Spotlight: Expectations from the New Government

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/12/03/camspotlight_expectation.htm

Photo: Iqbal Ahmed/ Driknews

Welcome to the 21st century! A time when it is possible to have an African-American man to be the president of the United States, to abolish the age old monarchy in Nepal and to hold parliamentary elections in the secluded Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan. A Bangladesh where there hasn’t been a Hartal/Strike/Oborodh for two long years!

Yes, everything is possible today, but it will only happen if all of us believe that we will be able to do it. In this election, a lot of change has been promised and expected but there are speculations as to how much change actually will happen when the new government takes power in a couple of weeks time!

In recent times, there has been a growing demand for not electing the marked collaborators of the Pakistani Army in 1971 (Razakars). I personally believe that as much as it is important not to put the Razakars back to power, it is also equally important not to put today’s Razakars back to power. And who would today’s Razakars be? They are the corrupts, the loan defaulters and the terrorists and any other people for whom getting elected was meant to be an opportunity to fulfil all their personal whims and wishes, rather than an opportunity to serve the nation!

My expectations from the new government would be to minimize corruption and to improvise the communication systems. I believe corruption has been the root of all evil in Bangladesh and minimizing it, if not completely eliminating it, should be the first priority. According to a New York Times report, over 30 billion US Dollars have been poured into this state as foreign aid from 1971 to 2005 and we still continue to have a huge number of people living below the poverty line!

Communication systems between the different cities and townships (and inside them) in Bangladesh has much room for improvement and it is high time that it is done now. A divided expressway between Dhaka and Chittagong is a must and so are a number of flyovers in different locations across Dhaka city.

And lastly, I would want the opposition party not to call any strikes/hartals and oborodhs and think of other peaceful means of protest instead. Both the party in power and the one in opposition should work together to make a beautiful and prosperous Bangladesh that our forefathers had fought for 37 years back.

On a concluding note, I would like to point out that the upcoming election will have a record 31 percent of first time voters, on which we had previously published another cover story (http://www.thedailystar.net/campus/2008/02/03/camspotlight.htm). This week’s cover is all about the different expectations young people have, whose votes are likely to have a major impact in shaping up the new government.

So, on Election Day tomorrow (29th December, 2008), go and cast your vote for someone who is most likely to benefit your area the most. This is your chance to play a role in shaping up the new government so do not waste it!

[StarTech] TechViews – The 21st century elections

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=68746

Welcome to the 21st Century! For the first time in the history of the United States, majority of the campaign money came through the internet, not from major corporate houses. US president-elect Barack Husein Obama had collected the majority of his campaign money from small $5, $10 and $20 contributions made by thousands of people all across the country, specially the young, the first time voters.

Bangladesh too is feeling the election fever as the 9th Parliamentary Election closes in. This time, the vote is all about new and innovative uses of technology, to attract the 32 percent first time voters and another 25 percent of young second time voters. That would young people are now 57 percent of the total voters in the country, for many of whom, internet and cell phones are best means for communication.

The political parties in Bangladesh, previously depending heavily on extremely loud use of microphones, flooding the walls with posters and writings, and bishaal jonoshobhas alone, have been quick to adopt the recent trends and have started some very innovative and effective means of campaigning using modern technologies.

We at StarTech have tried to find out some of the more interesting publicity measures and news coverage mechanism which are new in this election:

• SMS and email publicity: Many candidates are collecting the cell phone numbers and email addresses of voters of individuals residing in their constituencies and sending them individual emails and text messages, asking for their valuable votes!
• Facebook: Fanpages and groups have been set up in Facebook, the most popular online social networking site in Bangladesh, for both the two major political parties and some others.
• Party Websites: BNP, Awami League and Jamaat have all put up a fresh look on their websites, complete with election manifestos and election and campaign updates. (No website, however, of Jatiya Party was found after some quick google search)
• Special Election Pages: Major national newspapers, including The Daily Star and New Age have put up special pages for the upcoming elections, including interactive constituency maps, details about political parties and candidates, expert opinions on different issues, and a range of other features.

So, on the Election Day, do not, by any means, waste your vote!

Just remember one thing, if you do not vote, you cannot complain afterwards!

[StarTech] TechViews – Microwave Remote Sensing (Prediction and monitoring of disasters in Bangladesh)

http://thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=67694

Satellite Image of Bangladesh (taken in October 2001, by Google Earth ) showing the low elevation and the main rivers, top left, and standard beam mode RADARSAT-1 images (25m resolution) acquired on October, 21, 2001 and May 7, 2008 following Cyclone Nargis.

Microwave remote sensing technologies have been successfully used in different disaster management and risk assessment schemes in different countries of the world for quite some time now. Bangladesh, because of its unique geographical location, is prone to natural disasters such as flash floods, cyclones and storm surges, tornadoes, drought, hailstorm and lightning, erosion, landslide and earthquake. These disasters cost a huge loss in lives and property. Proper monitoring and accurate forecast can save many lives and huge amount of money. It is high time that microwave remote sensing technologies, which provide a much better alternative to existing technologies in use, are used more extensively than they are being done now.

The microwaves are part of the electromagnetic spectrum and their wavelengths range from 1 mm to 1m. The range of frequencies this covers is between 3000 to 30,000 MHz (3-30 GHz). The microwaves exhibit unique capabilities in remote sensing and they have a number of stand-alone applications. The fact that microwave observational facility works equally well in all weathers as well as in both day and night time helps in using microwave sensors for different land based, atmospheric and oceanography applications including disaster management. Remote sensing technologies, being used by different countries including the neighbouring country of India, provide a much better alternative compared to existing technologies in use.

Microwaves are specially suited for Remote Sensing because of several reasons: they can penetrate clouds, they are independent of the sun as a source and can hence be used in day as well as night and lastly, they can penetrate deeper into vegetation compared to optical waves. Furthermore, microwaves are capable of penetrating into the ground itself.

The potential of using satellite based microwave observations of soil moisture to improve flood predictability is a concept that is being explored in different parts of the world today. Remote sensing observations could add skill to predictions of flood peak timing and magnitude. The inundated land surface conditions displayed are a detectable precursor to subsequent downstream flooding. The use of remotely sensed passive microwave observations improves the forecasting skill for regional scale flooding. In Bangladesh, where flooding is a regular problem because of its unique geographical location, microwave remote sensing maybe a good tool to accurately forecast flooding patterns and hence would help the government to take steps accordingly.

Microwave remote sensing also helps to monitor and forecast other natural disasters common to Bangladesh including cyclones, earthquakes, landslide, erosion and droughts. The process uses active and passive sensors placed in satellites, aeroplanes or helicopters to achieve this task.

Bangladesh is located in the low-lying Ganges-Brahmaputra River Delta or Ganges Delta. This unique geographical location makes the country subject to many forms of natural disasters on a frequent basis, and the nine major types are listed below:

The table below shows the major types of natural disasters in Bangladesh and the areas they usually affect and the impact they cause. This was found in a research published in the Bangladesh State of the Environment Report 2001.

The following images of Yangon, Myanmar, taken using the RADARSAT before and after Cyclone Nargis (which also partially affected the southernmost coast of Bangladesh) show microwave satellite images of the city [12]:

The following image shows the trackchart of that cyclone recorded using the AMSR-E. The Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer – EOS (AMSR-E) is a one of the six sensors (passive microwave radiometer) aboard the Aqua Satellite which was launched by NASA in 2002.

It is quite evident that it is high time Bangladesh uses microwave remote sensing technologies more to accurately monitor and forecast natural disasters (including cyclones, earthquakes, floods, etc.) and take steps accordingly.

The use of Microwave Remote Sensing will provide a faster, more reliable and timely methodology for prediction and monitoring of natural disasters which will help in saving men and materials and lives of the common people of Bangladesh. It is suggested that the steps are taken immediately to initiate work in use of Microwave Remote Sensing for this purpose.

Information Source: Paper titled ‘Microwave Remote Sensing for Prediction and Monitoring of Disasters in Bangladesh’ [Mahdin Mahboob, Prof O P N Calla]  published in the InCMARS-2008 (Indian Conference on Microwave Antenna Propagation and Remote Sensing) held in the International Centre for Radio Science, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India between 9-11 December, 2008

Of schools, colleges & universities

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/12/01/higher.htm

According to many people, the best place in UK to study economics or one of the disciplines of business is the London School of Economics or LSE in short. For engineering and medicine, many would agree on Imperial College and of course King’s College. For Oriental and African studies, it would be the School of Oriental and African Studies, or SOAS in short!

So you have decided to pursue your higher education (Undergrad / Postgrad) from UK, a

Click on the image for larger view

country home to two of the oldest universities in the English-speaking world, namely Oxford and Cambridge, often jointly referred to as Oxbridge. A country rich with culture and heritage and from where many of the world’s most influential people hail from. But chances are high that you might feel baffled and lost by all the lucrative advertisements on newspapers, television and radio everyday! Certain groups of people will claim that their college/ university is the best and so you should go there and perhaps pay them money for doing so! But at the end of the day, your degree remains yours and so it is advisable to choose the institution that best suits you in terms of your subject area, cost, affordability and in many cases, the location! Many people tend to believe that an institution in London guarantees quality. NO, that is entirely untrue and you can take my word for it! Although it is true that London, the capital city of UK and the hub of higher education in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, is home to some of the most prestigious names including Imperial College, King’s College, SOAS, University College London, Queen Mary (University of London), it is also equally true that it is also home to the largest number of the so called visa colleges! For those of you who haven’t heard of this term before, a visa college is one whose primary function is to send you an offer letter so that you can apply for a British student visa. Once you get to UK (assuming that you do get a visa with an offer letter from such an unheard of college, which is highly unlikely in the first place), the visa college’s only work is to continue renewing your ’studentship’ after every semester, and nothing else. Imparting education is one of their least priorities! So for people who are keen to get a good higher degree in UK, visa colleges are a complete no-no.

So, it is very important to know about your institution where you will be spending valuable time, energy and your parents’ hard-earned money. One good place to find the complete list of universities (and their affiliated schools and colleges) is:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_universities_in_the_United_Kingdom. And yes, although rankings are not the infallible Holy Scripture, they are good places to start the selection process. Rankings again, are of two types. University ranking, which shows the overall rank of a university for a certain academic year based on goodwill, employability, student satisfaction, research endowments received and a range of other factors. The second type of course is the subject based ranking. For example, since I am interested in Electrical Engineering, I would be more interested in the Electrical Engineering subject ranking compared to how good the university is overall. Details about subject ranking will be explained later, in due course.

Listed with this article are the Top 20 Universities (Overall) ranking of British universities according to two of the most well accepted ranking systems in UK; the Times Higher Education ranking and The Guardian Rankings:

Ranking Source:
Times:
http://www.topuniversities.com/worlduniversityrankings/results/2007/overall_rankings/uk_ireland/
Guardian:
http://image.guardian.co.uk/sys-files/Education/documents/2008/05/08/rankingsrevised.xls

Spotlight: Biotechnology, Bangladesh Moves Forward

http://thedailystar.net/campus/2008/12/01/camspotlight.htm

International Symposium on Biotechnology held

Research and applications of biotechnology in the fields of agriculture, medicine and fisheries are gradually coming to the centre stage. Climate change due to global warming, topographical change and other determining factors are necessitating intense research in improving the qualities, lifetime and yieldability of crops. In view of this, BRAC University and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) have jointly organized an International Symposium on Regulatory and Safety Issues in Commercialization of Biotechnology Research in Developing Countries in Dhaka- between the 2nd-4th of this month.

The Symposium covered topics on technology transfer; IP and IPR; Biosafety; Bioethics; Clinical and Field Trials and Regulatory Affairs which are considered very relevant to research, development and commercial application of biotechnology in developing countries.

Dr. C S Karim, Adviser, Ministry of Agriculture, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was the Chief Guest at the inaugural session while Mr. Manik Lal Samaddar, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, Ministry of Science and ICT, Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh was present as the Special Guest.

The symposium was funded by Ministry of Science and Information Technology (GoB), Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, the Center for Intellectual Property, CIP (Sweden), Incepta Pharmacuticals Limited, ICDDR,B and a number of other local organizations.

The main purpose of the symposium was to provide relevant information and to educate practising biotechnologists and other professionals in these areas so that they can make informed decisions based on international practices.

Invited foreign speakers included Prof. Virander Chauhan and Dr. Siva Reddy of ICGEB, Delhi, Mr. Decio Ripandelli and Dr. Mark Tepfer of ICGEB, Trieste and Prof. Ananda Chakravarty of University of Illinios among others. Local speakers included Prof. A A Azad, Prof. Naiyyum Chowdhury (BRAC University), Dr. Firdausi Quadri and Dr. Michael Behan (ICDDR,B), Prof. Haseena Khan and Prof. Rakha Hari Sarker (University of Dhaka), Dr Liakat Ali and Dr Azad Khan (BIRDEM) among others.