|
Writers celebrate centenary
discovery of Charyapada
Cultural Correspondent
A good number of writers and scholars celebrated the centenary discovery of the verses of Charyapada by Haraprasad Shastri in 1907 through a literary evening in Dhaka on Tuesday.
They called for promoting Charyapada, the earliest Bengali poetry, at the programme organised by the Gothe-Institut Bangladesh at its auditorium in Dhanmondi.
The programmes included discussion and reading from Chary?pada in Bangla and their translation in German and English.
Goethe-Institut Director Torsten Oertel inaugurated the programme while New Age correspondent Anisur Rahman presented a paper on 'Charyapada: the beginning of Bangla poetry'. Bangla Academy director general Professor Syed Mohammad Shahed chaired the function.
Shahed said, 'It is very necessary to promote Charyapadas at home and abroad and discover the missing verses in original Charyapadas.' He also called for further research for finding out more texts of Charyapada ages.
Director and representative of UNESCO, Dr Melama Meleisea said, 'Charyapada is an important issue in the context of cultural heritage in South Asia.'
Anisur Rahman in his paper said 'The beginning of Bangla literature with Charyapada is good news for us as Bengalis in the context of world literature. Its rich tradition begins at its own beginning.'
Counsellor of the embassy of Sweden, Sven Ostberg said, 'In fact the earliest literary text in Swedish language 'Rok Roenston' was written in the same age when Charyapada was written in this region.' 'Literary exchange between Sweden and this country began through awarding Rabindranath Tagore with Nobel Prize for literature in 1913', he added.
Professor of Bangla literature at Jahangirnagar University, Khaled Hossain said, 'It is our duty to understand Charyapadas and promote them.'
Among others, first secretary of Indian High Commission, Rajiv Chaudhary also spoke on the occasion. Poet Aslam Sani, Muriel Schaefer, Mizanur Rahman and Airin Parveen and poet Dildar Hossain recited from Chary?pada.
 ^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Diversification of livelihood
and landlessness
Rie Makita
This book explores how the landless poor, excluded from land-based agricultural development, can open up an opportunity to get out of poverty in the rural economy.
The book identifies a gap between the growth and poverty-reduction dimensions of non-land-based rural development. The former is directed towards the non-poor; the latter is open to the landless poor. The poverty-reduction dimension is effective in reducing poverty but is not sufficient to help the landless escape from poverty. It is therefore necessary to bridge the gap and guide the remaining poor to the threshold of growth dimension. This transitional process is interpreted as livelihood diversification from survival to accumulation. It is an attempt to provide a new viewpoint for the livelihoods framework in which livelihood diversification has been analysed as a process for survival or accumulation.
As an instrument of the bridging strategy, the book proposes the creation of a sponsored non-farm sector in the rural economy, or the creation of a partnership enterprise by landless producers and a sponsor, through a sub-contract. This theoretical concept is examined empirically through three income-generating programmes implemented for the landless poor by a Bangladesh NGO. The programmes in poultry rearing, pond fishery and silk production are described as partnership enterprises, in which the NGO is the sponsor, and programme participants are partner-producers. An analysis of primary data collected in north-western Bangladesh clarifies the role which the sponsored non-farm sector plays in diversifying the livelihoods of the landless poor for upward mobility.
Rie Makita, a Japanese citizen, has been a researcher or consultant for a number of studies conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, the Japan Bank for International Development and various Japanese ministries. Her policy research and advisory work has focused on rural development and sustainable livelihoods in Asia and Africa, including Bangladesh. She received an M.P.S. in agriculture from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in geographical science from the Australian National University. Dr. Makita is currently a visiting research fellow in the Centre for Asia Pacific Social Transformation Studies at the University of Wollongong, Australia.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Shafayet wins C'wealth Award
Professional Photographer, Shafayet Hossain Apollo of Bangladesh was awarded the Runners Up prize at the prestigious Commonwealth Photograhic Awards 2007 held in London. This year's theme for the competition was "Achievement". He won the prize in the South Asia regional category.
The awarded photograph will be exhibited from 10th September 2007 to 31st October 2007 at the Commonwealth Club in London. Later on, the stunning image will be exhibited with other award winning photographs in Canberra, Australia followed by other Commonwealth countries.
Apollo is one of the most talented photographers of this country. He has been working with Unitrend Ltd., a leading Advertising Agency of Bangladesh, since 1998 as a professional photographer.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Bombay Vikings, Artcell
enthral Dhaka people
Rafi Zahed
Bombay Vikings and Artcell enthralled the Dhaka residence with their performances held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre on Monday.
About five hundred music lovers swarmed the auditorium to enjoy their favourite stars' performances live.
Artcell began the show with some of their best well known songs in the underground music scene.
Lincoln's iconic voice and melodic compositions swept the fans off their seats. They performed six songs in which one, 'nothing else matters', was a cover from Metallica's album.
The singing was brilliant and many claimed that the performance was flawless.
Fans of Artcell could not stop singing to the words of 'Anno samay' and 'Dukkhu bilash'. The song 'Tomakey' was equally pleasing to listen to. The band concluded with their performance of the ever popular song 'Pathchala'.
After much anticipation, Bombay Vikings came onto the stage to entertain the crowd with their popular remixes of 70's and 80's Hindi music.
Neeraj, the vocalist of Bombay Vikings, has a strong love for Bangladesh as he mentioned 'I have been in love with this country for many years and this is not a joke.'
The crowd emotionally aroused by Neeraj's speech was ready for the heart throbbing performance. He kicked off with his hit title 'Kya suraat hai'. Almost everyone knew the words and they could not help singing.
Woh Chali, Angel Eyes, Hawa Mein Udhati Jaye were the popular numbers in the concert. From the show, people could understand that Neeraj is an extremely good performer on stage. His interaction with the crowd, style of singing and dancing prove that he is a powerful entertainer.
The show concluded with the DJ taking over and mostly the younger crowd stayed back to enjoy the hip hop tunes.
The event was organised by Creatas. Proceeds from the sales will be donated to the flood victims.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
German music in Dhaka on Monday
Cultural Correspondent
A German classical music concert will be held at the National Theatre Hall of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy at 7:00pm on Monday.
Members of the band, Signum Quartett, comprising Annette Walther, Kerstin Dill, Simon Tandree and Thomas Schmitz will perform at the show, organised by Goethe-Institut.
During the tour of South Asia in September, the group will perform in the concerts in Dhaka, Karachi, Lahore, Jaipur, New Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Colombo.
Tickets, priced at TK 80, will be available at Goethe-Institut at Dhanmandi and German Club at Gulshan 2 in Dhaka.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Looted Chinese horse put on sale
Reuters, Hong Kong
A rare bronze horse's head plundered by British and French troops from Beijing's old Summer Palace will be put on sale next month in an auction likely to fetch $10 million and stir nationalist feelings in China.
The statue, which belongs to a Taiwan collector, is one of 12 bronze heads of zodiac animals which graced a water-clock fountain in the old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, which was destroyed by the British and the French in 1860.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
SOAS includes Bangladeshi
novel in curriculum
Cultural Correspondent
The world renowned School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London has included a Bangladeshi novel in curriculum.
The book titled Krantikaley Pratarak by Dr Fazlul Alam has been included to introduce the contemporary Bangla novels among the European students, said a release.
The book was published by Anyaprakash in 2004.
According to the course director, Dr Hannah Thompson, this novel 'is very well written, yet not too demanding with an adhunik story line, clear, intelligent language and no spelling mistakes... It is just the kind of book which can offer an interesting introduction to modern Bangla fiction for foreign students'.
The story revolves around Wali, an unemployed young man with a Masters in Economics.
A strange yet believable event puts him into oblivion and Wali assumes the character of an economics doctorate, from Ohio University, USA.
His objective was to end his unfortunate status as one of the millions of unemployed in the country.
Using the fake identity, Wali establishes himself in the commercial sector of Dhaka.
The novel offers not only an interesting reading, but also an insight into the psychological drama involving the individuals. It depicts the politico-socio-economic position of Bangladesh in the world in an easy to comprehend style.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
Concert for flood victims
Cultural Correspondent
A charity concert for flood victims will be held at the STM Hall of Scholastica Today.
Black, Arbovirus, Ajob, Stentorian, Reborn, Scarecrow, Purbo Poschim, Altered and Nemesis will perform at the show organised by Scholastica Aid, an independent social organisation of the former students of Scholastica.
The concert is sponsored by Uro Cola, co-sponsored by Hello Fried Chicken. The web partner is Uginc.org and the sound partnership is taken by Sound Machine.
Proceeds will be transferred to the Scholastica Alumni Association and then will be donated to Chief Advisors Relief Fund.
Gates will be open at 2:00pm and the tickets, priced at TK 180, will only be available at the venue.
^ TOP OF THIS PAGE ^ MAIN PAGE
|
