Lost boy tracks down mother using Google Earth!

Link

An amazing story from the BBC News website about a 5 year old Indian boy who got separated from his mother and brother after falling a sleep on a railway platform. Little Saroo ended up in Calcutta after falling alseep on a train and found himself all alone in India's 3rd largest city, almost 1,200km from his home. Saroo started sleeping rough and begging to survive before finding an orphange. In 1987 he was adopted by a Tasmanian family and was raised in Australia. But the urge to find his biological mother was so strong that he managed to track her down using Google Earth!

Some other links:

http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/03/10/308081_tasmania-news.html
http://www.smh.com.au/world/little-boy-lost-a-25year-odyssey-20120323-1vp65.html

Link to Interview
http://media.smh.com.au/news/world-news/saroo-home-at-last-3158844.html

Indian Premier League Soccer Auction

Article

You have to rate the Indians for the way they are changing sport in their country. After taking T20 cricket to the the next level with the IPL, they now have their sights on football. Indian football has been given a boost by the introduction of Premier League Soccer, a tournament featuring 6 teams. An auction took place, much like the Indian Premier League cricket version, where 5 'Icon' players were up for grabs.

Argentine Hernan Crespo topped the list costing a whopping $840,000! Not a bad pay day for a 36 year old! Fabio Cannavaro came in second costing $830,000, Robert Pires cost $800,000 Jay Jay Okocha came in at $550,000 and Robbie Fowler was won for $530,000.

Some believe the money could have been better spent developing Indian players and infrastructure rather than paying mega bucks to players well past their best. I disagree, by attracting marquee foreign players, the sport will gain wider popularity in India and will result in many turning to football as an alternative to cricket. Meanwhile those professionals that play alongside the likes of Crespo and Cannavaro gain excellent experience alongside world class footballers.

Whilst signing big names is a short term solution, the Indian Football Association need to make the tournament financially stable and avoid the pitfalls the English Premier League faces where players are paid massively inflated wages. If they can avoid the mercenaries and bring in younger players, the PLS could very well create the same kind of buzz the IPL has for cricket.

BBC Article

Jail for polygamist who tried to fake second wife’s passport

Article

A polygamist has been jailed for attempting to fake a passport to bring a second wife into the UK from Bangladesh.

Rois Ali, 51, applied for a passport for his second wife Isha Akhtar using his eldest child Salina Khatun’s details.

The jobless father-of-eight married his second wife three years ago in Bangladesh while he was still married to Salina’s mother Hamida Khatun.

Bolton Crown Court heard that he was trying to bring Isha, who is also his cousin, to the UK as a reward for caring for his mother and planned to set up a home for her.....

Epic fail! I guess love can make you do some silly things! I must admit that I laughed when I read about Rois Ali's shenanigans. Rois deserves his jail sentence, he wants everything but he's not prepared to work for it. Firstly he's lived in the UK for 11 years, is reliant on benefits and has never learned how to speak English. He marries his cousin in Bangladesh so she can look after his mother, then he wants to bring her over here and house her at the Taxpayers expense! He obviously knew before they got married that having a second wife in the UK is illegal and Islamically you shouldn't take another wife unless you can afford to maintain her.

These are the types of people that drag the Bangladeshi community down with such blatant disregard for laws. I feel sorry for wife number 2, no doubt she was looking forward to moving to the UK after spending time looking after Rois's mum. But Rois shouldn't be too disappointed, in prison he'll have to not pay any rent or bills, he'll get 3 meals a day served to him and he can sit around on his arse like he has been doing for the last 11 years!

Attacked by husband

Another shocking story about domestic abuse emerged from Bangladesh in July 2011 which I missed. This time about 33 year old Rumana Manzur who was savagely beaten by her husband, gouging at her eyes leaving her blind, biting part of her nose and cheek off as their 5 year old daughter watched on in terror. The husband, Syeed Hassan Sumon flew in to a rage after suspecting his wife of having an affair with an Iranian man whilst she was studying in Canada.

Unlike many cases in Bangladesh, this story hit the headlines after Rumana and her family decided to go public despite fears that Syeed would use counter arguments of betrayal to besmirch her character. It turned out to be well worth it because shortly after Syeed accused his wife of infidelity, her social network rallied and friends and colleagues jumped to her defence, going as far as sending affidavits of testimony to prove Rumana's fidelity. The news went viral and the tables were turned on Syeed, rather than trying to shame his wife, the world was looking at him in disgust.

But there was another twist in the tale, on Monday December 5th, Syeed was found dead on a hospital bed in Dhaka Medical Hospital having been transferred there in November from Dhaka Central jail where he had been detained. Some may see it as a fitting end to a tragic tale where the perpetrator recieved the ultimate punishment, others may see it as a truly sad waste of two lives, the legacy of which will be the scars the 5 year old daughter must carry for the rest of her life.

Links
Mauled by her Husband - Rumana Manzur
Syed Hassan alleges betrayal by Rumana
Syed Hassan's Death

One mosquito coil ‘equals 100 cigarettes’

Article

I knew it! Mosquito coils are not good. I have always had my doubts about the fumes given off from these things and switched to aerosol sprays a long time ago. According to research by Indian scientists, if you leave a coil on overnight for 8 hours, it equates to inhaling 100 cigarettes! Unfortunately, there aren't many alternatives out there for those who can't afford to pay for aerosols, it's either coils or no protection at all.

When Bengali's do Bollywood,,,,

Plagarism isn't just rife in Bollywood, occasionally Bengali's like to steal the odd super hit song or two. But at least they do it with a little humour!

Here's the Bengali village version of Teri Meri from Salman Khan's Bodyguard!



And here's a Bengali version of Kolaveri Di...

Playing for Change

I came across this project randomly on the web about a music producer called Mark Johnson who runs a music project featuring musicians from around the world. He also founded a charity which seeks to build music schools for children around world.

Johnson started the project in 2004 where he produced the song 'Stand By Me' by recording musicians from several parts of the world with protable audio equipment and then mixed the parts together in to one.

Here's his multinational version of 'Stand By Me'



And here's the very catchy 'Chanda Mama'



The Playing for Change Foundation has already opened music schools and programs in South Africa, Ghana, Mali, Nepal and Rawanda.

Playing for Change - Official Site

Guardian Article

Bangladeshi man cuts off wifes finger's

Link

A tragic story coming out of Bangladesh this month which was picked up BBC News is that of a Bengali man cutting off his wife's fingers because she wanted to study. Rafiqul Islam, a 30 year old worker from the Gulf, taped his wife's mouth shut with tape and then cut off her five times shortly after returning home. Doctors would have been able to sew the fingers back on if they were in possession of the missing digits within six hours but Rafiqul refused to hand them over (apologies for the pun) and later a family member disposed of them.

Althopugh we don't know what the situation of the family was, the fact that a husband could be so cruel and violent is shocking. If only criminals like this could be prevented from marrying in the first place. I really hope she continues her studies and does something worthwhile with her life.

Whilst abuse against women in Bangladesh is sadly quite common, it is at least heartening to see someone like Rafiqul Islam being arrested and charged and hopefully given a lengthy prison sentence. It is also encouraging to see world media taking an interest in these stories, world wide attention may spur the useless governement in to doing something.

Internet Love

This Youtube video made me laugh....




I'm sure you'll all guess what happens!

I've got a Virus!

A couple of days ago I got a phone call from Vecy at some IT company claiming that I had a virus on my computer. Here's how that conversation went:

Vecy: Good morning sir, I am Vecy calling from *she mumbles a name here which I didn't understand*, I understand you have a problem with your PC.

Me: Which PC?

Vecy: Sir, I cannot specifically tell you which brand the PC is but my system is showing me that your computer has over 1000 critical errors and if they are not removed it may cause the PC to stop working altogether.

Me: But how have you got this information?

Vecy: Sir we have been doing a security scan of the data and we came across these errors. This information is stored in the URL's and this is how we know.

It didn't take long for me to realise this was a scam. Firstly her heavy Indian accent would not allow her to pronounce her fake name properly! I assume she was trying to go for Becky but sometimes Indians have problems pronouncing the letter 'B'. Secondly, if there were over 1000 critical errors on my system I would know about them! And the errors are certainly not stored in URL's! I thought I'd play along for a bit and see how things panned out.

Me: OK so what can I do?

Vecy: Well sir, I can fix these problems immediately you won't have to do anything. I can show you exactly what the problem is. Are you near your computer sir?

Me: No, it's upstairs.

Vecky: OK sir, well you can give me your mobile number sir and I will call you on that.

Me: I don't have a mobile.

Vecky: Sir someone in your house has a mobile?

Me: Yes, my sister. Let me check if she is home.

I then went off, went to the toilet and came back.

Me: My sister isn't at home and I don't have a phone. I have trouble using this modern technology.

Vecky: Sir, I can call you back when you have a mobile, it is important I show you what is wrong with the system.

Me: I can go and check the PC. Tell me what I need to do.

Vecky: Well it would be easier for me to do it for you.

Me: Look, I haven't got access to a mobile and now you've scared me. Tell me what I need to do.

Vecky: OK sir, you need to click on 'Start' then 'Run' and type in 'event viewer' and then press enter.

I made her spell it out a few times. I then told her to hold the line and went off to the other room. I then watched the last 10 minutes of a repeat of Come Dine with Me.

Me: Becky, wow, my computer has nearly 1,000 errors. It's totally f**ked.

Vecky: Sir, there is no need to worry, I can clear these errors up.

Me: I only bought this PC two weeks ago. How can it be so badly infected?

Vecky: These things happen without you knowing sir. I can fix these errors sir.

Me: Well the system is still under warranty I can take it back.

Vecky: Sir there is no need for that, I have a simple solution that will take 5 minutes.

Me: Thank you Becky but that is not the point. I bought this machine off a guy called Steve. He said it was in perfect working order and that I would have no problems. But now you tell me this machine is full of errors. I am going to f**k him up. The little f******g bastard.

Vecky: Sir I can fix this problem for you.

Me: Becky, when I put the phone down, I am going to call all my mates, Chopper Harris, Razor Ruddock and Stuart Psycho Pearce and we are going to give him the biggest beating of his life. How dare that son of a b*tch try and make a fool out of me. I am going to smash his head in with a hammer and stab his eyes with a screwdriver.

Vecky: Sir....

Me: No Becky, I thank you for all your help and for highlighting this problem to me but I am now going to commit a serious crime. Thanks for your call.

I then hung up. I've not had any follow up calls since then.

A bit of Googling shows that this type of scam is pretty common in the UK. Scammers from Indian call centres phone up customers claiming to be Microsoft certified engineers and after frightening the victim with tales of abundant errors and near catastrophe they then launch a program which takes control of the victims system. But nothing sinister happens, all they do is download some free software like Avast, run a scan and then charge you for the pleasure! Although they are providing a service of sort, it is at a highly extortionate rate.

Browsing forums a lot of victims or would be victims indicate that there is a possible link between the scammers and BT. It appears that a lot of people who are or have been BT Broadband customers are getting these calls. Some suspect call centre workers in India are passing on UK customer details on to the scammers.

If you get a call from Vecy or anyone else who is unable to pronounce their name properly, excercise caution!

Links

Virus phone scam being run from call centres in India
Those 'PC virus' phone call scams: the unanswered questions