United News of Bangladesh

“Language must be free”—guided by this solemn statement, Avro, Bangladesh’s first free and open-source graphical keyboard software, emerged in 2003 and revolutionized the Bengali typing system forever. Marking a groundbreaking leap over traditional intricate and paid methods, Avro shattered barriers and made Bengali input on digital devices effortless and free from commercial constraints. Let’s reminisce about this transformative software's dramatic journey and the story of its visionary innovator, Mehdi Hasan's Team. A Young Dreamer with a Striking Idea . At the 2003 Ekushey Book Fair, Mehdi Hasan Khan, then a higher-secondary student with a passion for programming and technology, attended the “Bangla Linux” display held by a voluntary organization, Bangla Innovation through Open Source (BIOS). There he saw the first Bengali website using a Unicode model named, Unibangla, which was designed for Linux. Moved by the display, young Mehdi began researching “Bangla Linux,” which included an on-screen click-based keyboard for typing Bengali. Overwhelmed by the lack of a similar option for Windows, Mehdi developed the idea of a new simplified multi-platform Bengali keyboard. Read more: How to Verify If Your Smartphone is Truly Brand New and Never Used Before From Ideation to Existence Obsessed with the idea of a unique Bengali typing software, Mehdi Hasan immediately started the project. After looking up the dictionary, he selected “Avro,” which translates to “Sky,” as the project name.  A Windows-compatible prototype of the Avro Keyboard was developed using the Visual Basic programming language. The prototype followed a layout similar to the then-popular Bijoy layout, which was later replaced with Avro Easy, the phenomenal phonetic layout. On March 26, 2003, Mehdi released a primary version of the Avro Keyboard. To provide broad and easy access to the software, he published a new website, OmicronLab. By that time, he had become a student at Mymensingh Medical College and was put under a massive study load. In addition, OmicronLab’s forum section slowly began receiving feedback and advice for further upgradation. To help Mehdi cope with the response, joined Rifat Un Nabi, Tanbin Islam Siam, Shabab Mustafa, and Omar Osman in the development. Read more: 7 Top AI Writing Tools, Software to Generate Human-Like Text Currently, Avro uses Delphi replacing Visual Basic for the Windows version. The Linux version, primarily developed with C++, has shifted to iBus and JavaScript, while the macOS version uses Objective-C.

The government has appointed Mehdi Hasan, currently serving as the Director General (Administration) at the Ministry, as the next Ambassador of Bangladesh to Sweden. Ambassador-designate Mehdi Hasan is a career diplomat belonging to the 17th batch of the BCS (Foreign Affairs) cadre, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday. Also read: Two newly-appointed Bangladesh ambassadors call on President Hamid In his diplomatic career, he served as the Consul General in Hong Kong and Counsellor in Manama. He also served at Bangladesh Missions in Moscow and New Delhi in different capacities. Mehdi Hasan did his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Masters in Water Resource Engineering from Bangladesh University of Engineering & Technology (BUET). Also read: Nazmul Islam new Bangladesh Ambassador to Oman He obtained a ‘Diploma’ (Masters) in International Relations from the International Institute of Public Administration in Paris.