Mosharraf Karim is set to return to the OTT platform once again with ‘Mobaroknama’. Mosharraf Karim will be featured as the lead character in Golam Sohrab Dodul's upcoming web-series "Mobaroknama", which will premiere on the popular web platform Hoichoi, on December 21, 2023. Mosharraf Karim have unveiled this latest collaboration with the promise of a fresh narrative.  “The character I have portrayed is quite different. The role is about a lawyer who first wins, then he realises that he has lost. Since then he has been going through an internal battlewith himself. This is a complex character with depth in it”, told Mosharraf Karim while talking to the media about the series. Although Dodul and Mosharraf Karim have collaborated multiple times on television, this is their first collaboration on the OTT platform. The series revolves around the life of a lawyer, showcasing his resilience and fortitude amidst personal and professional trials. The series also features Sabnam Faria and Shahnaz Sumi in significant roles.

Elon Musk said Friday that his social media platform X, formerly Twitter, will soon launch two new tiers of premium subscriptions. "One is lower cost with all features, but no reduction in ads, and the other is more expensive, but has no ads," Musk said in a post on X. He did not add any more details about the plans. More changes coming to X Earlier this week, X started charging new users in New Zealand and the Philippines $1.00 for accessing the platform, in a test case called "Not a Bot," aimed at reducing spam and manipulation on the platform.  "This new test was developed to bolster our already successful efforts to reduce spam, manipulation of our platform and bot activity, while balancing platform accessibility with the small fee amount. It is not a profit driver," the X support account tweeted. Users who chose not to subscribe in those regions will only be able to read posts, watch videos and follow accounts. They would not have the option of commenting, liking, sharing or posting themselves. Musk bought the platform in October last year, and has since made a flurry of changes. This includes mass layoffs and disbanding content moderation teams. Earnings from advertising have since taken a hit.  He has acknowledged that the platform's revenue has dropped, citing activists pressuring advertisers as the reason.  Musk has also started charging users $8.00 (€7.50) per month as subscription for the blue tick, and offered discounts for advertisers.  Activists and watchdog groups say the changes have allowed misinformation to thrive on the platform. 

Tech giant Elon Musk said on Sunday that his proposed fight with Meta head Mark Zuckerberg would be live-streamed on his social media platform X, previously known as Twitter. Amid the professional competition between them, the duo have been egging each other into a mixed martial art cage fight since June. Quite how serious both sides are about the proposal isn't clear as most communications regarding it have been jocular. No date has been set for the fight but Musk had suggested the Las Vegas Octagon, an events center where mixed martial arts (MMA) championships are often held. The build up to 'Zuck v Musk' Musk and Zuckerberg continued mimicking boxers taunting their opponents in the build-up to a fight over the weekend.  Musk said that the Twitter website he bought and is now trying to rebrand as X would livestream the fight and that "All proceeds will go to charity for veterans."  Zuckerberg's riposte, meanwhile, was posted on his rival site Threads, and questioned whether X would have a large enough reach.  "Shouldn't we use a more reliable platform that can actually raise money for charity?," he asked.  Zuckerberg, also appeared to question whether Musk, who has a habit of issuing social media comments with his tongue in his cheek, was serious about the fight.  He suggested an August 26 date, and said "I'm ready today... but [Musk] hasn't confirmed."  The 39-year-old is a mixed martial arts enthusiast who has taken part in several ju-jitsu competitions, and Zuckerberg said on Sunday: "I love this sport and will continue competing with people who train no matter what happens here."  A history of sparring The maelstrom began when Musk in June provoked Zuckerberg by asking him if he was "up for a cage fight." Zuckerberg in return asked Musk to "send location," which was when Musk first suggested Vegas. Over the years, the giants have clashed on several issues ranging from politics to artificial intelligence. In early July, the duo became direct competitors after Meta launched a Twitter-like platform called Threadswhich rapidly drew 120 million users, according to Quiver Quantitative.

Bongo BD, one of the leading OTT platforms in the country, has once again raised the bar in entertainment offerings with the release of the highly-anticipated Bangla-dubbed version of the hit Chinese web series "Put Your Head on My Shoulder". (Reports UNB) The Bangla title of the hit show is "Ei Mon Tomake Dilam". Adored by viewers globally and recognised as one of the top 10 web series at the esteemed Golden Bud - The Fourth Network Film And Television Festival, the romantic drama is set to captivate Bangla-speaking audiences. Based on the popular Chinese novel of the same name, "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" follows the heartwarming journey of two young university students, Gaurav and Sejuti Mou. Gaurav, an exceptionally brilliant physics student, exudes a serious and contemplative demeanour, while Senjuti Mou, an accounting student with aspirations in advertising, charms with her simplicity, intelligence, and sweetness. The series beautifully unfolds their encounter and the blossoming intimacy between the two opposite characters, said a media release. Chinese actors Xing Fei, Lin Yi, and Tang Xiaotian deliver stellar performances, adding depth to the compelling narrative. The acclaim received by the show at the Golden Bud Festival extends beyond being listed among the top 10 web series. The series was also honoured with awards for Best Producer, Best Newcomer, and Best Promising Actress, solidifying its position as a global sensation. Additionally, the series earned nominations in prestigious categories at China's 26th Huading Awards and China Entertainment Industry Summit (Golden Pufferfish Awards), including Best Screenplay, Best Actor & Actress (Modern Drama), and Best Marketing. Garnering an impressive rating of 8/10 stars on IMDB, the series has captivated audiences worldwide. Speaking of the momentous release, Naimul Newaz, head of growth at Bongo BD, expressed his enthusiasm, saying, "Bongo BD has always been committed to delivering the finest entertainment to the people of this country. Following our successful introduction of official dubbed versions of popular South Korean and Chinese series, we are thrilled to present the beloved Chinese series 'Put Your Head on My Shoulder'. We firmly believe that its enchanting storyline, exceptional performances, and breathtaking scenes will mesmerise the audience." While "Put Your Head on My Shoulder" has been previously dubbed in multiple languages, including English, Hindi, and Chinese, this marks the first-ever full Bangla dubbing, promising an enthralling experience for viewers here. Source: UNB

World Resources Institute (WRI), on Friday, launched its flagship geospatial platform-Energy Access Explorer (EAE) for the state of Nagaland in Kohima. This makes Nagaland the third state in India to have access to the platform. EAE is a geo-spatial platform that provides data on electricity, health, education and livelihood indicators in the regions. It aims to assist policymakers, entrepreneurs and governments to decide the least cost and most sustainable energy access solutions for unserved and underserved communities to accelerate development. Chairman of Investment and Development Authority of Nagaland (IDAN) and Advisor to Chief Minister, Abu Metha who graced the occasion observed that data collection in a state like Nagaland can be challenging due to connectivity and accessibility issues. He appreciated the WRI for taking the initiative to cover Nagaland, as the Northeast region is often a forgotten part of India. Metha also informed that an expert committee has been set up under IDAN to work on a roadmap for economic progress for the state. The committee, which consists of experts and policymakers, will present its findings to the Chief Minister, who will then notify the Prime Minister. In this regard, Metha emphasized the need for energy roadmaps in Nagaland. He said that the state is pressing for the need to have sustainable energy, and that energy roadmaps would help to guide the state towards this goal. “EAE is going to play a vital role in the development of the state and will bring a new narrative for the state of Nagaland. When we talk about progress and development, one of the backbones is energy. Without energy, no progress is possible. We look forward to strengthening our partnership with WRI India so that we can collectively share knowledge and move towards our collective aspirations,” he added. The WRI India submitted a Letter of Intent for future collaborations to the IDAN chairman. According to WRI India, about a third of Nagaland’s 434 sub-health centers and 12% of 2074 public schools do not have access to electricity. As several of them are in remote regions, WRI suggested that deploying innovative solutions to meet such demands of social infrastructure is key for the state’s equitable development. Director of Health and Family Welfare, Dr Chekroshüyi Tetseo, the state have 12 district hospitals, 33 Community Health Centres (CHCs), 144 Primary Health Centres (PHCs), and 538 Sub centres (SC) out of which 301 have been upgraded as Health and wellness centres (HWC). He informed that the state government is making efforts to upgrade all sub centres to HWCs. All of these health care facilities, he said, is equipped with refrigerators for storing essential medicines and vaccines and require 24X7 power supply. The district hospitals, he added, have sophisticated equipment like ventilators, cardiac monitor, oxygen plant and so on which require adequate and regular power supply. “Most of these equipment are sensitive and  prone to damages if  the quality of power supply is not good. So mapping of energy requirement for our hospitals health centers going to be vital to run our equipment smoothly and I am glad to know that the EAE the tool to do that,” he said. As the healthcare facilities cannot solely rely on electricity, Dr Tetseo observed that there is need to explore the potential of generating renewable source of energy like solar and wind. He informed that solar panels has been put at district hospitals, including some CHC’s through the NHP(World bank), however, as the state mulls to cover PHCs, HWCs, and sub centres, he requested IDAN to intervene and see the possibilities of identifying potential investors  for renewable source of energy for health sectors. Manager, Energy Program, WRI India, Akansha Saklani told the gathering that EAE platform can be layered with different data sets to visualize the state of play of each sector. “For instance, if we overlay the Global Horizontal Irradiation data onto the existing demand information, we could potentially estimate how best to solarize these underserved communities,” she added. Beyond providing energy access related solutions, she shared that EAE could aid in decarbonizing the health and education sectors by deploying Decentralized Renewable Energy (DRE) systems, thus supporting India in its efforts to meet half its energy needs from renewable by 2030 and attain Net Zero emissions by 2070. Aside from Jharkhand, Assam and Nagaland in India, EAE has been implemented in six sub-Saharan countries in Africa. They are Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Zambia and Nigeria. Source: www.eastmojo.com

Elon Musk has replaced Twitter's blue bird logo with a white X and launched a major rebranding of the social media giant. Musk has said tweets will now be called "x's." Why X?  Before acquiring Twitter for $44 billion (€39.7 billion) in a messy takeover in October 2022, Musk had said buying the company was part of speeding up his ambition to create an "everything app" he calls "X." After buying Twitter, Musk named the parent company X Corporation. The billionaire's rocket development company, Space Exploration Technologies Corp, is commonly known as SpaceX. Musk also founded PayPal in 1999 as a startup called X.com. Musk said tweets will now be called "x's," in response to a tweet Sunday asking what tweets will be called under "X." Musk's app for everything Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino, a former NBC advertising executive who joined Twitter in May, wrote on the platform that X would be the "future state of unlimited interactivity — centered in audio, video, messaging, payments/banking — creating a global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities." The rebranding comes after Musk said earlier this month that Twitter has lost nearly half its advertising revenue since he took over last October. Mass layoffs, reduced content moderation and rising hate speech and misinformation on the platform since Musk's takeover have contributed to turning away advertisers.   Allen Adamson, co-founder of marketing consultancy Metaforce, told the Associated Press that the rebranding will further alienate Twitter's traditional audience. "They won't get it," he said. "It's a fitting end to a phenomenal unwinding of an iconic brand and business."

Hailing the arrival of the historic G20 Summit in Kashmir Valley as a welcome step towards peace and development, the voluntary organization “Voice for Peace & Justice (VPJ) held an enthusiastic Y-20 Youth Conference at World famous health resort Manasbal here in district Ganderbal. The purpose of the conference was to develop and nurture world-class leadership skills among the young generation to encourage them face and deliberate upon the global challenges of environment, economy, peace, health and employment generation. Prof Fayyaz Ahmad Nika, Dean Academics Central University of Kashmir (CUK) attended the conference as Chief Guest where students from various educational institutions, local youth educationist and social activists participated in the debate and discussion. Dr. Saba Bhat, Founder Guide the Professionals; Advocate Wasim, President Kashmir Advocates Association, PhD scholar Mir Muskan, Social Activist Bilal Bhat, BDC Chairperson Sherpathri Ali Mohammad Dar, BDC Chairperson Ganderbal, Tasleema Majeed, DDC Safapora Abdul Rashid, BDC Gowhar Ali, Sheikh M Shafi were among the special guests present on the occasion. Pertinent to mention that the Youth Conference was organised in context with the ongoing process of #G20 summit and the old age, middle-aged as well as younger generations of Kashmir have extended their cordial welcome to the historic G-20 summit being hosted here and have expressed hopes of boosting tourism, economic development of Jammu and Kashmir and other world-class opportunities to the local youth through this global meet with an expectation of getting the help and encouragement of G-20 members who would become the advocates and Ambassadors of peace and prelosperity on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. India under the able global leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should lead the G-20 presidency to declare Jammu and Kashmir as the model place of peace, prosperity and universal brotherhood at the global level to open new avenues of bright and prosperous future for the youth of J&K. Voice for Peace and justice President, Farooq Ganderbali said “Kashmir youth want to contribute and partner in peace & development. Kashmir has a lot of energetic and enthusiastic youth, who have the potential to excel in life and contribute in nation building while serving in the field of Sports, technology, management and all other fields.” Hundreds of students, scholars, doctors, young engineers, civil society members, PRI’s participated in this conference . Speakers highlighted the scope of international tourism in Kashmir and deliberated upon the need of putting up Kashmir as a world favourite destination for Hollywood and Bollywood movies, besides setting up an international market of Kashmir Handicraft, Art and culture. The event was also graced by traditional fork song band headed by popular singer Mohammad Aslam Saednari. Source: theopinion.co.in

Musk suggested that the suspensions were due to Twitter's new policy, which bans accounts that track private jets. Media organizations are demanding further explanation. Twitter on Thursday suspended the accounts of several journalists who have been covering the company and Elon Musk's takeover of the company. The move comes a day after the social media platform changed its policies revolving around accounts which tracked private jets, including a jet owned by Musk. Journalist's whose accounts were suspended include New York Times reporter Ryan Mac, Washington Post reporter Drew Hall, CNN's Donie O'Sullivan, Matt Binder of Mashable, The Intercept's Micah Lee and Steve Herman of Voice of America. The accounts of independent journalists like Aaron Rupar, Tony Webster and Keith Olbermann were also suspended. A social media company called Mastodon, known to be an alternative to Twitter, was also suspended from Twitter on Thursday. The platform has not officially explained why it took down the accounts. CNN: "Concerning but not surprising" A spokesperson for the New York Times said that the suspension is "questionable and unfortunate" and added that they hope "Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action." CNN in a statement said that "the impulsive and unjustified suspension" is concerning "but not surprising.'' "We have asked Twitter for an explanation, and we will reevaluate our relationship based on that response,'' read the statement. Sarah Reese Jones, a political analyst and news commentator with PoliticusUSA, said that "Nothing says free speech like suspending journalists who cover you." Some of the journalists who were suspended had been tweeting about the shutting down of an account named @Elonjet on Wednesday. The account had more than half a million followers. Elon Musk had vowed not to pull down @ElonJet The account named @Elonjet was owned by Jack Sweeney and used publicly available information to track the movement of Musk's jet. On Wednesday, Musk said that a car in Los Angeles carrying one of his children was followed by a "crazy stalker." He blamed Sweeney's account for the alleged incident. In a tweet, he said that legal action is now being taken against Sweeney. After the suspension, Sweeney tweeted from his personal account and said "Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended." Soon his personal account was also taken down. In January, Musk had offered 20-year-old Sweeney $5000 to shut down the account tracking his jet. Earlier in November,  shortly after the billionaire took over Twitter, he pledged to not touch the account even though it was a "direct personal safety risk." Twitter changes its media policy On Wednesday, Musk tweeted that "Any account doxxing real-time location info of anyone will be suspended, as it is a physical safety violation." Doxxing refers to revealing someone's identifying information such as home address or phone number which makes them vulnerable to abuse. After suspending Sweeney's account Twitter updated its media policy. "You may not publish or post other people's private information without their express authorization and permission," it said. On Thursday morning Musk said that "same doxxing rules apply to "journalists” as to everyone else." In another tweet he said "criticizing me all day long is totally fine, but doxxing my real-time location and endangering my family is not."

The troubled platform's new CEO said it was hit by "unauthorized transactions," fueling rumors of a cyberattack or insider theft. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection after a crypto equivalent of a bank run. FTX, the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, on Saturday said it was probing a possible hacking attack, a day after it collapsed when traders rushed to withdraw billions of dollars. The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that more than $500 million (€482 million) of crypto funds appear to be missing, citing crypto analytics firm Elliptic Enterprises who said the funds had been moved out from the platform in "suspicious circumstances." The potential hack took place just after FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Friday, the company's general counsel Ryne Miller said in a tweet. Digital assets moved offline Miller added that the company took "precautionary steps to move all digital assets to cold storage... to mitigate damage upon observing unauthorized transactions." Cold storage refers to moving cryptocurrency assets to hardware unconnected to the internet, to ensure its security.  John Ray, who was appointed on Friday as Chief Restructuring Officer and CEO of FTX following the removal of founder Sam Bankman-Fried, said "unauthorized access to certain assets has occurred." He said in a statement that an "active fact review and mitigation exercise was initiated immediately in response." Ray added that FTX was coordinating with law enforcement and regulators and would "continue to make every effort to secure all assets, wherever located." WSJ reported that a rival crypto exchange, Kraken, said it knew the identity of the alleged hacker and would pass details to authorities. FTX founder denies fleeing to South America Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, has denied rumors that he has flown by private jet to South America, telling the Reuters news agency he remains in the Bahamas, where he lives. The 30-year-old founder, known for his shorts and T-shirt attire, has morphed from being the poster child of crypto's successes to the protagonist of the industry's biggest crash. Until 10 days ago, FTX had a valuation of some $32 billion but suffered a series of shocking setbacks firstly when media reports revealed that its Alameda Research trading house was involved in a risky financial arrangement that appeared to involve serious conflicts of interest.  Financial media reported that FTX executives knew the platform was using billions in customer funds to prop up Alameda. Binance U-turn helped seal FTX's fate Adding to its woes was the move by larger rival Binance to seek to purchase FTX.com on Tuesday before retracting its offer a day later due to the state of the firm.  In its bankruptcy petition, FTX Trading said it has $10 billion to $50 billion in assets, $10 billion to $50 billion in liabilities, and more than 100,000 creditors. The collapse shocked investors and prompted fresh calls to regulate the crypto asset sector, which has seen losses stack up this year as cryptocurrency prices collapsed. FTX is being investigated by both the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ), according to the New York Times.

'Boithok', a government's video conferencing platform, will now be expanded to public offices across the country to hold virtual meetings aimed at securing official conversations and communications.   "The government is going to extend the usage of 'Boithok' at its offices across the country gradually," sources said.    As part of extending the usage of Boithok, BCC has taken initiatives to provide training to officials of each of the 64 districts about its functions and usage, the sources added.    Currently, the platform is being used only in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Financial Institution Division, Economic Relations Division, Security Services Division, Bangladesh Police, Energy and Mineral Resources Division, ICT Division, BCC, Department of ICT (DoICT), Digital Security Agency (DSA) on regular basis.   During pandemic, last year e-Government Computer Incident Response Team (BGD e-Gov CIRT) of the Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) of the ICT Division  developed Boithok for using at in government offices instead of using video conferencing platforms like Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams to ensure the security of information.   "Step has been taken to hold training for the officials of 64 district offices to extend the usage of Boithok at all government offices," said Executive Director of BCC Dr Abdul Mannan adding a workshop will be held tomorrow at Chittagong Deputy Commissioner's office about the functions and usages of Boithok.   Dr Mannan said one of the most important features of the Boithok platform is the unlimited duration of the meeting and it supports meeting hosting with  200 people, and the development team is working to extend the capability to 500 people.    The video and audio quality of the Boithok platforms are very smooth and clear and over 1,100 successful meetings have already been held on the Boithok platform so far and users can join a meeting just by clicking on a meeting link within a few seconds, he said.    Boithak is enabling the users to share their necessities, and thoughts through perfect instant secure video conferencing that create a real scenario of a virtual meeting. "This platform is completely secure and users' data are entirely safe. Here no data/ recordings are stored outside of the country," said Project Director of (BGD e-Gov CIRT Tarique M Barkatullah and added it supports also an end-to-end encryption feature.     Tarique said this video conferencing application is very easy to use and user friendly too as it supports Android, IOS, Linux as well as all popular browsers that we use daily, he added. Source: BSS AH