Storm damaged some parts of Lalmonirhat district in Bangladesh on April 16, 2012.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Monday, April 16, 2012
Pahela Baishakh Celebration
Celebration of Pahela Baishakh, the Bangla New Year, is very spontaneous in Bangladesh.
Monday, February 28, 2011
Make money and do good is the new corporate buzz
Admitting you are making money by doing some good in the world is no longer a dirty little secret, it’s called “creating shared value”—the new catch phrase in corporate and philanthropic circles.
More than 90 chief executives will meet in New York on Monday, International Corporate Philanthropy Day, for the Board of Boards CEO conference, where one of the key topics to be discussed is creating shared value.
As the U.S. economy slowly recovers from the worst economic downturn in decades, corporate philanthropy is no longer just about writing a check for charity as executives look to use their core business to do social good, experts say.
The growing trend was dubbed “creating shared value” by Michael Porter of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, who said companies need to reconnect business success with social progress.
“We need to understand that what’s good for the community is actually good for business,” said Porter, who spoke to business leaders about the idea at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
“If we can organize ourselves to do this stuff inside our operating units rather than on the side we can have a profound effect on many of the most important social issues of our time,” he said.
Porter said Swiss food company Nestle had worked with poor coffee farmers to help them improve their farming practices. As a result, higher yields and quality increased their income, their environmental impact was reduced and Nestle boosted its reliable supply of good coffee.
“HOLISTIC APPROACH”
Robert Harrison, chief executive of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), said more and more companies “are building into their DNA doing social or environmental good.”
“The idea of making money and at the same time achieving some social good or environmental good, I would say, is the accepted ideal or the goal for many corporations,” he said.
Harrison said an example of this was a CGI commitment made by Wal-Mart Stores Inc to work with its tens of thousands of suppliers to reduce packaging, saving the company billions of dollars and cutting its carbon footprint.
The Clinton Global Initiative, which has brought together chief executives, world leaders and humanitarians annually since 2005 to address global woes, hopes to further encourage U.S. companies to create shared value with a conference in Chicago on June 29 and 30 to address the fragile U.S. recovery.
“(It will be) very much focused on economic recovery and how to create green jobs and how to create more jobs and essentially what are some things that people can do, both commit to do and ideas to do in the future that will advance our economic recovery,” Harrison said.
Corporations made up 4 percent of U.S. giving in 2009, while individuals accounted for 75 percent, giving $227 billion, according to a Giving USA Foundation report researched by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Charitable contributions by corporations were valued at $14.1 billion in 2009, the report said. Two-thirds was cash and in-kind contributions from company budgets and the rest grants by corporate foundations.
“One of the things about corporate philanthropy that’s evolving is an emphasis on a holistic approach as opposed to just writing checks,” said Patrick Rooney, executive director of The Center on Philanthropy.
Read the original story on Yahoo News
More than 90 chief executives will meet in New York on Monday, International Corporate Philanthropy Day, for the Board of Boards CEO conference, where one of the key topics to be discussed is creating shared value.
As the U.S. economy slowly recovers from the worst economic downturn in decades, corporate philanthropy is no longer just about writing a check for charity as executives look to use their core business to do social good, experts say.
The growing trend was dubbed “creating shared value” by Michael Porter of the Institute for Strategy and Competitiveness at Harvard Business School, who said companies need to reconnect business success with social progress.
“We need to understand that what’s good for the community is actually good for business,” said Porter, who spoke to business leaders about the idea at the World Economic Forum in Davos last month.
“If we can organize ourselves to do this stuff inside our operating units rather than on the side we can have a profound effect on many of the most important social issues of our time,” he said.
Porter said Swiss food company Nestle had worked with poor coffee farmers to help them improve their farming practices. As a result, higher yields and quality increased their income, their environmental impact was reduced and Nestle boosted its reliable supply of good coffee.
“HOLISTIC APPROACH”
Robert Harrison, chief executive of former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), said more and more companies “are building into their DNA doing social or environmental good.”
“The idea of making money and at the same time achieving some social good or environmental good, I would say, is the accepted ideal or the goal for many corporations,” he said.
Harrison said an example of this was a CGI commitment made by Wal-Mart Stores Inc to work with its tens of thousands of suppliers to reduce packaging, saving the company billions of dollars and cutting its carbon footprint.
The Clinton Global Initiative, which has brought together chief executives, world leaders and humanitarians annually since 2005 to address global woes, hopes to further encourage U.S. companies to create shared value with a conference in Chicago on June 29 and 30 to address the fragile U.S. recovery.
“(It will be) very much focused on economic recovery and how to create green jobs and how to create more jobs and essentially what are some things that people can do, both commit to do and ideas to do in the future that will advance our economic recovery,” Harrison said.
Corporations made up 4 percent of U.S. giving in 2009, while individuals accounted for 75 percent, giving $227 billion, according to a Giving USA Foundation report researched by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University.
Charitable contributions by corporations were valued at $14.1 billion in 2009, the report said. Two-thirds was cash and in-kind contributions from company budgets and the rest grants by corporate foundations.
“One of the things about corporate philanthropy that’s evolving is an emphasis on a holistic approach as opposed to just writing checks,” said Patrick Rooney, executive director of The Center on Philanthropy.
Read the original story on Yahoo News
“King’s Speech” crowned big winner at Oscars
“The King’s Speech” was crowned the big winner with four Oscars on Sunday, including best film and best actor for its star Colin Firth on a night with few surprises among winners at the top movie awards.
Joining British actor Firth on Oscar’s stage was the film’s director Tom Hooper and its screenwriter, David Seidler.
Natalie Portman claimed the best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a young ballerina who grows into womanhood in “Black Swan,” and Melissa Leo and Christian Bale won best supporting actress and actor, respectively, for “The Fighter.”
The world’s top film honors from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came packed with a lot of comedy onstage from show hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco but the attention, as always, was on awards and winners.
Portman wiped tears from her eyes onstage while cradling her gold statuette. She thanked her family, co-stars and director Darren Aronofsky.
“This is insane,” she said, “and I truly, sincerely wish the prize was to get to work with my fellow nominees.” Backstage, she told reporters she felt she was in a dream.
Firth won best actor for playing stammering British King George VI in “King’s Speech,” in which the monarch must overcome his speech impediment to lead his country.
“I have a feeling my career just peaked,” Firth joked.
When Hooper was named best director, he thanked his mom for being first to suggest he make “The King’s Speech.” “The moral of the story is, listen to your mother,” Hooper said.
Among other key winners were family comedy “Toy Story 3” for best animated feature, Wall Street meltdown movie “Inside Job” for top documentary and Denmark’s “In a Better World” took the prize for foreign language film.
A NIGHT FOR FRONT-RUNNERS
Awards were split among a wide array of films. Science fiction thriller “Inception” claimed four Oscars in categories for cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects.
Facebook film “The Social Network” claimed three awards for original score, film editing and adapted screenplay for its writer Aaron Sorkin. But left off the list of winners was the movie’s director, David Fincher.
In fact, Fincher’s loss to Hooper was the only mild surprise among top awards as many pundits thought the Hollywood veteran would beat relative newcomer Hooper. But when the show ended, Fincher left empty-handed.
Franco and Hathaway, the first man and woman team to host the Oscars, got the show off to a comic start in a pre-taped sequence in which they entered the “dreams” of Alec Baldwin much like the characters of “Inception” entered the dreams of other people. From there, the pair traveled back to scenes with other top movie nominees—“True Grit,” “The Social Network,” “The Fighter” and “The King’s Speech,” cracking wise.
Back on stage, Hathaway introduced her mom in the audience, who told her to stand up straight, and Franco’s grandmother exclaimed that she’d just met Marky Mark, the stage name of actor/producer Mark Wahlberg when he was a rapper.
In one off-the-cuff moment, winner Leo uttered an expletive on stage, the so-called “F-bomb,” which was bleeped out.
Many sequences harkened back to Hollywood’s history with film clips from “Gone With the Wind,” “Titanic” and other films, and at one point, Franco came onstage in a dress and blonde wig, looking like Marilyn Monroe.
“The weird part is, I just got a text message from Charlie Sheen,” Franco joked.
And top actresses dazzled on the red carpet with bright and colorful fashion choices, a turnaround from more muted styles of recent years that reflected the world’s economic woes.
“Oscar gowns have gone so far away from the classic gowns with those plunging necklines,” InStyle magazine’s fashion director Hal Rubenstein told Reuters. “This year so much is about cut and shape and really strong color.”
Read the original story on Yahoo News
Joining British actor Firth on Oscar’s stage was the film’s director Tom Hooper and its screenwriter, David Seidler.
Natalie Portman claimed the best actress Academy Award for her portrayal of a young ballerina who grows into womanhood in “Black Swan,” and Melissa Leo and Christian Bale won best supporting actress and actor, respectively, for “The Fighter.”
The world’s top film honors from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences came packed with a lot of comedy onstage from show hosts Anne Hathaway and James Franco but the attention, as always, was on awards and winners.
Portman wiped tears from her eyes onstage while cradling her gold statuette. She thanked her family, co-stars and director Darren Aronofsky.
“This is insane,” she said, “and I truly, sincerely wish the prize was to get to work with my fellow nominees.” Backstage, she told reporters she felt she was in a dream.
Firth won best actor for playing stammering British King George VI in “King’s Speech,” in which the monarch must overcome his speech impediment to lead his country.
“I have a feeling my career just peaked,” Firth joked.
When Hooper was named best director, he thanked his mom for being first to suggest he make “The King’s Speech.” “The moral of the story is, listen to your mother,” Hooper said.
Among other key winners were family comedy “Toy Story 3” for best animated feature, Wall Street meltdown movie “Inside Job” for top documentary and Denmark’s “In a Better World” took the prize for foreign language film.
A NIGHT FOR FRONT-RUNNERS
Awards were split among a wide array of films. Science fiction thriller “Inception” claimed four Oscars in categories for cinematography, sound editing, sound mixing and visual effects.
Facebook film “The Social Network” claimed three awards for original score, film editing and adapted screenplay for its writer Aaron Sorkin. But left off the list of winners was the movie’s director, David Fincher.
In fact, Fincher’s loss to Hooper was the only mild surprise among top awards as many pundits thought the Hollywood veteran would beat relative newcomer Hooper. But when the show ended, Fincher left empty-handed.
Franco and Hathaway, the first man and woman team to host the Oscars, got the show off to a comic start in a pre-taped sequence in which they entered the “dreams” of Alec Baldwin much like the characters of “Inception” entered the dreams of other people. From there, the pair traveled back to scenes with other top movie nominees—“True Grit,” “The Social Network,” “The Fighter” and “The King’s Speech,” cracking wise.
Back on stage, Hathaway introduced her mom in the audience, who told her to stand up straight, and Franco’s grandmother exclaimed that she’d just met Marky Mark, the stage name of actor/producer Mark Wahlberg when he was a rapper.
In one off-the-cuff moment, winner Leo uttered an expletive on stage, the so-called “F-bomb,” which was bleeped out.
Many sequences harkened back to Hollywood’s history with film clips from “Gone With the Wind,” “Titanic” and other films, and at one point, Franco came onstage in a dress and blonde wig, looking like Marilyn Monroe.
“The weird part is, I just got a text message from Charlie Sheen,” Franco joked.
And top actresses dazzled on the red carpet with bright and colorful fashion choices, a turnaround from more muted styles of recent years that reflected the world’s economic woes.
“Oscar gowns have gone so far away from the classic gowns with those plunging necklines,” InStyle magazine’s fashion director Hal Rubenstein told Reuters. “This year so much is about cut and shape and really strong color.”
Read the original story on Yahoo News
Winners list of 83rd annual Oscar
Here is the list of the 83rd Annual Academy Award winners announced in Los Angeles of the United States on Sunday:
1. Best Picture: “The King’s Speech.”
2. Actor: Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech.”
3. Actress: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan.”
4. Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, “The Fighter.”
5. Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, “The Fighter.”
6. Directing: Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech.”
7. Foreign Language Film: “In a Better World,” Denmark.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network.”
9. Original Screenplay: David Seidler, “The King’s Speech.”
10. Animated Feature Film: “Toy Story 3.”
11. Art Direction: “Alice in Wonderland.”
12. Cinematography: “Inception.”
13. Sound Mixing: “Inception.”
14. Sound Editing: “Inception.”
15. Original Score: “The Social Network,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
16. Original Song: “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3,” Randy Newman.
17. Costume Design: “Alice in Wonderland.”
18. Documentary Feature: “Inside Job.”
19. Documentary (short subject): “Strangers No More.”
20. Film Editing: “The Social Network.”
21. Makeup: “The Wolfman.”
22. Animated Short Film: “The Lost Thing.”
23. Live Action Short Film: “God of Love.”
24. Visual Effects: “Inception.”
1. Best Picture: “The King’s Speech.”
2. Actor: Colin Firth, “The King’s Speech.”
3. Actress: Natalie Portman, “Black Swan.”
4. Supporting Actor: Christian Bale, “The Fighter.”
5. Supporting Actress: Melissa Leo, “The Fighter.”
6. Directing: Tom Hooper, “The King’s Speech.”
7. Foreign Language Film: “In a Better World,” Denmark.
8. Adapted Screenplay: Aaron Sorkin, “The Social Network.”
9. Original Screenplay: David Seidler, “The King’s Speech.”
10. Animated Feature Film: “Toy Story 3.”
11. Art Direction: “Alice in Wonderland.”
12. Cinematography: “Inception.”
13. Sound Mixing: “Inception.”
14. Sound Editing: “Inception.”
15. Original Score: “The Social Network,” Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
16. Original Song: “We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3,” Randy Newman.
17. Costume Design: “Alice in Wonderland.”
18. Documentary Feature: “Inside Job.”
19. Documentary (short subject): “Strangers No More.”
20. Film Editing: “The Social Network.”
21. Makeup: “The Wolfman.”
22. Animated Short Film: “The Lost Thing.”
23. Live Action Short Film: “God of Love.”
24. Visual Effects: “Inception.”
Oscars go young and hip, with traditional results
These were supposed to be the younger, hipper Academy Awards, the ones that shook up the ceremony’s conventions with popular, great-looking emcees in actors James Franco and Anne Hathaway, who were unlike the middle-aged comedians and TV talk-show hosts of years past.
But the results couldn’t have been more traditional, with “The King’s Speech” — a prestigious, impeccably made historical film that cries out “Oscar” with every fiber in its being — winning best picture and three other prizes over more daring, contemporary contenders like “The Social Network” and “Black Swan.”
They also couldn’t have been more predictable. Front-runners in other major categories throughout this long and repetitive awards season also took home trophies from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre Sunday night: best-actor Colin Firth for “The King’s Speech,” best-actress Natalie Portman for “Black Swan,” and supporting actors Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, both for “The Fighter.” “King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper, who’d already won the Directors Guild Award — an excellent predictor of Oscar success.
Despite multiple attempts to make the Oscars seem current — including an opening montage that inserted Franco and Hathaway in the best-picture nominees, “Inception”-style, and an auto-tune “Harry Potter” spoof — some of the biggest applause and longest standing ovations were for a couple of Academy Awards stalwarts.
Kirk Douglas delighted the crowd as he jokingly tormented the supporting-actress nominees before announcing Leo as the winner. Once she took the stage, the 94-year-old Douglas remarked to her, “You’re much more beautiful than you were in ‘The Fighter’” — but then Leo went on to drop an F-bomb during her acceptance speech. It was a rare unexpected moment — but the censors bleeped it in time.
Later, upon the appearance of Billy Crystal — who hosted the ceremony several times in the 1990s — the audience erupted as one, as if willing him to take over immediately.
Hathaway worked hard to keep the proceedings fun and light, playfully twisting in a fringy gown and joking that everyone at home should take a drink when she flubbed her introduction of last year’s best-actress winner, Sandra Bullock. Franco, who was also a best-actor nominee for the real-life survival story “127 Hours,” had a more laid-back stage presence, as if he’s been working on a sequel to the stoner comedy “Pineapple Express.”
They were even self-deprecating enough to acknowledge early on why they were chosen to lead the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
“Anne, I must say you look so beautiful and so hip,” Franco greeted her.
“Thank you, James,” Hathaway replied, “you look very appealing to a younger demographic, as well.”
Still, despite their best efforts, the show was short on surprises.
Besides the four Oscars for “The King’s Speech” — picture, director, actor and original screenplay for David Seidler — “Inception” also won four, all in technical categories, as expected: visual effects, cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing. The great Roger Deakins, who was also up for the cinematography prize for the Coen brothers’ “True Grit,” went home empty-handed once again. He’s now 0-for-9.
Among the front-runners in other categories that were winners Sunday night were the latest Pixar blockbuster, “Toy Story 3,” for animated feature and “Inside Job,” about the 2008 economic collapse, for documentary feature.
At least there were some lively, candid moments backstage.
Portman, who’s pregnant with her first child with “Black Swan” choreographer Benjamin Millepied, said she doesn’t know whether she’s having a boy or a girl, but the baby was dancing inside her during the musical numbers.
Firth expressed some frustration over a new cut of “The King’s Speech,” which is being re-released with a PG-13 rating instead of an R. The retooled version softens the cursing from his character, the stuttering King George VI, and makes it accessible to a wider audience.
“I don’t take this stuff lightly, but in the context of this film, it could not be more edifying, more appropriate,” Firth told reporters while holding his trophy backstage. “It’s not vicious, it’s not an insult or it’s not in any of the contexts which might offend people.”
Meanwhile, Aaron Sorkin, winner of the adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Social Network,” had some positive words for Mark Zuckerberg, whose creation of Facebook is the basis for the film. The movie views Zuckerberg from a variety of perspectives and doesn’t always place the young billionaire in the kindest light.
“He’s been an awfully good sport about this. You know, I don’t think there’s anybody here who would want a movie made about things they did when they were 19 years old,” Sorkin said. “And if that movie absolutely, positively had to be made, you would want it made only from your point of view, and you wouldn’t want to include also the points of view of people who have sued you for hundreds of millions of dollars and, you know, had a visceral emotional reaction to you. But that is the movie that we made.”
Read the original story on Yahoo News
But the results couldn’t have been more traditional, with “The King’s Speech” — a prestigious, impeccably made historical film that cries out “Oscar” with every fiber in its being — winning best picture and three other prizes over more daring, contemporary contenders like “The Social Network” and “Black Swan.”
They also couldn’t have been more predictable. Front-runners in other major categories throughout this long and repetitive awards season also took home trophies from Hollywood’s Kodak Theatre Sunday night: best-actor Colin Firth for “The King’s Speech,” best-actress Natalie Portman for “Black Swan,” and supporting actors Christian Bale and Melissa Leo, both for “The Fighter.” “King’s Speech” director Tom Hooper, who’d already won the Directors Guild Award — an excellent predictor of Oscar success.
Despite multiple attempts to make the Oscars seem current — including an opening montage that inserted Franco and Hathaway in the best-picture nominees, “Inception”-style, and an auto-tune “Harry Potter” spoof — some of the biggest applause and longest standing ovations were for a couple of Academy Awards stalwarts.
Kirk Douglas delighted the crowd as he jokingly tormented the supporting-actress nominees before announcing Leo as the winner. Once she took the stage, the 94-year-old Douglas remarked to her, “You’re much more beautiful than you were in ‘The Fighter’” — but then Leo went on to drop an F-bomb during her acceptance speech. It was a rare unexpected moment — but the censors bleeped it in time.
Later, upon the appearance of Billy Crystal — who hosted the ceremony several times in the 1990s — the audience erupted as one, as if willing him to take over immediately.
Hathaway worked hard to keep the proceedings fun and light, playfully twisting in a fringy gown and joking that everyone at home should take a drink when she flubbed her introduction of last year’s best-actress winner, Sandra Bullock. Franco, who was also a best-actor nominee for the real-life survival story “127 Hours,” had a more laid-back stage presence, as if he’s been working on a sequel to the stoner comedy “Pineapple Express.”
They were even self-deprecating enough to acknowledge early on why they were chosen to lead the 83rd Annual Academy Awards.
“Anne, I must say you look so beautiful and so hip,” Franco greeted her.
“Thank you, James,” Hathaway replied, “you look very appealing to a younger demographic, as well.”
Still, despite their best efforts, the show was short on surprises.
Besides the four Oscars for “The King’s Speech” — picture, director, actor and original screenplay for David Seidler — “Inception” also won four, all in technical categories, as expected: visual effects, cinematography, sound editing and sound mixing. The great Roger Deakins, who was also up for the cinematography prize for the Coen brothers’ “True Grit,” went home empty-handed once again. He’s now 0-for-9.
Among the front-runners in other categories that were winners Sunday night were the latest Pixar blockbuster, “Toy Story 3,” for animated feature and “Inside Job,” about the 2008 economic collapse, for documentary feature.
At least there were some lively, candid moments backstage.
Portman, who’s pregnant with her first child with “Black Swan” choreographer Benjamin Millepied, said she doesn’t know whether she’s having a boy or a girl, but the baby was dancing inside her during the musical numbers.
Firth expressed some frustration over a new cut of “The King’s Speech,” which is being re-released with a PG-13 rating instead of an R. The retooled version softens the cursing from his character, the stuttering King George VI, and makes it accessible to a wider audience.
“I don’t take this stuff lightly, but in the context of this film, it could not be more edifying, more appropriate,” Firth told reporters while holding his trophy backstage. “It’s not vicious, it’s not an insult or it’s not in any of the contexts which might offend people.”
Meanwhile, Aaron Sorkin, winner of the adapted screenplay Oscar for “The Social Network,” had some positive words for Mark Zuckerberg, whose creation of Facebook is the basis for the film. The movie views Zuckerberg from a variety of perspectives and doesn’t always place the young billionaire in the kindest light.
“He’s been an awfully good sport about this. You know, I don’t think there’s anybody here who would want a movie made about things they did when they were 19 years old,” Sorkin said. “And if that movie absolutely, positively had to be made, you would want it made only from your point of view, and you wouldn’t want to include also the points of view of people who have sued you for hundreds of millions of dollars and, you know, had a visceral emotional reaction to you. But that is the movie that we made.”
Read the original story on Yahoo News
Food prices skyrocket in Libyan capital
AP, Tripoli, Libya: Residents of Libya’s capital say prices for basic foodstuffs are skyrocketing and long lines form at bakeries for rationed bread as Moammar Gadhafi loyals clamp down in Tripoli.
One resident tells The Associated Press that the price of rice, a main staple, has gone up 500 percent amid the crisis, reaching the equivalent of $40 for a five kilogram (10 pound) bag. Bakeries are limited to selling five loafs of bread per family.
She says most Tripoli residents are staying in their homes as pro-Gadhafi security forces man checkpoints around the city of 2 million.
The Libyan regime has been battling protesters demanding Gadhafi’s ouster, with the country’s east now under the control of rebels backed by troops who have defected.
One resident tells The Associated Press that the price of rice, a main staple, has gone up 500 percent amid the crisis, reaching the equivalent of $40 for a five kilogram (10 pound) bag. Bakeries are limited to selling five loafs of bread per family.
She says most Tripoli residents are staying in their homes as pro-Gadhafi security forces man checkpoints around the city of 2 million.
The Libyan regime has been battling protesters demanding Gadhafi’s ouster, with the country’s east now under the control of rebels backed by troops who have defected.
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