United News of Bangladesh

The European Space Agency's director general says it's crucial to rebuild Europe's access to space following the botched launch of a European rocket carrying two Earth observation satellites last year and the delayed introduction of the Ariane 6 launcher. In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Josef Aschbacher said his “priority is to reinstall access to space, guaranteed access to space for Europe. And I will work on that in all dimensions." Until then, he said, Europe must look at alternative solutions outside the continent — including Elon Musk’s SpaceX. Aschbacher said the ESA is working at identifying the causes of the failure of the Vega-C rocket launch in French Guiana, with the results of the investigation expected in less than a month. The launch of Vega C was meant to take two Earth observation satellites made by Airbus, Pleiades Neo 5 and 6, into orbit. The satellites would have been part of a constellation capable of taking images of any point on the globe with a resolution of 30 centimeters (11.8 inches). “Having three failures in two years is not good," Aschbacher said, referring to previous Vega misfirings. “And this is something where we really need to look into how we need to change some of the practices or quality management processes that we have in place in order to make sure when Vega C gets back on the launchpad it is safe, but also as quick as possible." Meanwhile, with Ariane 5 preparing to retire, the delayed launch of Ariane 6 is further denting Europe’s capacity to send satellites into space amid fierce competition from SpaceX and other rocket programs in the U.S. and China. Read more: Bangladesh, France keen to build partnership in aviation, space, aerospace technology The maiden flight of the medium-to-heavy Ariane 6 rocket was planned for mid-2020 but following several delays its first launch is not expected before the fourth quarter of this year. “Of course, top priority is getting Ariane 6 onto the launchpad," Aschbacher said. “We still have some technical issues to resolve and I am not hiding them. They are serious, and we have to really work through." In addition, the Russian space agency has terminated Soyuz launches at the European spaceport in French Guiana, in retaliation for ESA's decision to implement sanctions imposed by its members on Russia over its war in Ukraine, leaving Europe with even fewer options. Until proper access to space is regained, Aschbacher said Europe needs to look at alternative solutions outside the continent. “Could be SpaceX, could also be somebody else," he said. “We may need an interim solution in the next one, or maybe maximum two years." Asked about Musk's competition, Aschbacher said “he is putting facts on the table which you have to take into account in how you develop." Read more: Next US moon landing will be by private companies, not NASA “And in a way, it’s also helping us in our argumentation because you have one clear player who is developing," he added. “In some domains we have to catch up. ... But I think it also energizes and reinforces our engineers and our scientists to make sure that we have good solutions to make progress on this. So overall, I think this really helps the space sector altogether."

The Digital Bangladesh Mela 2023 will be inaugurated Thursday at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the capital's Agargaon. This three-day fair will introduce the latest innovations and future technological trends with industry partners and visitors. The Huawei pavilion will be equipped with multiple breakthrough innovations in different frontiers like 5.5G, enterprise business solutions, Huawei cloud, and digital power. Read more: Specialised knowledge-sharing centre: Huawei Bangladesh Academy launched in Dhaka Demo sites of smart ports and digital power solutions will also be available for the audience.  Apart from these, the visitors can join quizzes every two hours and win attractive prizes. Huawei Bangladesh Facebook page has also announced a separate quiz campaign.  Majian, chief technical officer of Huawei Bangladesh, said: "Our pavilion, themed 'Stride to 5.5G,' will bring diverse cutting-edge technologies to the fair,  including 5.5G, robotics, smart port, smart education, Huawei Solar PV solution, Cloud service and more."

Bijoy keyboard software installation in all android phones not mandatory, said Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar on Wednesday. Amid criticism over the matter, the minister clarified this while talking to reporters on the 2nd day of Deputy Commissioners Conference 2023 at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the capital. Read more: 'Environment for 5G rollout already in place': Mustafa Jabbar “I have an explanation that Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has used a word – ‘Mandatory’. This term is misleading,” said the minister. One can install, uninstall, remove and reinstall any software on any Android phone. So there is no need to use the word ‘mandatory’, he  said. Jabbar said, “What we said that the mobile phone set manufacturers or importers will provide software to facilitate Bangla writing. Whether a user uses the software or not is entirely up to him/her.” Regarding the internet service, he said the 4G service has been provided in more than 98 percent area of the country. “Now we are working with 5G which is 10 times more powerful than 4G.” Read more: Mustafa Jabbar wants fixed rate for internet packages across operators Besides, there are more than 10 crore mobile internet subscribers and some fixed internet subscribers too, he said. “We should give more importance to mobile internet.” “But we are not able to install towers for network in different parts of the country. Some people spread propaganda that towers are emitting radiation. We have tested and found that these are propaganda. People should not obstruct the towers installation work.”

More landlords are taking Twitter to court over unpaid rent, this time at the social media company’s headquarters in San Francisco and its British offices — the latest sign that owner Elon Musk's extreme cost-cutting strategy includes simply not paying the bills. Twitter is facing a lawsuit over allegations it failed to pay rent for its head office, according to California court documents. The owner of its premises in central London, meanwhile, said it's taking the company to court over rental debt. Musk is slashing costs after his $44 billion deal last year to buy Twitter left the company on the hook for about $1 billion in annual interest payments. Twitter has already been taken to court this month for falling behind on rent at another San Francisco office. It's the latest legal headache for Musk, who has been testifying in recent days in a separate class-action lawsuit from Tesla investors alleging his 2017 tweet misled them about funding to take the electric carmaker private. The billionaire Tesla CEO's cost-cutting strategy for Twitter also has included gutting the company’s workforce and auctioning off memorabilia and fancy office furniture. Twitter did not respond to a request for comment. Its communications department was shut down after Musk's acquisition. The owner of Twitter's San Francisco headquarters, located at 1355 Market St., is suing the company after it failed to make its latest monthly rent payment, according to documents filed Friday with the Superior Court of California. The company, Sri Nine Market Square LLC, said Twitter “breached the Lease by failing to pay monthly rent and additional rent” for January amounting to $3.4 million. Twitter, which has had a lease for three floors in the building since 2011, had fallen behind on a similar amount of rent in December, which Sri Nine Market Square recouped from a letter of credit that Twitter had put up as a security deposit, the filing said. Read more: 'Entering Twitter HQ - let that sink in!': Musk tweets After using those funds, the landlord says Twitter still owes $3.16 million in unpaid rent and is seeking late fees and interest plus attorneys’ fees. The social media company still occupies the property, the landlord said. In Britain, the Crown Estate has started court proceedings against Twitter after the company fell behind on rent at its offices near London's famed Piccadilly Circus. The Crown Estate, which owns some of the priciest real estate in central London, said it took action following previous contact with Twitter over the unpaid rent and is in talks with the company but provided no further information. The Crown Estate is a vast property portfolio that includes much of London’s Regent Street as well as the Windsor estate. It's an independently run commercial business, but its profits are used as a benchmark for the funding of the Sovereign Grant, which is the public money that funds the British royal family’s official work.

University of Wisconsin System officials said Tuesday that they will ban the use of TikTok on system devices. System spokesman Mark Pitsch told The Associated Press about the move in email statements. Nearly half of the states nationwide have blocked the popular social media app owned by a Chinese company. Earlier this month, Democratic Gov. Tony Evers banned the use of TikTok on Wisconsin state phones and other devices, citing potential risks to privacy, safety and security. The order didn't apply to the UW System, which employs 40,000 faculty and staff, because it isn’t an executive branch agency. UW-Madison, the system's flagship school, has multiple TikTok accounts, including one for the women's volleyball team. Universities often use TikTok accounts as a recruiting tool to connect with high school students. Read more: Making money on TikTok: 10 Best Ways A number of other universities across the country have banned TikTok in recent weeks, including Auburn, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Georgia, Iowa and Texas. TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company that moved its headquarters to Singapore in 2020. It has been targeted by critics who say the Chinese government could access user data, such as browsing history and location. U.S. armed forces also have prohibited the app on military devices. TikTok is consumed by two-thirds of American teens and has become the second-most popular domain in the world. But there has long been bipartisan concern in Washington that Beijing would use legal and regulatory power to seize American user data or try to push pro-China narratives or misinformation. Read more: List of US states banning TikTok grows

Elon Musk returned to federal court to defend himself against a class-action lawsuit that alleges he misled Tesla shareholders with a tweet about an aborted buyout that the billionaire defiantly insisted Tuesday he could have pulled off, had he wanted. Musk spent roughly three more hours on the stand during his third day of testimony before being excused by U.S. District Judge Edward Chen. It’s unlikely Musk, 51, will be summoned back to the witness stand during a civil trial expected to be turned over to a nine-person jury in early February. Musk, who also owns Twitter while continuing to run Tesla, spent much of Tuesday depicting himself, while being questioned by his own attorney, Alex Spiro, as an impeccably trustworthy business leader capable of raising as much money as he needs to pursue his visions. He testily sparred with a shareholder lawyer, Nicholas Porritt, who had raised his ire earlier in the trial. Read more: Elon Musk rebuffed in bid to move Tesla tweet trial to Texas At two separate junctures Tuesday under Spiro’s gentle prodding, Musk left no doubt about his contempt for Porritt with a remark expressing doubt that the lawyer was looking out for the best interests of Tesla shareholders. The remarks drew a quick rebuke from the judge and were stricken from the record. “It's inappropriate," Chen at one point admonished Musk. When he was being challenged by Porritt, Musk purposefully diverted his gaze from the lawyer and delivered his explanations while looking directly at the jurors sitting a few feet to his right. In another instance, Musk asserted, without elaborating, that a question from Porritt wondering if he had ever caused investors to suffer losses contained “falsehoods." On the flip side, Spiro at one point mistakenly addressed Musk as “your honor" while asking the billionaire how much money he had made for investors during his career. The slipup elicited a moment of levity in the San Francisco courtroom filled with media and other spectators in attendance to listen to Musk, who has become even more famous since completing his $44 billion purchase of Twitter in October. The current trial hinges on whether a pair of tweets Musk posted on Aug. 7, 2018, damaged Tesla shareholders during a 10-day period leading up to his admission that the buyout he had envisioned wasn’t going to happen. The statements resulted in Musk and Tesla to reach the $40 million settlement without acknowledging any wrongdoing. In the first of the 2018 tweets, Musk stated “funding secured” for what would have been a $72 billion — or $420 per share — buyout of Tesla at a time when the electric automaker was still grappling with production problems and was worth far less than it is now. Musk followed up a few hours later with another tweet suggesting a deal was imminent. After those tweets, Musk declared Tesla would remain publicly a few weeks later. A month after that, Musk and Tesla reached a $40 million settlement with securities regulators who had alleged the tweets were misleading. Read more: Musk says he can't get fair trial in California, wants Texas Musk has previously contended he entered into the settlement under duress and maintained he never wavered in his belief that he had the money for a deal. Musk spent most of Tuesday trying to persuade the jurors that there was nothing devious about the two tweets indicating he had lined up the money to take Tesla private as the electric automaker was struggling with production problems and was worth far less than it is now. The judge has already declared the jurors can consider those two tweets to be false, leaving them to decide whether Musk deliberately deceived investors and whether his statements saddled them with losses. While being steered by Spiro, Musk told jurors he had stated only that he was “considering” a Tesla buyout but never promised a deal would get done. But, Musk said, he thought it important to get the word out to investors that Tesla might be poised to end its eight-year run as a publicly held company. “I had no ill motive,” Musk said. “My intent was to do the right thing for all shareholders." While being grilled the day before by Porritt, Musk at times was combative, indignant and exasperated. Through it all, Musk has insisted he locked up financial backing for what would have been a $72 billion buyout of Tesla during 2018 meetings with representatives from Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, although no specific funding amount or price was discussed. When presented with texts and email indicating that a representative for the Saudi fund had never pledged the money for a full buyout of Tesla, Musk contended it was nothing more than the words of someone trying to backpedal from a previous pledge made in private conversations. Not long after Porritt resumed his questioning Tuesday, Musk once again scoffed at the notion that his belief that he had the Saudi funding's financial backing wasn't enough for him to tweet about a potential Tesla buyout. “We are talking about the kingdom of Saudi Arabia," Musk testified. “They can buy Tesla several times over. This was not a large amount of money for them." Musk also reiterated earlier testimony that he could finance a Tesla buyout by sharing some of his holdings in SpaceX, a privately held maker of rocket ships that he also started. That would be similar to what he did in the Twitter purchase, which led him to sell about $23 billion of his Tesla stock. That's something that Musk said Tuesday that he didn't want to do, but that it showed he had the wherewithal to pull together purchases for expensive deals. Musk's ownership of Twitter also has proved unpopular with Tesla shareholders who worry about him being distracted as the automaker faces more competition. Tesla's stock has lost about one-third of its value since Musk took over Twitter. Despite that downturn, the stock is still worth about seven times more than at the time of Musk's 2018 tweets, after adjusting for two splits that have since occurred. That opened the door for Musk to remind jurors Tuesday that any investor who held Tesla shares in August 2018 would have done “extremely well," had they just held on to the stock. “It would have been the best investment in the stock market," Musk said.

As technicians in a distant control room watch on display screens, an automated crane at one of China’s busiest ports moves cargo containers from a Korean freighter to self-driving trucks in a scene tech giant Huawei sees as its future after American sanctions crushed its smartphone brand. The backbone of the “smart terminal” at the Tianjin Port, east of Beijing, is a data network built by Huawei, which is reinventing itself as a supplier for self-driving cars, factories and other industries it hopes will be less vulnerable to Washington's worsening feud with Beijing over technology and security. The ruling Communist Party is promoting automation in industries from manufacturing to taxis to keep China’s economy growing as the workforce ages and starts to shrink. Its managers say the “smart terminal,” part of Tianjin's 200-square-kilometer (77-square-mile) port, allows 200 employees to move as much cargo as 800 used to. Read more: Huawei launches all-band 5G solution series “We believe this solution in Tianjin is the world’s most advanced,” said Yue Kun, chief technology officer of Huawei’s business unit for ports. “We believe it can be applied to other ports.” Huawei Technologies Ltd., which makes smartphones and is the biggest global supplier of network gear for phone carriers, struggled after then-President Donald Trump cut off access to American processor chips and other technology in 2019 in a feud with Beijing about security. Washington says Huawei is a security risk that might use its access to foreign phone networks to facilitate Chinese spying, an accusation the company denies. The United States and allies including Japan and Australia have banned or restricted use of Huawei equipment by their phone carriers. Smartphone sales outside China collapsed after Huawei lost music, maps and other services from Alphabet Inc.’s Google that handset buyers expect to see pre-loaded. Its low-end Honor brand was sold off in 2020 in hopes of reviving sales by separating it from the sanctions on its corporate parent. Huawei, with a workforce of almost 200,000, has held onto its status as the leading maker of network gear based on sales in China and other markets where Washington has had less success at encouraging governments to shun the company. “Huawei is already a key player” in data networks with a “wealth of knowledge,” said Paul Budde, an industry analyst. The company has created 20 teams to focus on factories, mines, hospitals, ports, power plants and other industrial customers. It says the auto unit has 3,000 people working on autonomous driving and invested $2 billion in the technology in 2020-21. Huawei was an early developer of “smart city” networks for traffic control and police surveillance. Read more: Huawei Bangladesh Academy launched in Dhaka “The big, black cloud here, however, is geopolitics," said Budde. "This will hamper its participation in overseas markets,” he said. “The issues are not technology but are purely political.” American pressure on Huawei spiraled into an international standoff in 2018 after its chief financial officer, Meng Wanzhou, daughter of its founder, was arrested in Canada on U.S. charges related to accusations of violating trade sanctions on Iran. China arrested two Canadians on spying charges, trying to win Meng's release. They were freed in September 2021 after Meng was allowed to return to China under an agreement with American prosecutors in which she took responsibility for misrepresenting Huawei's dealings with Iran. Huawei says its new focus already is helping to revive the company’s fortunes. “In 2020, we successfully pulled ourselves out of crisis mode,” said Eric Xu, one of three Huawei executives who take turns as chairman, in a December letter to employees. “U.S. restrictions are now our new normal, and we’re back to business as usual.” Last year’s revenue was forecast to be little-changed from 2021 at 636.9 billion yuan ($91.6 billion), Xu said. That was below Huawei’s double-digit growth of a decade earlier but an improvement over the 5.9% slide in the first half. He gave no breakdown by business line, but Huawei reported 2021 sales to industrial customers of 102.4 billion yuan ($16.1 billion). Sales of smartphones and other devices fell 25.3% from a year earlier in the first half of 2022 to 101.3 billion yuan ($15 billion). The auto unit, which supplies components and software for navigation, dashboard displays and managing vehicle systems, has played a role in five models released by three Chinese automakers. The ruling party's urgency about rolling out automation has risen as the size of China’s working age population 16 to 59 declined after hitting a peak in 2011. That group has shrunk by about 5%. Its share of the population slid from 70% to 62%. The Tianjin port managers told Huawei they already were having trouble finding and keeping truck drivers, according to Yue. “This can help to address the aging population issue,” said Yue. Yue said Huawei has talked with “people outside China” who might use its port technology, but he gave no details. The annual market for port-related network technology is modest at $2 billion, but global sales of gear to link factory and medical equipment, cars and other devices total $600 billion a year, according to Budde. He said that has the potential to replace Huawei's lost smartphone and other telecom sales, so long as foreign buyers aren't put off by security concerns. The Tianjin port's fleet of 88 battery-powered autonomous trucks are charged by wind turbines, according to a port spokesman, Peng Pai. “It’s much safer, and it uses clean energy,” said Peng. In a third-floor control room with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out over the port, a dozen operators sit in front of displays with as many as six screens showing video feeds of computer-controlled cranes lifting cargo boxes onto or off ships. Each can monitor as many as six cranes at once, unlike a traditional operator who serves only one ship. “People had to work high up in cranes,” said Yang Jiemin, a vice president of Tianjin Port Group. “Now, our operators can sit in an office and monitor equipment remotely.” Operators take control of a crane or truck if sensors indicate a problem, according to Huawei's Yue. He said the port’s goal is to cut that “takeover rate” to 0.1%, or one container in 1,000, while computers manage the handling of the others from start to finish. The high-speed network allows a crane or truck to react to a command in 1/100th of a second, even though the ships are 500 meters (one-third of a mile) away from the control room, according to Liu Xiwang, manager of the port’s information department. “You can’t feel the delay,” Liu said. Yue, the Huawei executive, was reluctant to say whether it needs processor chips or other foreign inputs that might be disrupted by U.S. sanctions. “I really don’t know the answer to your question,” Yue said after being asked twice about the sources of critical components. He compared it to buying a cup of coffee: “I don’t know who supplies the cup, the coffee beans and the water.”

Global smartphone makers Xiaomi Sunday said it recently started manufacturing printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) locally in Bangladesh. PCBA is one of the major parts of electrical, electronics and technology products. It connects various chips and electrical circuits to enable the overall functionality of a smartphone. Xiaomi already established a surface mount technology (SMT) plant in its Gazipur factory. This initiative is financed through 100 percent foreign direct investment. The company has collaborated with DBG Technology BD to manufacture its smartphones and PCBAs in Bangladesh.DBG, a global EMS company, has been operating in the manufacturing business around the world for several renowned brands of consumer electronics. Ziauddin Chowdhury, Xiaomi country manager, said: "Redmi 10C is the first product of Xiaomi that is available in the market with PCBAs manufactured in Bangladesh. Within a short time, all the locally produced Xiaomi smartphones will be using locally manufactured PCBAs." In the local plant, the SMT machines will mount around 2,500 surface mount device (SMD) components on the blank printed circuit board (PCB) to convert it into a completely functional smartphone motherboard/ PCBA and sub-PCBA."The SMT plant can produce 6,000 PCBAs daily. PCBA production will increase local value addition by around 10 percent," Xiaomi said. In October 2021, Xiaomi set up a factory in Bangladesh to produce smartphones locally. About 95 percent of the demand for Xiaomi smartphones in the country is met by the local factory. All entry-level and mid-range phones like Redmi 10A, Redmi 10C, and Redmi Note 11 are being made in Bangladesh.

Walton is showcasing eco-friendly, advanced and sustainable internet of things (IoT) smart products, including smart refrigerators, air conditioners, televisions, home and kitchen appliances, silent and durable robust compressors; laptops and mobile phones with the latest features, e-bikes, elevators and other artificial intelligence (AI)-based household products. Walton's 'Inverna (Extreme Saver)' series AC, which received a 5.5-star energy rating from Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution, is on display at the fair, the company said. This AC has frost clean, air plasma, three-in-one converter technology, smart control and various advanced technologies. At Walton Pavilion, visitors can see the electricity consumption of Walton Inverna ACs. Walton AC Research and Innovation Department head Ariful Islam said: "The input power of the Inverna (Extreme Saver) series 1 ton AC is 690 watts. That means a maximum of 690 watts of electricity will be required to run this AC." "If the user runs this AC in Eco mode for eight hours every day, it will consume only 106.8 units of electricity per month. According to the residential electricity rate, the bill will be Tk526 for the whole month and Tk2.19 per hour." Read more: CES 2023: Driverless cars, smart homes, metaverse dominate the tech show  

Fiber@Home, a nationwide transmission service provider in Bangladesh, has partnered with Cisco to accelerate the conversion of its network to 400G. The partnership will help the service provider seamlessly deploy an automated transport 5G-ready network across Bangladesh and support increased bandwidth demand from businesses of all sizes. Fiber@Home is using Cisco platforms for this expansion to enhance and optimise the overall customer experience, becoming the first customer in the country to adopt Cisco's Routed Optical Networking technology, said a media statement Thursday. "This new 400G wavelength network will offer a fourfold increase in maximum data transfer speed compared to 100G, enabling us to provide stable critical connectivity to our customers," Moynul Haque Siddiqui, chairman of Fiber@Home, said. Read more: '5G can change the face of industry in Bangladesh' "The Cisco Routed Optical Networking solution streamlines and strengthens our network capacity, providing a superior customer experience while also optimising our capex and opex utilisation." "Service providers like Fibre@Home recognise the value of a network that can be scaled in response to the dynamic needs of consumers and businesses. By converging their IP and optical networks, in addition to greater wavelength utilisation, Fiber@Home will be able to optimise their power consumption, resulting in a much lower carbon impact and streamlining of their hardware as well as leading to a reduction of 50 percent in operational costs," Anand Bhaskar, managing director (service provider business) Cisco India and South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, said. "This partnership is a step towards bringing fast, reliable and sustainable internet services to the people of Bangladesh."