Dragonfly

Image by Rezwan

July 31, 2007

Today's Links

On Bangladesh:* Dr. Humayun Azad & efficacy of the carnival.* Bangladesh: From anarchy to authoritarianism - SAIR* Institutionalizing military into politics.* The alliance between army and academia in Bangladesh.*In depth analysis on Bangladesh: Time for some soul searching.* An army of housewives battles TB in Bangladesh.* Bangladesh cricket board is taken over by the army.* Tales from a globalizing world.And the World:* Sajani is a living Goddess again.* We want your soul.* 'Blue card' to attract top talent from outside EU.* They won to...

July 29, 2007

Have your say

BBC News has a picture essay onBangladesh military (backed Caretaker Government) rule: what people thinkWhat do you think? Note the deliberate terming of the government as military (parentheses added by m...

Bangladesh: The threat of floods and current politics

(Also posted in the Global Voices Online) A flood on its way Like many places in the world it has been raining incessantly in many parts of Bangladesh for a number of days. The rain water had waterlogged many places. Back to Bangladesh posts some pictures of some parts of the waterlogged Dhaka. He wonders whether there will be flood in Bangladesh this year. Canadian Expat blogger Mikey Leung shares his experience of surviving a fall into a hole...

July 27, 2007

YouTube Video of the Day

Tale of two lead...

July 25, 2007

Picture of the day

Winningen, 20km from Koblenz. Behind me there was a small private airfie...

July 24, 2007

A podcast about Bangladesh

David Sasaki, the director of the Global Voices Outreach project has produced a podcast on Bangladesh and the Nari Jibon project, which received a micro-grant. David worked a lot to learn about Bangladesh and incorporated many aspects in his podcast (the link is given below). Intro to Nari Jibon Proj...

July 21, 2007

YouTube Videos of the Day

The father of the nation speaksTales of Birangonas who were raped by the Pakistani Army in 1971These and more videos on Bangladesh Liberation war via IW...

Picture of the day

Knut: the little polar bear in Berlin Zoo, which has captivated the wor...

Today's Links

* Happy Blogiversary* Globalization in Bangladesh and corruption effecting it.* Lock up your leading ladies.* Photography students in Bangladesh receive death threats.* Google has my past - and my futu...

July 18, 2007

Minus Two Formula in effect

I was in Luxembourg when Sheikh Hasina was arrested. I have compiled the reaction of the Bangladeshi blogosphere for Global Voices online. Here it is:The Bangladeshi Blogosphere went into a tizzy after the recent arrest of the ex Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed. She has been arrested on the charges of extorting about $440,000 from a businessman during her term in office from 1996 to 2001. Earlier Sheikh Hasina survived a government bar to return...

Wikipedia: the power of collective wisdom

The success of Wikipedia in the past four years depended mainly on the dedication of its contributors and the advanced contributors' (moderators) wisdom to tackle disinformation. The threshold for inclusion of facts in Wikipedia is whether material is attributable to a reliable published source. It does not record personal opinions, experiences, or arguments of the contributors. It also has a project called fact and reference check which verify facts in Wikipedia by multiple independent sources to make it the most authoritative source of information...

July 15, 2007

Picture of the day

Schloss Charlottenburg: the largest existing palace in Berlin named after the first queen of Prussia Sophie Charlo...

Techguide

* A technical guide to anonymous blogging: security measures for hiding your identity online.* Google vs everyone: 10 markets where Google wants to win.* 5 new online advertising tactics we fear.* Lite and free Shabdik add-on for Firefox: for easy Bangla writing anywhe...

July 14, 2007

Picture of the day

A colorful modern condominium in Dresden. The historical city of culture never ceases to ama...

July 11, 2007

Bangladesh bangs the best

Well the above is a tagline of the music producer Bangladesh Production Company owned by Shondrae Mr. Bangladesh Crawford of Atlanta in USA. (Photo courtesy Bangladesh Production Company)According to Fader.com:Born Shondrae Crawford, Bangladesh grew up in Des Moines, Iowa in one of the few black neighborhoods in an overwhelmingly white state.I did not know that there are no copyright for a count...

Women power

Bangladeshi cricket fans are dismayed over their cricket teams performance in Sri Lanka. After a good show in World Cup they are failing badly in Sri Lanka. Actually they are in a transitional phase without a fixed coach. Dav Whatmore mattered a lot in their earlier performances. The critics were soon on the act of calling the number game.However an interesting break was the performance of Bangladesh Women cricket team in the ACC women's tournament. Cricinfo reports:Bangladesh vs UAE, one of two matches on day 1 of the ACC women's tournament, lasted...

Bangladesh clothes the world

The statement may be over hyped but Gagan buys his first shirt outside Bangladesh from H&M in Oulu, Finland and voila, he finds it's made in Bangladesh! You can find lot of them in H&M or C&A in Berl...

July 10, 2007

Today's Links

* Dhaka world's fastest growing big city -World Bank* Can We Put Poverty in a Museum?* Pakistan: the army as the state* Poor technology and designs kill Bangladesh's jute carpets.* Bangladesh ‘cheapest place’ for investment in As...

July 09, 2007

The French Masters from New York visits berlin

The Neue Nationalgalarie (new national gallery) in Berlin (picture Wikipedia) houses the collection of 20th century European painting and sculpture including paintings by Munch, Kirchner, Picasso, Klee and many others. The have a current exhibition going on titled "Die schönsten Franzosen kommen aus New York". It is an exhibition of around 150 works of French Master painters of the 19th century coming from the Metropolitan Museum of Arts of New York....

In Dresden with the old masters' works

(Photo Dr. Torsten Hennig via Wikipedia) I have been in Dresden for a number of times and all were day trips from Berlin as it is only about 200 km away from Berlin. It is a historical city and you will love the old part of the city, especially the banks of the river Elbe. It has been the capital and royal residence for the Kings of Saxony, who furnished the city with cultural and artistic splendor for centuries. Last week when I took some relatives...

Reform talks

"To reform a world, to reform a nation, no wise man will undertake; and all but foolish men know, that the only solid, though a far slower reformation, is what each begins and perfects on himself."- Thomas Carlyle 1795-1881, Scottish Philosopher, AuthorLast Saturday I posted in Global Voices a summary of what Bangladeshi Blogosphere is thinking about reforms.One blogger commented that the reform is apparently happening under the direction and patronage of the people enforcing the state of emergency.Today Brig (retired) Hafiz, former DG of BIISS...

July 08, 2007

Friendship Express

Moitree (friendship) express, the first Indian passenger train from Kolkata is expected to reach Dhaka, Bangladesh today on a trial run(Times of India). This train will transport millions of people between the two countries. The fare starts from US$8 and the time required (including immigration & customs procedures) will be 11 hours to cross about 550 kms of tra...

Masud Rana: the James Bond of Bangladesh

An untamed daredevil spy of Bangladesh Counter Intelligence. On secret missions he travels the globe. Varied is his life. Mysterious and strange are his movements. His heart, a beautiful mix of gentle and tough. Single. He attracts, but refuses to get snared. Wherever he encounters injustice, oppression, and wrong, he fights back. Every step he takes is shadowed by danger, fear, and the risk of death. Come, let us acquaint ourselves with this daring, always hip young man. In a flash, he will lift us out of the monotony of a mundane life to an awesome...

New seven wonders of the nature - campaign for Bangladesh

The new Seven wonders of the world have been elected yesterday to represent global heritage throughout history. These were voted by millions of people through web, email, sms and other campaigns during past 8 years. They are as follows:* Chichén Itzá, Mexico* Christ Redeemer, Brazil* The Great Wall, China* Machu Picchu, Peru* Petra, Jordan* The Roman Colloseum, Italy* The Taj Mahal, IndiaHere are the photos.This will certainly boost the tourism industries of countries like Jordan and Mexico.Now nominations are open for the new Seven wonders of...

July 07, 2007

A review of Banker to the Poor

Chandrahas did a great review in The Middle Stage and in The Mint on Dr. Muhammad Yunus's autobiography "Banker to the Poor". Don't forget to check it o...

Dateline 07/07/07

Picture collage from Williamcho in FlickrOn this day we have:* The declaration of the new seven wonders of the world* Live Earth, a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.* The most popular wedding day ever (TIME).* The luckiest date in 100 years.Related links:* Read blog posts with 07_07_07 tag.* Browse photos in Flickr...

Burqa debates

Arafat slams the remarks of Michael Savage, host of The Savage Nation, the "the third most-listened-to talk radio show" in America. Savage said:You know, when I see a woman walking around with a burqa, I see a Nazi. That's what I see -- how do you like that? -- a hateful Nazi who would like to cut your throat and kill your children. Don't give me this crap that they're doing it out of a sacred ritual or rite. It's not required by the Quran that a woman walk around in a seventh-century drape.Arafat argues:...is public tolerance reserved only for...

July 06, 2007

Minimum wages- fair demand

Subhan wrote in 2006:‘Ready-made garments’ is the No. 1 industry of Bangladesh with 75% of the total exports. More than 4,000 factories are activating in this sector which employ more than 1.2 million workers, 90% of which are women. Garment factory workers are the most productive and yet most exploited, the least rewarded but appreciated sections of the poor working class.And what are the exploitations?Hundreds of Bangladeshi textile factory owners failed to meet a government deadline to pay the workers even the minimum wage of 25 US dollars a...

Wikipedia rules

I rely heavily on Wikipedia. During one internship in Berlin I could amaze my boss with up-to-date in-depth information on a current affairs topic thanks to Wikipedia. And its so huge and comprehensive. It even has a Bangla language version for my need.Here is a New York Times magazine article describing how Wikipedia turned into a leading source for daily news. Some excerpts:Increasingly, it has become a go-to source not just for reference material but for real-time breaking news — to the point where, following the mass murder at Virginia Tech,...

Citizen Media and New Media projects in Bangladesh

I knew little about the citizen media and new media projects in Bangladesh when I amplified about the Rising Voices outreach project micro loan grants in the Bangladeshi Blogosphere. A total of 142 project proposals from over 40 different countries were submitted with more than five from Bangladesh alone. I am pleased to inform you that out of the five successful projects with a grant upto $5000 two are Bangla speaking and one is from Bangladesh. From Global Voices:Kazi Rafiq Islam and Kathryn Ward - Dhaka, Bangladesh:Kazi Rafiq Islam and Kathy...

July 04, 2007

This year America's Junior Miss is Nora Ali

Minnesota's Nora Ali (a high school senior at South St. Paul) won a $50,000 scholarship along with the America's Junior Miss medal this year. The seventeen years old's parents are Bangladeshi immigrants. She expressed that she wants to enlighten Bangladesh's image in America.(Photo credit- the Daily Amader Shomoy)This report shows that she's more than a beauty pageant:Ali is a member of the National Honor Society, is ranked No. 1 in her graduating...

July 03, 2007

The greatest entrepreneurs of all time

Businessweek compiled the top 30 greatest entrepreneurs by a panel of professors, authors and journalists. No surprise, Bangladesh's Dr. Muhammad Yunus is on the list. On a side note it was entertaining to read a comment by an Indian in the Businessweek post. He vented his frustration on the selection of Wipro's Azim Premji (his countryman) saying that "it is amazing that among 31 people there is not a single Hindu from India mentioned. The Ambanis, InfoSys.....". He went further to claim that The New York Times has a infestation of "syndicated...

July 02, 2007

Picture of the day

Somewhere in the Landwehrkanal. A quiet summer evening in Ber...

July 01, 2007

A step closer

Bangladesh's digital vote experiment pilot project in Sreepur ended with success. Now the Election commission will be able to complete the voter list by 18 months. A roadmap for the election will be declared by the 16th of July, 2007.I have said earlier that a natinal id card can solve many problems in Bangladesh. Hope that the database will be used for multiple purpos...

Oil spill near Sundarbans!

Sada Kalo Blog reported quoting Bangla Newspaper Prothom Alo that water in the rivers in the Sundarbans (largest mangrove forest in the world) are turning black, oily, and sticky. The report informs that fishes are swimming upstream and sharks and crocodiles are floating on the water.Today Sada kalo has spotted a Reuters report which informs that the Iranian registered vessel Mir Damad, en-route from Chittagong to Kolkata, has a crack in the bottom, and is on the verge of submersion approximately 22 miles south-west of Mongla.Its strange that local...

Bangla blogging platform featured in a Norwegian newspaper

Olav Anders Øvrebø, a Norwegian journalist has published a story on the Bangla Blogging platform "baadh bhangar awaj" and its pioneer Arild Klokkerhaug. The article is in Norwegian.However from Olav's personal blog you can get the gist of the report in Engli...