gurumia.com » Contract

Bangladesh now member of Unicode Consortium

guru — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 02:16:22 +0000

Bangladesh has become the institutional member of Unicode Consortium, an organisation that enables people around the world to use computers in any language.

On being a member, Bangladesh has achieved the voting power to make necessary additions of Bangla letters to be used in various devices of science, information and communication technology (ICT) and to develop the language standard.

Unicode is an internationally recognised system by which any language can be used in different digital devices like mobile phone and computer.

Earlier, only India had the voting right in the consortium about the Bangla language.

The ICT ministry with the personal interest of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken the initiative of being a member of the consortium last year.

Bangladesh was declared an institutional member on June 30 this year following an application by the ministry on March 18, 2009.

The Unicode Bangla text has already been initiated in many government offices under the supervision of `Accesses to Information (A2I)’ programme, operated by the Prime Minister’s office.

By Blogsdna

Sizing up the human cost

guru — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 20:23:10 +0000

What does an economy look like ? and what does it look like when it malfunctions It,s easy enough to say what an economy is, the production of financial value. Expressing that in visual terms is nowhere near as easy. On the one hand, you have the quantitative description of an economy: all that torrent of data from stock exchanges and bureaus of labor statistics and such. On the other, you have the torrent,s roots: offices and factories and sweating brows. At the intersection of description and toil, you have an economy.
Inevitably, Crisis and Opportunity: Documenting the Global Recession comes down on the side of toil. It,s about the human cost of economic forces not just beyond the control of any group of people but also beyond the awareness of any of the people pictured here: Polish miners, inhabitants of a Japanese slum, Bangladeshi laborers, a Florida retiree on a fixed income. The show, which runs through Aug. 8 at the Photographic Resource Center at Boston University, was organized last year by Social Documentary.net, which solicited projects from photographers worldwide. A panel of judges selected a winner and three runners-up. It??s their work that??s at the PRC.

The show consists of 32 photographs. That??s an awfully narrow base to support such an expansive subject, the most important event of the century so far. In fact, the show??s title is misleading. The people we see endure plights that predate the global recession and will long outlast it. Photographs of Timothy Geithner looking perplexed or vacation homes on the Costa del Sol looking uninhabited are about the global recession. Khaled Hasan??s image of a man sifting stones, work that will bring him less than $7 a day, is as timeless as the wind and the rain.

Hasan??s striking black-and-white photographs confront head on the vicissitudes of hard labor in northeastern Bangladesh. Shiho Fukada, whose work is in many ways the most interesting in the show, takes a more oblique approach. She records aspects of life in Kamagaaki, an impoverished section of Osaka. An elderly man stares up at the pachinko machine he??s playing. The way his head??s tilted, he could be staring at heaven. The way the machine??s glow lights the space, he could be staring at hell. In another photo, Fukada offers a tight shot of a dirt-covered hand wrapped around a glass of sake. Most startling of all is the image of a set of storage lockers containing the remains of men who died without kin. The door of each locker has a photograph of the dead man, an effect that??s both touching and unnerving.

Michael McElroy calls his photo essay ??An American Nightmare.??? His approach isn??t so much direct as full frontal. We see Howard Mallinger, a Florida retiree in his 60s, sitting by the bedside of his wife as she receives chemotherapy; carrying a box of donated food; entering his foreclosed condo; weeping on its balcony; in a doctor??s examining room; reciting prayers by his wife??s gravesite; and holding an umbrella in the rain. McElroy??s sympathy for Mallinger isn??t in doubt. But neither is the sense of a beleaguered man being presented as a vehicle for moral instruction. Its good intentions make the workings of that instruction no less disquieting.

??Hades???? is what Tomasz Tomaszewski, the winner of the competition, calls his photo essay about the Polish mining and industrial region of Upper Silesia. The question mark indicates a degree of social complexity the photos bear out. There is considerable hellishness in the sight of someone (in this case, a woman) working a piece of massive excavating machinery in a coal mine called, of all things, ??Peace.??? Yet there is also something magnificent, both technologically and visually. Tomaszewski scants neither the awfulness nor monumentality. In other photographs ? men raising pigeons, for example, or workers tending garden plots on the grounds of the factory where they work ? he gives a sense of a life that??s varied and unexpected, if also limited and little privileged, in a place few of us know. Yet we all do, since Tomaszewski lets us see how much we have in common as fellow human beings.

By Blogsdna

Titas well 12 begins to add 20 mmcfd Gas

guru — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 19:59:59 +0000

Bangladesh is passing gas shortage . Bangladesh stopped temporary gas connection for all residential connection.Bangladesh Gas Fields Company Limited (BGFCL) inaugurated the work-over of Titas well-12 on July 14 in a bid to add above 20 million cubic feet daily (mmcfd) natural gas to the national grid.
High officials of BGFCL and the project were present on the occasion.

The work-over is likely to be completed by end of next month (August). Total estimated cost of the project is Tk 350 million (Tk 35.00 crore) under the self-financing programme of BGFCL.

BAPEX, the state run gas exploration company, is completing the all work of BGFCL as a drilling contractor. BGFCL is a state owned company of Petrobangla. It is the largest gas production company in the country and owns six gas fields, namely, Titas, Hobigonj, Bakhrabad, Narsingdi, Meghna and Kamta gas fields.
To meet the growing gas demand of the country, BGFCL has undertaken various development activities for augmenting gas production. It took nine projects at a cost of above Tk 23.50 billion. BGFCL meets Tk 5.70 billion of total amount from its self-financing fund.

A fresh natural gas amounting to 25 mmcfd has been added to the national grid from Bakhrabad well 2 and Titas well 14 of BGFCL after completing the wells work-over from last year, sources also said.

BGFCL added above 33 mmcfd natural gas to the national grid from well after the successful completion of work-over from July 6 of the year 2010. Total estimated cost was Tk 195.00 million under the self-financing programme of BGFCL.

BGFCL has adopted a vigorous augmentation plan under ??Fast Track Programme?? to increase gas production from six wells of Titas field Gas Fields to add 160 mmcfd gas in 2011.

Besides, in view of producing 10-mmcfd gas, the company took the plan to drill the new well of Bakhrabad Gas Fields in 2012, official sources said.

Presently, this raises the overall production of BGFCL to 740-742 mmcfd of natural gas from 30 wells of its producing fields against the country’s total gas production capacity of 1960 mmcfd.

By Blogsdna

Energy Holdings plans $400M Bangladesh power plant

guru — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 04:06:10 +0000

Energy Holdings International Inc. has signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a 200 megawatt, $400 million power plant in Bangladesh.

Through a wholly owned subsidiary, EHII signed the deal with the Bangladesh Power Development Board for a single cycle electrical power generation plant with room to expand to a 450 MW combined cycle facility.

Houston-based EHII (NYSE: EGYH) is currently talking with a handful of engineering, procurement and construction contractors to build the plant while EHII will serve as the independent power producer.

About the company

Energy Holdings International, Inc. is a U.S. based, American-Saudi Arabian company; focused on acquiring, developing and managing energy assets in the Middle East, Asia and the Americas. Its website is http://www.energyhii.com. Four of its Board of Directors are from Riyahd, Saudi Arabia.

SAFE HARBOR STATEMENT UNDER THE PRIVATE SECURITIES LITIGATION REFORM ACT OF 1995

This press release contains certain forward-looking information and statements that are intended to be covered by the safe harbor for forward looking statements provided by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts. Readers are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures in EHII’s SEC periodic and interim reports.

SOURCE Energy Holdings International, Inc.

Fast Retailing to set up Bangladesh business :a joint venture in with Grameen Bank

guru — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:20:52 +0000

Sources :Japan??s Fast Retailing, the maker of the Uniqlo brand, is to form a joint venture in Bangladesh with Grameen Bank to provide affordable clothes to the country??s poor.

Fast Retailing will become the first Asian company to set up a ??social business?? ? a term given to companies formed to address a social cause and whose profits are ploughed back into the company ? in the region. It will own 99 per cent of the new company withsocial business the other 1 per cent. It will begin operations in September.

Muhammed Yunus, Nobel peace prize-winner and the founder of Grameen Bank, said: ??It [sends] a big message to Japanese companies to use their technology to solve the problems of the people.??

Fast Retailing, whose president, Japanese companies , is Japan??s richest man, joins companies such as Adidas in creating a social business in Bangladesh. It is the first time Grameen participates in a venture that focuses on bringing clothes to the impoverished.

Bangladesh is one of the world??s poorest countries with 36.3 per cent of the population living below the poverty line of $1.25 per day.

However, it has an economic growth rate of 5.6 per cent and is benefiting from a shift out of relatively high-cost production bases, such as southern China.

The Japanese government this year established a new study group with the aim of creating public-private partnerships in developing countries to target middle- and low-income groups as developed country markets stagnate.

The venture, which has a temporary name of Grameen Uniqlo, will sell products such as underwear, blankets, raincoats and school uniforms to families living in poverty at affordable prices ? likely to be about a $1 or less. This will demand the most efficient and low-cost production.

Grameen Uniqlo is planning to employ 1,500 people within three years, the vast majority of whom will be sales people, who will use techniques such as door-to-door selling and education about the importance of sanitation and cleanliness. The venture also aims to nurture entrepreneurs through their sales training and employment.

The venture will benefit from access to Grameen??s 8m borrowers and the use of its well-known brand in Bangladesh.

By Blogsdna

Bangladesh power :In an exclusive interview about Bangladesh power with ET Now , R S Sharma , CMD, NTPC

guru — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 20:45:36 +0000

In an exclusive interview with ET Now , R S Sharma , CMD, NTPC, talked about NTPC’s future plans and prospective

MoU to be signed with Bangladesh. Excerpts:

Leaving aside the reasons for the disqualification of L&T from your bulk tender orders, could you just clarify for our viewers if there is going to be a fresh tender that you will be floating for supercritical boilers and if yes, then will L&T be allowed to re-bid?

Let me tell you, we will not like to talk anything on this particular issue at all as this is the matter, which is with the board for discussion.

If I am not wrong, then NTPC has added about 1560 megawatts of capacity in FY10, so taking your total operating capacity to 31704. Now could you tell us how much capacity is currently under construction and how much do you expect to commission in the current fiscal year?

Yeah. Right now 18000 megawatts is under construction and out of which, 4160 megawatts are going to be commissioned this year.

Alright. You had earlier targeted adding something like 22 gigawatts in the 11th plan. Now has that target been revised because we have only seen 4 gigawatts being added so far in the plan period?

Our target so far for the 11th plan is 78000 megawatts. The Government of India fixed up around 17000 megawatts in the plan.

Was that for the whole plan period?The Government of India had given us a target of around 17000 megawatts to add during 11th plan. Out of which, we have already added up around 3750 megawatts. We are going to add 4160 megawatts this year and around 6000 megawatts shall be added up in the next financial year.

We have also heard that you will soon be serving as the conduit for all power trading between India and Bangladesh through your power trading subsidiary. Could you tell us a little bit more about the agreement and the Memorandum of Understanding that you would be signing with Bangladesh?

Yes, that is a consideration by the Government of India to nominate NVVN as a nodal agency for the trading of power between India and Bangladesh. We are yet to receive a letter but there is a consideration for us. We are signing the MoU with Bangladesh Power Board somewhere in the second week of July for the development of two projects of 1320 megawatts each in Bangladesh in a joint venture. This is what we are going to have in MoU; so discussions have advance quite a bit and we are going to finalise within another 10 to 12 days.

Coming to the recent APM gas price increased to $4.2 per mmbtu, will that have any impact on your bottom line or be a complete parcel to consumers?

You see that developments with the prevailing CRC regulation. So nationally the increased fuel price ultimately shall be pass through the buyer of the power. The increase which will take place from the price of present APM price to the increased one that will also get pass to the ultimately buyer to that extent the cost of the power from the gas will increase.

When it comes to the fresh tender for supercritical boilers, could you give us the timeline by when would this come on board and when would the re-bidding actually start?

You will be able to know on that very soon. At this stage, we are engaged in taking the action whatever is required to be taken, once the decisions and actions are complete than certainly, I will be discussing with you.

What about your plans for renewable energy and details of any?

For renewable energy, NTPC has got a very very big plan. I would like to tell you that NTPC plans to begin the largest generator of solar power. By 2013 and 2014, we are planning to have around 300 megawatt solar power and about 500 to 600 megawatt of the wind power. This is what we are planning to have by 2014. We have already prepared the blueprint for all these things and we are taking the actions. As far as solar power is concerned, we are going to add more and more capacity in the solar thermal. And, solar thermal will be much more cheaper and economical and this will be much more dependable power.

Since we are talking about your renewable energy plans, could you throw some more lights on your JV between ADB (Asian Development Bank) and Japan??s Kyuden International Corp?

This JV was signed quite long back. But later on because of some economic resilience, the JV struggled. So right now we are moving ahead with ADB and Kyushu Electric Japan and NTPC. Later on we will induct some more operators. We are going to add wind and solar, and primarily they will be on the wind energy. We are targeting not only India but also other countries as wellin this JV. This JV will target both domestically as well as abroad.

For the current fiscal year as a whole, how are you likely to do on your sales and profit numbers? Give us a qualitative picture.

Sales number go up and from trends I can only tell you it is too early to say on that. Both sales and profits shall be much better than the previous year. We are going to add a big jump in the capacity, and certainly they will add to cover top line and bottom line both.

What about your revenue realisations? will those also improve?

That is 100%. Let me tell you that for 6 years the revenue realisation of NTPC is 100%. Every buyer of the electricity from NTPC pays that. The reason for that is strong customer relationship wherein not only we are supplying power to them but we are taking lot many measures to improve their bottom line and to really impart lot of training to them and develop very good relationship. 100% realisation is not an issue at all with us now.

By Blogsdna

Tata Consultancy for Telenor on how to modernise

guru — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 20:37:28 +0000

At Telenor Group, believe that being at the forefront of
telecommunications isn,t just about technology.
It,s about people,s needs.Telenor is one of the biggest foreign mobile phone companies in Asia with operations stretching across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Thailand and Malaysia.

Now, the Norwegian group seems intent on returning the favour by helping Asian companies build a foothold in Europe.

Telenor announced on Wednesday that it was awarding Tata Consultancy Services of India a big, multi-year contract to modernise its information technology systems in Norway.
The deal came seven months after Telenor chose Huawei of China to overhaul its Norwegian mobile network infrastructure ahead of European rivals such as Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.

Both contracts show the scale of competitive challenge facing the developed world as China and India climb the economic value chain. Everyone understands that Asia is sucking manufacturing from the west. But surely IT service contracts and wireless network overhauls are exactly the kind of sophisticated, added-value business that western companies were supposed to be able to keep hold of? Particularly in an advanced country such as Norway.

If any further proof were needed of the great strides being taken by Chinese and Indian companies, check out how Tata described its Telenor deal:

??This contract underscores TCS?? ability to help global corporations optimise their ??Run the Business?? cost and channelize those savings to undertake modernisation projects that are delivered with reduced risk and increased certainty,?? said A.S. Lakshminarayanan, head of Tata??s European consultancy business.

When an Indian executive shows such a mastery of western corporate gobbledygook, there can be no doubt that emerging market companies have arrived as a force to be reckoned with.

By Blogsdna

Padma Multipurpose Bridge: bidder 11

guru — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 18:06:34 +0000

Padma Multipurpose Bridge-The bridge — the country’s largest — will help boost business and the movement of goods between the country’s second seaport, Mogla, and the rest of the country.
Eleven construction firms from home and abroad submitted tenders to build the proposed 6.15 km long Padma Multipurpose Bridge. Of those, four are Chinese, two Indian, three Korean, one Austrian, one Spanish and one Bangladeshi.Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain today said at a press conference in Bangladesh Bridges Authority building.
Today was the last day to submit tender for feasibility studies, he said adding construction of the Padma Bridge is expected to begin from December this year after finalizing the construction firm. Target has been fixed up to open the bridge for commuters after construction of the bridge by 2013. He said the donor agencies — World Bank, Asian Development Bank, Islami Development Bank and JAICA — assured of financial assistance to construct the bridge.
Work order will be given after completion of the tender process. Abul Hossain said expert firm for Construction of the bridge would be appointed within June 30. He said construction of Padma Bridge would increase 1.3 percent GDP and open a new horizon before the country. Balance in the environment has been maintained in designing the bridge so that Hilsha reproduction points in the river Padma are not disturbed. Secretary of the Bridges Division Mosharraf Hossain was present.

By Blogsdna

A Simple Demand !!

guru — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 17:17:42 +0000

Digitalised Bangladesh is now a days is common dream of Bangladeshi. No political question!

If we simplify what is digital Bangladesh ? I answer : A well managed Bangladesh.
To manage well ,we always need to clear about our resources .From my best knowledge i demand a High Powerful Bangladesh Resources Research Centre (BRRC)
To explore the opportunity of the ultimate resources of Bangladesh which grow the potential Bangladesh as a Sucessful contry Bangladesh must should develop a high oppotunity powered Research centre for exploring the resources of Bangladesh , natural resources or human resources or opportunity resources . The Research centre can be co up with the Ministry of planning .

By Blogsdna

Bangladesh Team to Visit Doha for LNG import

guru — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:52:31 +0000

Sources :To fill up the upcoming energy production fueling A high-powered delegation of Bangladesh will visit Doha, the capital city of Qatar to discuss the possible import of LNG (liquefied natural gas) to meet the prevailing energy crisis, which hit the country??s economic and social life hard, according to a source.
Currently the gas demand stands at 2500 million cubic feet per day (mmcfd) as against the local production of gas stands at 1900 mmcfd, leaving a shortfall of around 600 mmcfd. The power sector suffers seriously because of the energy crisis, which alone is responsible for shortfall of 500-600 mw electricity. The textile sector is the next victim of the energy crisis.
In this backdrop, the energy division has been directed by the highest level of the administration to look into the import of energy from abroad in the form of LNG.
Following the directives, the energy officials found that Qatar would be the best possible source for importing the LNG. Some preliminary discussions through the diplomatic channel were held with Qatar officials. Based on that discussion the high-powered delegation headed by energy secretary Meshbahuddin Ahmed will go on a three-day visit to Doha from June 2, the source said.
The delegation source said that around 300 million tonnes of LNG would be imported annually to cater to the country??s energy need. The Qatar authorities would be asked whether they would be able to supply the total quantity of LNG.
The issue of the LNG price and Qatar??s financial and technical support for the development of LNG infrastructure would also come up for discussion. Currently the price of per million btu LNG is around US$7-8. The Qatar authorities would be requested to provide some cession in the LNG price.
The energy officials are now considering some options of the LNG infrastructures, which include the floating storage and degasification facility, floating barge with LNG storage facility and the on-shore store and degasification unit. It will take maximum two years to develop such LNG infrastructure, on the other hand it will take 5-6 years to develop the LNG terminal.
Moheshkhali has been identified as the possible site for developing the LNG infrastructure on long term and short-term basis.
Qatar has the expertise in developing both long term and short-term LNG infrastructures, the source said.
Besides developing the LNG infrastructure, the government is planning to set up the long 90 kilometer gas pipeline from Moheshkhali to Chittagong for transportation of gas.
To facilitate the development of the LNG infrastructure and the gas pipeline, the government has created a LNG Cell in the Petrobangla and former chairman of Petrobangla was appointed the coordinator of the cell, the source said.

By Blogsdna

gurumia.com » Contract

Bangladesh now member of Unicode Consortium

Related Posts :

Sizing up the human cost

Related Posts :

Titas well 12 begins to add 20 mmcfd Gas

Related Posts :

Energy Holdings plans $400M Bangladesh power plant

Related Posts :

Fast Retailing to set up Bangladesh business :a joint venture in with Grameen Bank

Related Posts :

Bangladesh power :In an exclusive interview about Bangladesh power with ET Now , R S Sharma , CMD, NTPC

Related Posts :

Tata Consultancy for Telenor on how to modernise

Related Posts :

Padma Multipurpose Bridge: bidder 11

Related Posts :

A Simple Demand !!

Related Posts :

Bangladesh Team to Visit Doha for LNG import

Related Posts :