Monday, February 26, 2018

About Masud Rana Series

Masud Rana is an adult spy-thriller series penned by the famous Bangladeshi novelist Qazi Anwar Husain. Anwar Hussain started writing this series from the 1960s and still continuing to date. All Masud Rana books have been published from his own publication house, Sheba Prokashoni. Qazi Anwar Hussain debuted this series with the publication of Dhongsho-pahaar (1965), which is the pioneer of spy thrillers written in Bangla. Dhongsho-pahaar got an immediate audience attention and as such paved the way for creating one of the most enduring Bangladeshi version of a world-class spy character, namely Masud Rana.

Before Anwar Hussain none could even imagine of writing a spy thriller in Bangla. Up to that point, the Bangladeshi book market was stuffed with thrillers and detective stories from the writers of West Bengal, India. However, Hussain’s initiative changed the whole scenario; the audience could experience suspenseful stories without resorting to imported books. The Masud Rana series even got very popular in Kolkata, which was definitely a great achievement for Bangladesh.

Hussain adopted the name for his protagonist from various sources. He took the first name from his friend, lyricist Masud Karim. On the other hand he took the last name from Rana Pratap Singh of the Rajput clan who ruled Mewar, a state in north-western India from 1540 to 1597.

The central character, Masud Rana, a  former major of the Bangladesh Army, currently commander stationed for HUMINT at BCI (Bangladesh Counter Intelligence) HQ, Dhaka. He works under direct command of Major General (retired) Rahat Khan of the fictitious Bangladesh Counter Intelligence (BCI).

According to the series, Rana is also founder and director of an international investigating firm named Rana Agency, which is a front cover for BCI in the form of a private investigation agency.
Masud Rana was born in Dhaka, Bangladesh to Justice Imtiaz Chowdhury and Jahanara Imtiaz Chowdhury. Rana was orphaned at the age of 13 when his parents were killed in a car accident near Chittagong, Bangladesh. After the death of his parents, Rana went to live with his aunt, Ismat ara, in Fort William, Highland. Later, he briefly attends Eton College in his college days.

In the very beginning Anwar Husain planned to mould his novels based on original stories. However, since he had a plan to publish one book per month, he had to switch to adaptation to save time. Masud Rana books have been adapted from renowned thriller writers from all around the world, such as Ian Fleming, Alistair MacLean, James Hadley Chase, Clive Cussler, Frederick Forsyth, etc.

Although Qazi Anwar Hussain started the series, it is widely known that he is not anymore a contributor to this. A group of ghostwriters are employed to write all the new Masud Rana novels.

Over the past few decades Sheba Prokashoni has published considerable number of Masud Rana books. Today we are sharing one of them, which is Leningrad (Masud Rana 111, 112) by name. Hope you will thoroughly enjoy it.

Book Details

Leningrad by Qazi Anwar Hussain (Masud Rana 111, 112)

Book Title: Masud Rana . This book comprises the following two books:
  1. Leningrad  Part-1  (1983)
  2. Leningrad Part-2 (1983)
Writer: Qazi Anwar Hossain
Story: NA
Publisher: Sheba Prokashoni
First Published: 1983
ISBN: 984-16-7111-5
File Format: .pdf
File Size: 14.1 MB

Download this Book

Please click on the following button to get this book in PDF (Portable Document Format) format for free:


Thursday, February 15, 2018

Critical note on John Henry Newman’s “The Idea of a University”

The Idea of a University is a selection from a famous series of lectures given on the occasion of the founding of the Catholic University of Dublin. They were given by John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) in 1852 and 1854. His Preface begins:

“The view taken of a University in these Discourses is the following: that it is a place of teaching universal knowledge. This implies that its object is, on the one hand, intellectual, not moral; and, on the other, that it is the diffusion and extension of knowledge rather than the advancement."
Newman answers the question "What is a University?" in this way:

"It is the place to which a thousand schools make contributions; in which the intellect may safely range and speculate, sure to find its equal in some antagonist activity, and its judge in the tribunal of truth. It is a place where inquiry is pushed forward, discoveries verified and perfected, and rashness rendered innocuous, and error exposed, by the collision of mind with mind, and knowledge with knowledge. It is a seat of wisdom, a light of the world, a minister of the faith, an Alma Mater of the rising generation."

In Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance (1974; New York: Bantam, 1981), Robert M. Pirsig has his philosopher-hero Phaedrus explain:

"The real University, he said, has no specific location. It owns no property, pays no salaries and receives no material dues. The real University is a state of mind. It is that great heritage of rational thought that has been brought down to us through the centuries and which does not exist at any specific location. It's a state of mind which is regenerated throughout the centuries by a body of people who traditionally carry the title of professor, but even that title is not part of the real University. The real University is nothing less than the continuing body of reason itself.

In addition to this state of mind, 'reason,' there's a legal entity which is unfortunately called by the same name but which is quite another thing. This is a nonprofit corporation, a branch of the state with a specific address. It owns property, is capable of paying salaries, of receiving money and of responding to legislative pressures in the process.

 But this second university, the legal corporation, cannot teach, does not generate new knowledge or evaluate ideas. It is not the real University at all. It is just a church building, the setting, the location at which conditions have been made favorable for the real church to exist."

A comparison of the views about a university of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries proves the enduring value of Newman's thought. We can safely say that history has vindicated Newman's position to a great extent and he is still relevant to us.

Wednesday, February 14, 2018

General

Network Type: LTE / UMTS / GSM
Network Band: 2G (GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz), 3G (UMTS 850/900/1900/2100 MHz), 4G (LTE FDD 800/850/900/1800/1900/2100/2600 MHz), (LTETDD 1900/2300/2500/2600 MHz)
Network Speed: GPRS / EDGE/ 3G/ HSPA+/ 4G LTE
Call Mode: Dual Card, Dual Standby 4G Supports in Both SIM Slot
SIM Type: 1 Micro SIM Slot + 1 Nano SIM or SD Card Slot

Walton Primo S6 Infinity

Display Screen Size: 5.5-inch IN-CELL, 2.5D Curved Glass
Display Type: 18:9 Full-View IPS Display
Resolution: HD+ (1440X720), Supports 26M Colors
Touch: Up To 5 Fingers Multi-Touch Support
Protection: No

Hardware & OS

OS: Android V 8.0 Oreo
CPU: 64-Bit 1.3GHz Quad-Core
GPU: Mali-T720
RAM: 3GB LPDDR3
ROM: 32GB Expandable
CPU: 1.3GHz 64-bit Quad-core Processor
Dedicated Card Slot: No, memory extendable via MicroSD card Up to 256GB

Camera

Rear Camera:
BSI 13MP PDAF with LED Flash, 5P Lens, 0.1s PDAF (Phase Detection Auto Focus)
 Aperture: f2.0 Camera
Features: BSI Sensor, Face Detection, Digital Zoom, Self-timer, Auto-Focus, Touch Focus, Touch Shot
Settings & Modes: Exposure Control, Auto Scene, Geo-tagging, Fingerprint Capture, Face Beauty, Slow Motion, Time-lapse, Backlight, Panorama, Filter Mode, GIF, Night Mode, Card Scanner, Mood Photo, Pic Note, Translation
Video Recording: Full HD-1920x1080

Front Camera:
 BSI 8MP with Soft LED Flash, 4P Lens
Aperture: f2.2 Camera Features: BSI Sensor, Face Detection, Digital Zoom, Self-timer, Touch Shot
 Settings & Modes: Exposure Control, Auto Scene, Front Mirror, Geo-tagging, Fingerprint Capture, Face Beauty, Time-lapse, Filter Mode, GIF
Video Recording: HD-1280x720

Connectivity

Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi 802.11, Dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi hotspot
Bluetooth: v4.0
GPS: Yes, With A-GPS
USB: MicroUSB v2.0
OTG: Yes
Radio: FM Radio with RDS
4G/LTE: Yes

Sensors

  • Fingerprint (Rear)
  • Accelerometer
  • Proximity
  • Light
  • Hall Sensor

Power Management

Battery: Li-Polymer 3000mAh Battery

Form Factors

Colors: Golden, Grey, Blue
Dimension: 148.00 x 71.50 x 8.10 mm
Thickness: 8.50 mm
Weight: 146 gram

Special Features

  • OTG with Reverse Charging
  • Notification LED
  • Screen Recording
  • 4G Network Support
  • Most up to date version of Android (8.0 Oreo)

Price

To be announced

Sunday, February 11, 2018

In the 19th century some of the European countries like England, France and Belgium occupied many nations of Asia and Africa. They imposed colonial rule in these countries. Normally by colonization we understand two sides- the oppressor and the oppressed. But we normally never think of people like Orwell who belong to the oppressor class but suffer for their involvement in imperialism. Among the English writers there have been two views on imperialism. There have been writers like Rudyard Kipling who supported colonization whole heartedly. They thought that Europe was highly civilized and it was the duty of the European people to civilize others. And on the other hand idealists like George Orwell hated imperialism as it is against humanity.
 
Orwell’s View on Imperialism in “The Shooting an Elephant”

"I often wondered whether any of the others grasped that I had done it solely to avoid looking a fool." So ends George Orwell's poignant reminiscence of an incident representing the imperialist British in Burma. Orwell, like Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness, presents the moral dilemmas of the imperialist. Orwell served with the Imperialist Police in Burma while it was still part of the British Commonwealth and Empire. His service from 1922 to 1927 burdened him with a sense of guilt about British colonialism as well as a need to make some personal expiation for it. Shooting an Elephant chronicles an incident in which Orwell confronts a moral dilemma and abandons his morals to escape the mockery of the native Burmans. He repeatedly shoots and kills an elephant which had ravaged a bazaar and scared many Burmans even' though "As soon as I saw the elephant I knew with perfect certainty that I ought not to shoot him" But at the same time he knew that he' had to do so. This conflict is present throughout the essay.

Orwell's moral conflict stems from his position as the despised Imperialist in a colonized country. Ironically, however, Orwell claims that during his tenure with the Imperialist Police: "I had already made up my mind that imperialism was an evil thing and the sooner I chucked up my job and got out of it the better. Theoretically - and secretly, of course - I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British". Seeing the "dirty work" of the British Imperialists "oppressed me with an intolerable sense of guilt". There were many people like Orwell who on the hand served the British Imperial force and on the other hand hated the evil deeds they did.

Despite his support for the Burmese, Orwell endures their overwhelming bitterness and hatred because of his British heritage: "the sneering faces . . . of young men that met me everywhere, the insults hooted after me got badly on my nerves". Orwell sums up his feelings of guilt, coupled with his reaction against being hated: "All I knew was that I was stuck between my hatred of the empire I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts who tried to make my job impossible". Although part of him saw the British Raj as tyrannical, "with another part I thought that the greatest joy in the world would be to drive a bayonet into a Buddhist priest's guts". Orwell rationalizes his rage saying, "Feelings like these are the normal by-products of imperialism". Orwell realizes that tyrannical imperialism works against both the imperialists and the natives.

Orwell abandons his morals and kills the elephant to garner the approval of the Burmans. He feels compelled to shoot the animal because the Burmans "did not like me, but with the magical rifle in my hands I was momentarily worth watching". Orwell speaks of himself when he says "it is the condition of [the imperialist's] rule that he shall spend his life in trying to impress the "natives," and so in every crisis he has got to do what the "natives" expect of him. He wears a mask and his face grows to fit it". Orwell's Shooting an Elephant portrays him as suffocating under a mask which he loathes.
Orwell presents the pathetic quality of his whole life: "every white man's life in the East was one long struggle not to be laughed at". Orwell's fears of mockery represent the fears of imperialists of a loss of control. While the British could maintain the economics and politics of their colonies, they could not control the mockery and disdain of the natives. Of the moment when he faced the elephant. Orwell says:

“The sole thought in my .mind was that if anything went wrong those two thousand Burmans would see me pursued, caught, trampled on, and reduced to a grinning corpse." He fears: "And if that happened it was quite probable that some of them would laugh. That would never do". Orwell dreads the mockery of the natives more than losing his own life.

The only way the British government saw fit to control Indian natives was through instilling fear. In implementing that policy of domination, Orwell comes to the ironic realization that it is his own freedom which he has lost. He is a captive of imperialism just as the Burmese are.

In Shooting an Elephant, as Orwell "stood there with the rifle," he "first grasped the hollowness, the futility of the white man's dominion in the East". Orwell tells a story of moral suffering. He sadly reflects on his ironical realizaiton that "when the white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys". Orwell's story evokes pathos for the politically powerful imperialist who suffers for his own tyranny. This story reminds us of the simple fact that imperialism can bring good to no one.

Orwell's Shooting an Elephant marks a sharp contrast with Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Robinson Crusoe thought that he had civilized Friday but Orwell felt that even the oppressor lost his freedom while trying to keep people in chains.

Monday, February 5, 2018

Feminism has been defined as the advocacy of social equality for men and women, in opposition to patriarchy and sexism. It is, historically; a very recent movement. It started in the 1840's with women who opposed slavery. It morphed to include women's suffrage and has developed into the modern feminist movement. The goals of feminism are:
  1. To bring about change towards equality between men and women.
  2. To expand human choice. They propose a means by which each human can develop all the human traits.
  3. Move towards elimination of gender stratification. What this means is that feminists oppose laws and cultural norms, which limit the education, income and job opportunities of women?
  4. End of sexual violence.
  5. Sexual autonomy- what this means is that feminism pushes for women's control over their sexuality and reproduction.
According to the first point, equality of men and women-in the past women were not considered as a separate entity in society. A woman was identified with the title of her husband. They did not have much freedom in expressing their thoughts to others. If we look at the history of Europe then we would see that witch-hunt blazed a trail across Europe over the 15th to 18th centuries. Among the accused witches 75% to 90% were female.

In the past women had no independence in making their own decisions in life. Women were not allowed to make their own choices either in their personal or social life. Her traits were identified by the title of her family, her father, her husband. Whether good or bad, rich of poor, they had to abide by the rules. That were created by the head of their family who was a male. According to the author: "When a woman was liable as she was in the fifteenth century to be beaten and flung about the room if she did not marry the man of her parent's choice"—the female had no chance of developing her own traits or broaden her world.

Feminism in Virginia Woolf’s “Women and Fiction”

In the past the social rules and regulations were against the rights of women's education, income and job opportunities: According to the author: “Law and customs were of course largely responsible for this strange intermission of silence and speech."

In Europe in the fifteenth and sixteenth century women bore the brunt of the accusations of witch craft because they were thought to be morally weaker than men and driven by carnal lust. Weak morals and lusty appetites made them more susceptible to being bent by the Devil's will. This was the former notion about women and sex and in Europe. Women's sexual position was that women would give birth and raise children, and the male child was considered as the symbol of good fortune. If a woman could not give birth to a male child she was physically and mentally tortured by her family and her husband. Young girls also had to go through a lot of mental pressure because they could not freely move or go to any place. If a girl was sexually abused or raped she could not turn for justice as it would create a great scandal for the family and that woman could not marry anyone. There was also no system or law for birth control or abortion. Thus women had no control over their sex life and child birth.

In the essay Women and Fiction Virginia Woolf has particularly emphasized on the contribution of women in literature and their limitations and through revealing their conditions in the past society she tried to detail the needs of a woman writer.

Things have changed a lot since that early time, now women are also working like men and many countries have admitted and preserved their rights. Women are also coming forward in the field of study, science and literature. Some countries have accepted these changes some could not accept it but it is true that women are becoming more and more conscious about their rights and freedom.

Saturday, February 3, 2018

The local mobile phone brand Symphony has released its latest smartphone model Symphony i110. The handset is equipped with a 1.3 GHz Quad Core processor, Mali-T720 GPU, 2 GB of RAM, and 16 GB of ROM. It has a 13 MP back and 8 MP front camera. The best is however the Full Vision HD+ display with 2.5 D IPS Display. 2900 mAh Li-Polymer  battery has been added for better backup. The following are its chief features:

Symphony i110

General

Network Type: 4G (Band 1 & Band 3), 3G (WCDMA 2100), 2G (GSM850/900/1800/1900)
SIM: Dual SIM (Micro)

Hardware & OS

OS: Android Nougat 7.0
CPU: 1.3 GHz Quad Core
GPU: Mali-T720 
RAM: 2GB
ROM: 16GB
Expandable Memory: Up to 64 GB

Display

Type: 2.5 D IPS Display
Size: 5.45”
Resolution: Full Vision HD+
PPI: 295
Colors: 16M

Camera

Back: 13 MP
Front: 8 MP
Flash: Dual Flash
Zoom: Up to 4x
Auto Focus: Yes (Back Camera)
Sensor  IMX (Back Camera), OV (Front Camera)
Features: Face Beauty, Panorama, HDR, Portrait Mode, Professional, Night Mode

Connectivity

Data services: 4G, 3G, 2G
Wi-Fi: Yes
USB: Yes (V2.0)
Bluetooth: Yes (V4.2)
USB Mass Storage: Yes
USB Modem: Yes
OTG: Yes
GPS : Yes

Battery

Capacity: 2900 mAh
Type: Li-Polymer
Standby Time: 128 Hours
Talk time: 22.5 Hours

Form Factors

Dimension: 146.4 X 70 X 8.7 mm
Weight: 160g

Sensors

Fingerprint: Yes
G-Sensor: Yes
Proximity Sensor: Yes
Light Sensor: Yes

Price

Price: Tk. 10,990.00

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