S M Sammam Sakti Ibn Sahadat from Bangladesh won the 4th Annual ISIE INDIA Excellence Award 2021, earning the title of ‘Visionary Leader’ from the judges of the ISIE INDIA Excellence Award committee.

Jannatun Nayeem Nowshin, a young architect and researcher from Bangladesh, won the gold medal in the architecture category of the Asia Young Designer Award 2019.

Md Tajdin Hassan started exploring marketing trends soon after he graduated from BRAC University. He won the YWN Marketing Excellence Award 2020 from the Asia Marketing Federation under the category, ‘Top Outstanding Youth Marketer of the Year’.

Foundation 21 was initiated by a group of friends in March 2018. It aims to combat period poverty, and create awareness about menstrual hygiene. Abreshmi Anika Chowdhury, Arish Islam, Mashrukur Rahman Khan and Sayem Ibn Alam, founded the organisation.

12 Vaja, a Rajshahi based organisation, is a social platform for the transgender community. The platform aims to bridge the gap between gender conforming and gender non-conforming individuals to create a tolerant and inclusive society.

Hasna Hena is a seventh grader who wants to be a judge. Luckily, I was her English Language Trainer from September 15 to November 15, 2020, organised by Volunteers Association for Bangladesh (VAB). My task was, in this particular time period, I had to complete 360 minutes of conversation in English with her over phone.

After medical graduating, I came to Dhaka for my internship training. Since my third medical year, I made my mind to pursue a public health career. During my internship life, I started actively searching for public health study options. Luckily, I found Zillur Rahman, a brilliant engineer and public health professional, in the third batch. I have known him since my school days. I still remember what he said that helped me decide in favor of BRAC James P Grant School of Public Health (JPGSPH), "If you go to Harvard, you will only find the best teachers of Harvard teaching you. If you go to Hopkins, you will be taught only by the best Hopkins teachers. But if you join BRAC JPGSPH, you will find the best teachers of the best public health schools around the globe."

This year, 304 students from 76 countries participated in the Olympiad. Team Bangladesh won two bronze medals and two merit awards. The medalists are Tasnim Binte Zulfiqar from SFX Greenherald International School and Raad Sharar from Rajshahi College. Abrar Jahin Tushar from Notre Dame College and Rayan Rahman from SFX Greenherald International School bagged the merit awards.

This year, 400 students from 76 countries participated in the Olympiad. Team Bangladesh bagged one silver, three bronze medals and an honourable mention. The silver medalist, Rashed Islam is a student of Notre Dame College. The bronze medalists are Imtiaz Tanweer Rahim and Absur Khan Siam from Notre Dame College and Md Fahim Abrar from Rajshahi New Government Degree College. Lastly, Golam Ishtiak from Kushtia Government College won the honourable mention. It is also to be noted that this has been the country’s best performance at IPhO so far, with Rashed scoring way above the required threshold to secure the silver medal.

This year, students from 107 countries participated in the Olympiad. Team Bangladesh won three bronze medals and two honourable mentions. The bronze medalists are Tahmid Hameem Chowdhury and Adnan Sadik from Notre Dame College and Md Maruf Hasan Rubab from Ananda Mohan College. Nujhat Ahmed Disha from Viqarunnisa Noon School and College, and Tahjib Hossain Khan from Ananda Mohan College bagged the honourable mentions. The results were published on IMO’s official website, and was followed by a virtual closing ceremony.

Maria Mumu, the founder of Moshal Mental Health, a youth-led organisation based in Bangladesh, is the first mental health advocate to receive the Diana Award.

Mahin Rahman Saquif is a third-year BBA student at North South University. He started his cattle business, Hasina Agro, last year. As a child, Mahin was always fascinated by animals.

Elinore Rema, a second-generation Bangladeshi immigrant, is on her way to becoming the first lawyer in Australia from Bangladesh’s Garo community. Elinore has a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy from University of New South Wales. She developed a passion for law during the beginning of the Syrian Civil War, as she wanted to make a difference and help refugees from war torn countries find asylum in Australia. Subsequently, she got a diploma in Migration Law at Australian National University, before completing a Juris Doctor (a postgraduate degree) at University of New South Wales.

Rafid Hoque Swad, a BBA student at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB), looks after injured birds of prey at his ‘Chilbari’ (Kite house). It all started with the bird Scar, whom he brought from a trader in Old Dhaka.

Anika Subah Ahmad Upoma is one of the nineteen changemakers from Bangladesh who received this year’s Diana Award. She founded Evolution360, an organisation that promotes the Sustainable Development Goal of gender equality and women’s empowerment, in 2016.

The two years of college play an instrumental role in shaping the lives of young students. But the pandemic has led to impediments, with many beginning their college life at home, online.

Shunbo is an anonymous mental health support group in Bangladesh, which encourages people to speak freely about mental health. It was inaugurated on July 5, 2020, amid the pandemic. Shunbo started off as the brainchild of six university students, Mohammad Samiur Rahman, Shams Mahfuz Arnob, M. Rakinul Islam, Vishal Agarwal, Abrar Islam and Ishraq Islam. Five of them are from North South University and one of them is from Independent University, Bangladesh.

Established in memory of Princess Diana in 1999, the Diana Award is a prestigious accolade given out by the charity of the same name. It is supported by Princess Diana’s sons, Prince William and Prince Harry. To be eligible for the Diana Award, nominees must be aged between 9 and 25, and have to be carrying out humanitarian activities for a minimum of 12 months. Nominators must know the young person in a professional capacity. This year, nineteen young changemakers from Bangladesh received the award, following a virtual ceremony on June 28, 2021.

Md Sadik Abdal, an undergraduate student from Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Independent University, Bangladesh, recently led his team to the bronze prize (third place) at this year’s Efficiency for Access (EforA) Design Challenge 2020-2021. This challenge is a global, multi-disciplinary competition that empowers teams of university students to help accelerate clean energy access and provide sustainable energy for all by helping to enhance the efficiency and affordability of high-performing appliances. Engineers Without Borders UK is the chief event partner of the competition. It is funded by UK aid and the IKEA Foundation. The Efficiency for Access Coalition is coordinated jointly by CLASP and UK's Energy Saving Trust.

One of the most influential books of the 20th century, written by a teenage girl, “The Diary of a Young Girl”, first reached bookstores on this day in 1947. The book is more commonly known as “The Diary of Anne Frank”, providing readers with a unique view of life as a Jew hiding in Nazi-occupied Netherlands. Till date, it has been translated into 70 languages with over 30 million copies sold worldwide.