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Ananya gives top ten awards
Parvin Khaleda
A total of ten women received 'Ananya super ten 2006' award on Monday for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields including health, culture, education, agriculture and social movement.
Anannya, the fortnightly magazine, give award every year to the women who work for the development of the country and achieved remarkable success.
The recipients are Dr Halida Hanum Akhater for health, Khurshid Jahan Begum for bravery, Rubaba Dowla Matin for marketing, Shefalika Tripura for social work, Rokeya Rafique Baby for theatre and women rights, Dr Nazira Quraishi Kamal for agriculture, Salma Khan for driving and Jharna Sarker, Murshida Arzu Alpana and Hena Kabir for culture.
Adviser to the interim government, Geetiara Safia Chowdhury, was handed over the awards as chief guest while Dr Atiar Rahman and Sadeqa Halim were present as special guests.
'This year, Anannya awarded ten women for their respective works, said executive editor of the magazine, Dil Manwara Manu, at the award giving ceremony held at the Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum.
Dil Manwara said, 'When we took the step 14 year ago, many well wishers told us that it would be very difficult to find ten successful women every year'. 'The scenario is quite different now. We have to select the awardees from a good number of women', she added.
Dr Halida Hanum Akhater received the prestigious award for her outstanding contribution in the health sector. She has been working as a women's reproductive health expert since 1969. At present, she is working with the Bangladesh Family Planning Association as a director general.
Khurshid Jahan Begum took the award for her courageous effort in the War of Independence. She took training as a freedom fighter and participated in the Sundarbans area under sector 9.
Head of marketing of Grameen Phone, Rubaba Dowla Matin, received the award for her outstanding contribution in the field of marketing of the corporate world.
Social activist Shefalika Tripura took the award for her contribution in education, sanitation and land rights movement of the indigenous women. She has been running her work through her organisation 'Khagrapur welfare association'.
Theatre personality, Rokeya Rafique Baby, received the award for her contribution in the field of theatre and for the rights of working women.
Agriculture scientist, Dr Nazira Quraishi Kamal, took the award for her achievement in entomology and for developing an environment friendly pesticide control system.
The first train driver of the country, Salma Khan awarded with the award in new profession for women category.
Young artiste Jharna Sarker, internationally acclaimed artist Murshida Arzu Alpana, and the first woman newscaster in Bangladesh, Hena Kabir, received awards in cultural sector.
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Congregation of Tagore singers held
Vowing to fight against
reactionary elements
Cultural Correspondent
The nation should fight against the reactionary elements. They are working both in and outside the country. They are trying to keep us backward and to rob us of human qualities.
This was stated by the eminent educationist Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid while inaugurating the three-day national congregation of the singers of Tagore songs begun at the Chhayanaut Bhaban in Dhanmondi on March 30.
Vice president of the organisation called Jatiya Rabindra Sangeet Sammilan Parishad, Sanjida Khatun, and the secretary general of the Parishad Bulbul Islam also attended at the inaugural ceremony.
Professor Murshid said the activities of the Parishad have a positive influence in our personal, familial, social and national life. 'The organisation has successfully united the people who practise Tagore songs and literature,' he said.
'People who practise Tagore's literature, also uphold Bengali nationalism,' he added.
Sanjida Khatun, who chaired the function, said, we can reorganise our life following the spirit of Tagore songs. 'We should struggle to forge ahead. In the presentr situation of the country, Tagore songs give us peace,' she said.
She added, 'We should not only sing Tagore songs, we should also follow and realise Tagore's messages.'
Bulbul Islam paid homage to the late Tagore researcher and music guru Waheedul Haque saying that the organisation of Tagore singers is following the path of the guru.
One minute silence was observed at the function to pay honour to the memory of Waheedul Haque.
The inaugural session was followed by the beginning of a competition of Tagore songs for the younger singers.
A seminar on Bangladeshi culture and Rabindranath was held at the second part of the programme on the day. Shantanu Kaisar presented keynote paper.
The cultural programme, including music, dance and recitation, began in the evening.
The final competition for the students of general group will begin today at 9:30am. The congregation of the district representatives of the organisation will be held at 4:00pm, to be followed by the cultural programme.
Singers of the cultural organisation Rabirashmi will sing Tagore songs at the event. Also the Parishad members will present music, dance and recitation.
The organisers will go to the Central Shaheed Minar to pay homage to the martyrs at 9:30am on April 1, to be followed by a congregation and cultural programme. The prize giving ceremony for the contestants will be held at 5:30pm on the day. Artist Qayyum Chowdhury will be present as chief guest.
Cultural programmes will also be presented by the members of the Parishad in the evening of the day.
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Kaniya: struggle of a woman
Robab Rosan
It was really an opportunity to see a play in the aboriginal and ethnic languages of the country sitting in a city auditorium and all the performers of the plays also belong to the aboriginal communities.
The people of Sadri ethnic communities, comprised of Orano, Malo and other tiny aboriginal groups, presented a play titled 'Kaniya' in their own language at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Segun Bagicha on the inaugural day the first ever adivasi theatre festival on April 2.
The play 'Kaniya' is on the struggle of a so-called inauspicious woman Phoolamala. The girl, like all other young women hoped to start a happy marital life with her husband Birindi and left her relatives and loving village behind. Fortune did not favour her. On the night of her reception at her husband's house, her brother-in-law died by snake bite. Both of Birindi's family members and the villagers considered the accident as a bad omen. Then the struggles of Phoolamala begin.
This is about the story of 'Kaniya', a play in Sadri language. Presented by the Sadri Theatre, the play is originally written by Brindaban Das and translated by Nimai Tiki. Mamunur Rashid directed the play while Rubli Chowdhury was assistant director.
Though the play was presented in the aboriginal language, the city audience, mostly the Bengalis, had no problem following the play.
They on the other hand, felt an affinity with the subject of the play and also felt sympathetic to the struggles of Phoolamala, performed by Anjana Malo. The role of the protagonist Biren, locally called Birindi, was performed by Tikolo Baroyar.
The other performers were Nibas Baroar as morol or headman of a village, Milon Tippa as janguru or a charmer, Prafulla Tirki as Haradhan, Pradip Tirki as Nibaran and others.
What is significant is that the performers were not professional actors and had no training or specialisation in theatre-related activities. Yet their performance was quite attractive and some of them seemed fit to perform in the mainstream theatre in the city.
Parimal Majumdar scored the music. Thandu Raihan was responsible for lighting and Rubli Chowdhury for costume and props.
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Three-day dance fest ends
Cultural Correspondent
A three-day UNESCO Dance Festival, organised by Shadhona ended at the National Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on Friday.
The festival ended staging 'Badala Barishane' a dance drama based on a short story by Kazi Nazrul Islam. The students of the Nrityanchal performed at the event choreography by Shibli Mohammad and Shamim Ara Nipa. The music direction is done by Khairul Anam Shakeel.
Shadhona - a centre for advancement of South Asian music and dance and UNESCO, Dhaka jointly organised the festival to showcase some genres of dance being performed in Bangladesh at present. Grameenphone and GMG Airlines supported the festival.
Shadhona is among the leading organisers of dance events in Dhaka and UNESCO has been supporting the staging of various cultural events here as part of its mandate for safeguarding cultural intangible heritage.
The inaugural performance was Tagore's 'Bhanushingher Padabali' by 'Bhabana'. The dance has been choreographed by Samina Hossain Prema while the music direction is done by Azizur Rahman Tuhin. The lead singer is Laisa Ahmed Lisa.
The students of Chhayanaut, a leading music and dance school in Dhaka, performed the Classical Manipuri style of dance on the second day.
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Musical soiree held
Cultural Correspondent
Paying homage to the martyrs of the country's War of Independence, the cultural organisation Srijan arranged its 56th soiree of old Bangla songs at the Sufia Kamal Auditorium of the Bangladesh National Museum on March 31.
The programme started with the tune of the inspiring song 'Tir hara ei dheuyer sagar pari dibo re' on Hawaiian guitar by Qamrul Hasan Mahfuz, followed by Hemanta Mukharjee's gana-sangeet 'Pathe ebar namo sathi'.
Mehnaz Karim Hossain sang Tagore's 'Bhubaneshwar he mochan karo and 'Rodana bhara ei basanta'.
Nazrul's patriot song 'Ei aparup rupe ma tomar' and romantic song 'Phool fagune elo marshum' were presented by Bijan Mistri.
Farhana Aktar sang 'Jadi moroner porey keo prashna kare' originally sung by Sabina Yasmin and Hoimanti Shukla's 'Emon swapna kokhono dekhini agey'.
Among other singers, Mohammad Rafiq, Papiya Naznin, Sanjida Titli and Abul Kalam sang at the function, which was directed by Nurul Islam Palash and anchored by Sonia Nasrin Bibha.
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CityCell signs deal with Ektaar
Cultural Correspondent
CityCell signed an agreement with Ektaar Music recently. Under the agreement, the music company will provide content for 'My CityCell Hello Tunes'.
The agreement will enable CityCell subscribers to set their favourite songs from the huge collection of Ektaar Music, said a release.
Hello Tunes is a 'colour ringback tone' service from CityCell, which allows subscribers to set their phones so that callers hear a selected tune rather than the usual ringing tone.
Managing director of Ektaar Music, Feisal Siddiqi, and chief marketing officer of CityCell, Ng Hwee Boon, signed the agreement while manager, Value Added Services of CityCell, Ahmed Armaan Siddiqui, was present at the ceremony along with other officials of the two companies.
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Last play at Shakespeare Theatre
before refurbishment
BBC Online
The Royal Shakespeare Theatre will hold its last performance this weekend before closing for a multi-million pound refurbishment.
The £100m transformation of the world famous listed building, which opened in 1932, should be completed by 2010.
Plans include a 'thrust' stage for the main theatre, a 108ft (33m) tower at the entrance and a riverside walkway.
During the work, the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) will operate at the nearby 1,000-seat Courtyard Theatre.
The last play before the refurbishment, the tragedy Coriolanus, will be performed on Saturday.
The adjoining Swan Theatre is also being revamped as part of the plans.
In 2004, the RSC dropped controversial plans to demolish the Grade II listed building and replace it with a 'theatre village'.
When the current plans were announced last June, project architects Bennetts Associates said its designs would 'restore the key Art Deco elements of the Grade II listed theatre while creating a more welcoming, combined entrance'.
The new U-shaped stage, designed with theatre consultants Charcoalblue, is intended to 'transform the relationship between artists and audiences'.
Performers will be surrounded by the audience on three sides. The same design already exists at the Swan Theatre RSC artistic director Michael Boyd said they wanted to move away from the 19th Century proscenium 'picture frame' style of theatre.
The Arts Council England and regional development agency Advantage West Midlands have pledged up to £70m.
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Aarshee Agniveena's album
'Ami Akash Hobo'
Duet album 'Ami Akash Hobo' has been produced by Aarshee under the banner of Agniveena.
Syed Hasan Tipu was the coordinator of the album and the singers were Bappa Majumder, Fahmida Nabi, S.I Tutul, Toni and Tipu. The lyrics are written by Zahid Akber, Syed Hasan Tipu, Kawnile Shourar and Santonu. Music was scored by Partho Majumder, Rajib, Tipu and S.I Tutul.
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