Worldwide events; zarb e jamhoor newspaper; 161 issue; 02 08 feb, 2014

Candlemas

(THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD)

Int’l - Feb 02

The Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, which falls on 2 February, celebrates an early episode in the life of Jesus.

In the Roman Catholic Church the "Feast of the Presentation of the Lord" is a Feast Day, the major feast between the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle on January 25 and the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter the Apostle on February 22. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and some Eastern Catholic Churches, it is one of the twelve Great Feasts, and is sometimes called Hypapante (lit., 'Meeting' in Greek). Other traditional names include Candlemas, the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord. In some Western liturgical churches, Vespers (or Compline) on the Feast of the Presentation marks the end of the Epiphany season. In the Church of England, the Presentation of Christ in the Temple is a Principal Feast celebrated either on 2 February or on the Sunday between 28 January and 3 February.

In the Latin Rite of the Catholic Church, the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple is the fourth Joyful Mystery of the Rosary.

Scripture The event is described in the

Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:22–40 ). According to the gospel, Mary and Joseph took the baby Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem forty days (inclusive) after his birth to complete Mary's ritual purification after childbirth, and to perform the redemption of the firstborn, in obedience to the Law of Moses (Leviticus 12 , Exodus 13:12-15 , etc.). Luke explicitly says that Joseph and Mary take the option provided for poor people (those who could not afford a lamb) (Leviticus 12:8 ), sacrificing "a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons." Leviticus 12:14 indicates that this event should take place forty days after birth for a male child, hence the Presentation is celebrated forty days after Christmas. This ceremony is still practiced by Orthodox and Conservative Jews and is called a Pidyon HaBen. Upon bringing Jesus into the temple, they encountered Presentation of Christ at the Temple by Hans Holbein the Elder, Simeon the Righteous. The 1500–01 (Kunsthalle,Hamburg) Gospel records that Simeon had been promised that "he should not see death before he had seen the Lord'sChrist" (Luke 2:26 ). Simeon prayed the prayer that would become known as the Nunc Dimittis, or Canticle of Simeon, which prophesied the redemption of the world by Jesus: Now you are releasing your servant, Master, according to your word, in peace; for my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared before the face of all peoples; a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel (Luke 2:29-32 ).

Simeon then prophesied to Mary: "Behold, this child is set for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which is spoken against. Yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed" (Luke 2:34-35 ).

The elderly prophetess Anna was also in the Temple, and offered prayers and praise to God for Jesus, and spoke to everyone there about Jesus and his role in the redemption of Israel (Luke 2:36-38 ).

Name of the celebration In addition to being known as the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, other traditional names include Candlemas,

the Feast of the Purification of the Virgin, and the Meeting of the Lord.

In the Roman Catholic Church, it is known as the "Presentation of the Lord" in the liturgical books first issued by Paul VI, and as the "Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary" in earlier editions. In the Eastern Orthodox Church and Greek Catholic Churches (Eastern Catholic Churches which use the Byzantine rite), it is known as the "Feast of the Presentation of our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ in the Temple" or as "The Meeting of Our Lord, God and Saviour Jesus Christ".

In the churches of the Anglican Communion, it is known by various names, including: The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in The Temple (Candlemas) (Episcopal Church), The Presentation of Christ in the Temple, and The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Anglican Church of Canada), The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Candlemas) (Church of England), and The Presentation of Christ in the Temple (Anglican Church of Australia).

It is known as the Presentation of Our Lord in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In some Protestant churches, the feast is known as the Naming of Jesus (though historically he would have been named on the eighth day after the Nativity, when he was circumcised).

Liturgical celebration

Traditionally, Candlemas had been the last feast day in the Christian year that was dated by reference to Christmas. Subsequent moveable feasts are calculated with reference to Easter.

Western Christianity:

Candlemas occurs 40 days after Christmas.

Traditionally the Western term "Candlemas" (or Candle Mass) referred to the practice whereby a priest on 2 February blessed beeswax candles for use throughout the year, some of which were distributed to the faithful for use in the home. In Poland the feast is called Święto Matki Bożej Gromnicznej (Święto, "Holiday" + Matka Boska, "Mother of God" + Gromnica, "Thunder"). This name refers to the candles that are blessed on this day, called gromnicy, since these candles are lit during (thunder) storms and placed in windows to ward off storms.

Meeting of the Lord, Russian Orthodoxicon, Within the Roman Catholic Church, since the liturgical revisions of the Second Vatican Council, this feast has 15th century been referred to as the Feast of Presentation of the Lord, with references to candles and the purification of Mary deemphasised in favor of the Prophecy of Simeon the Righteous.Pope John Paul II connected the feast day with the renewal of religious vows.

This feast never falls in Lent (the earliest Ash Wednesday can fall is February 4, for the case of Easter on March 22 in a non-leap year). However, in the Tridentine rite, it can fall in the pre-Lenten season if Easter is early enough, and "Alleluia" has to be omitted from this feast's liturgy when that happens.

According to over eight centuries of tradition, the swaddling clothes that baby Jesus wore during the presentation at the Temple are kept in Dubrovnik Cathedral, Croatia.

Eastern Christianity:

In the Byzantine tradition (Eastern Orthodox and Greek Catholic), the Meeting of the Lord is unique among the Great Feasts in that it combines elements of both a Great Feast of the Lord and a Great Feast of the Theotokos (Mother of God). It has a forefeast of one day, and an afterfeast of seven days. However, if the feast falls during Cheesefare Week or Great Lent, the afterfeast is either shortened or eliminated altogether.

The holy day is celebrated with an all-night vigil on the eve of the feast, and a celebration of the Divine Liturgy the next morning, at which beeswax candles are blessed. This blessing traditionally takes place after the Little Hours and before the beginning of the Divine Liturgy (though in some places it is done after). The priest reads four prayers, and then a fifth one during which all present bow their heads before God. He then censes the candles and blesses them with holy water.

The candles are then distributed to the people and the Liturgy begins.

It is because of the biblical events recounted in the second chapter of Luke that the Churching of Women came to be practiced in both Eastern and Western Christianity. Though the usage has mostly died out in the West, the ritual is still practiced in the Eastern Orthodox Church.

Some Christians observe the practice of leaving Christmas decorations up until Candlemas.

Date

In the Eastern and Western liturgical calendars the Presentation of the Lord falls on 2 February, forty days (inclusive) after Christmas. In the Church of England it may be celebrated on this day, or on the Sunday between 28 January and 3 February.

The date of Candlemas is established by the date set for the Nativity of Jesus, for it comes forty days afterwards. Under Mosaic law as found in the Torah, a mother who had given birth to a man-child was considered unclean for seven days; moreover she was to remain for three and thirty days "in the blood of her purification." Candlemas therefore corresponds to the day on which Mary, according to Jewish law, should have attended a ceremony of ritual purification (Leviticus 12:2- Presentation at the Temple by Ambrogio 8 ). The Gospel of Luke 2:22–39 relates that Mary was purified Lorenzetti, 1342 (Galleria degli according to the religious law, followed by Jesus' presentation Uffizi,Florence). in the Jerusalem temple, and this explains the formal names given to the festival, as well as its falling 40 days after the Nativity.

In the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Feast, called "The Coming of the Son of God into the Temple" (Tiarn'ndaraj, from Tyarn-, "the Lord", and -undarach "going forward"), is celebrated on 14 February. The Armenians do not celebrate the Nativity on 25 December, but on 6 January, and thus their date of the feast is 40 days after that: 14 February.

The night before the feast, Armenians traditionally light candles during an evening church service, carrying the flame out into the darkness (symbolically bringing light into the void) and either take it home to light lamps or light a bonfire in the church courtyard.

History The Feast of the Presentation is among the most ancient feasts of the Church. There are sermons on the Feast by

the bishops Methodius of Patara († 312), Cyril of Jerusalem († 360), Gregory the Theologian († 389), Amphilochius of Iconium († 394), Gregory of Nyssa († 400), and John Chrysostom († 407).

The earliest reference to specific liturgical rites surrounding the feast are by the intrepid nun Egeria, during her pilgrimage to the Holy Land(381–384). She reported that 14 February was a day solemnly kept in Jerusalem with a procession to Constantine I's Basilica of the Resurrection, with a homily preached on Luke 2:22 (which makes the occasion perfectly clear), and a Divine Liturgy. This so-calledItinerarium Peregrinatio ("Pilgrimage Itinerary") of Egeria does not, however, offer a specific name for the Feast. The date of 14 February indicates that in Jerusalem at that time, Christ's birth was celebrated on 6 January, Epiphany. Egeria writes for her beloved fellow nuns at home: XXVI. "The fortieth day after the Epiphany is undoubtedly celebrated here with the very highest honor, for on that day there is a procession, in which all take part, in the Anastasis, and all things are done in their order with the greatest joy, just as at Easter. All the priests, and after them the bishop, preach, always taking for their subject that part of the Gospel where Joseph and Mary brought the Lord into the Temple on the fortieth day, and Symeon and Anna the prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, saw him, treating of the words which they spake when they saw the Lord, and of that offering which his parents made. And when everything that is customary has been done in order, the sacrament is celebrated, and the dismissal takes place."

Originally, the feast was a minor celebration. But then in 542 the feast was established throughout the Eastern Empire by Justinian I. In 541 a terrible plague broke out in Constantinople, killing thousands. The Emperor, in consultation with the Patriarch of Constantinople, ordered a period of fasting and prayer throughout the entire Empire. And, on the Feast of the Meeting of the Lord, Orthodox icon from Meeting of the Lord, arranged great processions throughout Belarus (1731). the towns and villages and a solemn prayer service (Litia) to ask for deliverance from evils, and the plague ceased. In thanksgiving, the feast was elevated to a more solemn celebration.

In Rome, the feast appears in the Gelasian Sacramentary, a manuscript collection of the seventh and eighth centuries associated with Pope Gelasius I, but with many interpolations and some forgeries. There it carries for the first time the new title of the feast of Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Late in time though it may be, Candlemas is still the most ancient of all the festivals in honor of the Virgin Mary. The date of the feast in Rome was moved forward to 2 February, since during the late fourth century the Roman feast of Christ's nativity been introduced as 25 December.

Though modern laymen picture Candlemas as an important feast throughout the Middle Ages in Europe, in fact it spread slowly in the West; it is not found in the Lectionary of Silos (650) nor in the Calendar (731–741) of SainteGeneviève of Paris.

The tenth century Benedictional of St. Æthelwold, bishop of Winchester, has a formula used for blessing the candles.

Candlemas did become important enough to find its way into the secular calendar. It was the traditional day to remove the cattle from the hay meadows, and from the field that was to be ploughed and sown that spring. References to it are common in later medieval and early Modern literature; Shakespeare's Twelfth Night is recorded as having its first performance on Candlemas Day, 1602. It remains one of the Scottish quarter days, at which debts are paid and law courts are in session.

Relation to other celebrations

The Feast of the Presentation depends on the date for Christmas: As per the passage from the Gospel of Luke (Luke 2:22-40 ) describing the event in the life of Jesus, the celebration of the Presentation of the Lord follows 40 days after. The blessing of candles on this day recalls Simeon's reference to the infant Jesus as the "light for revelation to the Gentiles" (Luke 2:32 ). From a Christian perspective, therefore, there is no independent meaningfulness to the date of the Feast of the Presentation or to the blessing of candles on that day from which the name "Candlemas" derives.

Modern Pagans believe that Candlemas is a Christianization of the Gaelic festival of Imbolc, which was celebrated in preChristian Europe (and especially the Celtic Nations) at about the same time of year. Imbolc is called "St. Brigid's Day" or "Brigid" in Ireland. Both Brigids are associated with sacred flames, holy wells and springs, healing and smithcraft. Brigid is a virgin, yet also the patron of midwives. However, a connection with Roman (rather than Celtic or Germanic) polytheism is more plausible, since the feast was celebrated before any serious attempt to expand Christianity into non-Roman countries.

In Irish homes, there were many rituals revolve around welcoming Brigid into the home. Some of Brigid's rituals and legends later became attached to the Christian Saint Brigid, who was the Abbess of Kildare and seen by Celtic Christians as the midwife of Christ and "Mary of the Gael". In Ireland and Scotland she is the "foster mother of Jesus." The exact date of the Imbolc festival may have varied from place to place based on local tradition and regional climate. Imbolc is celebrated by modern Pagans on the eve of 2 February, at the astronomical midpoint, or on the full moon closest to the first spring thaw.

Some have argued that the Church in Rome introduced Candlemas celebrations in opposition to the Roman Pagan feast of Lupercalia. The Catholic Encyclopædia is definite in its rejection of this argument: "The feast was certainly not introduced by Pope Gelasius to suppress the excesses of the Lupercalia," (referencing J.P. Migne, Missale Gothicum, 691).

The 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica agrees: the association An Armenian miniature illustrating the with Gelasius "has led some to suppose that it was ordained subject (Mugni Gospels, ca. 1060).

by Pope Gelasius I in 492 as a counter-attraction to the pagan Lupercalia; but for this there is no warrant." Since the two festivals are both concerned with the ritual purification of women, not all historians are convinced that the connection is purely coincidental. Gelasius' certainly did write a treatise against Lupercalia, and this still exists; see Lupercalia.

Pope Innocent XII believed Candlemas was created as an alternative to Roman Paganism, as stated in a sermon on the subject: Why do we in this feast carry candles? Because the Gentiles dedicated the month of February to the infernal gods, and as at the beginning of it Pluto stole Proserpine, and her mother Ceres sought her in the night with lighted candles, so they, at the beginning of the month, walked about the city with lighted candles. Because the holy fathers could not extirpate the custom, they ordained that Christians should carry about candles in honor of the Blessed Virgin; and thus what was done before in the honor of Ceres is now done in honor of the Blessed Virgin.

In Armenia, celebrations at the Presentation have been influenced by pre-Christian customs, such as: the spreading of ashes by farmers in their fields each year to ensure a better harvest, keeping ashes on the roof of a house to keep evil spirits away, and the belief that newlywed women needed to jump over fire to purify themselves before getting pregnant. Young men will also leap over a bonfire.

The tradition of lighting a candle in each window is not the origin of the name "Candlemas", which instead refers to a blessing of candles.

Traditions and superstitions

"Down with the rosemary, and so Down with the bays and mistletoe; Down with the holly, ivy, all, Wherewith ye dress'd the Christmas Hall" —Robert Herrick (1591–1674), "Ceremony upon Candlemas Eve" As the poem by Robert Herrick records, the eve of Candlemas was the day on which Christmas decorations of greenery were removed from people's homes; for traces of berries, holly and so forth will bring death among the congregation before another year is out. Another tradition holds that anyone who hears funeral bells tolling on Candlemas will soon hear of the death of a close friend or relative; each toll of the bell represents a day that will pass before the unfortunate news is learned.

In Scotland, until a change in the law in 1991 (see Scottish term days), and in much of northern England until the 18th century, Candlemas was one of the traditional quarter days when quarterly rents were due for payment, as well as the day or term for various other business transactions, including the hiring of servants.

In the United Kingdom, good weather at Candlemas is taken to indicate severe winter weather later: "If Candlemas Day is clear and bright, / winter will have another bite. / If Candlemas Day brings cloud and rain, / winter is gone and will not come again." It is also alleged to be the date that bears emerge from hibernation to inspect the weather as well as wolves, who if they choose to return to their lairs on this day is interpreted as meaning severe weather will continue for another forty days at least. The same is true in Italy, where it is calledCandelora.

The Carmina Gadelica, a seminal collection of Scottish folklore, refers to a serpent coming out of the mound on Latha Fheill Bride, as the Scots call Candlemas. This rhyme is still used in the West Highlands and Hebrides.

Moch maduinn Bhride, Thig an nimhir as an toll; Cha bhoin mise ris an nimhir, Cha bhoin an nimhir rium.

(Early on Bride's morn, the serpent will come from the hollow I will not molest the serpent, nor will the serpent molest me) Thig an nathair as an toll, la donn Bride Ged robh tri traighean dh' an t-sneachd air leachd an lair.

(The serpent will come from the hollow on the brown day of Bride Though there should be three feet of snow on the flat surface of the ground) The earliest American reference to Groundhog Day can be found at the Pennsylvania Dutch Folklore Center at Franklin and Marshall College: Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

—4 February 1841 — from Morgantown, Berks County (Pennsylvania) storekeeper James Morris' diary, In France, Candlemas (French: La Chandeleur) is celebrated with crêpes, which must be eaten only after eight p.m.

If the cook can flip a crêpe while holding a coin in the other hand, the family is assured of prosperity throughout the coming year.

Tenerife (Spain), Is the day of the Virgin of Candelaria (Saint Patron of the Canary Islands). 2 February.

In Southern and Central Mexico, and Guatemala City, Candlemas (Spanish: Día de La Candelaria) is celebrated with tamales. Tradition indicates that on 5 January, the night before Three Kings Day (the Epiphany), whoever gets one or more of the few plastic or metal dolls (originally coins) buried within the Rosca de Reyes must pay for the tamales and throw a party on Candlemas. In certain regions of Mexico, this is the day in which the baby Jesus of each household is taken up from the nativity scene and dressed up in various colorful, whimsical outfits. Sailors are often reluctant to set sail on Candlemas Day, believing that any voyage begun then will end in disaster — given the frequency of severe storms in February, this is not entirely without sense.

Heroes' Day Mozambique - F e b 0 3

Mozambique celebrates Heroe’s Day yearly every 3rd day of February. It was instituted to commemorate the lives of fallen soldiers who fought bravely for the country’s independence in 1975 specifically to the assassinated leader of Mozambican independence movement political party, Eduardo Mondlane.

History When Mozambique was still under Portuguese rule,

a guerrilla group called Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO), a political party formed in 1962 under the leadership of Eduardo Mondlane, initiated a campaign to fight for the country’s independence. This war, later called Portuguese Colonial War, lasted from 1961–1974.

Initially, Portuguese concentrated their control on urban centers while the FRELIMO guerrillas took control of rural and tribal areas in the northern and western part of Mozambique. To receive local support for the liberation of Mozambique, FRELIMO began conducting social and economic improvement on the lives of the people on the controlled territory in the northern portion of the country. In one unfortunate event, Mondlane was assassinated in his office in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania by Portuguese secret police. Through the resistance and persistence to achieve independence of the ensuing FRELIMO leadership, the country achieved its independence from Portugal on June 25, 1975.

Celebrations Mozambique’s Heroes’ Day official name is Dia dos Heróis Moçambicanos. Heroes’ Day is a public holiday celebrated

with parades and with speeches from various political groups aiming to support an equal or Marxist way of life for all Mozambique citizens.

Mozambican Heroes’ Day reminds all Mozambique citizens to pay homage to the sacrifices given by FRELIMO leader Eduardo Mondlane in bringing independence to the country’s more than four century colonial rule from Portugal, Samora Machel, the first president of Mozambique and other organizations who aimed for the liberation of the country for foreign rule.

Liberty Heroes Day - F e b 0 3 Sao Tome & Principe

Just like any other countries, Sao Tome and Principe celebrates their yearly National Heroes’ Day held every 3rd of February. This yearly celebration serves as the country’s formal day to remember the remarkable bravery of their countrymen who battled to achieve their independence from Portugal on July 12, 1975.

History Sao Tome is Sao Tome and Principe’s capital city. The

name is of Portuguese origin which means Saint Thomas, since it was founded by Portugal in 1485.

When Portugal first came across Sao Tome and Principe on 1472, it was transformed by the Portuguese rulers into a large plantation of sugar thus enslaving the natives. Fifty years after the discovery of Portugal on Sao Tome and Principe, on 1522, the country was declared as under the Portuguese colony. Followed by the colonization was the declaration of Portuguese colonies to become Portugal’s overseas province.

Because of the ruthless treatment that Sao Tome and Principe underwent with the ruling power of Portugal, the citizens attempted to establish several liberalization movements however, failed several times.

On the attempt to gain independence, the natives of Sao Tome established the Movement for the Liberation of Sao Tome and Principe (MLSTP) and from then, the Portuguese government made an agreement for the termination of its overseas colonies.

On July 12 1975, Sao Tome and Principe was finally freed from the Portuguese regime electing Manuel Pinto da Costa as the country’s first president.

Celebrations To date, the Sao Tomeans continue to look up to the heroes’ which made their independence possible. Yearly during

this event, a lot of non-governmental organizations are organizing events and rallies as one way of giving respect and devotion to their national heroes.

Chama Cha Mapinduzi Day Tanzania - F e b 0 5

The Chama cha Mapinduzi (Party of the Revolution in Swahili) is the ruling political party of Tanzania.

History

The party was created February 5, 1977, under the leadership of Julius Nyerere as the merger of the Tanganyika African National Union (TANU), the then ruling party in Tanganyika, and the AfroShirazi Party (ASP), the then ruling party in Zanzibar.

TANU/CCM has dominated the politics of Tanzania since the independence of Tanganyika in 1962. Due to the merger with the ASP, from 1977 it has been also the ruling party in Zanzibar, though there its grip on power has been more contested by the Civic United Front(CUF). It was the only legal party until July 1, 1992, when amendments to the national Constitution and a number of laws permitting and regulating the formation and operations of more than one political party were enacted by the National Assembly or Bunge.

Constitution Day Mexico - F e b 0 5

The Political Constitution of the United Mexican States (Spanish: Constitución Política de los Estados Unidos Mexicanos) is the current constitution of Mexico. It was drafted in Santiago de Querétaro, in the State of Querétaro, by a constitutional convention, during the Mexican Revolution. It was approved by the Constitutional Congress on February 5, 1917. It is the successor to the Constitution of 1857, and earlier Mexican constitutions.

The current Constitution of 1917 is the first such document in the world to set out social rights, serving as a model for the Weimar Constitution of 1919 and the Russian Constitution of 1918. Some of the most important provision are Articles 3, 27, and 123; these display profound changes in Mexican political philosophy that helped frame the political and social backdrop for Mexico in the twentieth century. Article 3 forbids the setting up of a list of prohibited books and establishes the bases for a free, mandatory, and lay education; article 27 led the foundation for land reforms; and article 123 was designed to empower the labor sector.

Articles 3, 5, 24, 27, and 130 were originally redacted with sections that restricted the power of theCatholic Church as a consequence of the support given by the Mexican Church's Hierarchy to the Dictator Victoriano Huerta. Attempts to enforce the articles strictly by President Plutarco Elías Calles in 1926 led to the civil war known as the Cristero War.

Liberation of the Republic from the Alberoni Occupation SanMarino- Feb 05

Liberation of the Republic from the Alberoni Occupation Anniversary is February 5th. He age of 21 he follow the judge Ignazio Gardini. During the spanish war time Alberoni laid the political success. After that Alberoni was appointed as a consular agent at Philip's court. San Marino celebrated February 5th as Saint Agatha day and also Liberation of the Republic from the Alberoni Occupation Anniversary. Saint Agatha was lovely and of noble birth. Saint Agatha day is also February 5th, it was a feast day. After her death that city of people did St. Agatha's prayers. In 1911 she was established St. Agatha Mission.

Groundhog Day U.S., Canada - F e b 0 2

Groundhog Day is a holiday celebrated on February 2 in the United States and Canada.

According to folklore, if it is cloudy when a groundhog emerges from its burrow on this day, it will leave the burrow, signifying that winter-like weather will soon end. If it is sunny, the groundhog will supposedly see its shadow and retreat back into its burrow, and the winter weather will continue for six more weeks.

Modern customs of the holiday involve celebrations where early morning festivals are held to watch the groundhog emerging from its burrow. In southeastern Pennsylvania, Groundhog Lodges (Grundsow Lodges) celebrate the holiday with fersommlinge, social events in which food is served, speeches are made, and one or more g'spiel (plays or skits) are performed for entertainment. The Pennsylvania German dialect is the only language spoken at the event, and those who speak English pay a penalty, usually in the form of a nickel, dime or quarter, per word spoken, put into a bowl in the center of the table.

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania.

Groundhog Day, already a widely recognized and popular tradition, received worldwide attention as a result of the 1993 film of the same name, Groundhog Day, which was set in Punxsutawney and portrayed Punxsutawney Phil.

History

The celebration, which began as a Pennsylvania German custom in southeastern and central Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries, has its origins in ancient European weather lore, wherein a badger or sacred bear is the prognosticator as opposed to a groundhog. It also bears similarities to the Pagan festival of Imbolc, the seasonal turning point of the Celtic calendar, which is celebrated on February 1 and also involves weather prognostication. and to St. Swithun's Day in July.

Historical origins:

An early American reference to Groundhog Day can be found in a diary entry, dated February 4, 1841, of Berks County, Pennsylvania, storekeeper James Morris: Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans,the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.

In Scotland the tradition may also derive from an English poem: As the light grows longer The cold grows stronger If Candlemas be fair and bright Winter will have another flight If Candlemas be cloud and rain Winter will be gone and not come again A farmer should on Candlemas day Have half his corn and half his hay On Candlemas day if thorns hang a drop You can be sure of a good pea crop

Alternative origin theories: The

groundhog (Marmota monax) is a rodent of the In western countries in the Northern Hemisphere the official first day of Spring family Sciuridae, belonging to the group of large ground is almost seven weeks (46–48 days) squirrels. after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or March 21. About 1,000 years ago, before the adoption of the Gregorian calendar when the date of the equinox drifted in the Julian calendar, the spring equinox fell on March 16 instead. This is exactly six weeks after February 2. The custom could have been a folk embodiment of the confusion created by the collision of two calendrical systems.

Some ancient traditions marked the change of season at cross-quarter days such as Imbolc when daylight first makes significant progress against the night. Other traditions held that Spring did not begin until the length of daylight overtook night at the Vernal Equinox. So an arbiter, the groundhog/hedgehog, was incorporated as a yearly custom to settle the two traditions. Sometimes Spring begins at Imbolc, and sometimes Winter lasts 6 more weeks until the equinox.

Locations

The largest Groundhog Day celebration is held in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, where crowds as large as 40,000 have gathered to celebrate the holiday since at least 1886. Other celebrations of note in Pennsylvania take place in Quarryville in Lancaster County, the Anthracite Region of Schuylkill County, the Sinnamahoning Valley and Bucks County.

Outside of Pennsylvania, notable celebrations occur in the Frederick and Hagerstown areas of Maryland, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia, Woodstock, Illinois, Lilburn, Georgia, among the Amish populations of over twenty states and at Wiarton, Ontario, and Shubenacadie, Nova Scotia, in Canada. The University of Dallas in Irving, Texas, has taken Groundhog Day as its official university holiday and organizes a large-scale celebration every year in honor of the Groundhog.

Prediction accuracy

Groundhog Day proponents state that the rodents' forecasts are accurate 75% to 90% of the time. A Canadian study for 13 cities in the past 30 to 40 years puts the success rate level at 37%. Also, the National Climatic Data Center reportedly has stated that the overall prediction accuracy rate is around 39%.

Groundhog Day in popular culture • At the end of Disney's 1930

Silly Symphonies short film Winter, Mr. Groundhog the Weather Prophet comes out of his hole to determine whether or not there will be more winter. At first, he does not see his shadow, but the clouds clear and his shadow appears, causing him to run back inside. At this point, the winds picks up again and winter continues.

• The 1941 Woody Woodpecker short Pantry Panic portrays the groundhog as a weather forecaster, although in this case he forecasts the timing of the beginning of winter, not the end of it.

• In the 1979 Rankin-Bass Christmas TV special Jack Frost, a crucial plot point in the story involves Jack casting his own shadow on Groundhog Day for six more weeks of winter. At the end of the story it is revealed that the narrator (voiced by Buddy Hackett) is the groundhog.

• The 1993 comedy movie Groundhog Day takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, on this day (although the majority of the movie was actually filmed in Woodstock, Illinois).

The main character (played by Bill Murray) is forced to relive the day over and over again until he can learn to give up his selfishness and become a better person. In popular culture, the phrase "Groundhog Day" has come to represent going through a phenomenon over and over until one spiritually transcends it.

On January 9, 2006, the • Pennsylvania Tourism Office presented Statue of groundhog Wiarton Willie in Wiarton, Ontario installments of the Groundhog 202 film series, a Groundhog Daypromotion that played off The Shining. The film shows what happens when the groundhog, stuck inside for 364 days, goes mad with cabin fever. On January 11, 2007, the Pennsylvania Tourism Office presented installments of the Groundhog Crossing film series, a Groundhog Day promotion that depicted the departure of the Shadow from his friend the Groundhog in an attempt to stop the cycle of winter predictions.

Similar customs

A strikingly similar and almost identical custom is celebrated among Orthodox Christians in Serbia on February 15 (February 2 according to local Julian calendar) during the feast of celebration of Sretenje or The Meeting of the Lord.

It is believed that on this day the bear will awake from winter dormancy, and if in this sleepy and confused state it sees (meets) its own shadow, it will get scared and go back to sleep for an additional 40 days, thus prolonging the winter. Thus, if it is sunny on Sretenje, it is the sign that the winter is not over yet. If it is cloudy, it is a good sign that the winter is about to end.

In Portugal, on February 2 is celebrated this day and is called The Candelária Day that refers to the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple. It is said the "If the Candelária is smiling (i.e. if it a sunny day), the winter is still to come, if the Candelária is crying (i.e. if it is a rainy day), the winter is out.

In Germany, June 27 is "Siebenschläfertag" (Seven Sleepers Day). If it rains that day, the rest of summer is supposedly going to be rainy. While it might seem to refer to the "Siebenschläfer" squirrel (Glis Glis), also known as the "edible dormouse," it actually commemorates theSeven Sleepers (the actual commemoration day is July 25).

In the United Kingdom, July 15 is known as St. Swithun's day. It was traditionally believed if it rained on that day, it would rain for the next 40 days and nights.

In Alaska, February 2 is observed as Marmot Day rather than Groundhog Day because few groundhogs exist in the state. The holiday was created by a bill passed by the Alaska Legislature in 2009 and signed by then-Governor Sarah Palin that year.

Foundation of the Vietnamese Communist Party Vietnam - F e b 0 3

The Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) (Vietnamese: Đảng Cộng sản Việt Nam), formally established in 1930, is the governing party of the nation of Vietnam. It is today the only legal political party in that country. Describing itself as Marxist-Leninist, the CPV is the directing component of a broader group of organizations known as the Vietnamese Fatherland Front. In Vietnam, it is commonly referred to as "Đảng" (the Party) or "Đảng ta" (our Party).

The CPV is formally directed by a National Congress held every five years. In practical terms the organization is lead by a 160 member Central Committee, which selects a Political Bureau (Politburo) headed by a General Secretary. The current General Secretary of the CPV is Nguyễn Phú Trọng.

Organizational history The forerunner, Thanh Nien:

Today's Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) traces its origins back to 1925. It was in the spring of that year that a young man born Nguyen Sinh Cung — then using the pseudonym Nguyễn Ái Quốc (Nguyen the Patriot) but best known today by a later party-name, Ho Chi Minh (Ho the Enlightened One) — established a Communist political organization called the Vietnamese Revolutionary Youth Association (Vietnamese:Việt Nam Thanh Niên Kách Mệnh Hội — commonly: "Thanh Niên").

Thanh Nien was an organization which sought to make use of patriotism in an effort to bring the colonial occupation of the country by Franceto an end. The group sought political and social objectives — both national independence and the redistribution of land to working peasants.

The establishment of Thanh Nien was preceded by the arrival of Communist International functionary Ho Chi Minh in Canton, China from Moscow in December 1924. Ho was ostensibly sent to China to work as a secretary and interpreter to Mikhail Borodin, but he actually set to work almost immediately attempting to transform the existing Vietnamese patriotic movement towards revolutionary ends. Ho managed to convert a small group of emigré intellectuals called Tam Tam Xa (Heart-to-Heart Association) to revolutionary socialism, and Thanh Nien was born.

The headquarters of the Thanh Nien organization in Canton was made the directing center for the underground revolutionary movement in Vietnam. All important decisions regarding the strategy and tactics of the fledgling Vietnamese anti-colonial revolutionary movement during this interval were made in Canton.

Thanh Nien was designed to prepare the ground for an armed struggle against the French colonial occupation. Three phases were envisioned by Ho Chi Minh and his compatriots. In the first phase, an external center was to be established as a training center, source of unified political propaganda, and headquarters for strategic decision-making and the maintenance of organizational and ideological discipline.

Secret revolutionary grouplets called "cells" were to be trained in Canton and re- French Indochina included the administrative regions turned to Vietnam proper to conduct activ- of Tonkin in the North, Annam along the Central coast, ity.

In the second phase, activity would move and Cochinchina in the South. into a "semi-secret" phase, in which Thanh Nien cadres would initiate political and economic activities, including strike action, boycotts, and protests, which might include conscious acts of political violence as a means of mobilizing the masses. This would be a third phase, one of insurrection, in which the unified organization would attempt to rise up and overthrow the established political regime by force of arms, establishing a new centralized revolutionary government.

Thanh Nien was conceived of as a relatively open mass organization, with the most trusted members part of a directing center called the Communist Youth Corps (CYC). At the time of the Thanh Nien's dissolution in 1929, the CYC is believed to have consisted of just 24 members. In addition to Thanh Nien, this small inner circle also directed two other mass organizations, Nong Hoi ("Peasants' Association") and Cong Hoi ("Workers' Association").

The CYC and Thanh Nien published pamphlets and newspapers, including a guidebook of revolutionary theory and practical techniques calledThe Road to Revolution, as well as four newspapers — Thanh Nien ("Youth") from June 1925 to May 1930; Bao cong nong ("Worker-Peasant") from December 1926 to early 1928; Linh kach menh ("Revolutionary Soldier") from early 1927 to early 1928; and Viet Nam tien phong ("Vanguard of Vietnam") in 1927.

Factional split of 1929:

In 1928 the headquarters of the Thanh Nien organization in Canton were forced underground by forces of the Chinese Nationalists, the Kuomintang (KMT).

The center which issued directions to the cells inside Vietnam had to be moved repeatedly to avoid repression — first to Wu-Chou and then to Hong Kong. Making matters worse, top leader Ho Chi Minh departed from Canton in May 1927 and was incommunicado with the Vietnamese movement. The lack of contacts with a unified headquarters proved the start of an organizational split, with radicals in the movement beginning to take instructions from the Comintern via the Communist Party of France and others following a different path.

In September 1928 the radical Bac Ky Regional Committee of Thanh Nien held a conference at which it affirmed the Comintern's new Third Period analysis, positing a new revolutionary upsurge around the world. Noting the growth of the organization among intellectuals in urban centers, the conference determined to send its largely petty bourgeois membership into the countryside and to urban factories in an attempt to bring communist ideas to the poor peasantry and the numerically tiny working class. In a letter to the Comintern, the Thanh Nien itself estimated that approximately 90 percent of its membership consisted of intellectuals; a full-scale offensive to win mass support was desired.

The Central Committee of Thanh Nien called a National Congress of the organization, slated to begin on May Day of 1929. This gathering, held 1-9 May 1929 and attended by 17 delegates from each of the three main administrative districts of Vietnam, plus Hong Kong and Siam, would prove the occasion for a split between those who placed primary emphasis on the so-called "national question" (independence from colonialism) and those who sought a more radical movement placing emphasis on social revolution.

Ho Chi Minh was not in attendance, still missing from the scene. The conclave was chaired by Nguyen Cong Vien, making use of the pseudonym Lam Duc Thu, who summarily ruled the question of formation Võ Nguyên Giáp (left) and Hồ Chí Minh in Hà of a proper Communist party out of order, prompting Nội, October 1945. a walkout of three members of the northern delegation, leaving only an informer working on behalf of the French secret police at the session as the representative of Tonkin.

The radical Northern delegates who walked out of the Congress were sharply critical of those who refused to split, charging the remaining Thanh Nien leaders were "false revolutionaries" and "petit-bourgeois intellectuals" who were attempting to build bridges with the "anti-revolutionary and anti-worker" Kuomintang. On 17 June 1929 more than 20 delegates from cells throughout the Tonkin region held a conference in Hanoi, where they declared the dissolution of Thanh Nien and the establishment of a new organization called the Indochinese Communist Party (ICP).

The new Northern party published pamphlets detailing its organizational rules based upon the Comintern's "Model Statutes for a Communist Party" as well as the International program approved by the Sixth World Congress of the Comintern in 1928. Three new periodicals were also launched — the newspaper Co do ("Red Flag"), the theoretical journal Bua liem ("Hammer and Sickle"), and the trade union publicationCong hoi do ("Red Trade Union").

The other faction of Thanh Nien, based in the central and southern administrative districts of the country, were to rename themselves the Communist Party of Annam in the fall of 1929. The two organizations spent the rest of 1929 engaged in polemics against one another in an attempt to gain a position of hegemony over the radical Vietnamese liberation movement.

Adding to the complexity of the factional situation, a third Vietnamese Communist Party emerged around this time, a group unconnected with Thanh Nien called the League of Indochinese Communists (Vietnamese: Đông Dương Cộng sản Liên Đoàn). This group had its roots in another national liberation group which had existed in parallel to Thanh Nien, with the two groups seeing themselves as rivals.

The party unification of 1930:

The two warring offspring of Thanh Nien joined with individual members of a third Marxist group founded by Phan Boi Chau at a "Unification Conference" held in Hong Kong from 3-7 February 1930. Ho Chi Minh, back in direct activity in the Vietnamese movement, was responsible for brokering the peace between the warring factions as well as writing the initial manifesto and statement of tactics of the group. The new party was named the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV).

The Hong Kong conference (held in Kowloon City) elected a nine-member Provisional Central Committee consisting of 3 members from Tonkin in the North, 2 from the central region of Annam, 2 from the southern district Cochinchina, and 2 from the emigré Vietnamese community in China. The latter group had previously been organized within the South Seas Communist Party.

The Comintern was sharply critical of the way in which the organization was unified, decrying the Vietnamese's party's failure to eliminate so-called "heterogeneous elements" from the organization. The organization's declared emphasis upon national liberation under the slogan"An Independent Viet Nam" was criticized as a manifestation of nationalism, while the party's emphasis of its place in the international communist movement was deemed insufficient.

A new conference was demanded, remembered to history as the "First Plenum of the Central Committee." The session was held in Hong Kong in October 1930 and renamed the organization the Indochinese Communist Party (Vietnamese: Đông Dương Cộng sản Đảng) (ICP) to mark the Comintern's imposed changes.

At the time it formally came into being, the ICP could claim to be a vanguard of only a microscopically small working class — a mere 221,000 people in a country of 17 million. Even of this minority, the lives of many was far removed from the workplaces of modern industry, with fully one-third of these employed in various capacities on rubber plantations and the like. The working class in the North was semi-peasant in nature, leaving work in the mines and factories for the Tết festival that marked the start of the new year, often not returning.Working conditions were poor and labor turnover high.

During its first five years of existence the ICP attained a membership of about 1500, plus a large additional contingent of sympathizers.Despite the group's small size, it exerted an influence in a turbulent Vietnamese social climate.

Back-to-back bad harvests in 1929 and 1930 combined with an onerous burden of debt served to radicalize many peasants. In the industrial city of Vinh May Day demonstrations were organized by ICP activists, which gained critical mass when the families of the semi-peasant workers joined the demonstrations as a means of venting their dissatisfaction with the economic circumstances which faced them.

As three May Day marches grew into mass rallies, French colonial authorities moved in the squelch what they perceived to be dangerous speasant revolts. Government forces fired upon the assembled crowd, killing dozens of participants and inflaming the population. In response local councils sprung up in various villages in an effort to govern themselves locally as the revolt spread. The inevitable attempt at repression by colonial authorities began in the fall, with some 1300 people eventually killed by the French and many times more imprisoned or deported as government authority was reasserted. While the ICP was effectively wiped out in the region, popular memory lived on.

The Popular Front period (1935-1939):

The First National Party Congress was held in secret in Macau in 1935. At the same time, a Comintern congress in Moscow adopted a policy towards a popular front against fascism and directed Communist movements around the world to collaborate with anti-fascist forces regardless of their orientation towards socialism. This required the ICP to regard all nationalist parties in Indochina as potential allies.

World War II:

The Second World War drastically weakened the grasp of France on its colonial possession of Indochina. The fall of France to Nazi Germany in May 1940 and the subsequent collaboration of the Vichy France with the Axis powers of Germany and Japan served to delegitimize French claims to ownership. Preoccupation with the European war made colonial governance from France impossible and the country was occupied by the forces of imperial Japan.

Upon the eruption of war, the Indochinese Communist Party instructed its members to take to the rural regions of the country and to go into hiding as an underground organization. Despite this preventative measure, more than 2,000 members of the party were rounded up and arrested, including many key leaders. Party activists were particularly hard hit in the southern region ofCochinchina, where the previously strong organization was wiped out by arrests and killings.

Following the elimination of the old leadership by the authorities, a new party leadership emerged, which included Truong Chinh, Pham Van Dong, and Vo Nguyen Giap — individuals who together with Ho Chi Minh would provide a unified leadership over the ensuing four decades.

Party leader Ho Chi Minh returned to Vietnam in February 1941 and established a military organization known as the League for the Independence of Vietnam (Vietnamese: Việt Nam Ðộc Lập Ðồng Minh Hội, commonly "Viet Minh"). The Viet Minh originally downplayed their social objectives, painting themselves as patriotic organization battling for national independence in order to garner maximum public support against the Japanese military occupation. As the most uncompromising fighting force against the occupation, the Viet Minh gained popular recognition and legitimacy in an environment that would develop into a political vacuum.

Ho Chi Minh's personal fate was not an easy one. With his organization underarmed and its bases isolated, Ho traveled to China in August 1942 in an effort to win Allied military aid. Ho was arrested by the Nationalist Chinese government and subjected to 14 months of brutal imprisonment, followed by another year of restricted movement. Ho was unable to return to Vietnam until September 1944. The Communist Party and its Viet Minh offshoot managed to survive and prosper without him.

Despite its position as the core of the Viet Minh organization, the Indochinese Communist Party remained a very small organization through the war years, with an estimated membership of between 2,000 and 3,000 in 1944.

1945 dissolution and reformation:

The Indochinese Communist Party was formally dissolved in 1945 in order to hide its Communist affiliation and its activities were folded into the Marxism Research Association and the Viet Minh, which had been founded four years earlier as a common front for national liberation.

The Party was re-founded as the Workers Party of Vietnam (Đảng lao động Việt Nam) at the Second National Party Congress in Tuyen Quang in 1951. The Congress was held on territory in north Vietnam controlled by the Viet Minh during the First Indochina War. The Third National Congress, held in Hanoi in 1960, formalized the tasks of constructing socialism in what was by then North Vietnam, or the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV) and committed the party to carrying out the revolution of liberation in the South. At the Fourth National Party Congress, held in 1976, the Workers Party of North Vietnam was merged with the People's Revolutionary Party of South Vietnam to form the Communist Party of Vietnam.

Unity Day Burundi - Feb 05

In the late 1950s, Burundi sought to separate itself from Belgium. During the independence movement, members of the Hutu and Tutsi tribes clashed in neighboring Rwanda, spilling over into Burundi. This sparked decades of large-scale conflict between members of the two tribes. With focus on a new constitution of unity in 1992, Unity Day was born in Burundi and celebrated for the first time with hopes of finally bringing the tribal conflict to an end.

History The people of Burundi wanted independ-

ence from Belgium, and in 1959, then leader Mwami Mwambutsa IV championed the movement. Yet late in the year, violence was sparked with a disagreement between Hutu teachers and Tutsi military personnel.

Both Tutsi and Hutu in both Burundi and Rwanda fled across borders but were caught in the crossfire as Hutu in Rwanda killed Tutsi and Tutsi took vengeance on Hutus in Burundi.

The country went on to claim independence on July 1, 1962, setting up equal representation in the new government between Hutu and Tutsi. Yet the violence spread farther as Hutu forces took control of the country, forcing out Tutsi representation for fear of death through ethnic persecution.

After the king, Mwami Mwambutsa IV, refused to recognize the new Hutu prime minister in 1965, tensions spread.

A series of coup attempts, assassinations, and military takeovers shifted power back and forth between the two groups over the next two decades, leading to the death of tens of thousands of Hutu and Tutsi. In 1987, Major Pierre Buyoya, a Tutsi, overthrew the military regime and slowly set about to rectify a number of issues within the government.

This culminated in the form of a new constitution on March 13, 1992 with a strong focus on national unity but with the recognition of the great cultural and ethnic diversity found within the Burundian population. Under the new constitution, registration for political parties was allowed but without any identification with ethnic, religious, or gender groups, a move made to strip some of the inherent biases and discrimination found at the time.

This sense of national unity found during the creation of the constitution led to the celebration of the first Unity Day in 1992. With 88 percent of people voting for a referendum that would abolish hatred along ethnic lines, Buyoya declared every February 5 then on to be celebrated as Unity Day.

Celebrations

Opinions vary among the citizens of Burundi regarding the effectiveness of Unity Day and attempts to bring Hutu and Tutsi together. Unity Day in 2009 held specific relevancy, however, after a peace deal was brokered between the government and the final active rebel group Forces for National Liberation on December 4, 2008, marking a tentative end to a long period of conflict.

Sandrine Irankunda, a Burundian vendor, told Reuters on 2009’s Unity Day: “I can see that things have changed compared to the last few years, because there were divisions between Burundians. But now, there is more unity.”

But businesswoman Abiba Nduwimana disagreed, telling Reuters: “Ethnic hate between people has reduced; that’s the only thing I can say that has changed. But otherwise, we still have the same problems.”

San Blaise Paraguay - Feb 03

Saint Blaise (Armenian: Սուրբ Բարսեղ, Sourb Barsegh; Greek: Άγιος Βλάσιος, Agios Vlasios; Turkish: Aziz Vlas) was a physician, and bishop of Sebastea in historical Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey). According to Acta Sanctorum, he was martyred by being beaten, attacked with iron carding combs, and beheaded.

In iconography, Blaise is often shown with the instruments of his martyrdom, steel combs. He blessed throats and effected many miracles according to his hagiography. The similarity of these instruments of torture to wool combs led to his adoption as the patron saint of wool combers in particular, and the wool trade in general. He may also be depicted with cro ssed candles. Such crossed candles are used for the blessing of throats on his feast day, which falls on 3 February, the day after Candlemas on the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Blaise is traditionally believed to intercede in cases of throat illnesses, especially for fish-bones stuck in the throat.

Indeed, the first reference we have to him is in manuscripts of the medical writings of Aëtius Amidenus, a court physician of the very end of the 5th or the beginning of the 6th century; there his aid is invoked in treating objects stuck in the throat. He cured animals and lived in a cave. Before being killed, he spoke to a wolf and told it to release a pig it was harming. The wolf did so. Blaise was going to be starved but the owner of the pig secretly gave him food in order to survive. After a while, he was tortured because of his Christian faith but did not give up his beliefs. He died in the year 316.

Marco Polo reported the place where "Meeser Saint Blaise obtained the glorious crown of martyrdom", Sebastea; the shrine near the citadel mount was mentioned by William of Rubruck in 1253. However, it appears to no longer exist.

Cult of Saint Blaise

His cult became widespread in Europe in the 11th and 12th centuries. St. Blaise is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers or Auxiliary Saints and his legend is recounted in the 14th-century Legenda Aurea. Saint Blaise is the saint of the wild beast.

He is the patron of the Armenian Order of Saint Blaise. In Italy he is known as San Biagio. In Spanish-speaking countries, he is known as San Blas, and has lent his name to many places (see San Blas).

In Italy, Saint Blaise's remains rest at the Basilica over the town of Maratea, shipwrecked there duringLeo III the Isaurian's iconoclastic persecutions.

Many German churches, including the former Abbey of St. Blasius in the Black Forest and the church of Balve are dedicated to Saint Blaise/Blasius.

In Great Britain:

In Cornwall the village of St Blazey derives from his name, where the parish church is still dedicated to Saint Blaise.

Indeed, the council of Oxford in 1222 forbade all work on his festival. There is a church dedicated to Saint Blaise in the Devonhamlet of Haccombe, near Newton Abbot (Also one at Shanklin on the Isle of Wight and another at Milton near Abingdon in Oxfordshire), one of the country's smallest churches. It is located next to Haccombe house which is the family home of the Carew family, descendants of the vice admiral on board the Mary Rose at the time of her sinking. One curious fact associated with this church is that its "vicar" goes by the title of "archpriest".

There is a St. Blaise's Well In Bromley, Kent where the water was considered to have medicinal virtues.

St Blaise is also associated with Stretford in Lancashire. A Blessing of the Throats ceremony is held on February 3 at St Etheldreda's Church in London and in Balve, Germany.

In Croatia:

Saint Blaise (Croatian: Sveti Vlaho or Sveti Blaž) is the patron saint of the city of Dubrovnik and formerly the protector of the independent Republic of Ragusa. At Dubrovnik his feast is celebrated yearly on 3 February, when relics of the saint, his head, a bit of bone from his throat, his right hand and his left, are paraded in reliquaries. The festivities begin the previous day,Candlemas, when white doves are released. Chroniclers of Dubrovnik such as Rastic andRanjina attribute his veneration there to a vision in 971 to warn the inhabitants of an impending attack by the Venetians, whose galleys had dropped anchor in Gruž and near Lokrum, ostensibly to resupply their water but furtively to spy out the city's defenses. St. Blaise (Blasius) revealed their pernicious plan to Stojko, a canon of St. Stephen's Cathedral. The Senate summoned Stojko, who told them in detail how St. Blaise had appeared before him as an old man with a long beard and a bishop's mitre and staff. In this form the effigy of Blaise remained on Dubrovnik's state seal and coinage until the Napoleonic era.

Blaise and Blasius for Jersey:

In England in the 18th and 19th centuries Blaise was adopted as mascot of woolworkers' pageants, particularly in Essex, Yorkshire,Wiltshire and Norwich. The popular enthusiasm for the saint is explained by the belief that Blaise had brought prosperity (as symbolised by the Woolsack) to England by teaching the English to comb wool. According to the tradition as recorded in printed broadsheets, Blaise came from Jersey, Channel Islands. Jersey was certainly a centre of export of woollen goods (as witnessed by the name jerseyfor the woollen textile). However, this legend is probably the result of confusion with a different saint, Blasius of Caesarea (Caesareabeing also the Latin name of Jersey).

Setsubun Japan - F e b 0 3

Setsubun (節分, Bean-Throwing Festival or Bean-Throwing Ceremony) is the day before the beginning of spring in Japan. The name literally means "seasonal division", but usually the term refers to the spring Setsubun, properly called Risshun (立春) celebrated yearly on February 3 as part of the Spring Festival (春祭 haru matsuri). In its association with the Lunar New Year, Spring Setsubun can be and was previously thought of as a sort of New Year's Eve, and so was accompanied by a special ritual to cleanse away all the evil of the former year and drive away diseasebringing evil spirits for the year to come.

This special ritual is called mamemaki ( 豆撒き) (literally "bean throwing"). Setsubun has its origins intsuina (追儺), a Chinese custom introduced to Japan in the eighth century.

Mamemaki

The custom of Mamemaki first appeared in the Muromachi period. It is usually performed by the toshiotoko (年男) of the household (the male who was born on the corresponding animal year on the Chinese zodiac), or else the male head of the household. Roasted soybeans(called "fortune beans" (福豆 fuku mame)) are thrown either out the door or at a member of the family wearing an Oni (demon or ogre) mask, while the people say "Demons out! Luck in!" (鬼 は外! 福は内! Oni wa soto! Fuku wa uchi!) and slam the door, although this is not common practice in households anymore and most people will attend a shrine or temple's spring festival where this is done.:120 The beans are thought to symbolically purify the home by driving away the evil spirits that bring misfortune and bad health with them. Then, as part of bringing luck in, it is customary to eat roasted soybeans, one for each year of one's life, and in some areas, one for each year of one's life plus one more for bringing good luck for the year to come.

The gestures of mamemaki look similar to the Western custom of throwing rice at newly married couples after a wedding.

Other practices

At Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines all over the country, there are celebrations for Setsubun. Priests and invited guests will throw roasted soy beans (some wrapped in gold or silver foil), small envelopes with money, sweets, candies and other prizes. In some bigger shrines, even celebrities and sumo wrestlers will be invited; these events are televised nationally. Many people come, and the event turns wild, with everyone pushing and shoving to get the gifts tossed from above.

It is customary now to eat uncut makizushi called Eho-Maki (恵方巻) (lit. "lucky direction roll") in silence on Setsubun while facing the yearly lucky compass direction, determined by the zodiac symbol of that year. Charts are published and occasionally packaged with uncutmakizushi during February. Some families put up small decorations of sardine heads and holly leaves on their house entrances so that bad spirits will not enter. Ginger sake (生姜酒 shōgazake) is customarily drunk at Setsubun, much like how egg nog is common at Christmas in Western cultures.

Historical practices

The new year was felt to be a time when the spirit world became close to the physical world, thus the need to perform mamemaki to drive away any wandering spirits that might happen too close to one's home.

Other customs during this time included religious dance, fasting, and bringing tools inside the house that might normally be left outside, to prevent the spirits from harming them.

Because Setsubun was also considered to be apart from normal time, people might also practice role reversal. Such customs included young girls doing their hair in the styles of older women and vice versa, wearing disguises, and cross-dressing. This custom is still practiced among geisha and their clients when entertaining on Setsubun.

Traveling entertainers (旅芸人 tabi geinin), who were normally shunned during the year because they were considered vagrants, were welcomed on Setsubun to perform morality plays. Their vagrancy worked to their advantage in these cases because they could take the spirits with them.

Regional variations While the practice of eating makizushi on

Celebrities throw roasted beans in Ikuta Shrine, Kobe

Setsubun is historically only associated with the Kansai area of Japan, the practice has become popular nationwide due largely to marketing efforts by grocery and convenience stores.

In the Tohoku area of Japan, the head of the household (traditionally the father) would take roasted beans in his hand, pray at the family shrine, and then toss the sanctified beans out the door.

Nowadays peanuts (either raw or coated in a sweet, crunchy batter) are sometimes used in place of soybeans.

There are many variations on the famous Oni wa soto, fuku wa uchi chant. In the Nihonmatsu area of Fukushima Prefecture, the chant is shortened to "鬼 外! 福は内!" (Oni soto! Fuku wa uchi!). And in the city of Aizuwakamatsu, people chant "鬼の目玉ぶっつぶせっ！" (Oni no medama buttsubuse!), lit. "Blind the demons' eyes!".

Independence Day Sri Lanka - F e b 0 4

Sri Lanka officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent in South Asia. Known until 1972 as Ceylon Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar, the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the Maldives.

As a result of its location in the path of major sea routes, Sri Lanka is a strategic naval link between West Asia and South East Asia. It was an important stop on the ancient Silk Road. Sri Lanka has also been a center of the Buddhist religion and culture from ancient times and is one of the few remaining abodes of Buddhism in South Asia along with Ladakh,Bhutan and the Chittagong hill tracts.

The Sinhalese community forms the majority of the population; Tamils, who are concentrated in the north and east of the island, form the largest ethnic minority. Other communities include Moors, Burghers, Kaffirs, Malays and the aboriginal Vedda people.

Sri Lanka is a republic and a unitary state which is governed by a semi-presidential system with its official seat of government in Sri Jayawardenapura-Kotte, the capital. The country is famous for the production and export of tea, coffee, coconuts, rubber and cinnamon, the last of which is native to the country. The natural beauty of Sri Lanka has led to the title The Pearl of the Indian Ocean. The island is laden with lush tropical forests, white beaches and diverse landscapes with rich biodiversity. The country lays claim to a long and colorful history of over three thousand years, having one of the longest documented histories in the world. Sri Lanka's rich culture can be attributed to the many different communities on the island.

Sri Lanka is a founding member state of SAARC and a member United Nations, Commonwealth of Nations, G77 and Non-Aligned Movement. As of 2010, Sri Lanka was one of the fastest growing economies of the world. Its stock exchange was Asia's best performing stock market during 2009 and 2010.

History

Pre-historic Sri Lanka:

The pre-history of Sri Lanka dates back over 125,000 years Before Present (BP) and possibly even as early as 500,000 BP. The era spans the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic and early Iron ages. Among the Paleolithic (Homo Erectus) human settlements discovered in Sri Lanka, Pahiyangala (named after the Chinese traveler monk Fa-Hsien), which dates back to 37,000 BP, Batadombalena (28,500 BP) and Belilena (12,000 BP) are the most important. The remains of Balangoda Man, an anatomically modern human, found inside these caves, suggests that they may have engaged in agriculture and kept domestic dogs for driving game.

One of the first written references to the island is found in the Indian epic Ramayana, which provides details of a kingdom named Lanka that had been created by the divine sculptor Vishwakarma, forKubera, the lord of wealth. It is said that Kubera was overthrown by his demon stepbrother Ravana, the powerful Emperor who built a mythical flying machine named Dandu Monara. The modern city of Frescos on the Sigiriya rock fortress in Wariyapola is described as Ravana's airport.

Matale District, 5th century Ravana belonged to the tribe Raksha, which lived alongside four Hela tribes named Yaksha, Deva,Naga and Gandharva. These early inhabitants of Sri Lanka were probably the ancestors of the Vedda people, an indigenous community living in modern-day Sri Lanka, which numbers approximately 2,500. Irish historian James Emerson Tennent theorised Galle, a southern city in Sri Lanka, was the ancient seaport of Tarshish, from which King Solomon is said to have drawn ivory, peacocks and other valuables. Early inhabitats of the country spoke the Elu language, which is considered the early form of the modern Sinhala language.

Ancient Sri Lanka:

According to the Mahāvamsa, a chronicle written in Pāli language, the ancient period of Sri Lanka begins in 543 BC with the landing of Vijaya, a semi-legendary king who arrived in the country with 700 followers from the southwest coast of what is now the Rarh region of West Bengal. He established the Kingdom of Tambapanni, near modern day Mannar. Vijaya is the first of the approximately 189 native monarchs of Sri Lanka, the chronicles like Dipavamsa, Mahāvamsa,Chulavamsa and Rājāvaliya describe. (see List of Sri Lankan monarchs) Sri Lankan dynasty spanned over a period of 2359 years, from 543 BC to 1815 AD, until it came under the rule of British Empire.

The Kingdom of Sri Lanka moved to Anuradhapura in 380 BC, during the reign of Pandukabhaya. Since then, Anuradhapura served as the capital of the country for nearly 1400 years. Ancient Sri Lankans excelled invarious constructions such as tanks, dagobas and palaces. The society underwent a major transformation during the reign of Devanampiya Tissa, with the arrival of Buddhism from India. In 250 BC, bhikkhu Mahinda, the son of the Mauryan EmperorAshoka arrived in Mihintale, carrying the message of Buddhism. His mission won over the monarch, who embraced the faith and propagated it throughout theSinhalese population. The succeeding kingdoms of Sri Lanka would maintain a large number of Buddhist schools and monasteries, and support the propagation of Buddhism into other countries in Southeast Asia as well. In 245 BC, bhikkhuni Sangamitta arrived with the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi tree, which is considered to be a sapling from the historical Bodhi tree under which Gautama Buddha became enlightened. It is considered the oldest tree in the world, with a continuous historical record.

(Bodhivamsa) Sri Lanka experienced the first foreign invasion during the reign of Suratissa, who was defeated by two horse traders named Sena and Guttika from South India. The next invasion came immediately in 205 BC by a Chola king named Elara, who overthrew Asela and ruled the country for 44 years. Dutugemunu, the eldest son of the southern regional sub-king, Kavan Tissa, defeated Elara in the Battle of Vijithapura. He builtRuwanwelisaya, the second stupa in ancient Sri Lanka, and the Lovamahapaya. During its two and half millenias of existence, kingdom of Sri Lanka was invaded at least 8 times by neighbouring South Asian dynastys such as Chola, Pandya, Chera and Pallava. There had also been incursions by the kingdoms of Kalinga (modern Orissa) and A Buddhist statue in the ancient capital from Malay Peninsula as well. Kala Wewa and the Avukana city of Polonnaruwa, 12th century Buddha statuewere built during the reign of Dhatusena.

Sri Lanka was the first Asian country to have a female ruler; Queen Anula who reigned from 47–42 BC. Sri Lankan monarchs have attained some remarkable construction achievements likeSigiriya, the so-called "Fortress in the Sky".

It was a constructed during the reign of Kashyapa I. Sigiriya is a rock fortress surrounded by an extensive network of gardens, reservoirs, and other structures. The 5th century palace is also renowned for frescos on the rock the surface.

It has been declared by the UNESCO as the 8th Wonder of the world. Among the other constructions, large reservoirs, important for conserving water in a climate that alternates rainy seasons with dry times, and elaborate aqueducts, some with a slope as finely calibrated as one inch to the mile are dominant. Biso Kotuwa, a peculiar construction inside a dam, is a technological marvel based on precise mathematics, allowing water to flow outside the dam keeping the pressure to a minimum. Ancient Sri Lanka was the first country in the world to have established a dedicated hospital; in Mihintale in the 4th century. It was also the leading exporter of cinnamon in the ancient world, and has maintained close ties with European civilizations including the Roman Empire. For example, King Bhatikabhaya (BC 22 7 AD) had sent an embassy to Rome and got down coral for a net to be cast over the Ruwanwelisaya. Bhikkhuni Devasāra and ten other fully ordained bhikkhunis from Sri Lanka had went to China and established the bhikkhuni sāsana there in 429 AD.

Medieval Sri Lanka:

The medieval period of Sri Lanka begins with the fall of Anuradhapura. In 993 AD, the invasion ofChola emperor Rajaraja I forced the then Sri Lankan ruler Mahinda V to flee to the southern part of the country. Taking advantage of this situation, Rajendra I son of Rajaraja I, launched a large invasion in 1017 AD. Mahinda V was captured and taken to India, and the Cholas sacked the city of Anuradhapura. Subsequently, they moved the capital to Polonnaruwa. This marked the end of the two great houses of dynasties of ancient Sri Lanka, Moriya and the Lambakanna. Following a seventeen year long campaign, Vijayabahu I successfully drove the Chola out of Sri Lanka in 1070, reuniting the country for the first time in over a century. Upon his request, ordained monks were sent from Burma to Sri Lanka to re-establish Buddhism which had almost disappeared from the country during the Chola reign. During the medieval period, Sri Lanka was divided to three sub-territories, namely Ruhunu, Pihiti and Maya.

Sri Lanka's irrigation system was extensively expanded dur- Kuttam Pokuna or the Twin Ponds, Anuing the reign of Parākramabāhu the Great (1153–1186 AD). radhapura, 8th century This period is considered as a time when Sri Lanka was at the height of its power. He built 1470 reservoirs - highest number by any ruler in the history, repaired 165 dams, 3910 canals, 163 major reservoirs, and 2376 mini reservoirs. His famous construction is the Parakrama Samudra, the largest irrigation project of medieval Sri Lanka. Parākramabāhu's reign is memorable for two major campaigns — in the south of India as part of a Pandyan war of succession, and a punitive strike against the kings of Ramanna (Myanmar) for various perceived insults to Sri Lanka.

After his demise, Sri Lanka gradually decayed in power. In 1215 AD, Kalinga Magha, a South Indian with uncertain origins, invaded and captured the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa with a 24,000 strong army from Kalinga. Unlike the previous invaders, he looted, ransacked and destroyed everything in the ancient Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa Kingdoms beyond recovery. His priorities in ruling were to extract as much as possible from the land and overturn as many of the traditions of Rajarata as possible. His reign saw the massive migration of nativeSinhalese people to the south and west of Sri Lanka, and into the mountainous interior, in a bid to escape his power. Sri Lanka never really recovered from the impact of Kalinga Magha's invasion. King Vijayabâhu III, who led the resistance, brought the kingdom to Dambadeniya. The north, in the meanwhile, eventually evolved into the Jaffna kingdom. Jaffna kingdom never came under the rule of the kingdom of south except on one occasion; in 1450, following the conquest led by king Parâkramabâhu VI's adopted son, Prince Sapumal. He ruled the North from 1450 to 1467 AD. The next three centuries stating from 1215 were marked by kaleidoscopically shifting collection of kingdoms in south and central Sri Lanka, including Dambadeniya, Yapahuwa, Gampola, Raigama, Kotte, Sitawaka and finally, Kandy.

Early modern Sri Lanka:

The early modern period of Sri Lanka begins with the arrival of Portuguese soldier and explorer Lorenzo de Almeida, the son of Francisco de Almeida in 1505. The Portuguese founded a fort at the port city of Colombo in 1517 and gradually extended their control over the coastal areas. In 1592 Vimaladharmasuriya I moved the kingdom to the inland city of Kandy, a location more secure against an attack from western invaders. Intermittent warfare continued through the 16th century. In 1619, due to the attacks of Portuguese, independent existence of Jaffna kingdom, came to an end.

During the reign of the Rajasinghe II, Dutch explorers arrived in the island.

In 1638, the king signed a treaty with the Dutch East India Company to get rid of Portuguese who ruled most of the coastal areas. The following Dutch– Portuguese War resulted in Dutch victory, with Colombo falling into Dutch hands by 1656. Dutch remained in the areas they captured, violating the treaty. An ethnic group named Burgher people integrated into the Sri Lankan society as a result of Dutch rule. The Kingdom of Kandy was the last independent monarchy of Sri Lanka. In 1595, Vimaladharmasurya brought the sacred Tooth Relic - the traditional symbol of royal and religious authority amongst the Sinhalese - to Kandy, and built the Temple of the Tooth. Even with intermittent warfare with Europeans, the kingdom was able to survive. Colonial Coat of arms of A succession crisis emerged in Kandy, upon king Vira Narendrasinha's death British Ceylon in 1739. He was married to aTelugu-speaking Nayakkar princess from South India and was childless by them. Eventually, with the support of bhikku Weliwita Sarankara, the crown passed to the brother of one of Narendrasinha's princess, overlooking the right of "Unambuwe Bandara", Narendrasinha's own son by a Sinhalese concubine. The new king was crowned Sri Vijaya Rajasinha later that year. Kings of Nayakkar dynasty, launched several attacks on Dutch controlled areas, which proved to be unsuccessful.

During the Napoleonic Wars, fearing that French control of the Netherlands might deliver Sri Lanka to the French, Great Britain occupied the coastal areas of the island (which they called Ceylon) with little difficulty in 1796. Two years later, in 1798, Rajadhi Rajasinha, 3rd of the four Nayakkar kings of Sri Lanka died of a fever. Following the death, a nephew of Rajadhi Rajasinha, 18-year-old Konnasami was crowned. The new king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha faced a British invasion in 1803, but was able to retaliate successfully. By then, the entire coastal area was under the British East India Company, as a result of the Treaty of Amiens. But on 14 February 1815, Kandy was occupied by the British, in the second Kandyan War, finally ending Sri Lanka's independence. Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, the last native monarch of Sri Lanka was exiled to India. Kandyan convention formally ceded the entire country to the British Empire. Attempts of Sri Lankan noblemen to undermine the British power in 1818 during the Uva Rebellion were thwarted by Governor Robert Brownrigg.

Modern Sri Lanka: Sri Lanka under the British rule:

The beginning of the modern period of Sri Lanka is marked by the Colebrooke-Cameron reforms of 1833. They introduced a utilitarian and liberal political culture to the country based on the rule of law and amalgamated the Kandyan and maritime provinces as a single unit of government. An Executive Council and a Legislative Council were established, later becoming the foundation of representative legislature in the country. By this time, experiments with coffee plantation were largely successful. Soon it grew to become the primary commodity export of the country. The falling coffee prices as a result of the depression of 1847 stalled economic development and prompted the governor to introduce a series of taxes on firearms, dogs, shops, boats, etc., and reintroduce a form of rajakariya, requiring six days free labour on roads or payment of a cash equivalent. These harsh measures antagonized the locals, and another rebellion broke out in 1848. A devastating leaf disease, Hemileia vastatrix, struck the coffee plantations in 1869, destroying the entire industry within 15 years. The British officials desperately searched for a substitute, and the promising replacement they found was tea. Production of tea in Sri Lankathrived within the decades to come.

By the end of the 19th century, a new educated social class which transcended the divisions of race and caste was emerging as a result of British attempts to nurture a range of professionals for the Ceylon Civil Service and for the legal, educational, and medical professions. The country's new leaders represented the various ethnic groups of the population in the Ceylon Legislative Council on a communal basis. In the meantime, attempts were underway for Buddhist and Hindu revivalism and to react against Christian missionary activities on the island.The first two decades in the 20th century are distinguished for the harmony that prevailed among Sinhalese and Tamil political leadership, which has not been the case ever since. In 1919, major Sinhalese and Tamil political organizations united to form the Ceylon National Congress, under the leadership of Ponnambalam Arunachalam. It kept pressing the colonial masters for more constitutional reforms. But due to its failure to appeal to the masses and the governor's encouragement for "communal representation" by creating a "Colombo seat" that dangled between Sinhalese and Tamils, the Congress lost its momentum towards the mid 1920s. The Donoughmore reforms of 1931 repudiated the communal representation and introduced universal adult franchise (the franchise stood at 4% before the reforms). This step was strongly criticized by the Tamil political leadership, who realized that they would be reduced to a minority in the newly created State Council of Ceylon, which succeeded the legislative council. In 1937, Tamil leader G. G. Ponnambalam demanded a 50-50 representation (50% for the Sinhalese and 50% for other ethnic groups) in the State Council. However, this demand was not met by the Soulbury reforms of 1944/45.

Post independence Sri Lanka:

The Soulbury constitution ushered the Dominion status for Ceylon, delivering it independence on 4 February 1948.

The office of Prime Minister of Ceylon was created in advance of independence, on 14 October 1947, D. S. Senanayake being the first prime minister. Prominent Tamil leaders like Ponnambalam and A. Mahadeva joined his cabinet. Although the country gained independence in 1948, the British Royal Navy stationed at Trincomalee remained until 1956. 1953 hartal, against the withdrawal of the rice ration, resulted in the resignation of the then prime minister, Dudley Senanayake. With the election of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike to the prime ministership in 1956, Ceylon began moving towards better relations with the communist bloc. Bandaranaike's 3 year rule had a profound impact on the direction of the country. He emerged as the "defender of the besieged Sinhalese culture" and promised radical changes in the system.He introduced the controversial Sinhala Only Act, recognising Sinhala as the sole official language of the government. Although it was partially reversed in 1958, the bill posed a grave concern for the Tamil community, which perceived their language and culture were threatened. The Federal Party (FP) launched satyagraha against the move, which prompted Bandaranaike to reach an agreement (Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact) with S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, leader of the FP, to resolve the looming ethnic conflict. However the pact was not carried out due to protests by opposition and the Buddhist clergy. The bill, together with various government colonisation schemes, contributed much towards the political rancour between Sinhalese and Tamil political leaders. Bandaranaike was assassinatedby an extremist Buddhist monk in 1959.

Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the widow of late S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, took office as prime minister in 1960, but faced an attempted coup d'état in 1962. During the second term as prime minister, her government instituted socialist economic polices, further strengthening ties with the Soviet Union and later China, while promoting a policy of non-alignment. However in 1971, Ceylon experienced a Marxist insurrection, which was quickly suppressed. In 1972, with the adoption of a new constitution, the country became a republic, repudiating the Dominion status and changing its name to Sri Lanka. Prolonged minority grievances and the use of communal emotionalism as an election campaign weapon by both Sinhalese and Tamil leaders abetted a fledgling Tamil militancy in the north, during 1970s. The policy of standardization by Sirimavo government to rectify disparities created in university enrollment, which was in essence an affirmative action to assist geographically disadvantaged students to gain tertiary education, in turn reducing the number of Tamil students within the Sri Lankan university student populace; acted as the immediate catalyst for the rise of militancy. Assassination of Jaffna Mayor Alfred Duraiyappah in 1975 marked an important turn of the events.

The Government of J. R. Jayawardene swept to power in 1977, defeating the largely unpopular United Front government, towards its final years. Jayawardene introduced a new constitution, together with a powerful executive presidency modelled after France, and a free market economy. It made Sri Lanka the first South Asian country to liberalise its economy. However from 1983, ethnic tensions blew into on-and-off insurgency (see Sri Lankan Civil War) against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers), a militant group emerged in early 1970s. Following the riots in July 1983, more than 150,000 Tamil civilians fled the island, seeking asylum in other countries. Lapses in foreign policy resulted in neighbouring India strengthening the Tigers by providing arms and training. In 1987, the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed and Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was deployed in northern Sri Lanka to stabilize the region by neutralising the LTTE. The same year, the JVP launched its second insurrection in Southern Sri Lanka. As their efforts did not become successful, IPKF was called back in 1990.

Sri Lanka was affected by the devastating 2004 Asian tsunami, which left at least 35,000 people dead. From 1985 to 2006, Sri Lankan government and Tamil insurgents held 4 rounds of peace-talks, none of them helping a peaceful resolution of the conflict. In 2009, under thePresidency of Mahinda Rajapaksa the Sri Lanka Armed Forces defeated the LTTE, and re-established control of the entire country under the Sri Lankan Government. The 26 year war caused up to 100,000 deaths. Following the LTTE's defeat, Tamil National Alliance, the largest political party in Sri Lanka dropped its demand for a separate state, in favour of a federal solution. The final stages of the war left some 294,000 people displaced. According to the Ministry of Resettlement, most of the displaced persons had been released or returned to their places of origin, leaving only 6,651 in the camps as of December 2011. Sri Lanka, emerging after a 26 year war, has become one of the fastest growing economies of the world.

Presidents Day - F e b 0 5 Congo (Republic of)

The Democratic Republic of Congo or sometimes known as Congo Brazzaville celebrates February 5 as a yearly commemoration of President’s Day.

History

The President is considered as the highest ruling power of the Republic of Congo and has long been implemented since the Fundamental Law of 1960 which was the country’s first constitution. The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo holds several powers and capabilities; however it has been constantly varied over the years. In the past, the country has been ruled over with a shared power of a prime minister and the executive branch. Now it is under the sole dictatorship of the President of the State in which the president has the power to choose the prime minister.

This kind of constitution that Congo is implementing is based actually from the French structure. According to their 2006 constitution, the elected president should take the seat as the highest official of the country for a five-year term and renewable only once. And under the Democratic Republic of Congo, the election process must use a two-round system of voting which means that the elected president should always have the majority of the votes.

Celebrations

The celebration of the country’s President’s day is a nation-wide event where people of the nation gather together to hold special parades and activities dedicated to their head of state. It is also a perfect time for the people, especially the young generations to learn and appreciate the most vital lessons about the nation’s history, the president and its government.

HUNGARY Bob Marley Day Jamaica - F e b 0 6

Hungary, Azerbaijan agree to boost agriculture ties

PM discusses Ukraine situation and USHungary relations with John McCain

Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers (1963– 1981). Marley remains the most widely known and revered performer of reggae music, and is credited with helping spread both Jamaican music and the Rastafari movement to a worldwide audience.

Marley's music was heavily influenced by the social issues of his homeland, and he is considered to have given voice to the specific political and cultural nexus of Jamaica. His bestknown hits include "I Shot the Sheriff", "No Woman, No Cry", "Could You Be Loved", "Stir It Up", "Jamming", "Redemption Song", "One Love" and, "Three Little Birds", as well as the posthumous releases "Buffalo Soldier" and "Iron Lion Zion". The compilation album Legend(1984), released three years after his death, is reggae's best-selling album, going ten times Platinum which is also one Diamond in the U.S., and selling 25 million copies worldwide.

Early life and career

Bob Marley was born in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica as Nesta Robert Marley. A Jamaican passport official would later swap his first and middle names. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of mixed and English descent whose family came from Essex, England. Norval was a captain in the Royal Marines, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an Afro-Jamaican then 18 years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 70.Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected: I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me halfcaste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.

Bob Marley was born in the village of Nine Mile in Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica as Nesta Robert Marley. A Jamaican passport official would later swap his first and middle names. His father, Norval Sinclair Marley, was a white Jamaican of mixed and English descent whose family came from Essex, England. Norval was a captain in the Royal Marines, as well as a plantation overseer, when he married Cedella Booker, an AfroJamaican then 18 years old. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child, but seldom saw them, as he was often away on trips. In 1955, when Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at age 70.Marley faced questions about his own racial identity throughout his life. He once reflected: I don't have prejudice against meself. My father was a white and my mother was black. Them call me halfcaste or whatever. Me don't dip on nobody's side. Me don't dip on the black man's side nor the white man's side. Me dip on God's side, the one who create me and cause me to come from black and white.

Personal life Religion:

Bob Marley performing in concert, circa 1980.

Bob Marley was a member of the Rastafari movement, whose culture was a key element in the development of reggae. Bob Marley became an ardent proponent of Rastafari, taking their music out of the socially deprived areas of Jamaica and onto the international music scene. He once gave the following response, which was typical, to a question put to him during a recorded interview: • Interviewer: "Can you tell the people what it means being a Rastafarian?"

• Bob: "I would say to the people, Be still, and know that His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia is the Almighty. Now, the Bible seh so, Babylon newspaper seh so, and I and I the children seh so. Yunno?

So I don't see how much more reveal our people want. Wha' dem want? a white God, well God come black. True true."

Observant of the Rastafari practice Ital, a diet that shuns meat, Marley was a vegetarian. According to his biographers, he affiliated with the Twelve Tribes Mansion. He was in the denomination known as "Tribe of Joseph", because he was born in February (each of the twelve sects being composed of members born in a different month). He signified this in his album liner notes, quoting the portion from Genesis that includes Jacob's blessing to his son Joseph.

Marley was baptised by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Kingston, Jamaica, on 4 November 1980.

Family:

Bob Marley had a number of children: three with his wife Rita, two adopted from Rita's previous relationships, and several others with different women. The Bob Marley official website acknowledges eleven children.

Those listed on the official site are: • Sharon, born 23 November 1964, to Rita in previous relationship • Cedella born 23 August 1967, to Rita • David "Ziggy", born 17 October 1968, to Rita • Stephen, born 20 April 1972, to Rita • Robert "Robbie", born 16 May 1972, to Pat Williams • Rohan, born 19 May 1972, to Janet Hunt • Karen, born 1973 to Janet Bowen • Stephanie, born 17 August 1974; according to Cedella Booker she was the daughter of Rita and a man called Ital with whom Rita had an affair; nonetheless she was acknowledged as Bob's daughter • Julian, born 4 June 1975, to Lucy Pounder • Ky-Mani, born 26 February 1976, to Anita Belnavis • Damian, born 21 July 1978, to Cindy Breakspeare Makeda was born on 30 May 1981, to Yvette Crichton, after Marley's death. Meredith Dixon's book lists her as Marley's child, but she is not listed as such on the Bob Marley official website.

Various websites, for example, also list Imani Carole, born 22 May 1963 to Cheryl Murray; but she does not appear on the official Bob Marley website.

years and death Final In July 1977, Marley was found to

have a type of malignant melanoma under the nail of one of his toes. Contrary to urban legend, this lesion was not primarily caused by an injury during a football match in that year, but was instead a symptom of the already existing cancer. Marley turned down doctors' advice to have his toe amputated, citing his religious beliefs. Despite his illness, he continued touring and was in the process of scheduling a world tour in 1980. The intention was for Inner Circle to be his opening act on the tour but after their lead singer Jacob Miller died in Jamaica in March 1980 after returning from a scouting mission in Brazil this was no longer mentioned.

The album Uprising was released in May 1980 (produced by Chris Blackwell), on which "Redemption Song" is particularly considered to be about Marley coming to terms with his mor- The Bob Marley House in Nine Mile is a home that he tality. The band completed a major tour shared with his mother during his youth of Europe, where they played their biggest concert, to a hundred thousand people in Milan. After the tour Marley went to America, where he performed two shows at Madison Square Garden as part of the Uprising Tour.

The final concert of Bob Marley's career was held September 23, 1980 at the Stanley Theater (now called The Benedum Center For The Performing Arts) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The audio recording of that concert is now available on CD, vinyl, and digital music services.

Shortly after, Marley's health deteriorated and he became very ill; the cancer had spread throughout his body. The rest of the tour was cancelled and Marley sought treatment at the Bavarian clinic of Josef Issels, where he received a controversial type of cancer therapy (Issels treatment) partly based on avoidance of certain foods, drinks, and other substances. After fighting the cancer without success for eight months, Marley boarded a plane for his home in Jamaica.

While flying home from Germany to Jamaica, Marley's vital functions worsened. After landing in Miami, Florida, he was taken to the hospital for immediate medical attention. He died at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami (now University of Miami Hospital) on the morning of May 11, 1981, at the age of 36. The spread of melanoma to his lungs and brain caused his death. His final words to his son Ziggy were "Money can't buy life". Marley received a state funeral in Jamaica on 21 May 1981, which combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari tradition. He was buried in a chapel near his birthplace with his red Gibson Les Paul (some accounts say it was a Fender Stratocaster).

On 21 May 1981, Jamaican Prime Minister Edward Seaga delivered the final funeral eulogy to Marley, declaring: His voice was an omnipresent cry in our electronic world. His sharp features, majestic looks, and prancing style a vivid etching on the landscape of our minds. Bob Marley was never seen. He was an experience which left an indelible imprint with each encounter. Such a man cannot be erased from the mind. He is part of the collective consciousness of the nation.

Legacy

Bob Marley was the Third World's first pop superstar. He was the man who introduced the world to the mystic power of reggae. He was a true rocker at heart, and as a songwriter, he brought the lyrical force of Bob Dylan, the personal charisma of John Lennon, and the essential vocal stylings of Smokey Robinson into one voice.

— Jann Wenner, at Marley’s 1994 posthumous introduction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame In 1999 Time magazine chose Bob Marley & The Wailers' Exodus as the greatest album of the 20th century. In 2001, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, and a feature-length documentary about his life, Rebel Music, won various awards at theGrammys. With contributions from Rita, The Wailers, and Marley's lovers and children, it also tells much of the story in his own words. A statue was inaugurated, next to the national stadium on Arthur Wint Drive in Kingston to commemorate him. In 2006, the State of New York renamed a portion of Church Avenue from Remsen Avenue to East 98th Street in the East Flatbush section ofBrooklyn "Bob Marley Boulevard". In 2008, a statue of Marley was inaugurated in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia.

Internationally, Marley’s message also continues to reverberate amongst various indigenous communities. For instance, the Aboriginal people of Australia continue to burn a sacred flame to honor his memory in Sydney’s Victoria Park, while members of the Native American Hopi and Havasupai tribe revere his work. There are also many tributes to Bob Marley throughout India, including restaurants, hotels, and cultural festivals.

Marley has also evolved into a global symbol, which has been endlessly merchandised through a variety of mediums. In light of this, author Dave Thompson in his book Reggae and Caribbean Music, laments what he perceives to be the commercialized pacification of Marley's more militant edge, stating: Bob Marley ranks among both the most popular and the most misunderstood figures in modern culture ... That the machine has utterly emasculated Marley is beyond doubt. Gone from the public record is the ghetto kid who dreamed of Che Guevara and the Black Panthers, and pinned their posters up in the Wailers Soul Shack record store; who believed in freedom; and the fighting which it necessitated, and dressed the part on an early album sleeve; whose heroes were James Brown and Muhammad Ali; whose God was Ras Tafari and whose sacrament was marijuana. Instead, the Bob Marley who surveys his kingdom today is smiling benevolence, a shining sun, a waving palm tree, and a string of hits which tumble out of polite radio like candy from a gumball machine. Of course it has assured his immortality. But it has also demeaned him beyond recognition. Bob Marley was worth far more.

Film adaptation(s):

In February 2008, director Martin Scorsese announced his intention to produce a documentary movie on Marley.

The film was set to be released on 6 February 2010, on what would have been Marley's 65th birthday. Recently, however, Scorsese dropped out due to scheduling problems. He is being replaced by Jonathan Demme.

In March 2008, The Weinstein Company announced its plans to produce a biopic of Bob Marley, based on the book No Woman No Cry: My Life With Bob Marley by Rita Marley. Rudy Langlais will produce the script by Lizzie Borden and Rita Marley will be executive producer.

New Zealand Day/Waitangi Day New Zealand, Niue - Feb 06

Waitangi Day commemorates a significant day in the history of New Zealand. It is a public holiday held each year on 6 February to celebrate the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, New Zealand's founding document, on that date in 1840.

History

The Treaty of Waitangi was signed on 6 February 1840, in a marquee erected in the grounds of James Busby's house (now known as the Treaty house) at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands. The Treaty made New Zealand a part of the British Empire, guaranteed Māori rights to their land and gave Māori the rights of British subjects. There are differences between the Māori and English language versions of the Treaty, and virtually since 1840 this has led to debate over exactly what was agreed to at Waitangi. Māori have generally seen the Treaty as a sacred pact, while for many years Pākehā (the Māori word for New Zealanders of predominantly European ancestry) ignored it. By the early twentieth century, however, some Pākehā were beginning to see the Treaty as their nation's founding document and a symbol of Britishhumanitarianism. Unlike Māori, Pākehā have generally not seen the Treaty as a document with binding power over the country and its inhabitants. In 1877 Chief Justice James Prendergast declared it to be a 'legal nullity', and it still has limited standing in New Zealand law.

Early celebrations:

The signing of the treaty was not commemorated until 1934. Prior to that date, most celebrations of New Zealand's founding as a colony were marked on 29 January, the date on which William Hobson arrived in the Bay of Islands. In 1932, Governor-General Lord Bledisloe and his wife had purchased and presented to the nation the run-down house of James Busby, where the treaty was signed. The Treaty house and grounds were made a public reserve, which was dedicated on 6 February 1934. This event is considered by some to be the first Waitangi Day, although celebrations were not yet held annually.

At the time, it was the most representative meeting of Māori ever held. Attendees included the Maori King and thousands of Pākehā. Some Māori may have also been commemorating the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence of New Zealand, but there is little evidence of this.

In 1940, another major event was held at the grounds, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the treaty signing.

This was less well attended, partially because of the outbreak of World War II and partially because the government had recently offended the Māori King. However the event was still a success and helped raise the profile of the treaty.

Public holiday:

Waitangi Day was proposed as a public holiday by the New Zealand Labour Party in their 1957 party manifesto.

After Labour won the election they were reluctant to create a new public holiday, so the Waitangi Day Act was passed in 1960 making it possible for a locality to substitute Waitangi Day as an alternative to an existing public holiday. In 1963, after a change in government, Waitangi Day was substituted forAuckland Anniversary Day as the provincial holiday in Northland.

New Zealand Day:

In 1971 the Labour shadow minister of Māori Affairs, Matiu Rata, introduced a private member's bill to make Waitangi Day a national holiday, to be called New Zealand Day. This was not passed into law. After the 1972 election of the third Labour government under Norman Kirk, it was announced that from 1974 Waitangi Day would be a national holiday known as New Zealand Day. The New Zealand Day Act 1973 was passed in 1973.

For Norman Kirk, the change was simply an acceptance that New Zealand was ready to move towards a broader concept of nationhood. Diplomatic posts had for some years marked the day, and it seemed timely in view of the country's increasing role on the international stage that the national day be known as New Zealand Day. At the 1974 celebrations, the Flag of New Zealand was flown for the first time at the top of the flagstaff at Waitangi, rather than the Union Flag, and a replica of the flag of the United Tribes of New Zealand was also flown.

The election of the third National government in 1975 led to the day being renamed Waitangi Day because the new Prime Minister, Robert Muldoon, did not like the name "New Zealand Day" and many Māori felt the new name debased the Treaty of Waitangi. Another Waitangi Day Act was passed in 1976 to change the name of the day back to Waitangi Day.

Controversy and protest

Although this is New Zealand's national day, the commemoration has often been the focus of protest by Māori activists and is often marred by controversy. From 1971, Waitangi and Waitangi Day became a focus of protest concerning treaty injustices, with Nga Tamatoa leading early protests. Activists initially called for greater recognition of the Treaty, but by the early 1980s, protest groups were more likely to argue that the treaty was a 'fraud' with which Pākehā had conned Māori out of their land. Attempts were made by groups including the Waitangi Action Committee to halt the celebrations. This led to major confrontations between police and protesters, sometimes resulting in dozens of arrests. When the treaty gained greater official recognition in the mid 1980s, emphasis switched back to calls to honour the treaty, and protesters generally returned to the aim of raising awareness of the treaty and what they saw as its neglect by the state.

Many people, both Māori and Pākehā, feel that the treaty itself is being overshadowed by media coverage of protests, especially where political leaders are involved or caught in the crossfire. In particular Ngapuhi, whose ancestors were the main treaty signatories at Waitangi, have often been antagonistic towards protesters and have sought to keep Waitangi Day as peaceful and uncontroversial as possible.

Some people have felt that Waitangi Day is too divisive to be a national day and have sought to replace it with Anzac Day or revive Dominion Day. Others, for example the United Future Party's Peter Dunne, have suggested that the name of the day be changed back to New Zealand Day. Others see these as moves to disregard the treaty. Some New Zealanders of neither Māori nor British ancestry view the day as being relevant only to those two groups.

Recent protests:

Several hundred protesters often gather at Waitangi. Although not part of the official celebrations, Māori separatist activists (they refer to themselves as Māori sovereignty activists) often attempt to fly the Māori separatist flag from the flagstaff. These protests are generally contained by the police, though a few arrests are normally made. Attempts at vandalism of the flagstaff are often an objective of these protests, carrying on a tradition that dates from the 19th century when Prime Minister Helen Clark being welcomed onto Hone Heke chopped down the British flagstaff in nearby Russell. In 2004, protesters succeeded in Hoani Waititi Marae, in West Auckland, Waitangi flying the Māori separatist flag above the other Day 2006 flags on the flagstaff by flying it from the top of a nearby tree. Some commentators described this gesture as audacious and bold.

Because of the level of protest that had previously occurred at Waitangi, the previous Prime Minister Helen Clark did not attend in 2000. The official celebrations were shifted from Waitangi to Wellington in 2001. Some Māori felt that this was an insult to them and to the Treaty. In 2003 and 2004, the anniversary was again officially commemorated at the Treaty house at Waitangi. In 2004 Leader of the Opposition Don Brash was hit with mud as he entered the marae.

On 5 February 2009, the day before Waitangi Day, as current Prime Minister John Key was being escorted onto a marae, he was accosted by Wikitana and John Junior Popata, nephews of Maori Party MP Hone Harawira. Both admitted to assault and were sentenced to 100 hours of community service. In 2011 Wikitana and John again heckled Key as he entered the marae.

Celebrations At Waitangi:

Celebrations at Waitangi often commence the previous day, 5 February, at the Ngapuhi Te Tii marae, where political dignitaries are welcomed onto the marae and hear speeches from the local iwi. These speeches often deal with the issues of the day, and vigorous and robust debate occurs.

At dawn on Waitangi Day, the Royal New Zealand Navy raises the New Zealand Flag, Union Flag and White Ensign on the flagstaff in the treaty grounds. The ceremonies during the day generally include a church service and cultural displays such as dance and song. Several waka and a navy ship also re-enact the calling ashore of Governor Hobson to sign the treaty. The day closes with the flags being lowered by the Navy in a traditional ceremony.

Elsewhere in the world:

In London, United Kingdom, which has one of the largest New Zealand expatriate populations, the occasion is celebrated by the Waitangi Day Ball, held by the New Zealand Society UK. The focus of the event is a celebration of New Zealand's unity and diversity as a nation. The Ball also hosts the annual UK New Zealander of the Year awards, cultural entertainment from London based Māori group Ngati Ranana and fine wine and cuisine from New Zealand.

Another tradition has arisen in recent years to celebrate Waitangi Day. On the closest Saturday to 6 February, Kiwis participate in a pub crawl using the London Underground's Circle Line. Although the stated aim is to consume one drink at each of the 27 stops, most participants stop at a handful of stations, usually beginning at Paddington and moving anti-clockwise towards Temple. At 4 p.m., a large-scale haka is performed at Parliament Square as Big Ben marks the hour. Participants wear costumes and sing songs such as "God Defend New Zealand", all of which is in stark contrast to the much more subdued observance of the day in New Zealand itself.

In many other countries with a New Zealand expatriate population, Waitangi Day is celebrated privately. The day is officially celebrated by all New Zealand embassies and High Commissions.

For Waitangi Day 2007, Air New Zealand commissioned a number of New Zealanders living in Los Angeles and Southern California to create a sand sculpture of a silver fern on the Santa Monica Beach creating a stir in the surrounding area.

At the Kingston Butter Factory in Kingston, Queensland, Australia, Te Korowai Aroha (Cloak of Love) Association have been holding Waitangi Day Celebrations since 2002, with an excess of 10,000 expats, Logan City Council representatives and Indigenous Australianscoming together to commemorate in a peaceful alcohol and drug free occasion.

On the Gold Coast, in Australia, where there is a large New Zealand expatriate population, Waitangi Day is celebrated by around 10,000 people at Carrara Stadium. Its called the "Waitangi Day and Pacific Islands Festival". It not only embraces Waitangi day, but Pacific Islander culture. In 2009, iconic Kiwi bands Herbs and Ardijah featured, as well as local singers and performers.

in water management In the expanded. context of boosting bilateral relations, Mr Szijjártó noted as prospective areas the construction industry, infocommunication and culture. Speaking about concrete cultural projects, he noted the Hungarian government's schola r s h i p s fo r 2 0 0 Az e rbaijani students and preparations for opening a Hungarian cultural centre in Ba k u .

(Online 31 Jan) Prime Minister Viktor Orbán met John McCain, current Republican Senator of Arizona, leading figure of the Republican party, in Budapest on Friday afternoon.

Mr McCain is heading a cross-party congress delegation, including another two senators and

six congressmen, to Hungary for a one-day visit.

The Hungarian Prime Minister said economic cooperation between the US and Hungary was excellent, as demonstrated by 9 billion dollars US investment in Hungary.

Viktor Orbán briefed McCain about the V4 summit held earlier this week

about Ukraine, the Prime Minister’s Press Chief Bertalan Havasi added.

Senator McCain told at the press conference he had assured Prime Minister Orbán that the United States would remain a committed ally and friend of Hungary.

Hungary and Poland are Striving to Achieve Common Goals

Grenada is an island country and Commonwealth Realm consisting of the island of Grenada and six smaller islands at the southern end of the Grenadines in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. Grenada is located northwest of Trinidad and Tobago, northeast of Venezuela, and southwest of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

Grenada is also known as the "Island of Spice" due to the production of nutmeg and macecrops of which Grenada is one of the world's largest exporters. Its size is 344 square kilometres (133 sq mi), with an estimated population of 110,000. Its capital is St. George's. The national bird of Grenada is the critically endangered Grenada Dove.

History

Pre-history and early European contacts:

Grenada was first sighted by Europeans in 1498 during the 3rd voyage of Columbus to the new world. At the time the indigenous Island Caribs (Kalinago) who lived there called it Camahogne. The Spaniards did not permanently settle on Camahogne. The English failed in their attempt at settlement in 1609.

French colony (1649–1763):

On March 17, 1649 a French expedition of 203 men from Martinique, led by Jacques du Parquet founded a permanent settlement on Grenada. Within months this led to conflict with the local islanders which lasted until 1654 when the Island was completely subjugated by the French. Those indigineous islanders who survived either left for neighbouring islands or retreated to remoter parts of Grenada where they were marginalised – the last distinct communities disappeared during the eighteenth century. Warfare did continue during the seventeenth century between the French on Grenada and the Caribs of present day Dominica and The capital St. George's.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines. The French named the new French colony La Grenade and the economy was initially based on sugar and indigo. The French established a capital known as Fort Royal (later St. George). To shelter from hurricanes the French navy would often take refuges in the capital's natural harbour, as no nearby French islands had a natural harbour to compare with that of Fort Royal.

The British captured Grenada during the Seven Years' War in 1762.

British colony (1763–1950):

Grenada was formally ceded to Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1763. The French re-captured the island during the American War of Independence, after Comte d'Estaing won the bloody land and naval Battle of Grenada in July 1779. However the island was restored to Britain with the Treaty of Versailles in 1783. Britain was hard pressed to overcome a pro-French revolt in 1795–1796 led by Julien Fedon. Nutmeg was introduced to Grenada in 1843 when a merchant ship called in on its way to England from the East Indies. The ship had a small quantity of nutmeg trees on board which they left in Grenada and this was the beginning of Grenada's nutmeg industry that now supplies nearly forty percent of the world's annual crop. In 1877 Grenada was made a Crown Colony. Theophilus A. Marryshow founded the Representative Government Association (RGA) in 1917 to agitate for a new and participative constitutional dispensation for the Grenadian people. Partly as a result of Marryshow`s lobbying the Wood Commission of 1921–1922 concluded that Grenada was ready for constitutional reform in the form of a 'modified' Crown Colony government. This modification granted Grenadians from 1925 the right to elect 5 of the 15 members of the Legislative Council, on a restricted property franchise enabling the wealthiest 4% of adult Grenadians to vote.

Towards independence (1950–1974):

In 1950 Eric Gairy founded the Grenada United Labour Party, initially as a trades union, which led the 1951 general strike for better working conditions, this sparked great unrest – so many buildings were set ablaze that the disturbances became known as the 'red sky' days – and the British authorities had to call in military reinforcements to help regain control of the situation. On October 10, 1951 Grenada held its first general elections on the basis of universal adult suffrage- Eric Gairy's Grenada United Labour Party won 6 of the 8 seats contested. From 1958 to 1962 Grenada was part of the Federation of the West Indies.

On March 3, 1967 Grenada was granted full autonomy over its internal affairs as an Associated State. Herbert Blaize was the first Premier of the Associated State of Grenada fom March to August 1967. Eric Gairy served as Premier from August 1967 until February 1974.

Independence and revolution (1974–1983):

Independence was granted in 1974 under the leadership of the then Premier, Sir Eric Matthew Gairy, who became the first Prime Minister of Grenada.

Civil conflict gradually broke out between Eric Gairy’s government and some opposition parties including the New Jewel Movement (NJM). Gairy’s party won elections in 1976 but the opposition did not accept the result, accusing it of fraud. In 1979, the New Jewel Movement under Maurice Bishop launched a paramilitary attack on the government resulting in its overthrow.

The constitution was suspended and Bishop's "People's Revolutionary Government" ruled subsequently by decree.

Cuban doctors, teachers, and technicians were invited in to help develop health, literacy, and agriculture over the next few years. Agrarian reforms started by the Gairy government were continued and greatly expanded under the revolutionary government of Maurice Bishop.

Invasion of Grenada by the U.S. and OECS military (1983):

Some years later a dispute developed between Bishop and certain high-ranking members of the NJM. Though Bishop cooperated with Cuba and the USSR on various trade and foreign policy issues, he sought to maintain a "non-aligned" status. Bishop had been taking his time making Grenada wholly socialist, encouraging private-sector development in an attempt to make the island a popular tourist destination. Hardline Marxist party members, including Communist Deputy Prime Minister Bernard Coard, deemed Bishop insufficiently revolutionary and demanded that he either step down or enter into a power-sharing arrangement.

On October 19, 1983, Bernard Coard and his wife Phyllis, backed by the Grenadian Army, led a coup against the government of Maurice Bishop and placed Bishop under house arrest. These actions led to street demonstrations in various parts of the island. Bishop had enough support from the population that he was Members of the Eastern Caribbean Defence eventually freed after a demonstration in the capital. Force during the Invasion of Grenada When Bishop attempted to resume power, he was captured and executed by soldiers along with seven others, including government cabinet ministers. The Coard regime then put the island under martial law.

After the execution of Bishop, the People's Revolutionary Army formed a military government with General Hudson Austin as chairman. The army declared a four-day total curfew, during which (it said) anyone leaving their home without approval would be shot on sight.

The overthrow of a moderate government by one which was strongly pro-communist worried U.S. President Ronald Reagan. Particularly concerning was the presence of Cuban construction workers and military personnel who were building a 10,000-foot (3,000 m) airstrip on Grenada. Bishop had stated the purpose of the airstrip was to allow commercial jets to land, but U.S. military analysts argued that the only reason for constructing such a long and reinforced runway was so that it could be used by heavy military transport planes. The contractors, American and European companies, and the EEC, which provided partial funding, all claimed the airstrip did not have military capabilities.Reagan was worried that Cuba – under the direction of the Soviet Union – would use Grenada as a refueling stop for Cuban and Soviet airplanes loaded with weapons destined for Central American communist insurgents.

On October 25 combined forces from the United States and from the Regional Security System (RSS) based in Barbados invaded Grenada in an operation codenamed Operation Urgent Fury. The U.S. stated this was done at the behest of Dame Eugenia Charles, of Dominica. While the Governor-General, Sir Paul Scoon, later stated that he had also requested the invasion, it was highly criticised by head of state HM Queen Elizabeth II and the governments of Britain, Trinidad and Tobago and Canada. The United Nations General Assemblycondemned it as "a flagrant violation of international law" by a vote of 108 in favor to 9, with 27 abstentions. The United Nations Security Council considered a similar resolution, which failed to pass when vetoed by the United States.

After the invasion of the island nation, the pre-revolutionary Grenadian constitution came into operation once again.

Eighteen members of the PRG and the PRA (army) were arrested after the invasion on charges related to the murder of Maurice Bishop and seven others. The eighteen included the top political leadership of Grenada at the time of the execution as well as the entire military chain of command directly responsible for the operation that led to the executions. Fourteen were sentenced to death, one was found not guilty and three were sentenced to forty-five years in prison. The death sentences were eventually commuted to terms of imprisonment. Those in prison have become known as the Grenada 17.

Photo: Press Office of the Ministry of Rural Development (Online 30 Jan) Following the official meeting between Hungarian Prime Minster Viktor Orbán and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the agriculture ministers of Hungary and Poland also held bilateral talks in the Parliament building. The main topics of the meeting between Sándor Fazekas and Stanislaw Kalemba included GMO policy, the domestic distribution system for Common Agricultural Policy funding, supporting the tobacco industry, opportunities for cooperation provided by the European Innovation Partnership, and cooperation between national rural networks.

Mr. Kalemba said that the Polish Government has declared its commitment to GMO-free foods in 2008, and the implementation of regulations continues to be supervised regularly. Mr. Fazekas

welcomed the Polish standpoint, indicating that Hungary had never supported the use of GM seeds and will be opposing the authorisation of the latest GM maize strain at talks that are currently underway in Brussels. The negotiating partners agreed that the member states of the European Union should have the right to decide on the use of GMO crops within their own spheres of authority.

Hungary and Poland fought to achieve common goals on several points during the debate concerning the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Both country have decided to make use of the opportunity to extend the Simple Area Payment System (SAPS) until 2020. During the course of the reform process, both Ministries also argued in favour of

providing additional funding to young farmers. In view of the fact that tobacco production is an important job-creating sector in both countries, opportunities for providing further funding must also be examined.

One of the priority topics of the meeting was cooperation between research institutes, national rural networks and agricultural science organisations. In the interests of the most efficient possible application of rural development funding and the exploitation of the opportunities provided by the European Innovation Partnership programme, which is a new element in rural development policy, there is a serious need for the traditionally close cooperation between Polish and Hungarian experts and local action groups.

Ukraine must not be destabilised: Hungary (Online 29 Jan) The most important goal amid the current situation in Ukraine is to avoid the destabilisation the country, and both sides must handle the political tension with great care, Minister of Foreign Affairs János Martonyi said in a radio interview on 28 January 2014.

Speaking to commercial broadcaster Gazdasági Rádió, Minister Martonyi said “the developments over the past few days were very worrying”. It is in everyone’s interests, Europe and Russia alike, that the country should not become destabilised.

The Ukrainian government has resigned but it cannot be known what is

in store in the next few hours or days, he said, adding that the Prime Ministers of the Visegrád Four countries would meet on 29 January to discuss the situation in Ukraine.

He said it had been a “very grave mistake” by the Ukrainian leadership to stop negotiations on a possible EU association agreement at the last minute, following many years of talks and after Ukraine's parliament had approved it. At the same time, Russian diplomacy “also committed a rather serious error and misjudged the situation, as they too have probably realised by now.”

Russia's standpoint is

that free trade between the EU and Ukraine would be unacceptable for the Russian economy, he said, adding that this argument was overstated and a solution could be found to these concerns.

Minister Martonyi said it was in Hungary’s interests for Ukraine to develop closer links with the European Union. The ongoing demonstrations in Ukraine are also recognition of the advantages of closer ties with the bloc, and this does not just apply to the western part of the country, he said, adding that Ukraine's eagerness to be part of Europe should be taken seriously.

Government is committed to support rural population

Grenada since 1983:

When US troops withdrew from Grenada in December 1983 Nicholas Brathwaite of the National Democratic Congress was appointed Prime Minister of an interim administration by the Governor General Sir Paul Scoon until elections could be organized. The first democratic elections since 1976 were held in December 1984 and were won by the Grenada National Party under Herbert Blaize who served as Prime Minister until his death in December 1989.

Ben Jones succeeded Blaize as Prime Minister and served until the March 1990 election, which was won by the National Democratic Congress under Nicholas Brathwaite who returned as Prime Minister for a second time until he resigned in February 1995. He was succeeded as Prime Minister by George Brizan who served until the June 1995 election which was won by the New National Party under Keith Mitchell who went on to win the 1999 and 2003 elections and served as Prime Minister for a record 13 years until 2008.

In 2000–2002, much of the controversy of the late 1970s and early 1980s was once again brought into the public consciousness with the opening of the truth and reconciliation commission. The commission was chaired by a Roman Catholic priest, Father Mark Haynes, and was tasked with uncovering injustices arising from the PRA, Bishop’s regime, and before. It held a number of hearings around the country. Brother Robert Fanovich, head of Presentation Brothers’ College (PBC) in St. George’s tasked some of his senior students with conducting a research project into the era and specifically into the fact that Maurice Bishop’s body was never discovered. See Maurice Paterson's book, published before this event, called Big Sky Little Bullet. Paterson also uncovered that there was still a lot of resentment in Grenadian society resulting from the era, and a feeling that there were many injustices still unaddressed.

In 2004, after being hurricane-free for forty-nine years, the island was directly hit by Hurricane Ivan (September 7).

Ivan struck as a Category 3 hurricane and caused 90 percent of the homes to be damaged or destroyed. The following year, 2005, Hurricane Emily (July 14), a Category 1 hurricane at the time, struck the northern part of the island with 80-knot (150 km/h; 92 mph) winds, causing an estimated USD $110 million (EC$ 297 million) worth of damage.

This was much less damage than Ivan had caused. Grenada recovered due to both domestic labor and financing from the world at large, and the work done by the New National Party Administration of Dr. Keith Mitchell and his team. By December 2005, 96% of all hotel rooms were to be open for business and to have been upgraded in facilities and strengthened to an improved building code. The agricultural industry and in particular the nutmeg industry suffered serious losses, but that event has begun changes in crop management and it is hoped that as new nutmeg trees gradually mature, the industry will return to its pre-Ivan position as a major supplier in the Western world.

In April 2007, Grenada jointly hosted (along with several other Caribbean nations) the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The island's then Prime Minister was at the time CARICOM Representative on cricket and was instrumental in having the World Cup Games brought to the region. After Hurricane Ivan, the government of the People's Republic of China (PRC) paid for the new $40 million national stadium, and provided the aid of over 300 laborers to build and repair it.

During the opening ceremony, the anthem of the Republic of China (ROC, Taiwan) was accidentally played instead of the PRC's anthem, leading to the firing of top officials.

The 2008 election was won by the National Democratic Congress under Tillman Thomas.

AIDS Awareness Day U.S. - F e b 0 7

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was founded by five national organizations funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in 1999 to provide capacity building assistance to Black communities and organizations. The initiative begin in 2000 with these five key organizations: Concerned Black Men, Inc. of Philadelphia; Health Watch Information and Promotion Services, Inc.; Jackson State University - Mississippi Urban Research Center; National Black Alcoholism and Addictions Council; and National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day has been and always will be a grass roots effort, that is shaped around the needs of those communities that work hard each and every year to make it a success. Each year, almost 20,000 Blacks in the United States test positive for HIV, that is an alarming amount if you multiply it times the last five years alone - that's 100,000 Blacks who are now living with HIV or may have died from AIDS related complications. It's time for us to do something different that inspires young and old, gay and straight, religious and non-religious, etc. to get on board with realizing the value and worth of Black life and acting accordingly.

February 7, 2012 marks the 12th year for National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, a national HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative targeted at Blacks in the United States and the Diaspora. There are four specific focal points: education, testing, involvement, and treatment. Educationally, the focus is to get Blacks educated about the basics of HIV/AIDS in their local communities. Testing is at the core of this initiative, as it is hoped that Blacks will mark February 7th of every year as their annual or biannual day to get tested for HIV. This is vital for those who are sexually active and those at high risk of contracting HIV. When it comes to community and organization leadership, getting Blacks involved to serve is another key focus. We need Black People from all walks of life, economic classes, literacy levels, shades and tones as well as communities (large and small) to get connected to the work happening on the ground in their local areas. And lastly, for those living with HIV or newly testing positive for the virus, getting them connected to treatment and care services becomes paramount. We have learned that you can't lead Black people towards HIV/AIDS education, prevention, testing, leadership or treatment unless you love them. And, we can't save Black people from an epidemic unless we serve Black people.

Regardless of where we stand on sexual orientation, religious beliefs/values, age, income, education or otherwise; Black Life is worth saving and working for the betterment of our survival has to become our paramount objective and goal. "I believe the things that are wrong with Black communities, can be fixed by those things that are right with Black communities." says, LaMont "Montee" Evans, NBHAAD Annual Chairperson.

For 2012, the structure and dynamics of National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day was shattered as the support and resources dwindled causing many organizations to reconsider their commitment and ability to manage and direct the initiative as in the past. So, Healthy Black Communities, Inc. with its experience in overseeing the initiative and serving as the lead opted to incorporate it into its organization structure and continue mobilizing Black communities around HIV/AIDS. In addition, the organization is rebuilding the structure to develop a national planning body, regional planning bodies and local planning groups to assist with reigniting the fire within Black community stakeholders to make it a success.

Healthy Black Communities (HBC) will continue to serve as the lead organization, responsible for overseeing the initiative and coordinating communication via email, and regular mail; HBC develops the imagery of the initiative annually; designs and maintains the website; and ensures that orders and registrations are received and processed accordingly. HBC has been in this role since 2006 and CEO Evans led the initiative while serving as Executive Director of Concerned Black Men, Inc. of Philadelphia. February 7, 2012 will make the ninth year CEO Evans has overseen NBHAAD either overall or through national partnership.

This initiative has had an array of national spokespersons: congressional leaders, faith based leaders, entertainers, actors, actresses, authors, radio personalities, and the list goes on and on. Some of the most notable spokespersons have been: President Barack Obama during his term in the Illinois Senate, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Bishop TD Jakes, Radio Personality Tom Joyner, former NAACP President and CEO Kwesi Mfume, Congressman Elijah Cummings, Actor/Author Harper Hill, Screenwriter Patrik Ian Polk, and the list goes on.

We are now asking those who are concerned about HIV/AIDS in the Black community to step up and become a leader, a spokesperson, a local community organizer and help us raise the awareness of HIV/AIDS in Black communities, both domestically and internationally. Together, we can ensure that future generations will not have to bury as many or watch as many struggle with this epidemic.

Prešeren's Day (Culture Day) Slovenia - Feb 08

The Prešeren Day, the full name being Prešeren Day, the Slovene Cultural Holiday (Slovene: Prešernov dan, slovenski kulturni praznik), is a public holiday celebrated in Slovenia on 8 February. It is marking the anniversary of the death of the Slovene national poet France Prešeren on 8 February 1849 and is the celebration of the Slovenian culture. It was established in 1945 to raise the cultural consciousness and the self-confidence of the Slovene nation, and declared a work-free day in 1991. On February 7, the eve of the holiday, the Prešeren Awards and the Prešeren Fund Awards, the highest Slovenian recognitions for cultural achievements, are conferred. Prešeren Day continues to be one of the most widely celebrated Slovene holidays. It is not only celebrated in Slovenia, but by the Slovene communities all around the world.

History

The anniversary of Prešeren's death first became a prominent date during World War II in 1941, when 7 February was celebrated as the day of all-Slavic unity. The proposal to celebrate 8 February as the Slovene cultural holiday was put forward in January 1945, duringWorld War II, in Črnomelj by the Slovene Liberation Front's cultural worker Bogomil Gerlanc. It was officially proclaimed a cultural holiday with a decree passed by the Presidency of the Slovene National Liberation Council on 28 January 1945 and published in the Slovenski poročevalec newspaper on 1 February 1945. It remained a public holiday during the era of the Socialist Republic of Sloveniawithin the SFR Yugoslavia and was celebrated also by the Carinthian Slovenes and the Slovenes in Italy. It was marked with many cultural festivals and remembrances and with school excursions to culturally significant institutions.

The declaration of the Prešeren Day as a work-free day in 1991 was opposed by many, claiming it would bring the banalisation of a holiday designed to be dedicated to cultural events. As a result, 3 December, the anniversary of the poet's birth, has also become widely celebrated as an alternative holiday. Today both days are almost equally celebrated, with no antagonism between the two, although only Prešeren Day in February is officially recognized as a national holiday. Since it became a work-free day, it has become even more highly valued.

Youth Day - Feb 08 Congo (Republic of)

Elsewhere in New Zealand:

In recent years, communities throughout New Zealand have been celebrating Waitangi Day in a variety of ways.

These often take the form of public concerts and festivals. Some marae use the day as an open day and an educational experience for their local communities, giving them the opportunity to experience Māori culture and protocol.

Other marae use the day as an opportunity to explain where they see Māori are and the way forward for Māori in New Zealand. Another popular way of celebrating the day is at concerts held around the country. Since the day is alsoBob Marley's birthday, reggae music is especially popular. Wellington has a long running "One Love" festival that celebrates peace and unity. Another such event is "Groove in the Park", held in the Auckland Domain before 2007 and at Western Springs subsequently. Celebrations are largely muted in comparison to those seen on the national days of most countries. There are no mass parades, nor truly widespread celebrations. As the day is a public holiday, and happens during the warmest part of the New Zealand summer, many people take the opportunity to spend the day at the beach - an important part of both the Māori and Pākehā cultures.

baijani-Hungarian joint economic committee in Baku. He highlighted that at the meeting, an was agreement signed on further cooperation in animal health, and added that the Azerbaijani government has approved central budget allocations for buying 10,000 heads of Hungarian c a ttl e .

The two countries' air tr a ffi c a g r e e m e n t h a s also been renewed a n d th e i r p a r tn e r s h i p

Independence Day Grenada - F e b 0 7

Annual celebrations:

Annual commemorations of the signing treaty began in 1947.

The 1947 event was a Royal New Navy Zealand ceremony centering on a flagpole which the Navy had paid to erect in the grounds. ceremony The was brief and featured no Māori. following The year, a Māori was speaker added to the lineup, and subsequent additions to ceremony the were made nearly every year. From Traditional Maori Waitangi Day celebrations at Waitangi, Bay of Islands.

1952, the Governor General attended, and from 1958 the Prime Minister also attended, although not every year. From the mid1950s, a Māori cultural performance was usually given as part of the ceremony. Many of these early features remain a part of Waitangi Day ceremonies, including a naval salute, the Māori cultural performance (now usually a ceremonial welcome), and speeches from a range of Māori and Pākehā dignitaries.

Photo: Gergely Botár

Photo: Prime Minister’s Office (Online 28 Jan) Agriculture is hoped to be a highly successful priority area in Hungarian-Azerbaijani relations, Hungary's State Se c r e ta r y fo r Fo r e i g n A ff a i r s a n d E x t e r n a l Economic Relations s a i d o n We d n e s d a y.

In this area, the two countries regard cooperation in food safety and animal health particularly important, Péter Szijjártó stated, assessthe plenary ing meeting of the Azer-

Republic of Congo, or simply the Congo, celebrates Youth Day every 8th of February each year.

The Youth Day is celebrated to recognize the role of the youth in nation building and serves as a reminder for the government in their responsibility to securing the safety of children and in making sure that their rights are not violated.

Republic of Congo’s Youth Day also helps build awareness on the cultural and legal issues surrounding the youth particularly within the region.

History

The never ending strife in all African regions urged the United Nations and other concerned youth organizations and governments across Africa to form Youth’s Day to create a Youth Day for each African country with hopes of sensitizing each government to prioritize the protection of the youth against slavery, discrimination, and violence. The Congo’s Youth day also supports the youth’s continued education and to engage them in decision making in hopes of building a better youth that will lead the future African generation.

The empowerment of the youth within the African continent is a battle cry among concerned youth and youth organizations across Africa. Republic of Congo’s Youth Day is used to reflect on the nation’s progress in providing the youth the necessary aid they need to empower themselves and help them become an active contributor to peace and progress in the country.

Celebrations

The celebration of Youth Day in Republic of Congo is similar to how other nations celebrate Youth Day. State-sponsored concerts, cultural events, and workshops take place around Republic of Congo’s capital. Small cities and communities around the country with the participation of private and public agencies and youth organizations and individuals conduct concerts, games and other exciting activities in support of the holiday.

Other youth organizations also conducts various social and community services such as cleaning the city streets, conducting education and awareness campaign on certain social and environmental issues affecting the youth and other valuable social voluntary work.

Photo: Csaba Pelsőczy (Online 30 Jan) The Ministry of Rural Development's Farmstead Development Programme is enjoying continued popularity, the Ministry's Parliamentary State Secretary, Gyula Budai said at a professional conference organised in Hungary's Parliament building.

The State Secretary announced that a further 320 million forints have been made available to improve life and farming conditions for people living in farmsteads. This is clear indication of the

fact that the Government is committed to helping people living on farmsteads and in rural areas.Mr. Budai pointed out that a total of HUF 5.8bn (some 19 million euros) in funding had been made available within the Farmstead Development Programme since it was launched in 2011. A total of 963 submitted project tenders have received non-refundable financial support so far within the framework of the Programme, which is funded entirely from the national

budget. Winners this year include almost 600 individual farmstead owners and farmers, who have developed their farms and installed electricity.

The Government's goal is to ensure that all farmsteads are connected to the national grid by 2020, and that farmsteads should be suitably accessible by road.

Mr. Budai stressed that it is the Government's clear intention to continue the Programme, which will result in the total renewal of the country's farmstead system.

Hungary requests accession to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Online 27 Jan) The international interest representation organ of renewable energy, IRENA (International Renewable Energy Agency) held its annual general assembly in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on 1819 January, 2014.

Hungary attended the event as an invited applicant country with an observer status.

Beyond knowledge sharing, IRENA aims to promote the flow of investments, the latest technologies and innovations. The organisation has 124 member states, to which the accession of over 40 countries is in progress.

At the general assembly, the plan entitled REMAP 2030 was presented, according to which the share of renewable energy resources in global energy production could double in the next 16 years. Together with this, the

number of employees in this sector (currently 5.7 million people) could further increase. The global energy system has never before experienced a transformation of a volume like the current one, Director-General of IRENA Adnan Z. Amin opined.

Deputy State Secretary for Climate Policy Ferenc Hizó, representing Hungary, had discussions with Minister of Foreign Affairs of the UAE Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan as well as with Ambassador Thani Al-Zeyoudi, Director of Energy and Climate Change of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of UAE. At the discussions, the representatives of the two countries mutually assured one another of cooperation in the fields of technology and knowledge transfer as well as green economy investments.

Ferenc Hizó informed Minister of State Sul-

tan Ahmed Al Jaber and President of the Masdar Institute Fred Moavenzadeh of Hungary’s intention to join IRENA. The Minister of State welcomed Hungary’s intention for accession and offered full-scale scholarship to ten Hungarian students with outstanding talent for attending a master course at Masdar Institute of Science and Technology.

As the co-event of the IRENA general assembly, the biggest programme on sustainable development in the Middle East, Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, was held featuring lectures, exhibitions and panel discussions.

Within the framework of the event series, the Deputy State Secretary attended a minisround table terial discussion and exchanged experience on renewable energy investments and international geothermal developments.

Sami National Day - F e b 0 6 Finland, Norway, Sweden

The Sami National Day falls on February 6 as this date was when the first Sámi congress was held in 1917 in Trondheim, Norway. This congress was the first time that Norwegian and Swedish Sámi came together across their national borders to work together to find solutions for common problems.

In 1992, at the 15th Sámi Conference in Helsinki, a resolution was passed that Sámi National Day should be celebrated on February 6 to commemorate the 1st Sámi congress in 1917. Sami National Day is for all Sámi, regardless of where they live and on that day the Sámi flag should be flown and the Song of the Sami People is sung in the local Sámi language. The first time Sami National Day was celebrated was in 1993, when the International Year of Indigenous People was proclaimed open in Jokkmokk, Sweden by the United Nations.

Since then, celebrating the day has become increasingly popular. In Norway it is compulsory for municipal administrative buildings to fly the Norwegian flag, and optionally also the Sami flag, on February 6. Particularly notable is the celebration in Norway's capital Oslo, where the bells in the highest tower of Oslo City Hall play the Sámi soga lávlla as the flags go up. Some larger places have taken to arranging festivities also in the week around the Sami National Day. Through pure synchronicity, this date also happened to be when representatives of the Sámi of the Kola Peninsula used to gather annually, meeting with Russian bureucrats to debate and decide on issues of relevance to them. This organ, called the Koladak Sobbar, has been dubbed the 'first Sámi Parliament' by the researcher Johan Albert Kalstad. This did not influence the choice of the date as the Sámi People's Day, since the people present did not know about it - the Koladak Sobbar only existed during the late 19th century, and was only 'rediscovered' by Kalstad in the current Millennium.

Boy Scout Day U.S. - F e b 0 8

The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with over 4.5 million youth members in its age-related divisions. Since its founding in 1910 as part of the international Scout Movement, more than 110 million Americans have been members of the BSA. The BSA goal is to train youth in responsible citizenship, character development, and self-reliance through participation in a wide range of outdoor activities, educational programs, and, at older age levels, career-oriented programs in partnership with community organizations. For younger members, the Scout method is part of the program to inculcate typical Scouting values such as trustworthiness, good citizenship, and outdoors skills, through a variety of activities such as camping, aquatics, and hiking.

The BSA is a constituent member of the World Organization of the Scout Movement. The traditional Scouting divisions are Cub Scouting for boys ages 7 to 10½ years, Boy Scouting for boys ages 10 1/2 to 18 and Venturing for young men and women ages 14 (or 13 and have completed the 8th grade) through 21. Learning for Life is a non-traditional subsidiary that provides in-school and career education. The BSA operates traditional Scouting locally through units sponsored and operated by churches, clubs, civic associations, educational organizations and the like. Units are led entirely by volunteers who are supported by local councils using both paid professionals and volunteers.

The influence of Scouting on American society is frequently cited by both its advocates and critics. Critics have called the BSA's membership obligations unfair, resulting in litigation in various state and federal courts. However, the Supreme Court has affirmed that, as a private, expressive association, the BSA can set its own membership standards under the Constitutional right to freedom of association.

It is with great sense of pride and joy we celebrate the 66th Anniversary of Independence on 04th of February 2014. On this auspicious occasion I would like to extend the government and people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, greeting and best wishes of H.E. Mahinda Rajapaksa, President of Sri Lanka, the Government and the people of Sri Lanka. From the beginning of our independence Pakistan has been a very close, cordial and cooperative friend, always ready to assist in times need. After independence, our bilateral relations has been a comprehensive, multifaceted and all embracing relationship extending to the government of socio, economic, political, cultural, education and defense spheres.

Sri Lanka is fortunate with the realization of a sustainable peace supplemented by comprehensive economic and social development programme benefiting the people in all part of the country. It is happy to announce that the Government of Sri Lanka has accomplished many of the challenges such as rehabilitation and resettlement of internally displaced persons and also reconstruction of infrastructure to promote the socio-economic development process to envisage the betterment of the People of Sri Lanka after year 2009.

The Government has placed a great emphasis on the development in the area affected by Terrorism. The entire country has been cleared of landmines making it possible for displaced people to return to home and start their livelihood. Almost all terrorist cadres arrested during the war had been rehabilitated and released for them to reunite with their families. After laps of almost of 30 years, elections were held in the Northern Province in September 2013 and now, newly elected Provincial Council is functioning satisfactory.

Another land mark of the achievement that showcase to the world, Sri Lanka successfully hosted Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Colombo. It was a reflection of peaceful and stable environment prevails in the country with strengthening the socio-economic developments. The event also provided an opportunity to both leaders to meet and further develop the bilateral relations. Sri Lanka has become popular destination to the tourism around the world. The growth in tourists arrival has been continuing to develop since 2009.

Trade and Economic relations between Pakistan and Sri Lanka are solid and long standing. Pakistan is the second largest trading partner of Sri Lanka in the SAARC region.

Sri Lanka was the first country to sign a Free Trade Agreement with Pakistan. A significant growth in bilateral trade is seen in both exports and imports, especially after implementing the Pakistan-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement (PSFTA) in 2005. The value of total trade between the two countries has increased from US $ 158 million in 2005 to over US $ 465 million in 2013). The balance of trade (BOT) has been heavily in favor of Pakistan.

Pakistan is the second largest buyer for Sri Lanka in the SAARC region. Sri Lanka’s exports to Pakistan are on the rise and recorded at US$ 83.12 Mn in 2013. When compared with the export value of US $ 40 Million in 2004, prior to the implementation of the Free Trade Agreement, it could be seen that there is very positive impact on Sri Lanka’s exports to Pakistan in subsequent years, mainly due to the Free Trade Agreement. Sri Lanka’s imports from Pakistan have increased considerably to reach US$ at 381.41 Mn in 2013.

This significant increase compares with the import value of US$ 108 Mn in 2004, the year before the implementation of Free Trade Agreement.

Authorities of the two countries are regularly monitoring and reviewing the progress of the bilateral trade and economic relations and are in the process of addressing issues that are being encountered by the business community.

Sri Lanka now is looking forward to achieve a further progress in all fields especially in the field of trade, economic, tourism, technology and services. It is significant that a record number of major development projects in various sectors of the economy are being implemented.

On this special Day, I look forward to work closely with the Government and people of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Sri Lankan community residing in Pakistan to further develop and strengthening the friendly relations existing between our two countries and peoples.