Ship Building Industry: A Potential Sector For the Economy of Bangladesh

Recently, a local ship building company, Ananda Shipyards & Slipways Ltd., has started building quality ships. It is doing great in delivering orders to foreign countries. We never had the shortage for skilled personnel to do it but we lacked entrepreneurship in this area. This company has received orders of worth $200 million recently from Germany, Denmark and Mozambique. This proves that we can build products with high enough quality to enter developed markets. As China and India is making huge money in this industry, I think Bangladesh also has bright prospect. As usual, if we look for help from the government, nothing will happen (a perfect example is IT industry). I hope more entrepreneurs will come forward to follow the example of Ananda Shipyards. The link of the story is here:

http://thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=23974

Mystery image of Mars

Is that someone walking on the surface of Mars? The image is taken by NASA spacecraft Spirit in 2004. Some says it is garden gnome, some says Virgin Mary. Some says it is the Bigfoot, some says it the Little Mermaid status of Copenhagen. What is your take on it?

Reference: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7205004.stm

Avoid LAB-Aid Hospital

I just received the following email. I felt that I should share it with all the Bangladeshis. The following is not an exception in Bangladesh. It is happening all the time. I do not know whether there are laws to prevent this kind of negligence or whether people are unaware or afraid of taking help of the laws. But something must be done to stop those greedy guys. They deserve some punishment.

Dear all,

My intuition of sending this e-mail to you is to raise my
voice against LabAid Cardiac Hospital and provide a real
picture about LabAid, so that the LabAid hospital change
their attitude with their future customers.

Please read the attached news paper article which was
published on The Daily Janakantha on 19 Dec, 2007, also,
please see the actual condition of my father while he was
under treatment at LabAid Cardiac Hospital:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gnJZIg_x1KI

CAUTION: This video is very graphical!)

The person that you are watching on this video is not in this
world anymore! He died on 11 Nov, 2007 at LabAid Cardiac
Hospital, Dhaka, Bangladesh while treating under Prof.(Dr.)
Baren Chakrabarti, Prof. (Dr.) M. Matiur Rahman (who is
actually not a professor, but using this fancy title) and
Prof. (Dr.) Ali Hossain (the best doctors in our country with
some fancy fake title.!!!).

We trusted the fancy ads of LabAid, also trusted the fancy
titled doctors and nurses. But look at the real picture of
LabAid's CCU Bed No. 8. After the surgery they left my father
on the bed without any proper attention. The LabAid doctors
are so busy to catch another new CCU patient, which they
forget about stitching the surgery area of the current
patient. Look at the blood all over the bed! Look at.. how
clean LabAid's CCU unit is!

I raised my voice when I saw the real picture of LabAid. For
raising my voice I got slapped on my face in front of the all
the people by the LabAid G.M. Mr. Imran Chowdhury.

I am sure LabAid doctors who were involve with my father's
treatment has got a good amount of share from the bill, but
can they really tell that the hospital/or even the doctor's
has done a proper treatment for that helpless guy Mr. A. K.
M. Fazlul Haq (my father)? He was just lying on the CCU Bed
No. 8 helplessly for 15 days and expecting his sons, also the
doctors will take care of him properly. We have done our part
from the bottom of our heart; we were ready to spend all of
our savings and everything to get a proper treatment for our
father, because he is our father who took care of us
properly. But Mr. or Ms. Lab Aid administrators....Have you
guys taken care of my father properly? I am sure you did not,
because I am the one who is one of your victims. How come a
person who didn't even have any heart surgery or any type of
major surgery, but got a bill for 5 and Half lac taka (BD Tk.
5,00, 000.00, AU$8,155.00 , US$7,288.00)???

Dr. Lutfor Rahman (Head of LabAid's Cardiac Hospital) (I am
pointing you because you are the golden son of our country),
do you guys still wanna claim that Heart Surgery is cheaper
in Bangladesh now? On 11 Nov, 2007 when my auntie (Ms.
Sharmin Naaz, Assitt. Commissioner of Taxes, Bangladesh
Govt.) went to see with you regarding my father's bill that
time you mentioned about your contribution in Bangladesh. You
were also talking about you can make 1 lac take in a matter
of second. Well, done Dr. Lutfor Rahman...Well done! We're
really proud of your contribution (?) to our country! Here is
one of your biggest contributions to our country's medical
history which was published on the Daily Janakantha on 19
Dec, 2007 -- ("Lab Aid has become a human killing machine"
The Daily Janakantha, 19 Dec, 2007")

Life is very interesting Dr. Lutfor Rahman! When we lost our
love ones then we feel for it, but then we forget about it.
Instead of forgetting about my father's death, I want to
raise my voice against LabAid Cardiac Hospital and request
all of you to "STOP GOING TO THE LabAID for any heart
treatment" and wanna make those doctors to understand that
they should not play with any humans life, because no matter
how powerful or rich they could be, they will never be able
to give a life back to a dead man's life! So, STOP playing
around with a human life, OKAI Dr. Lutfor Rahman, Prof (Dr.)
Baren Chakraborty, also the others who are involve in this
human killing business!

The LabAid hospital needs to know a little bit about the
power of Internet in disseminating information. I will
request to all of you also do the same (when forwarding the
article, send CC or copies to the lab-aid related addresses,
so that the LabAid individuals feel a little shame every time
they receive a copy of this email).

Here are the email addresses of the LabAid individuals with
their full name:

Prof. (Dr.) Baren Chakraborty -
baren_chakraborty@yahoo.com
Prof (Dr.) Matiur Rahman -
prof.motiur@labaidgroup.com
Dr. Lutfor Rahman - lutfor@labaidgroup.com

cardiacsurgery@labaidgroup.com
prof.jalal@labaidgroup.com
cardiology_lch@labaidgroup.com
admin_lch@labaidgroup.com
marketing_lch@labaidgroup.com
hospitalcoordinator_lch@labaidgroup.com

Thanks for all of your time!

With regards,

M. P. Masum
Sr. Software Engineer
Accenture Australia Ltd.
Wollongong, NSW 2500
Mobile: + 61 401 485 243
e-mail: mpmasum@gmail.com

Why Java should not be the first programming language to learn?

I found this article "Computer Science Education: Where Are the Software Engineers of Tomorrow?" by Dr. Robert B.K. Dewar and Dr. Edmond Schonberg of New York University to be very interesting. I am in full agreement with these gentlemen in this regard. Actually, I told this to my friends long ago when I saw people are running to Java to avoid pointers of C/C++ and enjoy the ease of using libraries which basically spoon-feed the students. Not learning pointer is a big mistake. Also by learning how to use libraries at the beginning of one's programming career, one cannot grow good skill. Java is very good for rapid, reusable and easily maintainable software development but it must not be the first language to learn.

Dynastic politics in Pakistan

After the tragic assassination of Banazir Bhutto, Pakistan went to a disarray. The culprits are yet to be found. I do not know much about Benazir Bhutto's past achievements but seeing her courage to try to return democracy to Pakistan and defy threats on her life, I started to admire her. I was amazed to see that she was not provided enough security despite serious attempts and threats on her life. But I am more amazed to see her 19 year old son assuming the power of her party. It is not expected from a country which has so many literate people. Is this what they call democracy? How is her young son qualified as the party leader? What experience does he have? What kind of public support does he have? Was it decided by any voting process inside the party? Is this what they see in countries like U.S.A. and U.K. which are the epitomes of democracy? The irony is, they want to become developed country like them but they keep practicing corruption and all those dynastic crap. I hope my country will not try to follow that. I am afraid that some corrupt people of my country might want to follow example in future. People of my country must resist any such attempt in future.

Vista is not a disappointment

An article published in PCWorld says that Windows Vista is the most disappointing product of 2007. Their argument is that Vista is slower than XP and it has few problems e.g. slow file transfer. While I am not sure about Vista being slow, I agree with the later issue. Sometimes, Vista is really slow even when transferring files of size less than 1 MB. I hope this is a minor issue and will be fixed in the first service pack. But Vista does have some good features. It has significantly improved search capability. The program control is excellent and an effective tool against viruses and spyware. Microsoft did a great job writing the whole TCP/IP stack from scratch for Vista. The wireless connectivity is much better now. All the TCP connections are not immediately broken after the wi-fi connection goes out. I get enough time to reconnect and still retain those connections. The interface is nice though the 3D list of current windows is useless. But overall, after using Vista for about 11 months, I can say that Vista is not a disappointment. Those who are not satisfied with it should wait for the soon to be released service pack 1.

Khaled as GP model!

This is my friend Khaled Maruf in Grameen Phone's ad. He also starred in a tv commercial of same company of which he is also an employee. Though he has enormous potential as a model for a long time, he was not interested in showbiz before. However, I am happy that at last he took the right decision. Better late than never :-).

List of Shameless Dhaka University Teachers - as 102 vanished abroad with Tk 1.8crore

Reference Check http://groups.yahoo.com/group/bangla_ict/message/5183

 

As many as 102 DU teachers who went abroad on study leave owe Tk 1.80 crore to the university as they have never returned or repaid the loan taken before leaving the country for higher studies.

 

According to the university rules, an eligible teacher can go abroad for higher education with up to four years' study leave. During the study leave, he or she is entitled to receive salary and other allowances from the university.

Sources said the defaulters each had signed a bond before taking the loan that they would pay the money back if they decided to stay abroad.

 

Sources said 71 of these teachers are from the science faculties, five from the Arts faculty, 14 from Social Science faculty, two from the Law faculty, nine from Business Studies faculty and four from the Institute of Business Studies.

Among the defaulters, three are professors, 66 lecturers and the rest are assistant professors, university sources said.

Of the teachers of sciences faculties, 10 are from biochemistry and molecular biology department, nine each from applied physics and electronics, and chemistry departments, one from mathematics, five from physics, three from applied chemistry, four from applied chemistry and chemical technology, one from computer science and engineering, five from geography and environment, three from geology, five from statistics, two from applied statistics, six from microbiology, five from psychology and one from soil, water and environment department.
 

Defaulters List:

1. Management department teacher Mishkat Uddin who had gone to the US for higher studies and made no contact for a few years but recently joined North South University , the VC said the authorities have already sent a letter to his address.Management department teacher Mishkat Uddin was fired. He owes over Tk 1 lakh.
2. Nahida Banu, lecturer in biochemistry and molecular biology, was due to return to her job on April 1, 1994. The authorities have terminated her job as she did not respond to letters sent to her asking her to return. She owes Tk 3.5 lakh to the university.
3. Chemistry teacher Abul Khair Khan took Tk 1.6 lakh and was due to return to the university on July 1, 2001.
4. Md Salauddin of Bangla took Tk 3.12 lakh
5. Faiza Sultana of English Tk 4 lakh
6. Sudhir Shyamol Chowdhury of English Tk 1.44 lakh
7. Abul Fazal Md Fazle Rabbi of information science Tk 2.35 lakh
8. Monjushri Bonik of library management Tk 2.14 lakh
9. Saida Zakia Hossain of sociology Tk 1.84 lakh
10. Kawsar Kibria of sociology Tk 2.54 lakh
11. Mohammad Selim of economics owe Tk 1.95 lakh
12. Jahanara Begum of economics owe Tk 1.41 lakh
13. Dr Monsurul Alam Khan of economics owe Tk 2.78 lakh
14. Soumi Mostafa of economics owe Tk 1.82 lakh
15. AKM Mahbub Morshed of economics owe Tk 2.69 lakh
16. Saira Khan of International Relations owe Tk 2.15 lakh
17. Muna Hossain of international relations owe Tk 1.11 lakh
18. M Nurul Hossain of mass communications and journalism took Tk 1.11 lakh
19. Md Shamsher Ali of Institute of Social Welfare and Research is Tk 1.03 lakh

Source: http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=11593

Is this an acceptable behavior?

First of all, My congratulations to www.amaderprojukti.com for the excellent effort of making a complete Bengali forum site.

Mr. Mostafa Jabbar is threating www.amaderprojukti.com to stop using his layout. Oh wait! He demands the site to be shut down!!! The fact is they are not using his layout at all rather they are using a newer layout UNIJOY which is an openware. In a field like IT, where everyone is assumed to be a gentleman, this incident is the very first of its kind in Bangladesh. Here is the link:

http://forum.amaderprojukti.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=340

Bangladesh Biman!!!

Enjoy this very funny video:

Bangladesh IT Roadmap: a report by a true patriot

I found an excellent report on Bangladesh IT published for the public. This excellent piece of work has been done by Mr. Shahzaman Mozumder, Bir Protik. Going through his marvelous write-up, I realized that this person is not a so called expert who is trying to ruin BD IT by his sheer ignorance. Rather, this guy is an intelligent one who knows what he is talking about. You will know the sorry but very expected story of a government bureaucrat not paying heed to his report and later spawning yet another failed government project ( i.e. waste of huge public money). Apart from that, the report, wealthy in statistics and analysis, suggests some very pragmatic moves which are necessary to keep our hope alive. Here is the link:

http://bengalit.blogspot.com

Thousands of protesters are dead in Myanmar

Here is the link:

http://www.gnn.tv/headlines/15563/Burma_Thousands_of_protesters_are_dead

A hilarious news: Donkey eats buyer's money!

A donkey at an Algerian market ate the money of a man who came to buy him, making the unfortunate buyer and the owner wonder who the animal belongs to, an Algerian newspaper reported. Full report here.

A beginning of a new era of telecommunication in Dhaka

Dhaka Phone, a private land phone company, launched its service in Dhaka zone. This ends the monopoly of the most corrupt institution in Bangladesh, BTTB. It is high time to take care of BTTB's hegemony and rescue the management of submarine cable from its evil grip. The full story can be found here:

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=5209

Power Situation Improves Significantly

Load shedding in Bangladesh dropped to 200MW from 1200MW in recent days. In my opinion, it is a miraculous achievement. It was unimaginable during last 5 years. According to this report of The Daily Star, this could be achieved due to proper distribution of responsibility and more authority to engineers and electricians to take instantaneous decisions. This proves that we can also do better with our limited resources and man power. The only thing needed is a corruption free environment which is now provided by current government. I respect for this current government grew more for this achievement. Now, we can only hope that the next democratic government will keep up the good work of this government, not harbor corruption and move the country forward. We need to get rid of corrupted political leaders and their associates in administration. I hope we will achieve that before the next election next year.

Water can be burnt!

This is an exciting discovery. If this can be used then the problem of fuel will be solved for good, the world will be at peace too as wars will not be needed to secure hydro-carbon fuel. The complete story is here:

http://green.yahoo.com/index.php?q=node/1570

Politics in Bangladesh - Comments made By an Expatriate in Bangladesh

I just came across this email in a mail group, thought I should share it with others. Here it goes:

Remarks regarding the former Prime Ministers, Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina- Comments made By an Expatriate

Wednesday September 05 2007 20:28:58 PM BDT

Gregor, Bangladesh

As a foreigner I'm a guest in Bangladesh, living in Dhaka since February this year and will do so for a few more years to come. Politics has always interested me very much and so it was only natural that I would follow the development of my host country. What struck me from the very beginning was the hospitality of the people of Bangladesh. I was welcomed with open arms and never experienced anything that could be considered hostile.

The political situation in Bangladesh has an impact not only on the business community but also on the people. Unfortunately the responsibility is not with the caretaker government but with the previous governments, lead by said ladies. It was them who ran the country into turmoil and, to a large extent, destruction. They are responsible for the deteriorating relationship with our neighbors, the energy crisis which leaves millions of people without electricity for the better part of the day and many more ill developments, not to speak about paving the way for corruption, extortion and crime in a never experienced extent.

The same two ladies, who have nothing to their credit except one is the daughter of a famous father, founder of Bangladesh, the other wife of a famous husband, they are now concerned about all sorts of things. These are the same persons that catapulted family members and friends into the highest Government and party positions that deprived the people of Bangladesh of control about their constitutional rights, that lived a very glamorous life and there was nobody and nothing that would limit their lifestyle in any form or shape.

At the same time the overwhelming majority of people live of less then US $ 250 a year, have no air condition (and if they had, no electricity to run them), experience massive transportation problems, waste hours to get from A to B and would have a very limited choice when it comes to buying the needs for every day's life.

And here comes my point: Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina have the chutzpa to speak on behalf of the people of Bangladesh.

They pretend to be concerned about the rice price, the catastrophic consequences of this years weather and the many people that died, the political development of the country, democracy, election and many other extremely important issues.

They don't hesitate to address the very basic instincts of the people of Bangladesh, pull every psychological trick in the book just to (mis)lead people to believe they would care, instrumentalize and manipulate the press for their games and to top all of this, make the people believe they'd be victims of a witch hunt.

Now remember, these are the same, identical persons, that had every imaginable comfort, no limits on money, police clearing their way when they needed to use the roads; they snipped the finger and it was done.

My question is: Did they care then? Do they care now? Where and what is their contribution to the flood victims? It is so cynical to misuse the press to fabricate a story, like they would want to go to the victims and console the poor guys. What precisely is it they want?

My answer: They're more worried about losing their privileges and wealth, power and influence than anything else. They're not the least interested in the average Joe's and Jill's on the streets, after all their expensive shoe could get dirty. They want to keep their hands on things and take over and retaliate as soon as emergency law has been lifted.

A simple example shows that no lesson has been learned. Yesterday Khaleda made a comment to the extent that she would appoint a kind of substitute in case she's unable to run the BNP party business. At the same time she complains about lack of democracy. In my understanding a democratic process would be to allow the party member to elect a person. But no, she will appoint someone. Welcome to the democratic new Bangladesh.

I am in no position to advise or lecture you people of Bangladesh. From the bottom of my heart, I feel with you and I'm contributing from my own, private money to make a difference. Although I can't change the country I'd like to remind you of your strength, pride, self confidence and all the other values. Many of you liberated the country and helped to make it independent. Many of you are proud of your language, the Nation and your achievements as individuals and a nation.

They're innocent until proven otherwise! But in every democracy in the world the accused steps down and focuses on the trial or her/his private life. Here they keep manipulating the people, hoping they would probably venture into the streets and cause some headache for the government and the media provides the platform for the spectacle.

Please, liberate yourself from these two ladies. Let justice take it's course and if they're found guilty they should get the same treatment every criminal gets once sentenced. If found not guilty send them into retirement. Bangladesh has many, many talented and strong you women and men, which could lead the country into a golden future.

Thanx for allowing me to express my view, which is very much democratic too.

Kind Regards from a Peoples Friend of Bangladesh

Gergor
Bangladesh
E mail : gregorbd@bol- online.com

DU incident: the true story

http://www.ittefaq.com/get.php?d=07/08/27/w/n_zmkxmq

DU incident: description from a friend's email

I am very busy these days and cannot visit Bangladeshi blogger sites regularly, let alone write one. But recent incidents in DU were inspiring me to write something. When I was thinking to start to write, I received the following group mail from a friend of mine. I think I cannot express my thoughts better than this mail. Here we go:

Day 1: koyekta gadhar baccha NCO (Non Commissioned Officer) DU r koyektar sathe hatahati korlo. As usual, DU r polapain gelo kheipa...army r upor raag to onek diner (otherwise DU te dine e dhoroner hatahati 2-3 ta hoi). Third world coutry te ja hoi, jhamelar shuru te police thengano start kore (obossoi authority order dei, tai). ekhane o holo tai.  polapain aro khepe gelo.

 

Day 2: ok...issue pawa gelo...army camp shoraite hobe. DU r teachers association er moha-manob , jara student derke kapurush howar shikkha dei nai, tarao bollo, army shoraiote hobe, sathe police o. government ki r korbe, jhamela baranor dorkar nai, army camp shorano start hobe raat 8 tar dike. er moddhe polapain r police er moddhe maramari cholse aro koyek dofa. but eto shohoje army camp shore gele hobe naki? amader chatro dol r chatro league er neta ra onekdin dhoirai angula chustese, polapain salam-talam o dei na. eijonno raat 8 tar dike ek group polapain jokhon anando kortese, arek group tokhon nilkhet area te massacre start korlo. Dhaka college er udiyoman protiva ra to ready. New market r nilkhet e open chadabaji bondho bohut din dhore. ektu tight dewa dorkar. Chance to protidin ashe na. ei faak e nilkhet kno, Dhanmondi area te dokan gula aro dami, kach r gari vangar chance 2008 er election er age abar kokhon ashbe, k jane? maximum medhabi rai i obosso chatro na.

 

Day 3: Day 2 raat e ja start hoise, Day 3 te continue hoilo. moja hoilo, DU te police camp thkabena r RU othoba JU te thkabe , eta hoitei parena. Campus hoilo medhabi chatro der jaiga, ekhane boka-choda police er ki dorkar . so, JU r RU r osshonkh komolmoti medhabi ra vangchur start korlo.  Boloto, campus e police er kno dorkar nai? hijack korata ektu shohoj hobe. Oporajeyo Bangla theke Doyel-chottor jaite koijon thek khabe next 1 year e , k jane?

 

Day 4: thanda.

 

Day 5: ekta valo kaj hoise. kisu chatro neta r 4 jon moha-manob re dhoira niya gese. oderke thengaile asha kora jai,kisu info ber hobe.

 

ei government beshi din thakbena, coz amra bangali rai bar bar chutia der kase fire jete chai. shei political baal er alap. asha kora jai, kisu din er moddhei amader sommanito buddhi-jibi shomaj r jagroto chatro jonota mohan netri ebong tader sango-pango der kase desh ke abaar ijara dewar bebostha kore felte parbe.

 

(law enforcement force jokhon petano start kore, tokhon 100 jon er moddhe 40 jon niriho lok mair khai. oi 40 er moddhe amio thakte pari. better oi 100 jon er moddhe jate ami na pori, tar bebostha kora)

At last RANGS building will be demolished

It is a great news to the country. As described by one adviser, this building was the symbol of power misuse in the country. Now that Supreme Court has ordered it to be demolished, the construction work for the road link should be started asap. The top 15 floors will be demolished from Friday but I do not know when the rest will be. I want to see the link road as soon as possible. It will ease the traffic congestion greatly. It is another great job being done by this government. During the last fifteen years, this building only kept growing taller.