Archives 2021

Tuesday, March 21, 2006

Engineers at China’s Yellow Sheep River have developed a desktop computer, called a Municator, which costs only €123 ($150 US). The machine is designed to help bridge the digital divide in China and to expand China’s small domestic semiconductor industry. Its development has been heavily subsidized by local governments.

The Municator measures 14.5 x 18 x 3.7 cm. (5.7 x 7.1 x 1.5 in.), and weighs 0.65 kg. (1.4 pounds). It is expected to use an existing TV as a monitor. The operating system is a GNU/Linux distribution, known as Thinix 3.0, which is developed by YellowSheepRiver Inc. itself and overseen by the Chinese government for security reasons. The Municator was shown last week at the 2006 CeBIT Fair in Hannover, Germany.

Video coverage from CeBIT 2006 speculated that the Municator will include applications such as: Firefox for web browsing, Thunderbird for e-mail, Gaim for instant messaging, Skype for VoIP, Red Office (99 percent compatible with Microsoft Office and based on Open Office) for Linux for word processing, and MPlayer for audio/video playback. The Skype application for VoIP is currently only available from Skype on i386-32 processors under Linux, but CeBit’s video briefly shows a beta version of Skype running on the Municator’s screen.

The 64-bit Godson 2c 400-800 MHz CPU used in the machine has a MIPS-like instruction set, and is roughly as fast as a 500-mHz Pentium III. The Godson II is made exclusively in China, and consumes relatively little power for its speed in comparison to x86 Intel and compatible AMD chips. A similar Chinese laptop project called the Longmeng also uses the Godson II.

No version of Microsoft Windows supports the Godson II, and due to the independent nature of the Chinese government, the Municator is unlikely to ever run Microsoft Windows or its applications. Banners at CeBIT 2006 proclaim “Say No To Wintel Try Now!”

The MIT Media Lab has a similar initiative to develop an inexpensive Linux machine, known as the $100 laptop, which seeks to begin production by the end of 2007.

Friday, March 5, 2021

Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak announced the UK’s 2021 budget on Wednesday in the House of Commons. This comes amid significant damage to the country’s economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, in which over 700 thousand people have lost their jobs, with the economy shrinking by 10%.

Sunak announced an extension of the furlough scheme, which had been paying employees who could not work due to the pandemic 80% of their wages. He said it would be extended until September. The scheme also mentioned firms would have to pay 10% of this in July, and 20% in the months of August and September as the scheme ends. It was also announced that support for self-employed people would continue, with another grant for between February and April.

Other support for workers included the minimum wage increasing to £8.91/hour from April, and an existing £20 weekly increase in Universal Credit being extended through September.

Sunak also announced some changes to taxation in the country, with corporation tax rising to 25% in April 2023. Sunak said that this would be the lowest rate in the G7, and that businesses would only be taxed if they made profits of over £250 thousand, which is only 10% of companies. Companies with profits of less than £50 thousand will continue to pay 19% corporation tax. Sunak said that income tax, national insurance, and VAT would not change in this budget with alcohol and fuel duty continuing to be frozen.

For hospitality firms, VAT will continue to be frozen at a reduced rate of five percent. The contactless payment limit will be increased from £45 to £100 this year. New freeports were also announced in locations at East Midlands Airport; Felixstowe and Harwich; Humber; Liverpool City Region; Plymouth; Solent; and Thames and Teesside. These would allow reduced customs costs, and encourages investment.

Tuesday, August 15, 2006

Solar Systems Pty Ltd, Hawthorn, Victoria, have announced an agreement with Boeing Australia Ltd for supply of Spectrolab solar cells. The agreement will result in the supply of 500,000 cells, capable of generating 11MW of electricity.

Spectrolab produces multi-junction solar cells, originally designed for powering satellites. The solar cells are three times more efficient than the cells used in typical domestic solar panels, and are capable of converting light energy to electrical energy with up to 34% efficiency according to NREL’s National Centre for Photovoltaics. Solar Systems utilise Spectrolab’s multi-junction solar cells to increase the output of their dish systems.

Solar Systems have already trialed the cells in one of their CS500 concentrating solar dishes installed at a solar power station in Hermannsburg, Central Australia, established to reduce the consumption of diesel in the remote community. Simply replacing the existing cells with the Spectrolab multi-junction solar cells increased output from 24kW to 34kW.

Solar Systems is planning to use the technology in a solar power station it will build in northern Victoria, with a capacity of 154MW.

Aviation articles by Wikinewsie Iain Macdonald.

This Category ‘sub-page’ will display up to 500 articles which one of the project’s contributors has written on a specific topic.

Thursday, June 28, 2007

Indonesia has shut down four airlines and grounded five others with the potential of similar licence revocations for failing to meet safety standards.

The largest company to lose its licence is Jatayu Gelang Sejahtera. The other companies are all small airlines operating only aircraft with a passenger capacity of fewer than thirty, and are Aviasi Upataraksa, Alfa Trans Dirgantara and Prodexim. The companies that were grounded pending either improvements or licence revokation are Germania Trisila Air, Atlas Delta Setia, Survey Udara Penas, Kura-kura Aviation and SMAC, all of which also operate only aircraft with under-30 passenger capacities. They have three months to improve, or their licences will be revoked.

Jatayu had already ceased operations in August, but had intended to restart with a 150-seat Boeing 737. The licence was revoked because the state requires at least two aircraft to be commercially operated and because of the fact that it “was lacking in pilots and human resources”. Also, the age of the jetliner meant that it would require a test called a ‘C-Check’ before it could begin commercial services, at a cost of $120,000.

The action comes as the result of a number of air crashes, namely the Adam Air Flight 574 disaster in which 102 people were killed, and the Adam Air Flight 172 accident, in which a plane snapped in half during a hard landing, but managed to hold together, thus preventing any serious injuries. As a result, all 54 of Indonesia’s airlines were given a safety rating, with a level-1 rating meaning no action was needed, a level-2 rating meaning the airline needed to make some improvements, and a level-3 rating requiring that the airline be shut down unless improvements were made within three months. Most airlines received a level-2 rating, while none received the top rating. Adam Air was among the airlines to receive the level-3 rating, but was upgraded to tier 2 at the same time as the groundings.

Meanwhile, state-owned Garuda Indonesia is now the only airline to have a type-1 rating, despite the fatal crash of Garuda Indonesia Flight 200 in March. According to the Indonesian Transport Ministry’s Director General for Aviation Budi Mulyawan Suyitno, Garuda now satisfied 84 percent of civil aviation standards.

The ratings have been based on such criteria as surveillance, ramp checks, personnel, department safety, number of accidents and number of serious incidents, according to the BBC. Meanwhile, Flight Global is reporting that, according to Directorate General of Air Communications (DGAC) director of air certification office, Yurlis Hasibuan “20 criteria including whether the airline has developed [better] safety and human resources” are checked.

Sunday, October 1, 2006

Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy confirmed today that investigations had revealed the involvement of the militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba and the (banned) Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) in the 11 July 2006 bombing of the city’s commuter rail network. He also stated that the attacks had been masterminded by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and carried out by Pakistani and Indian nationals.

Fifteen people, twelve of whom were directly involved in the execution of the bombings are in custody, eleven of them are Pakistani citizens.

The conspiracy to carry out the attacks, which killed 190 people, was hatched in the vicinity of Mumbai, by militants who were trained in Bahwalpur, Pakistan. The Pakistani bombers entered India in batches, some through the porous Indo-Nepal border, others via Bangladesh and some through Gujarat. They then reached Mumbai around May 25, and were sheltered in Malad and Bandra by Faizal Sheikh. Kamaluddin Ansari and Ehtasham Siddiqui, (General Secretary of SIMI, Maharashtra) were also involved in the conspiracy.

The RDX explosive used in the blasts was brought from Pakistan by a man called Ehsanullah, while the ammonium nitrate was procured locally. The explosives were assembled in Chembur by Mumbai resident Mohammad Ali, between 8 and 10 July. On the day of the attacks, the bombs (each containing 2 – 2.5 kg of RDX and 3.5 – 4 kg of ammonium nitrate) were concealed in eight pressure cookers and transported to the railway stations in taxis.

From there two member teams of bombers placed the explosives on the trains and detonated them using quartz timers. One of the militants, Saleem, a native of Lahore, could not (as was the plan) get off the train before the explosives went off, as a result of which he perished in the blast between Khar and Bandra. Of the seven Indian suspects, four (Faizal Sheikh, Kamaluddin Ansari, Ehtashan Siddiqui and Naved) have been apprehended, while a search is on for the other three.

Mr. Roy described the bombings as a “professional, precise and well-planned”. The first clue his department got was a phone call made from Navi Mumbai to a place on the Indo-Nepal border. Based on this information Kamaluddin Ansari was arrested in from Madhubani, Bihar. Narco-analysis of the other suspects revealed that they were trained in Pakistan and also helped tie up other loose ends in the case. Faizal Sheikh also revealed that he had received Rs. 60,00,000 from Pakistan in the last few years. Police also recovered 26,000 Riyals, given to him by Rizwan Devra, an ISI operative living in Dubai, from Faizal’s house.

Pakistan’s Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azim, denied the role of the ISI in the bombings, saying that his country “rejected” the accusation, and that India should provide Pakistan with “any information if they have it”. “Such allegations only give benefit to the real culprits, who escape arrest,” he said.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Following the Pilkhana massacre which occurred February 25 and 26 leaving 74 dead and the inferno at the Bashundhara City shopping mall complex March 13 leaving seven dead, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said security measures are being tightened countrywide across Bangladesh.

Fire drills will be enacted at all key-point installations (KPI). Fire fighting systems will be examined by the fire brigade and the public works department (PWD) to ensure functionality. Security measures will be enhanced supplementing areas under private security such as at the Bashundhara City Complex.

The Fire Service and Civil Defence Department requires modernization and needs new equipment to fight fires past the sixth floor of buildings. The Fire Brigade says it needs turntable ladders, snorkels, foam-tenders, lighting units, emergency tenders, fireproof uniforms, and rescue ropes for fire fighting and rescue operations. Transportation to fires is also an issue due to narrow roads, low electrical wires and congestion.

The Bangladesh National Building Code requires fire fighting equipment installed in buildings over seven floors. This code is to be monitored by authorities to ensure compliance with the new guidelines and to make sure buildings are being maintained.

The Bashundhara City Complex opened Monday for shoppers two days after Friday’s blaze. A probe is underway to determine the cause of the fire and to assess structural damage.

Loss of life was minimized as the blaze broke out on a Friday, the beginning of the weekend in Bangladesh, so offices in the upper floors were empty. The lower eight floors are used for shopping and the upper floors are all Bashundhara Group offices.

The mall is valued at Tk 7.0 billion (US$100 million). It is not known if the complex is covered by fire insurance.

It is estimated that it will take over two years to rebuild the area damaged by flames which were burned down to a skeleton. Bashundhara City’s technical advisor, Latifur Rahman, estimated damages at Tk 2.0 billion (US$29m).

Only one television cameraman has been allowed in to film the burnt area. None of the 2,500 shops, cinemas or cafes were burnt by the inferno. The seventh and eighth floors still experience smoke damage, and there was water damage to merchandise.

A three member committee is currently investigating the cause of the fire which will consist of Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, joint secretary of the ministry, representatives of the police, IGP Noor Muhammad, and fire brigade, Director General Abu Nayeem Md Shahidullah. The committee is required to report within the week with their findings. The forensics department is also sifting through the burnt remains.

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries has also formed a committee which has begun interviewing witnesses and recording their testimony alongside the government committee.

It has been discovered that 150 closed circuit cameras were not being used when the fire started. Another mystery is why the mall fire fighting system has been found unused.

“In the shopping mall there is an ultra-technology elevator which runs even without electricity but we have found that locked,” Iqbal Khan Chowdhury, joint secretary (Police) of the home ministry, said. “Why the fire burnt so fiercely is a matter to think. We have to see if there was any incendiary substance there. These matters seem to be mysterious.”

Mall management has been asked to submit substances and items which would have been in the upper floors when the fire started. The fire erupted on the 17th floor and spread quickly to the two floors above and engulfed the three floors below. The aerial ladders belonging to the Fire Service and Civil Defence reached as high as the 13th floor of the 21-storey building.

Videos have been sent to the United States (US) for examination to assist in determining the cause of the fire and to help in the damage assessment. Experts from the US are expected to arrive soon.

Firefighters were brought to the rooftop of the 20-storey tower by helicopter. The only fatality in this operation was Baki Billa, a firefighter of Bashundhara City firefighting department, who fell when climbing down a rope from a helicopter to the roof of the building. Three other firefighters made the transition safely. At this same time, the chief security officer was safely rescued by the Bangladesh Air Force helicopter, a Bell 212. Six security officers of the complex also lost their lives.