Author Profile : Arundhati Roy

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/05/autprofile.htm

“I think fiction for me has always been a way of trying to

make sense of the world as I know it.”

Arundhati Roy, the author of ‘The God of Small Things’ (for which she won the booker prize in 2002) and ‘An Ordinary Person’s Guide To Empire’ is one of my most favourite Indian authors. She is also well known as an activist and stood up to protest different instances of injustice that has happened to people in her country and the world.

Roy claims she never rewrites or revises. She has been described as: charming, humorous, strong-willed, independent, energetic, creative, with a great sense of fun, 1.55m of doe-eyed delicateness, a down-to-earth ‘girl next door’, a towering intellect with a poetic fluency with words delivered in a soft modulated voice, a dog-lover. She is 46 years old and describes her two favourite pastimes as ‘writing and running’.

Suzanna Arundhati Roy was born on November 24, 1961 in Meghalaya, India to a Keralite Syrian Christian mother, the women’s rights activist Mary Roy, and a Bengali Hindu father, a tea planter by profession. She spent her childhood in Ayamenem in Kerala and studied architecture at the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi.

Roy began writing her first novel, The God of Small Things in 1992, completing it in 1996. The book is semi-autobiographical and a major part captures her childhood experiences in Ayemenem. The book received the 1997 Man Booker Prize for Fiction, was listed as one of the New York Times Notable Books of the Year for 1997. The book reached fourth position in the New York Times Bestsellers list for Independent Fiction. She received half a million pounds as an advance, and rights to the book were sold in 21 countries.

The God of Small Things is the only novel written by Roy. She has since devoted herself solely to nonfiction and politics, publishing two more collections of essays, as well as working for social causes. She is a figure-head of the anti-globalization/alter-globalization movement and a vehement critic of neo-imperialism and of the global policies of the United States. She also criticizes India’s nuclear weapons policies and the approach to industrialization and rapid development as currently being practiced in India, including the Narmada Dam project and the power company Enron’s activities in India.

Roy has campaigned along with activist Medha Patkar against the Narmada dam project, saying that the dam will displace half a million people, with little or no compensation, and will not provide the projected irrigation, drinking water and other benefits. Roy donated her Booker prize money (worth $ 1 million) as well as royalties from her books on the project to the Narmada Bachao Andolan.

In 2002, Roy was convicted of contempt of court by the Indian Supreme Court for accusing the court of attempting to silence protests against the Narmada Dam Project. In its judgement, the Supreme Court of India noted “we feel that the ends of justice would be met if she is sentenced to symbolic one day’s imprisonment besides paying a fine of Rs. 2000.” Roy served the prison sentence and paid the fine. Environmental historian Ramachandra Guha has been critical of Roy’s Narmada dam activism as well.

Roy counters that her writing is intentional in its passionate, hysterical tone – “I am hysterical. I’m screaming from the bloody rooftops. And he and his smug little club are going ‘Shhhh… you’ll wake the neighbours!’ I want to wake the neighbours, that’s my whole point. I want everybody to open their eyes”.

Roy has strongly criticised the U.S. led invasion of Afghanistan in reaction to the September 11 attacks, decrying its undermining of international law and institutions, disputing U.S. claims of being a peaceful and freedom-loving nation. She notes its previous support for the Taliban movement as well as the interests of arms and oil industries in formulating foreign policy. She doubts the stated goals of restoring democracy in Afghanistan and argues that the U.S. humanitarian efforts there are a cynical public relations exercise. While condemning the 9/11 attacks, she writes that its response has legitimised violence as a political instrument and aided governments around the world in suppressing freedom, civil rights.

In response to India’s testing of nuclear weapons in Pokhran, Rajasthan, Roy wrote The End of Imagination (1998), a critique of the Indian government’s nuclear policies. It was published in her collection The Cost of Living (1999), in which she also crusaded against India’s massive hydroelectric dam projects in the central and western states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat.

Sources : Wikipedia,Lineone.net, Salon.com

Tech Wise [23rd September, 2007]

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/04/techwise.htm

A Bugatti Toaster!!!

Hmm… This one’s for all the auto freaks like me. If you can’t afford the sports car, then get this toaster! Yes, you read that right-Bugatti has cooked up a toaster for all its fans who cannot afford the real thing. But at $300 (BDT 21,000) a piece, it really has some outrageous pricing!

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Triops Panoramic Camera

Triops is a robust digital camera which allows the user to experience new perspectives and perceptions and takes the potential of digital photography to a new level. The camera is equipped with three protected fisheye lenses and allows for an active, spontaneous and playful photography experience.

This product can take images while being thrown, suspended or just being placed in an unusual location. It captures the moment by responding to sound or movement, or by reacting to the manually operated release. Sequentially taken photographs are possible as well as 360 degree panorama images. All working parts are integrated in the robust casing and can be operated easily and intuitively. Pictures can be wirelessly transmitted to a separate display unit for display. This unit functions as a processing and storage device and the camera’s charging station.

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British Council Chief Executive visits Bangladesh

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/04/feature_british.htm

Martin Davidson, the Chief Executive of British Council came to Bangladesh on a two-day visit on 14th September. His trip also consisted of visits to Nepal and Pakistan. Other than monitoring the current activities of the British Council in Bangladesh, Davidson also ventured on the future scopes of the organization. He has met different officials, academicians, students and teachers related to the British Council in this visit.

Martin has been working for the British Council for over 23 years now and took up the role as Chief Executive in April 2007, having been Deputy Director General since September 2005. He has worked in different parts of the world including Hong Kong and China. Martin’s commitment to international relationships has been a constant feature of his career, since as a young English graduate he went to Hong Kong as Administrative Officer, taking the high-level decisions on the running of a town of a million people. When he joined the British Council as Assistant Representative in Beijing in 1984, British Council China was an operation of 6 people working in a converted bicycle shed at the British Embassy. In those days it was illegal for a Chinese national to speak to a foreigner. Martin played a pivotal part in building this fledgling presence up to its present strength of more than 230 people in four state-of-the-art offices. He has also held various posts in the British Council’s Geographical Directorate with responsibilities that have included South East Europe, in a particularly troubled time in the region’s history, the Middle East, East Asia and the Americas.

Martin Davidson promises a British Council that will work quickly and effectively on its core business of building the relationships that are a critical component of UK foreign policy. Rebuilding damaged trust in the Middle East, assisting the international conversation on climate change and linking the creativity and innovation of the UK to the world are the three areas where Martin feels the contribution of the British Council is critical.

An Iftar Party was arranged in honour of Davidson in the residence of Dr. June Rollinson, the Director of British Council. Many dignitaries, including the High Commisioner of UK to Bangladesh, His Excellency Anwar Choudhury were present in the occasion. There, in an exclusive interview with Star Campus, Martin talked about the missions of his current trip and the future plans of the British Council.

Martin emphasized on the role the British Council is playing in strengthening the relationships between UK and Bangladesh. He thinks that the cultural dialogue is a very important aspect in determining the relationship between two countries and that is exactly what British Council is trying to strengthen.

He feels that the current involvement of the British Council, that of conducting the GCSE O’Level and A’Level Examinations from different English Medium schools reaches out to too small a number of people, so the British Council is planning to get associated with different programs of the mainstream public education system. The training programs for the English Language teachers is meant to standardize the English that everyone is learning.

‘We bring expertise in working internationally, a global presence and 70 years of reputation to bear, to help vital conversations to happen between UK arts and educational institutions and the rest of the world,’ says Martin. ‘Where we are delivering ourselves, we will be focusing on a smaller number of larger activities in areas of the world where we can make a real difference.

Later in the program, a survey report by DFID Bangladesh and the British Council ‘Through Bangladeshi Eyes’ was launched. It gave an idea of how young Bangladeshi students and professionals see the UK and how much they know about the country.

Author Profile : Danielle Steel

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/04/autprofile.htm

Danielle Fernande Dominique Schuelein-Steel (born on August 14, 1947 in New York City, New York), is best known as Danielle Steel, and is one of the best selling authors in the United States and around the world.

Best known for her mainstream drama novels, Steel has sold more than 530 million copies of her books (as of 2005). Her novels have been on the New York Times bestseller list for over 390 consecutive weeks and 22 have been adapted for television. Danielle Steel’s estimated net worth as of 1997 was $600-$800 million dollars which has now doubled.

Steel was born on August 14, 1947 in San Fransico, California to John Schulein Steel and Norma da Câmara Stone Reis. Steel spent much of her early childhood in France, where from an early age she was included in her parents’ dinner parties, giving her an opportunity to observe the habits and lives of the wealthy and famous. Her father raised her in New York after her parents got divorced.

Steel started writing stories as a child, and by her late teens had begun writing poetry. A graduate of the Lycée Français de New York, she studied literature design and fashion design, first at Parsons School of Design and then at New York University.

In 1965, when she was only eighteen, Steel married banker Claude-Eric Lazard. While a young wife, and still attending New York University, Steel began writing, completing her first manuscript the following year, when she was nineteen. After the birth of their daughter, Beatrix, in 1968, Steel became a copywriter for an advertising agency, then worked for a public relations agency in San Francisco. A client was highly impressed with her press releases and encouraged her to concentrate on writing books.

From 1981, Steel became a near-permanent fixture on the New York Times hardcover and paperback bestsellers lists. In 1989, she was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for having a book on the New York Times Bestseller List for the most consecutive weeks of any author-381 consecutive weeks at that time. Since her first book was published, every one of her novels has hit bestseller lists.

Steel also ventured into children’s fiction, penning a series of 10 illustrated books for young readers. These books, known as the “Max and Martha” series, aim to help children face real life problems: new baby, new school, loss of loved one, etc. In addition, Steel has authored the “Freddie” series. These 4 books address other real life situations: first night away from home, trip to the doctor, etc.

Determined to spend as much time as possible with her own children, Steel often wrote at night, making do with only four hours of sleep, so that she could be with her children during the day. Steel is a prolific author, often releasing several books per year. Each book takes 2 1/2 years to complete, so Steel has developed an ability to juggle up to five projects at once, researching one book while outlining another, then writing and editing additional books.

Steel lives in San Francisco, but also maintains a residence in France where she spends several months of each year and a beach house in La Californie near St. Tropez. Despite her public image and varied pursuits, Steel is known to be shy and because of that and her desire to protect her children from the tabloids, she rarely grants interviews or public appearances.

Steel’s novels have been translated into 28 languages and can be found in 47 countries across the globe. The books, often described as ‘formulaic,’ tend to involve the characters in a crisis of some sort which threatens their relationship. Many of her characters are considered over-the-top, making her books seem less realistic. The novels frequently ‘explore the world of the rich and famous.’

To avoid comparisons to her previous novels, Steel does not write sequels. Twenty-two of her books have been adapted for television, including two that have received Golden Globe nominations. One is “Jewels”, the story of the survival of a woman and her children in World War II Europe, and the family’s eventual rebirth as one of the greatest jewelry houses in Europe. Columbia Pictures was the first movie studio to offer for one of her novels, purchasing the rights to The Ghost in 1998.

In 2002, Steel was decorated by the French government as a “Chevalier” of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, for her contributions to world culture.

Cambridge International Education Conference

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/03/feature_conference.htm

Mahdin Mahboob & Feeda Hasan Shahed

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.
- Nelson Mandela

The University of Cambridge International Education Sytems has been providing quality and affordable education worldwide for a long time now. On Saturday, 8th September the University of Cambridge organized the first International Education Conference at Radisson Hotel, Dhaka. Participated by Principals, Head Teachers and other Senior Teachers of 35 different English Medium Schools of the country, the conference was titled ‘Global Best Practice with Cambridge ‘.

Speaking at the conference, H. E. Anwar Choudhury, the British High Commissioner to Bangladesh, said that without English language skills, students in Bangladesh risk being ‘blind and deaf’ in the global knowledge base.

Although the cyber knowledge base would become increasingly multi-lingual, resources in Bangla or Chinese languages would never match that in English.

Identifying access to and quality of education as the big ‘issues’, he said that when teachers do not provide quality education, they cheat students out of their lives.

‘Quality education is very much needed to tackle terrorism,’ said Anwar. He also said that Bangladesh should emphasise the importance of English medium education to ensure its progress.

While answering a question after his formal speech, the High Commisioner said that ‘English is the passport to the global economy.’

Mahfuz Anam, the editor and publisher of The Daily Star spoke on the ‘Educational challenges in the 21st century’. He said that ethics are an essential component of education.

“A person devoid of ethics is devoid of education,” he said, adding that teachers should nurture intellect and vigour, not prejudice, to ensure that a student’s overall education is framed and upheld by ethics.

He added that it is the teachers’ job to motivate and inspire students with enthusiasm for education to promote
innovation and creativity.

Yasmeen Murshed, the Chairperson of Scholastica School, said Bangladeshi educators cannot be swayed by ‘only’ global trends but should stay attuned to, and engaged with, the social, moral and cultural values of Bangladesh.

She stressed the need for educators to inculcate students with the values necessary for a lifelong education by focusing on ethics of equity and inclusion, human security, environmental consciousness and poverty alleviation.

Yasmeen Murshed who is also a former adviser to the caretaker government, said teachers in Bangladesh should inform and engage students with knowledge of the region’s historical roots, uniqueness of the country, political dynamics across borders and economic history, especially about the conditions of economic development here.

After the Conference, we had an exclusive interview with Ann Putis, the Chief Executive of University of Cambridge International Examinations. Here are the excerpts.

Star Campus(SC) : How would you summarise the whole conference in a few words?

Ann Puntis(AP) : The main objective is to provide support to the teachers with upgraded curriculum and teaching techniques from renowned international experts.

Furthermore it was an excellent platform for delegates to build upon their expertise in the field of International Education. The conference covered three aspects, each demonstrating how CIE(Cambridge International Education) and its partners are playing a role in bringing Global Best Practice to education in Bangladesh.

SC: What exactly is ‘Global Best Practice’?

AP : The concept reflects our commitment to develop successful students by equipping teachers with the tools to provide the best educational experience. We hope the Principals and Head teachers will benefit from the conference and workshops.

SC : We have been hearing a lot about how this system will be benefitting the good students. What happens to the average students?

AP : Not everyone is necessarily a good student and posses the standard merit for education but we have different syllabi for them with adoptable teaching material.

SC : Is there any waiver in exam for poor but meritorious students?

AP : Our organization is a charitable foundation, so we offer lowest cost for the wider society. We work with seventeen governments where we are working on Skill Developmnent, different Government Contracts and projects and it is to be noted that some of those countries GDPs are quite less than Bangladesh. We work in order to increase the access to high quality education. In doing that we find professional satisfaction.

SC: Is the expense suitable in Bangladesh perspective?

AP : Like I said that we have been working with countries that have a lower GDP than Bangladesh, it is obviously cheaper and affordable.

SC: In many developing countries like ours, we have different education systems existing simultaneously. But all the students, from different backgrounds, end up in the same jobe market and environment. Doesn’t this create a problem for possible employers and the employees themselves?

AP : Well, to be specific, in job sectors, students with UK education system background and from other countries with different educational background are not evaluated separately. Being an employer myself, we find the right person for the job with the right attitude and with right problem solving abilities a person who can apply his or her knowledge.

SC : What will be the difference in the conference attendees before and after the conference?

AP : Cambridge is the largest provider of quality education, local culture and heritage. After attending the conference the teachers will be benefited to teach and learn practical science that would interest both the teachers and students. They would have up-to-date knowledge about teaching materials and ways of modern teaching in the classroom.

SC: Do Bangladeshi students also get to learn about their own country and culture?

AP: The thing is that we have a variety of syllabi and we ask the students to choose. We have Islamic Studies; it’s about promoting flexible system. In the elementary level, schools and parents will choose for them. I get a lot of complain for not having Bangladeshi History and Geography in our syllabi. But it isn’t true. We have Bangladesh Studies as a subject and we want to say that we are very committed to local culture.

Spotlight : Students unite for a noble cause

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/04/camspotlight.htm

“Students must have initiative; they should not be mere imitators. They must learn to think and act for themselves – and be free.” – Cesar Chavez

Bangladesh has witnessed one of the worst floods in its history this year. Just when things seemed to look good, torrential rain and downpour have caused the floods to return in some of the worst affected districts. Thankfully, the more privileged section of the society has not turned their back to the poor flood-affected people and different relief and rehabilitation work is in full swing. Students, once again, have played a major role in bringing this into reality.

The primary responsibility of students is surely and undoubtedly that of attaining good education and get prepared to join the country’s workforce when the time comes. However, this does not mean that students should always keep themselves busy with their studies, as the saying goes, ‘All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy’. Young people too deserve their fair share of fun activities, including sports, watching television and to the more recent trends of spending hours with the PC or the Ipod!

But they are also responsible to their country and that is where ‘Community Service’ comes in. These days, a growing number of young people are showing interest in involving themselves in different sorts of community service activities. As much as these activities work for the development of the society, in more ways than one, they also inspire other young people to come out and do something for their country or their society.

Starting from blood donation to providing voluntary free education to organizing fund raising events, Different government and non-government organizations, the armed forces and educational institutions offered support. Different fund-raising programs including concerts and meena-bazars were organized in schools, colleges and universities all across the country.

Booths sprang up in cafeterias and common rooms to collect money, clothes and dry foods for the poor and unprivileged flood-stricken people. Blood donation programs were launched to help those who were affected by post-flood diseases. Students themselves ventured out to different districts, far from their home cities to actively participate in the flood relief operations. Students of medical colleges ventured out with medicines and offered free medical check-up to the flood-affected areas.

We, from Star Campus heartily appreciate each and everyone who has come forward in this hour of need of the country. We hope that all the rehabilitation work continues smoothly to recover from the catastrophe at the earliest possible time.

Author Profile : P G Wodehouse

http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/03/autprofile.htm

P G Wodehouse is a name that needs no introduction. Regarded as one of the best English comic writers of all times, Wodehouse would remain forever immortal for characters like Jeeves and his master Bertie Wooster. One of the most popular internet search engines, ‘ask.com’, originally known as ‘askjeeves.com’ is also based on the popular character Jeeves created by Wodehouse.

Born as Pelham Grenville Wodehouse on 15th October 1881 , Sir P G Wodehouse has enjoyed enormous popular success for more than seventy years. Wodehouse was an acknowledged master of English prose, admired both by contemporaries like Hilaire Belloc, Evelyn Waugh and Rudyard Kipling and by modern writers like Douglas Adams, Salman Rushdie, Christopher Hitchens and Terry Pratchett.

Best known today for the Jeeves and Blandings Castle novels and short stories, Wodehouse was also a talented playwright and lyricist who was part author and writer of fifteen plays and of 250 lyrics for some thirty musical comedies.

Wodehouse, called “Plum” by most family and friends, was born to Henry Ernest Wodehouse (a British judge in Hong Kong) and Eleanor Wodehouse. He attended boarding school, where he saw his parents only once every six or seven months. Wodehouse grew very close to his brother, who shared his love for art. Wodehouse filled the voids in his life by writing relentlessly. He spent quite a few of his school holidays with one aunt or another; it has been speculated that this gave him a healthy horror of the ‘gaggle of aunts’, reflected in Bertie Wooster’s formidable aunts Agatha and Dahlia, as well as Lady Constance Keeble’s tyranny over her many nieces and nephews in the Blandings Castle series.

He was educated at Dulwich College, London where the library is now named after him, but his anticipated progression to university was stymied by family financial problems. Subsequently he worked for the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank in London (now known as HSBC) for two years, though he was never interested in banking as a career. He wrote part-time while working in the bank, eventually proving successful enough to take up writing as a full-time profession. He was a journalist with The Globe (a defunct English newspaper) for several years before eventually going to Hollywood, where he earned enormous amounts as a screenwriter. Many of his novels were also serialised in magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post and The Strand.

Although Wodehouse and his novels are considered quintessentially English, from 1924 on he lived largely in France and the United States. He was also profoundly uninterested in politics and world affairs.

Together with his wife he moved permanently to New York after the war. Apart from Leonora, who died during Wodehouse’s internment in Germany, they had no children. He became an American citizen in 1955 and never returned to his homeland, spending the remainder of his life in Remsenburg, Long Island.

He was made a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire (KBE) shortly before his death at the age of 93. It is widely believed that the honour was not given earlier because of lingering resentment about the German broadcasts. In a BBC interview he said that he had no ambitions left now that he had been knighted and there was a waxwork of him in Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum.

Many consider Wodehouse as second only to Charles Dickens in the creative skills of character invention. His characters however were not always popular with the establishment, notably the foppish foolishness of Bertie Wooster. His ‘mentally negligible’ good-natured characters invariably make their lot worse by their half-witted schemes to improve a bad situation.

In a manner going back to the stock characters of Roman comedy (such as Plautus), Wodehouse’s servants are frequently far cleverer than their masters. This is quintessentially true with Jeeves, who always pulls Bertie Wooster out of the direst scrapes.

Although his plots are on the surface formulaic, Wodehouse’s genius lied in the tangled layers of comedic complications that the characters must endure to reach the invariable happy ending. Typically, a relative or friend makes some demand that forces a character into a bizarre situation that seems impossible to recover from, only to resolve itself in a clever and satisfying finale. The layers pile up thickly in the longer works, with a character getting into multiple dangerous situations by mid-story. An outstanding example of this is Code of the Woosters where most of the chapters have an essential plot point reversed in the last sentence, catapulting the characters forward into greater diplomatic disasters.

Both the Blandings and Jeeves stories by Wodehouse have been adapted as BBC television series: the Jeeves series has been adapted twice, once in the 1960s (for the BBC), with the title World of Wooster, starring Ian Carmichael as Bertie Wooster, and Dennis Price as Jeeves and again in the 1990s (by Granada Television for ITV), with the title Jeeves and Wooster, starring Hugh Laurie as Bertie and Stephen Fry as Jeeves.

HANS The Power of The Youth

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2007/09/03/feature_hans.htm

These days, a large number of young people are involving themselves in different sorts of community service activities. As much as these activities work for the development of the society, in more ways than one, they also inspire other young people to come out and do something for their country or their society. HANS or “HELLO’s Association of Neophyte-Students” is one such endeavour. The organization, in addition to its many other activities, is trying to help the autistic children of the country in many different ways.

With the motto ‘In quest of enlightened community’, HANS began its journey on October 12, 2005 with a group of some young people. All its activities are run by some devoted and qualified neophytes who are very motivated to create an enlightened society. HANS wants to prove the truth that youths have the power to bring a good change in our society and pave the way for success.

HANS has several sides of its activities. This association is working towards bringing out the hidden qualities of the students. HANS provides training programs for its members & also works as a platform for the students who want to prove their talent. Through its activities, the organization has devoted itself towards creating some worthy citizens of Bangladesh who will make this country proud. It consists of four clubs for improving the skills of its members. The clubs are-

a) Computer Club
b) Organizers’ Club
c) Debating Club
d) Volunteers’ Club

HANS provides ample opportunities for the members so that they can successfully walk ahead towards having a career full of prosperity. Every Friday, members of HANS get together. Classes of Spoken English, Computer Club and Debating Club are held during that time. Sometimes there are short meetings about the activities. Members also share their opinions and suggestions for the improvement of HANS. Members of the Computer Club has designed the websites of some of the leading institution’s debating clubs.

Hans has a wide range of social activities. From the beginning, the aim of this student’s association was to work for the betterment of the backward section of people in our society. As a first step, HANS has started working for the Autistic people because of the lack of such organizations in Bangladesh excepting the few autistic schools that works for them. Firstly, the founder President of HANS Ishtiaque Shahriar took the attempt to work for the special children who are named as Autistic. Sad but true, autistic children are often considered as a burden in our society and sometimes by their own families. Family members often hesitate to expose them in front of the society because they are not treated well in our society as they are mentally disordered by birth. HANS with all its members expanded its helping hands towards those neglected autistic children quite a few times. This included visits to four of the autistic schools in Dhaka (AWF, SWID Bangladesh, SWAC, KALYANI) and merged with those innocent children. The members of HANS passed some enjoyable moments with them in order to deliver a sort of happiness among the autistic children at least for a little while. In the schools, some of the children recited poems, sang beautiful songs and drew extraordinary pictures in front of HANS’s members. It’s important to note that, some of the autistics are exceptionally gifted. One of the students at the schools could precisely tell the day if somebody asks him a specific date in any calendar year. One of them sings beautifully. HANS wants to bring those children with miraculous powers to be brought in front of all so that people can know about their extra ordinary abilities.

HANS has now more than 300 members and its activities are more widespread. It is led by its chairman Meer Sohrabul Hossain Sohail. The working committee works in the form of a panel which changes yearly. Panel for 2006-07 consists of Ahmed Tanwir (President) who is a student of DU (Pharmacy), Umar Abdullah (General Secretary), Sylvia Sekandar (Vice-President) and Sabbir Ahmed (Asst General Secretary).

As a part of raising awareness among general people about autism and autistic people, HANS already have arranged a cultural program called “Share With Innocence” on 21 July 2006 with the participation of the autistic children last year which was glorified with the presence of some honourable personalities. HANS is determined to organize same type of program this year as well. Besides, HANS has arranged a different type of ART EXHIBITION in Drik Gallery with the arts of some creative autistic children on 10-12 September 2007. HANS believes that autistic people have that capability to lead a normal life like others. The only need is a little assistance from their family, from the people around them. HANS is working to grow that little affection for the autistic people that will help them to go ahead and lead a natural life.