Chemistry Olympiad

Wealth, intellect and popularity, the three things we all want, and all of that can be found in the chemistry Olympiad, organized by Dhaka University. A high tech calculator as a gift, extreme nerdship and recognition by all, just by answering sixty questions in sixty minutes. Every chem nerd's dream come true! With the title 'chemistry for all' the 2nd National Chemistry Olympiad was held in six divisional headquarters on Friday, November 14. A total of 771 students of different Bangla and English medium colleges from across the country sat for the exam on HSC level chemistry questions at the Olympiad. It was held in Curzon Hall, at 3 in the afternoon.

The question paper was easier than it was thought of, and after an hour the papers were handed to the invigilators, ready to be checked and marked. In the meantime the students were given a lecture on the latest topic, 'melamine in milk', which was followed by slides about the phoenix mission on Mars and how the organic element of the surface can unveil the secrets of aliens. At about five thirty the slide show was over and with speeches from the principals of different colleges like model college, Dhaka residential and more. The speeches ended with the most important announcement. The top twenty winners were finally declared.

A total of 295 students from 26 colleges appeared for this test in Dhaka, and among these 295 the top ten were to participate in the secondary round. As the results were announced, it was somewhat shocking to know the name of the candidate who came first. Srideb Das from Mastermind came as first. There were candidates from other English medium school such as Sunnydale, Scholastica, Dhanmondi Tutorial. The questions based on HSC syllabus but the GCE candidates sure pierced through it! Some may try reconsidering while calling English medium students less bright than the Bangla medium students!

The International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) is an annual academic competition for high school students. The first IChO was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, in 1968. The event has been held every year since then. It is hoped that in about three years Bangladesh will be a part of this. A total of 100 students will be selected, who will be given practical training of different chemical experiments at the Dhaka University Chemistry department laboratory. That sounds like another dream come true to all chem. nerds. Think of all the Czech food, and the sites…

The Olympiad ended with all the participants getting the most anticipated part of the exam, the certificate. Even though the writer did not get the chance to acheive the whole part of the fame-intelligence-popularity thing, the certificate was good enough for her and almost everyone in the hall.

So till three years, stick on to chemistry, you might one day get a chance to go abroad, fall in an epic (love) story in a far far land or something…and get vast vast knowledge of chemistry!

By Raida Reja

For Mommy and Daddy

On November 15th, ETC Bangladesh held an award Ceremony to reward the participants of it's Kids Club competition. The contest went along the lines of kids rewarding their parents for all their love and attention by designing a scarf or dupatta for their mothers and a hankerchief for their fathers.

The ETC Kids Club, was established in 2006 and now boasts a membership of about 5000 young and strong, organized this competition in celebration of the Mother's and Father's Day. The idea behind this unique competition was to enable the children to give something back to their parents and to encourage these young in future fashion design careers. ETC being the largest retail outfit in the country is looking to enlarge our own fashion designing industry and it is their belief that through this competition they have planted the seeds for future designers.

The prize winning designs would then in turn be furnished and made by ETC along those designs for the respective parents.

Along the way, a few of the children were asked by Sharmin Neelia (Deputy Manager, Marketing) about their thoughts and feelings while designing. Raina, a student of grade 3 answered that her idea was to give something beautiful to her mommy to wear while she envisioned her father taking her designed hanker chief to work. A few of the parents were also asked to speak a few words and they cited that ETC's endeavor was wholly appreciated because it encouraged such creativity.

The award ceremony consisted of Special Guest Ismail Choudhury (GM, ETC) speaking a few words before handing out the certificates and gifts to the winners. The first, second and third winners were, Tabassum Soha, aged nine, Sameen Choudhury aged 7 and Sadia Habib Prantie aged 11. Along with these three a lot of other notable designs by the other participants were awarded as well.

Bundled with this, the kids were in for a treat, as ETC had also organized a magic show. The Great Shipuraj (as he wishes to call himself) was the highlight of the ceremony as he had the little kids entranced and the parents bemused.

Overall the ceremony went well, with refreshments being served later on and the whole thing was covered not only by the Rising Stars but also by ATN and Radio Amar.

By Tareq Adnan

Now seriously give me a break. No one is black or white...we girls have shades of grey in our character. Another thing that bothers the hell out of me are the useless rumors that some guys always love to spread. The moment a girl in modern attire enters a classroom she is labeled as s*@t by these so called boys. They know nothing about this girl but just because of her choice of outfit she is labeled as an undignified woman. This is so not fair. We never talk about the way you guys dress up. The low waist jeans dangling below the feet is so not dignified or sophisticated and it is also against Islamic rules. Guys will say its fashion, well then why can't we girls indulge into fashion for a change?

Well, to blame the boys would also be a bit partial. I know girls who have nothing better to do than to talk about other girls. They particularly make one girl the prime topic of their conversation and if that girl happens to have a boyfriend then God bless her soul. According to these girls, wearing t-shirt and jeans and having a boyfriend are the worst crimes a girl can commit.

I would like to wrap up by saying that these so-called people should not be allowed to babble away just like that. Every false rumor should be answered and any unjustified comment should be replied. Otherwise these good-for-nothings will never shut their gap which according to me should be kept sealed at all times. Anyways next time you hear bullshit about yourself, talk back and before believing a rumor, you should be sure of the sources and just for once peer into your own faults rather than judging others.

By Avia Nahreen