ULAB stage drama "Payer Awaz Paowa Jai" reviewed by Ferdousi Majumdar in Samakal.

Samakal article (in Bangla) by noted theater activist Ferdousi Majumdar on the ULAB stage drama "Payer Awaz Paowa Jai." The drama was performed by students of ULAB's GED 221: Introduction to Drama, directed by Mostafiz Shahin, and the Production Advisor was Khaled Khan.

দুরূহ ও দুঃসাহসিক প্রচেষ্টা (Duruho o dusahasik prochesta / "A difficult and daring effort")
by: Ferdousi Majumdar
Samakal
May 07, 2010

ISD presents research on Homestead Biogas Technology.

ISD hosted a presentation of active research on a pilot project on homestead biogas technology conducted by Jonathan Torn (Associate Researcher, ISD) on Thursday 6th of May, 2010. The Research paper is under peer review from experts of the FAO, GTZ, SNV etc. and have been welcomed by them. Please find following the synopsis and executive summary of this research:

Synopsis:
"The goal of the project is to incentivize the use of biogas technology in Tentulia upazila through the implementation of an innovative payment plan. Beneficiaries will receive a biogas plant with no down payment and will reimburse the building costs by selling dry bio slurry from the plants to the Kazi and Kazi Tea Estate (KKTE). KKTE will benefit  from this arrangement as well by receiving competitively priced organic fertiliser to meet the its growing needs. It is hoped through this relationship to build an economically and environmentally sustainable framework for the promotion of biogas in Tentulia."

Executive Summary:
The purpose of this Institute for Sustainable Development (ISD) project is to encourage the use of homestead biogas technology in Tentulia. The ISD provided the possibility to acquire a homestead biogas plant without any cash down-payment and to use cow dung and bio slurry as a reimbursement mechanism. Once the beneficiaries reimburse the plants they can continue to sell slurry and their biogas plant will become an income generating asset.  This is the first time in Bangladesh that domestic biogas plants are built with the express purpose of becoming regular income generating assets (IGA) through the sale of dry bio slurry. The initiative is made possible by KKTE’s the large and constantly growing need for organic fertiliser. It is purchasing the bio slurry for use in its tea gardens. Using private sector (KKTE) needs for fertiliser as a basic premise should offer a more sustainable, long term platform for dissemination of domestic biogas in this area.

The project was implemented with the cooperation of two local partner organisations: Grameen Shakti, for the construction of the plants and Kazi Shahid Foundation for the collection of bio slurry as well as monitoring of the project.

The candidates for biogas plants were selected among the members of KSF. A survey was carried out among a narrowed down selection of 12 KSF members.  Out of those surveyed, 2 members expressed interest in acquiring 3.2 m3 plants under the ISD scheme.  The cost of the plant will be fully borne and reimbursed by the beneficiaries.  

ULAB Debating Club presented a guest lecture, "Job and Justice: The Unconscious in Biblical mythology."

Return to Freud, a recently formed reading group run by ULAB Debating Club, arranged a guest lecture in the ULAB Auditorium on Thursday, April 29, 2010. Dr. Salimullah Khan, a renowned professor of Law presented his paper, "Job and Justice: The Unconscious in Biblical mythology." The presentation addressed the moral, mythological and psychological implications of the Book of Job, a much talked about chapter of the Old Testament, which is often interpreted as ‘a philosophic drama dealing with the problem of good and evil’, in other words, the problem of justice and injustice.

The old legend of Job describes a good man of superhuman patience who bore up under great misfortune without ever losing faith in God. The story is retold in the Book of Job. According Dr. Khan the What makes it more interesting is the biblical writer’s ‘own deep poetic probing of the relationship between God and man’ ‘carried like rich cargo within the simple and sturdy vessel’ of the old legend. Having summerized the story Dr. Khan moved on to discuss the distinct philosohical stands taken by the four characters- Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu. Although God seems to persuade Job, the central character,  in the end of the story with notions of reconciliation, still Dr. Khan argued that a freudian interpretation would find out gaping holes in the process which were proposedly the symptoms of "the unconscious."

In the question & answer session, Dr. Khan responded to the questions and comments from senior faculty members including Professor Imran Rahman and Mr. Zakir Hussain Mojumder as well as from a good number of students  with attempts to clearify further the freudian and lacanic positions on the problem.

Wafiur Rahman and Adiba Raisa Hussain, student coordinators of the host reading group, called upon members of the audience to join the regular discussion sessions of Return to Freud, which are organized fortnightly addressing a large variety of philosophical, social and literary topics. Professor Golam Sarwar Chowdhury cocluded the talk by thanking the guest speaker  and the audience on behalf of ULAB Debating Club.

(Dr. Salimullah Khan did his LL. B and LL. M from Dhaka University; MSS and Ph D in Economics from New School for Social Research, New York.)

Prof Milan Kumar Bhattacharjee joins as Head of Business Administration in the ULAB School of Business.

Dr. Bhattacharjee was the Dean, Faculty of Business Studies at Premier University from 2004 to 2010. Prior to that he was with Chittagong University's Accounting Department for long 16 years, ending his tenure there as Professor. He has an excellent reputation as a teacher, and was running a school of 5,000 plus business students in Premier. He has a Ph. D. in Accounting from Kalyani University, India, with numerous research publications and books to his name.