Where gender stereotypes and biases persist, could an experiential MBA help women overcome challenges and achieve their career goals? A good MBA program imparts more than just knowledge. It helps students to build a network, gain valuable leadership experience, and improve their confidence. According to Professor Imran Rahman, Vice-Chancellor at University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh), these benefits are especially poignant for women. Professor Rahman, who is also the Dean of ULAB School of Business thinks MBA programs could give women a boost in securing their fair share of influential positions. It is often hard to grasp for the male-dominated corporate world that something as ostensibly simple as confidence may prove vital if women are to achieve true equality. This phenomenon is dubbed ‘the confidence gap’ by some researchers who believe it partly explains why women are underrepresented in positions of leadership. Because women are less likely to talk up their abilities, the theory goes, they’re less likely to get noticed in the corporate world. Undertaking an MBA could help women to narrow the ‘gap’. “It will push women to move outside their comfort zone and give them the confidence to be less modest and allow their talent to shine,” Asif U Ahmed, Director of ULAB MBA program observes. “They will learn to push boundaries in innovation, accept risk, and welcome leadership roles.” Of course, low confidence is just one factor in a cultural milieu that holds women back from positions of power. “The bias against women’s progression is more of a systemic problem,” Asif cautions. “What needs to change are the social views and attitudes in society that hold women back from taking leading roles in organizations of all types.” Despite this bias—or because of it—Asif believes that MBA programs offer a great space to design programs integrated with the MBA curriculum about gender inclusion. And that thought inspired the design of a program for gifted female MBA students that would push them to challenge their comfort zone and take their learning from a business school to work with rural women entrepreneurs in remote villages and explore ways they could learn from each other. D uring the initial days of the Covid, WorldFish, a leading international NGO took an initiative titled “Post Covid-19 Eco-System Development for Bangladesh Aquaculture Activity participants” under the USAID funded Feed the Future program in Barguna and Patuakhali district. The idea was to help the rural women entrepreneurs, from the women-headed households, pivot their business model to cope with the crisis. The project wanted to use both resources and training to help them achieve production efficiency, reduce cost and develop new products to adjust to the changing market needs. ULAB MBA program had been in discussion with ENLIVEN- a youth-led organization working in youth employability and entrepreneurship, to design a program that would give female MBA students without full-time work experience a chance to work with the rural enterprises in remote villages. The idea was to create an “MBA Field School” where MBA students could apply some of their theoretical learning and at the same time gain invaluable knowledge from the entrepreneurs who have been doing it one their own. This initiative under the Bangladesh Aquaculture Activity to assist rural women entrepreneurs created a perfect opportunity. ULAB MBA program, ENLIVEN and BAA project of WorldFish designed a pilot initiative to create a partnership between female MBA students and rural women entrepreneurs. Ten female MBA students selected through a process went through a 2 week long virtual training of trainers (TOT) conducted by ENLIVEN during June 2020. The training of the trainers was primarily designed to get the female students to conduct a three days long training program for the rural women entrepreneurs and provide business development services in the long run. However, a big part of the training also made attempts to help the female MBA students understand the field reality, the context of the rural women entrepreneurs and norms of working in a remote village. Once the training was completed, 10 female MBA students divided into two groups, visited Barguna and Patuakhali region, to conduct a rapid need assessment and provide business development training to 60 female entrepreneurs in two districts. After the training, the MBA students had the opportunity to work with the rural women entrepreneurs to better understand their business model and challenges. After they had returned, ENLIVEN and the female students from ULAB developed a pictorial business management handbook for the rural women entrepreneurs so that they could use it in the long run. The handbook was published recently and the Bangladesh Aquaculture Activity project plans to use it widely in helping rural women entrepreneurs. “Rural women have more confidence in their ability that we often lack. They seem to be ready to face any obstacles in their lives. They are extremely innovative and resilient. And my biggest learning working with them has not been in the field of business but in the areas of my own personal development. I came back from the trip with a sense of gratitude for everything that I have but also with a determination to create an impact in my life and in the community” says Falguni Rahman, a final term MBA student while sharing her experience. For ULAB, the program has created a new frontier in making business education inclusive and relevant. The stakeholders are in discussion to expand the program for 1200 female students over the next few years. “An MBA is a movable asset,” Asif U Ahmed, Director of MBA program explains, “you take it with you wherever you go”. Looking at the future, Professor Imran Rahman Vice Chancellor of ULAB, observes “An MBA remains an excellent medium for talented women to both gain further management and leadership insight while providing proof of their undeniable abilities,”

TrainingPool has launched its online marketplace platform for training and courses. The platform was launched yesterday, February 12, at 5 PM in Six Sessions hotel at Gulshan. According to a press release, they have already onboarded more than 10 EdTech platforms and training institutions with more than 40 courses. On the inauguration program, founders have informed that more than 20 institutions verbally agreed to a partnership with them who have over 300 courses combined. The current team size is 11, including co-founders, advisors, and hired professionals. Prominent EdTech startup founders, enthusiasts, training professionals, mentors, investors, and journalists were present during the launching ceremony.

The final match of the Australian Open witnessed how Spanish tennis superstar Rafael Nadal pulled off a miracle to clinch his 21st championship title against all odds. Nadal was behind after the first two sets. And after falling behind in the middle of the third set, his defeat was on the cards. At that time, it appeared that the Russian marquee superstar Daniil Medvedev would secure the first championship of the year. But what data did not consider was the heart and willpower of the Spaniard. While data calculated the previous track records, it could not decipher Nadal's resolve to come back and win the title.  Data is beneficial as it helps us solve problems and predict narrowed down forecasts. In most cases, it is perfect. But what we often miss out on is the fact that 'Data is Tense Bound'. It can gather information from different timelines and show a future path. However, human imagination is not tense bound. It does not travel from past to present to future. It is not confined. It has no limits.  Nowadays, we see plenty of debate about AI/Machine Learning making humans obsolete. It also inquires whether it will take over human jobs or not. From my perspective, AI can never replace the human brain. It is because humans are creative and are capable of thinking beyond any limit. However, technology cannot go beyond its limitations. We are creating technology, and it will be us who will be controlling it. Technology will make a lot of jobs standardized. It will also provide people with new job opportunities as the human imagination is limitless. All in all, it is the human imagination that will create groundbreaking techs in the future. Sajid Mahbub is a Brand Marketing Professional. He is currently working as the Chief Operating Officer and Executive Editor of Bangladesh Brand Forum.

US officials announced on Tuesday they had recovered $3.6 billion of bitcoin stolen in 2016, throwing light on the scams that surround cryptocurrency. But how exactly do criminals steal in the virtual world?

YouTube on Thursday elaborated on its blockchain and metaverse plans for 2022, saying it could harness the emerging technologies to cut fraud in the fast-growing digital art market and offer a more social viewing experience for gaming content. The world's largest streaming service, which is owned by Alphabet Inc's Google, over the past year has sought to hang onto users with better guidance about upcoming features amid increasing competition with ByteDance Inc's TikTok and Meta Platforms Inc's Instagram. Last month, YouTube said it was exploring what proponents call Web3 technologies such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which are video clips, art or other digital assets tied to the record-keeping technology blockchain. YouTube went further in a blog post on Thursday, suggesting that it could make NFTs safer bets. Sales of NFTs soared last year, but critics have said scams, copyright theft and other predatory behaviour are too common. Offering ways to verify the legitimacy of assets using its video library would be one feature possibility, YouTube said. “Giving a verifiable way for fans to own unique videos, photos, art, and even experiences from their favourite creators could be a compelling prospect for creators and their audience,” the blog said. YouTube also has prioritized the metaverse, an element of the Web3 movement that describes shared virtual worlds where people typically interact through avatars. YouTube said it did not have firm ideas yet but one possibility would be allowing users to watch videos together in a metaverse. Generally, it will focus for now on videos related to “gaming, where we'll work to bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive,” the blog said. ByteDance last month launched a mobile app for gathering in a metaverse, and Meta is spending billions of dollars on virtual and augmented reality technology.

Vietnam-based automaker Vinfast announced that it will stop manufacturing internal combustion engine vehicle models and has set its sights to sell overseas, as it goes all-electric by the end of 2022. It will also focus significantly on research and development for the manufacturing of its all-electric based vehicles, the company said. Vinfast’s vision to catapult itself towards a 2022 U.S. listing, combines the clout of a powerful parent with potential for a shift to new energy vehicles in its fast-growing neighbourhood. The Refinitiv publication IFR says that the U.S. listing could potentially raise up to $3 billion for Vinfast. The overseas expansion plans support some of the electric vehicle industry’s valuation hype. While Tesla and western rivals eye the far east and Chinese peers Xpeng and Nio have their sights on Europe, Vinfast has its plans for the United States, Canada and Europe with Southeast Asia being a potential destination as well. Vinfast’s Vietnamese factory boasts an annual capacity of more than the country’s 2022 sales, as reported by manufacturers. This means that Vinfast can easily cater to growing demand in the region. Vinfast sold its first electric car last month and hopes to build on its earlier success: drivers bought more than 35,000 of its gasoline models in 2021, some 18% of the annual sales of passenger vehicles reported over the period by the Vietnam Automobile Manufacturers' Association. With around 20% of Vietnamese consumers considering hybrid or electric for their next purchase, according to Deloitte, the brand’s battery-powered cars are positioned to do well too. Vinfast is 51.5% owned by Vingroup, the country’s biggest listed company by market capitalisation. Vingroup previously mentioned that it has targeted global electric vehicle sales of 42,000 units this year. The carmaker is eyeing a $60 billion valuation for its vehicles. Having a retail-to-property conglomerate parent may prove to be an advantage for Vinfast, as it can offer its shopping customers deals on vehicles, and install chargers at strategic spots, for instance. In India, the consumer products-to-hotels conglomerate, Tata is taking a similar electric lead. A strong owner can help crowd in funding too: in 2020, Vingroup sold a $650 million stake in Vinhomes to a consortium including KKR and Singapore’s Temasek to help fund Vinfast. However, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for the Vietnamese car manufacturers. In December, former Volkswagen veteran Michael Lohscheller left his role as chief executive of the Vietnamese carmaker after just five months in the position. Despite the bump in the road, Vinfast is set for a fast ride. To capture the market, the automaker announced a battery lease programme that will offer customers two subscription plans: "Flexible" (a minimum subscription fee for 300miles/500km per month, extra costs from the 301st mile/501st km) and “Fixed” (unlimited range). VinFast will cover all expenses on battery maintenance and will replace the owner’s used batteries for free when charging and discharging capacity falls below 70%. The company will also be offering 10-year warranty for all its electric vehicles in all markets.

Featuring a system full of powerful hardware, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra and S22+ are two devices that attempt to take advantage of the latest smartphone features and come with a new style. One major highlight is the built-in S Pen in the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, a significant plus for prior Note series enthusiasts. The S Pen now has three times less latency than the S Pen from Note 20 Ultra, at only 2.8ms compared to 9ms before. The S Pen can recognize handwriting consistently well with its AI support. Additionally, the S Pen can take pictures with Bluetooth connectivity up to 10 meters away from the device. The S Pen also comes with new gestures and features for controls such as camera interchange, music or video playing, presentations, etcetera. The displays on both of these devices are excellent. S22 Ultra features a gigantic 6.8-inch QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display, while the S22+ features a 6.6-inch FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x display. Both devices are shipped at a 120Hz refresh rate, allowing both devices to offer smooth scrolling and swiping. The refresh rate range is 1Hz to 120Hz on the S22 Ultra, while it is 24Hz to 120Hz for S22+. Besides adaptive display refresh, to ensure ultimate outdoor visibility, the display can also light up to 1750 nits. In terms of processors, both the S22 Ultra and S22+ are powered by the Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 4nm CPU, the fastest processor globally and relatively rare in Bangladesh. These powerful chipsets are also projected to be good at heat management. The Graphic Processing Unit (GPU) for both devices is Adreno 730, supporting extreme gaming. Only the snapdragon version of the devices is being officially launched in Bangladesh, while the Exynos version will be available in select global regions. The S22 Ultra features a quad-camera system that includes a 108 MP (f/1.8) OIS Wide Main Lens, a 10MP (f/4.9) OIS Periscope Telephoto lens with 10x Optical Zoom, a 10 MP (f/2.4) OIS Telephoto Lens with 3x Optical Zoom, and a 12 MP (f/2.2) Ultra-Wide lens with the ability to shoot super steady videos. Selfies with the 40MP (f/2.2) front camera came sharp and well. It also has a Nightography feature that allows amazing images in highly low-light circumstances. The noise reduction feature in Nightography is a unique attraction for the young crowd. There is nightography video support that also takes advantage of the large pixels that captures more light and produces results with less noise and more details. The S22+, on the other hand, comes with a triple camera arrangement, featuring a 50 MP (f/1.8) Wide Main Camera with OIS, a 10 MP (f/2.4) Telephoto lens with 3x Optical Zoom and OIS, and a 12 MP (f/2.2) 120˚ Ultra-Wide lens with Super Steady video. A 10MP (f/2.2) front camera also ensures crisp selfies. Furthermore, the S22+ also boasts the Nightography feature. The S22 Ultra and S22+ have 8GB/128GB RAM and 12GB RAM/256GB ROM storage capacities, respectively, and a 4500mAh battery in the S22+ and a 5000mAh battery in the S22 Ultra. The ram and internal storage used LPDDR5, which is more efficient and consumes less battery. Both devices have a 45W fast charging capability, while the S22 Ultra has two charging modes - 25W and 45W. Both devices have IP68 water resistance as well for durability. Pre-order details of both the devices will be soon to follow.

It seems we have been going on a rant about the hustle culture lately. Sure, work is what keeps us financially stable, but do the detrimental effects of overwork outweigh the benefits?

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook and its parent company Meta, recently announced a brand new feature for Messenger end-to-end encrypted chats. In this update, if someone takes a screenshot of the disappearing message, the other person will get a notification.

Rockstar has confirmed that it is working on a new Grand Theft Auto, GTA, game. In a recent Grand Theft Auto community update post, a Rockstar spokesperson wrote,

To bring the e-commerce sector of the country under further regulation, the government is launching Unique Business Identification (UBID) numbers for e-commerce platforms. Traders who operate in the f-commerce industry, meaning any individual or business, small or large, that trades goods and items on Facebook, must also register to get their own UBIDs.

The local FMCG company Unilever Bangladesh Ltd (UBL) is known for its wide brand portfolio, which includes brands such as Sunsilk, CloseUp,

The local gaming community is still rapidly growing in Bangladesh, and many enthusiasts are exploring options to create their

Uninterrupted, efficient and focused studying has never been an easy task for any student. The overly competitive world of today demands more from students than ever before.

Regular viewers of Saturday Night Live (SNL) know that SNL sketches like Debbie Downer or The Californians maintain viewership thanks to the crew’s consistent improvisation capabilities. Netflix’s new crime-solving improv show Murderville allows viewers to get a taste, albeit acquired, of improv in a six-episode season.

Engine placement is one of the more crucial elements when it comes to automobile design. It can affect the handling, cabin space, cooling necessities and weight distribution of the automobile.

Competition is a constant factor in the equation of workplace culture. It is the secret motivation that drives employees to excel and bring in more contributions to the organisation.

Apple is reportedly working on two augmented reality projects due release in 2023, which will reportedly feature the brand new AR/VR operating system realityOS.

In a casual conversation, team Oriental Phoenix, winners of this year's Arena of Valor Bangladesh Championship 2021, shares with us the behind-the-scenes journey and future aspirations. Here are key snippets from the conversation.

To bring the e-commerce sector of the country under further regulation, the government is launching Unique Business Identification (UBID) numbers for e-commerce platforms. Traders who operate in the f-commerce industry, meaning any individual or business, small or large, that trades goods and items on Facebook, must also register to get their own UBIDs.