United News of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) in its latest crackdown on online gambling and betting has blocked 331 websites. On September 24, Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar said the government had permanently blocked 6,000 gambling sites. In a notice issued Monday, the telecom regulator BTRC said it also reported gambling and betting apps and links to Google, Facebook, and YouTube for blocking. Read BTRC: Compensation for call drops from Oct 1 "Google blocked 14 gambling-related apps in Bangladesh after receiving more than 150 complaints. The multinational technology company is taking steps to review the other complaints," the telecom watchdog said. The BTRC reported 27 links to Facebook and 69 to YouTube for gambling and betting lessons. The two social media giants blocked 17 links each and are reviewing the rest. Credit or debit cards are required to buy game chips. As it has become easier to get credit or debit cards in Bangladesh, many have turned to online gambling or betting. Taking advantage of this, criminal groups are siphoning off crores of taka from Bangladesh, the BTRC said. Read BTRC launches new unlimited data packages The country's laws do not allow gambling and betting in Bangladesh. However, completing registration through credit or debit cards or mobile financial services, many are getting involved in online gambling or betting through diverse apps or websites during domestic or international football, cricket, tennis, and other matches after.  Shutting down the gambling and betting websites in Bangladesh, BTRC aims to continue Bangladesh government's sucess in removing harmful contents from the virtual world.

News that Elon Musk has agreed after all to proceed with his $44 billion deal to buy Twitter may have felt like a stunning surprise from the brash billionaire who loves to shock. It sent shares of the social media platform soaring and stoked alarm among some media watchdogs and civil rights groups worried about what kind of free speech would flourish on Twitter under Musk’s vision. But it wasn’t surprising to observers of the monthslong rollercoaster of the Twitter vs. Musk legal battle, as Twitter tried to compel the world’s richest man to consummate the buyout he had tried to back out of. In the months since his initial offer to buy Twitter in April, Musk faced a huge legal challenge. A combination of gambles or missteps by Musk and potential advantages that didn’t pan out made his hand appear weak in the trial looming in less than two weeks in Chancery Court in Delaware. He is setting as a condition for completing the deal that the trial being put on hold. More immediately, Musk faced a deposition in the case by Twitter’s attorneys starting Thursday. What gambits, challenges and missed advantages came along the way? WHAT WAS MUSK’S MAIN ARGUMENT FOR BACKING OUT OF BUYING TWITTER? Musk grounded his argument largely on the allegation that Twitter vastly misrepresented how it measures the magnitude of “spam bot” accounts that are useless to advertisers. But Chancellor Kathaleen St. Jude McCormick, the court’s head judge, apparently wasn’t buying it. As the two sides presented evidence prior to the trial, the judge appeared to focus narrowly in line with the court’s mandate: on the merger agreement between Musk and Twitter, and whether anything had changed since it was signed in April that would justify terminating the deal. A former Twitter head of security, fired early this year and turned whistleblower, appeared to bolster Musk’s argument. Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, a respected cybersecurity expert, filed complaints in July with federal regulators and the Justice Department alleging that Twitter misled regulators about its efforts to control millions of spam accounts as well as its cyber defenses. But help to Musk from Zatko’s disclosures was a “longshot,” said Brian Quinn, a professor at Boston College Law School, and in the end, “it didn’t really change the (legal) landscape in any significant way.” DID MUSK’S APPROACH TO BUYING TWITTER HURT OR HELP HIS CASE? “He was fairly cavalier,” Quinn said. Recently released text messages between Musk and others show jubilation over Musk taking a large stake in Twitter and joining its board. It wasn’t until after he signed the merger agreement in late April that he undertook what’s called due diligence, close inspection, regarding the company and starting lodging complaints about bots, Quinn noted. That may not have impressed the judge as the right approach for someone buying a major company. WHY DID MUSK CHANGE HIS MIND NOW? In addition to the trial looming and his deposition scheduled for Thursday, Musk faced a ticking meter of potential rising interest costs. If he lost the trial, the judge could not only force him to close the deal but also could impose interest payments that would have increased its cost. Experts say the interest likely started piling up mid-September. But of course the deal isn’t done yet, and there are legal hoops yet to be jumped through. Given Musk’s track record and volatility, it would be a mistake to assume that it’s tied up in a bow.

The newest humanoid robot prototype – created by tech tycoon Elon Musk’s Tesla electric car firm – has been unveiled. At a Silicon Valley event, “Optimus”, the robot, made an appearance on stage and raised its knees while waving to the crowd, BBC reports. Musk stated that although the robot was still under development, it might be available for purchase in a few years. According to company experts, mass-market robots from Tesla will be evaluated by performing tasks in the auto factories. During the annual Tesla AI Day presentation, the prototype was brought onto the stage. A video showing Optimus doing straightforward duties, like watering plants, carrying boxes, and lifting metal bars, was displayed to the audience, the BBC report says. According to Musk, the robots would be mass produced in three to five years at less than $20,000. The head of Tesla predicted “a future of abundance.” He went on to say, “It really is a fundamental transformation of civilization as we know it.” AI researcher Filip Piekniewski, however, was not impressed by the demo and tweeted it was “next level cringeworthy” and a “complete and utter scam,” Associated press reported. Robotics expert Cynthia Yeung tweeted: “None of this is cutting edge.” “Hire some PhDs and go to some robotics conferences @Tesla.”    

Mobile phone users will have to be compensated for call drops from October 1. That's the curt message from Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to telecom companies in this country. According to new BTRC guidelines issued on Monday, mobile phone operators will have to compensate their customers by refunding talk time for call drops with effect from October. Read: Govt has permanently blocked 22,000 porn sites and 6,000 gambling sites: Mustafa Jabbar The new guidelines were unveiled at a press briefing at the regulator's headquarters by BTRC chairman Shyam Sunder Sikder and Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar who was there as the chief guest. BTRC's New Guidelines: A customer can get information about the previous day/week/month's net call drop amount through common USSD code (*121*765#) -- applicable for all mobile phone operators -- from October 1. Mobile operators will compensate their subscribers with talk time of three pulses (30 seconds) for each call drop in case of 1st and 2nd call drops daily and four pulses (40 seconds) for each call drop in case of subsequent 3rd to 7th call drops as "financial and emotional loss." Read No more than 15 SIM cards under 1 NID: BTRC to deactivate extras Talk time refunded as compensation for call drops will be usable from the first call (00:00 hours) of the next day, which means no amount can be deducted from the customer's account for the call before the refunded talk time is fully utilised. The customer should be informed within the next 24 hours through SMSes about the talk time refunded as a result of call drops. An operator can refund the call minutes from that day of the occurrence of call drop if it wishes. A maximum period of 15 days will be applicable for the usage of the refunded talk time of the call drop. Read BTRC launches new unlimited data packages "If a customer receives a service by paying money, the operator should ensure proper service," Mustafa Jabbar said. “If telecom companies invest in telecommunications infrastructure rather than compensating customers, call drop rates will decrease,” he added.

TikTok could face a 27 million-pound ($29 million) fine in the U.K. over a possible breach of U.K. data protection law by failing to protect children’s privacy when they are using the video-sharing platform. The U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office said Monday that it has issued the social media company a legal document that precedes a potential fine. It said TikTok may have processed the data of children under 13 without appropriate parental consent, and processed “special category data” without legal grounds to do so. The commissioner said “special category data” included ethnic and racial origin, political opinions, religious beliefs and sexual orientation. It also said TikTok may have failed to provide transparent, easily understood information to its users. The legal document covered the period from May 2018 to July 2020. Information Commissioner John Edwards said the body’s provisional view was that TikTok “fell short” of providing proper data privacy protections. The body said its findings are not final and that it will consider any representations from TikTok before making a final decision. “While we respect the ICO’s role in safeguarding privacy in the U.K., we disagree with the preliminary views expressed and intend to formally respond to the ICO,” said a statement released by TikTok, which is owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. Britain’s government is pushing through its online safety bill, which requires technology companies to protect children from harmful content. The Information Commissioner’s Office said it has six other ongoing investigations into companies that do not appear to have taken their responsibilities around child safety seriously enough.

US technology giant Apple has said it started assembling its iPhone 14 in India, world's second-largest smartphone market, to shift some production away from China. Apple partner Foxconn, which makes the majority of the world's iPhones, is producing the device at its Sriperumbudur factory near Chennai, marking the first time the company has shifted production from China to India this quickly after the launch of a new iPhone. The Cupertino-based giant began locally assembling smartphones in India in 2017, but those were older models. The marquee device will go on sale in India later this year, according to TechCrunch. JPMorgan said this month that Apple will move 5 percent of its global iPhone 14 production to India by late 2022, and could move 25 percent of its entire iPhone production line to the country by 2025. As part of their "China-plus one" or "China-plus two" strategy, major companies are now looking at India. Apple, which still relies heavily on China for the majority of iPhone production, is seeking alternatives as Xi Jinping's administration clashes with the US government and imposes lockdowns, hurting economic activities. Read: Price Drop: Is it the right time to buy an iPhone 13? The presence of the foreign production giants, coupled with ample labour resources and competitive labour costs, make India a desirable location, JP Morgan said. Also, the country has attracted investments from Apple manufacturing partners Foxconn and Wistron in recent years by offering lucrative subsidies. Many hope Apple will make its handsets affordable in India as the company expands its manufacturing capacity in the country. The base iPhone 14 model, which is priced at $799 in the US, costs 79,900 Indian rupees ($980); the entry iPhone Pro Max model costs $1,717 in India, compared to its $1,099 sticker price in the US, according to TechCrunch.    

Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar today said that robotics, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) will shape the future. The minister said this while attending a policy dialogue on safe use of technology in establishing peace and extending democracy, arranged by Bangladesh Enterprise Institute at a Dhaka hotel. Terming internet connectivity as mandatory for the digital age, Jabbar said that the government has taken up a project to bring the entire country under high speed internet. Read: No more than 15 SIM cards under 1 NID: BTRC to deactivate extras “To face the challenges posed by digital technology, first we need to eliminate digital divide. Everyone has to be digitally competent to enjoy the benefits of the upcoming technology-based world. If you keep your child away from the digital spheres, he/she will lag behind,” said Jabbar. Acknowledging that there are both good and bad sides of digital technology, the minister said that digital technology won’t have adverse impact on the state, society and people if everyone is also aware and cautious of its dark side. “The government has permanently blocked a total of 22,000 porn sites and 6,000 gambling sites. We’ve also achieved great success in removing harmful content from the virtual world through improving our ties with social media giants like Facebook and others. But such progress won’t be of any use if the consumers of digital technologies don’t practice restraint, which can only be done through digital literacy,” added Jabbar. Read Hijab protests: US takes action to increase Iranians’ access to internet The dialogue was presided over by Ambassador Humayun Kabir. Mezbah Uddin, Secretary of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Charles Whiteley, Head of Delegations of the European Union (EU), among others, spoke at the event.

Walton Digi-Tech Industries has brought two new models of affordable mechanical keyboards.  Modelled as KM02 and KM03, the keyboards have advanced features, according to a media statement. Released in black and grey, KM02 and KM03 have 104 keys among which 25 are anti-ghost keys.  Read Mechanical Keyboard Buying Guide with the Price Range in Bangladesh The keyboards' special features include a backlight breathing function, 50 million times button life, US layout, USB interface, mechanical axis button, blue switch, and 1.5M exposed head USB cable.  Priced at Tk2,050 and Tk2,250, the new Walton mechanical keyboards can be purchased at Tk1,742 BDT and Tk1,912 from E-Plaza.  Read Asus ROG Phone 6D Review: Worth the price tag?

TikTok has brought a dual camera feature, TikTok Now, to enable its users to share their "most authentic moments with the people who matter the most" using their devices' front and back cameras. Users will receive a daily prompt to capture a 10-second video or a static photo to quickly and easily share what they are up to. TikTok Now can be accessed from both TikTok and the new TikTok Now app. In some countries, TikTok Now may be available within TikTok, downloadable as a new TikTok Now app, or available in both formats. TikTok will continue to enhance the user experience as it learns more about how the TikTok community embraces this new format. In TikTok Now, creators are in control of deciding who can view or engage with their content. They can block others and choose which comments appear on their content. Read: Tap teams up with Sonali Bank to launch inter-banking transaction services And if someone comes across behaviour they believe may violate the community guidelines, they can report it for review. If someone under the age of 16 creates an account to use the TikTok Now app, just like TikTok, their account will be private by default. Those under the age of 18 will not be able to share their content on the "explore" feed. People aged between 13 and 15 will have commenting options limited to "friends only."  

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is going to deactivate additional SIM (subscriber identity module) cards of those who have more than 15 registered under a national identity (NID) card soon. As per the recent BTRC decision, a subscriber is allowed to register maximum 15 SIM cards against his/her NID, BTRC Vice Chairman Subrata Roy Maitra told UNB today. Read:BTRC places indefinite suspension on GP SIM card sale Additional SIM cards are registered against one NID – analogue and digital, he said. The telecom regulator has urged subscribers to deactivate additional SIM cards against one NID from the respective customer care centres. Read: BTRC launches new unlimited data packages Besides, BTRC is collecting data of such SIM cards registered with one NID to take action. On June 20, 2016, BTRC decided that 20 SIM cards can be registered against one NID card and later it reduced the number to five on August, 2017. On October 24, 2017, the commission revised its decision and set the number at 15.