Higgs boson party to pay off for Melbourne

THE challenge in running cost-benefit analysis on publicly funded major events surfaced again this week with the announcement in Melbourne that the basic building block of matter, the Higgs boson particle, had been found after almost 50 years of searching.

Australia boxes above its natural weight in the world of physics, but it was only a small part of a massive multinational effort to find the Higgs boson using the $US10 billion Large Hadron Collider, a 27-kilometre-long particle accelerator that lies beneath the French-Swiss border near Geneva.
There are about 10,000 particle physicists in the world, and about 30 Australians worked on one of two experiments aimed at finding the particle that were run by CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research.

            The lead local was Professor Geoff Taylor, a University of Melbourne physicist who runs the Australian Research Council Centre for Excellence for Particle Physics at the Tera-scale (a Tera is a million million units, and in this case it signifies that the scientists are looking at very small particles indeed).

He and a small government-private sector-funded vehicle, the Melbourne Convention and Visitors Bureau (MCVB), joined forces to mount an Olympics-style campaign that resulted in Melbourne and Australia being linked to one of most important scientific announcements in history.
The MCVB is tiny. It generated revenue of $11.5 million in the 2010-2011 financial year, including $7.3 million of annual state government funding that survived this year's Victorian budget cuts and is secure until 2014. The City of Melbourne contributes another $1 million year in a funding deal that will be renegotiated next year, and the rest comes mainly from subscription fees from over 250 companies that resource conference projects, and profit from them.
The business convention market is the highest yielding segment of the tourism industry: MCVB's latest estimate is that convention delegates spend $757 a day.
MCVB is too small, however, to take on commercial risk on the conventions it helps attract to the city, 210 of them in 2011-2012. Instead, it identifies convention opportunities, scopes them, and joint-ventures projects with convention hosts. The hosts take the commercial risk, and MCVB and its member organisations provide expertise in bidding for events, and designing and running them.
MCVB approached Geoff Taylor in 2005 and successfully proposed a bid to host the 34th International Conference on High Energy Physics that would see the University of Melbourne take on the commercial risk.
The conference is held every two years by the International Union of Pure and Applied Physics and is an event that has to be won, in a competitive tender that lays out the scientific and commercial cases for the proposed host city.
Taylor's group and the MCVB pitched for the 2006 conference as a learning exercise. It was awarded to Moscow. They launched a serious bid for the 2008 conference but lost to Philadelphia, and lost the 2010 conference narrowly to Paris.
High-end research is an industry like any other. Funding is a function of progress, and the pressure on CERN was intense by 2010 given that the Large Hadron Collider had been operating for two years. Speculation that the Higgs boson would be unveiled in Paris was rife - but no announcement was made, and after going so close in the 2010 contest, Melbourne was in the box seat. It was confirmed as the 2012 host last year.
There is obviously some luck in the timing of Melbourne's capture of this conference, which began this week with co-ordinated announcements in Melbourne and Geneva that the Higgs boson had been identified.
The conference is also not going to shift Australia's economic dial. Financially it may only break even, because the strong Australian dollar and the European recession held numbers to about 800, that is 200 less than initially expected. MCVB is organising other conferences that are 10 times larger.
But there's an intangible dividend from this latest iteration of a public-private project. It's history now that Melbourne was where the Higgs boson discovery was revealed, and reported in thousands of stories around the world. That's publicity you can't buy, and there could be longer term dividends in research, say, post-graduate enrolments or perhaps eventually in commercially applied science. There should be more intelligently designed and skilfully executed projects like these.
GINA Rinehart's sale of 86.5 million shares in Fairfax yesterday cuts her stake from almost 19 per cent to just under 15 per cent, but it is only a tactical retreat. She still wants board seats, and the buyer, Perpetual, appears to think that fresh faces are needed.
Her company, Hancock Prospecting, said last night that it did not intend to ''make an offer'' for Fairfax. But it also renewed its request for the appointment of two of its nominees and a new independent director to the media group's board, and called again for chairman Roger Corbett's tenure to be tied to performance milestones.
The board's requirement that she sign off on the group's independence charter and its belief that the board presence she seeks would give her too much influence are the big stumbling blocks: there has been no sign that Fairfax or Mrs Rinehart are prepared to give ground.
By moving below 15 per cent she may have more tactical options, however. If she were above 15 per cent and on the board, an exclusion clause in Fairfax's directors and officers insurance policy would be triggered, leaving other directors exposed to personal liability in the event of legal action by her. Rather than indemnify them, she has chosen to move down below 15 per cent, to a point where the exclusion clause is neutralised.
If she runs a successful campaign with shareholders for her appointment, in an extraordinary meeting or at Fairfax's next annual meeting, there is less risk now that her appointment would result in a wave of board departures. Rinehart still wants a say inside Fairfax, and she is still manoeuvering to get it: the Game of Thrones continues.

Landslide death toll 86

Death toll in landslide and house collapse due to heavy downpour in Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Bandarban rose to 86 yesterday.
Of the victims, 36 died in Bandarban, 23 in Chittagong and 27 in Cox's Bazar, officials in the respective districts said.
At least a dozen others died in drowning and lightning in Cox's Bazar and Sylhet over the last two days.
The death toll yesterday jumped from 15 the day before and is feared to mount further, with scores remain missing following multiple landslides in those districts.
Rescue operation was intensified yesterday with army troops joining the salvage efforts by volunteers and fire brigade members.
Heavy monsoon rain battered the southeast region of the country causing several landslides and house collapse in the hill slopes over the last three days.
All domestic and international flight operations to and from Chittagong Shah Amanat International Airport were declared suspended at 4:30pm on Tuesday as the runway, like much of the port city, went under rainwater.
Flight operations were supposed to resume at 5:00am today, according to civil aviation authorities.
Train services on the Dhaka-Chittagong route were also cut off as a railway bridge at Bhatiari collapsed around 8:00pm on Tuesday, presumably due to the downpour that began around 3:30am.
Atiqur Rahman, deputy secretary of food and disaster management ministry who is working at the ministry's National Disaster Response Coordination Centre, said information of death continued coming up to the centre.
The center will remain open from 6:00am to 12:00pm every day for the next few days, a press release of the ministry said.
The government on Tuesday allocated Tk 10 million and 1,450 tonnes of rice for the affected people in Chittagong, Bandarban, Cox's Bazaar, Feni, Sylhet, Habiganj and Moulvibazar, among other districts.
In addition, local administrations in Chittagong, Bandarban, Cox's Bazaar, Feni and Sylhet have distributed 172 tonnes of rice and Tk 7 lakh among the victims.
Our Chittagong bureau office reports 18 people, including women and children, died in the port city and three in Banshkhali upazila.
Five members of a family were buried alive after a huge chunk of earth fell on their hillside home at the city's Biswa Colony on Tuesday, said Abdul Latif, officer-in-charge of Khulshi Police Station.
In the city's Motka Ghona area two sisters aged seven and eight died in a landslide on Tuesday evening.
Five people, including two two-year-old girls, were killed at Yasin Colony under Khulshi Police Station.
Twenty four members of Bangladesh Army were conducting rescue operation in the area.
Captain Gazi Mohammad Maksud-ur-Rahim, who led the operation, told The Daily Star they recovered three bodies from 7 to 8 feet under earth.
Three young members of a family were buried under mad on Tuesday night at Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong. The victims are Shahidul Islam, 12, Khorsheda Begum, 8 and Fatema Begum, 4.
In a wall collapse, 15-year-old schoolgirl Kawser Ani died at Chikandandi union under Hathazari upazila.
The incident happened when a roadside demarcation wall fell on her amid ceaseless rain while she was passing through around 6.00pm, said Mohammad Idris, a member of the Chikandandi union.
Eight-year-old Abul Hossain of Ambagan area also died in a wall collapse on Tuesday night.
Four members of a family were buried alive at Andharmanik area under Khulshi in another incident of landslide on Tuesday night. The dead are Jahanara Begum, 40, and her three children Subarna Akter, 19, Rabeya Akter, 13, and Tanvir Ahmed, 9.
Meanwhile, city life started to return to normal yesterday as water receded in most of the city areas.
Power supply which was disrupted Tuesday was also restored in many areas yesterday.
However, loading and unloading of cargos at the outer anchorage of Chittagong Port still remained suspended due to bad weather, said Sayed Farhad Uddin, secretary of Chittagong Port Authority.
In Cox's Bazar, 10 bodies were recovered from Ukhiya, eight from Chakaria, seven from Ramu, five from Moheskhali, three each from Cox's Bazar sadar and Pekua and two from Kutubdia, said Abdul Mozid, district relief and rehabilitation officer.
He said 24 of them died in landslide, three in house collapse, and five in lightening while six people drowned, he added.

Electricity rates hikes

It is unfair, morally untenable and breach of public trust on the part of the government to repeatedly raise electricity charges without caring to curb the systems loss. Why is it that moves are not taken to plug the loopholes of wastes in terms of unpaid bills that various government ministries, corporations and other public bodies owe to PDB? How is it that year after year, bad debt is allowed to accrue in the public sector while it is the average consumer who must continue to bear the burden of ever-burgeoning electricity bill?
These are valid questions that must now be asked and answered by relevant authorities, for whilst it may make perfect sense to “balance the books” by adding a few zeros in the ledger of accounts, serious thought must go into the implications of a rise in production costs making our products uncompetitive in the world market and go beyond reach of local consumers.
Nothing is more music to ear for the Power Development Board (PDB) when it suggests nearly a 60 per cent hike in electricity bills which both industrial and retail consumers will have to endure from the beginning of the new fiscal year. It is ironic that the Chairman of PDB proposed in the third week of May that the price of electricity may be raised “a little bit” along with energy conservation measures to minimise the country's losses and reduce power outages. Little did we expect that “little bit” to represent a hike of 50 to 60 per cent from present tariff rates.
Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission, a body that is supposed to hold public hearings representing various stakeholders including consumers has sadly not been upholding its end of the bargain of late. Although we are told that a hearing will take place in July to address concerns of the various interest groups, the body fails to inspire hope that the government will backtrack from its current position. The increased tariff that will affect both bulk and retail consumers will have a domino effect of raising costs of production, which will at the end of the day be borne by the average consumer. The rationale for such a significant increase in tariff falls flat in the face of falling crude prices in the international market with these down to around US$90 a barrel.

Syria imminent threat to Turkey

Turkey's prime minister branded Syria an imminent threat yesterday, vowing to retaliate over the "heinous" downing of one of its jets, as Russia downplayed the incident and Nato rallied behind Ankara.
Amid reports of fierce clashes between Syrian rebel forces and army units around elite Republican Guard posts in Damascus, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced his country had changed its rules of engagement and would now treat any Syrian security threat as a military target.
Friday's downing of a Turkish Phantom F-4 fighter jet has split Moscow and the West, with Nato condemning Syria and voicing its solidarity with member state Turkey while Russia, an ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime, said the incident should not be seen as intentional.
"We believe it is important that the incident is not viewed as a provocation or an intentional action, and that it does not lead to destabilising the situation," the Russian foreign ministry said in its first comment on the incident.
But Erdogan raised the heat on the Assad regime by accusing it of shooting down the jet while it was in international airspace, without warning.
"This is a hostile act... a heinous attack," Erdogan told a parliamentary meeting of his ruling AKP party.
"Turkey will exercise its rights, born out of international law, with determination, and take the necessary steps by determining the time, place and method by itself."
Erdogan, once a close ally of Assad, has become one of the Syrian leader's biggest critics and his reaction to the downing of the jet is his fiercest outburst to date.
The premier admitted the Turkish plane had violated Syrian airspace but said it was only for a short time and "by mistake". He insisted it was not in Syrian airspace when it came under attack.
Any security or military risk posed by Syria on the Turkish border would be "considered a threat and treated as a military target."
After a request from Turkey, Nato's secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen hosted talks with ambassadors of the alliance's 28 members in Brussels.
"Allies have expressed their strong support and solidarity with Turkey," he told reporters after the meeting, which lasted about 90 minutes.
"We consider this act to be unacceptable and condemn it in the strongest terms.
"It is another example of the Syrian authorities' disregard for international norms, peace and security, and human life.
"Let me make this clear. The security of the alliance is indivisible. We stand together with Turkey in the spirit of strong solidarity."
And Iran, an ally of Turkey and Syria, called yesterday for regional countries rather than outside powers to help resolve the row.
Damascus has defended the downing of the jet, saying it was a response to "a gross violation" of its sovereignty.
In Syria , Syrian armed rebel forces and regime army units were locked in fierce clashes around elite Republican Guard posts in the suburbs of Damascus, according to pro-opposition activists.
The Britain-based Observatory said 58 people had been killed across the country yesterday: 24 soldiers, 30 civilians and four rebels.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday said that Iran should be invited to an international meeting on the Syria conflict in Geneva on Saturday.
"We believe it (Iran) has to be invited. It should certainly be done," Lavrov told reporters after Russian President held talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II on the shores of the Dead Sea.
Lavrov said he would take part in the summit, but indicated that the talks without Iran would be less productive.

Rain plays havoc on Ctg people

The Chittagong Met office recorded 342.5 millimetre rain in the last 24 hours till 6:00pm yesterday, the highest rainfall this year. The Met office forecasts more shower in the next 24 hours.
PORT AUTHORITIES BLAMED
City dwellers hold the CCC responsible for their recurring sufferings.
“Two years have passed since the Mayor took office. But we do not see any significant initiative by the city authorities to address the water logging problem," said Masud Ahmed of Panchlaish.
Dozens other echoed his sentiment.
Asked, Bijoy Kumar Chowdhury, a councillor of the CCC, said the CCC alone could not solve the problem.
The job must be done in coordination with the Water and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) and the Chittagong Development Authority, added Bijoy, also chairman of CCC's standing committee on water logging.
Mahbub Alam, senior vice-president of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry, also stressed the need for coordination between the CCC, Wasa and CDA to rid the city of the problem.
According to Zarina Hossain, a town planner, unplanned urbanisation is to blame for water stagnation.
Bijoy said the CCC had done a lot of work to address this problem but some major projects remain incomplete due to fund shortages.
“We have submitted a project proposal to dig a canal in the port city from Bahaddarhat to the Karnaphuli River,” he said, adding that the proposal was under consideration of the local government ministry.
The seven-km canal will go through Khawza Road before falling into the Karnaphuli.
Bijoy hoped that Chittagong's water logging problem will be solved to a great extent on completion of the Tk 297-crore project.

Shakib Al Hasan, brand ambassador of Tiffin Biscuit

Shakib Al Hasan, currently the best all-rounder in cricket, is now the brand ambassador of Tiffin Biscuit, a product of Globe Biscuit and Dairy Milk Ltd. Shakib recently signed the agreement at a press conference. Chairman of Globe, Harun Ur Rashid; Director Khairul Anam; AGM Md. Saiful Islam and popular actor-director and executive director of Nakhshikantha Communication, Mahfuz Ahmed, were present at the signing in ceremony. Mahfuz said that to enlighten the students of the different localities and districts, Shakib would visit schools and colleges from time to time. Shakib said that he had agreed to take up the project on request of Mahfuz. Through the project he could lend a hand in developing awareness among the young

Clashes erupt in Kashmir after shrine fire

A fire destroyed a revered Muslim shrine in Indian-administered Kashmir yesterday, prompting anti-government protests by residents angered over what they said was a slow response by firefighters.
At least 30 protesters and 10 policemen were injured in clashes, police said. Shops and businesses remained closed.
The cause of the fire at the 200-year-old shrine of Sheikh Abdul Qadir Jeelani in the heart of Srinagar city was not immediately known. The blaze started from the roof shortly after morning prayers and quickly engulfed the wooden structure, a police official said. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

'Twisted light' carries 2.5 terabits of data per second

Researchers have clocked light beams made of "twisted" waves carrying 2.5 terabits of data - the capacity of more than 66 DVDs - per second.
The technique relies on manipulating what is known as the orbital angular momentum of the waves.
Recent work suggests that the trick could vastly boost the data-carrying capacity in wi-fi and optical fibres.
The striking demonstration of the approach, reported in Nature Photonics, is likely to lead to even higher rates.
Angular momentum is a slippery concept when applied to light, but an analogy closer to home is the Earth itself.
Our planet has "spin angular momentum" because it spins on its axis, and "orbital angular momentum" because it is also revolving around the Sun.
Light can have both these types, but the spin version is the far more familiar - as what is commonly called polarisation, or the direction along which light waves wiggle. Polarising sunglasses and many 3D glasses work by passing one polarisation and not another.