Independence Day Greece - M a r 2 5
Greece (Greek: Ελλάδα, Elláda), officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία, Ellīnikî Dīmokratía), is a country in Southeast Europe. Athens is the nation's capital and largest city, its metropolitan area also including the municipality ofPiraeus. According to the 2011 census, Greece's population is slightly less than 11 million. Greece is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia and Africa and has land borderswith Albania, the Republic of Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to the northeast. The Aegean Sea lies to the east of mainland Greece, the Ionian Sea to the west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the south. Greece has the 11th longest coastlinein the world at 13,676 km (8,498 mi) in length, featuring a vast number of islands(approximately 1,400, of which 227 are inhabited), including Crete, the Dodecanese, theCyclades, and the Ionian Islands among others. Eighty percent of Greece consists of mountains, of which Mount Olympus is the highest at 2,917 m (9,570 ft). Modern Greece traces its roots to the civilization of Ancient Greece, generally considered the cradle of Western civilization. As such, it is the birthplace ofdemocracy, Western philosophy, the Olympic Games, Western literature andhistoriography, political science, major scientific and mathematical principles, and Western drama, including both tragedy and comedy. This legacy is partly reflected in the seventeen UNESCO World Heritage Sites located in Greece, ranking it 7th in Europe and 13th in the world. The modern Greek state was established in 1830, following the Greek War of Independence. Greece is a founding member of the United Nations, has been a member of what is now the European Union since 1981 (and the eurozone since 2001), and has been a member of NATO since 1952. Greece is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy and very high standards of living, including the 21st highest quality of life as of 2010. Greece's economy is also the largest in the Balkans, where Greece is an important regional investor.
HUNGARY H unga r ia n t r oops s t a r t s e r v ic e in M a li
Everyone satisfies in Hungary: Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
History
From the earliest settlements to the 3rd century B.C.:
The earliest evidence of human presence in the Balkans, dated to 270,000 BC, is to be found in the Petralona cave, in the northern Greek province of Macedonia. Neolithicsettlements in Greece, dating from the 7th millennium BC, are the oldest in Europe by several centuries, as Greece lies on the route via which farming spread from the Near Eastto Europe. Greece is home to the first advanced civilizations in Europe and is considered the birthplace of Western civilization, beginning with the Cycladic civilization on the islands of the Aegean Sea at around 3200 BC, the Minoan civilization in Crete (2700–1500 BC), and then the Mycenaean civilization on the mainland (1900–1100 BC). These civilizations possessed writing, the Minoans writing in an undeciphered script known asLinear A, and the Myceneans in Linear B, an early form of Greek. The Myceneans gradually absorbed the Minoans, but collapsed violently around 1200 BC, during a time of regional The Parthenon on the Acropolis of upheaval known as the Bronze Age collapse. This ushered in Athens is a symbol of classical Greece. a period known as the Greek Dark Ages, from which written records are absent. The end of the Dark Ages is traditionally dated to 776 BC, the year of the first Olympic Games. The Iliad and the Odyssey, the foundational texts of Western literature, are believed to have been composed by Homer in the 8th or 7th centuries BC. With the end of the Dark Ages, there emerged various kingdoms and city-states across the Greek peninsula, which spread to the shores of the Black Sea, South Italy (known in Latin asMagna Graecia, or Greater Greece) and Asia Minor. These states and their colonies reached great levels of prosperity that resulted in an unprecedented cultural boom, that of classical Greece, expressed in architecture, drama, science, mathematics and philosophy. In 508 BC, Cleisthenes instituted the world's first democratic system of government inAthens. By 500 BC, the Persian Empire controlled territories ranging from what is now northern Greece and Turkey all the way to Iran, and posed a threat to the Greek states. Attempts by the Greek city-states of Asia Minor to overthrow Persian rule failed, and Persia invaded the states of mainland Greece in 492 BC, but was forced to withdraw after a defeat at the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC. A second invasion followed in 480 BC. Despite a heroic resistance atThermopylae by Spartans and other Greeks, Persian forces sacked Athens. Following successive Greek victories in 480 and 479 BC at Salamis, Plataea and Mycale, the Persians were forced to withdraw for a second time. The military conflicts, known as theGreco-Persian Wars, were led mostly by Athens and Sparta. However, the fact that Greece was not a unified country meant that conflict between the Greek states was common. The most devastating of intra-Greek wars in classical antiquity was the Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), which marked the demise of the Athenian Empire as the leading power in ancient Greece. Both Athens and Sparta were later overshadowed by Thebes and eventuallyMacedon, with the latter uniting the Greek world in the League of Corinth (also known as theHellenic League or Greek League) under the guidance of Phillip II, who was elected leader of the first unified Greek state in the history of Greece. Following the assassination of Phillip II, his son Alexander III ("The Great") assumed the leadership of the League of Corinth and launched an invasion of the Persian Empire with the combined forces of all Greek states in 334 BC. Following Greek victories in the battles of Granicus, Issus and Gaugamela, the Greeks marched on Susa and Persepolis, the ceremonial capital of Persia, in 330 BC. The Empire created by Alexander the Great stretched from Greece in the west and Pakistan in the east, and Egypt in the south. Before his sudden death in 323 BC, Alexander was also planning an invasion of Arabia. His death marked the collapse of the vast empire, which was split into several kingdoms, the most famous of which were the Seleucid Empire and Ptolemaic Egypt. Other states founded by Greeks include the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom and the Greco-Indian Kingdom in India. Although the political unity of Alexander's empire could not be maintained, it brought about the dominance of Hellenistic civilization and the Greek language in the territories conquered by Alexander for at least two centuries, and, in the case of parts the Eastern Mediterranean, considerably longer.
Hellenistic and Roman periods:
After a period of confusion following Alexander's death, the Antigonid dynasty, descended from one of Alexander's generals, established its control over Macedon by 276 B.C., as well as hegemony over most of the Greek city-states. From about 200 B.C the Roman Republicbecame increasingly involved in Greek affairs and engaged in a series of wars with Macedon.Macedon's defeat at the Battle of Pydna in 168 signaled the end of Antigonid power in Greece. In 146 B.C. Macedonia was annexed as a province by Rome, and the rest of Greece became a Roman protectorate. The process was completed in 27 B.C. when the Roman Emperor Augustus annexed the rest of Greece and constituted it as the senatorial province ofAchaea. Despite their military superiority, the Romans admired and became heavily influenced by the achievements of Greek culture, hence Horace's famous statement: Graecia capta ferum victorem cepit ("Greece, although captured, took its wild conqueror captive").Greek science, technology and mathematics are generally considered to have reached their The Antikythera mechanism peak during the Hellenistic period. Greek-speaking communities of the Hellenized East were instrumental in the spread of early Christianity in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, and Christianity's early leaders and writers (notably St Paul) were generally Greek-speaking, though none were from Greece. However, Greece itself had a tendency to cling on to paganism and was not one of the influential centers of early Christianity: in fact, some ancient Greek religious practices remained in vogue until the end of the 4th century, with some areas such as the southeastern Peloponnese remaining pagan until well into the 10th century AD.
Medieval period:
The Roman Empire in the east, following the fall of the Empire in the west in the 5th century, is conventionally known as the Byzantine Empire (but was simply called "Roman Empire" in its own time) and lasted until 1453. With its capital in Constantinople, its language and literary culture was Greek and its religion was predominantly Eastern Orthodox. From the 4th century, the Empire's Balkan territories, including Greece, suffered from the dislocation of the Barbarian Invasions. The raids and devastation of the Goths and Huns in the 4th and 5th centuries and the Slavic invasion of Greece in the 7th century resulted in a dramatic collapse in imperial authority in the Greek peninsula. Following the Slavic invasion, the imperial government retained control of only the islands and coastal areas, particularly cities such as Athens, Corinth and Thessalonica, while some mountainous areas in the interior held out on their own and continued to recognize imperial authority. Outside of these areas, a limited amount of Slavic settlement is generally thought to have occurred, although on a much smaller scale than previously thought. The Byzantine recovery of lost provinces began toward the end of the 8th century and most of the Greek peninsula came under imperial control again, in stages, during the 9th century.This process was facilitated by a large influx of Greeks from Sicily and Asia Minor to the Greek peninsula, while at the same time many Slavs were captured and re-settled in Asia The Theotokos of Vladimir, a Minor and those that remained were assimilated. During the 11th and 12th well-known example of 12th centuries the return of stability resulted in the Greek peninsula benefiting century Byzantine art from strong economic growth – much stronger than that of the Anatolian territories of the Empire. Following the Fourth Crusadeand the fall of Constantinople to the “Latins” in 1204 most of Greece quickly came underFrankish rule (initiating the period known as the Frankokratia) or Venetian rule in the case of some of the islands. The re-establishment of the Byzantine Empire in Constantinople in 1261 was accompanied by the recovery of much of the Greek peninsula, although the FrankishPrincipality of Achaea in the Peloponnese remained an important regional power into the 14th century, while the islands remained largely under Genoese and Venetian control. In the 14th century much of the Greek peninsula was lost by the Empire as first the Serbs and then the Ottomans seized imperial territory. By the beginning of the 15th century, the Ottoman advance meant that Byzantine territory in Greece was limited mainly to the Despotate of the Morea in the Peloponnese. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans in 1453, the Morea was the last remnant of the Byzantine Empire to hold out against the Ottomans. However, this, too, fell to the Ottomans in 1460, completing the Ottoman conquest of mainland Greece. With the Turkish conquest, many Byzantine Greek scholars, who up until then were largely responsible for preserving Classical Greek knowledge, fled to the West, taking with them a large body of literature and thereby significantly contributing to the Renaissance.
The War of Independence:
In 1814, a secret organization called the Filiki Eteria was founded with the aim of liberating Greece. The Filiki Eteria planned to launch revolution in the Peloponnese, the Danubian Principalities andConstantinople. The first of these revolts began on 6 March 1821 in the Danubian Principalities under the leadership of Alexandros Ypsilantis, but it was soon put down by the Ottomans. The events in the north spurred the Greeks of the Peloponnese into action and on 17 March 1821 the Maniots declared war on the Ottomans. By the end of the month, the Peloponnese was in open revolt against the Ottomans and by October 1821 the Greeks under Theodoros Kolokotronis had captured Tripolitsa. The Peloponnesian revolt was quickly followed by revolts in Crete, Macedonia and Central Greece, which would soon be suppressed. Meanwhile, the makeshift Greek navy was achieving success against the Ottoman navy in the Aegean Sea and prevented Ottoman reinforcements from arriving by sea. However in 1822 and 1824 the Turks and Egyptians ravaged the islands, including Chios andPsara, committing wholesale massacres of the population. This had the effect of galvanizing public opinion in western Europe in favor of the Greek rebels. Tensions soon developed among different Greek factions, leading to two consecutive civil wars. Meanwhile, the Ottoman Sultan negotiated with Mehmet Ali of Egypt, who agreed to send his sonIbrahim Pasha to Greece with an army to suppress the revolt in return for territorial gain. Ibrahim landed in the Peloponnese in February 1825 and had immediate success: by the end of 1825, most of the Peloponnese was under Egyptian control, and the city of Missolonghi—put under siege by the Turks since April 1825—fell in April 1826. Although Ibrahim was defeated in Mani, he had succeeded in suppressing most of the revolt in the Peloponnese and Athens had been retaken. After years of negotiation, three Great Powers, Russia, the United Kingdom and France, decided to intervene in the conflict and each nation sent a navy to Greece. Following news that combined Ottoman–Egyptian fleets were going to attack the Greek island of Hydra, the allied fleet intercepted the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet at Navarino. After a weeklong standoff, a battle began which resulted in the destruction of the Ottoman–Egyptian fleet. A French expeditionary force was dispatched to supervise the evacuation of the Egyptian army from the Peloponnese, while the Greeks proceeded to the captured part of Central Greece by 1828. As a result of years of negotiation, the nascent Greek state was finally recognized under the London Protocol in 1830.
The 19th century:
In 1827 Ioannis Kapodistrias, from Corfu, was chosen as the first governor of the new Republic. However, following his assassination in 1831, the Great Powers installed a monarchy underOtto, of the Bavarian House of Wittelsbach. In 1843 an uprising forced the king to grant a constitution and a representative assembly. Due to his unimpaired authoritarian rule he was eventually dethroned in 1862 and a year later replaced by Prince Wilhelm (William) of Denmark, who took the name George I and brought with him the Ionian Islands as a coronation gift from Britain. In 1877 Charilaos Trikoupis, who is credited with significant improvement of the country's infrastructure, curbed the power of the monarchy to interfere in the assembly by issuing the rule of King Constantine I with Eleftvote of confidence to any potential prime minister. herios Venizelos (seated, with Corruption and Trikoupis' increased spending to create necessary infrastructure like the Corinth Canal overtaxed the weak Greek economy, forc- back to camera) in 1913, durthe Balkan Wars. ing ing the declaration of public insolvency in 1893 and to accept the imposition of an International Financial Control authority to pay off the country's debtors. Another political issue in 19th-century Greece was uniquely Greek: the language question. The Greek people spoke a form of Greek called Demotic. Many of the educated elite saw this as a peasant dialect and were determined to restore the glories ofAncient Greek. Government documents and newspapers were consequently published in Katharevousa (purified) Greek, a form which few ordinary Greeks could read. Liberals favoured recognising Demotic as the national language, but conservatives and the Orthodox Church resisted all such efforts, to the extent that, when the New Testament was translated into Demotic in 1901, riots erupted in Athens and the government fell (the Evangeliaka). This issue would continue to plague Greek politics until the 1970s. All Greeks were united, however, in their determination to liberate the Greek-speaking provinces of the Ottoman Empire. Especially in Crete, a prolonged revolt in 1866–1869 had raised nationalist fervour. When war broke out between Russia and the Ottomans in 1877, Greek popular sentiment rallied to Russia's side, but Greece was too poor, and too concerned of British intervention, to officially enter the war. Nevertheless, in 1881, Thessalyand small parts of Epirus were ceded to Greece as part of the Treaty of Berlin, while frustrating Greek hopes of receiving Crete. Greeks in Crete continued to stage regular revolts, and in 1897, the Greek government under Theodoros Deligiannis, bowing to popular pressure, declared war on the Ottomans. In the ensuing Greco-Turkish War of 1897 the badly trained and equipped Greek army was defeated by the Ottomans. Through the intervention of the Great Powers however, Greece lost only a little territory along the border to Turkey, while Crete was established as an autonomous state under Prince George of Greece.
The 20th century and beyond:
As a result of the Balkan Wars Greece increased the extent of its territory and population. In the following years, the struggle between King Constantine I and charismatic Prime Minister Eleftherios Venizelos over the country's foreign policy on the eve of World War I dominated the country's political scene, and divided the country into two opposing groups. During part of WWI, Greece had two governments; a royalist pro-German government in Athens and a Venizelist pro-Britain one inThessaloniki. The two governments were united in 1917, when Greece officially entered the war on the side of the Triple Entente. In the aftermath of the First World War, Greece attempted further expansion into Asia Minor, a region with a large Greek population at the time, but Signing of the documents for was defeated in the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, which resulted in a the accession of Greece to the massive population exchange between the two countries under the Treaty of Lausanne. According to various sources, several hundred thousand European Communities in Pontic Greeks died during this period, in what has sometimes been re- 1979. ferred to as the Pontic Greek Genocide. Instability and successive coups d'état marked the following era, which was overshadowed by the massive task of incorporating 1.5 million Greek refugees from Turkey into Greek society. The Greek population inIstanbul dropped from 300,000 at the turn of the 20th century to around 3,000 in the city today. Following the catastrophic events in Asia Minor, the monarchy was abolished via a referendum in 1924 and the Second Hellenic Republic was declared. Premier Georgios Kondylis took power in 1935 and effectively abolished the republic by bringing back the monarchy via a referendum in 1935. A coup d'état followed in 1936 and installed Ioannis Metaxas as the head of a dictatorial regime known as the 4th of August Regime. Although a dictatorship, Greece remained in good terms with Britain and was not allied with the Axis. On 28 October 1940 Fascist Italy demanded the surrender of Greece, but Greek dictator Metaxas refused and in the following Greco-Italian War, Greece repelled Italian forces into Albania, giving theAllies their first victory over Axis forces on land. The country would eventually fall to urgently dispatched German forces during the Battle of Greece. The German occupiers nevertheless met serious challenges from the Greek Resistance. Over 100,000 civilians died from starvation during the winter of 1941–42, and the great majority of Greek Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps. After liberation, Greece experienced a bitter civil war between communist and anticommunist forces, which led to economic devastation and severe social tensions between rightists and largely communistleftists for the next thirty years. The next twenty years were characterized by marginalisation of the left in the political and social spheres but also by rapid economic growth, propelled in part by theMarshall Plan. King Constantine II's dismissal of George Papandreou's centrist government in July 1965 prompted a prolonged period of political turbulence which culminated in a coup d'état on 21 April 1967 by the Regime of the Colonels. The brutal suppression of the Athens Polytechnic uprising on 17 November 1973 sent shockwaves through the regime, and a counter-coup established Brigadier Dimitrios Ioannidis as dictator. On 20 July 1974, as Turkey invaded the island of Cyprus, the regime collapsed. Former prime minister Konstantinos Karamanlis was invited back from Paris where he had lived in self-exile since 1963, marking the beginning of the Metapolitefsi era. On 14 August 1974 Greek forces withdrew from the integrated military structure of NATO in protest at the Turkish occupation of northern Cyprus. The first multiparty elections since 1964 were held on the first anniversary of the Polytechnic uprising. A democratic and republican constitutionwas promulgated on 11 June 1975 following a referendum which chose to not restore the monarchy. Meanwhile, Andreas Papandreou founded the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) in response to Karamanlis's conservative New Democracy party, with the two political formations alternating in government ever since. Greece rejoined NATO in 1980. Traditionally strainedrelations with neighbouring Turkey improved when successive earthquakes hit both nations in 1999, leading to the lifting of the Greek veto against Turkey's bid for EU membership. Greece became the tenth member of the European Communities (subsequently subsumed by the European Union) on 1 January 1981, ushering in a period of remarkable and sustained economic growth. Widespread investments in industrial enterprises and heavy infrastructure, as well as funds from the European Union and growing revenues from tourism, shipping and a fast-growing service sector raised the country's standard of living to unprecedented levels. The country adopted the euro in 2001 and successfully hosted the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens. More recently, Greece has been hit hard by the late-2000s recession and central to the related European sovereign debt crisis. TheGreek government debt crisis, subsequent economic crisis and resultant, sometimes violent protests have roiled domestic politics and have regularly threatened both European and world financial market stability in since the crisis began in 2010.
Anniversary of the Arengo San Marino - M a r 2 5
San Marino, a landlocked country inside Italy in Europe, celebrates the Anniversary of the Arengo yearly on the 25th of March. The holiday commemorates the birth of San Marino’s parliament duly elected by the people in the year 1906.
History San Marino with its small size and backed up by poor eco-
nomic programs back in the end of the 19th and the early 20th century led the country to extreme deplorable economic conditions. The country suffered mostly from competition with its neighboring countries and cities outside its borders such as Italy. The effect of stern economic competition resulted to extreme unemployment among the citizens of San Marino and its eventual diaspora. The largest migration of families happened at the end of the 19th century where families chose to migrate to the US, Urugay, and Argentina (Americas), and other nearby countries such as Greece, Germany and Austria. However, the huge and detrimental human emigration from San Marino slowed down in the 1970s. Today, more than 15,000 Sammarinese spread across the globe. One of the most significant events in the political and social structure of San Marino took place on March 25, 1906; it is when the Arengo, the original rulers of San Marino which dates back from the 13th century were summoned and reunited in San Marino. The return of the Arengos was soon followed by the birth of a new parliament that changed country’s political landscape forever. The election that took place on June 10, 1906 was the first political elections ever took place in San Marino since the Arengos ruled the land.
Celebrations
During the holidays, major cities and towns in San Marino holds military parade. This date is also very important among the corps because this is the same day when review is done among its members (Feast of the Militias day). The government also holds a ceremonial hoisting of flag followed by speeches from the Captains Regent, the heads of state. Since this is one of San Marino’s national holiday, the employed take this time as a time-off from regular work duties and spent resting inside the house or visiting local tourist’s attractions with their families.
Waffle Day Sweden - M a r 2 5
Waffle Day is a tradition that is celebrated in Sweden, and to a lesser extent elsewhere, on March 25. Waffles are typically eaten on this day. The name comes from Vårfrudagen ("Our Lady's Day"), which in vernacular Swedish sounds almost like Våffeldagen (waffle day). Our Lady's Day is celebrated on March 25 (nine months before Christmas), the Christian holiday of Annunciation, and the Waffle Day is hence celebrated on the same day although it has no religious connections to Our Lady's Day.
Maryland Day U.S. - M a r 2 5
Maryland Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. state of Maryland. It is observed on the anniversary of the March 25, 1634, landing of settlers in the Province of Maryland. On this day settlers fromThe Ark and The Dove first stepped foot onto Maryland soil, at St. Clement's Island in the Potomac River. The colony was granted to Cæcilius Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore two years prior by Charles I of England. In thanksgiving for the safe landing, Jesuit Father Andrew White celebrated mass for the colonists, perhaps for the first time ever in this part of the world. The landing coincided with the Feast of the Annunciation, a holy day honoring Mary, and the start of the new year in England's legal calendar (prior to 1752). The holiday began in 1903, the date chosen by the state board of education to honor Maryland history. In 1916, the legislature authorized Maryland Day as a legal holiday (Chapter 633, Acts of 1916).
Lady Day U.K. - M a r 2 5
In the western Liturgical year, Lady Day is the traditional name of the Feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin (25 March) in some English speaking countries. It is the first of the four traditional English quarter days. The "Lady" was the Virgin Mary. The term derives from Middle English, when some nouns lost their genitive inflections. "Lady" would later gain an -s genitive ending, and therefore the name means "Lady's day."
Non-religious significance In England, Lady Day was New Year's Day up to 1752
when, following the move from theJulian Calendar to the Gregorian Calendar, 1 January became the start of the year. A vestige of this remains in the United Kingdom's tax year, which starts on 6 April, i.e. Lady Day adjusted for the lost days of the calendar change (until this change Lady Day had been used as the start of the legal year). (The liturgical and calendar years should be distinguished. It appears that in England and Wales, from at least the late 14th Century, New Year's Day was celebrated on 1 January as part of Yule.) As a year-end and quarter day that conveniently did not fall within or between the seasons for ploughing and harvesting, Lady Day was a traditional day on which year-long contracts between landowners and tenant farmers would begin and end in England and nearby lands (although there were regional variations). Farmers' time of "entry" into new farms and onto new fields was often this day. As a result, farming families who were changing farms would travel from the old farm to the new one on Lady Day. After the calendar change, "Old Lady Day" (6 April), the former date of the Annunciation, largely assumed this role. The date is significant in some of the works of Thomas Hardy,e.g., Tess of the d'Urbervilles and Far from the Madding Crowd. The logic of using Lady Day as the start of the year is that it roughly coincides with The Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci (1472-1475) Equinox (when the length of day and night Uffizi Gallery. is equal); many ancient cultures still use this time as the start of the new year, for example, the Iranian new year. In some traditions it also reckons years A.D. from the moment of the Annunciation, which is considered to take place at the moment of the conception of Jesus at the Annunciation rather than at the moment of his birth at Christmas. In Swedish the word våffla is attested since 1642 and derives from the German Waffel but is possibly associated by [our Swedish] ancestors with Vår Fru (The Virgin Mary). Waffles are even today in a large number of Swedish households commonly served on Våffeldagen, that is to say, on Lady Day, which is observed the 25th of March.
Prince Kūhiō Day U.S., Hawaii Mar 26
Prince Kūhiō Day is an official holiday in the state of Hawaiʻi in the United States. It is celebrated annually on March 26, to mark the birth of Prince Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole — heir to the throne of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi, prince of the House of Kalākaua, and later territorial delegate to the United States Congress. As Delegate, Kuhio authored the first Hawaii Statehood bill in 1919. He also won passage of the Hawaiian Homes Act, creating the Hawaiian Homes Commission and setting aside 200,000 acres (810 km2) of land for Hawaiian homesteaders. It is one of only two holidays in the United States dedicated to royalty, the other being Hawaiʻi'sKing Kamehameha Day June 11.
Memorial Day Madagascar - M a r 2 9
Madagascar, an island state in the southeastern portion of the African continent, celebrates annual Memorial Day annually on the 29th of March. Memorial Day is also known as Martyrs’ Day or Commemoration Day. The day is set to commemorate the death of more than 11,000 in the Revolt of 1947 of the armed militants of Democratic Movement for Malagasy Restoration (MDRM) in 1947 during the occupation of the French imperial forces in the land.
History The first major conflict between Madagascar’s colonial French rulers and Mala-
gasy’s of the MDRM started in the 19th century when Queen Ranavalona III resisted French foreign rule on the island. A year after both her and the prime minister of Madagascar were exiled to Reunion and subsequently to Algeria. Putting the monarchy and the government in exile did not stop the Malagasys to mount protest against the French colonial forces in the area. Malagasys’ demand for labor equality and discrimination were largely fueled by France’s refusal to confer French citizenship to the Malagasy people who were involved in the First World War. Although citizenship was eventually awarded in the creation of the French Fourth Republic in 1946, the growing discontent among the Malagasys were not enough to quench their call for Madagascar’s full independence from France. A war broke out in March 29, 1947 between the two forces but the Malagasy suffered a heavy loss of more than 11,000 men. The brains of the revolution were later tried in military courts where some (around 20) were executed, and others were imprisoned.
Celebrations Local officials deliver speeches to remember those who perished in the violent revolution of 1947 by the Malagasy
nationalists and lay wreath on memorials dedicated to the martyrs. People in Madagascar treat this holiday as a family day. Little activities are held during the holiday other than families going to the movie houses or nearby parks to relax on a long weekend.
(Online 21 Mar) On Monday, March 18 the Hungarian Defence Forces Joint Force Command (HDF JFC) held a farewell ceremony in Székesfehérvár for the Hungarian soldiers to deploy with the European Union Training Mission–Mali (EUTM–Mali) in the Western African country. One officer has been serving in Mali since February 27 as a liaison between the international headquarters and the participants of the operation. Three other soldiers from the staff of the HDF Medical Centre left Hungary on Tuesday. They will perform special health care duties in a German-led field hospital. Another six soldiers will follow them on April 13 – they will train the snipers of the military of Mali in cooperation with Portuguese mentors. As László Domján pointed out, the soldiers to be sent to the mission by Hungary are experienced ones who had already
in Kosovo and served Afghanistan as mentors of the local security forces. The Hungarians will be out of harm’s way since they will serve in the southern part of the country, while the combat actions are taking place in the northern part of Mali. Gen. Domján noted that the Hungarian troops had earlier been present in Mozambique, Somalia and Uganda as well. Currently Hungarian personnel are serving as members of a military police contingent (MFO) on the Egyptian–Israeli border in the Sinai Peninsula. They are also present as military observers in the UN mission in the Western Sahara (MINURSO), as advisors in the EU-led operations in Congo (EUSEC RD Congo) and as members of an EU mentor team working for the capability development of the Somali armed forces. Acting on a request from the
President of Mali, on January 11 France launched a military operation in the Western African country to halt the advance of Islamist militias in control of the northern part of Mali. The UN Security Council unanimously supported the military action. The government decision authorizing the Hungarian troop contribution to the European Union Training Mission–Mali was published on March 8. Based on this government decision, the Hungarian Defence Forces contribute at most 15 service members (at most 30 in rotational periods) to the mission. Hungary’s role lasts until the date set in the mandate of the operation, but no longer than May 18, 2014. In the interest of the Hungarian military role in the EUTM Mali mission, the government has ordered a one-off reallocation of HUF 555 million.
Pé t e r Szijjá r t ó r e v ie ws K uwa it i inv e s t m e nt oppor t unit ie s in H unga r y (Online 21 Mar) State Secretary for Foreign Affairs and External Economic Relations Péter Szijjártó and Head of the Kuwaiti Investment Office Osama Al-Ayoub held talks in Budapest on Kuwaiti investment opportunities in Hungary. During the meeting, which took place yesterday, the two offi-
cials reviewed various sectors of the Hungarian economy, such as farming, developing infrastructure and the property market, for possible Kuwaiti investments. The Kuwaiti Investment Office, which is part of the Kuwaiti Investment Authority and manages 10% of the country’s oil
revenue, had already signed a declaration of intent on cooperation with the Hungarian Development Bank’s MFB Invest. The Hungarian-Kuwaiti Joint Economic Committee will hold its next meeting in Budapest in the beginning of May.
W O R L D W I D E EVENTS/ZARB-EJAMHOOR NEWSPAPER CONGRATULATES HELLENIC REPUBLIC ON INDEPENDENCE DAY 2013 W O R L D W I D E EVENTS/ZARB-EJAMHOOR NEWSPAPER CONGRATULATES PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH ON INDEPENDENCE DAY 2013
(Online 22 Mar) Regarding the critics of the Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán declared that the Government listens to everyone, but will not give up Hungarian national sovereignty. In relation to the constitutional regulation of homelessness, the Prime Minister declared that everyone agrees in Hungary that the local governments and central state must have certain tools available with which they may act against disadvantageous and dangerous behaviour directed towards other people. He added that the state and the municipalities maintain and make available more ac-
commodation than the number of homeless people. Touching upon the new regulation of the family concept, the Prime Minister said that it is more extensive than the current one set by the Civil Code, so „it is not about tightening but extension”. Viktor Orbán considers a new constitutional passage an important contribution to the European constitutionalism because it includes that the enjoyment of the right to freedom of speech cannot do harm to the dignity of other people, the Hungarian nation as well as national, ethnical and religious communities. According to the Prime Minister,
if there is no cooperation between the Government and public utility companies, the Government will further pursue the reduction in utility charges so that prices are decreased to under the European average. The Government would like to cooperate with service providers with regard to further reductions in utility charges. He added that the collection of signatures initiated by the Fidesz party is similar to a referendum and it is necessary to unite the country so that we may protect the reduction in utility charges we have already achieved and make further progress.
State debt decreases, András Giró-Szász says (Online 22 Mar) State debt has decreased compared to both 2010 and 2012 figures, said Government Spokesperson András Giró-Szász in response to comments from the Socialist Party, that public debt had become “unprecedentedly” high. He added that according to the
National Bank of Hungary, the government debt stood at 85.3 percent of GDP in the spring of 2010, whereas by the end of 2012, it had fallen to 79 percent. Mr. Giró-Szász said that the debt may have increased nominally because of the oversubscription of Hungary's dollar and
forint-based securities, but added that the reserves thus created are being used to reduce the debt. State debt is currently between 78 and 79 percent of the GDP, which is 0.5 percent below the late-2012 rate and 6 percent below the 2010 level.
Herend Porcelain, Pálinka and Grape Marc Pálinka now Hungaricums
Photo: Károly Árvai (Online 22 Mar) Herend porcelain, which is one of Hungary's acknowledged symbols which it is a value and a privilege to own, as well as pálinka and grape marc pálinka, which are already regarded as the nation's unique specialities, are from today officially Hungaricums announced Minister for Rural Development Sándor Fazekas following the meeting of the Hungaricum Committee in Herend. The Minister stressed that Herend porcelain, pálinka and grape marc pálinka are the first Hungaricums to be included in the Hungaricum Collection on the basis of special adjudication.
interests of achieving important common goals. At the press conference following the decision of the Hungaricum Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics said that in reality it is Hungary that is a Herendicum and not Herend a Hungaricum, because for the past 200 years the handmade quality, design and technology that have made the manufactory world famous have been not simply the treasures of Herend, but those of the whole nation. Herend porcelain has been part of Hungarian heritage since 2002, said CEO of Herend Porcelain Manufactory Attila
factured in Herend. Mr. Simon also stressed that the manufactory has 64 million different products, the company is profitable and is 75-percent owned by its workers. Zsolt Horváth MP reported to the Committee on the achievements of the Hungaricum movement in Veszprém County. Among other moves, they have set up a Hungaricum Club with headquarters in Herend, and have launched a new website to promote the country's values c a l l e d www.szeresdamagyart.hu. On an experimental basis, they have also trained "value guardians" within the framework
Independence Day Bangladesh - M a r 2 6
Bangladesh officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bengali: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh) is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India and Myanmar and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. The capital (and largest city) is Dhaka, located in central Bangladesh. The official state language is Bengali. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language. The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal during the reign and demise of the British India. Its map was chartered by Sir Cycil Radcliffe during the creation of Pakistan and India in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed nation of Pakistan. Due to political exclusion and economic exploitation by the politically-dominant West Pakistan, popular agitation grew against West Pakistan and led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, after the declaration of Independence on 26 March 1971. With the direct & indirect help of India, 9 months of war come to an end on 16 December 1971 by the surrender of the Pakistan Army at Race Course, just after 10 days of direct action of the Indian Army. After independence, the new state endured an inept and corrupt administration, nationalising all aspects of life, that resulted in famines, poverty, widespread corruption, as well as political turmoil and unrest in the civil and military administration. The restoration of order in late 1975 brought back confidence and hope back into the lives of the citizens and the country. Since 1991 has been followed by relative calm and economic progress. Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy, with an elected parliament called the Jatiyo Sangshad. It is the ninth most populous country and among the most densely populated countries in the world. Just like in the rest of South Asia the poverty rate prevails, although the United Nations has acclaimed Bangladesh for achieving tremendous progress in human development. Geographically, the country straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and is subject to annual monsoon floods and cyclones. The country is listed among the Next Eleven economies. It is a founding member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the D-8 and BIMSTEC, and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the Non-Aligned Movement. However, Bangladesh continues to face a number of major challenges, including widespread political and bureaucratic corruption, widespread poverty, and an increasing danger of hydrologic shocks brought on by ecological vulnerability to climate change.
History Remnants of civilisation in the greater
Bengal region date back four thousand years, when the region was settled by Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman, and AustroAsiatic peoples. The exact origin of the word "Bangla" or "Bengal" is not known, though it is believed to be derived from Bang, the Dravidian-speaking tribe that settled in the area around the year 1000 BCE. The kingdom of Gangaridai was formed from at least the 7th century BCE, which later united with Bihar under the Magadha, Nanda, Mauryan and Sunga Empires. Bengal was later part of the Gupta Empire and Harsha Empire from the 3rd to the 6th centuries CE. Following its col- Somapura Mahavihara in Paharpur, Bangladesh, is the lapse, a dynamic Bengali named greatest Buddhist Viharain the Indian Subcontinent, Shashanka founded an impressive short- built by Dharmapala of Bengal. lived kingdom. After a period of anarchy, the Bengali Buddhist Pala dynasty ruled the region for four hundred years, followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena dynasty. Medieval European geographers located paradise at the mouth of the Ganges and although this was overhopeful, Bengal was probably the wealthiest part of the subcontinent until the 16th century. The area's early history featured a succession of Hindu empires, internal squabbling, and a tussle between Hinduism and Buddhism for dominance. Islam was introduced to the Bengal region in the 12th century by Arab Muslim merchants; Sufi missionaries, and subsequent Muslim rule helped spread Islam throughout the region. Bakhtiar Khilji, a Turkish general, defeated Lakshman Sen of the Sena dynasty and conquered large parts of Bengal in the year 1204. The region was ruled by several sultans, Hindu states and land-lords-Baro-Bhuiyans for the next few hundred years. By the 16th century, the Mughal Empire controlled Bengal, and Dhaka became an important provincial centre of Mughal administration. The Maratha Empire, a Hindu empire which overran the Mughals in the 18th century, also devastated the territories controlled by the Nawab of Bengal between 1742 and 1751. In a series of raids on Bengal and Bihar, then ruled by the Nawab, Maratha demolished much of the Bengali economy, which was unable to withstand the continuous onslaught of Maratha for long. Nawab Ali Vardi Khan made peace with Maratha by ceding the whole of Orissa and parts of Western Bengal to the empire. In addition, this a tax – the Chauth, amounting to a quarter of total revenue – was imposed on other parts of Bengal and Bihar. This tax amounted to twenty lakhs (of rupees?) for Bengal and 12 lakhs for Bihar per year. After Maratha's defeat in Panipat by a coalition of Muslim forces, the empire returned under the Maratha general Madhoji Sindhia and raided Bengal again. The British Empire stopped payment of the Chauth, invading the territory of Bengal in 1760s. The raids continued until Maratha was finally defeated by the British over the course of three Anglo-Maratha Wars, lasting from 1777 to 1818. From 1517 onwards, Portuguese traders from Goa were traversing the sea-route to Bengal. Only in 1537, were they allowed to settle and open customs houses at Chittagong. In 1577, Mughal emperor Akbar permitted the Portuguese to build permanent settlements and churches in Bengal. The influence of European traders grew until the British East India Company gained control of Bengal following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. The bloody rebellion of 1857— known as the Sepoy Mutiny—resulted in transfer of authority to the crown with a British viceroy running the administration. During colonial rule, famine racked South Asia many times, including the war-induced Great Bengal famine of 1943 that claimed 3 million lives. Between 1905 and 1911, an abortive attempt was made to divide the province of Bengal into two zones, with Dhaka being the capital of the eastern zone. When the exit of the British Empire in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines, with the western part going to newly created India and the eastern part (Muslim majority) joining Pakistan as a province called East Bengal(later renamed East Pakistan), with its capital at Dhaka. In 1950, land reform was accomplished in East Bengal with the abolishment of the feudal zamindari system. Despite the economic and demographic weight of the east, however, Pakistan's government and military were largely dominated by the upper classes from the west. The Bengali Language Movement of 1952 was the first sign of friction between the two wings of Pakistan. Dissatisfaction with the central government over economic and cul- Lalbagh Fort, constructed in the mid-17th tural issues continued to rise through the next decade, century in Dhaka during the reign of Auduring which the Awami League emerged as the po- rangzeb. litical voice of the Bengali-speaking population. It agitated for autonomy in the 1960s, and in 1966, its president, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (Mujib), was jailed; he was released in 1969 after an unprecedented popular uprising. In 1970, a massive cyclone devastated the coast of East Pakistan, killing up to half a million people, and the central government responded poorly. The Bengali population's anger was compounded when Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami League won a majority in Parliament in the 1970 elections, was blocked from taking office. After staging compromise talks with Mujib, President Yahya Khan and military officials launched Operation Searchlight, a sustained military assault on East Pakistan and arrested him in the early hours of 26 March 1971. Yahya's methods were extremely bloody, and the violence of the war resulted in many civilian deaths. Chief targets included intellectuals and Hindus, and about one million refugees fled to neighbouring India. Estimates of those massacred throughout the war range from thirty thousand to 3,000,000. Mujibur Rahman was ultimately released on 8 January 1972, due to direct US intervention. Awami League leaders set up a government-in-exile in Calcutta, India. The exile government formally took oath at Meherpur, in Kustia district of East Pakistan on 17 April 1971, with Tajuddin Ahmad as the first Prime Minister and Syed Nazrul Islam as the Acting President. The Bangladesh Liberation War lasted for nine months. The Bangladesh Forces formed within 11 sectors led by General M.A.G. Osmani consisting of Bengali Regular forces conducted a massive guerilla war against the Pakistan Forces with support from the Mukti Bahinis consisting of Kaderia Bahni, Hemayet Bahini, and others financed and equipped by Indian Armed Forces Maj. Gen. Sujat Singh Uban. Indian Army swooped in with the help of the BDF forces and negotiated a cease-fire and surrounded the Dhaka Area. The Indian Army remained in Bangladesh until 19 March 1972. After its independence, Bangladesh was governed by a Awami League government, with Mujib as the Prime Minister, without holding any elections. In the 1973 parliamentary elections, the Awami League gained an absolute majority. A nationwide famine occurred during 1973 and 1974, and in early 1975, Mujib initiated a one-party socialist rule with his newly formed BAKSAL. On 15 August 1975, Mujib and most of his family members were assassinated by midlevel military officers. Vice President Khandaker Mushtaq Ahmed was sworn in as President with most of Mujib's cabinet intact. Two Army uprisings on 3 November and the other on 7 November 1975 led to the reorganised structure of power. Emergency was declared to restore order and calm, Mushtaq resigned and the country was placed under temporary martial law, with three service chiefs serving as deputies to the new president Justice Abu Satem, who also became the Chief Martial Law Administrator. Lieutenant General Ziaur Rahman, took over the presidency in 1977 as Justice Sayem resigned. President Zia reinstated multi-party politics, introduced free markets, and founded the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Zia's rule ended when he was assassinated by elements of the military in 1981. Bangladesh's next major ruler was Lieutenant General Hossain Mohammad Ershad, who gained power in a coup on March 24, 1982, and ruled until 6 December 1990, when he was forced to resign after a revolt of all major political parties and the public, along with pressure from western donors (which was a major shift in international policy after the fall of the Soviet Union). Since then, Bangladesh has reverted to a parliamentary democracy. Zia's widow, Khaleda Zia, led the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to parliamentary victory at the general election in 1991, and became the first female Prime Minister in Bangladeshi history. However, the Awami League, headed by Sheikh Hasina, one of Mujib's surviving daughters, won the next election in 1996. It lost again to the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in 2001. On 11 January 2007, following widespread political unrest spearheaded by the Awami League, the Bangladesh civil and military establishment supported the establishment of a neutral caretaker government. The caretaker government was appointed to administer the next general election. The country had suffered from extensive corruption, disorder and political violence. The caretaker government made it a priority to root out corruption from all levels of government. To this end, many notable politicians and officials, along with large numbers of lesser officials and party members, were arrested on corruption charges. The caretaker government held what it itself described as a largely free and fair election on 29 December 2008. The Awami League's Sheikh Hasina won with a landslide in the elections and took the oath of Prime Minister on 6 January 2009.
Youth Day Taiwan - M a r 2 9
Taiwan, or Republic of Taiwan (ROC), observes Youth Day every year on the 29th of March. Taiwan’s Youth Day commemorates the death of 72 youth in the class against the government forces in the Canton Uprising (Guangzhou Uprising) in 1911.
History
Taiwan’s Youth Day replaced Martyr’s day which commemorates the anniversary of the death of 72 young members of revolutionary army in China in the early 20th century. These protesters were hailed as martyr’s and reminds all Taiwanese about the heroic deeds of the young in fighting for freedom. Dr Sun Yat Sen led the toppling of the then government of China (Ching) and conducted de-stabilization attempts. The events that followed encouraged the youths to engage in the demonstration. The military government of China, Huang Hsing, violently dissolved the mounting resistance, killing thousands, mostly youths (Guangzhou Uprising). The 72 young men who perished in the uprising were named e 72 Revolutionary Martyrs of Huanghuakang. It got its name from the hill where they were buried – Huanghuakang.
Celebrations
During the holiday, various youth organizations, mostly from educational institutions conduct fee-based and free concerts to mark the celebration of the holiday. Public offices remain close during the holidays while most private establishments remain open. The government also holds special congress and meeting which discusses the role of youth in nation building, and the various legal and national issues affecting the young population. The president of Taiwan usually presides in public speech held at the shrine dedicated to the Martyrs’ of the Revolution along with other soldiers whose lives were perished during the incident. During this day, the government also honors the Ten Outstanding Youth who displayed exemplary performance in their chosen field. The holiday is also a time to reveal government initiatives on the development of the youth and a chance to immerse the youth leaders in Taiwan’s political environment.
Earth Hour Worldwide - Mar 30
Earth Hour is a global event organized by WWF (World Wide Fund for Nature, also known as World Wildlife Fund) and is held on the last Saturday of March annually, asking households and businesses to turn off their non-essential lights for one hour to raise awareness towards the need to take action on climate change. Earth Hour was conceived by WWF and The Sydney Morning Herald in 2007, when 2.2 million residents of Sydney participated by turning off all non-essential lights. Following Sydney's lead, many other cities around the world adopted the event in 2008. Earth Hour 2012 will take place on March 31, 2012 from 8:30p.m. to 9:30p.m., at participant's local time.
2013 Earth Hour 2013 will be held across the
world on Saturday, March 23 at 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. local time to avoid taking place before European Summer Time begins, ensuring the greatest impact of the lights off event. It is also to avoid coinciding with Western Christianity Holy Saturday, which falls on March 30 of that year. In 2013, the world's first Earth Hour Forest began in Uganda, as a first step to fight the 6000 hectares of deforestation that occur in the country every month. The WWF-Uganda team identified close to 2700 hectares of degraded land, and used the I Will If You Will concept to challenge businesses, government officials and individuals to fill it with at least 500,000 trees during the year. Standard Chartered Bank-Uganda pledged to help fill the forest with more than 250,000 trees. Former President of Botswana, Mr Festus Mogae promised to plant one million indigenous trees over a four years, as part of his I Will If You Will challenge for Earth 2013. He will kick off his incredible IWIYW challenge by planting 100,000 trees in a severely degraded area in Southern part of the country called Goodhope. The remaining trees will be planted in other parts of the country which are also in need of land rehabilitation, such as in the North Eastern and Western part of Botswana. By Earth Hour 2013, the 'Ini Aksiku! Mana Aksimu?' campaign (localised Indonesian version of I Will If You Will) led to a revolutionary use of Twitter to mobilise 30 cities across Indonesia to take ongoing action beyond the hour. The I Will If You Will campaign spread to more than 50 countries, generating momentum behind Earth Hour's push to be an ongoing movement for change. At the global media launch for Earth Hour 2013, CEO and Co-Founder Andy Ridley spoke about the movement's massive environmental outcomes beyond the hour. "People from all walks of life, from all nations around the world, are the lifeblood of the Earth Hour interconnected global community. They have proven time and time again that if you believe in something strongly enough, you can achieve amazing things. These stories aren't unique, this is happening all over the world," he said.
Photo: Károly Árvai Pálinka is a national drink, a true Hungarian speciality; the way it is created, its production and unique taste are part of both Hungarian everyday life and celebrations. In the words of Sándor Fazekas, "the workers at the world's largest porcelain manufactory preserve values and create value; this porcelain embodies Hungarian genius. The product of centuries of craft production can now occupy its rightful place". The manufactory and the porcelain produced here is a common treasure that belongs to all of us, and of which the Hungarian peoples can be proud. All three of the products that have been acknowledged today are national values we can be rightfully proud of. The majority of Herend Porcelain Manufactory belongs to the workers, but 25 + 1 shares are owned by the state. This is an excellent example of how the local community and the state, who represents the wider community, are able to work together for many years in the
Simon, emphasising that to this day, the company's porcelain is hand made under strict quality control and may only be manufactured in Herend. Mr. Simon also stressed that the manufactory has 64 million different products, the company is profitable and is 75-percent owned by its workers. At the press conference following the decision of the Hungaricum Committee, Deputy Prime Minister Tibor Navracsics said that in reality it is Hungary that is a Herendicum and not Herend a Hungaricum, because for the past 200 years the handmade quality, design and technology that have made the manufactory world famous have been not simply the treasures of Herend, but those of the whole nation. Herend porcelain has been part of Hungarian heritage since 2002, said CEO of Herend Porcelain Manufactory Attila Simon, emphasising that to this day, the company's porcelain is hand made under strict quality control and may only be manu-
of the "Youth in Action" programme, whose job is to protect and help the work of value-creators so that the given product may be included within the value depository. The Hungaricum Committee has been working for months to compile a list of national values, and the law encourages local communities to collect national values that exist in their immediate vicinity. The Hungaricum Act was adopted by Parliament last spring and the Hungaricum Committee began operating last autumn. So far, cultural, intellectual and constructed heritage have been added to the list by law, but from now on, anything can become a Hungaricum as a result of "outside" initiatives: pálinka and grape marc pálinka were proposed by the National Pálinka Council, while Herend porcelain was suggested by the Herend Porcelain Manufactory Co. Today's decision means that the number of Hungaricums has now risen to fifteen.
Hungarian literature represented at the Passa Porta International Literary Festival in Brussels (Online 19 Mar) Wednesday sees the start of the Passa Porta International Literary Festival at the Balassi Institute in Brussels; this year Hungarian literature is represented by Viktor Horváth, author of the novel Török tükör (‘Turkish Mirror’). This year the four-day series of events is focusing on the imagination. On the website of the Balassi Institute in Brussels the Hungarian author makes it clear that the festival will enable around one hundred writers to invite readers into their imagined worlds, with an emphasis on flights of the imagination which are independent of countries and cultures. At the institute on Sunday at 4.30 p.m. Viktor Horvath will read from his work. The Hungarian writer was awarded the 2012 European Union Prize for Literature for his novel Turkish Mirror. This novel, written in 2009, takes the reader on a journey through time, showing 16th-century Hungary: the colourful but
unstable frontier zone between the two great empires of the Habsburgs and the Ottomans. The reading will take place in Hungarian and Dutch, but the text will also be projected in French. The opening event of the Passa Porta Festival will be an evening of readings by the Algerian writer Boualem Sansal. The works of the winner of the 2011 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade may not appear in his own country, because in his writings he condemns Islamic fundamentalism, terrorism and political oppression in all its forms. The 64-year-old is one of the few Algerian intellectuals who have not left their homeland and are openly critical of the political and social system there. As can be read on the festival's website, a special evening will be dedicated to authors coming from the countries of ‘The Arab Spring’, and there will also be appearances by representatives
of African literature from Togo, Sierra Leone, the Republic of the Congo and Somalia. The festival is also organising literary walks and will look at local legends. The Icelandic writer Sjón will pop up as leader of a group in the museum dedicated to the Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte. Also attending the festival will be Romanian novelist Mircea Cărtărescu, who in 2011 was one of the guests at the Budapest International Book Fair. In Brussels he will read from his work Orbitor (Blinding). The Passa Porta Festival is held every two years, in 2009 Péter Nádas was guest of honour, and in addition to reading from his work he opened an exhibition of his photographs. In 2011 Péter Esterházy represented Hungarian literature in Brussels, together with Attila Bartis, György Dragomán and Krisztina Tóth as part of the programme New Hungarian Literature.
Hungary among EU countries where employment has improved most impressively (Online 19 Mar) Although in light of the latest Eurostat data, as a whole, the number of people in employment declined in Q4 2012 within both the eurozone and the European Union, in Hungary, the relevant figure improved. Hungary achieved the fourth best growth rate in the EU regarding this field. In comparison to the previous quarter, only eight member
countries recorded growth, and Hungary was the fourth of these. The number of those in employment increased to the largest extent in Latvia (0.8 percent), Luxembourg (0.6 percent), Poland (0.4 percent), Hungary (0.3 percent) and Austria (0.2 percent). In this period, compared to the previous quarter, the number of people with a job decreased by
0.3 percent in 17 EU member countries and by 0.2 percent in the EU 27, while in comparison to data for the same period in the previous year, the decrease was 0.8 percent in the Eurozone and 0.4 percent in the EU. The Government of Hungary hopes that even those who routinely question domestic employment data will now at least believe Eurostat.
Hungary will co-chair talks on UN Sustainable Development Goals (Online 18 Mar) The president of the United Nations General Assembly has appointed Hungary as co-chair, alongside Kenya, of inter-governmental talks on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the ambassador of Hungary’s permanent representative said. Hungary has not received such
a major appointment in the UN over the past two decades, Csaba Kőrösi said. The UN Secretary General and the president of the General Assembly noted that the preparation of the SDGs is possibly the organisation’s largest undertaking. Hungary was appointed on March 14 to co-chair, for 18 months, a
series of inter-governmental talks about the key elements of the SDGs for 2015-2030. “Our appointment is down to the success of Hungarian diplomacy and the expression of strong confidence by developed countries and developing countries.”
Govt is ready to discuss provisions of the constitutional amendment with the EU (Online 18 Mar) The government is ready for a debate with the European Union on the constitutional amendment, the government spokesman told public radio. András Giró-Szász neither confirmed nor denied press reports that the Prime Minister had told participants of last week’s EU summit that he would accept the assessments and observations of the European Commission but not of any member states.
“It is clear that the Hungarian government is ready to be involved in all discussions on concrete provisions and laws it has adopted or even the constitution itself.” Foreign Minister János Martonyi welcomed the Venice Commission’s plan to assess the fourth amendment of Hungary’s constitution. Instead of political accusations and generalisations, the question of whether the amendments indeed raised any
difficulties from the point of principles or its legal aspects should be examined, he said. “It is in our interest that such an objective assessment should be carried out instead of all types of political accusations. The same applies to the European Commission, where the compatibility of the constitutional amendment with EU laws will be examined.” Martonyi said at an EU promotional event in Szeged University, southern Hungary.
Deputy State Secretray Gergely Prőhle visits Berlin (Online 21 Mar) Deputy State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gergely Prőhle informed his German partners about the amendment of the Hungarian Fundamental Law in Berlin, on March 19, 2013.The Hungarian Deputy State Secretary arrived in the German capital at the invitation of the junior member of the German government coalition, the liberal FDP party. Gergely Prőhle briefed the foreign affairs workgroup of the FDP parliamentary fraction about domestic policy developments in Hungary and also met with Peter Schoof, the Director in the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs responsible for Hungary and with Markus Löning, Federal Government Commissioner for Human Rights Policy. The apropos for the meetings was the visit the week before by
President of the Republic János Áder to Berlin and the envisaged visit of German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle to Budapest in May, and also the fact that the Bundestag, the lower chamber of the German legislature, also discussed the issue of the constitutional amendment and numerous reports of a negative tone were published about our country. Gergely Prőhle explained that with respect to the constitutional amendment, his partners were mainly interested in issues relating to the scope of authority of the Constitutional Court and the freedom of speech. Briefing the German party was important for the Hungarian Government to mitigate the effects of biased articles containing exaggerated statements and also to provide information about our national policy endeavours. Defending
the Hungarian position in an efficient and successful way does not mean that everything is perfect in Hungary, however we would like these processes to be better understood. According to Gergely Prőhle, the misunderstandings were also the result of linguistic shortfalls, the fast pace of Hungarian legislature and among others the fact that there are two different political cultures in Hungary and Germany. Often, the politicians who criticise Hungary make accusations without full knowledge of the facts. Gergely Prőhle emphasised that Germany is one of the closest allies of Hungary and is the largest investor in the country, and accordingly it is important for its leading politicians to possess correct information.
Hungary involved in elaborating Arms Trade Treaty (Online 20 Mar) On Monday Gábor Kaleta, Press Chief at the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated that Hungary would take part in the elaboration of the Arms Trade Treaty – which is being negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations – and that it opposed illegal arms trafficking. Gábor Kaleta made his statement in connection with the letter sent by Amnesty
International to Foreign Minister János Martonyi. The Press Chief at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stressed that Hungary was opposed to illegal arms trafficking and complied fully with the respective international conventions as well as with the Hungarian regulations. Hungary would take part in the elaboration of the convention on arms trade, he added. Gábor Kaleta declared that the
Arms Trade Treaty – which is being negotiated under the auspices of the United Nations – would demand that only „safe users” could obtain firearms and weapons. For instance, firearms manufacturing countries could veto the forwarding of weapons to a third country if it was not certain that it was a ‘safe user’.
H unga r y wa nt s c los e r bus ine s s tie s with Pa k is t a n: Is t v a n Sza bo
Doctor's Day U.S. - M a r 3 0
The first Doctors Day observance was March 30, 1933 in Winder, Georgia. Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond, decided to set aside a day to honor physicians. This first observance included the mailing greeting cards and placing flowers on graves of deceased doctors. The red carnation is commonly used as the symbolic flower for National Doctors Day. On March 30, 1958, a Resolution Commemorating Doctors Day was adopted by the United States House of Representatives. In 1990, legislation was introduced in the House and Senate to establish a national Doctors Day. Following overwhelming approval by the United States Senate and the House of Representatives, on October 30, 1990, President George Bush signed S.J. RES. #366 (which became Public Law 101-473) designating March 30, 1991 as "National Doctors Day." Doctors Day marks the date that Crawford W. Long, M.D., of Jefferson, GA, administered the first ether anesthetic for surgery on March 30, 1842. On that day, Dr. Long administered ether anesthesia to a patient and then operated to remove a tumor from the man’s neck. Later, the patient would swear that he felt nothing during the surgery and wasn’t aware the surgery was over until he awoke.
Liberation Shouter Day - Mar 30 Trinidad & Tobago
Spiritual/Shouter Baptist Liberation Day is an annual public holiday celebrated in the Trinidad and Tobago on March 30. The holiday commemorates the repeal on March 30, 1951, of the 1917 Shouter Prohibition Ordinance that prohibited the activities of the Shouter or Spiritual Baptist faith. Trinidad and Tobago is the only country in the world that celebrates a public holiday for the Spiritual Baptist faith.
(Online 13 Mar) Ambassador of the Hungary Istvan Szabo has said his country would enhance trade relations with Pakistan and Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (RCCI) would be facilitated to organise single country exhibition in Hun-
gary. RCCI is playing pivotal role in national economic and industrial uplift and his country will assist Chamber to endorse trade relations between two countries. Exchanging views with the President RCCI Manzar Khurshid Sheikh on Wednesday he
said for enhancing trade relations between the Pakistan and Hungary the direct interaction of the business community of two sides should be promoted and embassy would cooperate RCCI in this regard.
For e ign M inis te r M a r t ony i s a y s EU is be ne f ic ia l t o H unga r y (Online 18 Mar) European integration and Hungary's participation in it are beneficial to the country in every way, Foreign Minister János Martonyi said at a public event on Monday. Hungarians do not harbour negative opinions of the European Union any more than the EU average, but their interest in integration trends and knowledge about them are below that level, János Martonyi said at an EU promotional event at Szeged University in southern Hungary. The ongoing series of events to promote the EU is aimed at changing this attitude and encouraging Hungarians to get more involved in European issues, he added. Foreign Minister János Martonyi
said the campaign entitled "My Europe" was important and would involve public dialogue on the advantages of the EU. Events are planned to be held at secondary schools and universities in Budapest, Győr, Szombathely, Szeged, Miskolc, Eger, Kecskemét and Székesfehérvár. In response to a question on the fourth amendment of Hungary's constitution, Martonyi welcomed the Venice Commission's intention to assess the amendment. Instead of political accusations and generalisations, the question of whether the amendments indeed raised any difficulties from the point of principles or its legal aspects should be examined, he said.
"It is in our interest that such an objective assessment should be carried out instead of all sorts of political accusations. The same applies to the European Commission, where the compatibility of the constitutional amendment with EU laws will be examined," János Martonyi said. The Hungarian Foreign Minister pointed out that the package of the fourth amendment would not bring about any fundamental changes since most of the provisions had already been passed earlier, but had to be resubmitted because the Constitutional Court rejected them because of formal legal reasons.