London 2012: GB beach volleyball player Shauna Mullin's perfect weekend

A weekend off is a real luxury for me. My volleyball partner, Zara, and I are away training and competing for about 10 months of each year and when I’m in England, I live in Hook, Hampshire, with my gran, and commute daily to the Sport Training Village in Bath, which is one and a half hours away.

On Fridays I finish training at about 3.30-4pm and in an ideal world I’ll drive straight to Heathrow and jump on a flight to Edinburgh, as my best friends Laura, Jenny and Sara live in Scotland. I met them when I went to boarding school in Edinburgh when my father, a hotel manager, was working in Scotland and then in Ireland.

Laura will pick me up from the airport and we’ll drive to Jenny’s house in Dundee where Sara will join us. We don’t get to meet up nearly enough so we’ll probably spend a couple of hours catching up. The others will drink wine but I’ll probably decline. With the Olympics just around the corner, tea has become my evening drink of choice!

I don’t often see my family but they’ll be watching me in London later this month. My brother lives in Dublin, and my parents live in Jordan — where Dad is still working as a hotel manager. More often than not the only time I get to see them properly is when we go to South Africa for Christmas. I was born there and it feels like home.

Taking part in London 2012 is the realisation of a long-term dream. Zara and I are getting really excited — it’s hard not to. Horse Guards Parade, where the beach volleyball competition will be staged during the Olympics, is definitely the best venue of the Games. Beach volleyball isn’t played much in Britain so I think it’s great that we’re bringing it to London and showing everyone what the sport is. It’s the most popular spectator sport at the Olympics.

Bangladesh's Rapid Action Battalion 'death squads' to get image makeover

Its elite troops, in their black bandannas, wrap around shades, and well-oiled AK47s strike fear wherever they go.

But they are now set to get an image makeover with training to help them improve their dealing with "human issues" and a "complaints bureau" to appease their critics.

Human rights groups say they are sceptical over whether many Bangladeshis would be brave enough to complain to the force about their actions. Last month Bangladesh's own Human Rights Commission demanded to know whether it had been involved in around 40 disappearances, including activists of the opposition Bangladesh National Party.

"It will be hard for ordinary Bangladeshis to feel confident enough to make complaints against them unless the government makes a commitment that they will be protected," said Meenakshi Ganguly of Human Rights Watch.

The Battalion has in the past received military training from Britain and the United States, but they and other countries are believed to have made a rapid improvement in the force's human rights record and accountability a condition of further aid.

DGEN ends higher

Dhaka, Jul 24 (bdnews24.com) — Dhaka stock's key index ended Tuesday's trade 2.78 percent higher.

The DGEN closed at 4318.79 points gaining 116.91 points on the week's third business day.

Shares and mutual funds worth around Tk 2.89 billion changed hands with prices of 247 issues gaining, 14 declining and seven remaining at their opening prices.

The key index ended Monday's trade 1.88 percent higher. The benchmark index had gained nearly 2 points last week.

bdnews24.com/zk/1435h

HC settles writ over Speaker ruling

Dhaka, July 24 (bdnews24.com) — The High Court on Tuesday settled a writ petition challenging the Parliament Speaker's ruling involving a judge's statement.

The bench of justices Hasan Foez Siddique and A B M Altaf Hossain heard the petition argued by lawyer Rokon Uddin Mahmud.

On July 18, the bench of Justices Naima Haider and Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar had felt embarrassed to hear the petition that sought an order to declare illegal the Speaker's ruling passed on Jun 18 in the Parliament.

After Tuesday's verdict, Deputy Attorney General Biswajit Roy, who represented the state, told bdnews24.com the court had given the verdict on the hearings of both sides saying 'the petition was settled with several observations'.

Roy said the observations will be elaborated in the written copy of the verdict.

Speaker Abdul Hamid gave the ruling at Parliament on Jun 18 as MPs demanded steps after Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury criticised the parliament's presiding officer.

The Speaker had hoped the Chief Justice himself would initiate measures in this regard and parliament would support his decision.

bdnews24.com/sn/zk/sk/1445h

Brawl over fare, buses smashed in Farmgate

Dhaka, Jul 24 (bdnews24.com) — Students of Tejgaon College have vandalised four buses at Farmgate area on Tuesday and beat up driver of a bus following a brawl over fare.

Sub Inspector of Traffic Police Ruhul Amin said several students of the college exchanged heated arguments with the staffs of a Motijheel-Cantonment route bus around 9:30am while the bus was on its way to Farmgate from Shahbugh.

When the bus reached Farmgate, where the college is located, up to 25 students beat up the bus driver and smashed the bus, he said.

The Tejgaon College students vandalised three other buses and for this vehicular movements came to a halt for nearly half an hour in the area, the police officer said.

Assistant Sub Inspector of Tejgaon Police Station Munsi Abdul Lokman said traffic resumed around 10am at the intervention of the law enforcers.

The injured driver, 'Shafik', has been taken to hospital, the ASI said.

bdnews24.com/ah/zk/sk/1105h

Farm loan disbursement target Tk 141.3bn

Abdur Rahim Harmachi
Chief Economics Correspondent

Dhaka, July 23 (bdnews24.com) – The Bangladesh Bank has set agricultural loan disbursement target for local and foreign banks at Tk 141.3 billion for 2012-13 fiscal, says the chief of the central bank.

Governor Atiur Rahman said on Monday the central bank would formally announce the new agriculture and rural credit policy and programmes for the current financial year, divulging the disbursement target, higher than that of the previous fiscal, at a meeting with the chief executives of the state-owned, specialised, private and foreign commercial banks on Tuesday.

He told bdnews24.com: "The agriculture sector has kept our economy in a comfortable position. We didn't need import any rice over the last one year. It has been possible due to the bumper production in the past few seasons. And the disbursement of farm loans has played a vital role in this."

"In this backdrop, a target of disbursing Tk 141.3 billion in agricultural loan has been set for further boosting crop production and rural economy," he added.

State-owned, specialised, private and foreign commercial banks had a target to disburse Tk 138 billion in the 2011-12 fiscal.

Of them, the target was Tk 85.1 billion for the state-owned commercial banks – Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali – and the two specialised banks, Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank.

In the current fiscal, the target of annual loan disbursement in agriculture sector has been set at Tk 83 billion for the state-owned commercial banks and specialised banks and Tk 58.3 billion for the private and foreign banks.

According to the Bangladesh Bank data, all banks collectively disbursed Tk 114.53 billion in farm loans in the first 11 months of the just-concluded financial year while disbursement was Tk 121.84 billion in its previous fiscal.

Atiur said agricultural credit disbursement had increased due to the strict monitoring by the central bank.

"Our economy is based on agriculture. The state-owned and specialised banks used to disburse farm loans in the past, but now the private banks are also disbursing farm loans simultaneously. The banks having no branches at rural level are disbursing farm loans through NGOs."

The central bank chief said an obligation had been imposed on the banks to ensure that they disbursed at least 2 percent of their total loans in the agriculture sector. "We're monitoring it strictly."

Apart from the state-owned banks, agricultural credit disbursement was made compulsory for the private and foreign banks three years back.

He said measures were also taken for opening bank accounts for farmers with an initial deposit of only Tk 10 each.

bdnews24.com/arh/skb/ssr/nir/2317h

Abul Hossain's resignation proves graft: BNP

Dhaka, Jul 23 (bdnews24.com)—The BNP has said the resignation of Information and Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain as a minister, 10 months after allegations of corruption in the Padma bridge project surfaced, proves corruption in the project.

"It (the resignation) proves corruption in the Padma bridge project," party's Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir told bdnews24.com in his instant reaction to resignation of the former Communications Minister.

He said the loan agreement would not have been cancelled had he (Syed Abul Hossain) quit as soon as the allegation of corruptions were raised.

Earlier in the day, the beleaguered minister, who was later given charge of the ICT ministry, tendered his resignation letter, highly placed sources told bdnews24.com.

Fakhrul alleged that 'many others' were involved in the corruption in the project.

"Please wait, many things will eventually surface," he added.

The World Bank (WB) cancelled its $ 1.2-billion fund for the $2.9-billion project on Jun 29. It claimed the government did not follow its suggestion to send high-ranking officials linked to the alleged corruption on leave until the investigations were complete.

Abul Hossain was the Communication Minister that time.

The minister, however, never admitted that he was involved in any corruption while leading the Communications Ministry until Sept last year.

But he was transferred from the Communications Ministry amid growing calls from inside the ruling coalition and the opposition.

"The government should launch a complete and neutral investigation into the alleged corruption in the Padma bridge project," he said.

He urged the government to ensure exemplary punishment to those involved in the graft.

"If this government does not investigate this (WB alleged corruption), the BNP will do it once it comes to power," the BNP spokesman said.

bdnews24.com/sm/shs/ssr/nir/2109h

Humayun`s janaza held at Nuhash Palli

Dhaka, Jul 24 (bdnews24.com) — Humayun Ahmed's third namaz-e-janaza, prayer before burial, took place at Nuhash Palli, his favourite retreat, in Gazipur on Tuesday.

He is to be laid to rest there after Zohr prayers.

Hundreds of people took part in the funeral prayer of the celebrated writer. The janaza was conducted by Mojibur Rahman, Imam of a local mosque.

Earlier on the day, an ambulance started for Nuhash Palli with Humayun's body around 9am from BIRDEM, Dhaka.

His second wife Meher Afroz Shaon and her two children, Nishad and Ninit, reached there around 12:05pm with the ambulance.

Minutes before Shaon reached there, Humayn's children from his first marriage – Nuhash, Sheela and Nova, and the writer's two brothers Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and Ahsan Habib and their two sisters have reached Nuhash Palli.

A Sculptor at Nuhash Palli, Asaduzzaman Khan, had earlier told bdnews24.com they were taking preparations for the burial from morning since Humayun's family members 'decided' his burial site in the wee hours Tuesday.

The writer built his favourite retreat and named it after his eldest son, Nuhash. He once wished to lay to rest under a Lychee tree, Khan said.

"He will then be buried under this Lychee tree," Khan had said.

Humayun's fans started thronging at Nuhash Palli from early morning.

Superintendent of Gazipur Police Abdul Baten told journalists, they have taken all preparations so that everything could be done in a disciplined way.

Gazipur's Additional Deputy Commissioner Mohammad Habibur Rahman said the district administration has all the preparations to conduct the ritual.

bdnews24.com/corr/zk/sk/1350h

Is the Universe finite or infinite?

How large is the Universe? How do we measure its size? How can we even think of measuring something that is believed to be boundless? The enormity of the Universe may be beyond our comprehension, but measuring its size is not. Our measuring sticks are the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMBR) which is relic of the super hot Big Bang radiation cooled down to three Kelvin (-270 degrees Centigrade) with wavelength in the microwave region and cosmological red-shift, increase in the observed wavelength of electromagnetic waves from a receding source.
The size depends on the distinction between “visible” and “observable” Universe. Although there is no general consensus among astronomers about the actual size, one thing they agree on for sure is how far away we can see.
We can argue that if the age of the Universe is 13.7 billion years (see “Universe in age crisis!” TDS July 10, 2012) and since light travels with a finite speed, we can't see anything beyond 13.7 billion light years. (One light year is about six trillion miles.) In reality, we can see lights that were emitted only after the decoupling epoch, a time around 380,000 years after the Big Bang, when radiation broke free from matter and could travel through space unimpeded.
The maximum distance light can travel since the birth of the Universe defines the “cosmic horizon.” Astronomers use the distance to the horizon as the radius of the visible Universe with Earth at the center. It is also known as the Hubble Length and is 13.7 billion light years. But is it really the size of the Universe?
Calculating the size of the Universe is a little tricky. Let us start with the premise that Big Bang is the correct theory of the origin of the Universe. The theory posits that the Universe, born out of a tremendous explosion from an infinitesimally small volume, is undergoing expansion at a rapid rate. It was, however, an explosion of space; not an explosion into space. Consequently, the Universe does not have an "edge" where space just runs out. Hence the cosmic horizon is a boundary in time, not in space. It still lies at the beginning of time - the moment of Big Bang. It exists because we cannot see back to a time before the Universe was born.
As the Universe is expanding at high speed in all directions, the most distant objects we can see were once much closer to us. The recession speed of stellar objects, according to Edwin Hubble, is directly proportional to their distance from us. He also noted from cosmological red shift that farther a galaxy is from us, faster it is moving away from us.
Thus the cosmic horizon is continually expanding outward and the observable Universe is growing larger in radius with each passing second. This implies that since the birth of the Universe, distant stars and galaxies have been pushed away from us far beyond the distance of 13.7 billion light years. The observable Universe, therefore, is much bigger than the visible Universe. The radius of the observable Universe is also referred to as the “comoving distance” because it is increasing with time.
What then is the radius of the Universe today? The answer is given by our measuring sticks cum cosmic storytellers, red shift and CMBR. Without going into the nitty gritty of calculation, they tell us that because of accelerated expansion, it is 94 billion light years across putting the edge of the observable Universe 47 billion light years away from us. Whatever the size is, thanks to the inflationary Universe; it increased our observational power to the extent that we can see or have seen things that are now at least 47 billion light years away from us in all directions.
“Two things are infinite: the Universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the Universe.” Albert Einstein.

Abul resigns, at last Letter submitted to PM; govt not confirming yet

Information and Communication Technology Minister Syed Abul Hossain has finally tendered his resignation to the prime minister, paving the way for the government to revive the financial arrangements with the World Bank for the Padma bridge project.
However, there was no official announcement about his resignation.
It could not be confirmed whether Abul resigned from the cabinet or the post only. Several sources close to him said he wished to remain in the cabinet as a minister without portfolio.
Abul's resignation came a day after the finance minister on Sunday said the government had been considering accepting the WB's fourth condition to persuade the global lender to review the cancellation of the Padma bridge loan.
The WB's fourth condition was that the government send on leave the public officials and former communications minister Abul Hossain, who were allegedly involved in corruption in the project.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina received Abul's resignation letter and kept it with her, said sources in the ruling Awami League.
Abul skipped yesterday's scheduled cabinet meeting. He did not even inform the cabinet that he would not attend the meeting. His absence drew the attention of many ministers.
Talking to journalists of several media houses over the phone yesterday, Abul said probe had been going on into corruption allegations over the Padma bridge project. And he was unwilling to continue his duties under the circumstances. His well-wishers also advised him not to remain in the post of a minister while the investigation was on.
“So, I have made a decision … I won't stay in office,” he told Bangla daily Prothom Alo. He, however, did not give any details about his resignation.
Abul said he would come out clean from the probe, as he had not been “involved in the corruption”.
He claimed the Anti-Corruption Commission, the WB or the Canadian police would not find his involvement, saying he had maintained transparency all along.
Abul believed his resignation had apparently removed the main barrier to constructing the bridge with the global lender's funding.
Though the WB gave several conditions for funding the project, Abul's exit from the cabinet was the key.
His resignation is likely to end the 10-month impasse between the government and the WB following the global lender's corruption allegations in the $2.97 billion project. The WB in September last year suspended its promised $1.2 billion funding for the country's biggest infrastructure project.
Construction of the 6.15 kilometre bridge became uncertain when the WB last month cancelled its loan agreement on the grounds that not all its conditions were met.
“He [Abul] should have resigned much earlier. He finally stepped down but the country paid a high price for that,” a minister said on condition of anonymity after the cabinet meeting.
A security guard at Abul's Gulshan residence said Abul left home in the morning in a car without flag.
Later, he met the prime minister and turned in his resignation, said a source close to Abul.
It was the second time he resigned as a minister. He was forced to resign as state minister for the LGRD ministry in August 1997 over a controversy for using a private passport instead of a diplomatic book.
Though there has been a strong public opinion against him for the last few months, Abul has kept protesting his innocence and refuted allegations of any irregularities in the Padma bridge project. He accused a section of the media of resorting to propaganda against him, saying it misled the WB to cancel the project's funding.
The government also showed reluctance to take any action against him, other than transferring him to the ICT ministry.
Earlier, in an open letter published in several dailies on Saturday, Abul gave hints that he could resign for the sake of the country and proper probe into the corruption allegations.
The ex-communications minister first came under fire ahead of the last year's Eid-ul-Fitr for failing to repair and maintain roads and highways in many parts of the country.
He was removed from the communications ministry and given the charge of ICT ministry on December 5 last year after the WB brought corruption allegations against him and suspended its loan.
Apart from the WB, Asian Development Bank, Japan International Cooperation Agency and Islamic Development Bank are co-financiers in the project. ADB committed to provide $615 million, Jica $400 million and IDB $140 million.
After the WB cancelled its loan agreement, the government decided to construct the bridge with its own resources. The government, however, said it would welcome any foreign investment in the project.

Decoded Dolphin's math skills

Dolphins could teach humans a thing or two about finding Nemo. The aquatic mammals may pinpoint prey hidden in bubbles by using mental math.
By adjusting the volume of sonar clicks, then processing the incoming echoes, dolphins might have solved a problem that still stymies man-made sonar: how to peer through frothy water. Using clicks that mimic an Atlantic bottlenose dolphin, scientists devised a system that weeds out sound clutter from underwater bubbles.
“It's really ingenious, actually,” says oceanographer Grant Deane of the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. “I think it's very clever work, and there are a number of significant applications for it.”
Using something like a fireman's hose, researchers shot bubbles into a huge water tank set underground. The bubbles cloaked a submerged target: a steel ball slightly smaller than a baseball. Then, the researchers sent out short bursts of sound the faux dolphin clicks underwater, collected the echoes, and processed the data mathematically to figure out the steel ball's location.

Obese children's hearts in danger

Severely obese children are putting their heart at danger even while they are still in primary school, according to a Dutch study.
Heart disease is normally associated with middle age, but the early warning signs were detected in children between the ages of two and 12.
Two-thirds of the 307 children studied had a least one early symptom such as high blood pressure.
The findings were presented in Archives of Disease in Childhood.
Obesity is a growing problem around the world with more people becoming obese and at a younger age.
Two-year-olds with a Body Mass Index, a measure of obesity, greater than 20.5 are classed as severely obese. By the age of 18, a BMI of 35 is a sign of severe obesity.
Researchers at the VU University Medical Centre in Amsterdam collected data from the Dutch Paediatric Surveillance Unit between 2005 and 2007.
They looked at warning signs of heart disease in the severely obese children.
"Remarkably, 62% of severely obese children under 12 years of age already had one or more cardiovascular risk factors," the study concluded.
More than half had high blood pressure, and there were also cases of low "good cholesterol" and high blood sugar, which can result in Type 2 diabetes.
The researchers said this "may lead to cardiovascular disease in young adulthood".
Doireann Maddock, a senior cardiac nurse with the British Heart Foundation, said: "Although it was a small study, the findings leave a bad taste in the mouth.
"It's a huge concern so many obese children were identified as already having at least one risk factor for heart disease, including high blood pressure, high blood glucose and problems with cholesterol levels.
"However, this is a problem that can be addressed by stopping young people becoming overweight and obese in the first place.
"Highlighting the importance of healthy eating and physical activity from an early age will help protect the heart health of future generations."

Sharper Look Solar Corona revealed

Source: Science Daily

These photos of the solar corona, or million-degree outer atmosphere, show the improvement in resolution offered by NASA's High Resolution Coronal Imager, or Hi-C (bottom), versus the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly on NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (top). Both images show a portion of the sun's surface roughly 85,000 by 50,000 miles in size. Hi-C launched on a sounding rocket on July 11, 2012 in a flight that lasted about 10 minutes. The representative-color images were made from observations of ultraviolet light at a wavelength of 19.3 nanometers (25 times shorter than the wavelength of visible light).

Guest Uavs! 'Invisible UFOs' fill skies

Why are all the good UFOs invisible?" one Gather.com user asked in response to the latest "invisible UFO" report posted to the site.
You might have thought a defining characteristic of a UFO would be visibility. But thanks to zealous alien hunters doggedly scanning the sky with night-vision cameras, a new class of flying objects that only emit infrared light has emerged from the darkness. Are they spies from the great beyond?
"Some people claim to see actual battles between UFOs up in the sky, using night-vision equipment," the ufologist Robert Sheaffer told Life's Little Mysteries. "Those devices magnify faint objects so much that the sky seems to be filled with invisible UFOs. In reality, of course, they are seeing owls, bats, moths, airplanes, satellites, etc." Night-vision optics trade low resolution for high sensitivity, he explained, so that points of light (such as distant satellites) spill out into circles that make the objects appear huge.
However, some of the invisible UFOs out there really are spies of a sort or whatever else you choose to call military drones. [7 Things Most Often Mistaken for UFOs]
Consider, for example, an invisible triangle UFO recently caught on camera by the Laredo Paranormal Research Society, a Texas group. In their footage, captured using an infrared-sensitive third-generation night-vision camera and posted to YouTube July 13, an object composed of three evenly spaced glowing orbs streaked southward across the field of view and disappeared behind the roof of a house.
According to LPRS founder Ismael Cuellar, the "infrared-cloaked" object could not be seen with the naked eye, and cruised silently. "[We] have ruled out birds, bugs, airplanes, helicopters, and even flying drones by comparing them side by side as a point of reference," Cuellar told Life's Little Mysteries. This seems to leave just one explanation: It's a cloaked alien spaceship.
Not so, according to Ben McGee, a geoscientist, aerospace consultant, UFO skeptic and lead field researcher on the National Geographic series "Chasing UFOs." In McGee's opinion, all the signs point to this object being a border patrol drone with infrared anti-collision or identification lights. Here's why he thinks so.

Did You Know? What is a gene?

In informal language, it is a unit of heredity that is transferred from a parent to offspring and is held to determine some characteristic of the "proteins coded directly by genes"In technical terms, it is a distinct sequence of nucleotides forming part of a chromosome.
Genes are the things that play an important role in determining physical traits how we look and lots of other stuff about us. They carry information that helps make you who you are: curly or straight hair, long or short legs, even how you might smile or laugh, are all passed through generations of your family in genes.?"

US gives Syria weapons warning

President Barack Obama has warned Syria's President Bashar al-Assad that his government will be held accountable if it uses chemical weapons.
He was speaking after Damascus said they would not be deployed inside Syria but would be against foreign attack.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said that any thought of using chemical weapons would be "reprehensible".
Fierce fighting has taken place in Aleppo, where rebels claim to have captured parts of the city.
There are also unconfirmed reports from activists in Homs that security forces are threatening to storm the city's central prison.
Chemical threat
The sharp international response came hours after Syrian foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi gave Damascus's first implicit acknowledgement that a chemical weapons stockpile existed.
The weapons were safely stored, he said, and Syria would never use them against its civilians but only "in case of external aggression". In an attempt to retain some doubt about his country's unconventional weapons arsenal he later tweeted "if they exist".
The US and Israel have expressed concern about the fate of Syria's arms, with Israeli PM Benyamin Netanyahu speaking of a "great threat" of weapons sites falling into the hands of Lebanon's Shia Islamist group Hezbollah, allied to President Assad.
The State Department in Washington said any possible use of such weapons would be "completely unacceptable".
"They will be held accountable by the international community and the US, should they make the tragic mistake of using those weapons," President Obama added.
The BBC's Kim Ghattas in Washington says US officials have refused to discuss details of any contingency planning surrounding Syria's chemical weapons but they have acknowledged that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed the issue on a visit to Israel last week.
Aleppo clashes
Syrian rebels said they had taken control of the Salah el-Din area of the country's most populous city, Aleppo, on Monday but fighting was continuing there and in other districts late into the evening.
A child was killed when rockets were fired at a market in the al-Bab area of the city, opposition activists said.
Unverified video showed jubilant rebel fighters capturing a tank in the Sakhour district and the BBC's Ian Pannell, on the outskirts of Aleppo, said he had seen hundreds of rebels moving towards the city.
In the capital, it was a different story as footage showed Syrian troops going from house to house searching for rebel fighters in areas of Damascus that had been recaptured from the opposition.
Civilians in the Qabun area of the city complained of not being able to leave their homes and government forces were said to have taken up positions in Midan, held earlier by rebels.
Explosions and fires have been reported from the jail in the central city of Homs, where unarmed policemen are said to have defected and prisoners have staged a sit-in. Government officials had earlier denied there had been a defection.
Meanwhile, the refugee crisis is escalating both inside and outside Syria.
An estimated 1.5 million people are homeless within the country, according to the Syrian Arab Red Crescent. Another 115,000 Syrians have fled to neighbouring countries.
On Sunday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that at least 19,106 people had been killed since March 2011. The UN said in May that at least 10,000 people had been killed.
Syria blames the violence on foreign-backed "armed terrorist gangs".
In June, the Syrian government reported that 6,947 Syrians had died, including at least 3,211 civilians and 2,566 security forces personnel.

Tears, tributes

The first novel that Rouf Mohammad Muhith had read was Humayun Ahmed's “Himu”. He was a student of class VI and thereafter he read all the books by this stand-apart writer.
“You were my role model. I will remember you forever,” Muhith, now a first-year student of Birshreshtha Munshi Abdur Rouf College, wrote in the condolence book yesterday, after paying the last tribute to his favourite writer at the Central Shaheed Minar.
He said he used to go to the Ekushey Book Fair every year just to get a copy of Humayun Ahmed's new book. “His story telling is unique. Whatever he wrote came from his heart and touched me. I also like the characters he created,” added the teenager in an emotion-choked voice.
Asked if the demise of the prolific writer had discouraged him from reading, Muhith said, “No. When I was in class VII, I met him at a book fair and asked for an autograph. It was there that he advised me never to stop reading.”
Millions of youths like Muhith and their earlier generations are deeply fond of Humayun Ahmed. This writer helped a whole range of generations to get back to reading through more than 200 books of his, most of which have been bestsellers. He inspired people to love their culture, tradition and nature.
Thousands of people from all walks of life, especially youths, gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar yesterday to pay the final tribute to the illustrious writer. His collections of Himu and Misir Ali; films Nandito Norokay, Shankhaneel Karagar; and books Jochhona O Jananir Golpo, Brihonnola, 1971, Gouripur Junction, Megh Bolechhe Jabo Jabo, Pencil-a Anka Pori, Kothao Keu Nei are only a few among his most popular works.
“Humayun Ahmed inspired us to dream and love nature, trees and moonlight,” said Jafrin Rezwana, a Dhaka University (DU) student of history, adding, “Death is not his end. His characters such as Himu, Misir Ali, Shubhro and Rupa will keep inspiring us.”
Sushmita Biswas, another DU student, said she had been having trouble accepting the fact that a great novelist, dramatist and filmmaker like Humayun Ahmed had died a premature death. “Shall we get any new books from him at the next book fair? No…this means a huge vacuum has been created in Bangla literature,” she added.
Humayun Ahmed also brought a new dimension to Bangla drama. He was a playwright, director and lyricist. Television viewers once even brought out processions urging the writer not to kill one of his characters, “Baker Bhai”, in the serial Kothao Keu Nei in the 1990s.
Recalling his memories, actor Masum Aziz told The Daily Star that he had found no lack of qualities as a human being in Humayun Ahmed. Besides writing and directing, he knew magic and how to paint and act. Overall, Humayun Ahmed was a scientist, he added.
“He knew about people's tastes the best. His scripts for drama were superb. Anyone could act with his dialogues,” said Aziz, expressing his sorrow that the acting industry had lost a valuable asset.
Development activist Ranjan Karmaker said the youth of the early 1980s was not interested in reading. Writers and publishers of that time used to be afraid of printing a big number of copies of a book considering that only a handful of middle-aged people were the main buyers of books. Humayun Ahmed's books attracted the younger generation to the Bangla Academy and Ekushey Book Fair in the late 1980s and 1990s.
“There are even instances of five friends buying a single book of Humayun. Students save to buy his books. This is something commendable,” he said. He popularised Bangla folk songs, musical instruments and stories to a great extent.
“You can now see the youth of today singing folk songs. Humayun Ahmed played an important role in this regard,” said Ranjan Karmaker.
Film director Chashi Nazrul Islam said Humayun Ahmed had enriched the Bangladeshi film industry when it was in a great crisis. He also inspired people about the Liberation War and patriotism.
Shankhaneel Karagar, Aguner Poroshmoni, Srabon Megher Din, Dui Duari, Chondrokotha, Noi No. Bipod Shongket, Amar Achhe Jol, Nirontor, Priotomeshu, Daruchini Dweep, Shyamol Chhaya and Ghetuputro Komola are some of his best known films.
Actress and Awami League lawmaker Tarana Halim said a great man like Humayun Ahmed was no more, but the question remained whether any initiative would be there to fill the vacuum of the great people the country had lost.
“The writer wanted to set up a cancer hospital. We will try to make his dream come true,” she said.

Goodbye Humayun

Humayun heads to Nuhash Palli in coffin

An ambulance carrying the body of legendary writer Humayun Ahmed drove straight to his cherished place Nuhash Palli in Gazipur where the famed filmmaker will be laid to eternal rest Tuesday afternoon.
Engineer Motahar, the father-in-law of the best storyteller, is accompanying Humayun, in coffin, in the ambulance during his last trip to his most favourite retreat.
After a spate of meetings, the family of Humayun Ahmed decided early Tuesday that the best storyteller will be laid to eternal rest at Nuhash Palli.
Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, brother of Humayun, told this to reporters around 2:15am emerging from a meeting held at the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar residence of LGED State Minister Jahangir Kabir Nanak.
Nova, Shila and Nuhash—the three children from the first wife of Humayun—were present during the meeting.
The family and friends of the writer taking the body from the mortuary of Birdem will start for Nuhash Palli around 9:00am and the burial will take place after Zohr prayers, Zafar Iqbal said.
The final decision came following a series of meetings spanning nearly seven-hours over deciding the burial site of the renowned writer.
Earlier, on her arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport Monday morning, Meher Afroz Shaon, wife of the acclaimed writer and filmmaker, said her husband's last wish was to be buried at Nuhash Palli.
Following the development, Humayun’s three children told reporters that they want their father should be buried at a place where everybody can visit his grave and offer prayers.
The children announced their decision at the writer's mother's residence in Mirpur Monday evening.
In the wake of this situation, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her concern over the issue and the LGED state minister stepped in to resolve the crisis.
Nanak held several meetings with Humayun’s children, wife and brother to settle the impasse.
Several personalities including Shammilita Sangskritik Jote President Nasiruddin Yusuf Bachchu, Managing Director of Channel i Faridur Reza Sagar and chief of news Shaikh Siraj also joined the meetings that brought breakthrough early Tuesday.
Humayun, who was also a famed filmmaker, died at Manhattan's Bellevue Hospital in New York Thursday night (BST) after a nine-month fight with colon cancer.

John Dalton grew up to be an English chemist, meteorologist and physicist. Before he had propounded the Atomic Theory, he had already attained a significant status. He worked for the development of modern Atomic Theory, Gas Law, and his research on colour blindness. Until 1800, he had also worked as a teacher of mathematics and natural philosophy at the "New College" in Manchester, a dissenting academy. A second work by Dalton "Elements of English Grammar" was published in 1801.
Much of Dalton's collected work was damaged during the bombing of the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society on 24 December 1940. The damaged papers are now in the John Rylands Library having been deposited in the university library by the Society.
Dalton never married and had only a few close friends. He lived for more than a quarter of a century with his friend the Rev. W. Johns in George Street, Manchester. He suffered a minor stroke in 1837; a second one in 1838 left him with a speech impediment, though he still was able to carry on with his experiments. On July 27, 1844, Dalton, fell from his bed and was found lifeless by his assistant.
John Dalton was from a Quaker family at Eaglesfield in England, born on September 06, 1766. He was a son of a weaver, he joined his older brother, Jonathan at age 15 in running a Quaker school in nearby Kendal.

German researchers say they had evidence that sowing the ocean with iron particles sucks up and stores carbon dioxide.
But their work, touching on a fiercely controversial issue called geo-engineering, came under attack from other scientists and environmentalists.
They claim a far bigger question - whether such schemes could damage the marine biosphere - remained unanswered.
Published in the science journal Nature, the paper is one of the biggest and most detailed probes into ocean fertilisation, a practice that is banned under international law although scientific research into it is permitted.
Its goal is to take CO2 from the atmosphere and store it in the deep sea so that it no longer adds to the greenhouse effect.
This would be done by scattering the ocean surface with iron dust, a nutrient for microscope marine vegetation called phytoplankton. As the plants gorge on the iron, they also suck up atmospheric CO2 thanks to natural photosynthesis.
In the next step, the phytoplankton die and sink to the deep ocean floor - taking with them the CO2, which would lie in the sediment, possibly for centuries.
Critics, though, say geo-engineering schemes are riddled with unknowns, both in cost effectiveness and risks for the environment.
Creating a 'fluff layer'
Scientists led by Victor Smetacek of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research in Bremerhaven took a research ship to the Southern Ocean off Antarctica in 2004.
There, they located a giant eddy - a slowly-moving clockwise-rotating swirl 60 kilometres across that had relatively little interchange with the rest of the ocean - and used it as a test bed for a five-week experiment.
They scattered seven tonnes of commercial iron sulphate particles, which within four weeks developed into a giant bloom of diatom plankton.
The diatoms then died, sinking in clumps of entangled cells, "far below" a depth of 1000 metres, according to samples measured with a fluorometer.
They were probably deposited on the sea floor in a "fluff layer" that should remain for "many centuries and longer," Smetacek's team say.
Further work is needed to see what happens when sideways currents hit the diatom blooms, they add.
Wider effects unknown
Other voices sounded a loud note of caution, saying the experiment took place in exceptional conditions and did not consider other environmental consequences.
Among them was Professor John Shepherd, who chaired a landmark report in 2009 by Britain's Royal Society into geo-engineering.
It concluded that ocean fertilisation would not suck up that much CO2 and could be harmful to the marine biosphere.
"Whilst the new research is an interesting and valuable contribution in this evolving field, it does not address the potential ecological side effects of such a technology in what is a poorly understood field," says Shepherd.
The Canada-based ETC Group, an environmental NGO campaigning against geo-engineering, says the study "only focuses on a few narrow aspects and disregards or ignores others."
"The intended purpose of ocean fertilisation is to significantly disrupt marine ecosystems through drastic changes on phytoplankton, which is the base of the marine food web, so the effects would propagate throughout the ocean in unpredictable ways," it says.

Severe typhoon hits Hong Kong, market delays opening

A severe typhoon hit Hong Kong on Tuesday, disrupting business across the financial hub, with offices and the stock market to remain closed for at least part of the morning after the city raised its highest typhoon warning overnight.
Typhoon Vicente battered Hong Kong with gale-force winds and torrential rain, grounding flights and shutting port operations.
Authorities hoisted the No 10 tropical cyclone signal for several hours overnight, making this one of the strongest typhoons to hit the city in the past decade.
Financial markets, schools, businesses and non-essential government services close when a No. 8 signal or above is hoisted, posing a disruption to business in the capitalist hub and former British colony that returned to Chinese rule in 1997.
By 8:00am (0000 GMT), the typhoon was veering away from the city and weakening, although the No 8 signal is expected to remain in force until at least 10:00am (0200 GMT), the Hong Kong Observatory said, which would force a closure of the stock market for the morning.
The market will be closed for the day if the No 8 signal remains in place until noon (0400 GMT).
Separately, China's National Meteorological Center issued an orange alert for Typhoon Vicente, the second highest warning level in China's four-tier typhoon warning system, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
Strengthening gale-force winds overturned trees, churned up huge waves in Hong Kong's Victoria Harbour and sent debris flying, injuring some 30 people as Vicente slammed into the city and the western reaches of China's Guangdong province.
Fifteen flights were cancelled and more than 200 delayed late on Monday, aviation authorities said, although Hong Kong's main carrier Cathay Pacific said it planned to resume some flights. Affected airlines are expected to have to clear a sizeable backlog of stranded passengers.
The Hong Kong Observatory raised the No 10 signal early on Tuesday as typhoon Vicente swept much closer to Hong Kong than initially thought, making this the first time the highest typhoon signal had been raised since 1999.
More than 30,000 Chinese fishing boats were alerted to return to harbour, with 10,560 fishermen taking shelter ashore in Guangdong, Chinese state media reported. Storm surges and sea wave warnings were heightened, with winds of up to 100 kph (60 mph) expected.

The vice-chancellor of a public university yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 how he was brutally tortured at the residence of Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury's father in Chittagong by Pakistani army and their collaborators during the Liberation War.
Prof Dr Md Saleh Uddin, VC of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, said he was brutally tortured at the diktat of Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, father of war crimes accused Salahuddin Quader, at their Goods Hill residence.
Salahuddin Quader also beat him up during the torture, the vice-chancellor added.
"At one stage of torture, my lips and some portions of my face cracked and I fell on the ground," said Prof Saleh Uddin, adding he fainted several times on the day of his captivity in the third week of July in 1971.
The VC said although he was seriously wounded, Salahuddin Quader was not satisfied and slapped hard on his face as he did not cry.
Prof Saleh Uddin, 61, is the eighth prosecution witness in a case filed against the BNP lawmaker for his alleged involvement in war crimes committed during the Liberation War.
In 1971, Saleh Uddin was a student of economics at Chittagong University and lodged at the house of Raja Khan Chowdhury in Mohora village in Chittagong.
"One early morning in the third week of July, the then chairman of nearby Burishwar union and supporter of Convention Muslim League Shamsu Mia along with three others came to me between 5:30am and 6:00am and asked me to go with them," said Saleh Uddin.
After moving 200-300 yards, he saw a military jeep and two Pakistani soldiers. "They frisked me and took me on the jeep. Shamsu Mia sat beside the driver," Prof Saleh said.
Dropping Shamsu near his house, the jeep moved towards Salahuddin Quader's father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury's Goods Hill through Nojumia Haat and Arakan Road.
"I saw Fazlul Quader sitting on a chair in front of a tea table. I also saw Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury," he said, adding, Fazlul Quader enquired about his identity.
"As I replied, Fazlul Quader ordered others to beat me up."
The two soldiers dragged him to the first floor of Goods Hill. A few minutes later two men -- Hamidul Kabir and Sekandar -- entered the room. People called Hamidul as the chief of auxiliary force Al-Shams, said Saleh Uddin.
"Without making any conversation, they began to beat me up indiscriminately," he said, adding, Salahuddin Quader's men kept asking him, "Where are the arms? Where are the others [freedom fighters]?"
"At one stage, one soldier began to beat me up with the bed stands. They broke three bed stands. I almost fainted," the SUST VC said, adding that they kept asking him to answer their questions.
The men then dragged him down to the ground floor where Salahuddin Quader was waiting.
"He is not even shedding tears, what beating have you given him?" the VC quoted Salahuddin Quader as saying.
Salahuddin then slapped him hard on his left cheek and told his men to take him to the garage downstairs which was used as a torture cell, Saleh said.
They then started beating him up there with a hosepipe. "It seemed to me I would die anytime," he said.
Saleh Uddin fainted for a while and was later taken upstairs. Nurul Islam, a senior student of Chittagong University, who served as the principal of Pahartali College, came to meet him.
Nurul asked him whether he answered to their questions.
"I told him I was not involved in anything. What would I admit?" Saleh replied.
Nurul said he would see whether something could be done for Saleh Uddin. That evening some villagers went to Goods Hill and said Saleh Uddin was a good student and was not involved in anything wrong.
"Salahuddin Quader told me he would collect more information about me," Saleh said, adding, he was asked to stay in Mohora. The soldiers then escorted him to the village on a car.
After staying a few days in Mohora, Saleh left the village in fear.
In response to a question from the prosecution, Prof Saleh Uddin said during the torture, he saw another young captive on the first floor of Goods Hill and heard Salahuddin's driver saying "That man would be killed."
The youth was taken out after a few minutes. He did not see him again as long as he stayed at the house.
The three-member tribunal headed by Justice Md Nizamul Huq started recording Saleh Uddin's 100-minute testimony at around 10:00am yesterday. Salahuddin Quader was present in the court.
Defence counsel Ahsanul Huq Hena is set to cross-examine Saleh Uddin today.
Salahuddin Quader is facing 23 counts of crimes against humanity at the tribunal.
Later, cross-examination of the investigation officer by the defence of detained Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Delawar Hossain Sayedee continued for the 35th time at the tribunal.
Sayedee is facing 20 charges of crimes against humanity committed in 1971.
QUADER MOLLAH'S CASE
Meanwhile, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday adjourned the case proceeding against Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah till today.
The three-member tribunal headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir adjourned the case proceeding following a time plea of the prosecution, as they could not produce a female witness "due to illness of her mother".
Yesterday was fixed for recording the testimony of the fourth prosecution witness behind closed doors.
On July 12, the tribunal decided to allow two female witnesses, members of victims' families, to give their testimonies against the Jamaat assistant secretary general in closed doors to protect their identity and privacy.
Of them, the first female witness gave her testimony on July 17.
Ekramul Huqe, one of the defence counsels, told The Daily Star the prosecution sought time as they could not produce the witness before the court and the tribunal allowed them time till today.
Prosecutor Nurjahan Begum Mukta told The Daily Star, "We could not produce the witness due to her mother's illness and sought time."
 published copy by: the daily star bangladesh

Internet trends in Bangladesh

The rapid growth of digital technology is fundamentally changing the world as we know it. Global internet penetration in 2010 stood at 1.9 billion people and is expected to grow to 5 billion by 2015. It is unsurprising that with this in mind, information in the world (videos, music, documents etc.) that is stored online is also projected to grow from 800 exabytes to 53 zetabytes (eMarketer, 2011).
To put this into context, Google recently announced that there is 60 hours of video (YouTube Blog, 2012) uploaded onto YouTube each and every minute.
Mobile adoption is another factor that is further accelerating access to the internet. The “Queen of the Net” Mary Meeker forecasts mobile internet usage to outstrip desktop/large screen by 2015.
So why is this relevant to us in Bangladesh?
In Bangladesh, with mobile subscribers just over 92 million and mobile internet access over 25 million users (BTRC, March 2012), it is fair to say, that these “pocket computers” will be the first entry point into the internet for many people in this country.
As access to internet explodes, the internet will increasingly become where people, of all ages and demographics, spend their time and as a result it will lead to significant changes in the way we go about our daily lives.
It is second nature for an individual in New York to purchase a flight via the internet and changes such as these are soon to take place here.
G&R Ad Network, a company that manages internet ad campaigns across over 150 local websites reaching over 90% of Bangladeshis online, has built-up unique insight into how users within the country and abroad browse the web.
G&R analysed millions of data points and put together 3 key trends that can help show where the internet in Bangladesh is going.
1. Internet consumption is accelerating
The internet subscriber base in Bangladesh (excluding mobile) currently stands at just over 1.5 million (BTRC, Feb 2012). However, total desktop internet users in Bangladesh is actually far greater than that number, likely driven by heavy usage in offices, internet cafes and multiple users accessing the internet from a single household. Local industry estimates suggest that in 2011 access to the web was closer to 8 million users, having grown 300% since 2010 and expected grow a further 500% by 2020 (BCG, 2010). This acceleration of internet consumption is undoubtedly fueled not only by the growth in access, such as through WIMAX modems, but also through the proliferation of increasingly affordable laptops, desktops and tablets.
2. Those with access browse a lot
Until now, it wasn't clear how people in Bangladesh actually spend their time on the web on a daily basis. The data G&R gathered sheds some more light on consumer behaviour online.
The average user accesses the web on 3 separate occasions throughout the day, with usage peaking during the morning hours. In addition, a total of 4 different websites are typically visited during these sessions.
While usage of social networks and email services account for a considerable portion web activity, the data collected by the G&R indicates that Bangladeshis also spend a lot of time browsing the web. Such users are actively seeking information and content online and this is only going to grow further as more local websites and web applications start to enter the public domain.
3. Web usage varies considerably by day of week
Which days are Bangladeshis most online is a question that has been asked a lot at G&R. As visualised in the chart on left , web usage varies considerably based on the day of the week. Internet traffic among local Bangladeshis peaks on Mondays and is generally higher during the working days. Fridays represent substantially less traffic, but it is worth noting that internet consumption remains high for non-resident Bangladeshis visiting local Bangladeshi sites on Fridays.
Final thoughts
The rapid development of the online space in Bangladesh is very exciting and promising. The frenetic popularity of global platforms like Google, Facebook and Twitter as well as the innovation and growth of local websites, Bangla content, localised online tools and ecommerce which indicates that the internet will have an increasingly positive impact on the daily lives of people in this country

D.Net launches audio-visual content for potential female migrants

D.Net, a social enterprise through its research and with active participation of Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET), Bangladesh and WordForge Foundation, Spain and funding from Spanish Agency for International Development(AECID), has prepared an interactive audio-visual digital content titled “ Aparajitar Abhijatra” for potential female migrants of Bangladesh to uplift their competence level for global employment market to promote access to information and knowledge for all citizens.
To launch “Aparajita's Abhijatra”, a launching ceremony was held yesterday at Marble Room, Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.
Minister for Ministry of Labour and Employment and Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment, Bangladesh Government Eng. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, MP was present as chief guest.
Prepared under D.Net's project “Empowerment of Women through the use of ICT in Bangladesh”, this content will be available on D.net's Abolombon website (www.abolombon.org/aparajita) and BMET's official website (Aparajita quicklink) as well as on DVD.
It takes them through the process of preparation, helping them at each step, providing sufficient information for them to make informed choices. It provides vital information on how to apply for passport, visa; how and where to take training; how to proceed at airports and inside airplane. It also informs the prospective migrants on what to expect at overseas workplace, how to make their own living, how to send money back home, how to manage possible risks and crisis, etc. among other issues.
This content will be distributed free of cost among government and non-government agencies, pallitathya kendras, Union Information Service Centers (UISCs), Technical Training centres who are working in this particular filed.
This content has been developed in a way that it can be an income generating source for them by providing administrative services, counseling services, briefing services to women in rural areas who are interested to become overseas workers from Bangladesh.
The event was chaired by Begum Samsun Nahar,director general, bureau of manpower, employment and training (BMET). Dr. Jafar Ahmed Khan, secretary, ministry of expatriates welfare and overseas employment, Dr. Tasnim Siddique, founding chair, refugee and migratory movement research unit and Javiar Sole, president, world forge foundation were present as special guests.
Terming the launching ceremony as a unique event, Dr. Jafar Ahmed Khan said that the content had all the necessary information in it. He requested D.Net to disseminate information and assured that Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment will help D.Net in this regard.
Minister Eng. Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, MP in his speech said that for economic development of the country migration of female worker should be encouraged. He requested D.Net to provide high priority in effectively disseminating this information across the country.
He said Ministry of Labour and Employment and Expatriates Welfare and Overseas Employment will provide help and support to D.Net in those initiatives.

New router from Netgear

Computer City Technologies Ltd. has brought Netgear dual band Wi Fi router WNDR3700 in Bangladesh.
The router features IEEE 802.11 b/g/n 2.4 GHz, IEEE 802.11 a/n 5.0 GHz, five 10/100/1000 (1 WAN and 4 LAN) Gigabit Ethernet ports with auto-sensing technology, Gigabit for faster wired connections, Genie - Easy dashboard control for home network, ReadySHARE USB storage for HD video streaming, IPv6 compliant (Internet Protocol Version 6).
The product has a price-tag of Tk 15,500.

Asus' new products

Global Brand Private Limited, the authorised distributor of Asus in Bangladesh, recently unveiled two new models of all-in-one PC ET2410EUTS and ET2410IUTS and A44HR laptop.
All-in-one PC
The two models are equipped with a sensitive display 23.6 inches multi-touch typing which allows a precise and accurate. These PCs allow you to watch TV at full 1080P resolution for having integrated hybrid digital/analog TV tuner with remote control.
Other features of the PCs include 2GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB HDD, DVD writer, gigabit LAN, WLAN, webcam, HDMI port, USB ports and more.
ET2410EUTS and ET2410IUTS have price tags of Tk 70,000 and 78,000 respectively.
A44HR laptop
The laptop is equipped with Intel Core i3 2.30 GHz processor and comes with AMD Radeon HD 7470M graphics with 1GB dedicated video memory.
The A44HR features 16:9, 14-inch high definition LED panel and Altec Lansing speakers with SRS Premium Sound for great multimedia experience.
It also features 2GB DDR3 RAM, 500 GB HDD, DVD writer, gigabit LAN, 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN, webcam and more.
The laptop has a price tag of Tk 46,500

Global PC sales flat as consumers eye new gadgets

Worldwide sales of personal computers fell 0.1 percent in the second quarter of the year as consumers turned their attention to newer gadgets like tablets, a survey showed Wednesday.
The quarterly report from research firm Gartner showed PC shipments, excluding tablet computers, totaled 87.5 million units in the second quarter of 2012, a small drop year-over year.
"In the second quarter of 2012, the PC market suffered through its seventh consecutive quarter of flat to single-digit growth," said Mikako Kitagawa, analyst at Gartner.
She said that despite high expectations for the thin and light notebook segment known as ultrabooks, this sector was small and had little impact on overall sales.
"Consumers are less interested in spending on PCs as there are other technology products and services, such as the latest smartphones and media tablets that they are purchasing," she added.
"This is more of a trend in the mature market as PCs are highly saturated in these markets."
Hewlett-Packard continued to be the top PC seller with 14.9 percent market share even though its global shipments declined 12.1 percent.
It was trailed closely by Lenovo at 14.7 percent, with Acer Group third, at 11 percent and Dell fourth at 10.7 percent.
Gartner said in a statement that "Lenovo's aggressive expansion damaged its competitor's performance, namely HP and Dell, by taking shares from them."
In the US market, HP was on top with a 25 percent market share, followed by Dell at 21.7 percent and Apple at 12 percent.
A separate report last week by ABI Research said tablet computers are expected to overtake notebook PCs by 2016 as consumers shift to newer devices like the Apple iPad.

Gas found in Comilla Reserve seems medium in size; Bapex plans to supply gas from early next year

Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company (Bapex) hit a natural gas reservoir at Srikail in Comilla yesterday, seven years after a failed attempt in the area.
Bapex Managing Director Mortuza Ahmad Faruque believes the reservoir might be medium in size but bigger than the Sangu and Semutang gas fields.
He said they had found a gas flow at the rate of 15 to 16 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) with a pressure of 1,900 pounds per square inch (psi) during a test run in an exploratory well in Srikail in the morning.
The Bapex chief expects the gas pressure would reach up to 2,700 psi at the well head when the field is ready for commercial production.
He said Bapex had resources almost ready to produce 25 to 30 mmcfd of gas from DecemberJanuary.
The country is now at least 500 mmcfd gas short in supply which is affecting the power generation and burner usage in homes. This discovery is considered big, but it would not solve the crisis entirely.
This is the second gas discovery in the present government's tenure. The first one, discovered last year also by Bapex, is in Sundalpur of Noakhali. The small field has been producing 10 to 12 mmcfd gas for the last few months.
The lone national exploration wing that presently produces 85 to 90 mmcfd gas from different small gas fields, tried to find gas in Srikail in 2005. But instead of gas, it found water and sand in the first exploratory well.
In 2007, Bapex conducted a seismic survey to understand the prospects better. Upon completion, it prepared a project to drill a new exploratory well. Accordingly, it started drilling a well on May 5 this year and completed the task of drilling up to 3,214 metres on June 30, in less than two months.
It started testing the well from July 12.
“We started getting gas from a depth of 3,020 metres. The gas layer is 15 metres thick. We have found another layer 2,970 metres below the ground which will be tested later,” said the Bapex MD.
Bapex will conduct a three dimensional seismic survey there in October to properly assess the size of the gas field. It will drill more wells based on the study.
“To avail this gas commercially, we will need a gas processing plant and install a three-kilometre feeder pipeline to connect the Srikail field with the nearby gas transmission system of Bakhrabad fields,” the MD said.
Since installing a processing plant is time consuming, Bapex plans to create a makeshift arrangement to process the gas through alternative means.
“We were approved of a project cost amounting to Tk 81 crore. Of this, Tk 60 crore has been spent on drilling and with the remaining funds we can easily go for an early commercial production,” Faruque said.
For Bapex, this is the most productive period. Right now, all its five drilling rigs are in operation in different locations.
“One rig is ready to start drilling in Sunetra from July 16,” he said.
Sunetra in Sunamganj-Netrakona is Bapex's biggest hope. Based on a seismic study, Bapex believes it has a gas structure with the promise of getting no less than two to three trillion cubic feet reserve.
Another rig is ready to start drilling the 17th well of the country's biggest and oldest gas field Titas. Two other rigs are now drilling in Salda and Kailastila fields.

One Bangladeshi youth was killed and another injured in South Africa's Cape Town as robbers stormed their shop and opened fire early on Thursday.
Four armed men entered the shop and opened fire on the owner, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete was quoted by a South African online news site ioL (Independent Online).
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of money and airtime and fled, added Cloete.
Dead Rabiul and injured Mizan are from Ladua village under Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. They went to Cape Town 18 months ago and jointly opened a department store.
This is the second incident of killing of Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa within a week. Three Bangladeshi businessmen were shot dead by criminals on July 5 in the country.
The family of Thursday's victim came to know about the incident yesterday morning when an expatriate, Shipon, called them from Cape Town.
The armed goons stormed the shop around South Africa time 10:00pm on Wednesday (Bangladesh time around 3:00am on Thursday) and started shooting, said Rabiul's brother Zaidul Hossain quoting Shipon.
Rabiul was hit in the head and died instantly while Mizan was hit in the hand and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Zaidul added.

One Bangladeshi youth was killed and another injured in South Africa's Cape Town as robbers stormed their shop and opened fire early on Thursday.
Four armed men entered the shop and opened fire on the owner, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete was quoted by a South African online news site ioL (Independent Online).
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of money and airtime and fled, added Cloete.
Dead Rabiul and injured Mizan are from Ladua village under Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. They went to Cape Town 18 months ago and jointly opened a department store.
This is the second incident of killing of Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa within a week. Three Bangladeshi businessmen were shot dead by criminals on July 5 in the country.
The family of Thursday's victim came to know about the incident yesterday morning when an expatriate, Shipon, called them from Cape Town.
The armed goons stormed the shop around South Africa time 10:00pm on Wednesday (Bangladesh time around 3:00am on Thursday) and started shooting, said Rabiul's brother Zaidul Hossain quoting Shipon.
Rabiul was hit in the head and died instantly while Mizan was hit in the hand and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Zaidul added.

One Bangladeshi youth was killed and another injured in South Africa's Cape Town as robbers stormed their shop and opened fire early on Thursday.
Four armed men entered the shop and opened fire on the owner, Lieutenant Andrea Cloete was quoted by a South African online news site ioL (Independent Online).
The gunmen took an undisclosed amount of money and airtime and fled, added Cloete.
Dead Rabiul and injured Mizan are from Ladua village under Faridganj upazila of Chandpur. They went to Cape Town 18 months ago and jointly opened a department store.
This is the second incident of killing of Bangladeshi expatriates in South Africa within a week. Three Bangladeshi businessmen were shot dead by criminals on July 5 in the country.
The family of Thursday's victim came to know about the incident yesterday morning when an expatriate, Shipon, called them from Cape Town.
The armed goons stormed the shop around South Africa time 10:00pm on Wednesday (Bangladesh time around 3:00am on Thursday) and started shooting, said Rabiul's brother Zaidul Hossain quoting Shipon.
Rabiul was hit in the head and died instantly while Mizan was hit in the hand and was undergoing treatment at a hospital there, Zaidul added.

Veggies too costly Prices spiral up to 40pc for 2-day truck strike

The prices of vegetables in the city markets soared in the last two days, in some cases up to 40 percent, due to a 48-hour countrywide strike enforced by the truck and covered-van owners.
The strike that ended yesterday morning has created a supply crunch at the city's wholesale kitchen markets since most of the vehicles refrained from transporting goods to the capital.
The prices of green chilli, bitter gourd, ladies finger and cucumber shot up yesterday besides a slight increase in prices of sugar and soybean oil.
“Today I bought 5kg bitter gourd at Tk 120, which was Tk 100 a day ago at Shyambazar,” said Ismail Hawlader, a vegetable vendor at Wari of Old Dhaka.
“So I am selling each kg bitter gourd at Tk 30 to make a reasonable profit,” he said. The prices of cucumber and ladies finger also went up yesterday due to supply shortage, he added.
Retailers at Karwan Bazar kitchen market were charging Tk 25 for a kg of ladies finger instead of Tk 20 two days ago.
"The prices of vegetables are too high for the ordinary people,'' said Md Abdul Majid, a retired government official, who was buying goods from a roadside kitchen market near the Azimpur Chhapra Mosque.
“I bought one kg green chilli at Tk 80 yesterday, which was Tk 50 a week ago,” said Majid.
Department of Agricultural Marketing said one kg green chilli was traded at Tk 40-70 yesterday.
To help boost supply during the month of Ramadan, the government on Monday imposed a ban on export of green chilli, brinjal, onion and garlic until August 31.
Meanwhile, despite a rise in supplies, sugar price also increased yesterday as demand rose ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Sugar, at retail shops, was traded between Tk 54 and Tk 55 a kg, which was 3.84 percent higher compared to the previous week, according to Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB).
Egg price, however, fell marginally and was traded at Tk 34-35 every four pieces instead of Tk 35-36 a week ago.
The price of loose soybean oil rose to Tk 123-124 a kg from Tk 120-122 in the previous week, TCB statistics say.
However, the prices of some vegetables and spices such as potato, onion and garlic remained stable yesterday.
The wholesalers at Karwan Bazar also agreed that the prices of some kitchen items increased due to the 48-hour strike. “The strike has obviously hit the Kitchen market,” said Lokman Hossain, general secretary of Kawran Bazar Khuddro Kachamal Aarot Babshayi Bahumukhi Samabay Samity Ltd, a platform of kitchen market wholesalers.
Bangladesh Truck-Covered Van Transport Agency Malik-Sramik Oikya Parishad enforced the strike demanding relief from extortion and harassment by police.
Around 1,000 trucks and covered-vans loaded with vegetables and fruits enter this market everyday. The number went down to 270-300 on Thursday night, he said.
“So, it [strike] clearly has disrupted the supply chain process, pushing the prices of some vegetable items up,” said Lokman.
He said the vegetable growers had to pay extra money for carrying goods to Dhaka due to the strike. “As a result, the prices of a few vegetable items went up yesterday.”
But, he hoped the prices would come down at a reasonable level within the next couple of days when supplies would increase.

দেওয়ানি কার্যবিধিতে সংস্কারের উদ্যোগ

বাংলাদেশে আইনমন্ত্রী বলছেন, নিম্ন আদালতে মামলার জট খুলতে সরকার দেওয়ানি আইনের কার্যবিধিতে বেশকিছু সংস্কারের উদ্যোগ নিতে যাচ্ছে।

আইনমন্ত্রী শফিক আহমেদ বলছেন, মামলা পরিচালনার জন্যে সুনির্দিষ্ট সময়সীমা বেঁধে দেওয়ার পাশাপাশি কিছু কিছু মামলা বিকল্প বিরোধ নিষ্পত্তির মাধ্যমে সমাধান করা বাধ্যতামূলক করে দেওয়া হচ্ছে।
আইনমন্ত্রী বিবিসি বাংলাকে দেওয়া এক সাক্ষাৎকারে বলেছেন নিম্ন আদালতে মামলার জট কমানোর জন্য এবং মামলার দীর্ঘসূত্রিতা কমাতে সরকার এই উদ্যোগ নিচ্ছে।
কিন্তু বিশেষজ্ঞরা বলছেন, এসব উদ্যোগের ফলে মানুষের আইনের অধিকার লংঘিত হওয়ার আশঙ্কা রয়েছে।
মিঃ আহমেদ বলেছেন ১৯০৮ সালের পুরোন দেওয়ানি কার্যবিধিতে এখন মামলা নিষ্পত্তির প্রতিটি পর্যায়ের জন্য সময় বেঁধে দেওয়া হচ্ছে, যা বর্তমান কার্যবিধিতে নেই।
তিনি বলেছেন নতুন কার্যবিধিতে মামলা দায়েরের এক সপ্তাহের মধ্যে মামলার নোটিস জারি করতে হবে, অপর পক্ষ আদালতে হাজির হলে ৬০ দিনের মধ্যে ওই পক্ষকে তার জবাব দাখিল করতে হবে। এই সময়সীমা বড়জোর আরো ৩০ দিন বাড়ানোর সুযোগ থাকবে।
তিনি বলছেন এছাড়াও নির্দিষ্ট সময়ের মধ্যে মামলার শুনানি করে রায় দিতে হবে এবং বেঁধে দেওয়া সময়সীমা লংঘন করলে দায়ী কর্মকর্তাদের বিরুদ্ধে ব্যবস্থা গ্রহণ করা হবে।

আইন মন্ত্রী শফিক আহমেদ

'' প্রায় কুড়ি লক্ষ মামলা বর্তমানে নিম্ন আদালতে বিচারাধীন রয়েছে এবং প্রতিদিনই আরো মামলা যোগ হচ্ছে। মামলার এই জট কমানো এখন জরুরি। ''
মিঃ আহমেদ আরো বলেন বিকল্প বিরোধ নিষ্পত্তির (এডিআর) বিধান এখন বাধ্যতামূলক করা হচ্ছে।