Category: Events

Tahjeeb Hossain Chowdhury: Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) organized a seminar on Bangladesh Petroleum policy and how it affects the budget and environment. On 26th July 2020, the seminar took place and it was presided over by the Executive Vice President of the organization Dr. Abdul Matin while BAPA Vice President Dr. Nazrul Islam delivered the keynote speech.

Many distinguished speakers came and had great insights to offer including former Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr. Atiur Rahman, Dr Mustafizur Rahman from Center for Policy dialogue, Professor Anu Mohammad from Jahangirnagar University to name a few distinguished attendees.

Dr. Nazrul Islam as the keynote speaker spoke at length about many issues regarding the fuel laws of Bangladesh. The success of Bangladeshi Fuel Laws with electricity production, distribution, the prosperity of industry due to the fuel use, humanitarian values, effects on the budget, and the climate as well as how fuel usage and laws have been affecting the environment.

He lauded the production of electricity and also it’s sustainability in the last decade while also highlighting the long effects it has on the budget and environment. He lamented the lack of foresight regarding the adverse effects of fuel usage on the environment. He called for a fuel law that keeps these aspects in mind and pledged BAPA’s involvement.

Other speakers also lent their voices to the issue as Dr. Abdul Matin criticized how the powerful and corrupt people are getting away with illegal activities and cited the Boral River takeover as a glowing example of corruption. Dr. Atiur Rahman opined that our lack of preparation regarding climate change is an alarming sign. He also added that fossil fuel subsidies that we pay every year would be more than enough to cause a solar energy revolution if used properly.

All of the speakers opined how the lack of preparation, changes in the fuel laws and regulations have affected the overall budget and environment. They highlighted how our resources are dwindling and the forthcoming climate change and ongoing pollution is rendering our socio-environmental infrastructure in a compromised position.

Professor Anu Mohammad criticized how policymakers have been overlooking the needs of the general public. How extravagant projects such as the Rampal project have been taken up in spite of predicted damages to the environment and economy as going overcapacity is meaning that the Government is paying subsidies while there is no work in progress.

Issues regarding the fuel regulations have been a topic of great debate and discussion. This seminar highlights that quite well as the high intellectuals of our country has so much input and criticism on the topic. Our education about these matters along with lively discussion like this is needed for environmental sustainability.

(The writer is a marketing graduate, content writer, and data science enthusiast from Dhaka, reach him at [email protected])

Any age of Bangladeshis, living here or abroad, are eligible to participate in the competition “ACI Pure Salt presents National Environmental Writing Contest 2020″. The writing category is open to writers but it needs related to environmental issue of Bangladesh. The length of write up is 450 to 600 words.

The champion of the contest will get couple return air ticket of Cox’s Bazar while the first runner up will get a Movie Projector and the second runner up will get couple dinner in a top restaurant. There are also attractive gifts available for fourth to tenth position holders. The submission deadline is on or before August 5, 2020 and interested persons are requested to visit bdenvironment.com/contest

The founder of bdenvironment.com Md. Ashraful Alam said that we are trying to aware people regarding environmental and climate change issues. We organize tree plantations, seminars, workshop and event so that people can be awarded. This contest is part of them. Together we can save the earth.

Incidentally, ACI Pure Salt is the title sponsor of this contest while Britto Communication as platinum sponsor, SMS Environmental alliance as Gold sponsor, Back Office as silver sponsor and EarthCare Club as strategic partner. Apart from this, Dainik Jugantor, The Asian Age, Channel I and Radio Today joined this national contest as media partner.

Moreover, bdenvironment.com is an environmental web portal that connects people to environmental & climate change issues of Bangladesh. It launched on June 8, 2013. From launch to now it organized around hundred events including tree plantation, waste management, seminar, workshop, contest to spread environmental awareness.

GreenPlanetClub, IUB: When the whole world was afflicted with the infectious disease named Coronavirus (Covid-19), this unnatural phenomenon led to many new circumstances that affected each and every aspect of our life. Along with this drastic change in our normal routine, it brought emotional distress as well. Adapting to the “new normal” may be altering our mental state in ways we are not fully aware of and this is where we need to assess our overall emotional wellbeing. Random thoughts and mood swings are prevalent in these situations but it is necessary to understand what extent of them is acceptable for our mental health.

In light of that, Green Planet Club (GPC) at the Department of Environmental Science and Management, School of Environment and Life Sciences, Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) hosted a virtual Inter-university workshop on Mental Wellness: “Understanding Your Emotions” on 3rd July, Friday.

The workshop was facilitated by the Rubayat Kabir, Senior Lecturer of the Department of Social Relations at East West University. In order to make the session interactive in nature, she prompted the participants to access the website PollEv.com where she shared various questions. She then went into the details based on their responses. She started by asking about their current emotional state. She then explained how each of us has the power to control our unpleasant emotions to a certain extent, and we can change it by applying some specific strategies.

To make it easier for the participants to understand she gave some real life scenarios and highlighted that if a person receives negative vibes from someone they can convert it to positive energy by simply applying some tactics. She then asked the participants to revisit any one of the unpleasant situations they had mentioned earlier and to apply the technique introduced in the workshop to try and see if they could reshape the scenario into a positive one. The objective of this activity was to make the participants realize how to better understand their emotions, stop to analyze, and then take the best action to resolve the displeasing emotions in a healthy way.

In the last part of the workshop, some of the members of GPC showcased their skills which they had learned and improved upon while being quarantined. The presenters talked about how the activities helped them overcome their negative emotions while they were practicing social distancing. Some dabbled in culinary and presented pictures of mouthwatering dishes they had made over the course of the past months. Rekindled interest in art and poetry had some members invest time in mandala sketches, paintings, digital arts and we were able to enjoy those and a poetry recitation as well. Lastly, two of the presenters also expressed how music helps them deal with difficult times and performed two beautiful songs for us. This concluded the online workshop.

National Earth Olympiad (NEO) begins in the country. Now this is third season which covers 11 districts of the country with over 3000 expected participants.  Any student who is studying in 8 through 12 grades is eligible to participate in this countrywide competition. Through this accurate search for the most talented youngsters of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI) will find the delegate team of Bangladesh for the 8th International Earth Science Olympiad (IESO) to be held in Magdalena Palace in Spain.

The Olympiad takes place in two rounds which are the divisional rounds and the National round. The toppers from the divisional rounds are put through a day long training session and then requested to the national round to be held in Dhaka. The champions of the national round are trained and sophisticated to constitute the Bangladesh delegate team for IESO’14.

A day long training camp with the top scorers of each division takes place in divisional rounds. The toppers are trained on climate change, sustainability and development, career in the environmental field, public speaking and effective communication, team building and leadership.

The top scorers from this round would be acknowledged with awards and certificates. However, they would be trained by the Department of Geology and Environment Science, University of Dhaka. Incidentally, the Olympiad organizes by Bangladesh Youth Environmental Initiative (BYEI) with the collaboration of the Geology and Environment Science department of Dhaka University.

The National Earth Olympiad (NEO) intends to create consciousness about interconnected environmental issues among the younger generation and to nurture the talents of young students of high schools in the country for environmental leadership.