Happy New Year 2007

Wishing everyone Merry Christmas, Graceful Eid-ul-Adha and a Happy New Year 2007. Berlin did not have a white Christmas. But it snowed the following day of my arrival. Just for one day!We had some guests and guided them to the historic Dresden 200 km away from Berlin. Some parts of the highway were very foggy and I could not see more than 10 meters ahead even with fog lamps deployed. It was a very chilly day with temperature hovering around zero...

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Youtube video of the day

Bangladesh vs. Germany: Street Soccer Vol....

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Going Back

While a large part of Asia is experiencing disruption in internet, I am writing from 35000 feet (10668 meters) in the air somewhere above the Caspian See. Going back to Berlin in after meeting so many people. In this visit I have met many bloggers, from my country and from many parts of the world. I had nice time with my family too.While coming back I had a few hours break in Kolkata. Aparna came to airport to pick me up and we spent some wonderful time in the Peter Cat restaurant in Park Street, Kolkata. We had the famous Cello Kebab, an Iranian...

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Today's Links

* Yunus in Stockholm: the Secret of Grameen Bank.* What Clash of Civilizations? Why religious identity isn't destiny.* What’s the Best RSS Reader for Rich Media?* Global: Now spelt Blog...

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2006 in review: Bangladesh cricket

Year 2006 was a very successful year for Bangladesh Cricket as they won 18 one-day internationals, eight in a row, out of 28 games. They were just two wins behind from world champions Australia in this year's one-day success table. Bangladesh has already surpassed Zimbabwe in the ICC one day cricket rankings. It is their highest performance to-date.Bangladesh's opening batsman Shahriar Nafees has become the fifth in the world to score 1,000 runs...

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The world in a nutshell

Are bloggers shrinking the planet? Quinn Norton of Wired News cites the example of the Global Voices Online:Today, the Global Voices website has grown to a million visitors a month, and is rated on blog search and analysis company Technorati as the 207th most popular blog by inbound links, in a field of around 55 million. Geographically distributed editors spend their days rounding up the most important posts from their parts of the world and presenting them through the site, so visitors can easily zoom in on what's happening in places like Iraq,...

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In Dhaka

After a pretty disastrous experience in traveling with Indian domestic airways (delays, blinded by lack of info screens, considers laptop case as a separate cabin luggage) and watching crowded, corrupt and dirty airports (Delhi and Kolkata)I was pretty happy to see the Zia International Airport in Dhaka. Its new expanded portion was literary shining. The management was satisfactory considering many arrivals at the same time. The Air Sahara apologized...

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Babar and Babri Masjid

Muslim Emperor Babar was not interested in merely building a Masjid in place of the ruins of the birthplace of the Hindu Gods Ram and Lakhsman. "He was interested in respecting a place of any worship" - says Dilip D'Souza.He asks "if this explanation of a 500 year-old event is any less believable than the explanation that says a barbaric Babar tore down a temple? Is it more believable?"It is for all of you to deci...

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Remembering genocide and celebrating victory day

Some days are very special for a nation. 16th December is one such day for Bangladesh. Drishtipat Blog remembers the independence of Bangladesh 35 years ago. Time magazine December 20, 1971 named it "the bloody birth of Bangladesh". For those who do not know why it is called so, Mash of Or How I Learned to stop worrying blog shares the history of Bangladesh Liberation war and the Pakistani Armies atrocities: "In 1971, Bangladesh, then called...

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100 dollar laptop

Today I first held in my hand the first manufactured prototype of the 100 dollar laptop promoted by the "One Laptop Per Child Project". It has ears like a robot which are actually wi-fi antennas. It looks more like a toy than a real PC and its very thin and lig...

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At the Global Voices Summit 2006

The Global Voices Online summit 2006 is being held in the Habitat Center in Delhi. You can listen to the live webcast here or participate in the live chat. The internet connection is wavering but the conference is proceeding on with a lot of promise.Ethan and Rebecca started with the background of Global Voices and the mission of the summit. Two years ago a small gathering of bloggers from around the world took place in a Harvard Law...

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On the way to Delhi

I am at a altitude of 10668 meter in an Airbus 330-300 of Lufthansa flying at 925km/h ground speed towards Delhi. The in flight monitor says the outside temperature is -50 degree and the plane is somewhere over Tehran. I am going to attend the Global Voice Summit 2006. Looking forward to meet many talented and award winning bloggers.Its a nice thing to be able to use internet during a long flight. Only if you are in the economy class, your standard...

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Today's Links

* Pressure piles on Norway to cut GrameenPhone stake.* Microcredit or Macrowelfare: The myth of Grameen. * Blogging towards democracy: From China to Iran, web diarists are challenging censors. * Antisemitism at German Schools: Insults against Jews on the rise.* English tough? Try Globish.* Made in Bangladesh, for better or wor...

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Fighting terrorism with microcredit

2006 Nobel Peace prize winner Muhammad Yunus says guns are not the way to fight terrorism. In his view terrorism will prevail until the world addresses its root causes, like poverty and human rights. If poverty is alleviated peace will prevail in humans.Egyptian writer Dr. Alaa Al Aswany says that the recent fanaticism in Islam is not due to a clash of civilization but poverty. Fanaticism in Egypt starts in poor areas, because the poor are desperate. The current regime here is dealing with them in an inhuman way, arresting and torturing them. Religion...

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Blogging feat

Mezba of a bengali in TO has won the Brass Crescent Award -best post for this article - "Better Than A Thousand Months". Congrats to h...

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Failed States Index 2006

The fund for peace published the failed states index for 2006. Bangladesh ranks 19th, Pakistan 9th and India 93rd. Bangladesh improved 2 points from last year's ind...

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Today's Links

* In defense of religion!* GrameenPhone: a solution to rural connectivity* Finding Your Inner BLOG - The blog help desk* Who killed Litvinenko?* Workers in Bangladesh being "exploited" by UK firms - charity st...

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Apocalypse now?

Bangladesh politics has been taken down to the gutters once again. Another four good advisers bites the dust not getting the environment to be impartial and work for a change. Asif Saleh writes in the Daily Star how the good guys in Bangladesh politics are being beaten (literally) by the bad guys.Poet Humayun Azad said in a poem "And Everything Will Be in the Custody of the Damned". That is exactly what is happening in Bangladesh.If the general people of Bangladesh do not take side with the good guys irrespective of the parties or belief they represent,...

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Social Problem

Malaysia is having social problems with good looking Bangladeshi male students. The country's home affairs minister Radzi Sheikh Ahmad said that the Bangladeshi men looked like Indian movie stars and had been known to hassle women - both single and married (BBC).I don't think he is telling 100% truth as I have heard that Malaysian women crave for good looks and they would like to be hassled. (Via Yaw...

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Army in Bangladesh

I am watching pictures of tanks rolling in Dhaka. The President and Chief Adviser (CA) Iajuddin Ahmed has decided to deploy the army under civilian administration to keep the law and order in the country. But the unilateral decision has sparked rage among his advisers.He explained in a televised speech a couple of hours ago that he wants to take a tough stand against the political protests. The citizens will probably not react much as the protests...

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Social Business: The next economic phenomenon?

Dr. Muhammad Yunus and his Grameen Bank have received the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize valued at 10m Swedish kronor ($1.35m, £730,000) at a ceremony in the Norwegian capital Oslo today. The event was televised live in many Bangladeshi TV channels. Yunus has indeed become a pride for Bangladesh.There was an interesting thing in his speech. He mentioned a new term "social business" and according to him:"In future, Grameen will bring a new concept of business, which is social business. Today’s concept of business is to make profit, but this is a narrow...

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Costly Mistake

"How could you miss the flight?" asked the British Airways counter employee. I was asking that to myself for quite sometime as I could only arrive after five minute of the check in desk closing. It was a terrible miscalculation as it took more than 2.5 hours to reach Heathrow from the North-Eastern corner of London. I should have abandoned my journey in London tube midway and called a taxi instead as I could see it coming. Or I could have done the online check-in before I leave for the Airport. Above all I should have aimed to be there at least...

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In London

I am in London for a short visit. Had some wonderful time meeting lot of people including bloggers. The evening with Drishtipat London chapter in Kolapata restaurant was a memorable one. I cherished the presence of Asif Bhai, Faisal Bhai, Ahsan, Zubaer, Sohani, Farhad Bhai etc. A long adda with one of the best Bangla blogger was the highlight of my today's proceedings.I have walked through Brick Lane and had my dinner in a Brick Lane Restaurant.Pictures...

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From the Bangladesi Blogs

Politics: Blogs are said to be the mirror of a society. The recent political uncertainty in Bangladesh is troubling the citizens and taking much space in the blogosphere.The nation is divided in two streams of political ideologies and one cannot stand another. Naeem Mohaiemen discusses Bangladesh politics and warns about a third force cashing on the rivalry of the major political parties. ShahidulNews comments on the recent incident of intervention of the chief justice of the supreme court to prevent a judicial ruling going against a political...

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Its a start!

Take Back Bangladesh was launched yesterday thanks to the organization power of Nazim Farhan Chowdhury and others. He reports:"By some estimates about 13,000 people turned up (we had expected 500 or so) as did many of the last Caretaker Government Advisers, celebs and “civil” society leaders.Even if our message got through to a small portion of the crowd I think we’ve made a start. It is now up to us to take this spark and light a fire."More pictures...

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Google video of the day

History of Bangladesh Liberation War 1947-1971(Via Salam Dha...

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Ekushey TV is broadcasting again

After a long struggle Bangladesh's first private television station, ETV (Ekushey TV) is reopening their broadcasting from today. In an advertisement in today's Bengali daily Prothom Alo they have notified this. There is a press briefing scheduled today, which will disclose further information. Those who are Bangladesh can watch ETV in these frequencies:Satellite PAS - 10 , C- Band , Fequency 3716.5 MHz , Polarization H , FEC 2/3 , Symbol rate 4.600...

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