QUOTES OF THE DAY
* Nationality is respectable only when it is on the defence, when it is waging wars of liberation it is sacred; when those of domination it is accursed.
* Religion, like poetry, is not a mere idea, it is expression. The self-expression of God is in the endless variety of creation; and our attitude toward the Infinite Being must also in its expression have a variety of individuality ceaseless and unending. Those sects which jealously build their boundaries with too rigid creeds excluding all spontaneous movement of the living...
April 27, 2004
BLOG NOTES
* Shihab has some new posts after a long time. He shares the striking truth of his life:
I've always wondered how doctors can tell cancer patients exactly how long they have to live. But as it turns out, my own personal miracle worker (i.e. my doctor) has found out this wonderful piece of news for me. Turns out I have 12-24 months left. What an absolutely wonderful way to start a weekend, with the feeling that the sword that has been hanging above my head for about a year has now descended about a foot further towards me.
He realizes:
what...
April 26, 2004
Mass arrests to tackle the opposition movement
It is now confirmed that nearly 15,000 people have reportedly been detained since April 18 by the police to intimidate the opposition activists. Their aim is to arrest mainly the main opposition Awami League workers to foil its oust government movement and the April 30 deadline for the government to resign. But the detainees in fact are mostly young peasants, day laborers bound for the capital via Bus or train, NGO workers etc. The police are using the Special Powers Act (SPA) of 1974 (section 54)...
Controversy over Muslim call to prayer in Hamtramck
The Hamtramck city in Michigan state is rocking with a controversy as the City Council is expected to give final approval tomorrow to an amendment to the city's noise ordinance to permit the Bangladeshi al-Islah mosque in Hamtramck to sound the adhan, or traditional call to prayer, via loudspeakers five times each day (reports The Detroit news). Hamtramck is likely to become one of the few cities in the United States where the Islamic call to prayer is broadcast onto public streets.
The cybersurvey...
April 25, 2004
BLOG NOTES
* A HISTORY OF CONFLICT - Timeline of the conflict between Israel & the Palestinians (BBC News)
* Collection of photos of the Military Coffins (casualties from Iraq - at Dover Air Force Base)
* Four Moments when 9/11 might have been stopped -Commission reports reveal how close US intelligence was to thwarting the Al Qaeda plot
(link via Rebecca Blood)...
April 24, 2004
Current political crisis in Bangladesh and its future
Bangladesh is known in the media of all the western countries as a country of catastrophe, hunger and poverty, of overpopulation and of constant aid from abroad. But in the 33 years of its independence, Bangladesh has proved that it can tackle its own problems to an increasing extent, only the politicians have proved otherwise. By their imprudent actions, they make the people of this country ludicrous and laughing-stock to others. The present government has miserably failed to properly govern...
April 20, 2004
Home Sweet Home
I have come back home safely. I do not cherish travelling alone; so the flight to Dhaka was really boring. And the whole family was eagerly waiting for me. Home is like a heaven. It does not matter whether my bed is not as soft as the 3 star hotels, or it does not have air condition; it is the place where I can sleep comfortably and without worry.
I have loads of work pending along with the regular jobs at work. So I will have a hectic time this week. Hope to look for some breathing space by bloggi...
April 17, 2004
One day in Bangkok
Day 6 : April 17, 2004
Arrived at Bangkok at 5:30 AM. Couldn�t get a sleep in the flight. The night flights are really awesome. I do not consider the timing of a 1:40 flight when the fly time is only 3 hours. Actually these are all scheduled for the Airline�s comfort, not the passenger�s. The Thai flight comes to Colombo at 00:00 hours and goes back at 1:40. This leverages the Airplanes usage of time. If the crew and the plane...
The long way to Colombo
Day 5: April 16, 2004
The time has come to say goodbye to Nuwara Eliya. We started our journey down under towards Colombo. On the way we drove around the artificial Lake at Nuwara Eliya and the Golf Course, which is the finest 18 hole course in Asia. We had a view of the Sri Lanka�s highest mountain range (Pidurutalagala). 33 kms from Nuwara Eliya we stopped by St. Clairs & Devon water falls.
There were photo sessions....
Nuwara Eliya
Day 4: April 15, 2004
7:15 PM - Another busy day starts. Prepared ourselves for the breakfast scheduled at 8 PM. I could not call home. I sent a SMS message home with one of my colleague�s cell phone. He is also refraining from calling from the cell, which would incur almost similar charges (International roaming). Telephone charge here is enormous. Minimum payment is SLR 750 ($8). Our training session went from 8:30 for the whole day. The last session was a group discussion and we finished the session at 6:45 with vote of thanks...
Kandy to Nuwara Eliya
Day 3: April 14, 2004
We had to wake up early to prepare ourselves for the journey at 7:00. Another journey through the hilly roads begins. The guide was enthusiastic to tell about all the landmarks we passed. He talked about the numerous Buddha�s statues in various postures (standing, meditating, reclining) that we have come across along the way. There was Ravana�s cave where Sita was abducted. We caught a glimpse of the...
On the way to Kandy
Day 2: April 13, 2004
7:00 We woke up early to prepare ourselves for the journey.
8:30The Indian team had an early flight and came directly to the hotel. We took our breakfast. The buffet breakfast is as exquisite as ever. We have introduced ourselves and checked out. My Sri Lankan counterpart has also joined us. We are a team of 10 people.
9:00 Started our journey in the air-conditioned minibus of the tour company with a...
April 12, 2004
IN SRI LANKA
Day 1:
The morning was simply lovely; the cottages looked like a picture. We found out that there is a swimming pool near our cottage. This hotel has 10 three star resorts in Sri Lanka & Maldives. They are very much professional with their service. You gotta be amazed with everything.
We had a grand buffet breakfast costing $4 (SLR 360 each). The European standard food was excellent. The Indian and other teams are coming in...
BANGKOK TO SRI LANKA
11 April, 2004
9:10 Bangkok Time: Waiting at gate 33 to get aboard the flight no. 307 to Sri Lanka. Had my dinner at KFC. I am full now. Wifi Internet cards are sold here. I only need a wifi-LAN card to get access to that. The prepaid card usage charges are 250 Baht for 1 hour. Pretty steep. Wifi is still costly in this part of the world. I am now proceeding to my flight.
9:30 I started towards the queue. Fortunately I found out that the person next to me is Pawan, my Nepalese counterpart. We are both heading for the same...
April 11, 2004
ON THE JOURNEY
I am writing from Bangkok Airport. I started the journey with a hiccup. My cousin drove me to Airport. On the way the car charge indicator was flashing. So we stopped at a repair shop to fix the dynamo belt. We have lost 40 minutes but arrived at the Dhaka Airport before 1:30 hours before departure. The Thai flight was really smooth as silk. The type of service they boast of. It was punctual and the 2 hours journey ended in no time.
My...
April 10, 2004
Off to Sri Lanka
I am traveling to Sri Lanka to attend a conference. The itinerary promises pleasure alongwith business. There will be plenty of site seeing including a trip to an Elephant sanctuary. I wish I could take my wife with me. I will miss her.
Blogging will be intermittent or even non existent next week depending on the availability of internet facilities. But I am planning to be back with travelogues and pictures. So keep your fingers cross...
April 08, 2004
Blogging in Bangla!
B¢j h¡Pm¡ Lb¡ h¢m
Meet Debashish & Sukanya, who have really done a revolutionary work by starting blogging in bangla. In their Bangla blog, they have showed the step by step help on "how to start a bangla blog".
The main tweaking you have to do:
1) In your browser's encoding set the View-> Encoding to UTF-8.
2) Change the meta settings in your template
3) Install any of the Unicode compliant fonts (Likhan, Ani, Akaash & Sagar)
4) After you have installed the fonts, go to Tools -> Internet Options -> Fonts...
April 06, 2004
April 2004 - turbulent time in Bangladesh
TIME magazine publishes an article on the current state of disgrace of Bangladesh. Although the report is a bit too critic, it rightly says:
Bangladesh's drift toward mayhem threatens to undo several decades of solid progress made by one of the world's poorest countries. Foreign direct investment in Bangladesh fell from $280 million in 2000 to $45 million in 2002..
The law and order situation has turned really bad. Many businessmen have already been targeted for kidnappings & murders by extortionists....
April 05, 2004
Kal Baishakhi
After almost three months of dry weather, yesterday Dhaka was hit by the first Kal Baishakhi (Summer Storm) of this season. I was out in the street, driving, when suddenly gusty wind and rain blocked all view. I could here the hails dropping in heavily leaving everyone in a panic situation. However I could find a shelter soon enough to drop the heartbeats which were racing like a horse. The rain that followed the storm was very pleasant to watch & feel. But the hailstorm shook the city. It was not that strong but enough to snap...
April 04, 2004
The university 'market' in UK
Yes it is a market as it attracts about 175,000 overseas, fee-paying students in Britain. They are worth about GBP 1bn in fee income to universities and contribute about GBP 8bn to the UK economy.
I was wondering how many of the overseas students go back to do something for their own count...
HOW AN AWARENESS CAMPAIGN SAVES MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
According to this report, import of full cream powdered milk declined by 20 percent over the last 14 years in Bangladesh, mainly due to the success of breast-feeding campaign in the country. Bangladesh has a shortage of production of fresh milk in the country. The import of powdered milk has dropped by $15 million dollars from 1989 due to success of the campaign lead by the Bangladesh Breast-feeding Foundation (BBF). The organization says that the achievement is more than the amount of money,...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Swopon 
