Thursday, August 24, 2006
Apple to pay $100 mln to Creative in settlement
Apple to pay $100 mln to Creative in settlement: "SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Computer Inc. said on Wednesday it will pay $100 million to Creative Technology Ltd. to settle all patent litigation over Apple's popular iPod music player. "
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Ground Realities
Secularism and this "moderate Muslim" state
Syed Badrul Ahsan
Law Minister Moudud Ahmed surprised us the other day when he informed the country that the people of Bangladesh had never accepted secularism as a principle of state. And then he surprised us even more. The secularism practised in Bangladesh in the early years of freedom was, said he, a negation of religion.
Now, while we remain quite aware of the niche Moudud Ahmed has carved for himself in national politics since the time of General Ziaur Rahman through some of his swift changes in political loyalty, we surely did not expect him to do, or say, certain things that are simply not true.
The minister, in his younger days, was close to the Awami League leadership of the time. And he was one of the millions of people in this country who watched the evolution of Bengali politics through the 1960s and well into the 1970s. It is, of course, quite normal for a political being to part company with his political peers and go looking for new places in the sun. Moudud Ahmed has done that. But when such changes in position lead to a total repudiation of history it is a whole society that goes through indescribable pain. More.....
Syed Badrul Ahsan
Law Minister Moudud Ahmed surprised us the other day when he informed the country that the people of Bangladesh had never accepted secularism as a principle of state. And then he surprised us even more. The secularism practised in Bangladesh in the early years of freedom was, said he, a negation of religion.
Now, while we remain quite aware of the niche Moudud Ahmed has carved for himself in national politics since the time of General Ziaur Rahman through some of his swift changes in political loyalty, we surely did not expect him to do, or say, certain things that are simply not true.
The minister, in his younger days, was close to the Awami League leadership of the time. And he was one of the millions of people in this country who watched the evolution of Bengali politics through the 1960s and well into the 1970s. It is, of course, quite normal for a political being to part company with his political peers and go looking for new places in the sun. Moudud Ahmed has done that. But when such changes in position lead to a total repudiation of history it is a whole society that goes through indescribable pain. More.....
Indian music's soulful maestro
Indian music's soulful maestro
Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India's most prolific musicians, gaining worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades. He was credited with helping the shehnai - a type of wind instrument - attain a higher status in Indian classical music and taking it to a world stage. It had earlier considered to be an accompanying instrument. In 2001, he was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. The shehnai is traditionally played at Indian weddings and ceremonies and its high-pitched notes and heart-tugging sound are considered auspicious.
A devout Muslim, Khan was a symbol of India's religious pluralism and a symbol of harmony for people of different faiths. He was often seen playing at various temples and on the banks of the holy river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, his home town. He was particularly proud of playing outside the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi..More...
Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India's most prolific musicians, gaining worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades. He was credited with helping the shehnai - a type of wind instrument - attain a higher status in Indian classical music and taking it to a world stage. It had earlier considered to be an accompanying instrument. In 2001, he was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. The shehnai is traditionally played at Indian weddings and ceremonies and its high-pitched notes and heart-tugging sound are considered auspicious.
A devout Muslim, Khan was a symbol of India's religious pluralism and a symbol of harmony for people of different faiths. He was often seen playing at various temples and on the banks of the holy river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, his home town. He was particularly proud of playing outside the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi..More...
Indian music's soulful maestro
Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India's most prolific musicians, gaining worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades. He was credited with helping the shehnai - a type of wind instrument - attain a higher status in Indian classical music and taking it to a world stage. It had earlier considered to be an accompanying instrument. In 2001, he was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. The shehnai is traditionally played at Indian weddings and ceremonies and its high-pitched notes and heart-tugging sound are considered auspicious.
A devout Muslim, Khan was a symbol of India's religious pluralism and a symbol of harmony for people of different faiths. He was often seen playing at various temples and on the banks of the holy river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, his home town. He was particularly proud of playing outside the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi..More...
Ustad Bismillah Khan was one of India's most prolific musicians, gaining worldwide acclaim for playing the shehnai for more than eight decades. He was credited with helping the shehnai - a type of wind instrument - attain a higher status in Indian classical music and taking it to a world stage. It had earlier considered to be an accompanying instrument. In 2001, he was awarded India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. The shehnai is traditionally played at Indian weddings and ceremonies and its high-pitched notes and heart-tugging sound are considered auspicious.
A devout Muslim, Khan was a symbol of India's religious pluralism and a symbol of harmony for people of different faiths. He was often seen playing at various temples and on the banks of the holy river Ganges in the northern Indian city of Varanasi, his home town. He was particularly proud of playing outside the famous Vishwanath temple in Varanasi..More...
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Shamsur Rahaman no more..
Shamsur Rahman no more..........
Rafiq Hasan, Friday, August, 18, 2006
The Daily Star.
Shamsur Rahman has gone leaving the whole nation in a deep shock. The eminent poet breathed his last at 6:30pm at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMUH) yesterday. Dr Iqbal Ahmed Chowdhury, assistant professor of BSMMUH, formally declared the country's top poet dead at about 6:45pm. The poet died as his blood pressure fell to the lowest level, he told newsmen at the hospital. More......
Rafiq Hasan, Friday, August, 18, 2006
The Daily Star.
"I'll soon be gone, quite alone/And quietly, taking none of you along/On this aimless journey. Useless/To insist, I must leave you all behind. No, I'll take nothing at all/On this solitary journey...", wrote Shamsur Rahman in his poem "Before the Journey".
Shamsur Rahman has gone leaving the whole nation in a deep shock. The eminent poet breathed his last at 6:30pm at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital (BSMMUH) yesterday. Dr Iqbal Ahmed Chowdhury, assistant professor of BSMMUH, formally declared the country's top poet dead at about 6:45pm. The poet died as his blood pressure fell to the lowest level, he told newsmen at the hospital. More......
Asghari Bai, legendary Dhrupad exponenent
OutLook India
Magazine Jan 29, 1997
There is no music in the air. Only hunger pangs. Only grim complaints. And the melodious voice that once held millions in thrall, is hoarse with anger. "I want the sarkar to take back my Padma Shri! I'll barter it for two square meals a day. I've discovered my family can't lick it when they're starving!"These days, songs rarely touch the lips of Asghari Bai, the living legend of Dhrupad and the country's only woman vocalist in this dying discipline. The unlettered maestro doesn't know of the books written on her. Nor is she interested in any of the films made on her. She'd sell them all, she says, to buy a decent lifestyle. Dismissing the Padma Shri, the Tansen and the Shikhar Samman as dusty memorabilia from happier times, the 86-year-old says she now finds little to sing about. "Neglected souls can't have singing voices," she pronounces with a sad shake of her grey head. Then, ire wins over resignation, and she turns prophetic: "Beware, I tell you. Art will not thrive in a country that forgets its artistes!" More....
Magazine Jan 29, 1997
Spotlight: A Song Of Penury Bitter and angry, legendary Dhrupad exponent Asghari Bai would sell all her honours for two square meals a day SOMA WADHWA
There is no music in the air. Only hunger pangs. Only grim complaints. And the melodious voice that once held millions in thrall, is hoarse with anger. "I want the sarkar to take back my Padma Shri! I'll barter it for two square meals a day. I've discovered my family can't lick it when they're starving!"These days, songs rarely touch the lips of Asghari Bai, the living legend of Dhrupad and the country's only woman vocalist in this dying discipline. The unlettered maestro doesn't know of the books written on her. Nor is she interested in any of the films made on her. She'd sell them all, she says, to buy a decent lifestyle. Dismissing the Padma Shri, the Tansen and the Shikhar Samman as dusty memorabilia from happier times, the 86-year-old says she now finds little to sing about. "Neglected souls can't have singing voices," she pronounces with a sad shake of her grey head. Then, ire wins over resignation, and she turns prophetic: "Beware, I tell you. Art will not thrive in a country that forgets its artistes!" More....
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
India At Puberty
OutlookIndia
Magazine Aug 21, 2006 column
India At Puberty Under the agreeable chaos of democracy lies a silence of contradictions CHRISTOPHE JAFFRELOT
Pros
The rule of law has become more resilient
Freedom of expression has been preserved in the media
Political power has become more deconcentrated
The plebeians now have a stake in the power structure
Cons
The middle class isn't interested in voting
Major decisions taken by a handful of experts
Secularism has become a word of the past
Promotion of democracy abroad no longer a concern
***
For decades since 1947, India's claim to be the world's largest democracy was flawed by failures pertaining to mass poverty and illiteracy. Today, though, these failures are not cited to contest that India is a democratic country, simply because of its achievements in other areas—which doesn't mean that India's democracy is doing just fine. More.....
Magazine Aug 21, 2006 column
India At Puberty Under the agreeable chaos of democracy lies a silence of contradictions CHRISTOPHE JAFFRELOT
Pros
The rule of law has become more resilient
Freedom of expression has been preserved in the media
Political power has become more deconcentrated
The plebeians now have a stake in the power structure
Cons
The middle class isn't interested in voting
Major decisions taken by a handful of experts
Secularism has become a word of the past
Promotion of democracy abroad no longer a concern
***
For decades since 1947, India's claim to be the world's largest democracy was flawed by failures pertaining to mass poverty and illiteracy. Today, though, these failures are not cited to contest that India is a democratic country, simply because of its achievements in other areas—which doesn't mean that India's democracy is doing just fine. More.....
Wag The Dog
Web Aug 12, 2006 Opinion
Wag The Dog?
Outlook India
Skepticism mounts in Pakistan that the whole "Al Qaeda plan discovery" is a coordinated attempt by the authorities of the UK and the US, with the collusion of the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment, to divert attention from the growing public criticism of their backing for Israel's military operations in Lebanon. B. RAMAN
There is considerable skepticism in informed circles in Pakistan, including the police, over claims being made by the British, US and Pakistani authorities of having thwarted a planned Al Qaeda terrorist strike of catastrophic potential by blowing up 10 US-bound aircraft simultaneously. They suspect that it is a co-ordinated attempt by the authorities of the UK and the US, with the collusion of the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment, to divert attention from the growing public criticism of their backing for Israel's military operations in the Lebanon.
They give the following arguments in support of their skepticism:
To blow up 10 aircraft simultaneously by smuggling liquid explosives inside and assembling an improvised explosive device (ISD) inside would have required at least two suicide volunteers per aircraft, thus making a total of at least 20. Plus, they would have required at least 10 or more support volunteers to back them up. Thus, according to them, an operation of this type would have required a network of at least 50 volunteers whereas the British have arrested only 24 and say that they have arrested all those who were involved. More....
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Gunter Grass SS role
Grass SS role stirs indignation
By Jan Repa Central Europe analyst, BBC News
The admission by Nobel prize-winning novelist Guenter Grass that he served in the notorious Waffen SS during World War II has sent shockwaves through Germany and neighbouring Poland.
The Waffen SS was the combat arm of Hitler's dreaded SS paramilitary force, which was responsible for atrocities throughout Nazi-occupied Europe.
Guenter Grass was born in the northern port city of Danzig - now Polish Gdansk - in 1927.
His father was German, his mother Kashubian - a member of a small Baltic community which, depending on your point of view, speaks a peculiar Polish dialect or a distinct Slav language.
By Jan Repa Central Europe analyst, BBC News
The admission by Nobel prize-winning novelist Guenter Grass that he served in the notorious Waffen SS during World War II has sent shockwaves through Germany and neighbouring Poland.
The Waffen SS was the combat arm of Hitler's dreaded SS paramilitary force, which was responsible for atrocities throughout Nazi-occupied Europe.
Guenter Grass was born in the northern port city of Danzig - now Polish Gdansk - in 1927.
His father was German, his mother Kashubian - a member of a small Baltic community which, depending on your point of view, speaks a peculiar Polish dialect or a distinct Slav language.
Collateral Damage
The contemporary barbarism of air power
Collateral damage
Collateral damage
==========
Bombing civilians from the air is not yet a century old as a military strategy, and has never yet achieved its implicit aim of destroying a society’s will to resist. Yet the world has come to regard air power as the normal way of waging war, and not as the ineffective barbarity it really is.
By Tom Engelhardt
Bombing civilians from the air is not yet a century old as a military strategy, and has never yet achieved its implicit aim of destroying a society’s will to resist. Yet the world has come to regard air power as the normal way of waging war, and not as the ineffective barbarity it really is.
By Tom Engelhardt
===========
Barbarism seems an obvious enough category. Ordinarily in our world, the barbarians are them. They act in ways that seem unimaginably primitive and brutal to us. They kidnap or capture someone, American or Iraqi, and cut off his head. Now, isn’t that the definition of barbaric? Who does that any more? The eighth century, or maybe the word “medieval” - anyway, some brutal past time - comes to mind immediately, and to the mass mind of our media even faster. More.......
Barbarism seems an obvious enough category. Ordinarily in our world, the barbarians are them. They act in ways that seem unimaginably primitive and brutal to us. They kidnap or capture someone, American or Iraqi, and cut off his head. Now, isn’t that the definition of barbaric? Who does that any more? The eighth century, or maybe the word “medieval” - anyway, some brutal past time - comes to mind immediately, and to the mass mind of our media even faster. More.......
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
India PM apologises to Jehamgir
India PM apologises to Jehangir Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has apologised to Pakistani human rights activist Asma Jehangir for an "inconvenient" security check.
He was speaking after Delhi police searched her hotel room, and the rooms of two other Pakistani delegates taking part in a human rights conference.
Ms Jehangir was reported to be upset over the conduct of the policemen.
The PM's spokesman said that the search was a routine exercise carried out in Delhi because of a high security alert.
The spokesman said the alert was in advance of India's independence day celebrations on 15 August.
Ms Jehangir told The Hindu newspaper that police entered her room and demanded to know the identity of guests who were in there with her.
"They went through my bags and cupboard... They said it was because of 15 August," she told the newspaper. More....
He was speaking after Delhi police searched her hotel room, and the rooms of two other Pakistani delegates taking part in a human rights conference.
Ms Jehangir was reported to be upset over the conduct of the policemen.
The PM's spokesman said that the search was a routine exercise carried out in Delhi because of a high security alert.
The spokesman said the alert was in advance of India's independence day celebrations on 15 August.
Ms Jehangir told The Hindu newspaper that police entered her room and demanded to know the identity of guests who were in there with her.
"They went through my bags and cupboard... They said it was because of 15 August," she told the newspaper. More....
Monday, August 07, 2006
Meeting Pakistan's Taleban Chief
Meeting Pakistan's Taleban chief
By Aamer Ahmed Khan BBC News, South Waziristan, Pakistan
Not many outside Pakistan's troubled tribal zone of Waziristan along the country's north-western border with Afghanistan will be familiar with the name of Haji Omar.
But in Waziristan, it is a name that is commanding increasing respect and awe with every passing day.
Haji Omar is the amir (chief) of the Pakistani Taleban that have risen over the last year to take control of large parts of Waziristan.
His writ runs virtually unchallenged in South Waziristan and he seems confident that his commanders will soon establish Taleban control in North Waziristan as well.
'Al-Qaeda ally'
Meeting him in Wana, South Waziristan's largest town, was not exactly what I had expected when I sought an appointment with him through an intermediary in Peshawar.
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