grow fruits and vegetables on the  rooftops of buildings. Read: FAO Asia-Pacific regional conference to kick off in Dhaka Tuesday “Households can reap nutritional and health benefits from rooftop agriculture. Rooftop agriculture also has positive effects on communities and society in general. They can help people to re-establish a relationship with what they eat. This is a link that has weakened since we started outsourcing our food and relying so much on industrialized production,” Bouan said. According to the Agriculture Information Service of the Ministry of Agriculture, approximately 4,50,000 roofs, covering 4,500 hectares, remain underutilized in Dhaka city. A survey using images from drones conducted by DNCC concluded that only two percent of rooftops in that part of the city had rooftop gardens. “DNCC, with the support of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development, and Co-operatives, have announced the possibility for a ten percent holding tax rebate for city residents practicing rooftop agriculture. FAO is assisting the city’s two corporations to prepare the guidelines to implement the planned tax rebate policy,” Atiqul said. Participants at the workshop provided their input into developing and applying a set of guidelines for city corporations that will assist officials in determining whether households practicing agriculture qualify for a property tax rebate.  Read: Hasina focuses on food security as FAO conference opens The DFS project, funded by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, is working with a local organization, Proshika, to develop 20 rooftop agriculture demonstration plots throughout the city and to train 550 people from slum areas. The Local Government Division of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives is leading the DFS project implementation with technical support from FAO and Wageningen University & Research (WUR) of the Netherlands.

A validation workshop was held on the updated Climate Change Gender Action Plan (CcGAP) Thursday at a Dhaka hotel to share the updated CcGAP 2022 with a wide range of officials and practitioners in climate change and gender. UN Women in partnership with Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment, Forest, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) with technical support from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies (BCAS), and Centre for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER) drove the update process. The first CcGAP was produced in 2013 when the attempt was to align it with the Bangladesh Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan (BCCSAP 2009). The MoEFCC took the initiative to revise it as a lot of advancements had taken place since at the international and national levels, such as Goal 13 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Paris Climate Agreement, Mujib Climate Prosperity Plan, Delta Plan, Perspective Plan, and National Adaptation Plan (NAP). Read: Dnet arranges workshop on responsible digital citizenship The CcGAP needs to align with all these key drivers for climate change to make the plan effective and thus enhance the process of gender mainstreaming into the national policies, strategies, and sectoral plans. Managing Director (Additional Secretary) of Bangladesh Climate Change Trust (BCCT) Nurun Naher Hena attended the event as chief guest. Chaired by Diya Nanda, deputy country representative of UN Women, Nayoka Martinez Backstrom, first secretary (environment and climate change) at the Embassy of Sweden, Raquibul Amin, country representative of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Md Khairuzzaman, director (planning, development, and negotiation) of BCCT), and Dilruba Haider, programme specialist of UN Women, spoke at the event. Read: Nagad holds workshop on prevention of money laundering, terror financing Nurun Naher said: "We need to develop action plans and toolkits like Climate Change Gender Action Plan to ensure development projects and policies related to climate change and other sectors are gender-responsive. That's how the gap with regard to gender integration into mainstreaming sectors like climate change can be addressed." Nayoka Martinez said: "The updated Climate Change Gender Action Plan has proposed a number of indicators. An evidence-based monitoring mechanism would strengthen the process of tracking progress that would also enable the implementation of the action plans." Diya said: "Integration of sex-disaggregated data is critical to mainstream gender in the sector-specific policies and strategies. Women are disproportionately affected due to societal norms, systemic gender inequalities, reproductive obligations, and so on." "So, collection of Sex, Age, and Disability Disaggregated Data (SADDD) in every aspect is crucial to address the different needs and vulnerabilities of different groups of marginalised people."

Creating awareness among youths about internet, internet safety, free speech with responsibility , digital act, digital crime, propaganda, fake news can ensure safe and free movement in digital space. Those were the main takeaways from a workshop titled “Advocacy Dialogue: awareness and protection of digital citizenship and rights”, held with participation of law practitioners and journalists on Monday in the capital. Read: Tech Republic showcases Jabra's smart solutions for hybrid offices Social enterprise Dnet, that focuses on use of technology to provide solutions for social problems, organized the workshop jointly with Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom funded by the European Union under the project, ``Foster Responsible Digital Citizenship to Promote Freedom of Expression in Bangladesh.” “It is necessary to define vague terms like cyber security, cybercrime in Bangladesh Digital Security Act, 2018, . It would have been easier for people to understand which issues are considered as violation of the reputation of the state if there was proper definition”,Faruq Faisel, Regional Director of Article 19 said.

Nagad, the mobile financial service arm of Bangladesh Postal Department, organised two separate workshops to raise awareness among its “Uddoktas” in Chattogram and Cumilla on how to check money laundering and combat terrorist financing while conducting MFS transactions.    The workshop titled “Let’s prevent financial transactions through ‘hundi’, let’s all build a beautiful Bangladesh”, was held recently in Chattogram with Md Shahid Ullah, market director (East Operation) of Nagad, in the chair. M Nurul Alam, FCS, chief anti-money laundering compliance officer of Nagad, graced the occasion as the chief guest. Regional and head office officials were also present at the event. Ahammad Ali, assistant general manager of Nagad’s Compliance Department, presented a keynote.  Regional sales managers of Cumilla and Chattogram Mehedi Ahmed Siddique and Md Shamimul Hasan Chowdhury respectively moderated the two discussions.  Read: Nagad wins Mastercard Excellence Award 2022 in two categories Speakers at the event apprised Nagad Uddoktas of the necessity of reining in money laundering and terrorist financing while running their operations. They also made them aware of potential risk factors, illegal hundi, online betting, and other digital crimes.  They also shed light on reporting suspicious transactions and case studies related to fraud.  The programme mainly focused on checking remittance inflows through illegal channels and illegal transactions of cryptocurrencies.   The officials discussed how remittance inflows through legal channels have a positive impact on the economy.   M Nurul Alam, chief anti-money laundering compliance officer of Nagad, thanked channel partners for participating in the workshop.  Mentioning that Uddoktas can play a crucial role in preventing money laundering and terrorist financing, he urged everyone to work together to prevent all kinds of misuse of Nagad platform by any wrongdoers. Read: Nagad Islamic, Islami Bank team up for seamless financial services He also expressed hope that such awareness activities will be held frequently in all parts of the country as part of Nagad’s compliance activities. Stating that the main driving force of Nagad’s management is its Uddoktas and strong channel partners, Md Shahid Ullah, market director (East Operation) of Nagad, urged all to be aware of money laundering and terrorist financing.

Mobile financial services provider (MFS) Nagad recently arranged a workshop to raise awareness of breast cancer among all its employees and their families. More than 100 employees and their family members attended the workshop online. Later, those at Nagad's headquarters in Banani underwent a health check-up. Provident Health acted as a programme partner of Nagad to provide them with information about the prevention, screening tests for early detection, and treatment of breast cancer. Doctors at the workshop said breast cancer is the leading cancer for women in Bangladesh. According to the World Health Organisation, one in every eight women in the world is at risk of developing breast cancer in the course of their life. About 20,000 women are diagnosed with this cancer every year. Read: Nagad upgrades system to offer better services However, 50 percent of them have every chance of cure if diagnosed early and treated appropriately, said physicians at Nagad's workshop. Shaharear Sayeed, director of human resource and administration at Nagad said, "Dedicated in-house doctors come to our office every week to conduct health tests of our employees and make them aware of various diseases." "They also regularly conduct workshops on breast cancer to make everyone aware of it."

Bangladesh Bank organized an awareness workshop for the officials of the Bangladesh Postal Department’s mobile financial service Nagad, aiming to provide an overview of the Bangladesh Bank-authorized financial institutions. The workshop titled ‘Guidelines for Trust Fund Management in Payment and Settlement Services’ was led by Hafia Tazrean, Joint Director of the Bangladesh Bank's Payment System Department which was held at a city hotel in Dhaka recently. Read: Nagad offers Tk50 cashback on 'add money' from banks Hafia Tazrean and Tanvir A Mishuk, Founder and Managing Director of Nagad Limited, distributed certificates to the participants at the end of the session. Besides, Mohammad Aminul Haque, the Executive Director of Nagad Limited, Sheikh Aminur Rahman, the Chief Business Officer, and Md. Nurul Alam, FCS were present from Nagad Limited.  Postal Attaché of Postal Department Masud Khan and Additional Post Master General Al Mahbub represented the Bangladesh Postal Department during the session. Tanvir A Mishuk, Managing Director of Nagad, thanked Bangladesh Bank at the end of the workshop and said, “Nagad always believes in preserving utmost transparency. We are dedicated to adhering to all Bangladesh Bank policies as the regulating authority. With this in mind, we attended the program to gain more knowledge about Trust Fund.” The session was conducted to provide information about the financial institutions that have been approved by Bangladesh Bank. Hafia Tazrean, Joint Director of Bangladesh Bank, discussed digital transactions, starting from the initial commodities trade and gold exchange system to banknotes. Throughout the workshop, she emphasized the obligations and duties of non-banking financial organizations. Read:Nagad to disburse allowances under govt’s employment generation program The joint director also spoke about Nagad's obligations as an MFS institution and how MFS business can safeguard its customers' funds and the Bangladesh Bank's regulations in this respect. She later discussed what a "Trust Fund" is, how it is administered, and the guidelines for utilizing the Trustcom Settlement Account. Following the successful completion of the program, certificates were handed to all attendees.

“I would always wonder if leadership can be taught or if it is an inherent trait,” says Almeer Ahsan Asif. “My perception on leadership and values changed completely after I enrolled in the first cohort of BYLC’s Art and Practice of Leadership workshop.” Through APL, Almeer learnt that practicing leadership is far more important than being a leader. Anyone can practice leadership, regardless of their age, gender, or socio-economic status. Formal authority is not required to practice leadership. So, what exactly is this Art and Practice of Leadership that has completely upturned perceptions of thousands of youth like Almeer, who previously were more inclined to give more importance to the role a person held as opposed to the work itself? Read: BYLC launches development sector-focused career expo in Dhaka Conceptualized at Harvard University, the Art and Practice of Leadership or APL is a 3-day-long workshop that allows participants to embark on a stimulating introspective journey that develops their leadership potential while acquiring new skills to keep up with a rapidly changing world. Apart from leadership, participants are trained on communication through public speaking, emotional intelligence, problem-solving, and critical thinking skills. Work, as per this workshop, is always at the center. “The work is more important than the person. It’s not about who is getting the work done but about getting it done. Throughout my career, I’ve given more importance to my work than my position,” says Almeer. While still a student of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at AIUB, Almeer came to know about the first APL workshop of BYLC. As he was already engaged in various social activities and was involved in work that required leadership, he thought to give the workshop a try. At the very least, he would get a certificate. He didn’t anticipate the program to change the way he thought or the way he addressed problems.  Read: BYLC Ventures hosts Cohort 5 selection bootcamp He decided to shift to the teaching route; he joined the Teach for Bangladesh fellowship after graduating from AIUB. He taught at Amtoli Staff Welfare School in Mohakhali for two years as a fellow in the inaugural cohort. Later, he joined the curriculum development team of BYLC as an Assistant Manager. In 2017, he received an Executive Education on the Art and Practice of Leadership Development from Harvard University. Almeer currently acts as the Senior Manager of the Skills Development and Training wing, leading a five-year long project and five departments of BYLC. His students have gone on to make major impacts on their fields, be it the public, private, or civil sectors. Almeer believes that APL has an unique role in training the millions of graduating students of Bangladesh who, despite their grades, may not have the skills or confidence to demonstrate their employability in the job market. Explaining the importance of learning leadership in career development, Almeer said, “From my days in Harvard, I recall what a CEO of an organization told me. He said, ‘Look, I’ve been in the top position in an organization for 15 years, but I never managed to lead. I only performed the duties attached to the position.’ We want to imbibe our graduates with the passion to learn, grow, and lead.”  Read BYLC Ventures opens applications for 5th cohort He goes on to add, “Through BYLC’s APL course, the scope of skills development truly expands. In addition to learning about several technical aspects, it becomes easier to find solutions to various problems. There’s so much more to think about beyond your own boundaries.” So if you think this is right for you, join BYLC's 29th cohort of Art and Practice of Leadership workshop. Please visit bylc.org for more information.