Sunday 27 October 2019

Avengers: Endgame

The film was announced in October 2014 as Avengers: Infinity War – Part 2, but Marvel later removed this title. The Russo brothers joined as directors in April 2015, with Markus and McFeely signing on to write the script a month later. The film serves as a conclusion to the story of the MCU up to that point, ending the story arcs for several main characters. Filming began in August 2017 at Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Fayette County, Georgia, shooting back-to-back with Infinity War, and ended in January 2018. Additional filming took place in the Metro and Downtown Atlanta areas, New York, Scotland, and England. The story revisits several moments from earlier films, bringing back actors and settings from throughout the franchise as well as music from previous films. The official title was revealed in December 2018. With an estimated budget of $356 million, it is one of the most expensive films ever made.
Avengers: Endgame was widely anticipated, and Disney backed the film with Marvel's largest marketing campaign. It premiered in Los Angeles on April 22, 2019, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 26. The film received praise for its direction, acting, musical score, action sequences, visual effects, and emotional weight, with critics lauding its culmination of the 22-film story. It grossed nearly $2.8 billion worldwide, surpassing Infinity War's entire theatrical run in just eleven days and breaking numerous box office records, including becoming the highest-grossing film of all time, overtaking 2009's Avatar.



Wednesday 21 August 2019

How to Become a Fashion Designe




There is no formal education or certification required to become a successful fashion designer, but that doesn't make the feat any easier. To become a fashion designer, you will need to have a combination of drawing, sewing, and design skills, a knowledge of the fashion industry, and unparalleled perseverance. You'll also need to create a strong fashion portfolio and strengthen your knowledge of business and finance in general.




Honing Your Fashion Design Skills
Image titled Become a Fashion Designer Step 1


Develop your skills. Successful fashion designers have a wide array of skills, including drawing, an eye for color and texture, an ability to visualize concepts in three dimensions, and the mechanical skills involved in sewing and cutting all types of fabrics.[1]
Get excellent sewing tuition if you haven't already learned this skill well. Being able to sew difficult fabric under challenging situations will stand you in excellent stead throughout your career but you need to work at it - it's a skill that doesn't come easily to many people.
Understand how fabrics move, drape, breathe, react when worn, etc. Your in-depth knowledge of fabric is absolutely essential to using it properly when designing. Also know where to source materials from.
Learn from existing designers, not just who they are, but their backgrounds, their signature style, the learning that they undertook, where they studied. Knowing this will help you to be a better designer yourself, as you can borrow and build on their ideas.
Learn how to create storyboards and product ranges. Be good at researching trends and finding inspiration from social media, comparative shopping and trade shows.



Designer Step2

Learn more. If you can, it makes good sense to get a diploma or degree in fashion design or a related program. You'll learn a great deal, make excellent early contacts and have ample opportunity to show off your skills in a less judgmental environment (although still be prepared to be critiqued!) Do one (or both) of the following:
Get a degree in fashion design. Most programs are three or four years long. FIDM and Parsons are two of the most popular design schools in the United States. You will study drawing, color and composition, pattern-making, and draping.[2] In addition to learning practical skills like these, you will also be working with industry professionals who may serve as important contacts in the future and who can give you first-hand advice and feedback on your work.
Apply for an internship or apprenticeship. If school is not for you, or if you simply feel that real-world experience will be of more benefit to you, then find a fashion internship. You will need to have an impressive portfolio to apply and be willing to start at the bottom; interns are often given menial tasks like getting coffee. Again, the connections you make through your internship or apprenticeship will be vital as you pursue your career in fashion, and working with industry professionals will give you an opportunity to pick up important skills first-hand.


Designer Step 3

Decide which designing field is your principal interest. You may need to start at the bottom but you do need to have some goals in mind as to the type of designing you want to undertake lifelong. Are you interested most in haute couture, ready-to-wear, fitness/leisure gear, the mass market or niches such as eco wear? Each has advantages and disadvantages that you'll need to explore before reaching your final decision on which pathway to pursue. Within these major fields, you'll also need to decide on a few sub-set areas for your fashion design. You might wish to straddle a few but to begin with, don't over-extend yourself as it's better to perfect your designing within one area and then experiment when you've already got a good foothold in the industry.
For Women's daywear, women's evening wear
Men's daywear, men's evening wear
Boys' wear and/or girls' wear; teenage wear
Sportswear/fitness/leisure wear
Knitwear
Outdoor, adventure, outerwear
Bridal wear
Accessories
casual
Costume design for theaters, movies, the advertising industry and retailers.

Get inspiration from your competitors. Observe and note the fabric they are using; the zipper size they use (for their garments to be strong enough for its usage); fabric quality for its properties such as impermeability, comfort, breathability or care; colours that sells in your country. Starting from your competitors qualities is not copying: it's observation. With taking the best of every pieces and analyzing it, you will understand what makes a "favorite" piece of clothing. They are usually best sellers. Your customers (whether they are buyers for stores or regular people) want something that looks good on them in the first place. Extravagant pieces are worn only a few days a year, they're great, but they may not bring you a salary to live with.

Plan some key pieces. What is your absolute strength in designing? Perhaps you're a whizz at accessories or a genius with yoga pants. Your passion and skill are an important first part of the equation. Of course, the second part is matching this to what the market wants, which in fashion, is part convincing the market and part noticing what the market is demanding.

Deciding if the Fashion Industry is Ready for You

Assess your skills and personality honestly before pursuing a career in fashion design. You may love clothes but clothing is only part of the story when undertaking fashion design. You'll also need excellent communication skills, a willingness to work very hard (often 24/7), a tough hide when criticized, an ability to cope with stress, openness to having many different clients and/or bosses, an acceptance that there will be loneliness or isolation on occasion (depending on how you set up your design business or career) and an ability to be a self-disciplined self-starter.
Being a fashion designer is probably for you if: You want to devote your life to this career (it's your "vocation"), you don't mind uncertainty or insecurity, you are willing to stand up for what you believe in, you have distinct ideas about what is important in fashion, you listen to clients well, you know the fashion industry inside out and you live, eat and breathe fashion.
Being a fashion designer is probably not for you if: You can't manage stress well, you don't like uncertainty or instability, you want a career without too many highs or lows, you need other people to praise your efforts, you need a lot of guidance, you hate being financially unstable and you have too many other interests in life.

Setting Yourself Up for Success


Get educated about the business side of fashion. Being a successful fashion designer not only requires talent and creativity, it also requires a sound knowledge of the business and marketing aspects of the fashion world. Keep yourself updated on the happenings in the fashion industry by regularly reading trade journals like Women's Wear Daily and Daily News Record.
Many fashion design programs include courses in marketing. Some programs/majors highlight marketing more than others, so be sure to do ample research on the coursework involved in the program you choose. If you've already undertaken a course but missed the marketing/financial side of things, consider doing short courses in these aspects of business.
Learn beyond design. There is an entire supply chain involved in the fashion industry and you need to understand what each person's job is, so that you can see things from their perspective too, in order to make compromises, meet demands and understand where things get held up. Research what others do, such as buyers, merchandisers, pattern cutters, garment and fabric technologists, quality controllers, graders, sample machinists, sales people, PR and marketing people, fashion journalists, retailers, event organizers, fashion stylists and so forth.
Know your customer. This skill is basic and essential and it's one a fashion designer must never lose sight of. Know how much your customers spend, what their lifestyles are, where they like to shop, how they like to shop and what they like and dislike. Know what are absolute needs and what are the things that only get bought when disposable incomes are less tight. If you have done marketing, you should have a solid understanding of how to work out customers' needs.
Know your competitors. Always keep an eye on what other fashion designers in your area of interest are doing. At a minimum, keep up. Better still, surpass them while still meeting your customers' needs.
Trade fairs are an excellent place to develop deeper understanding of how the fashion industry works and what will work for you in terms of meeting customer needs and staying competitive.



Look for fashion design jobs. There are various ways to find work in the fashion industry as a designer and it depends on the type of designing you're interested in. In some cases, being versatile will help you a great deal, just so that you get the experience and then jump across to your real passion later. And in most cases, you'll need to be persistent and apply to many different places to get your foot in the door. For starters, some places to apply to include:
Existing fashion houses and designers - look for internships, entry-level paid positions, assistants to designers, etc.
Costume positions with movie studios, theaters, costume stores, etc.
Online advertisements through various online job agencies
Word of mouth––use your college or fashion industry contacts to get you through the door. In an industry that values what people who already are well positioned have to say, this is a good way to get started.


If running your own design business, be prepared to be financially astute. You may be exceptionally creative but be absolutely certain that if you run your own fashion label, you need to be business savvy. You do need to understand those numbers and the invoices that keep piling up on your table. If you really hate this stuff, there are good options, such as asking your accountant to take care of all things financial but it still pays to keep on top of the whole thing yourself. And if you really, really hate this side of it, look for work as a fashion designer with a fashion house instead of running your own label.[6]
What type of trader will you be? There are many possibilities, including sole trader, partnership, incorporated company, etc. Each has distinct advantages and disadvantages that you should discuss with your legal and financial advisers before proceeding. Be sure that you are covered for liability in all circumstances, especially if you're in a particularly litigious culture.

Be realistic. You may need to be willing to move to match your market but that depends on how you work and sell. Being realistic means recognizing that it's pointless trying to sell a lot of haute couture to people who only want career clothing in a semi-rural town while it's no good trying to sell bikini to the Inuit. You'll need to focus on where your market is most likely to be and either work out whether it's best for you to live and work in that same area or how to get the distribution from your current area to the place where it's most likely to sell.
Take into consideration the influences around you. As a creative person, part of your creative process is being around like people and sparking off their ideas and suggestions too. It's a lot harder to do this alone or working alongside people who aren't into your fashion approaches.
Remember too that seasonality impacts fashion designing and may have an impact on the type of clothing you're producing and where you wish to sell it.
Consider the power of online selling. Provided you use good quality three dimensional images that can be zoomed and turned, selling your fashion online to anywhere in the world is another realistic possibility nowadays. This allows you greater flexibility in where you'll live and design and can reduce the daily commute to zero. This may be ideal if you plan on staying a small fashion label. Even then however, you should still make allowances for traveling to major fashion shows.
Living in a city with a thriving fashion industry makes good sense for many designers. According to the Global Language Monitor (GLM), the following cities were the top fashion capitals of the world in 2012, in descending order:[7]
London, England
New York, US
Barcelona, Spain
Paris, France
Mexico City
Madrid, Spain
Rome, Italy
Sao Palo, Brazil
Milan, Italy
Los Angeles, US
Berlin, Germany.
Mumbai, India

Wednesday 29 May 2019

Plane makes emergency landing in UAE after Indian man dies mid-air

Plane makes emergency landing in UAE after Indian man dies
An Alitalia flight made an emergency landing on Tuesday. (Photo: Reuters)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • The flight made an emergencyon an Etihad flight, Embassy counsellor said
An Alitalia New Delhi-Milan flight made an emergency landing in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following the death of an Indian man onboard the flight, Indian Embassy officials said.
The victim Kailash Chandra Saini, 52, from Rajasthan, was accompanied by his 26-year-old son Heera Lal, reports the Khaleej Times.
"The flight made an emergency landing (at the Abu Dhabi International Airport) on Monday night. The body was taken to Mafraq Hospital. The formalities have been completed. The death certificate was issued on Tuesday. The body will be repatriated on an Etihad flight, hopefully by Wednesday morning," Embassy counsellor M. Rajamurugan said on Tuesday.

Pakistan extends airspace closure on Indian border till June 14


The closure of Pakistan airspace has mainly affects flights from Europe to Southeast Asia. (File photo: Reuters)

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM carried out the deadly Pulwama attack on a CRPF convoy on Feb 14
  • In retaliation to Pulama attack, India conducted the Balakot airstrike destructing a JeM training camp
  • The Balakot airtsrike led to an aerial dogfight between India and Pakistan after which the latter closed its airspace
Pakistani airspace on its eastern border with India will remain closed until June 14, a civil aviation official said on Wednesday, the latest extension months after a standoff between the arch-rivals.
"We don't expect the ban to be lifted anytime soon. It may take a while," an official said on condition of anonymity.
Pakistan closed its airspace in February after IAF carried out Balakot airstrike following the deadly Pulwama attack by Pakistan-based terror outfit JeM on a CRPF convoy.
As a result of the ban, foreign carriers using Indian airspace have been forced to take costly detours because they cannot fly over Pakistan. The closure mainly affects flights from Europe to Southeast Asia. The flights from US and Europe flying in and out of New Delhi were worst hit.
Pakistan and Indian airspace as seen on May 29. (Source: www.flightradar24.com)
National carrier Air India has long haul (14-16 hours) flights to New York, Newark, Chicago, Washington and San Francisco. Due to the airspace closure, flights from Delhi are being routed through Omani and Iranian airspace. The change in route means more fuel burn, added time and more manpower service.
It is believed that due to the change in route have the national carrier Air India have suffered a major loss.
"We would not want to comment on this. It's a diplomatic matter," an Air India spokesperson told India Today TV..
Former Executive Director Air India Jitendra Bhargava said extension of air space closure by Pakistan was expected.
"Pakistan is unlikely to open the airspace unilaterally. Considering its importance for Indian carriers, Pakistan will like to make it a part of a package that leads to talks and normilisation of relations," Jitendra Bhargava said.

Tuesday 28 May 2019

North Macedonia to hold first-ever pride parade in June 2019

People with Macedonian flag and the Rainbow flags in front of government of Republic of North Macedonia
Activists protest for LGBTQ+ rights at the March of Tolerance 15 Nov 2014 in Skopje, the capital of North Macedonia. Photo by Coalition Margins, used with permission.
The LGBTQ+ community in North Macedonia announced the country will hold its first pride parade ever on June 29, 2019, in the capital Skopje.
North Macedonia will join a group of Balkan countries that have recently announced or held their first gay pride parades. Earlier this month, Bosnia and Herzegovina said it'll hold its first pride march in September 2019, while Kosovo held its second-ever march in October 2018.
North Macedonia's march was made public by the National Network on Fight Against Homophobia and Transphobia in a press conference on May 20. Irena Cvetkovic, an activist with the group, said:
A very difficult period has passed for the LGBT community and we consider that now is the moment for a Pride Parade, because we passed the worst. North Macedonia is the last country in the region that organizes a Pride Parade.
Cvetkovic was referring to the 2006-2017 rule of the conservative VMRO-DPMNE party, a period when homophobic violence was markedly tolerated by government officials
During the 11-year period, Skopje witnessed a spate of violent attacks against LGBTQ+ organizations and people, and right-wing politicians and pro-government media were openly hostile to this population.

Business behind surender of 'extremists'


The 80 'extremists' of Joypurhat who surrendered at an event in the presence of the home minister Asaduzzaman Khan in Pabna in April 2019, are evidently not extremists at all. 
Of these 80, at least seven were sentenced to death and were either imprisoned or absconding, a Prothom Alo investigation shows. 
There were also criminals and drug traders among these so-called extremists.
Of the 80 'extremists', 22 belonged to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) or its youth front Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) or its student wing Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and the rest were from ruling Awami League's youth front Jubo League and its affiliated organisation Swechchhasebak League, according to the investigation.
They only pretended to be extremists so that they could be exempted from their charges and get financial incentives from the government, said local policemen and political leaders.

The 80 'extremists' of Joypurhat along with 515 others from 14 districts surrendered on 9 April 2019.
The government has provided Tk 100,000 as incentive to every person who surrendered and Tk 1 million to every ringleader.
A total of 16 ringleaders led the surrender programme. Ramzan Ali was the leader of Joypurhat. He is also joint general secretary of Swechchhasebak League of the district unit. He is facing several cases.
Nandalal Parshi, a district committee member of Joypurhat Awami League, told Prothom Alo that he also submitted the names of some local youth to Ramzan Ali so that the charges against them would be dropped and that they could also receive money from the government.
The members of an intelligence agency were also involved in preparing the list, but there was no extremist in Joypourhat, he added. 
Ramzan Ali, however, made no comment when contacted.
Ramzan's brother Selim Babu is on the list of these 'extremists'. He said, "Many young men pretended to be extremists just to be exempted from charges against them. So what is wrong with my name being included too?"
Romanur Rahman is a member of district Jubo League. He told Prothom Alo that he submitted names as advised by Ramzan Alo and Nandalal Parshi. 
The entire list is fake, said Romanur.
Two persons on the list are not even facing any charges. One of them is Mukta Biswas, nephew of Nandalal Parshi and other is Nuruzzaman Babu, an activist of Swechchhasebak League.
About Mukta, Nandalal said his nephew was kept on the list as he is a friend of Ramzan.
Nuruzzaman Babu said, "I agreed to surrender as my leader Ramzan told me that the government will give me Tk 100,000. I'm badly in need of the money."
Pabna's additional superintendent of police Gautam Kumar Biswas told Prothom Alo that they freed all who surrendered. News of the planned surrender event surfaced in the media in early April, an intelligence agency reportedly being behind the plan.
A top police official said the list of 'extremists' was supposed to be prepared by the police. However, they did nothing but sign some papers, he added.
Superintendent of police of Joypurhat, Rashidul Hasan, told Prothom Alo, "As far we know, there is no extremist in Joypurhat. Despite that, we received a list of 71 extremists which was sent to Pabna."
But several police officers said that the list was made later, including nine more names. Then the death row convicts were added too.
The Joypurhat police officers also said that the first list did not include names of the seven death row convicts. The convicts are Sadar upazila's Bambu union's Wazed Ali, Abu Hassan (Wazed's son), Mahir Uddin, Chaitanya, Safadul Islam, Anisur Rahman and Mantu Miah.
A lower court sentenced the seven people to death over Jubo League leader Abdul Matin's murder.
Wazed Ali's son Jewel Rana said, "I don't know whether my father was an extremist or not."
Another person, Mahbub Ali, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the same case, said, "There are several cases against us. Ruling party leaders told us to surrender pretending to be extremists. And so we did."
According to police documents, at least six people of the list are terrorists and drug traders. Of them, Ismail Hossain is facing 17 cases.
Former law minister Shafique Ahmed told Prothom Alo that only the court has the authority to exempt, suspend or cancel one's conviction.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan told Prothom Alo, "The police did not prepare the list. I was just present during the surrender event as chief guest." 
The minister also said that he does not know anything about the process the list was made but assured that anyone facing charges would only be exempted thorugh legal means

মাধ্যমিকের শিক্ষক নিয়োগ পরীক্ষা জুনে

বাংলাদেশ সরকারি কর্ম কমিশনের (পিএসসি) অধীনে মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়ের সহকারী শিক্ষক নিয়োগের পরীক্ষা আগামী জুন মাসে হতে পারে বলে জানিয়েছে পিএসসির একটি সূত্র। ওই পরীক্ষায় ১ হাজার ৩৭৮ পদের বিপরীতে প্রায় ২ লাখ ৩৫ হাজার প্রার্থী আবেদন করেছেন।
পিএসসি সূত্র জানায়, সরকারি মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়ের সহকারী শিক্ষক পদটি দ্বিতীয় শ্রেণির পদমর্যাদা দেওয়ার পর প্রথমবারের মতো সরাসরি নিয়োগ বিজ্ঞপ্তি প্রকাশ করে পিএসসি। গত বছরের ১০ সেপ্টেম্বর থেকে আবেদন গ্রহণ শুরু হয়ে ৮ অক্টোবর শেষ হয়।
পরীক্ষা কবে হবে—এ নিয়ে উৎকণ্ঠায় আছেন প্রার্থীরা। তাঁরা জানান, সাত মাস আগে সরকারি মাধ্যমিক বিদ্যালয়ের সহকারী শিক্ষক নিয়োগের আবেদন নেওয়া হয়েছে। এখনো পরীক্ষার তারিখ ঘোষণা করেনি পিএসসি। তাই শিগগিরই পরীক্ষার তারিখের ঘোষণা চান তাঁরা।
এ বিষয়ে জানতে চাইলে পিএসসির চেয়ারম্যান মোহম্মদ সাদিক প্রথম আলোকে বলেন, বিভিন্ন বিসিএস ও সিনিয়র স্কেল পরীক্ষা এবং নন–ক্যাডার নিয়োগ নিয়ে ব্যস্ত সময় পার করছে পিএসসি। মাধ্যমিকের শিক্ষক নিয়োগে প্রায় ২ লাখ ৩৫ হাজার প্রার্থী আবেদন করেছেন। বিপরীতে পদ আছে ১ হাজার ৩৭৮। তাঁদের পরীক্ষা আগামী জুনের শেষ দিকে নেওয়ার চেষ্টা করা হচ্ছে। সবকিছু ঠিক থাকলে এই সময়েই পরীক্ষা হবে।
নিয়োগ বিজ্ঞপ্তি অনুসারে বাংলায় ৩৬৫ জন, গণিতে ২০৫ জন, জীববিজ্ঞান ১১৮ জন, ইংরেজিতে ১০৬ জন, ধর্মে ১৭২ জন, সামাজিক বিজ্ঞানে ৮৩ জন, ভৌতবিজ্ঞানে ১০ জন, ব্যবসায় শিক্ষায় ৮ জন, ভূগোলে ৫৪ জন, চারুকলায় ৯২ জন, শারীরিক শিক্ষায় ৯৩ জন এবং কৃষিশিক্ষায় ৭২ জন সহকারী শিক্ষক নিয়োগ দেওয়া হবে।