2010-04-23 13:50:00

Bangladesh's landmass has increased in recent years, thanks to sedimentation in its southern rivers, a study has revealed. The study shows that the country has actually grown in landmass equal to five times the size of Dhaka city. The new land has emerged in the Meghna estuary.   The 8.5-magnitude earthquake that struck Assam in 1950 increased the sediment flow and has added a net increase of 1,790 sq km to the country's land mass, it said.   This should ease Bangladesh's concern that it could partially shrink in size due to global warming, experts said.   'More charlands (dried up river beds) have emerged than we have lost due to river erosion over the years,' Maminul Haq Sarker, a geo-morphologist who conducted the study, told The Daily Star newspaper.   The new land, which emerged mostly in Noakhali, was discovered when Sarker and his research team analysed satellite pictures and other data from 1943 to 2008 and tracked sediments coming from the Himalayas and flowing down the Padma and Jamuna rivers.   The rivers deliver about one billion tonnes of silt a year from India, Nepal, China, and Bhutan to the Meghna estuary within the Bay of Bengal.   Besides Noakhali, new land has been found at the southern Patuakhali, Shariatpur, Barisal and Chittagong districts.   The findings released Thursday said that this 'shines a ray of hope on otherwise dire predictions by groups such as the IPCC (International Panel on Climate Change) that Bangladesh will lose about 17 percent of its land area because melting polar ice caps will increase sea levels.'   However, Sarker cautioned that more research was needed.   'This is an indicative study. We need to continue our research to say something concrete,' he was quoted as saying.   'Now we might think to battle the climate change challenge in different way if we can use the sediment in planned way. We can recover certain amount of our land mass from the aggression of rising sea level.'

KARACHI: While declaring that his talented brigade is ready to meet the challenge, Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi on Friday looked for support and prayers of the nation and backing of the media in their endeavour to retain their World Twenty20 title in the West Indies.

“My team and I are geared up to, tactically and technically, live up to the expectations of the nation for accomplishing the task [of winning] in the West Indies,” Afridi said in an interview here on Friday, prior to his squad’s departure to Lahore on their way to St Lucia on Saturday morning.

“Without the prayers of the nation and supporters across the world, the Pakistan [cricket] team cannot achieve anything. Besides playing patriotically for Pakistan we need support of countrymen and the media,” the aggressive player added.

“My appeal to the national media is to go for healthy criticism while keeping Pakistan’s interest above everything,” he emphasised.

“My mission as captain, with the support of my players and team management, is to keep the team away from any controversy,” he asserted.

Making it clear that he was not under any kind of pressure, Afridi, the 2009 World Twenty20 hero, said: “I like to lead the team from the front because it’s my style. And I always believe in an aggressive approach.

“We are fully equipped to face the challenges in the West Indies.

“I have a well balanced team in batting and bowling. And we have to further lift the standard of fielding,” Afridi said. The skipper noted fielding would be vital in the Caribbean.

“Fielding is crucial area in this fastest version of the game [Twenty20] and a lot of hard work was done to raise the standard. We are ready give our best and rest with Allah The Almighty,” he stressed.

The captain dispelled the impression that Pakistan might face trouble in batting department. “It’s altogether different in T20 cricket. We got a lot of firepower in our batting.”

He said they were initially planning to start the innings with Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal. “We have experienced Misbah-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq, young Umar Akmal, Khalid Latif and Salman Butt.

“As we expect spinning tracks and for this we have good options in Saeed Ajmal, Mohammad Hafeez and myself,” Afridi maintained. “[In pace department] we have Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Sami, Mohammad Asif and Abdul Razzaq.

“Twenty20 is very tough and demanding cricket and we cannot afford to take any team lightly. We even cannot take Bangladesh lightly as they possess a number of talented cricketers in their line-up,” he remarked.

Meanwhile, a number of Afridi and Pakistan supporters including former Test opener and captain Saeed Anwar, former PCB Chairman Lt Gen (r) Tauqir Zia, Sindh Sports Minister Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, former chief selector Salahuddin Sallu, former city nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal and others visited his house here on Thursday and wished him and Pakistan team great luck in the World Twenty20 contest.

With the exception of two fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Sami, the rest of the Pakistan team will leave together from Lahore for the West Indies via Dubai- London on Saturday morning to defend their title in the World Twenty20, starting on April 30.

Asif will leave for London on a direct flight from Lahore, while Sami, who does not have a British visa, will travel to the Caribbean via New York from Karachi the same day.

Asif will team up with the rest of the team in England, Sami will join them in St. Lucia.

Pakistan have displayed fine performances in World T20 events so far as in the first World Cup’s edition which was held in South Africa, Pakistan lost the final to India closely, but in the second edition in England last year it defeated Sri Lanka to lift the cup, under Younus Khan’s captaincy.

However, Younus is not part of the team for this edition, because he had announced his retirement from this shorter version of the game soon after winning the mega event. Pakistan are also without without fast bowler Umar Gul, who is nursing a shoulder injury.

 

Source: APP

A special court in Thakurgaon convicted 50 and acquitted one for border guards' mutiny in 2009.
   In the second verdict relating to the BDR mutiny where BDR men in Thakurgaon rebelled in support of their comrades in headquarters, Dhaka February 25-26 last year, two border guards were given the maximum penalty of seven years of rigorous imprisonment.
   All the convicted BDR personnel belong to 20 Rifles Battalion.
   The BDR director general, Major General Mainul Islam, head of the three-member court, delivered the verdict.
   A total of 33 people testified in the case. Charges were pressed against 51 accused last week. Of them 44 admitted their involvement in the mutiny.
   The special court-2 in Thakurgaon began trial on February 3. It was adjourned on February 5.
   The court resumed on April 8.
   The Panchagarh special BDR court on April 7 became the first to issue verdict among the six special courts across the country trying the BDR mutineers.
   Twenty-nine members of the 25th Rifles Battalion have been accused of rebellion in support of the massacre at the BDR headquarters in Dhaka on February 25 and 26 last year.
   The BDR headquarters mutiny saw over 70 people killed, nearly 60 of them army officers deputed to the border force. Rebellion spread to other BDR outposts around the country.
   On November 15, the government formed six special courts, including two in Dhaka, to try about 3,500 border guards accused in 40 cases around the country.
   The six special courts are trying charges of mutiny, looting and arson. The BDR headquarters murders will be tried separately in civilian courts.
   The BDR members at Thakurgaon are accused of rebellion in support of the Pilkhana mutiny.
   In the event of a guilty verdict, the maximum penalty for rebellion under the BDR Act is seven years in jail.
   Special BDR courts in Rangamati, Satkhira and Feni have also set verdict dates for ongoing trials. Verdicts in the trial of 19th Rifles Battalion in Feni will be given on April 18; of 7th Rifles Battalion of Satkhira on April 19; and of Rajnagar Battalion of Rangamati on May 2.

From:New AGe

World's first 256 GB USB Pen Drive / Flash Drive "DataTraveler 300" Is now In Market. But its not available in bangladeshi Market.  And its also Really Expensive. The Retail Price Is right now 900 dollar. Kingston's new DataTraveler® 300 USB Flash drive carries the highest capacity available on the market.

Whats In it? Or How Much you can store in it?

Kingston’s new DataTraveler 300 USB Flash drive is a convenient way to store, carry, and transfer files. DataTraveler 300 contains high capacity storage for storing any digital content you can imagine. Your precious data will be password protected with Password Traveler software, which allows you to create and access a password protected, secure area of the drive called a “Privacy Zone”, which can take up to 90% of the drives capacity.
256 GB of data, allows you to store:

• 10 Blu-ray discs (~25 GB each)
• 54 DVD discs (~4.7 GB each)
• 365 CD discs (~700 MB each)

Fast transfer speeds of up to 20 MB/sec read and 10 MB/sec. write, reduce the transfer times and allow users to access their data directly from the drive, without stuttering movies or slow application response.
DataTraveler 300 is perfect for those looking for significant storage capacity and data protection in a lightweight, durable design. With a retractable USB connector and reinforced lanyard/ key-ring hole – it is built to withstand daily use. Enhanced for Windows Vista ReadyBoost, the DataTraveler 300 is ideal for home or business use.
DataTraveler 300 is backed by legendary Kingston reliability plus a five-year warranty and 24/7 tech support.
Features/Specifications:

• Capacity¹ — 256 GB
• Speed ² — Data transfer rates of up to 20MB/sec. read and 10MB/sec. write
• Safeguarded — includes Password Traveler security software for Windows
• Convenient — does not require Administrator rights to access the Privacy Zone
• Dimensions — 2.78" x 0.88" x 0.65" (70.68 mm x 22.37 mm x 16.45 mm)
• Operating Temperature — 32° to 140° F (0° to 60° C)
• Storage Temperature — -4° to 185° F (-20° to 85° C)
• Simple — just plug into a any 1.1 or 2.0 USB port
• Practical — durable, capless design
• Guaranteed — five-year warranty
• Enhanced — for Windows ReadyBoost™ on Vista-based systems ³
• Compatibility Table

Some of the listed capacity is used for formatting and other functions and thus is not available for data storage.

The Bangla language, which developed in the 11th century, belongs to the Indo-Aryan language group. Bangla lipi is a variant of the Eastern Nagari script. Its writing system is used not only for Bangla, but also for Assamese, and other Indian languages in that group. The photograph shows a page with letters of the Bangla alphabet and their pronunciations in Roman letters.

The script was originally used to write Sanskrit, which for centuries was the only written language of the Indian subcontinent in addition to Tamil.

 

Vowels

Letter	Name of letter	Vowel sign with [kɔ] (ক)	Name of vowel sign	Transliteration	IPA
অ	shôro ô (shôre ô)	(none)	(none)	kô and ko	/kɔ/ and /ko/
আ	shôro a (shôre a)	কা	akar	ka	/ka/
ই	hrôshsho i (hrôshsho i)	কি	hrôshsho ikar (roshshikar)	ki	/ki/
ঈ	dirgho i	কী	dirgho ikar (dirghikar)	kī	/kiː/
	hrôshsho u (rôshsho u)	কু	hrôshsho ukar (roshshukar)	ku	/ku/
ঊ	dirgho u	কূ	dirgho ukar (dirghukar)	kū	/kuː/
ঋ	ri	কৃ	rikar/rifôla	kri	/kri/
এ	e	কে	ekar	kê and ke	/kæ/ and /ke/
ঐ	oi	কৈ	oikar	koi	/koj/
ও	o	কো	okar	ko	/ko/
ঔ	ou	কৌ	oukar	kou	/kow/

 

Notable features

• The Bengali alphabet is a syllabic alphabet in which consonants all have an inherent vowel which has two different pronunciations, the choice of which is not always easy to determine and which is sometimes not pronounced at all.
• Vowels can be written as independent letters, or by using a variety of diacritical marks which are written above, below, before or after the consonant they belong to.
• When consonants occur together in clusters, special conjunct letters are used. The letters for the consonants other than the final one in the group are reduced. The inherent vowel only applies to the final consonant.

Use Of Bangla Alphabet:
Bengali, an eastern Indo-Aryan language with around 211 million speakers in Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal and also in Malawi, Nepal, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Australia, the UAE, UK and USA.

Assamese, an eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 15 million people in the Indian states of Assam, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh, and also spoken in Bangladesh and Bhutan.

Manipuri, one of the official languages of the Indian state of Manipur in north-east India and has about 1.1 million speakers. It is a member of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Also has it's own alphabet

Garo, a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by about 500,000 people in the Brahmaputra valley in the Indian state of Assam.

Mundari, a Munda language with about 850,000 speakers in eastern India, mainly in the Indian state of Bihar. Also written with the Devanagari, Bengali, Oriya and Latin alphabets.

Here is the Bengali Alphabet

 

Google is doing everything possible. Google is taking all steps possible to glue people's eyeballs to their web pages. To do so they compete with their main comparator in this arena, Microsoft who is also trying to glue people's eyeballs to their web properties while at the same time trying to guarantee the survival of their desktop revenue.

From Our Past Experience we cn notice that everything that Google does with Gmail, Google apps, Google Voice, Google Wave etc. is aimed at getting people to spend as much time as possible on the Google web pages. All of this so visitors can spend more time watching the ads that Google puts on there and can generate maximum revenue possible.  The Google app strategy for example, is aimed at getting people to put their word, excel and powerpoint documents on the Google website (so they will spend more time there), but by doing so they started to compete head-on with Microsoft Office.

Microsoft is retaliating by integrating their new Win7 operating system tightly with their Azure cloud offering. With Win7 and the new release of Office your documents will automagically flow between your desktop and your Azure cloud account. So the only way that Google can counter this attack is by providing people with their own Chrome browser and Chrome operating system. Just like Microsoft they are partnering with the hardware vendors who are very willing to ditch Microsoft  after so many years of being controlled by them.

The Google Chrome operating system along with the Google Chrome browser is another major step towards the empty PC: a PC/laptop/netbook that only has enough software to get you online and that doesn't store any data itself, all the data and application are in the cloud.