Hero's Day Philippines - Aug 31
Different countries in the world celebrate heroes day. However, the main motive behind this celebration is same. Heroes Day is celebrated on the day when national heroes were born or on that day or the heroes made some special achievements that made them special. Thus Heroes Day is celebrated as a day to pay homage to those heroes of the country who sacrificed there life for their nation or they did something special for their nation. Philippines celebrate its Heroes Day on the 31 of August.
History Philippines honor the “Cry for
Pugad Lawin” by Filipino revolutionaries known as Katipunan. They secretly prepared troops to revolt that had the single aim, to gain independence from Spain. Katipunan is a Philippine revolutionary organization that was founded in 1892 by Filipino anti-Spanish revolutionaries in Manila. It was led by one the famous leaders named Andres Bonifacio, who was also one of the founders. About four years from the time of its creation, the leaders recruited about one to two hundred thousand members in the troop. Then after that, the new members were divided into different grades. As time spent, there became more numbers of leaders as the numbers of members in different grades were increasing. Thus apart from Bonaficio there were other leaders too. Among them, Emilio Aguinaldo was among the supreme commanders. In addition, Licerio Geronimo, Vincente Lukban and Melchora Aquino were in the list as famous Katipuneros. After some days, it was seen that most of the Katipunan leaders were arrested, because of this Bonifacio called a meeting so that they would start the revolt. Though about thousands of members attended the meeting yet nothing was decided on the issue. After that meeting, another meeting was organized were all of them promised to fight until death. As a sign of their commitment they tore there identity proofs. Thus, as per decision they attacked Manila. However, as the Spanish discovered this secret meeting their guards were able to defend themselves from this attack. Although the Katipunan soldiers were in advantage, the Spanish guards changed things so that the Katipunans had to retrieve back. The Katipunan soldiers moved back from the battle of Pasong Tamo but still did not loose their hope. They then regrouped after three days and decided not to attack Manila directly but to go for Spanish power magazine first. As per plans, they attacked the hindered Spanish soldiers who were protecting the powder magazine. Several soldiers died ad about one fifty three Katipuneors died too. In addition, many of them were taken in prison and were severely tortured. Although Katipuneors retrieved back, as more Spanish soldiers were sent, the people all over Philippines revolted and rose up with arms. Thus, the Spanish government declared military rule. Thus, day by day, the Spanish government retrieved themselves and thus the dream of Katipuneors and the people of Philippines came true. The Philippians gained freedom from Spain. Thus the heroes day is celebrated to pay honor to all those who participated in that revolt and who lost their precious life.
Independence Day Kyrgyzstan - Aug 31
August 31, 1991 is the day when Kyrgyzstan got independent from the Soviet Union. The age-old Soviet pressure took a long time to shrug off. Although the country was declared a republic and went through a name change several times after 1990, it was far from being independent from the Soviet clutches. The decision of Independence on 31st August 1991 was welcome by the common people as it was in their interest.
History The Soviet influence started in Kyrgyzstan in early
1919. The major oppression was experience during the Stalin days though. Though they were under the Soviet bear hug they still managed to retain and develop lot of social, cultural and educational aspect. The urge to preserve their culture maintained the tension among the all-Union authorities. The Soviet hold on Kyrgyzstan was not exactly like a typical colony these European countries had in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world however, they were far from being independent. The Soviet influence was quite visible in their political system. The independence of Kyrgyzstan would have taken longer if the mass resignation of the secretariat and bureau would not have happened. It was this move, which made the Supreme Soviet vote in favor of Kyrgyzstan’s independence. Another problem following independence was the fight to get to power. Lot of political instability was experienced after independence.
Celebrations The struggle to reinforce a stable and able government never stops the people of Kyrgyzstan from celebrating their
Independence Day. The typical celebration includes Independence Day parades with people attending it in their traditional wear. The evening sees many fireworks to celebrate the occasion. The fireworks light up the sky and make it look like a supernova explosion somewhere.
Independence Day Trinidad & Tobago - Aug 31
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the southeast, and Venezuela to the south and west. The country covers an area 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands, comprising about 94% of the total area and 96% of the total population of the country. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt. The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on February 18, 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlandercolonizers. Trinidad and Tobago was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago's economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals. Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is the birthplace of steelpan,calypso, soca, and limbo.
History
Historian E.L. Joseph claimed that Trinidad’s Amerindian name was Iere, derived from theArawak name for hummingbird, ierèttê or yerettê. However, Boomert claims that neithercairi nor caeri means hummingbird and tukusi or tucuchi does. Others have reported thatkairi and iere simply mean island. Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration. Tobago's cigar-like shape may have given it its Spanish name (cabaco, tavaco, tobacco) and possibly its Amerindian names of Aloubaéra (black conch) and Urupaina (big snail), although the English pronunciation is /təˈbeɪɡoʊ/, rhyming with plumbago andsago.
Trinidad:
Both Trinidad and Tobago were originally settled by Amerindians of South American origin. Trinidad was first settled by pre-agricultural Archaic people at least 7,000 years ago, making it the earliest-settled part of the Caribbean. Ceramic-using agriculturalists settled Trinidad around 250 BC, and then moved further up the Lesser Antillean chain. At the time of European contact Trinidad was occupied by various Arawakan-speaking groups including the Nepoya and Suppoya, and Cariban-speaking groups such as the Yao, while Tobago was occupied by the Island Caribs and Galibi. Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Trinidad on 31 July 1498. Antonio de Sedeñofirst settled Trinidad in the 1530s as a means of controlling the Orinoco and subduing the Warao (Whitehead, 1997). Cacique Wannawanare (Guanaguanare) granted the St Joseph area to Domingo de Vera e Ibargüen in 1592, and then withdrew to another part of the island (Boomert, 2000). San José de Oruña (St Joseph) was established by Antonio de Berrío on this land. Walter Raleigh arrived in Trinidad on 22 March 1595 and soon attacked San José and captured and interrogated de Berrío, obtaining much information from him and from the cacique Topiawari. In the 1700s, Trinidad belonged as an island province to the Viceroyalty of New Spain together with Central America, present-day Mexico and Southwestern United States. However, Trinidad in this period was still mostly forest, populated by a few Spaniards with their handful of slaves and a few thousand Amerindians (Besson, 2000). Spanish colonisation in Trinidad remained tenuous. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from the Spanish king Charles III on 4 November 1783. This Cédula de Población was more generous than the first of 1776, and granted free lands to Roman Catholic foreign settlers and their slaves in Trinidad willing to swear allegiance to the Spanish king. The land grant was thirty two acres for each man, woman and child and half of that for each slave brought. As a result, Scots, Irish, German, Italian and English families arrived. Protestants benefited from Governor Don José María Chacon's generous interpretation of the law. The French Revolution (1789) also had an impact on Trinidad's culture as it resulted in the emigration of Martiniquan planters and their slaves to Trinidad who established an agriculture-based economy (sugar and cocoa) for the island. The population of Port of Spain increased from under 3,000 to 10,422 in five years, and the inhabitants in 1797 consisted of people of mixed race, Spaniards, Africans, French republican soldiers, retired pirates and French nobility. The total population of Trinidad in 1797 was 17,718, 2,151 of which were of European ancestry, 4,476 were "free blacks and people of colour", 10,009 were slaves and 1,082 Amerindians. In 1797, General Sir Ralph Abercromby and his squadron sailed through the Bocas and anchored off the coast of Chaguaramas. The Spanish Governor Chacon decided to capitulate without fighting. Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking population and Spanish laws. The conquest and formal ceding of Trinidad in 1802 led to an influx of settlers from England or the British colonies of the Eastern Caribbean. The sparse settlement and slow rate of population increase during Spanish rule and even after British rule made Trinidad one of the less-populated colonies of the West Indies with the least developed plantation infrastructure. Under British rule, new estates were created and slave importation increased to facilitate development of the land into highly profitable sugarcane estates, but mass importation of slaves was still limited and hindered, arguably, by abolitionist efforts in Britain. The Abolitionist movement and/or the decreased economic viability of slavery as a means of procuring labour both resulted in the abolition of slavery in 1833 via the Slavery Abolition Act 1845 (citation 3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73), which was followed by its substitution by an "apprenticeship" period. This was also abolished in 1838, with full emancipation being granted on August 1. An overview of the populations statistics in 1838, however, clearly reveals the contrast between Trinidad and its neighbouring islands: upon emancipation of the slaves in 1838, Trinidad had only 17,439 slaves, with 80% of slave owners having less than 10 slaves each.:84–85 In contrast, at twice the size of Trinidad, Jamaica had roughly 360,000 slaves. Upon emancipation, therefore, the incipient plantation owners were in severe need of labour, and the British filled this need by instituting a system of indenture. Various nationalities were contracted under this system, including Chinese, Portuguese and Indians. Of these, the Indians were imported in the largest numbers, starting from May 1, 1845, when 225 Indians were brought in the first shipment to Trinidad on the Fatel Rozack, a Muslim-owned vesselIndentureship of the Indians lasted from 1845 to 1917, over which more than 147,000 Indians were brought to Trinidad to work on sugarcane plantations. They added what was initially the second-largest population grouping to the young nation, and their labour developed previously underdeveloped plantation lands. The indenture contract was exploitative, such that historians Hugh Tinker were to call it "a new system of slavery". Persons were contracted for a period of five years with a daily wage (25 cents in the early 20th century), after which they were guaranteed return passage to India. Coercive means were often used to obtain labourers, however, and the indentureship contracts were soon extended to 10 years after the planters complained they were losing their labour too early. In lieu of the return passage, the British authorities soon began offering portions of land to encourage settlement; however, the numbers of people who did receive land grants is unclear. Indians entering the colony were also subject to particular crown laws which segregated them from the rest of the Trinidad population, such as the requirement that they carry a "Pass" on their person once off the plantations, and that if freed, they carry their "Free Papers" or certificate indicating completion of the indentureship period. Despite this, however, the ex-Indentureds came to constitute a vital and significant section of the population, as did the ex-slaves. The cacao (cocoa) crop also contributed greatly to the economic earnings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After the collapse of the cacao crop (due to disease and the Great Depression), petroleum increasingly came to dominate the economy. The collapse of the sugarcane industry concomitant with the failure of the cocoa industry resulted in widespread depression among the rural and agricultural workers in Trinidad, and encouraged the rise of the Labour movement in the 1920 -1930 period. This was led by Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler, who, in combination with his Indian partners (notably Adrian Cola Rienzi), aimed to unite the working class and agricultural labouring class to achieve a better standard of living for all, as well as to hasten the departure of the British. This effort was severely undermined by the British Home Office and by the British-educated Trinidadian elite, many of whom were descended from the plantocracy themselves. They instigated a vicious race politicking in Trinidad which aimed at dividing the class-based movement on race-based lines, and they succeeded, especially since Butler's support collapsed from the top down. The Depression and the rise of the oil economy led to changes in the social structure. By the 1950s, petroleum had become a staple in Trinidad's export market, and was responsible for a growing middle class among all sections of the Trinidad population.
Tobago:
Columbus reported seeing Tobago on the distant horizon in 1498, naming it Bellaforma, but did not land on the island. The present name of Tobago is thought to probably be a corruption of its old name, "Tobaco". The Dutch and the Courlanders (people from the small duchy of Courland and Semigallia in modern-day Latvia) established themselves in Tobago in the 16th and 17th centuries and produced tobacco and cotton. Over the centuries, Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Britain consolidated its hold on both islands during the Napoleonic Wars, and they were combined into the colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1889. As a result of these colonial struggles, Amerindian, Spanish, French and Englishplace names are all common in the country. African slaves and Chinese, Indian, and free African indentured labourers, as well as Portuguese from Madeira, arrived to supply labour in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Emigration from Barbados and the other Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Syria, and Lebanon also impacted on the ethnic make-up of the country.
Independence:
Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. The presence of American military bases in Chaguaramas and Cumuto in Trinidad during World War II profoundly changed the character of society. In the post-war period, the wave of decolonisation that swept the British Empire led to the formation of the West Indies Federation in 1958 as a vehicle for independence. Chaguaramas was the proposed site for the federal capital. The Federation dissolved after the withdrawal of Jamaica and the government chose to seek independence on its own. In 1976, the country severed its links with the British monarchy and became a republic within the Commonwealth, though it retained the British Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal. Between the years 1972 and 1983, the Republic profited greatly from the rising price of oil, as the oil-rich country increased its living standards greatly. In 1990, 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, led by Yasin Abu Bakr, formerly known as Lennox Phillip, stormed the Red House (the seat of Parliament), and Trinidad and Tobago Television, the only television station in the country at the time, and held the country's government hostage for six days before surrendering. Since 2003, the country has entered a second oil boom, a driving force which the government hopes to use to turn the country's main export back to sugar and agriculture. Great concern was raised in August 2007 when it was predicted that this boom would last only until 2018. Petroleum, petrochemicals and natural gas continue to be the backbone of the economy. Tourism and the public service are the mainstay of the economy of Tobago, though authorities have begun to diversify the island. The bulk of tourism visitor arrival on the islands are from Western Europe.
Military
The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) is the military organisation responsible for the defence of the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It consists of the Regiment, the Coast Guard, the Air Guard and the Defence Force Reserves. Established in 1962 after Trinidad and Tobago's independence from Britain, the TTDF is one of the largest military forces in the English-speaking Caribbean. Its mission statement is to "defend the sovereign good of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, contribute to the development of the national community and support the State in the fulfillment of its national and international objectives". The Defence Force has been engaged in domestic incidents, such as the 1990 Coup Attempt, and international missions, such as the United Nations Mission in Haiti between 1993 and 1996.
National Day Malaysia - Aug 31
Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957, celebrated on August 31 each year. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.
History
The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress TunV.T. Sambanthan. Once it became increasingly clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on February 8, 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, for a number of logistical and administrative reasons, it was decided that the official proclamation of independence would only be made the next year, on August 31, 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur.
31, 1957 August On the night of August 30, 1957, crowds gathered at the Royal Se-
langor Club Padang in Kuala Lumpur to witness the handover of power from the British. Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman arrived at 11:58 pm and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and the- A man is thrown into the air by a Union Flag in the square was lowered. The new Flag of Malaya crowd during Merdeka Day celebrawas raised as the national anthem Negaraku was played. This was tions in Merdeka Square, Kuala followed by seven chants of 'Merdeka' by the crowd. Tunku Abdul Rahman gave a speech hailing the ceremony as "greatest moment Lumpur, 2008 in the life of the Malayan people". On the morning of Saturday, August 31, 1957, the festivities moved to the newly-completed Merdeka Stadium. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony, which began at 9:30 am. Those in attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet and citizens. The Queen's representative, the Duke of Gloucester presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence, which culminated in the chanting of 'Merdeka' seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played and a 21-gun salute, followed by an azan call and a thanksgiving prayer in honor of this great occasion.
Independence Day Uzbekistan - Sep 01
Uzbekistan officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek:O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси, Üzbekiston Respublikasi) is adoubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan and Turkmenistan to the south. Prior to 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union. Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages. Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has been an independent republic since December 1991. Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold,uranium, potassium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by international organizations.
History
The earliest Bronze Age colonists of the Tarim Basin were people of Caucasoid physical type who entered probably from the north and west and probably spoke languages that could be classified as Pre- or Proto-Tocharian, ancestral to the Indo-European Tocharian languages documented later in the Tarim Basin. These early settlers occupied the northern and eastern parts of the Tarim Basin, where their graves have yielded mummies dated about 1800 BC. They participated in a cultural world centered on the eastern steppes of central Eurasia, including modern northeastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. At the eastern end of the Tarim Basin, people of Mongoloid physical type began to be buried in cemeteries such as Yanbulaq some centuries later, during the later second or early first millennium BC. About the same time, Iranianspeaking people moved into the Tarim Basin from the steppes to the west. Their linguistic heritage and perhaps their physical remains are found in the southern and western portions of the Tarim. These three populations interacted, as the linguistic and archaeological evidence reviewed by Mallory and Mair makes clear, and then Turkic people arrived and were added to the mix. The first people known to inhabit Central Asia were Iranian nomads who arrived from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan sometime in the first millennium BC. These nomads, who spoke Iranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region. At this time, cities such as Bukhoro (Bukhara) and Samarqand (Samarkand) began to appear as centers of government and culture. By the 5th century BC, the Bactrian, Soghdian, and Tokharian states dominated the region. As China began to develop its silk trade with the West, Iranian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming centers of trade. Using an extensive network of cities and settlements in the province of Mawarannahr (a name given the region after the Arab conquest) in Uzbekistan and farther east in what is today China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Soghdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. Because of this trade on what became known as the Silk Route, Bukhoro and Samarqand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Mawarannahr was one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity. Alexander the Great conquered Sogdiana and Bactria in 327 BC, marrying Roxana, daughter of a local Bactrian chieftain. The conquest was supposedly of little help to Alexander as popular resistance was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. For many centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by Persian empires, including the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. In the 8th century Transoxiana (territory between the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers) was conquered by Arabs. In the 9th – 10th centuries Transoxiana was included into Samanid State. The Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan during the 13th century, would bring about a dramatic change to the region. The brutal conquest and widespread genocide characteristic of the Mongols almost entirely exterminated the indigenous Indo-Persian (Scythian) people of the region, their culture and heritage being superseded by that of the Mongolian-Turkic peoples who settled the region thereafter. Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, Mongol law of the Mongol Empire maintained orderly succession for several more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in the hands of direct descendants of Chagatai Khan, the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united. In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of Chinggis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of the Aral Sea. He also invaded Russia and India before dying during an invasion of China in 1405. Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very rich culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarqand and other population centres. Timur also initiated exchange of medical thoughts and patronized physicians, scientists and artists from the neighboring countries like India.; his grandson Ulugh Beg was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkish, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language in its own right in Mawarannahr—although the Timurids also patronized writing in Persian. Until then only Persian had been used in the region. The greatest Chaghataid writer, Ali-Shir Nava'i, was active in the city of Herat, now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the fifteenth century. The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr. The slave trade in the Khanate of Bukhara became prominent and was firmly established. Estimates from 1821 suggest that between 25,000 and 40,000 Persian slaves were working in Bukhara at the time. In the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire began to expand and spread into Central Asia. By 1912, Russians living in Uzbekistan numbered 210,306. The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, a second, less intensive phase followed. At the start of the nineteenth century, there were some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) separating British India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia. Much of the land in between was unmapped. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union. On October 27, 1924 the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created. On August 31, 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence, marking September 1 as a national holiday. The country is now the world's third-largest exporter of cotton, and it is developing its mineral and petroleum reserves.
Start of the Armed Struggle Eritrea - Sep 01
The Eritrean War of Independence (1 September 1961 – 29 May 1991) was a conflict fought between the Ethiopian government and Eritrean separatists, both before and during the Ethiopian Civil War. The war started when Eritrea’s autonomy within Ethiopia, where troops were already stationed, was unilaterally revoked. Eritrea had become part of Ethiopia after World War II, when both territories were liberated from Italian occupation. Ethiopia claimed that Eritrea was part of Ethiopia. Following the Marxist-Leninist coup in Ethiopia in 1974 which toppled its ancient monarchy, the Ethiopians enjoyed Soviet Union support until the end of the 1980s, when glasnost and perestroika started to affect Moscow’s foreign policies, resulting in a withdrawal of help. The war went on for 30 years until 1991 when the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), having defeated the Ethiopian forces in Eritrea, took control of the country. In April 1993, in a referendum supported by Ethiopia, the Eritrean people voted almost unanimously in favor of independence. Formal international recognition of an independent and sovereign Eritrea followed later the same year. The two main rebel groups, the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF) and the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) fought two Eritrean civil wars during the war of liberation.
Background The Italians colonised Eritrea in 1890. In 1936, Ethiopia was added to their colonial empire, which they called Italian
East Africa. Italian Somaliland was also part of that entity. There was a unified Italian administration. Conquered by Allied troops in 1941, Italian East Africa was sub-divided. Ethiopia regained independence in 1941. Italian Somaliland remained under Italian rule until 1960 but as a United Nations protectorate, not a colony, when it united with British Somaliland, also granted independence in 1960, to form the independent state of Somalia. Eritrea was made a British protectorate from the end of World War II until 1951. However, there was debate as to what should happen with Eritrea after the British left. The British proposed that Eritrea be divided along religious lines with the Christians to Ethiopia and the Muslims toSudan. This however caused great controversy.
Revolution During the 1960s, the Eritrean independence struggle was led by the Eritrean Liberation Front (ELF). The independ-
ence struggle can properly be understood as the resistance to the annexation of Eritrea by Ethiopia long after the Italians left the territory. At first, this group factionalized the liberation movement along ethnic and geographic lines. The initial four zonal commands of the ELF were all lowland areas and primarily Muslim. Few Christians joined the organization in the beginning, fearing Muslim domination. After growing disenfranchisement with Ethiopian occupation, highland Christians began joining the ELF. Typically these Christians were part of the upper class or university-educated. This growing influx of Christian volunteers prompted the opening of the fifth (highland Christian) command. Internal struggles within the ELF command coupled with sectarian violence among the various zonal groups splintered the organization. The war started on 1 September 1961 when Hamid Idris Awate and his companions fired the first shots against the occupying Ethiopian Army and police. In 1962, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia unilaterally dissolved the federation and the Eritrean parliament and annexed the country.
National Day Vietnam - Sep 02
Vietnam, formally the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. With an estimated 91.5 million inhabitants as of 2012, it is the world's13th-most-populous country, and the eighth-most-populous Asian country. The name Vietnam translates as "South Viet", and was officially adopted in 1945. The country is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea to the east. Its capital city has been Hanoi since the reunification of North and South Vietnam in 1976. The Vietnamese became independent from Imperial China in 938 AD, following the Battle of Bạch Đằng River. Successive Vietnamese royal dynasties flourished as the nation expanded geographically and politically into Southeast Asia, until the Indochina Peninsula was colonized by the French in the mid-19th century. The First Indochina War eventually led to the expulsion of the French in 1954, leaving Vietnam divided politically into two states, North and South Vietnam. Conflict between the two sides intensified, with heavy foreign intervention, during the Vietnam War, which ended with a North Vietnamese victory in 1975. After the war, Vietnam was unified under a Communist government, but was politically isolated and economically backward. In 1986, the government initiated a series of economic and political reforms, which began Vietnam's path towards integration into the world economy. By 2000, it had established diplomatic relations with most nations. Its economic growth has been among the highest in the world since 2000, and according to Citigroup, such high growth is set to continue. Vietnam has the highest Global Growth Generators Index among 11 major economies, and its successful economic reforms resulted in it joining the World Trade Organization in 2007. However, the country still suffers from relatively high levels of income inequality, disparities in healthcare provision, and poor gender equality.
• • • • • • • •
The Prime Minister of South Africa, Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom The Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Van Dong The Prime Minister of Ceylon, Solomon Bandaranaike The Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Sim Var The United States Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles (representing US President Dwight D. Eisen hower)
Heads of government:
Representatives from other British colonies:
• • •
The Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham The Chief Minister of Singapore, Lim Yew Hock The High Commissioners of Australia, Canada and New Zealand in Malaya
• • •
Sir Gerald Templer (former British High Commissioner in Malaya) and Lady Templer Lady Gurney (wife of former British High Commissioner in Malaya Sir Henry Gurney) Lady Gent (wife of former British High Commissioner in Malaya Sir Edward Gent)
Members of the former British colonial administration:
First Indochina War:
THIS ARTICLE CONTRIBUTED BY COL. MUHAMMAD AZHAR ZAINAL ABIDIN, MALAYSIAN DEFENSE ATTACHE TO PAKISTAN
National Language Day Moldova - Aug 31
National Language Day (Romanian: Limba noastră) is a public holiday in Moldova and is observed on August 31.
Overview
On August 27, 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova organized a mass demonstration in Chişinău, that became known as the Great National Assembly, which pressured the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law on August 31, 1989 that proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established. The date has been a national holiday ever since. In the main square of Chişinău a concert is organized featuring the performances of various national entertainers. Normally the stage is not dismantled since Independence Day which takes place on August 27th.
White Rose Day Australia - Aug 31
This Australian holiday is in honor of the late Princess Diana, who died in a tragic auto accident on this date in 1997. She was a good person who worked for international charities, and there was extensive mourning all over the world when she died. I remember being in Paris in 1999, at a memorial for Diana near the tunnel where she died, and even though it was almost two years later, there were tons of flowers and stuffed animals and other offerings at the site. Diana was English, Princess of Wales (basically, Great Britain or United Kingdom), and she died in France.
Why is her death commemorated with white roses in Australia? Australia is part of the Commonwealth of Nations. That
means that, although Australia is a wholly separate and independent nation from the U.K., the British royalty serves as its royalty, too. In other words, Queen Elizabeth II is not just the Queen of England, she is the Queen of Australia, too. Therefore, Princess Di (as she was often called) was a princess of Australia. (Other Commonwealth realms include Canada, Jamaica, New Zealand, and Papua New Guinea. There are 16
Notable decorations
Army officers like Captain Sarwar Shaheed, Major Tufail Shaheed, Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed, Major Shabbir Sharif Shaheed, Major Muhammad Akram Shaheed, Sawar Muhammad Hussain Shaheed, Lance Naik Muhammad Mehfooz Shaheed,and Havildar Lalak Jan Shaheed gave sacrifices of their life and were awarded with "Nishan-eHaider" for their acts of exceptional bravery. Nishan-e-Haideris a highest military award given to brave martyres of Pakistan army those who left remarkable examples of bravery and sacrifice for nation and country.
Celebrations and parade
Army of Pakistan displays the latest missiles, tanks, guns, army aviation helicopters and armament being used by Engineers, Electrical and Mechanical Corps, Army Air Defence, Signals, Army Service Corps and Army Medical Corps live on various places.Everyone is allowed to watch such functions live by going to the specific places. These shows are displayed on national channels as well. National songs and special documents about 6 September 1965 and martyred people of 6 September are displayed on TV. It is told to people how people gave sacrifices for the defense of the country and what is the responsibility of young generation now. The change of guard ceremony takes place at Mazar-e-Quaid, Karachi, where the cadets of Pakistan Air Force Academy present Guard of Honour and take the charge.
Independence Day Swaziland - Sep 06
Swaziland, officially the Kingdom of Swaziland (Umbuso weSwatini), and sometimes called Ngwane or Swatini, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa, bordered to the north, south and west by South Africa, and to the east by Mozambique. The nation, as well as its people, are named after the 19th century king Mswati II. Swaziland is a small country, no more than 200 kilometres (120 mi) north to south and 130 kilometres (81 mi) east to west. The western half is mountainous, descending to a lowveld region to the east. The eastern border with Mozambique and South Africa is dominated by the escarpment of the Lebombo Mountains. The climate is temperate in the west, but may reach40 °C (104 °F) in summer in the lowveld. Rainfall occurs mainly in the summer and may reach 2 metres (6.6 ft) in the west. The area that Swaziland now covers has been continuously inhabited since prehistory. Today, the population is primarily ethnic Swazis whose language is siSwati, though English is spoken as a second language. The Swazi people descend from the southern Bantu who migrated from Central Africa in the 15th and 16th centuries. The Anglo Boer war saw the United Kingdom make Swaziland a protectorate under its direct control. Swaziland gained independence in 1968. Swaziland is a member of the Southern African Development Community, the African Union, and the Commonwealth of Nations. The head of state is the king, who appoints the prime minister and a small number of representatives for both chambers of parliament. Elections are held every five years to determine the majority of the representatives. A new constitution was adopted in 2005. Some 75% of the population is employed in subsistence farming, and 60% of the population lives on less than the equivalent of US$1.25 per day. Swaziland's main trading partner is South Africa, and its currency is pegged to the South African rand. Swaziland's economic growth and societal integrity is highly endangered by its disastrous HIV epidemic, to an extent where the United Nations Development Program has written that if it continues unabated, the "longer term existence of Swaziland as a country will be seriously threatened." The infection rate in the country is unprecedented and the highest in the world at 26.1% of adults and over 50% of adults in their 20s.
History
Artifacts indicating human activity dating back to the early Stone Age 200,000 years ago have been found in the Kingdom of Swaziland. Prehistoric rock art paintings date from ca. 25,000 B.C. and continue up to the 19th century. The earliest inhabitants of the area were Khoisanhunter-gatherers. They were largely replaced by the Bantu tribes during Bantu migrations who hailed from the Great Lakes regions of Eastern Africa. Evidence of agriculture and iron use dates from about the 4th century and people speaking languages ancestral to current Sotho and Nguni languages began settling no later than the 11th century. The Bantu people known as the Swazis established iron-working and settled farming colonies in the 15th century after crossing the Limpopo river. They experienced great economic pressure from the rival Ndwandwe clans from the south. The country derives its name from a later king, Mswati I. However, Ngwane is an alternative name for Swaziland and Dlamini remains the surname of the royal house, while Nkosi means "king". Scholarly history of Swaziland shows that independent chiefdoms and small kingdoms dominated by various clans were initially conquered and incorporated into the growing Ngwane kingdom ruled by members of the Dlamini clan sometime in the 18th and 19th centuries, long before British colonisation. According to Swazi royalist tradition, these clans came to be classified in the Dlamini kingdom as the Emakhandzambile category of clans ("those found ahead", e.g. the Gamedze), meaning that they were on the land prior to Dlamini immigration and conquest, as opposed to theBomdzabuko ("true Swazi") who accompanied the Dlamini kings, and the Emafikemuva ("those who came behind") who joined the kingdom later. Emakhandzambile clans initially were incorporated with wide autonomy, and often in part by granting them special ritual and political status (cf. mediatisation), but the extent of their autonomy was drastically curtailed by King Mswati II, who attacked and subdued some of the clans in the 1850s. The autonomy of the Swaziland Nation was dictated by British rule of southern Africa in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1881 the British government signed a convention recognizing Swazi independence. However, controversial land and mineral rights concessions were made under the authority of the Foreign Jurisdiction Act of 1890 in terms of which the administration of Swaziland was also placed under that of the then South African Republic (Transvaal). Swaziland was indirectly involved in the Second Boer War (1899–1902). The Swaziland independence Constitution was promulgated by Britain in November 1963 in terms of which a legislative Council and an Executive Council were established. This development was opposed by the Swazi National Council (liqoqo). Despite such opposition, elections took place and the first Legislative Council of Swaziland was constituted on 9 September 1964. Changes to the original constitution proposed by the Legislative Council were accepted by Britain and a new Constitution providing for a House of Assembly and Senate was drawn up. Elections under this Constitution were held in 1967. Since 1973, Swaziland has seen a rather quiet struggle between pro-multiparty activists and supporters of the current Tinkhundla (constituencies) System of governance or Grass Roots Democracy System.
Unification Day Bulgaria - Sep 06
Unification Day (Bulgarian: Ден на Съединението, Den na Saedinenieto) on 6 September is anational holiday of Bulgaria. It commemorates the unification of Eastern Rumelia and Bulgaria in 1885. By the terms of the Treaty of Berlin (1878), Southern Bulgaria (named Eastern Roumelia) was separated from the newly formed Bulgarian state and returned to the Ottoman Empire with partial autonomy. Bulgarian citizens considered the decisions of the Berlin Treaty to be unfair and began a peaceful demonstration against them. At first the plan was to annex all territories that Bulgaria had gained after the Treaty of San Stefano but later it became clear that was impossible because of the unsuitable international situation. The Bulgarians had to leave Macedonia and the rest of Thrace and concentrate on the East Roumelian issue. The first actions were taken in 1880 but the sharpened political situation, economic instability and the low prestige of the Bulgarian country delayed the resolution of the socalled "national question". In 1884 the "Macedonian committees" were the main body working on the unsolved problem. On 10 February, 1885 led by Zahari Stoyanov a group of former revolutionaries founded in Plovdiv (the capital of Eastern Roumelia) a secret committee known as BSCRC – Bulgarian Secret Central Revolutionary Committee (Bulgarian: БТЦРК – Български Таен Централен Революционен Комитет). It had regulations and programs which were connected to the organisation led by Vasil Levski, Hristo Botev and Lyuben Karavelov before the Liberation. After a few months BSCRC had improved their plan for actions and organised some public events on dates significant to Bulgarians. The conference in Dermendare (Parvanets) on the 24th-26th of July and the next meeting on the 23rd of August declared what should be done and exactly how to proceed. On 5 September 1885 the people rose in Goliamo Konare (Saedinenie) and after arresting the prefect of Plodiv the militia advanced toward the capital. On the 6th of September the palace in Plovdiv was surrounded. The governor Gavril Krastevich did not alert the Turks in Istanbul and proclaimed his support of the people's cause. A temporary government headed by Georgi Stranski took control of the situation and armed forces were commanded by major Danail Nikolaev who began preparation for war with the Ottoman Empire. On the 8th of September knyaz Alexander received a telegram in the old capital Tarnovo which he was already expecting. His army was prepared and waiting for a signal. He agreed to become a leader of the Unified Bulgaria. On the next day (9 September) the knyaz arrived in Plovdiv and the temporary government was dismissed. Diplomatic efforts failed and Bulgaria had to defend its interests on the battlefield in the Serbo-Bulgarian War where the Bulgarians were victorious.
PHOTO NEWS
SALADIN, IRAQ - AUGUST 31: Iraqi armed forces have entered the northern town of Amirli which had been under the siege of Islamic State militants for over two months in Saladin ,Iraq on August 31, 2014. Supported by Kurdish forces and Shiite militias, the Iraqi army launched an offensive shortly after the U.S. carried out airstrikes against Islamic State (IS) positions near the town, and dropped aid for the nearly 20,000 Shiite Turkmen trapped in Amirli. The government forces and Kurdish peshmerga forces have been fighting against the militant group to block their advance.--AA
In 1941, the Viet Minh – a communist and nationalist liberation movement – emerged under the Marxist-Leninist revolutionary Ho Chi Minh, who sought independence for Vietnam from France and the end of the Japanese occupation. Following the military defeat of Japan and the fall of its puppet Empire of Vietnam in August 1945, the Viet Minh occupied Hanoi and proclaimed a provisional government, which asserted national independence on 2 September. In the same year, the Provisional French Republic sent the French Far East Expeditionary Corps – originally created to fight the Japanese occupation forces – to pacify the Vietnamese liberation movement and to restore French colonial rule. On 23 November 1946, French vessels bombarded the port city of Hai Phong, and the Viet Minh's guerrilla campaign against French forces began soon after. The resulting First Indochina War lasted until 20 July 1954. Despite taking fewer losses during the course of the war – the Expeditionary Corps suffered one-third of the casualties of the Chinese and Soviet-backed Viet Minh – the French and Vietnamese loyalists eventually suffered a major strategic setback at theSiege of Dien Bien Phu, which allowed Ho Chi Minh to negotiate a ceasefire from a favorable position at the Geneva Conference of 1954. The colonial administration ended and French Indochina was dissolved under the Geneva Accords of 1954, which separated the forces of former French supporters and communist nationalists at the17th parallel north with the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. A 300-day period of free movement was given, during which almost a million northerners, mainly Catholic, moved south, fearing persecution by the communists. The partition of Vietnam, with Ho Chi Minh's Democratic Republic of Vietnam in North Vietnam, and Emperor Bảo Đại's State of Vietnam in South Vietnam, was not intended to be permanent by the Geneva Accords, and the Accords expressly forbade the interference of third powers. However, in 1955, the State of Vietnam's Prime Minister, Ngo Dinh Diem, toppled Bảo Đại in a fraudulent referendum organised by his brother Ngo Dinh Nhu, and proclaimed himself president of the Republic of Vietnam. The Accords mandated nationwide elections by 1956, which Diem refused to hold, despite repeated calls from the North for talks to discuss elections.
National Flag Day Australia - Sep 03
The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. The flag's original design was chosen in 1901 from entries in a worldwide competition held following Federation. It was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. A slightly different design was approved by King Edward VII in 1902. Over the next few years, the exact specifications of the flag were changed several times both intentionally and as a result of confusion. The current specifications were formally gazetted in 1934, and in 1954 the flag became recognised by, and legally defined in, the Flags Act 1953, as the "Australian National Flag". In addition, there are other official flags representing Australia, its people and core functions of government.
BAGDAD, IRAQ - AUGUST 31: Ammar al-Hakim (R), leader of Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq meets with the head of the negotiating team of the Kurdistan Alliance and Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari (L) in Bagdad, capital of Iraq on August 31, 2014 about forming the government.--AA
Devices The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols: the Union Flag, the Commonwealth Star (also the Federation
Star) and the Southern Cross (or Crux). The Union Flag is thought locally to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based, although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire. The Commonwealth Star originally had only six points, representing the six federating colonies. However, this changed in 1908 when a seventh point was added to symbolise the Territory of Papua and any future territories. Another rationale for the change was to match the star used on the Coat of Arms, which was created in the same year. The star is also known as the Federation Star. The Commonwealth Star does not have any relation to Beta Centauri, despite that star's coincidental location in the sky and its brightness. The Southern Cross is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement. Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to refer also to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on today's Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, on which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky. In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the four larger outer stars at seven points each, leaving the smaller middle star with five points. This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903. A complete specification for the current design was published in the Commonwealth Gazette in 1934.
Foundation of the Republic Day San Marino - Sep 03
RAFAH, GAZA - AUGUST 31: Palestinian security forces inspect the damaged security checkpoints along the Rafah border after the ceasefire in the southern Gaza.--AA
On 3 September, the tiny state of San Marino celebrates its patron saint and the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic.
History
In the year 301, San Marino was founded by a Christian stonemason, Marinus. Marinus fled the island of Arbe off the Dalmation coast to escape the anti-Christian persecution of the Roman Empire. Marinus founded a small community of Christians on Mount Titano. The area was named the Land of San Marino, in memory of Marinus. Later it was named the Community of San Marino. Finally, it was formally known as the Republic of San Marino. Despite frequent invasions by the rulers of Rimini, the state of San Marino maintained its independence. Pope Nicholas IV recognized San Marino’s independence In 1291. San Marino has been invaded and occupied twice but both for short periods. Cesare Borgia, known as Duca Valentino, occupied the country in 1503 and remained there until the death of his father Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, the same year. Cesare Borgia was forced to withdraw his forces from San Marino following the political unrest after the Pope’s death. Cardinal Alberoni, in an attempt to gain more political power, used military force to occupy San Marino in 1739. However, civil disobedience and secret communications with the current Pope, Clement XII, ensured the recognition of San Marino’s rights and the restoration of its independence. San Marino has had an official treaty of friendship since 1862 and had it revised several times, with Italy.
Celebrations
The reading of the “Bando” (proclamation) in the streets starts the celebration of San Marino’s Day. A holy mass inside the Basilica del Santo is then followed by a street procession carrying the relics of San Marinus. In the afternoon, events take on a more popular appearance – a crossbow competition is held at the Cava dei Balestrieri. Meanwhile in the Piazzale lo Stradone a concert and fireworks conclude the celebrations.
An interior view of the US embassy in Libya that is allegedly under the control of members of the Fajr Libya is seen in Tripoli, Libya on August 31, 2014.--AA
Independence Day Qatar - Sep 03
Qatar Independence Day celebrated the day Qatar gained its independence from the UK. The day has, however, been replaced by Qatar National Day. That may be a wise choice. Qatar was always more of a British protectorate rather than a dominion of the British Empire, and far from winning their independence from the UK Qatar had been keen to become part of the protectorate in the first place and, once they had it, to expand the protectorate. The country had always been aware of the looming threat of Saudi Arabia and the Al Saud family, and had pushed the British to protect them long before a formal treaty was made. Eventually the British agreed to protect the country's sea borders. That still left the Qataris nervous about their land border with Saudi Arabia and pleading for cannons to protect themselves in the event of an attack. The British ran down their influence in the Gulf and on 3rd September 1971 Qatar became independent. However, arguably a more important date for the Qatari Nation was the day when the Qatari tribes people, lead by the Al Thanis, defeated the Turkish Empire in battle. It is that day, Qatar National Day, which is now celebrated in Qatar rather than Independence Day.
Day of Charity Worldwide - Sep 05
The formation of Malaysia
The Federation of Malaysia, comprising the States of Malaya, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore was to be officially declared on the date August 31, 1963, on the 6th anniversary of Malayan independence. However, it was postponed to September 16, 1963, mainly due to Indonesian and the Philippines' opposition to the formation of Malaysia. Nevertheless, North Borneo and Singapore declared sovereignty on August 31, 1963. Indonesian opposition later escalated to a military conflict. Indonesia considered Malaysia as a new form of colonization on the provinces of Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo (bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia), which they laid claim on. To assure Indonesia that Malaysia was not a form of neo-colonialism, a referendum, organized by the United Nations, and the Cobbold Commission, led by Lord Cobbold, were formed to determine whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak wished to join Malaysia. Their eventual findings which indicated substantial support for Malaysia among the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, cleared the way for the final proclamation of Malaysia. The formation of the Federation of Malaysia was then announced on September 16, 1963 as Malaysia Day. The nationwide Independence Day celebration is still held on August 31, the original independence date of Malaya, while Malaysia Day is a public holiday only in East Malaysia. However, this has caused some minor discontent among East Malaysians in particular since it has been argued that celebrating the national day on August 31 is too Malayacentric. In 2009, it was decided that starting 2010, Malaysia Day would be a nationwide public holiday in addition to Hari Merdeka on August 31.
Indo-Pakistani war of 1965
On 6 September, both countries openly went to war following a series of minor skirmishes that preceded the 6th, when Pakistan was attacked by India from the Lahore-Burki sector during the dead of night (at 5 am). The war began following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to precipitate an insurgency against rule by India. The fiveweek war caused thousands of casualties on both sides. It ended in a United Nations (UN) mandated ceasefire and the subsequent issuance of the Tashkent Declaration. September 6 is marked by the President, Prime Minister and members of the government paying respect to the armed forces.
French Vietnam:
Vietnam's independence was gradually eroded by France – aided by large Catholic collaborator militias – in a series of military conquests between 1859 and 1885, after which the entire country became part of French Indochina. The French administration imposed significant political and cultural changes on Vietnamese society. A Western-style system of modern education was developed, and Roman Catholicism was propagated widely in Vietnamese society. Most of the French settlers in Indochina were concentrated in Cochinchina – the southern third of Vietnam – based around the city of Saigon. Developing a plantation economy to promote the export of tobacco, indigo, tea and coffee, the French largely ignored increasing calls for Vietnamese self-government and civil rights. A nationalist political movement soon emerged, with leaders such as Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Phan Dinh Phung, Emperor Hàm Nghi and Ho Chi Minh fighting or calling for independence. However, the royalist Can Vuong was defeated in the 1890s after a decade of resistance, and the 1930 Yen Bai mutiny of the Viet Nam Quoc Dan Dang was put down easily. The French maintained control of their colonies until World War II, when the war in the Pacific led to the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in 1941. With the defeat of France in Europe in 1940, the French Third Republic was replaced by theVichy Regime, to which the colony remained loyal. Heavily dependent on Nazi Germany, Vichy France was forced to surrender control of French Indochina to Germany's ally, Japan. The natural resources of Vietnam were exploited for the purposes of the Japanese Empire's military campaigns into the British Indochinese colonies of Burma, the Malay Peninsula and India. The Japanese occupation was a key cause of the Vietnamese Famine of 1945, which caused around two million deaths, equivalent to as much as 10% of the contemporary population.
Members of royal families:
The King and Queen of Thailand The Crown Prince and Princess of Japan The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (representing The Queen) Prince William of Gloucester
Defence Day is celebrated in Pakistan as a national day on 6 September in memory of those who died in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965 and successful defence of Lahore, Sialkot and other important areas of the country.
History
Attendees
• • • •
Defense Day Pakistan - Sep 06
The International Day of Charity is observed annually on 5 September. It was declared by the UN General Assembly in 2012 and is dedicated to commemorate the common desire to help the most disadvantaged members of society and to promote charitable activities around the world. Charity, like the notions of volunteerism and philanthropy, provides real social bonding and contributes to the creation of inclusive and more resilient societies. The prime purpose of the International Day of Charity is to raise awareness and provide a common platform for charity related activities all over the world for individuals, charitable, philanthropic and volunteer organizations for their own purposes on the local, national, regional and international level.
Actress Lara Heller (2nd L), actor George Georgiou (3rd L), actress Hindi Zara (4th L), actor Simon Abkarian (3rd R), screenwriter Mardik Martin (R) and other guests attend to the 'The Cut' premiere during the 71st Venice Film Festival on August 31, 2014 in Venice, Italy.--AA
History The idea:
The idea to establish the International Day of Charity was born as a Hungarian civil society initiative supported by the Hungarian Parliament and Government in 2010. The initiative creates a universal platform to enhance visibility, organize special events, create synergies and thereby further increase solidarity, social responsibility and public support for charity. The date of 5 September was chosen in order to commemorate the anniversary of the passing away of Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979 "for work undertaken in the struggle to overcome poverty and distress, which also constitute a threat to peace."
Recognition efforts by Hungary:
On December 17 of 2012, at the initiative of Hungary, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus to designate 5 September as the International Day of Charity. Presented under the agenda item “Culture of Peace”, the adoption of the resolution reaffirms the role of charity in promoting peace and the universal principles of human dignity and solidarity. The resolution was co-sponsored by 44 UN Member States (Albania, Angola, Australia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Chile, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Eritrea, Estonia, Georgia, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Latvia, Lebanon, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malta, Montenegro, Pakistan, Poland, Republic of Cyprus, Republic of Korea, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, Thailand, Turkey, Ukraine) representing all five Regional Groups of the United Nations. The cross-regional support of the initiative reflects the universal recognition of charity and the enduring relevance of selfless giving. In its resolution, the General Assembly invited Member States, organizations of the United Nations system and other international and regional organizations, stakeholders, as well as NGOs of the civil society to commemorate the International Day of Charity in an appropriate manner, by encouraging charity, including through education and public awareness-raising activities. Charity, as a way of thinking, provides real social bonding and contributes to the creation of inclusive and more resilient societies. Charity can alleviate the worst effects of humanitarian crises, supplement public services in health care, education, housing and child protection. It assists the advancement of culture, science, sports, and the protection of cultural and natural heritage. It also promotes the rights of the marginalized and underprivileged and spreads the message of humanity in conflict situations.
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - AUGUST 31: Imran Khan (rear 2nd R),cricketer-turned politician and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) political party gives a speech to supporters as they march towards the prime minister’s residence and the parliament on Saturday to press the Nawaz Sharif government to step down.--AA
Theme The International Day of Charity was established with the objective of sensitizing and mobilizing people, NGOs, and
stakeholders all around the world to act benevolently, to help others through volunteer, philanthropic activities. The day is a great opportunity to raise awareness about the importance and role of selfless giving and assistance. From individual good deeds to fundraising every idea is more than welcome to show the world that everybody can make a difference. This international day can only get traction and appreciation through the action of all kinds of stakeholders (be it charity, philanthropic, or volunteer organizations or individuals) around the world that are willing to make use of it for their own purposes on a local, regional national or even international level.
First celebration
Hungary organizes panel discussion at the NYC Headquarter of the UN to highlight the importance of non-profit organizations in the development. The two discussions are going to concentrate on the role of charity in water and sanitation and poverty alleviation, eradication issues.
THIS ARTICLE CONTRIBUTED BY PERMANENT MISSION OF HUNGARY TO THE UNITED NATIONS
Labor Day Marshall Islands - Sep 06
Rijerbal Day (Worker’s Day) is the Labor Day in Marshall Islands. This day falls under one of the most important Holidays of Marshall Islands. Labor Day is a public holiday held on the first Friday in September.
GRANADA, SPAIN - AUGUST 31: Cheerleaders perform during the 2014 FIBA World basketball championships group A match between Serbia and France is played at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes .--AA
History The three social classes in the Marshalls are the iroij (chief), the
alap (owner or elder) and rijerbal (worker or commoner). Every family in the Marshall Islands belongs to one of these classes and therefore has ownership or use of land rights somewhere in the islands. Although a families may be an iroij or alap in one or more islands and they maybe a rijerbal on other islands as well. The Marshall Islands joined the International Labor Organization in 2007. This means that its labor laws will have to comply with international labor standards. This will no doubt impact labor practices in the islands.
Commonwealth realms in all.) Princess Diana was widely thought of as classy and fashionable, caring and kind. She once said, “Being a princess isn't all it's cracked up to be.” Indeed, her days as a princess were not happy, and her fame likely brought her more problems than joys. On the other hand, of course she adored her two sons, Prince William and Prince Harry!
Constitution Day Slovakia - Sep 01
On September 1, Slovakia commemorates the 14th anniversary of the adoption of the country’s Constitution and celebrates it as a national holiday. The binding document was adopted by the Slovak parliament on September 1, 1992, thereby establishing the independent Slovak Republic. The Czechoslovak Federation was officially disbanded on January 1, 1993.
History
During the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Communist rule in Czechoslovakia ended. What followed the end of Communism was the country’s dissolution into two successor states. In July 1992, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Vladimír Mečiar, declared that his country is now a sovereign state. Its laws prevailed over those of the federal government. All throughout the autumn of 1992, Mečiar and his Czech counterpart Prime Minister Václav Klaus ironed out the details for dissolving the federation. The federal parliament voted in November, that the country would be officially dissolved on December 31, 1992. Slovakia and the Czech Republic separated for good after January 1, 1993. This event came to be known as the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia remains to be a close partner of the Czech Republic. In 1991, the process of drafting the Constitution began. The Parliament later adopted a resolution to set up a commission of MPs from the different parties to prepare a joint draft of the Constitution for soon-to-be Slovak Republic. The draft of the constitution was debated by the Parliamentary on August 31 and September 1. The legislature held an open vote on the final text following a demonstrative walkout by MPs representing the Hungarian minority. The Constitution took effect on October 1, 1992. Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency on January 1, 2009.
Celebrations
On Constitution Day on the hill of Bratislava’s castle, people discover traditional manufacturers and folk handicrafts in this annual event. In this occasion, there is a presentation of traditional items made by Slovak artisans and folk artists. There are events presented by the handicraft schools and there are folk music programs for children as well.
Celebrations
Rijerbal Day honors the workers (Rijerbal) of the Marshall Islands. The Rijerbal is one of the three social classes in the Marshall Islands. The rijerbals are mostly responsible for all daily manual labor in the land.
Armed Forces Day Sao Tome & Principe - Sep 06
In Sao Tome, Armed Forces Day is celebrated on September 6th. Armed Forces Day is celebrated to recognize and honor the valor of their military force.
History
São Tomé’s armed forces are the smallest in Africa. The armed forces retain a stealthy influence in the political scene of the country, and that at times the military has become blatant and has provoked political crises. A program of internationally funded restructuring since late 2003 has sought to reduce the influence of the army and plans put it under civilian authorities has began. There has been progress in recent years to improve the capabilities of the armed forces and police forces and to augment national security. There are serious concerns over the reality that São Tomé and Príncipe (STP) has a history of political instability. Coup d’états were attempted in 1995 and 2003. STP has the possibility of becoming a major oil producer since the discovery of oil reserves. This has also elevated the small island state into a state with potential strategic importance in the Gulf of Guinea. The US consistently upholds friendly relations with STP since STP is steeped in Catholic traditions and it is not an Islamist threat. The US is providing training to São Toméan military officers. The policy of the armed forces in the late 1970s and 1980s centered on defeating foreign-backed invasion forces of mercenaries or rebel forces that were attacking by land or sea. By the late 1980s and 1990s, the set of guidelines of the armed forces turned to internal security and paramilitary duties. Upon the discovery of offshore oil, the concentration of the armed forces has changed to improving the country’s coast guard capabilities. STP will depend on its ties to Angola and Nigeria, and its warm relations with Portugal, France and the US, for its external security needs.
Celebrations There are military parades through the streets of the capital of São Tomé on Armed Forces Day.
Members of Russian Presidential Guard Riding School perform during the Spasskaya Tower international military music festival in Moscow, Russia on August 31, 2014.--AA
Heavy rainfall affects the life negatively in Copenhagen, Denmark on August 31 , 2014. Torrential rain has caused flash flooding in Copenhagen.--AA