DHAKA, Oct 3, 2021 (BSS) – Sheikh Russel website was launched today with online quiz contest, marking the birthday of Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

The birthday of Sheikh Russel was declared on October 18 as “Sheikh Russel Day”, an official release said today. 

To this end, the ICT Division has undertaken special activities. In this light, the Department of Information & Communication Technology of the ICT Division organised a press conference titled “Inauguration of Sheikh Russel Website and Online Quiz Contest” at BCC Auditorium, ICT Tower, Agargaon, here today on the occasion of “Sheikh Russel Day 2021”.

State Minister of ICT Division Zunaid Ahmed Palak was the chief guest at the programme. The press conference was presided over by Senior Secretary of the ICT Division N M Zeaul Alam and attended as special guests by 'Sheikh Russel Shishu Kishore Parisad' Secretary-General KM Shahidullah and Project Director (Joint Secretary) of a2i Dr Dewan Muhammad Humayun Kabir. 

Besides, the Director-General and Additional Secretary of the ICT department ABM Arshad Hossain gave welcome speech.

Recalling Sheikh Russel from the book written by Prime Minister and Bangabandhu, Palak said, “We want to present to every child and youth in Bangladesh the true history of the Liberation War, the struggling life of Sheikh Russel and his tragic assassination.”

He said, “We are very happy and grateful that the Prime Minister has decided to declare 18th October every year as 'Sheikh Russel Day' as 'KA' class day in the Cabinet meeting held on 23rd August 2021." 

"One of the purposes of this day is to showcase the life and childhood of Sheikh Russel to millions of children, adolescents and young people in our country," the state minister said.

Later, Palak outlined the programmes of the day and officially launched the Sheikh Russel Website and online quiz contest.

Sheikh Russel, the youngest son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the greatest Bengali nation of all time, was brutally murdered on 15 August 1975 along with the Father of the Nation and Bangamata Sheikh Fojilatunnesa Mujib, wife of Bangabandhu and others. This brutal assassination of the infant Sheikh Russel has further tarnished the stigmatised black night of August 15, 1975. 

Sheikh Russel was a very dear child of his mother and was blessed with the affection of all. 

The vow and purpose of his life were to serve humanity by eating less. 

Today's children will be able to lead the better Bangladesh of tomorrow by being inspired by the lifestyle of Sheikh Russel. 

Sheikh Russel was born on 18 October 1964. Sheikh Russel's memory will be immortalised among the children and adolescents in the hope of establishing the future leaders of Bangladesh and the present generation of students as citizens of developed Bangladesh by celebrating "Sheikh Russel Day'' on October 18 every year. 

At the same time, they will be strong in building a better Bangladesh with Sheikh Russel's brilliant conviction in mind to lead Bangladesh in the days to come. In this context, the Cabinet meeting held on 23 August 2021 has decided to declare 18th October every year 'Sheikh Russel Day' as 'KA' class day and to celebrate 'Sheikh Russel Day'.

"Sheikh Russel Day" with the overall support of all ministries including Bangladesh Computer Council, Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, Office of the Controller of Certifying Authorities (CCA) and Digital Security Agency, a2i and Sheikh Russel Shishu Kishore Parisad are organising this initiative. 

As part of this, the ICT Division has already completed the work of creating a website called Sheikh Russel (www.sheikhrussel.gov.bd) and an online quiz contest platform. Through this website, children and adolescents, especially school and college students, will be able to learn more about Sheikh Russel.

The young generation especially the school-college students may learn about different topics including birth, childhood, education, dreams, travel, family, preferences, books written on him, moments spent with the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members through the contest. 

The "Sheikh Russel Online Quiz Competition" is being organised nationally to learn more about Russel. The questions will be decided from the above-mentioned topics in the competition. First, interested children and adolescents must visit quiz.sheikhrussel.gov.bd to register. 

Anyone between the ages of 8 to 18 can take part in this competition. It is to be noted that to take part in this event, age groups have been divided into 2 groups called "A" and "B". The age limit of the registrant is 8-12 years for group "A" and 13-16 years for group "B". Registration can be done online from October 3, 2021 to October 11, 2021.

 Finally, “Group A” i.e. 8 to 12-year-olds will participate on 12 October 2021 Tuesday between 7 pm to 8 pm any 10 minutes and the “Group B” i.e. 13-18-year-olds will be registered on 13 October 2021 (Wednesday evening) between 7 pm to 8 pm any 10 minutes in the quiz contest.

To answer all the questions in MCQ method one has to choose a correct answer from four options. The winner will be selected from the maximum number of respondents in a short time. 

However, in the case of final winners, prizes will be awarded subject to age verification. Core i7 generation laptops will be given to each of the 10 winners, 5 people from the two groups "A" and "B". A contestant can participate only once. Participation with incorrect or false information will result in disqualification from the competition.