World's Most Liveable Cities Ranking 2011!

The Economist Intelligence Unit has announced the World's Most Liveable Cities List for 2011. Cities from Canada and Australia dominate the Top 10.

According to their ranking, our beloved Dhaka is 2nd from the bottom....i.e. 2nd most unliveable city in the world!

The World’s Most Liveable Cities Top 10 List 2011
1. Vancouver, Canada
2. Melbourne, Australia
3. Vienna, Austria
4. Toronto, Canada
5. Calgary, Canada
6. Helsinki, Finland
7. Sydney, Australia
8. (equal) Perth, Australia
8. (equal) Adelaide, Australia
10. Auckland, New Zealand

The World’s Most Liveable Cities Bottom 10 Ranked Cities
131. Colombo, Sri Lanka
132. Dakar, Senegal
133. Tehran, Iran
134. Douala, Cameroon
135. Karachi, Pakistan
136. Algiers, Algeria
137. Lagos, Nigeria
138. Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea
139. Dhaka, Bangladesh
140. Harare, Zimbabwe

Source: Website Link 

Some Wonderfully Described Definitions!

CIGARETTE: A pinch of tobacco rolled in paper with fire at one end and a fool at the other!

LECTURE: An art of transmitting Information from the notes of the lecturer to the notes of students without passing through the minds of either.

CONFERENCE: The confusion of one man multiplied by the number present.

COMPROMISE: The art of dividing a cake in such a way that everybody believes he got the biggest piece.

TEARS: The hydraulic force by which masculine will power is defeated by feminine water-power!

CONFERENCE ROOM: A place where everybody talks, nobody listens and everybody disagrees later on.

ECSTASY: A feeling when you feel you are going to feel a feeling you have never felt before.

CLASSIC: A book which people praise, but never read.

SMILE: A curve that can set a lot of things straight!

OFFICE: A place where you can relax after your strenuous home life.

EXPERIENCE: The name men give to their Mistakes.

DIPLOMAT: A person who tells you to go to hell in such a way that you actually look forward to the trip.

OPTIMIST: A person who while falling from EIFFEL TOWER says in midway "SEE I AM NOT INJURED YET!"

MISER: A person who lives poor so that he can die RICH!

FATHER: A banker provided by nature.

BOSS: Someone who is early when you are late and late when you are early

POLITICIAN: One who shakes your hand before elections and your confidence later.

DOCTOR: A person who kills your ills by pills, and kills you by his bills!

Corporate Presentation & Internship Agreement!

The Department of Career & Professional Development Services (CPDS) cordially invites you to attend the corporate presentation of Robi Axiata Limited and internship agreement between Robi Axiata Limited & North South University.

Date: 23 February 2011, Day: Wednesday
Time: 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, Venue: NAC514

Dr. Hafiz G A Siddiqi, Vice Chancellor, NSU has kindly consented to grace the event as Chief Guest.

Vice Chancellor will sign the Memorandum of Understanding (Between Robi Axiata Limited & NSU) on behalf of North South University.

Dr. SAM Khairul Bashar, Pro Vice Chancellor, NSU will attend the program as Special Guest.

Chief Human Resources Officer Mr. Matiul Nowshad, Robi Axiata Limited will be present.

Your presence will be highly appreciated. Thanks.

International Mother Language Day!

There is a cultural program to celebrate the International Mother Language Day followed by a discussion by honored Faculty members on the significance of 21st February at the REC center of NSU at 4:00 pm today. You are invited to please be present and help make the event successful.

Thank you.

কানাডার টপ ইলেভেন জব লিস্ট !

১. পারফরমেন্স অ্যানালিস্ট
২. কন্ট্রোলার
৩. পাবলিক অ্যাকাউন্টেন্ট
৪. ইআরপি বিজনেজ অ্যানালিস্ট
৫. আইটি অডিটর
৬. লিড অ্যাপ্লিকেশন ডেভেলপার
৭. ল-ইয়ার
৮. ল-ক্লার্ক
৯. এক্সিকিউটিভ অ্যাসিস্টেন্ট
১০. মেডিক্যাল ডেটা এন্ট্রি স্পেশালিস্ট
১১. সিনিয়র অ্যাডমিনিস্ট্রেটিভ অ্যাসিস্টেন্ট

Please visit the following link for detailed report.
দ্য বেঙ্গলি টাইমস ডটকম

Makeup Schedule for Missed Classes!

This is notified for information of all concerned that:

Classes missed on Monday, 7 February 2011 will be made up on Thursday, 3 March 2011 according ot MW class schedule

Classes missed on Tuesday, 8 February 2011, will be made up on Thursday, 31 March 2011, according to ST class schedule.

By Order of the Registrar (In-Charge), NSU.

Observing "China Day"!

On the occasion of the 5th Anniversary of Confucius Institute at North South University (NSU), there would be a celebration on February 14 as “China Day.” Seminar and photo exhibition on China, and a musical performance by the Art Troupe of Beijing University of International Business & Economics will highlight the day.

His Excellency Mr. Zhang Xianyi, the Ambassador of People’s Republic of China has kindly consented to be the Chief Guest. Mr. Azimuddin Ahmed, Chairman, Board of Trustees, NSU will grace the occasion as Special Guest while Mr. Wang Yu, Political Counselor and Mr. Qian Kaifu, Cultural Counselor of Chinese Embassy, will be the Guests of Honor. Professor Hafiz G. A. Siddiqi, Vice Chancellor, North South University, will chair the occasion.

You are cordially invited.

Date: 14 February 2011
Photo Exhibition: 2:00 pm in the hallway to NAC 514
Seminar: 2:30 pm in NAC 514
Musical Performance: 5: 00 pm at the Atrium

Thanks.

No Classes Tomorrow!

There won't be any classes tomorrow (7th of February, 2011) as well due to observance of Saraswati Puja. Please visit the following link to see the official notice.

NSU Notice (Suspension of Classes)

So, regular classes would resume on the 8th of February, 2011. Assignments would be due on the next available class sessions (ACT201 on the 9th and FIN254 on the 10th of February). Make-up class dates for two missed classes would be announced later.

Thanks.

No Classes Today!

There won't be any classes today due to the country-wide strike called by the opposition political parties. Please be safe.

Make-up class day would be announced later.

Thanks.

হাঁটায় বাড়ে স্মরণশক্তি!

বুদ্ধিবৃত্তিক ও স্মৃতিশক্তি নির্ভর কাজগুলো চলে নগর জীবনেই। গ্রামীণ জীবনেও যে নেই তা নয়। তবে তাতে কায়িক শক্তিটাকেই বেশি প্রাধান্য দিতে হয়। কিন্তু নগর জীবন গ্রামীণ জীবনের মতো কায়িক শক্তিনির্ভর নয়। বরং মস্তিষ্কের সূক্ষ্ম থেকে সূক্ষ্মতর চর্চার মাধ্যমে নগর জীবনের রমরমা অবস্থা। নাগরিক মানুষ দিনে দিনে আরও উন্নতির দিকে এগিয়ে চলেছে। এর মূলে রয়েছে পরিকল্পনা—মাথা খাটিয়ে বের করা নিত্যনতুন পরিকল্পনা ও চিন্তা, যা মানুষকে আরও সামনে এগিয়ে নিয়ে যাচ্ছে। সুখ্যাত লেখক  যাযাবর তার ‘দৃষ্টিপাত’ বইটা শুরু করেছিলেন ‘বিজ্ঞান মানুষকে দিয়েছে বেগ, কেড়ে নিয়েছে আবেগ’ এই কথা দিয়ে। তবে যাযাবর একথাটা বলেননি যে, বিজ্ঞান মানুষের কায়িক শ্রমের ব্যাপারটাও কেড়ে নিয়েছে। অন্তত নগর সভ্যতা তো হাঁটাহাঁটিসহ সব ধরনের কঠোর পরিশ্রম থেকে মানুষকে চিরতরে মুক্তি দিয়েছে। নাগরিক মানুষের জীবন ঘোরে এখন মেকানিক-ইলেকট্রিক-ইলেক্ট্রনিক আরাম-আয়েশের চক্রে।

কিন্তু অতি সুখও যে সুখ নয়! নাগরিক সভ্যতার অনিবার্য প্রতিক্রিয়া হলো মানুষকে কায়িক শ্রমবিমুখ করে ফেলা। বিশেষ করে হাঁটাহাঁটির কথাটাই আসে প্রথমে। রিকশা-বাস-কার ছাড়া একপাও চলতে চায় না নগরবাসী। অথচ হাঁটাহাঁটি যে একটা কার্যকর ব্যায়াম, সেটা আধুনিক চিকিত্সা বিজ্ঞানে স্বীকৃত একটা ব্যাপার। সম্প্রতি গবেষকরা হাঁটাহাঁটি নিয়ে আরেকটা সুখবর দিয়েছেন। সেটা হলো, মানুষ যদি সপ্তাহে কয়েকবার ৪০ মিনিটের মতো সময় হাঁটাহাঁটি করে, তাহলে বার্ধক্য থমকে দাঁড়ায়, মস্তিষ্কের শক্তি বেড়ে যায়। স্মৃতিশক্তিও প্রখর হয়ে ওঠে। সূত্র বিবিসি।

১২০ জনের মধ্যে পরীক্ষা-নিরীক্ষা চালিয়ে তারা সিদ্ধান্ত পৌঁছেছেন, হাঁটাহাঁটি মস্তিষ্কের হিপোক্যাম্পাসের আকার বাড়িয়ে দেয়। মানুষের স্মৃতি সংরক্ষণের কাজটা চলে ওই হিপোক্যাম্পাসেই। প্রায় এক বছর ধরে পরীক্ষা-নিরীক্ষর পর এই গবেষণাপত্রটি প্রকাশিত হয় ন্যাশনাল একাডেমি অব সায়েন্স সাময়িকীতে। এই সময়ের মধ্যে জরিপে অংশগ্রহণকারীদের স্মৃতিশক্তির উন্নতি দেখেই উত্সাহিত হয়েছেন গবেষকরা। তারা দেখেছেন, হাঁটাহাঁটির মতো শারীরিক ব্যায়ামের ফলে বয়সজনিত বিভ্রান্তি ও স্মৃতিভ্রংসতার হাত থেকে তুলনামূলকভাবে অনেকটাই মুক্ত রয়েছেন অংশগ্রহণকারীরা। ৬০ বা তার বেশি বয়সী এসব লোকের ক্ষেত্রে আলঝেইমাসহ অন্যান্য স্মৃতিক্ষয়ী উপসর্গের প্রাদুর্ভাব অনেকটাই কম।

ব্রিটেনে বর্তমানে ৮ লাখ ২০ হাজার লোক ডাইমেনশিয়া তথা স্মৃতিবিভ্রান্তি রোগে ভুগছেন। ২০৩০ সাল নাগাদ এই সংখ্যা এর দ্বিগুণে উন্নীত হতে পারে বলে আশঙ্কা স্বাস্থ্যবিদদের। বিশেষজ্ঞরা বলেছেন, এর কার্যকর কোনো প্রতিষেধক এখনও আবিষ্কার কিংবা উদ্বোধন করা সম্ভব হয়নি। তবে যতদিন না তা হচ্ছে ততদিন নতুন এই তথ্যের আলোকে মানুষের মধ্যে সচেতনতা সৃষ্টি করে রোগের প্রকোপ কমিয়ে রাখা সম্ভব হতে পারে।

এতে উত্সাহিত হয়ে উঠেছেন পিটাসবার্গ বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়ের প্রফেসর কির্ক এরিকসন ও তার সঙ্গীরা। তাদের বিশ্বাস, স্বল্প বা পরিমিত মাত্রার শারীরিক পরিশ্রম মানুষকে মানসিকভাবে সুস্থ রাখতে পারে। তারা এ ব্যাপারে আরও ব্যাপক গবেষণার জন্য প্রস্তুতি নিচ্ছেন।

STAY!

A nurse took the tired, anxious serviceman to the bedside.  "Your son is here," she said to the old man. She had to repeat the words several times before the patient's eyes opened.

Heavily sedated because of the pain of his heart attack, he dimly saw the young uniformed Marine standing outside the oxygen tent.. He reached out his hand. The Marine wrapped his toughened fingers around the old man's limp ones, squeezing a message of love and encouragement.

The nurse brought a chair so that the Marine could sit beside the bed.All through the night the young Marine sat there in the poorly lighted ward, holding the old man's hand and offering him words of love and strength. Occasionally, the nurse suggested that the Marine move away and rest awhile.

He refused. Whenever the nurse came into the ward, the Marine was oblivious of her and of the night noises of the hospital - the clanking of the oxygen tank, the laughter of the night staff members exchanging greetings, the cries and moans of the other patients..

Now and then she heard him say a few gentle words. The dying man said nothing, only held tightly to his son all through the night.

Along towards dawn, the old man died. The Marine released the now lifeless hand he had been holding and went to tell the nurse. While she did what she had to do, he waited.

Finally, she returned. She started to offer words of sympathy, but the Marine interrupted her.

"Who was that man?" he asked.

The nurse was startled, "He was your father," she answered.

"No, he wasn't," the Marine replied. "I never saw him before in my life.."

"Then why didn't you say something when I took you to him?"

"I knew right away there had been a mistake, but I also knew he needed his son, and his son just wasn't here. When I realized that he was too sick to tell whether or not I was his son, knowing how much he needed me, I stayed." I came here tonight to find a Mr. William Grey. His Son was Killed in Iraq today, and I was sent to inform him. What was this Gentleman's Name?

The Nurse with Tears in her Eyes answered, "Mr. William Grey............."

The next time someone needs you ....... just be there. Stay.

*********************************************

WE ARE NOT HUMAN BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY SPIRITUAL EXPERIENCE.

WE ARE SPIRITUAL BEINGS GOING THROUGH A TEMPORARY HUMAN EXPERIENCE.

Welcome to Spring 2011

Hello students! Welcome to Spring 2011. Today is the first class day of the semester. Please make yourself familiar with my blog. Please visit this site from time to time to be updated. You may download course outlines, assignments, power-point slides and other resources using the course links shown above under the heading "Spring 2011 Folders".

You may use any 'comments' link found at the end of each post on this page to leave a comment, ask me a question, or share any academic or non-academic issue. If it is unique/personal in nature, please provide your email address so that I can contact you and give you a feedback. Otherwise, you may leave an anonymous comment.

For extra credit, please download and read the course outline (full version) thoroughly. Follow the instructions, given in the course outline, carefully to send the filled up student profile excel file. You may download the student profile using respective course folder link above.

Best of luck for the semester. Thanks. 

Academic Calendar: Spring 2011

Please find recently revised academic calendar for Spring 2011 semester in the following link.

Academic Calendar: Spring 2011

Thanks.

Grades Ready!

Grades have been assessed for Fall 2010 and ready to be posted. You may email me to know your grade. You may also know your grades using the procedures set by the university or during your advising session. Following is a summary of the grades for the semester.

Special Mention:

Following students showed outstanding performance in my courses this semester. Please join me in congratulating them for achieving excellent results and wish them the best for future success.

Tajnin Kamal Turna - 0910183543 (ACT201)
Anika Tasnim - 0910186030 (ACT201)
Sumaiya Bahiza Afzal - 0910935043 (ACT201)
Farzana Yasmeen - 1020487030 (FIN254)

Thanks.

Happy New Year 2011!

Wishing all my students and others a very happy new year 2011. This new year may prove to be happier, healthier, and more successful year for you.

Best regards.

Marksheets!

Marksheets have been made available in respective course folders. Please inform all your classmates to check for mistakes in recording the marks. If anyone finds any problem with his/her records, please email me and my TA immediately with the details. Grades would be assessed based on these marksheets early next week.

These marksheets contain only the raw marks that you originally obtained. All types of bonus marks would be applied before assessment of the grades. Make-up exam scores are colored red and would be deprived of bonus points.

Thanks.

Checking Exam Scripts!

Students may check their exam scripts using the following schedule.

ACT201=> 27-DEC-2010 (Mon) from 9 am to 12 pm.
FIN254=> 28-DEC-2010 (Tue) from 9 am to 12 pm.

Thanks.

Additional Office Hours!

I am planning to be available in my office between 11 am and 1 pm today and between 10 am and 12:30 pm tomorrow.

Thanks.

Q/A Session!

Question 1: Good Morning sir! Aftertax salvage value = s+( bv-s) tax% ... is this formula right?

Answer: According to the book, Aftertax Salvage Value = S.V. - (S.V. - B.V.)*Tax%. But your formula would also work as that is a derived form of the same formula.

Question 2: Can you please clarify us about the final exam syllabus again?

Answer: According to the decisions made centrally by the FIN254 coordination committee, final exam must be comprehensive covering the whole syllabus.

Multiple Choice Questions may be from anywhere, not necessarily from our book as different faculty members use different books in their sections. But as everyone follows same set of topics, you don't need to worry if you cover the things discussed in the class.

As far as problems are concerned I will prepare them considering all the chapters we covered in class. For convenience I am making it simplified - for 100% final exam portion, no problems beyond chapter-10, there will definitely be a large problem from chapter-10, one problem from chapter-8 on stocks, some problems covering time value of money concept and financial statement analysis.

Question 3: Sir, you mentioned about Pretax OCF in the class. If I want to calculate OCF, then I have to deduct taxes from the pretax OCF. Is my concept right, sir? Is pretax OCF same as pretax cost savings?

Answer: You are right! Tax is applied on earnings, not on cash flows. Since we disregard interest expense when evaluating a project, OCF = Net Income + Dep. Exp. = (EBIT - Taxes) + Dep. Exp. So, OCF + Taxes (which is Pretax OCF) = EBIT + Dep. Exp. Now you calculate taxes on EBIT, then deduct taxes from pretax OCF to get OCF.

Yes, in the text books, "pretax OCF", "pretax cost savings", and "savings in pretax operating costs" all have same equivalent meanings. That means, pretax OCF = pretax cost savings = savings in pretax operating costs = OCF + Tax = EBIT + Dep. Exp. = Sales - Costs (excluding non-cash exp). So, whatever following formula you apply, you would end up with the same OCF.
Formula 1 => OCF = EBIT + Dep. Exp. - Taxes
Formula 2 => OCF = NI + Dep. Exp. [Disregarding financing expenses]
Formula 3 => OCF = Sales - Costs - Taxes [Costs exclude all non-cash expenses]
Formula 4 => OCF = (Sales - Costs)(1-T%) + Depreciation*T% [ " ]

Additional Office Hours!

I am planning to be available tomorrow from 10 am to 12:30 pm in my office. Please make use of my office hours and see me if you need any help clarifying difficult concepts.

Thanks.