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Mariamoba (Assumption) GEORGIA - Aug 28
Mariamoba on August 28 is one of the greatest holidays in Georgia. Mariamoba or The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is celebrated as a religious holiday in Georgia. This day is celebrated to commemorate the assumption of the Blessed Virgin into heaven. The day is celebrated all over Georgia with church ceremonies and feasts.
Feast of St Rose of Lima St. LUCIA - Aug 30
Rose of Lima, (April 20, 1586 – August 24, 1617), the first Catholic saint of the Americas, was born in Lima, Peru.
Biography
HISTORY The Blessed Virgin Mary, often shortened to Blessed Mary or Virgin Mary, is a traditional title used
by most Christians to refer to Mary, mother of Jesus Christ. The Christian traditions give special honor and devotion to the Virgin Mary. According to traditional beliefs of the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy and some Protestant churches, Heaven assumed her physically after the end of her earthly life. Although Mary’s assumption to heaven has recently been defined as a dogma taught by the Catholic Church, accounts of her assumption to heaven circulated since 4th century. The chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation is interpreted to refer to this event. The story also appears in several Syric manuscripts and several other 5th and 6th century works. Mary, whom Christians also refer to as Virgin Mary or Blessed Mary, was the mother of Jesus Christ. According to Christian belief, she conceived her son miraculously by the agency of a Holy Spirit. She lived a sinless life. Because of that and because she was the mother of Jesus Christ, she became known as ‘God-Bearer’ or ‘Mother of God’. Thus, at the end of her earthly life, she was believed to be bodily assumed to Heaven. According to some doctrines, her Assumption to heaven is believed to occur after her death. The Assumption is important to many Catholic and Orthodox Christians as Mary’s heavenly birthday. It is regarded as a symbol of the promise made by Jesus Christ to all Christians that they too will be received into paradise. The Assumption is celebrated as a major festival. Though it is commonly celebrated on August 15, in Georgia, it is celebrated on August 28.
CELEBRATION Mariamoba is a public holiday in Georgia. On this day, thousands of Georgians flock to the church, to light candles. It is the time of the year, when all Georgians visit their
friends and family. Church ceremonies and feasts are arranged. According to a Georgian ritual, a lamb is taken to the church. It is then taken around the church three times and then the animal is slaughtered outside the churchyard. Then its meat is boiled, shared, and eaten with friends and family. The day is celebrated with banquets, song and dance performances. As some of Georgia’s greatest churches are perched on top of mountains, on this day, thousands of Georgians are seen climbing their way to the church, carrying arrangements for small family picnics. It is one day when Georgians, all over the country, come together to celebrate their ethnic religious identity.
Slovak National Uprising Day S L O VA K I A - A u g 2 9
The Slovak National Uprising (Slovak: Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) or 1944 Uprising was an armed insurrection organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. It was launched on August 29 1944 from Banská Bystrica in an attempt to overthrow the collaborationist Slovak State of Jozef Tiso. Although the rebel forces were defeated by Nazi Germany, guerrilla warfare continued until the Soviet Army occupied Slovakia in 1945. In the post-war period, many political entities attempted to "hijack" the uprising to their credit. The Stalinist regime in Czechoslovakia presented the Uprising as an event initiated and governed by communist forces. Slovak nationalists, on the other hand, claim that the uprising was a plot against the Slovak nation, as one of its main objectives was to oust the regime of the puppet Slovak state and reestablish Czechoslovakia, in which Slovaks were dominated by Czechs. In fact, many factions fought in the uprising, including large rebel units of the Slovak Army, nationalist and communist partisans, and international forces. Given this factionalization, the Uprising did not have unambiguous popular support. Yet, the participants and supporters of the Uprising represented every religion, class, gender, age, and anti-Nazi political faction of the Slovak nation.
Saint Rose of Lima was born in the city of that name, the daughter of Gaspar Flores, a harquebusier from San German, Puerto Rico, and his wife, Maria de Oliva, who was a native of Lima. She was part of a large family. She received the baptismal name of Isabel (Elizabeth). Her latter nickname "Rose" was a testament to her evident holiness. When she was a baby, a servant claimed to have seen her face transform into a rose. In 1597 she was personally confirmed by the Archbishop of Lima, the holy Turibius de Mongrovejo, who was also to be declared a saint. She formally took the name of Rose at that time. As a young girl--in emulation of Saint Catherine of Siena--she began to fast three times a week and performed severe penances in secret. When she was admired for her beauty, Rose cut off her hair, against the objections of her friends and her family, and disfigured her face with pepper and lye. She was very upset that she was so beautiful, and hurt herself to deter the suitors beginning to take notice of her. Despite the censure of her parents, she spent many hours contemplating the Blessed Sacrament, which she received daily. She was determined to take avow of virginity, in opposition to her parents, who wished her to marry. Finally, out of frustration, her father gave her a room to herself in the family home. Daily fasting turned to perpetual abstinence from meat. Her days were filled with acts of charity and industry. Rose helped the sick and hungry around her community. She would bring them to her room and take care of them. Rose sold her fine needlework, grew beautiful flowers, and would take them to market to help her family. Her exquisite lace and embroidery also helped to care for the poor, while her nights were devoted to prayer and penance in a little grotto which she had built. Otherwise, she became a recluse, leaving her room only for her visits to church. The fame of her holiness became so widespread among the populace of the colonial city, that she attracted the attention of the friars of the Dominican Order. She wanted to become a nun, but her father refused to allow this. Out of obedience to him, instead she entered the Third Order of St. Dominic, remaining in her parents' home. In her twentieth year she donned the habit of a tertiary and took the vow of perpetual virginity for which she had longed. For eleven years this self-martyrdom continued without relaxation, with intervals of ecstasy, until she died on August 24, 1617, at the age of 31, having prophesied the date of her death exactly. Her funeral was held in the cathedral, attended by all the public authorities of Lima, and it was the archbishop himself gave her eulogy.
Veneration
Accounts of the exact numbers of combatants vary. At first, the rebel Slovak partisan forces consisted of an estimated 18,000 soldiers. The total increased to 47,000 after mobilization on September 9, 1944, and later to 60,000, plus 18,000 partisans from over 30 countries. The Slovak Insurgent Air Force had a small number of mostly obsolete planes. In addition to Slovak forces, the combatants included various other groups from escaped French POWs to Soviet partisans and SOE and OSS operatives. The Slovak side had to use mostly biplanes and improvised armored trains to fight against the better equipped German weapons. In addition to Soviet aid, United States B-17 Flying Fortress bombers landed at Tri Duby airfield on October 7, 1944 and brought supplies and OSS agents. Before returning, they embarked 25 Allied pilots shot down over Slovakia in past few month and five French partisans.
Rose was beatified by Pope Clement IX on April 15, 1667, and canonized on April 12, 1671 by Pope Clement X, the first Catholic in the Americas to be declared a saint. Her shrine, alongside those of her friends, St. Martin de Porres and Saint John Macías, is located inside the convent of St. Dominic in Lima. The Roman Catholic Church mentions the many miracles that followed her death. Stories have been heard that she has cured a leper. Many places are named Santa Rosa in the New World and pay homage to this saint. Pope Benedict XVI is especially devoted to her. Her liturgical feast was inserted into the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1729 for celebration initially on August 30, because August 24, the anniversary day of her death, is the feast of Saint Bartholomew the Apostle and August 30 was the closest date not already occupied by a well-known saint. Pope Paul VI's 1969 reform of the Roman S t R o s e o f L i m a , t h e Catholic calendar of saints, made August 23 available, the day on f i r s t saint from the which her feast day is now celebrated throughout the world, including A m e r i c a s . P a i n t i n g b y Spain, but excluding Peru and some other Latin American countries, Claudio Coello (1642where August 30 is a public holiday in her honor. She is honored together with Martin de Porres and Toribio de 1 6 9 3 ) , Museo del Mogrovejo with a feast day on the liturgical calendar of the Episcopal Pr a do, M a dr id Church (USA) on August 23. She is the patroness of native Indian people of the Americas and their beneficence, of gardeners, of florists, of Lima, of Peru, of the New World,of Santa Rosa, California, and of Sittard, the Netherlands, of India, of people misunderstood for their piety and of the resolution of family quarrels. Early Lives of Santa Rosa were written by the Dominican Father Hansen, "Vita Sanctae Rosae" (2 vols., Rome, 1664–1668), and Vicente Orsini, afterward. Pope Benedict XIII wrote "Concentus Dominicano, Bononiensis ecclesia, in album Sanctorum Ludovici Bertrandi et Rosae de Sancta Maria, ordinero praedicatorum" (Venice, 1674). There is a park named for her in downtown Sacramento, California. A plot of land at 7th and K streets was given to the Roman Catholic Church by Peter Burnett, first governor of the state of California. Father Peter Anderson built one of the first of two churches in the diocese to be consecrated in honor of St Rose. In the Caribbean twin-island state of Trinidad and Tobago, the Santa Rosa Carib Community, Located in Arima is the largest organization of indigenous peoples on the island. The second oldest Parish in the Diocese of Portof-Spain, is also named after this Saint. The Santa Rosa R.C. Church, which is also located in the town of Arima, was established on April 20, 1786 as the Indian Mission of Santa Rosa de Arima by on the foundations of a Capuchin Mission previously established in 1749. The public may see the cranium of Santa Rosa, in the Basilica in Lima, Peru. It was customary to keep the torso in the Basilica and pass the cranium around the country, inviting all to venerate and gaze. She has a crown of roses on her cranium. She is also displayed with San Martin de Porres, who also has the cranium separate from the torso.
Uprising begins:
Teodoro Hampe Martínez: Santa Rosa de Lima y la identidad criolla en el Perú colonial (Ensayo de interpretación) Revista de Historia de América, No. 121 (January – December, 1996), pp. 7–26
Preliminaries Edvard Beneš, leader of the Czechoslovak government in exile in London, had initiated the preparations for
a possible revolt in 1943, when he made first contacts with the dissident elements of the Slovak Army. In December 1943, various groups that would be involved with the uprising—the government in exile, Czechoslovak democrats and communists and Slovak army—formed the underground Slovak National Council, and signed the socalled Christmas Treaty, a joint declaration to recognize Beneš's authority and to recreate Czechoslovakia after the war. The council was responsible for creating the preparatory phase of the Uprising. In March 1944, Slovak army Lieutenant Colonel Ján Golian took charge of the preparations. Conspirators stockpiled money, ammunition and other supplies in military bases in central and eastern Slovakia. The rebelling forces called themselves Czechoslovak Forces of the Interior and the First Czechoslovak Army. Approximately 3,200 Slovak soldiers deserted and joined partisan groups or the Soviet Red Army. In April 1944 Slovak Jews, Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler escaped from Auschwitz and eventually spoke about the horrors in German death camps. In summer 1944 partisans intensified their war against German occupation forces mainly in the mountains of north-central Slovakia. In July, Red Army troops in the Soviet Union and Poland began to advance towards Slovakia. By August 1944 the Red Army was at Krosno, Poland and within 40 kilometers of the North-Eastern Slovak border. Two heavily armed divisions of the Slovak Army together with the entire eastern Slovak Air Force were deliberately relocated to Prešov in north-eastern Slovakia in summer 1944 to execute one of two planned options to begin the uprising. The two options were: the two divisions would start the uprising by coordinating their capture of Dukla Pass (joining Poland and Slovakia through the Carpathian Mountains) with 1. the arrival of the Soviet Army (1st Ukrainian Front under Marshall Ivan Konev), or respond to insurrectional army leader Ján Golian's orders to start resistance by immediately confronting any invading German forces and hold the pass 2. until the Soviet Army could arrive. Colonel Viliam Talský was Chief of Staff over the two divisions. He had agreed in advance with the insurrectional army leadership and the uprising planning committee of the Slovak National Council to execute either of these two plans, depending on the circumstances he faced. On August 27, 1944 in Martin, a group of communist partisans under Soviet command in Kiev killed 30 members of a German military mission en route from Romania, a country that had just changed sides to support the Allies. German troops began to occupy Slovakia the next day to put down the rebellion. German arrangements for such occupation were done few weeks earlier. At 19:00 hours on August 29, 1944 Slovak Defence Minister General Ferdinand Čatloš announced on state radio that Germany had occupied Slovakia. Golian sent the coded message to all units at 20:00 to begin the Uprising. Instead of adhering to the agreed plan, Colonel Talský gathered the entire eastern Slovak Air Force on August 30 and abandoned the two divisions flying to a prearranged landing zone in Poland to join the Soviet Army. The two divisions, left in chaos and without leadership, were quickly disarmed on the afternoon of August 30 without a single shot. Consequently, the uprising commenced prematurely and lost a crucial component of their plan as well as their two most heavily armed divisions capable of resisting any German advance.
Forces
Course of the uprising
Rebels began the uprising on August 29 8:00 p.m. under the command of Ján Golian. They entered Banská Bystrica in the morning of August 30 and made it their headquarters. German troops disarmed the Eastern Slovak Army on August 31. Many of the soldiers were sent to camps in Germany while others escaped and joined the Soviet-controlled partisans or returned home. On September 5 Ján Golian became the commander of all the rebel forces in Slovakia and was given the rank of General. Slovak forces in central Slovakia mobilized 47,000 men. His first analysis of the situation predicted that insurgents could resist German attacks for about two weeks. By September 10 the rebels gained control of large areas of central and eastern Slovakia, including two airfields, which were used by the Soviet Air Force to fly in equipment.
Momentum lost:
The pro-German government of Tiso remained in power in Bratislava. Germany moved 40,000 SS soldiers under Gottlob Berger to suppress the uprising, which detained and disarmed two Slovak divisions and 20,000 soldiers that had been supposed to secure the mountain passes to help the Red Army. Beneš had met with Stalin and Molotov in Moscow in December 1943 to secure Soviet support for the uprising, but Stalin and STAVKA failed to deliver the needed support on time to the insurgent army and even blocked Western offers of military aid, as they had done only a few weeks earlier, during the Warsaw uprising. Meanwhile, General Koniev and the Soviet partisan headquarters in Kiev, Ukraine continued to undermine the Slovak insurgent army by ordering partisan groups operating in forward positions in Slovakia to conduct operations and avoid coordination with the Slovak insurgent army. The Soviet-led partisans even demanded and took desperately needed weapons and munitions from the insurgent Slovak army that had been stored for the uprising. The vast majority of Soviet air drops of weapons over insurgent-held territory in Eastern and Northern Slovakia were quickly confiscated by Soviet partisans and little ended up in the hands of the much stronger and better trained Slovak insurrectional army. On September 8, the Red Army began an offensive on the Dukla Pass on the Slovak-Polish border and tried to fight through the Carpathian Mountains to penetrate into Slovakia. This poorly-planned and late action resulted in tremendous casualties on both sides and became bogged down for nearly two months. Beneš, the Soviet partisans, and various Slovak factions began to argue among themselves for operational control. Although he tried on repeated occasions, General Golian could not bring the sides together to coordinate their efforts. General Rudolf Viest flew in and took command on October 7, with Golian becoming his second-in-command. Viest could not control the situation when political rivalries resurfaced in the face of military failure. The uprising also coincided with the stalling of the Soviet summer offensive, the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, and other troubles on the side of the Western allies. The Red Army and its Czechoslovakian allies failed to quickly penetrate the Dukla Pass despite fierce fighting between September 8 and October 28; they suffered 85,000 casualties (21,000 dead). The Czechoslovak government in exile failed to convince western allies to ignore Stalin's obstruction and send more supplies to the area. On September 17 two B-17 Flying Fortresss flew in the OSS mission of Lieutenant James Holt-Green. SOE team of major John Sehmer followed the next day on its way to Hungary. Their reports confirmed the sus- C o n v o y o f C z e c h o s l o v a k a r m y v e h i c l e s n e a r picions of Western Allies that the situation of the uprising was worsening. K e le m e š ( t oda y pa r t of Pr e š ov )
Literature
Victory Day TURKEY - Aug 30
The 30th day of August is marked as the final step to Turkish war of independence. This day is registered in history as the Victory Day of Turkey. The Battle of Dumlupinar ended on 30th August 1922, subsequently ending the Greek invasion of Turkey. This day is celebrated throughout Turkey in the honor of those whose who got them independence.
HISTORY
The history of the Greeks and Turks and their wars dates back to the Troy days. Earlier the Turks invaded Greece. However, with the end of First World War the Ottoman Empire saw its downfall. They saw most of their provinces going in the hands of the allies. There came a time when the Greeks were stationed at Izmir and General Mustafa Kemal was sent to Anatolia. General Mustafa Kemal is known as the prime person under whole leadership Turkish war of independence was won. He was the one who tried uniting the country against the people trying to take over. There were several battles fought with different outcomes. Eventually Turkey started taking over from the time the Greeks’ withdrew from one of these battles for independence. The last battle (as opposed to the previous one) not just made Greeks lose but also made them leave their land. Therefore, it was Victory Day on 30th August, which made Turkey the republic it is today.
TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES
This 30th day of August is celebrated with élan throughout the country. It is a public holiday in Turkey. People hoist the national flag on this day. This day is called Zafer Bayramı in the local language. The importance of this day can be well explained and understood by people who have fought for it or the ones who have seen it all. The armed forces also celebrate this day with march-pasts. 30th August give people of Turkey to breath and live in fresh air, air that smells of independence and victory.
Counteroffensive:
On September 19 German command replaced SS-Obergruppenführer Berger, who had been in charge of the troops fighting the Uprising, with General Höffle. By that time Germans had 48,000 soldiers; they consisted of eight German divisions, including four from the Waffen-SS and one pro-Nazi Slovak formation. On October 1 the rebel army was renamed the 1st Czechoslovak Army in Slovakia, in order to symbolize the beginning of the Czech-Slovak reunification that would be recognized by the Allied forces. A major German counteroffensive began on October 17–18 when 35,000 German troops entered the country from Hungary, which had been under German military occupation since 19 March 1944. Stalin demanded that his advancing Second Ukrainian Front led by General Malinovsky be immediately diverted from Eastern Slovakia to Budapest. The western advance of Soviet forces came to a screeching halt in late October 1944, as Stalin's interests focused on Hungary, Austria and Poland before he was interested in Slovakia or the Czech lands. By the end of October, Axis forces (six German divisions and one pro-Nazi Slovak unit) had taken back most of the territory from the insurgents and encircled the fighting groups. Battles cost at least 10,000 casualties on both sides. Insurgents had to evacuate Banská Bystrica on October 27 just prior to the German takeover. SOE and OSS agents retreated to the mountains alongside the thousands of others fleeing German advance. The rebels prepared to change their strategy to that of guerrilla warfare. On October 28, Viest sent London a message that said the organized resistance had ended. On October 30, General Höffle and President Tiso celebrated in Banská Bystrica and awarded medals to German soldiers for their part in the suppression of the uprising (claimed by some to have been done by Tiso as to save the lives of Slovak soldiers captured by German forces in the uprising, who were deported to concentration camps, and to save three Slovak cities from German bombardment).
Aftermath
However, partisans together with the remains of the regular forces continued their efforts in the mountains. In retaliation, Einsatzgruppen executed many Slovaks suspected of aiding the rebels and Jews A r m or e d tr a in H ur ba n pr e s e r v e d in Zv ole n. who had avoided deportation until then, and destroyed 93 villages for suspicion of collaboration. A later estimate of the death toll was 5,304 and authorities discovered 211 mass graves that resulted from those atrocities. The largest executions occurred in Kremnička (747 killed, mostly Jews and Roma) and Nemecká (900 killed). On November 3 Germans captured Golian and Viest in Pohronský Bukovec; they later interrogated and executed them. SOE and OSS teams eventually united and sent a message in which they requested immediate assistance. Germans surrounded both groups on December 25 and captured them. Some of the men were summarily executed. Germans took the rest to Mauthausen concentration camp where they were tortured and executed. The German victory only postponed the eventual downfall of the pro-Nazi regime. Six months later, the Red Army had overrun Axis troops in Czechoslovakia. By December 1944 Romanian and Soviet troops had driven German troops out of southern Slovakia in the Battle of Budapest. On January 19, 1945, the Red Army took Bardejov, Svidník, Prešov and Košice in Eastern Slovakia. On March 3–5 they had taken over northwest Slovakia. On March 25 they entered Banská Bystrica and on April 4 marched into Bratislava. Although the main military objectives were not achieved due to improper timing of the uprising and discoordinate actions of Soviet partisans that often undermined the plans and objectives of the insurrectional Slovak army--if occurred later when preparations were complete could theoretically have reverted the whole of Slovakia to the allied side and allowed the Red Army to quickly pass through Slovakia (though it is questionable whether the Soviet leadership would have preferred such an option because this would have significantly empowered the democratic forces in Slovakia)--the guerrilla struggle bound significant German forces that could otherwise have reinforced the Wehrmacht on the eastern front lines against the advancing Ukrainian Fronts to the north and south of Slovakia. Nevertheless, much of Slovakia was left devastated by the Uprising and the German counter-offensive and occupation.
Hero's Day PHILIPPINES - Aug 31
Different countries in the world celebrate heroes day. However, the main motive behind this celebration is same. Heroes Day is celebrated on the day when national heroes were born or on that day or the heroes made some special achievements that made them special. Thus Heroes Day is celebrated as a day to pay homage to those heroes of the country who sacrificed there life for their nation or they did something special for their nation. Philippines celebrate its Heroes Day on the 31 of August.
HISTORY
Philippines honor the “Cry for Pugad Lawin” by Filipino revolutionaries known as Katipunan. They secretly prepared troops to revolt that had the single aim, to gain independence from Spain. Katipunan is a Philippine revolutionary organization that was founded in 1892 by Filipino anti-Spanish revolutionaries in Manila. It was led by one the famous leaders named Andres Bonifacio, who was also one of the founders. About four years from the time of its creation, the leaders recruited about one to two hundred thousand members in the troop. Then after that, the new members were divided into different grades. As time spent, there became more numbers of leaders as the numbers of members in different grades were increasing. Thus apart from Bonaficio there were other leaders too. Among them, Emilio Aguinaldo was among the supreme commanders. In addition, Licerio Geronimo, Vincente Lukban and Melchora Aquino were in the list as famous Katipuneros. After some days, it was seen that most of the Katipunan leaders were arrested, because of this Bonifacio called a meeting so that they would start the revolt. Though about thousands of members attended the meeting yet nothing was decided on the issue. After that meeting, another meeting was organized were all of them promised to fight until death. As a sign of their commitment they tore there identity proofs. Thus, as per decision they attacked Manila. However, as the Spanish discovered this secret meeting their guards were able to defend themselves from this attack. Although the Katipunan soldiers were in advantage, the Spanish guards changed things so that the Katipunans had to retrieve back. The Katipunan soldiers moved back from the battle of Pasong Tamo but still did not loose their hope. They then regrouped after three days and decided not to attack Manila directly but to go for Spanish power magazine first. As per plans, they attacked the hindered Spanish soldiers who were protecting the powder magazine. Several soldiers died ad about one fifty three Katipuneors died too. In addition, many of them were taken in prison and were severely tortured. Although Katipuneors retrieved back, as more Spanish soldiers were sent, the people all over Philippines revolted and rose up with arms. Thus, the Spanish government declared military rule. Thus, day by day, the Spanish government retrieved themselves and thus the dream of Katipuneors and the people of Philippines came true. The Philippians gained freedom from Spain. Thus the heroes day is celebrated to pay honor to all those who participated in that revolt and who lost their precious life.
Independence Day KYRGYZSTAN - Aug 31 August 31, 1991 is the day when Kyrgyzstan
Constitution Day KAZAKHASTAN - Aug 30 Kazakhstan is one of the last Soviet republics to get freedom in Decem-
ber 1991. Its Constitution was adopted on August 30, 1995 — almost four years after their independence. On August 30, the entire political system became a democracy, replacing communism. The change in the political system marks a very important era as an independent Kazakhstan became a sovereign and economically liberal republic.
HISTORY
The history of August 30, 1995, started before Kazakhstan’s independence. It became a sovereign republic within the Union of Soviet Socialist Republic in October 1990. August of 1991 saw an aborted coup effort in Moscow, which resulted in Kazakhstan gaining its independence on December 16, 1991. Though Kazakhastan got its independence in December 1991, the economy and political system was the old one from the Soviet Union days. It was on Constitution Day, August 30, 1995, the constitution was given a new facelift in an attempt to make Kazakhstan a democratic republic. An exception to making Kazakhastan a democracy is the fact that President Nursultan Nazarbayev has been granted lifetime power. Nursultan Nazarbayev started out as the head of the Communist Party of Kazakhstan in 1989. Democracy in Kazakhstan is fighting against the early communist perception. However, it is still an improvement over the previous system. The major thing that changed following the new constitution was the economy. Kazakhstan is a mineral rich country with abundant resources of uranium, chromium, zinc, oil, natural gas and diamonds.
TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES
August 30the, gives the people of Kazakhstan a big reason to celebrate its history. The Constitution Day is celebrated all over Kazakhstan. It is not only a mark of a free country but a free country with lots of economic growth, which is worth celebrating. The educational institutions reinforce this day as an important lesson in their history and their rule of law. The media plays its part in educating the citizens about the constitution and the constitutional developments. The Supreme Court spreads awareness about the importance of judiciary system in the country. It also tries to bring forward the facts about how constitution encourages and protects the country’s sovereignty, human rights and the benefits of independence. The Supreme Court conducts seminars in high schools. The atmosphere is full of festivity and lot of special performances and events are organized by the citizens to celebrate this day. After all, it is the constitution, which brings about changes and protects the interest of the common mass of a country.
got independent from the Soviet Union. The age-old Soviet pressure took a long time to shrug off. Although the country was declared a republic and went through a name change several times after 1990, it was far from being independent from the Soviet clutches. The decision of Independence on 31st August 1991 was welcome by the common people as it was in their interest.
HISTORY
The Soviet influence started in Kyrgyzstan in early 1919. The major oppression was experience during the Stalin days though. Though they were under the Soviet bear hug they still managed to retain and develop lot of social, cultural and educational aspect. The urge to preserve their culture maintained the tension among the all-Union authorities. The Soviet hold on Kyrgyzstan was not exactly like a typical colony these European countries had in Asia, Africa and other parts of the world however, they were far from being independent. The Soviet influence was quite visible in their political system. The independence of Kyrgyzstan would have taken longer if the mass resignation of the secretariat and bureau would not have happened. It was this move, which made the Supreme Soviet vote in favor of Kyrgyzstan’s independence. Another problem following independence was the fight to get to power. Lot of political instability was experienced after independence.
TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES
The struggle to reinforce a stable and able government never stops the people of Kyrgyzstan from celebrating their Independence Day. The typical celebration includes Independence Day parades with people attending it in their traditional wear. The evening sees many fireworks to celebrate the occasion. The fireworks light up the sky and make it look like a supernova explosion somewhere.
Independence Day
Trinidad & Tobago-Aug 31
The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago (pronounced ən /ˌtrˌnˌdæd tˌˌbeˌˌoˌ) is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeasternVenezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles. It shares maritime boundaries with other nations including Barbados to the northeast, Guyana to the and southeast, Venezuela to the south and west. The country covers an area 5,128 square kilometres (1,980 sq mi) and consists of two main islands, Trinidad and Tobago, and numerous smaller landforms. Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the main islands, comprising about 94% of the total area and 96% of the total population of the country. The nation lies outside the hurricane belt. The island of Trinidad was a Spanish colony from the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1498 to the capitulation of the Spanish Governor, Don José Maria Chacón, on the arrival of a British fleet of 18 warships on February 18, 1797. During the same period, the island of Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlandercolonizers. Trinidad and Tobago was ceded to Britain in 1802 under the Treaty of Amiens. The country obtained independence in 1962, becoming a republic in 1976. Unlike most of the English-speaking Caribbean, Trinidad and Tobago's economy is primarily industrial, with an emphasis on petroleum and petrochemicals. Trinidad and Tobago is known for its Carnival and is the birthplace of steelpan,calypso, soca, and limbo.
History
Historian E.L. Joseph claimed that Trinidad’s Amerindian name was Iere, derived from theArawak name for hummingbird, ierèttê or yerettê. However, Boomert claims that neithercairi nor caeri means hummingbird and tukusi or tucuchi does. Others have reported thatkairi and iere simply mean island. Christopher Columbus renamed it "La Isla de la Trinidad" ("The Island of the Trinity"), fulfilling a vow he had made before setting out on his third voyage of exploration. Tobago's cigar-like shape may have given it its Spanish name (cabaco, tavaco, tobacco) and possibly its Amerindian names of Aloubaéra (black conch) and Urupaina (big snail), although the English pronunciation is /təˌbeˌˌoˌ/, rhyming with plumbago andsago.
Trinidad Both Trinidad and Tobago
were originally settled by Amerindians of South American origin. Trinidad was first settled by preagricultural Archaic people at least 7,000 years ago, making it the earliest-settled part of the Caribbean. Ceramic-using agriculturalists settled Trinidad around 250 BC, and then moved further up the Lesser Antillean chain. At the time of European contact Trinidad was occupied by various Arawakan-speaking including the groups Nepoya and Suppoya, and Cariban-speaking groups such as the Yao, while Tobago was occupied by the Island Caribs and Galibi. Christopher Columbus encountered the island of Trinidad on 31 July 1498. Antonio de Sedeñofirst settled Trinidad in the 1530s as a means of controlling the Orinoco and subduing the Warao (Whitehead, 1997). Cacique Wannawanare (Guanaguanare) granted the St Joseph area to Domingo de Vera e Ibargüen in 1592, and then withdrew to another part of the island (Boomert, 2000). San José de Oruña (St Joseph) was established by Antonio de Berrío on this land. Walter Raleigh arrived in Trinidad on 22 March 1595 and soon attacked San José and captured and interrogated de Berrío, obtaining much information from him and from the cacique Topiawari. In the 1700s, Trinidad belonged as an island province to the Viceroyalty of New Spain together with Central America, present-day Mexico and Southwestern United States. However, Trinidad in this period was still mostly forest, populated by a few Spaniards with their handful of slaves and a few thousand Amerindians (Besson, 2000). Spanish colonisation in Trinidad remained tenuous. Because Trinidad was considered underpopulated, Roume de St. Laurent, a Frenchman living in Grenada, was able to obtain a Cédula de Población from the Spanish king Charles III on 4 November 1783. This Cédula de Población was more generous than the first of 1776, and granted free lands to Roman Catholic foreign settlers and their slaves in Trinidad willing to swear allegiance to the Spanish king. The land grant was thirty two acres for each man, woman and child and half of that for each slave brought. As a result, Scots, Irish, German, Italian and English families arrived. Protestants benefited from Governor Don José María Chacon's generous interpretation of the law. The French Revolution (1789) also had an impact on Trinidad's culture as it resulted in the emigration of Martiniquan planters and their slaves to Trinidad who established an agriculture-based economy (sugar and cocoa) for the island. The population of Port of Spain increased from under 3,000 to 10,422 in five years, and the inhabitants in 1797 consisted of people of mixed race, Spaniards, Africans, French republican soldiers, retired pirates and French nobility. The total population of Trinidad in 1797 was 17,718, 2,151 of which were of European ancestry, 4,476 were "free blacks and people of colour", 10,009 were slaves and 1,082 Amerindians. In 1797, General Sir Ralph Abercromby and his squadron sailed through the Bocas and anchored off the coast of Chaguaramas. The Spanish Governor Chacon decided to capitulate without fighting. Trinidad became a British crown colony, with a French-speaking population and Spanish laws. The conquest and formal ceding of Trinidad in 1802 led to an influx of settlers from England or the British colonies of the Eastern Caribbean. The sparse settlement and slow rate of population increase during Spanish rule and even after British rule made Trinidad one of the less-populated colonies of the West Indies with the least developed plantation infrastructure. Under British rule, new estates were created and slave importation increased to facilitate development of the land into highly profitable sugarcane estates, but mass importation of slaves was still limited and hindered, arguably, by abolitionist efforts in Britain. The Abolitionist movement and/or the decreased economic viability of slavery as a means of procuring labour both resulted in the abolition of slavery in 1833 via the Slavery Abolition Act 1845 (citation 3 & 4 Will. IV c. 73), which was followed by its substitution by an "apprenticeship" period. This was also abolished in 1838, with full emancipation being granted on August 1. An overview of the populations statistics in 1838, however, clearly reveals the contrast between Trinidad and its neighbouring islands: upon emancipation of the slaves in 1838, Trinidad had only 17,439 slaves, with 80% of slave owners having less than 10 slaves each.:84–85 In contrast, at twice the size of Trinidad, Jamaica had roughly 360,000 slaves. Upon emancipation, therefore, the incipient plantation owners were in severe need of labour, and the British filled this need by instituting a system of indenture. Various nationalities were contracted under this system, including Chinese, Portuguese and Indians. Of these, the Indians were imported in the largest numbers, starting from May 1, 1845, when 225 Indians were brought in the first shipment to Trinidad on the Fatel Rozack, a Muslim-owned vesselIndentureship of the Indians lasted from 1845 to 1917, over which more than 147,000 Indians were brought to Trinidad to work on sugarcane plantations. They added what was initially the second-largest population grouping to the young nation, and their labour developed previously underdeveloped plantation lands. The indenture contract was exploitative, such that historians Hugh Tinker were to call it "a new system of slavery". Persons were contracted for a period of five years with a daily wage (25 cents in the early 20th century), after which they were guaranteed return passage to India. Coercive means were often used to obtain labourers, however, and the indentureship contracts were soon extended to 10 years after the planters complained they were losing their labour too early. In lieu of the return passage, the British authorities soon began offering portions of land to encourage settlement; however, the numbers of people who did receive land grants is unclear. Indians entering the colony were also subject to particular crown laws which segregated them from the rest of the Trinidad population, such as the requirement that they carry a "Pass" on their person once off the plantations, and that if freed, they carry their "Free Papers" or certificate indicating completion of the indentureship period. Despite this, however, the ex-Indentureds came to constitute a vital and significant section of the population, as did the ex-slaves. The cacao (cocoa) crop also contributed greatly to the economic earnings in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. After the collapse of the cacao crop (due to disease and the Great Depression), petroleum increasingly came to dominate the economy. The collapse of the sugarcane industry concomitant with the failure of the cocoa industry resulted in widespread depression among the rural and agricultural workers in Trinidad, and encouraged the rise of the Labour movement in the 1920 -1930 period. This was led by Tubal Uriah "Buzz" Butler, who, in combination with his Indian partners (notably Adrian Cola Rienzi), aimed to unite the working class and agricultural labouring class to achieve a better standard of living for all, as well as to hasten the departure of the British. This effort was severely undermined by the British Home Office and by the British-educated Trinidadian elite, many of whom were descended from the plantocracy themselves. They instigated a vicious race politicking in Trinidad which aimed at dividing the class-based movement on race-based lines, and they succeeded, especially since Butler's support collapsed from the top down. The Depression and the rise of the oil economy led to changes in the social structure. By the 1950s, petroleum had become a staple in Trinidad's export market, and was responsible for a growing middle class among all sections of the Trinidad population.
Gua y a quil's wa t e r f r ont a r ound 1 9 2 0 .
Tobago
Columbus reported seeing Tobago on the distant horizon in 1498, naming it Bellaforma, but did not land on the island. The present name of Tobago is thought to probably be a corruption of its old name, "Tobaco". The Dutch and the Courlanders (people from the small duchy of Courland and Semigallia in modern-day Latvia) established themselves in Tobago in the 16th and 17th centuries and produced tobacco and cotton. Over the centuries, Tobago changed hands between Spanish, British, French, Dutch and Courlander colonizers. Britain consolidated its hold on both islands during the Napoleonic Wars, and they were combined into the colony of Trinidad and Tobago in 1889. As a result of these colonial struggles, Amerindian, Spanish, French and Englishplace names are all common in the country. African slaves and Chinese, Indian, and free African indentured labourers, as well as Portuguese from Madeira, arrived to supply labour in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. Emigration from Barbados and the other Lesser Antilles, Venezuela, Syria, and Lebanon also impacted on the ethnic make-up of the country.
Independence
Trinidad and Tobago gained its independence from the United Kingdom in 1962. The presence of American military bases in Chaguaramas and Cumuto in Trinidad during World War II profoundly changed the character of society. In the post-war period, the wave of decolonisation that swept the British Empire led to the formation of the West Indies Federation in 1958 as a vehicle for independence. Chaguaramas was the proposed site for the federal capital. The Federation dissolved after the withdrawal of Jamaica and the government chose to seek independence on its own. In 1976, the country severed its links with the British monarchy and became a republic within the Commonwealth, though it retained the British Privy Council as its final Court of Appeal. Between the years 1972 and 1983, the Republic profited greatly from the rising price of oil, as the oilrich country increased its living standards greatly. In 1990, 114 members of the Jamaat al Muslimeen, led by Yasin Abu Bakr, formerly known as Lennox Phillip, stormed the Red House (the seat of Parliament), and Trinidad and Tobago Television, the only television station in the country at the time, and held the country's government hostage for six days before surrendering. Since 2003, the country has entered a second oil boom, a driving force which the government hopes to use to turn the country's main export back to sugar and agriculture. Great concern was raised in August 2007 when it was predicted that this boom would last only until 2018. Petroleum, petrochemicals and natural gas continue to be the backbone of the economy. Tourism and the public service are the mainstay of the economy of Tobago, though authorities have begun to diversify the island. The bulk of tourism visitor arrival on the islands are from Western Europe.
Military The Trinidad and Tobago Defence Force (TTDF) is the military organisation
responsible for the defence of the twin island Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It consists of the Regiment, the Coast Guard, the Air Guard and the Defence Force Reserves. Established in 1962 after Trinidad and independTobago's ence from Britain, the TTDF is one of the largest military forces in the English-speaking Caribbean. Its mission statement is to "defend the sovereign good of The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, contribute to the development of the community national and support the State in the fulfillment of its national and international objectives". The Defence Force has Trinidad and Tobago Coast Guard been engaged in do- members during a practice exercise mestic incidents, such at Staubles Bay in Chaguaramas for as the 1990 Coup Attempt, and interna- the arrival of Prince Charles in 2008. tional missions, such as the United Nations Mission in Haiti between 1993 and 1996.
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Independence Day - Aug 31 MALAYSIA Hari Merdeka (Independence Day) is a national day of Malaysia commemorating the
National Flag Day AUSTRALIA-Sep 3
independence of the Federation of Malaya from British colonial rule in 1957, celebrated on August 31 each year. In a wider context, it is to celebrate the formation of Malaysia.
Events leading up to independence
The word Peru is derived from Birú, the name of a local ruler who lived near the Bay of San Miguel, Panama, in the early 16th century. When his possessions were visited by Spanish explorers in 1522, they were the southernmost part of the New World yet known to Europeans. Thus, when Francisco Pizarro explored the regions farther south, they came to be designated Birú or Peru. The Spanish Crown gave the name legal status with the 1529Capitulación de Toledo, which designated the newly encountered Inca Empire as the province of Peru. Under Spanish rule, the country adopted the denomination Viceroyalty of Peru, which became Republic of Peru after the Peruvian War of Independence.
August 15, 2011. Villagers attempt to catch a chicken thrown by worshipers into a volcanic crater during the annual Kasada festival at Mount Bromo in Indonesia's East Java province. Villagers and worshipers throw offerings such as livestock and other crops into the volcanic crater of Mount Bromo to give thanks to the Hindu gods for ensuring their safety and prosperity.
History
The effort for independence was spearheaded by Tunku Abdul Rahman, the first Prime Minister of Malaysia, who led a delegation of ministers and political leaders of Malaya in negotiations with the British in London for Merdeka, or independence along with the first president of the Malayan Chinese Association (MCA) Tun Dato Sir Tan Cheng Lock and fifth President of Malaysian Indian Congress TunV.T. Sambanthan. Once it became increasingly clear that the Communist threat posed during the Malayan Emergency was petering out, agreement was reached on February 8, 1956, for Malaya to gain independence from the British Empire. However, for a number of logistical and administrative reasons, it was decided that the official proclamation of independence would only be made the next year, on August 31, 1957, at Stadium Merdeka (Independence Stadium), in Kuala Lumpur.
August 31, 1957
On the night of August 30, 1957, crowds gathered at the Royal Selangor Club Padang in Kuala Lumpur to witness the handover of power from the British. Prime Minister-designate Tunku Abdul Rahman arrived at 11:58 pm and joined members of the Alliance Party's youth divisions in observing two minutes of darkness. On the stroke of midnight, the lights were switched back on, and theUnion Flag in the square was lowered. The new Flag of Malaya was raised as the national anthem Negaraku was played. This was followed by seven chants of 'Merdeka' by the crowd. Tunku Abdul Rahman gave a speech hailing the ceremony as "greatest moment in the life of the Malayan people". On the morning of Saturday, August 31, 1957, the festivities moved to the newly-completed Merdeka Stadium. More than 20,000 people witnessed the ceremony, which began at 9:30 am. Those in attendance included rulers of the Malay states, foreign dignitaries, members of the federal cabinet and citizens. The Queen's representative, the Duke of Gloucester presented Tunku Abdul Rahman with the instrument of independence. Tunku then proceeded to read the Proclamation of Independence, which culminated in the chanting of 'Merdeka' seven times with the crowd joining in. The ceremony continued with the raising of the National Flag of Malaya accompanied by the national anthem being played and a 21-gun salute, followed by an azan call and a thanksgiving prayer in honor of this great occasion.
Attendees
The flag of Australia is a defaced Blue Ensign: a blue field with the Union Flag in the canton (upper hoist quarter), and a large white seven-pointed star known as the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter. The fly contains a representation of the Southern Cross constellation, made up of five white stars – one small five-pointed star and four, larger, seven-pointed stars. The flag's original design was chosen in 1901 from entries in a worldwide competition held following Federation. It was first flown in Melbourne on 3 September 1901. A slightly different design was approved by King Edward VII in 1902. Over the next few years, the exact specifications of the flag were changed several times both intentionally and as a result of confusion. The current specifications were formally gazetted in 1934, and in 1954 the flag became recognised by, and legally defined in, the Flags Act 1953, as the "Australian National Flag".
Devices
The foreign guests of honour included:
Members of royal families:
The King and Queen of Thailand The Crown Prince and Princess of Japan The Duke and Duchess of Gloucester (representing The Queen) Prince William of Gloucester
The Prime Minister of South Africa, Johannes Gerhardus Strijdom The Prime Minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru The Prime Minister of Pakistan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy The Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Van Dong The Prime Minister of Ceylon, Solomon Bandaranaike The Prime Minister of Burma, U Nu The Prime Minister of Cambodia, Sim Var The United States Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles (representing US President Dwight D. Eisenhower)
The Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Alexander Grantham The Chief Minister of Singapore, Lim Yew Hock The High Commissioners of Australia, Canada and New Zealand in Malaya
Sir Gerald Templer (former British High Commissioner in Malaya) and Lady Templer Lady Gurney (wife of former British High Commissioner in Malaya Sir Henry Gurney) Lady Gent (wife of former British High Commissioner in Malaya Sir Edward Gent)
Heads of government:
Representatives from other British colonies:
Members of the former British colonial administration:
The formation of Malaysia
The Federation of Malaysia, comprising the States of Malaya, North Borneo (later renamed Sabah), Sarawak and Singapore was to be officially declared on the date August 31, 1963, on the 6th anniversary of Malayan independence. However, it was postponed to September 16, 1963, mainly due to Indonesian and the Philippines' opposition to the formation of Malaysia. Nevertheless, North Borneo and Singapore declared sovereignty on August 31, 1963. Indonesian opposition later escalated to a military conflict. Indonesia considered Malaysia as a new form of colonization on the provinces of Sarawak and Sabah in the island of Borneo (bordering Kalimantan, Indonesia), which they laid claim on. To assure Indonesia that Malaysia was not a form of neo-colonialism, a referendum, organized by the United Nations, and the Cobbold Commission, led by Lord Cobbold, were formed to determine whether the people of Sabah and Sarawak wished to join Malaysia. Their eventual findings which indicated substantial support for Malaysia among the peoples of Sabah and Sarawak, cleared the way for the final proclamation of Malaysia. The formation of the Federation of Malaysia was then announced on September 16, 1963 as Malaysia Day. The nationwide Independence Day celebration is still held on August 31, the original independence date of Malaya, while Malaysia Day is a public holiday only in East Malaysia. However, this has caused some minor discontent among East Malaysians in particular since it has been argued that celebrating the national day on August 31 is too Malaya-centric. In 2009, it was decided that starting 2010, Malaysia Day would be a nationwide public holiday in addition to Hari Merdeka on August 31.
National Language Day MOLDOVA - Aug 31 National Language Day (Romanian: Limba noastră) is a public holiday in Moldova and is observed on August 31.
Overview
On August 27, 1989, the Popular Front of Moldova organized a mass demonstration in Chişinău, that became known as the Great National Assembly, which pressured the authorities of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic to adopt a language law on August 31, 1989 that proclaimed the Moldovan language written in the Latin script to be the state language of the MSSR. Its identity with the Romanian language was also established. The date has been a national holiday ever since. In the main square of Chişinău a concert is organized featuring the performances of various national entertainers. Normally the stage is not dismantled since Independence Day which takes place on August 27th.
Constitution Day SLOVAKIA - Sep 1 On September 1, Slovakia commemorates the 14th anniversary of the adoption of the country’s
The Australian flag uses three prominent symbols: the Union Flag, the Commonwealth Star (also the Federation Star) and the Southern Cross (or Crux). The Union Flag is thought locally to symbolise Australia's history as six British colonies and the principles upon which the Australian Federation is based, although a more historic view sees its inclusion in the design as demonstrating loyalty to the British Empire. The Commonwealth Star originally had only six points, representing the six federating colonies. However, this changed in 1908 when a seventh point was added to symbolise the Territory of Papua and any future territories. Another rationale for the change was to match the star used on the Coat of Arms, which was created in the same year. The star is also known as the Federation Star. The Commonwealth Star does not have any relation to Beta Centauri, despite that star's coincidental location in the sky and its brightness. The Southern Cross is one of the most distinctive constellations visible in the Southern Hemisphere, and has been used to represent Australia since the early days of British settlement. Ivor Evans, one of the flag's designers, intended the Southern Cross to refer also to the four moral virtues ascribed to the four main stars by Dante: justice, prudence, temperance and fortitude. The number of points on the stars of the Southern Cross on today's Australian flag differs from the original competition-winning design, on which they ranged between five and nine points each, representing their relative brightness in the night sky. In order to simplify manufacture, the British Admiralty standardised the four larger outer stars at seven points each, leaving the smaller middle star with five points. This change was officially gazetted on 23 February 1903. A complete specification for the current design was published in the Commonwealth Gazette in 1934.
Foundation of the Republic Day SANMARINO-Sep 3 On 3 September, the tiny state of San Marino celebrates its patron saint and the anniversary of the foundation of the Republic.
HISTORY
In the year 301, San Marino was founded by a Christian stonemason, Marinus. Marinus fled the island of Arbe off the Dalmation coast to escape the anti-Christian persecution of the Roman Empire. Marinus founded a small community of Christians on Mount Titano. The area was named the Land of San Marino, in memory of Marinus. Later it was named the Community of San Marino. Finally, it was formally known as the Republic of San Marino. Despite frequent invasions by the rulers of Rimini, the state of San Marino maintained its independence. Pope Nicholas IV recognized San Marino’s independence In 1291. San Marino has been invaded and occupied twice but both for short periods. Cesare Borgia, known as Duca Valentino, occupied the country in 1503 and remained there until the death of his father Rodrigo Borgia, Pope Alexander VI, the same year. Cesare Borgia was forced to withdraw his forces from San Marino following the political unrest after the Pope’s death. Cardinal Alberoni, in an attempt to gain more political power, used military force to occupy San Marino in 1739. However, civil disobedience and secret communications with the current Pope, Clement XII, ensured the recognition of San Marino’s rights and the restoration of its independence. San Marino has had an official treaty of friendship since 1862 and had it revised several times, with Italy.
TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES
The reading of the “Bando” (proclamation) in the streets starts the celebration of San Marino’s Day. A holy mass inside the Basilica del Santo is then followed by a street procession carrying the relics of San Marinus. In the afternoon, events take on a more popular appearance – a crossbow competition is held at the Cava dei Balestrieri. Meanwhile in the Piazzale lo Stradone a concert and fireworks conclude the celebrations.
August 14, 2011. Labourer Ehsan, 20, stands for a portrait during Pakistan Independence Day Celebrations at Seaview in Karachi, Pakistan. Pakistan celebrated its 64th Independence day on August 14, the day before Pakistan was made an independent country based on border lines created by the British during the end of their rule of India. Pakistan became an independent country in 1947.
August 15, 2011. Thousands of tourists gather on the Il Campo square during the fourth proof race of the Palio, in Siena. The Palio of Siena race (known locally simply as Il Palio) is held twice a year in the Tuscan city of Siena, in which jockeys ride bareback around a makeshift race course set up in the city's central square.
August 15, 2011. A close up view of the hand of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai lama pictured during a conference in Toulouse, southern France. The Dalai Lama's visit to Toulouse, included a two-day Buddhist conference starting August 13, and some 10,000 people have signed up to hear him speak.
PICTURE NEWS
Constitution and celebrates it as a national holiday. The binding document was adopted by the Slovak parliament on September 1, 1992, thereby establishing the independent Slovak Republic. The Czechoslovak Federation was officially disbanded on January 1, 1993.
HISTORY
During the peaceful Velvet Revolution in 1989, the Communist rule in Czechoslovakia ended. What followed the end of Communism was the country’s dissolution into two successor states. In July 1992, the Prime Minister of Slovakia, Vladimír Mečiar, declared that his country is now a sovereign state. Its laws prevailed over those of the federal government. All throughout the autumn of 1992, Mečiar and his Czech counterpart Prime Minister Václav Klaus ironed out the details for dissolving the federation. The federal parliament voted in November, that the country would be officially dissolved on December 31, 1992. Slovakia and the Czech Republic separated for good after January 1, 1993. This event came to be known as the Velvet Divorce. Slovakia remains to be a close partner of the Czech Republic. In 1991, the process of drafting the Constitution began. The Parliament later adopted a resolution to set up a commission of MPs from the different parties to prepare a joint draft of the Constitution for soon-to-be Slovak Republic. The draft of the constitution was debated by the Parliamentary on August 31 and September 1. The legislature held an open vote on the final text following a demonstrative walkout by MPs representing the Hungarian minority. The Constitution took effect on October 1, 1992. Slovakia adopted the Euro as its national currency on January 1, 2009.
August 15, 2011. A woman prays during a procession honoring the Virgin Mary during Notre Dame celebrations at the earthquake damaged national cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
TRADITIONS, CUSTOMS AND ACTIVITIES
On Constitution Day on the hill of Bratislava’s castle, people discover traditional manufacturers and folk handicrafts in this annual event. In this occasion, there is a presentation of traditional items made by Slovak artisans and folk artists. There are events presented by the handicraft schools and there are folk music programs for children as well.
Independence Day UZBEKISTAN - Sep 1
Uzbekistan officially the Republic of Uzbekistan (Uzbek:O‘zbekiston Respublikasi or Ўзбекистон Республикаси, Üzbekiston Respublikasi) is adoubly landlocked country in Central Asia. It shares borders with Kazakhstan to the west and to the north, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan to the east, and Afghanistan andTurkmenistan to the south. Prior to 1991, it was part of the Soviet Union. Once part of the Persian Samanid and later Timurid empires, the region was conquered in the early 16th century by Uzbek nomads, who spoke an Eastern Turkic language. Most of Uzbekistan’s population today belong to the Uzbek ethnic group and speak the Uzbek language, one of the family of Turkic languages. Uzbekistan was incorporated into the Russian Empire in the 19th century and in 1924 became a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, known as the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR). It has been an independent republic since December 1991. Uzbekistan's economy relies mainly on commodity production, including cotton, gold,uranium, potassium, and natural gas. Despite the declared objective of transition to a market economy, Uzbekistan continues to maintain rigid economic controls, which often repel foreign investors. The policy of gradual, strictly controlled transition has nevertheless produced beneficial results in the form of economic recovery after 1995. Uzbekistan's domestic policies on human rights and individual freedoms are often criticised by international organizations.
August 15, 2011. Pakistani Nargis Shah, 13, plays on a swing along with other children on the outskirts of Islamabad, Pakistan.
August 12, 2011. Peckham, East London denizens add to a community wall of peace and support with pastel notes following riots which damaged the area.
Geography Uzbekistan has an area of 447,400 square kilometres (172,700 sq mi). It is the 56th largest country in the world
by area and the 42nd by population. Among the CIScountries, it is the 5th largest by area and the 3rd largest by population. Uzbekistan lies between latitudes 37° and 46° N, and longitudes 56° and 74° E. It stretches 1,425 kilometres (885 mi) from west to east and 930 kilometres (580 mi) from north to south. Bordering Kazakhstan and the Aral Sea to the north and northwest, Turkmenistan to the southwest, Tajikistan to the southeast, and Kyrgyzstan to the northeast, Uzbekistan is not only one of the larger Central Asian states but also the only Central Asian state to border all the other four. Uzbekistan also shares a short border (less than 150 km or 93 mi) with Afghanistan to the south. Uzbekistan is a dry, landlocked country; it is one of two doubly landlocked countries in the world, i.e., a country completely surrounded by landlocked countries – the other being Liechtenstein. Less than 10% of its territory is intensively cultivated irrigated land in river valleys and oases. The rest is vast desert (Kyzyl Kum) and mountains. The highest point in Uzbekistan is the Khazret Sultan, located at 4,643 metres (15,233 ft) above sea level, located in the southern part of theGissar Range in Surkhandarya Province, on the border with Tajikistan, just north-west of Dushanbe (formerly called Peak of the 22nd Congress of the Communist Party). The climate in the Republic of Uzbekistan is continental, with little precipitation expected annually (100–200 millimeters, or 3.9–7.9 inches). The average summer high temperature tends to be 40 °C (104 °F), while the average winter low temperature is around −23 °C (−9 °F). Major cities include Andijan, Bukhara, Samarkand, Namangan and the capital Tashkent.
Satellite map of Uzbekistan.
Environment Decades of questionable Soviet policies in pursuit of greater cotton production have resulted in a catastrophic sce-
nario. The agricultural industry appears to be the main contributor to the pollution and devastation of the air and water in the country. The Aral Sea disaster is a classic example. The Aral Sea used to be the fourth-largest inland sea onEarth, acting as an influencing factor in the air moisture. Since the 1960s, the decade when the misuse of the Aral Sea water began, it has shrunk to less than 50% of its former area and decreased in volume threefold. Reliable or even approximate data have not been collected, stored or provided by any organisation or official agency. Much of the water was and still continues to be used for the irrigation of cotton fields, a crop that requires a large amount of water to grow. The numbers of animal deaths and human refugees from the area around the sea can only be guessed at. The question of who is responsible for the crisis remains open – the Soviet scientists and politicians who directed the distribution of water during the 1960s, or the post-Soviet politicians who did not allocate sufficient funding for the building of dams and irrigation systems. Due to the virtually insoluble Aral Sea problem, high salinity and contamination of the soil with heavy elements are especially widespread in Karakalpakstan, the region of Uzbekistan adjacent to the Aral Sea. The bulk of the nation's water resources is used for farming, which accounts for nearly 94% of the water usage and contributes to high soil Comparison of the Aral Sea between 1989 salinity. Heavy use of pesticides and fertilisers for cotton growing further aggravates soil pollution.
August 16, 2011. Oil tankers used to carry fuel for NATO forces in Afghanistan, are seen damaged along the roadside after they were hit by a bomb attack in the outskirts of Landikotal, northwest PakAugust 16, 2011. A woman says confession to a priest at one of the 200 temporary istan. A bomb blast destroyed four trucks carrying confessionals set up at Madrid's Buen Retiro park. Hundreds of thousands of pil- fuel for U.S.-led NATO forces in Afghanistan in Pakgrims will gather into Madrid for a giant open-air mass, launching a six-day youth istan's northwestern tribal region of Khyber. party for Pope Benedict XVI at a time of economic hardship in Spain. The faithful will pack into the emblematic central Madrid square of Cibeles for the inaugural mass celebrated by Madrid's archbishop, Cardinal Antonio Maria Rouco Varela.
and 2008. History The earliest Bronze Age colonists of the Tarim Basin were people of Caucasoid physical type who entered probably from the north and west and probably spoke languages
that could be classified as Pre- or Proto-Tocharian, ancestral to the Indo-European Tocharian languages documented later in the Tarim Basin. These early settlers occupied the northern and eastern parts of the Tarim Basin, where their graves have yielded mummies dated about 1800 BC. They participated in a cultural world centered on the eastern steppes of central Eurasia, including modern northeastern Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. At the eastern end of the Tarim Basin, people of Mongoloid physical type began to be buried in cemeteries such as Yanbulaq some centuries later, during the later second or early first millennium BC. About the same time, Iranian-speaking people moved into the Tarim Basin from the steppes to the west. Their linguistic heritage and perhaps their physical remains are found in the southern and western portions of the Tarim. These three populations interacted, as the linguistic and archaeological evidence reviewed by Mallory and Mair makes clear, and then Turkic people arrived and were added to the mix. The first people known to inhabit Central Asia were Iranian nomads who arrived from the northern grasslands of what is now Uzbekistan sometime in the first millennium BC. These nomads, who spoke Iranian dialects, settled in Central Asia and began to build an extensive irrigation system along the rivers of the region. At this time, cities such as Bukhoro (Bukhara) and Samarqand (Samarkand) began to appear as centers of government and culture. By the 5th century BC, the Bactrian, Soghdian, and Tokharian states dominated the region. As China began to develop its silk trade with the West, Iranian cities took advantage of this commerce by becoming centers of trade. Using an extensive network of cities and settlements in the province of Mawarannahr (a name given the region after the Arab conquest) in Uzbekistan and farther east in what is today China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the Soghdian intermediaries became the wealthiest of these Iranian merchants. Because of this trade on what became known as the Silk Route, Bukhoro and Samarqand eventually became extremely wealthy cities, and at times Mawarannahr was one of the most influential and powerful Persian provinces of antiquity. Alexander the Great conquered Sogdiana and Bactria in 327 BC, marrying Roxana, daughter of a local Bactrian chieftain. The conquest was supposedly of little help to Alexander as popular resistance was fierce, causing Alexander's army to be bogged down in the region that became the northern part of Hellenistic Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. For many centuries the region of Uzbekistan was ruled by Persian empires, including the Parthian and Sassanid Empires. In the 8th century Transoxiana (territory between the Amudarya and Syrdarya rivers) was conquered by Arabs. In the 9th – 10th centuries Transoxiana was included into Samanid State. The Mongol conquest under Genghis Khan during the 13th century, would bring about a dramatic change to the region. The brutal conquest and widespread genocide characteristic of the Mongols almost entirely exterminated the indigenous Indo-Persian (Scythian) people of the region, their culture and heritage being superseded by that of the MongolianTurkic peoples who settled the region thereafter. Following the death of Genghis Khan in 1227, his empire was divided among his four sons and his family members. Despite the potential for serious fragmentation, Mongol law of the Mongol Empire maintained orderly succession for Female statuette bearing the kaunakes. several more generations, and control of most of Mawarannahr stayed in the hands of direct descendants of Chagatai Chlorite and limestone, Bactria, beginKhan, the second son of Genghis Khan. Orderly succession, prosperity, and internal peace prevailed in the Chaghatai ning of the 2nd millennium BC. lands, and the Mongol Empire as a whole remained strong and united. In the early fourteenth century, however, as the empire began to break up into its constituent parts, the Chaghatai territory also was disrupted as the princes of various tribal groups competed for influence. One tribal chieftain, Timur (Tamerlane), emerged from these struggles in the 1380s as the dominant force in Mawarannahr. Although he was not a descendant of Chinggis, Timur became the de facto ruler of Mawarannahr and proceeded to conquer all of western Central Asia, Iran, Asia Minor, and the southern steppe region north of the Aral Sea. He also invaded Russia and India before dying during an invasion of China in 1405. Timur initiated the last flowering of Mawarannahr by gathering in his capital, Samarqand, numerous artisans and scholars from the lands he had conquered. By supporting such people, Timur imbued his empire with a very rich culture. During Timur's reign and the reigns of his immediate descendants, a wide range of religious and palatial construction projects were undertaken in Samarqand and other population centres. Timur also initiated exchange of medical thoughts and patronized physicians, scientists and artists from the neighboring countries like India.; his grandson Ulugh Beg was one of the world's first great astronomers. It was during the Timurid dynasty that Turkish, in the form of the Chaghatai dialect, became a literary language in its own right in Mawarannahr—although the Timurids also patronized writing in Persian. Until then only Persian had been used in the region. The greatest Chaghataid writer, Ali-Shir Nava'i, was active in the city of Herat, now in northwestern Afghanistan, in the second half of the fifteenth century. The Timurid state quickly broke into two halves after the death of Timur. The chronic internal fighting of the Timurids attracted the attention of the Uzbek nomadic tribes living to the north of the Aral Sea. In 1501 the Uzbeks began a wholesale invasion of Mawarannahr. The slave trade in the Khanate of Bukhara became prominent and was firmly established. Estimates from 1821 suggest that between 25,000 and 40,000 Persian slaves were working in Bukhara at the time. In the nineteenth century, the Russian Empire began to expand and spread into Central Asia. By 1912, Russians living in Uzbekistan numbered 210,306. The "Great Game" period is generally regarded as running from approximately 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. Following the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, a second, less intensive phase followed. At the start of the nineteenth century, there were some 2,000 miles (3,200 km) separating British India and the outlying regions of Tsarist Russia. Much of the land in between was unmapped. By the beginning of the twentieth century, Central Asia was firmly in the hands of Russia and, despite some early resistance to Bolsheviks, Uzbekistan and the rest of Central Asia became a part of the Soviet Union. On October 27, 1924 the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was created. On August 31, 1991, Uzbekistan declared independence, marking September 1 as a national holiday. The country is now the world's third-largest exporter of cotton, and it is developing its mineral and petroleum reserves.
August 14, 2011. A Libyan child looks at the sea on a corniche seaside in the rebel stronghold city of Benghazi.
August 14, 2011. Halima Hassan holds her severely malnourished son Abdulrahman Abshir, 7 months, at the Banadir hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia. The US government estimates that some 30,000 children have died in southern Somalia in the last 90 days due to famine and drought.
August 14, 2011. A worker installs decorations to a tent to be used for independence day celebrations in Noida, in the outskirts of New Delhi. India commemorates its independence day on August 15.
August 13, 2011. A Somali woman, center, rests from watching her sick and malnourished child as a doctor, right, examines a malnourished child at a local hospital. The United Nations has stated that in Somalia more than 780,000 children are acutely malnourished. In most regions of the south of Somalia 20 percent children are severely malnourished. Over 100,000 people have fled into Somalia's faminehit and war-torn capital in the past two months in search of food, water and medicine. Conflict-wracked Somalia is the country hardest hit by the extreme drought affecting 12 million people across the Horn of Africa. The United Nations has officially declared famine in Somalia for the first time this century, including in Mogadishu and four southern regions.
August 13, 2011. Roses are placed on sheets of paper with the names of those killed while trying to escape from East Berlin by crossing the Berlin Wall during a ceremony at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. The German capital marks the 50th anniversary of the building of the Berlin Wall, erected on August 13, 1961.