Solar-powered plane takes off for flight across US.news in bd

A solar-powered airplane that developers hope to eventually pilot around the world took off early on Friday from San Francisco Bay on the first leg of an attempt to fly across the United States with no fuel but the sun's energy.

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The plane, dubbed the Solar Impulse, departed shortly after 6 am local time from Moffett Field, a joint civil-military airport near the south end of San Francisco, heading first to Phoenix on a slow-speed flight expected to take 15 to 20 hours.

The spindly looking plane barely hummed as it took flight in the still northern California morning as the sun was just beginning to peek out over the Santa Cruz Mountains to the east.

After additional stops in Dallas, St. Louis and Washington, DC, with pauses at each destination to wait for favourable weather, the flight team hopes to conclude the plane's cross-country voyage in about two months at John F Kennedy International Airport in New York.

Swiss pilots and co-founders of the project, Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, will take turns flying the plane, built with a single-seat cockpit, with Piccard at the controls for the first flight to Arizona. He is tentatively scheduled to land in Phoenix at 1 am local time on Saturday.

The project began in 2003 with a 10-year budget of 90 million euros ($112 million) and has involved engineers from Swiss escalator maker Schindler and research aid from Belgian chemicals group Solvay - backers who want to test new materials and technologies while also gaining brand recognition.

Project organisers say the journey is also intended to boost worldwide support for the adoption of clean-energy technologies.

"I hope people understand the potential of this technology and use it on the ground," Borschberg, who flew for the Swiss Air Force for more than 20 years, told reporters as Piccard suited up for the flight nearby. "If we don't try to fly today using renewable energy, we never will."

With the wingspan of a jumbo jet and the weight of a small car, the Solar Impulse is a test model for a more advanced aircraft the team plans to build to circumnavigate the globe in 2015.

The plane made its first intercontinental flight, from Spain to Morocco, last June.

Solar cells built into wings

The aircraft runs on about the same power as a motor scooter, propelled by energy collected from 12,000 solar cells built into the wings that simultaneously recharge batteries with a storage capacity equivalent to a Tesla electric car.

In that way, the Solar Impulse can fly after dark on solar energy generated during daylight hours, and will become the first solar-powered aircraft capable of operating day and night without fuel to attempt a US coast-to-coast flight.

But the plane, which from a distance resembles a giant floating insect in the sky, is unlikely to set any speed or altitude records. It can climb gradually to 28,000 feet and flies at an average pace of just 43 miles per hour (69 km per hour).

The current plane was designed for flights of up to 24 hours at a time, but the next model will have to allow for up to five days and five nights of flying by one pilot - a feat not yet accomplished.

Meditation and hypnosis were part of the training for the pilots as they prepared to fly on very little sleep.

Asked about the downside of solar-powered flight at a news conference in March to unveil the current plane, Piccard acknowledged there was a price paid for the tiny carrying capacity and massive wings.

"In that sense, it is not the easiest way to fly," he said. "But it is the most fabulous way to fly, because the more you fly, the more energy you have on board."

He added: "We want to inspire as many people as possible to have that same spirit: to dare, to innovate, to invent."

The plane's four large batteries, attached to the bottom of the wings along with the plane's tiny motors, account for a quarter of its overall heft.

The aircraft's lightweight carbon fibre design and wingspan allow it to conserve energy, but also make the plane vulnerable to being tipped over.

A ground team of weather specialists, air traffic controllers and engineers track the plane's speed and battery levels and help the pilot steer clear of turbulence. Solar Impulse cannot fly in strong wind, fog, rain or clouds. Its machinery is not even designed to withstand moisture.

Microsoft to unveil free Windows 8.1 update.news in bd

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Microsoft Corp's forthcoming update to its personal computer operating system will be called Windows 8.1 and will be available later this year free to existing Windows 8 customers, the marketing chief for the Windows unit said on Tuesday.

The world's largest software company has been touting the update, previously code-named 'Blue,' as a series of improvements to the Windows 8 software, launched in October, which has not been as popular as it had hoped.

Microsoft has sold 100 million Windows 8 licenses in the six months since launch, roughly in line with the previous version, but wants to combat sputtering interest in its flagship software with a substantial update to make it easier to use and compatible with smaller tablets.

"Windows 8.1 will be delivered as a free update to Windows 8 and to Windows RT and it will be easy to get right from the Windows start screen through the app store," said Tami Reller, head of finance and marketing at Microsoft's Windows unit.

A preview version of Windows 8.1 will be made available at the start of Microsoft's annual developer conference on June 26, Reller said, with the finished update released later this year.

Sabella hopes Messi will be fit- news in bd

Coach Alejandro Sabella is counting down the days to a possible test of Argentina's World Cup credentials against their closest rivals in the South American qualifiers without Lionel Messi.

Messi is unlikely to play for Barcelona again this season after aggravating a hamstring injury and although he is should be fit for qualifiers against Colombia and Ecuador next month, Sabella is braced for the loss of his captain.

"There are 26 days to go," Sabella said on Tuesday of the clash with Colombia at the Monumental in Buenos Aires on June 7. Four days later Argentina visit Ecuador in Quito.

"I hope we can count on Lionel. If he's fit, that will be welcome. If not, it's a way of seeing how we play without him," Sabella told reporters on his return from a trip to Europe.

"Lionel is the best in the world. When a player of those (gold) carats isn't there you feel it, even Barcelona became Messi dependent, what team wouldn't with a player of his standing?"

Messi has been ever present in Argentina's 11 qualifiers for the 2014 finals in Brazil so far, including seven wins and one defeat, scoring eight goals.

Argentina lead the South American group with 24 points, four ahead of second-placed Ecuador and five in front of Colombia, who both have a match in hand.

Beckham announces retirement- news in bd

England's best known footballer David Beckham announced his retirement on Thursday after a career laden with trophies and glamour that had a worldwide impact that went way beyond football.

      

The 38-year-old former England captain, who this month helped Paris St Germain to the French league title to add to titles won in England, Spain and the United States, will hang up his boots at the end of this season.

"I'm thankful to PSG for giving me the opportunity to continue but I feel now is the right time to finish my career, playing at the highest level," the midfielder said in a statement.

"I want to thank all my team mates, the great managers that I had the pleasure of learning from. I also want to thank the fans who have all supported me and given me the strength to succeed."

Beckham earned 115 caps for England, a record for an outfield player, and won the Champions League, six Premier League titles and two FA Cups with Manchester United.

He also won league titles with Real Madrid in Spain, LA Galaxy in the United States and PSG in France.

The London-born Beckham started his career at Manchester United, the club he supported as a boy, making his first team appearance at the age of 17 in 1992.

His trade-mark free kicks and pin-point crosses established him as a key player, while his good looks made him a pin-up for teenage girls and later his marriage to former Spice Girls band member Victoria Adams established him as an off-field celebrity.

While his commercial appeal kept growing and his friendships with Hollywood A listers grew, his main passion of football - and in particular England - held firm.

"To this day, one of my proudest achievements is captaining my country," Beckham said.

"I knew every time I wore the Three Lions shirt, I was not only following in a long line of great players, I was also representing every fan that cared passionately about their country. I'm honoured to represent England both on and off the pitch.

DREAMS REALISED

"If you had told me as a young boy I would have played for and won trophies with my boyhood club Manchester United, proudly captained and played for my country over 100 times and lined up for some of the biggest clubs in the world, I would have told you it was a fantasy. I'm fortunate to have realised those dreams," said Beckham.

After a decade at Old Trafford, where he won six Premier League titles, he left for a four-year spell at Real Madrid where he won La Liga in his final season.

He then crossed the Atlantic in 2007 to become the biggest name football import in the United States, joining LA Galaxy with a mission to raise the profile of the sport in the country.

He won the MLS championship twice with the Galaxy before moving to Paris in January for what turned out to be his last hurrah.

There he demonstrated one of his other sides as his salary was paid to a children's charity in the French capital.

Away from football, underwear modelling and ambassadorial roles, Beckham is known as a family man and thanked those closest to him for what they had done for him.

"I wouldn't have achieved what I have done today without my family," he said.

"I'm grateful for my parents' sacrifice, which made me realise my dreams. I owe everything to Victoria and the kids, who have given me the inspiration and support to play at the highest level for such a long period."

Iran must join Syria talks: Russia- news in bd

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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Iran must take part in a proposed international conference to try to end Syria's civil war, but that Western states wanted to limit the participants and possibly predetermine the outcome of the talks.

     

Conflicting comments from Russia and the West over Iran's role in the possible meeting have added to disagreements which already threaten to derail the conference proposed by Moscow and Washington last week.

"Among some of our Western colleagues, there is a desire to narrow the circle of external participants and begin the process from a very small group of countries in a framework which, in essence, would predetermine the negotiating teams, agenda, and maybe even the outcome of talks," Lavrov said in an interview posted on the Foreign Ministry website on Thursday.

Iran, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has welcomed the proposal, but its desire to participate in a June 2012 meeting on Syria hosted by the United Nations in Geneva was a bone of contention between Washington and Moscow.

"One must not exclude a country like Iran from this process because of geopolitical preferences. It is a very important external player. But there is no agreement on this yet," Lavrov said in the interview given to a Lebanese television station.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States was not ruling anyone in or out of the conference. She said Washington was working with United Nations partners to determine who will attend, acknowledging that Iran's possible participation was part of those discussions.

"We are not ruling in or out," Psaki told reporters. "We have seen the remarks of the Russians. Again, it is not a surprise, they have stressed that publicly in the past, and we will work through the participation with all parties."

She added: "The question of Iran's participation is certainly a part of that, but there are a number of other factors, and at the end of the day creating an environment where this can provide a path to a political transition is the end goal."

Iran is increasingly isolated because of Western sanctions amid fears that it is developing nuclear weapons.

The meeting will aim to include the same global powers that attended the 2012 meeting, but this time would also have representatives of the Syrian government and opposition.

Last year the foreign ministers of the UN Security Council's five permanent members - Russia, the United States, China, France and Britain - all attended the Geneva talks along with Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, Arab League head Nabil Elaraby and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

Prospects Far From Clear

With Syria's factional and sectarian rivalries more entrenched than ever, however, it is far from clear the warring parties are ready to negotiate with each other.

Most opposition figures have ruled out talks unless Assad and his inner circle are excluded from any future transitional government.

Lavrov also said Saudi Arabia, a foe of both Damascus and Tehran and leading backer of the rebel forces which did not participate in last year's meeting, should be present.

He said he would not exclude any political opposition groups, but that "terrorist groups" like the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front had no place at the negotiating table.

He did not mention any of the other rebel groups that operate under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army.

In Paris, French President Francois Hollande told a news conference that despite an urgency to solve the crisis politically, Russia's arms sales to Syria proved that Assad's opponents needed to maintain military pressure.

France and Britain are trying to convince European partners to amend an arms embargo that would allow delivery to Syrian rebels. Russia has been one of Assad's biggest arms suppliers.

"While the Russians are accepting the idea of this conference they continue to give weapons to Bashar al-Assad's regime, so we need to have an attitude that balances that out," Hollande said.

"Iran cannot be part of it because it always tries to mix the Syria debate with the nuclear issue," a French official said.

Surplus fund comes as economic relief- news in bd

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Bangladesh registered a current account balance surplus of over $2.8 billion in the first nine months (July-March) of the current fiscal (2012-13).

This is seen as a comfortable zone for the country with no need to borrow money for regular transactions.

In case of debts, a government has to borrow money (from banks, private sectors or abroad) and repay.

During the same period last year there was a debt of $120 million. The account includes regular export-import and other earnings and expenditures.

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) Research Director Zaid Bakht put the surplus to be an outcome of a good inflow of remittance and reduced trade deficit.

“It is mainly due to the positive inflow of remittance. It seems, the flow will sustain for the remaining three months (of the current fiscal).”

The apex bank’s balance sheet shows a $4.86 billion deficit in trading of goods in the first nine months (of the current fiscal). During the same period last year, the deficit was $6.75 billion.

This year, the deficit is almost 28 percent lower.

Zaid Bakht said, besides savings from imports, export expenditures came down too.

According to the balance sheet (FOB-based), export revenue gained 9.5 percent in the first nine months of the current fiscal compared to the figures in the last fiscal.

During this time (current year), over $19.35 billion was earned as export revenues and $24.22 billion as import expenditure – revenue gained by 9 percent and expenditures reduced by one percent compared to the same period last fiscal year.

However, the deficit in the services sector increased from over $2.19 billion in the first nine months of the previous fiscal to $2.34 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

The services sector deficit is calculated on the basis of insurance, travel and other related fields.

The apex bank said of over $11.02 billion coming in as remittance from July-March in the 2012-13 fiscal. Last year, during the same period, the amount was over $9.44 billion.

Calculating all, there is a $1.57 billion surplus in these nine months. Last year (in the nine months), the excess amounted to $779 million.

Upon analysis, it shows that an increase in foreign aid and investment made a positive impact on the economic health of the government.

During these nine months in the current fiscal, the country received $1.05 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI). During the same nine months in the previous fiscal, the amount was $198 million.

Simultaneously, investment (portfolio investment) in the capital market amounted to $180 million – which was $198 million in the last fiscal.

Overall, the surplus in the current fiscal amounted to over $3.94 billion in the first nine months of the current fiscal. In the last fiscal, there was a debt of $419 million.

Savar victims receive assistance- news in bd

The Prime Minister on Thursday handed out cheques to the families of 100 garment workers who died in the Rana Plaza collapse on April 24.

The Prime Minister distributed the cheques among the family members of 100 victims in her office.

Each family gets Taka two lakh, PM's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said.

In her brief speech on the occasion, the Prime Minister said her government would continue efforts to support the families of the Savar victims.

"I have no word to console the bereaved families. But we will continue our efforts to help them and ease their economic hardship caused by loss of earning family members," the prime minister said.

She said the government has sucessfully rescued those trapped in the building collapse. "We could save lives of around 2500 people though we could not rescue all alive."

Sheikh Hasina said relatives of the bodies which could not be identified would also be given financial assistance after the DNA tests confirmed the deaths..

She said today's assistance was the beginning and more support like housing would be provided to them in future.

Later, a team of power sector headed by PM's Advisor on Energy Affairs Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury donated their one-day salary to the Prime Minister's Relief and Welfare Fund. State minister for Power Enamul Haque and Power Secretary Monwar Islam were present at that time.

BNP to attend Parliament- news in bd

After 83 days of absence, BNP Standing Committee member Moudud Ahmed on Friday said his party was willing to attend the forthcoming parliament sessions.

“We will attend for the sake of people and our needs. But for how many days we will attend the session will depend on the government,” he said.

The Awami League has made Parliament non-functional, Moudud alleged. “Pro-people discussions are not allowed there.”

The budget session, beginning on Jun 3, is the last under the tenure of current government. The BNP will have to join the session if its MPs want to retain their membership.

Under current regulations, parliament memberships are stripped after 90 days of absence at a stretch.

BNP last attended Parliament on Mar 18, the twelfth session, after boycotting 77 consecutive days of proceedings.

The last Parliament session was adjourned sine die on Apr 30 amidst empty opposition benches.

“The opposition are not allowed to speak in parliament. Our leader is slated there. How can we stay if such things won’t happen again?”

“That is why it is up to the behaviour of the government how many days we can stay in the House.”

1 million evacuated, 8 districts without power- news in bd

At least 1 million people living in the coastal areas of Bangladesh have been evacuated to safety as a precaution against Mahasen.

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Power supply in eight districts has been suspended as a preventive measure even before the storm surges.

Rafiqul Islam a control room official for National Disaster Response Coordination Centre (NDRCC) said, almost 1 million people from 15 coastal districts have been moved to safe shelters.

Altogether 9, 66,622 people have been evacuated in these districts.

District wise break up are as follows: Chittagong district 2,83,000, Cox’s Bazar 1,97,577, Noakhali 24,500, Feni 4,000, Laxmipur 4,643, Khulna 40,250, Saatkhira 27,530, Bagerhat 1,10,000, Barisal 3,250, Pirozpur 6,700, Jaholokathi 4,000, Patuakhali 1,00,932, Borguna 64,500, Bhola 29,300 and Chandpur 4,040.

The cyclone with gushing winds upto 90 kmph hit Patualkhali’s Khepupara at around 9am on Thursday, said the Meteorology Department.

Two people were killed in Bhola and Borguna on Wednesday night in heavy storm and rapid winds that swept through the areas before the arrival of Mahasen.

Rafiqul Islam said, “We cannot say how many people have been killed in the cyclone since there is no news of this from district administrations”.

Meanwhile, eight coastal districts are without electricity supply as uprooted trees and broke branches fell on the power lines.

Bangladesh Power Development Board officials said the decision to turn off power in these area was taken as a precautionary measures against Mahasen. The eight districts are- Cox’s Bazaar, Bhola, Patuakhali, Noakhali, Laxmipur, Jhalokathi, Bagerhaat and Borguna.

Babu Nagari on 22-day fresh remand- news in bd

A Dhaka court has placed Hifazat-e Islam Secretary General Junaid Babu Nagari on a 22-day police remand in a murder case and two more cases filed over the May 5 mayhem.

Metropolitan Magistrate Mostafizur Rahman heard a plea from the Motijheel police for a 26-day fresh remand in the three cases on completion of his nine-day remand in police custody in the murder case filed with the Rajagbagh Police Station.

The court allowed the police to grill Nagari, a teacher at Darul Ulum Muinul Alam Madrasa at Hathazari in Chittagong, for four days in the murder case and nine days each in the two other cases filed for explosion of crude bombs and obstructing the law enforcers from performing their duties.

The court also turned down the Hifazat leader’s bail petition in all the three cases.

Nagari was arrested in the city’s Dhakeshwari National Temple area on May 6 night hours after Hifazat chief Shah Ahmad Shafi left Dhaka for Chittagong to avoid arrest.
Thousands of his followers earlier unleashed deadly violence in downtown Dhaka on the previous day, causing widespread damage.

The unruly Hifazat supporters, instigated and bolstered by activists of the Jamaat-e Islami and its student affiliate Islami Chhatra Shibir, vandalised and set fire to police outposts, hundreds of shops, including dozens of religious book shops, and makeshift vending stalls on footpaths around Paltan, Gulistan, Bijoy Nagar, Baitul Mukarram and Bangabandhu National Stadium markets during the mayhem.

A few thousand shops, including those selling jewellery, electronic goods and furniture, were also looted.

Mumbai finish unbeaten at home.

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Mumbai Indians kept their unbeaten home record intact in the IPL after securing a 14-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday.

Mumbai have 22 points from 15 games but they piped Chennai Super Kings to the top of the table by better run-rate.

Put into bat, Mumbai lost eight wickets before setting a 167-run target to Rajasthan. Their opponents responded with 152 for seven in their 20 stipulated overs.

Rajasthan got off to the worst possible start -- losing four wickets in the first five overs for 28 runs.

Stuart Binny (37) and Brad Hodge (39) added 56 runs for the seventh wicket after they were reduced to 58-5 within the first 10 overs.

Earlier, Aditya Tare, who replaced Sachin Tendulkar, scored 59 off 37 deliveries for Mumbai hitting a total of nine boundaries including a six.

U.S. may strip Bangladesh of tariff breaks- news in bd

DHAKA: The Obama administration may strip Bangladesh of import breaks following deadly accidents in the country’s textile industry, another sign of the pressure building on the southeast Asian nation to improve labor conditions, USA-based newspaper The Washington Post reported on Friday.

The move was prompted partly by a fire late last year that killed 112 people and gained momentum after the recent factory collapse that claimed more than 1,100 lives.

Business, labor and advocacy groups are all struggling over how to respond to the April 24 incident — the worst-ever in the textile industry but an event that could produce meaningful change in a nation on its way to becoming the world’s largest garment exporter.

A group of mostly European nations has signed on to a binding inspection program. U.S. firms such as Wal-Mart have declined, but political backlash may be building. On Thursday, a group of senators wrote to major U.S. retailers urging them to reconsider, and the Obama administration is also debating how to get American firms more constructively engaged.

Such agencies as the Department of Labor and the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative, meanwhile, are stepping up their efforts. Labor officials have agreed to fund a program to improve the Bangladeshi government’s currently weak — and some say corruption-ridden — factory inspection system. USTR, meanwhile, is moving forward with plans to exclude Bangladesh from import tax breaks given to goods from developing countries.

U.S. officials said the decision was made last fall to begin pressuring Bangladesh for improvement in its labor conditions, and the process intensified after the recent incidents.

Requests by labor groups to exclude Bangladesh from tariff breaks have been pending for several years, but USTR said in documents published in the federal register that “the lack of progress by the government of Bangladesh in addressing worker rights issues . . . warrants consideration of possible withdrawal” of benefits.

That has gotten the government’s attention. A delegation of top Bangladeshi officials is in Washington this week lobbying to retain the tariff breaks and to convince U.S. leaders in USTR, Labor and the State Department that they are serious about overhauling local labor laws, prosecuting crimes against labor leaders and making other long-sought changes.

“We reached the conclusion that things were not moving forward, and we needed to do something dramatic,” said a U.S. trade official, who was not authorized to speak for the record.

The November fire and last month’s collapse of the Rana Plaza textile center brought into sharp relief one of the core moral questions of globalization: What obligation do the nations that benefit from low-cost goods made in places like Bangladesh have to ensure a safe environment and basic rights for workers? It also highlights the challenge of policing a global economy in which developing nations now absorb massive outside investment each year and corporations rely on ever-more diffuse and distant supply chains to source their goods.