Ten receive Anannya Top Ten awards

Ten women received the ‘Anannya Top Ten 2008’ awards yesterday for their outstanding contributions to different potential sectors in society.
The women from 10 distinct fields, including music, media, business, science, liberation war, publication, archaeology, instruments, photography and mountaineering, received the awards.
The Anannya, a fortnightly magazine for women, organised the award distribution ceremony at the National Museum auditorium in the city with former adviser to a caretaker government Rokia Afzal Rahman in the chair.
Lalon maestro Farida Parveen received the award for her special contribution to music. She won the prestigious ‘Fukuoku Prize’ of Japan last year for her contribution to raising the standing of Lalon songs and promoting them internationally.
Media personality Samia Zaman, who played a vital role in bringing a radical change in television journalism and is, at a time, a producer as well as filmmaker, also received the award.
Afroza Baree, the first female entrepreneur in shipyard business in Bangladesh, and Dr Zakia Begum, the first female official in Bangladesh Nuclear Energy Commission who has been working as director of the commission’s planning and development department, bagged the awards.
Freedom fighter Sandha Ranee Sangma, a Garo woman, who joined the liberation war in nursing and in battlefield, and Shaheena Rahman, owner of the academic press and publishers’ library, were also honoured with the awards.
Dr Shahnaz Husne Zahan received the award for her contribution to archaeology sector, while Dr Nusrat Mamtaj Rupshee, Munira Morshed Munni and Nishat Majumder won the awards for their contribution to instrumental music, photography and mountaineering respectively.
Rupsee is the first Bangladeshi who achieved PhD in performing arts, while mountaineer Nishat is the first Bangladeshi woman who climbed 21,830-feet high Mera Peak of the Himalayan mountain range in 2007.
Handing crests over to the awardees, Dhaka University Vice Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique said, “Women of our country are still behind their male counterparts at different sectors. But I am sure that Bangladeshi women can play a significant role at all sectors if they find proper scopes.”
The award recipients have set the examples for young generation, he added.
Noted novelist Anwara Syed Haque spoke at the programme.

Courtesy of The Daily Star