84 Issue | Zarb-e-Jamhoor e-Newspaper | 12-18 Aug, 2012

Defense Forces Day Zimbabwe - Aug 12

An Armed Force Day is a day when all people of a nation come together to appreciate and support the armed forces for a day to pay homage to the armed forces. This day is a national day and declared as a public holiday through out a nation. Zimbabwe too celebrates this day like many other countries do. They celebrate this day on August 12th and call it the Zimbabwe Armed Forces Day.

History

In order to safeguard Zimbabwe from any unforeseen event, it needs some defense forces such as army, an air force and many other branches of defense. Their job is to protect the nation. Zimbabwe Defense Force (ZDF) comprises of three units: ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army) and the ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army) on the one side and the RSF (Rhodesian Security Forces) on the other side.

A Defense Amendment Bill was passed and its approval led to the formation of Defense forces under a single command. Army and the Air Force both had to follow and work under the command of the commander of Zimbabwe Defense Force.

Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) was made on 1980. The element that helped in making up ZNA was from Rhodesian Army Zimbabwe Republic Police, which is also a part of the defense force. A candidate, who performed the best, became a battalion commander. Similarly, there was a majority rule according to which the candidate was given the post.

This system could not last long and was soon cancelled in favor of political appointments. ZNA was initially formed into four brigades with a total strength of 28 battalions. To support the brigade, there were the specialists from the previous Rhodesian Army. The armed forces parade is very important, as after the same only the flame of independence is lit. The national anthem sung by the people and the armed forces is “Blessed is the land of Zimbabwe”.

Traditions and activities Zimbabwe Armed Forces Day is celebrated by the people with great joy and happiness. The day begins with a won-

derful speech by the recognized personality and then the Armed Forces Day Flag is hoisted. A parade is the next even followed by the flag hoisting.

Armed Forces Day is the day when the one, who always work hard and struggles to protect the nation is remembered and honored. It is because of the armed forces that everyone in the nation sleeps in peace. Some functions are organized to honor the one, who have sacrificed their life while safeguarding the nation prosperity and fame.

The day also honors the one, who has done an outstanding and sterling work for Zimbabwe. It is a great celebration day; Zimbabweans do their best to make it memorable and express thanks to this national heroes. Most of the celebrations in Zimbabwe such as weddings, family gatherings are incomplete without killing a goat or cow. The killed animals are then to be roasted by the family. This is the common way for them to celebrate.

Queen's Birthday Thailand - Aug 12

Queen Sirikit of Thailand born Mom Rajawongse Sirikit Kitiyakara on 12 August 1932, is the queen consort of Bhumibol Adulyadej, King (Rama IX) of Thailand. She is the second Queen Regent of Thailand (the first Queen Regent was Queen Saovabha Bongsri of Siam, later Queen Sri Patcharindra, the queen mother). As the consort of the king who is the world's longest-reigning head of state, she is also the world's longest-serving consort of a monarch, though Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, more than eleven years her senior, is the oldest currently-servingconsort.

Early life

Queen Sirikit was born on 12 August 1932, at the home of Lord Vongsanuprabhand, her maternal grandfather. She is the eldest daughter and the third child of Prince Nakkhatra Mangkala Kitiyakara, the son of Prince Kitiyakara Voralaksana, and Mom Luang Bua Sanidvongs. Her name, which was given by King Prajadhipok, means "the Greatness of Kitiyakhon".

She had three siblings; two elder brothers and a younger sister: • Prof. Mom Rajawongse Galyanakit Kitiyakara, M.D. (20 September 1929 – 15 May 1987) • Mom Rajawongse Adulyakit Kitiyakara (2 November 1930 – 5 May 2004) • Mom Rajawongse Busba Kitiyakara (born 2 August 1934) Sirikit was raised by her maternal grandparents for a year after her birth, as her father went to United States to work as the secretary of the Siamese Royal Embassy at Washington D.C. Her mother joined her husband three months later. When she was one year old, her parents returned to Thailand. Sirikit lived together with her family in Deves Palace, near Chao Phraya River, Bangkok.

As a child, Sirikit often had outdoor visits with her paternal grandmother. Once in 1933, she traveled with Princess Absornsaman Devakula following King Prajadhipok's tour in Songkla.

Education

At age 4, Sirikit attended the Kindergarten College at Rajini School (sometimes called the Queen’s College). She studied until her first year at the primary level. During that time the Pacific War was being fought; Bangkok was attacked many times, thus making travel unsafe. She then moved to Saint Francis Xavier Convent School, because it was near the palace. She studied at that school from her second year at the primary level to the secondary level.

In 1946, when the war ended, her father moved to the United Kingdom to work as the ambassador to the Court of St. James's, taking his family with him. At that time, Sirikit was 13 and had graduated the secondary level. While staying in England, she learned to play the piano and learned English and French. Because of her father's work as an ambassador, she and her family moved to various countries, including Denmark and France. While living in France, she studied at a music academy in Paris.

Also while in France, Sirikit met King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who at that time had ascended to the throne and had been studying at Switzerland. Both the king and Sirikit (as well as a few other students) were staying at the Thai Royal Embassy in Paris. Sirikit accompanied the king as he visited various tourist attractions. Both the king and Sirikit found much common ground on their likes and dislikes and thus began a relationship.

Youth Day Aug 12 Worldwide

International Youth Day (IYD) is an awareness day designated by the United Nations. The first IYD was on 12 August 2000. As with other political awareness days, such as Earth Day, the purpose of the day is to draw attention to a given set of cultural and legal issues surrounding an endangered demographic.

Independence Day - Aug 13 Central African Republic

The Central African Republic (CAR) is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the northeast, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Congoin the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about 240,000 square miles (620,000 km2), and has an estimated population of about 4.4 million as of 2008. Bangui is the capital city.

Most of the CAR consists of Sudano-Guinean savannas but it also includes a Sahelo-Sudanian zone in the north and an equatorial forest zone in the south. Two thirds of the country lies in the basins of the Ubangi River, which flows south into the Congo River, while the remaining third lies in the basin of the Chari River, which flows north intoLake Chad.

Since most of the territory is located in the Ubangi and Shari river basins, France called the colony it carved out in this region Ubangi-Chari, or Oubangui-Chari in French. It became a semi-autonomous territory of the French Community in 1958 and then an independent nation on 13 August 1960. For over three decades after independence, the CAR was ruled by presidents, and an emperor, who either were not freely elected or took power by force. Local discontent with this system was eventually reinforced by international pressure, following the end of the Cold War. The first multi-party democratic elections were held in 1993 with resources provided by the country's donors and help from the UN Office for Electoral Affairs, and brought Ange-Félix Patassé to power. He lost popular support during his presidency and was overthrown in 2003 by French-backed General François Bozizé, who went on to win a democratic election in May 2005. Inability to pay workers in the public sector led to strikes in 2007, leading Bozizé to appoint a new government headed by Faustin-Archange Touadéra on 22 January 2008. In February 2010, Bozizé signed a presidential decree setting the date for the next presidential election as 25 April 2010. Although initially postponed, elections were held in January and March 2011. Bozizé and his party both won in the elections.

Despite its significant mineral resources (uranium reserves in Bakouma, crude oil, gold,diamonds, lumber, hydropower ) and its arable land, the Central African Republic remains one of the poorest countries in the world and among the ten poorest countries in Africa. The Human Development Index for the Central African Republic is 0.343, which gives the country a rank of 179 out of 187 countries with data.

History

Independence Day Pakistan - Aug 14

Pakistan officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan (Urdu: ‫)ناتسکاپ ۂیروہمج یمالسا‬, is a sovereign country in South Asia.

It sits at the crossroads of the strategically important regions of South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046-kilometre (650 mi) coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Omanin the south and is bordered by India to the east, Afghanistan to the west and north, Iran to the southwest and China in the far northeast. It is separated from Tajikistan

by Afghanistan's narrow Wakhan Corridor in the north, and it shares a marine border with Oman.

The territory of modern Pakistan was the site of several ancient cultures, including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation, and has undergone invasions or settlements by Hindu, Persian, Indo-Greek, Islamic, Turco-Mongol, Afghan and Sikh cultures. The area has been ruled by numerous empires and dynasties, including the Indian Mauryan Empire, the Persian Achaemenid Empire, the Arab Umayyad Caliphate, the Mongol Empire, the Mughal Empire, theDurrani Empire, the Sikh Empire and the British Empire. As a result of the Pakistan Movement led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah and India's struggle for independence, Pakistan was created in 1947 as an independent nation for Muslims from the regions in the east and west of India where there was a Muslim majority. Initially a dominion, Pakistan adopted a new constitution in 1956, becoming an Islamic republic. A civil war in 1971 resulted in the secession of East Pakistan as the new country ofBangladesh.

Pakistan is a federal parliamentary republic consisting of four provinces and four federal territories. With a population exceeding 170 million people, it is the sixth most populous country in the world and has the largest Muslim population after Indonesia. It is an ethnically and linguistically diverse country, with a similar variation in itsgeography and wildlife.

It has a semi-industrialised economy which is the 27th largestin the world in terms of purchasing power and 47th largest in terms of nominal GDP. Pakistan's post-independence history has been characterised by periods of military rule, political instability and conflicts with neighbouring India. The country continues to face challenging problems, including terrorism, poverty, illiteracy and corruption.

A regional and middle power, Pakistan has the seventh largest standing armed forces in the world and is a declared nuclear weapons state, being the first and only nation in the Muslim world, and the second in South Asia, to have that status. It is a founding member of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference (now the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation) and is a member of the United Nations, the Commonwealth of Nations and the G20 developing nations.

History

Early and medieval age:

Some of the earliest ancient human civilisations in South Asia originated from areas encompassing present-day Pakistan. The earliest known inhabitants in the region were the Soanians, who settled in the Soan Valley of Punjab. The Indus region, which covers most of Pakistan, was the site of several successive ancient cultures including the Neolithic Mehrgarh and the Bronze Age Indus Valley Civilisation (2800–1800 BCE) at Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

The Vedic Civilization (1500–500 BCE), characterised by Indo-Aryan culture, laid the foundations of Hinduism, which would become well established in the region. Multan was an important Hindu pilgrimage centre. The Vedic civilisation flourished in the ancient Gandhāran city of Takṣaśilā, now Taxila in Punjab. Successive ancient empires and kingdoms ruled the region: the Persian Achaemenid Empire around 519 BCE, Alexander the Great's empire in 326 BCE and the Maurya Empire founded byChandragupta Maurya and extended by Ashoka the Great until 185 BCE. The Indo-Greek Kingdomfounded by Demetrius of Bactria (180–165 BCE) included Gandhara and Punjab and reached its greatest extent under Menander (165–150 BCE), prospering the Greco-Buddhist culture in the region. Taxila had one of the earliest universities and centres of higher education in the world.

The Medieval period (642–1219 CE) is defined by the spread of Islam in the region. 1st century AD StandBuddha from During this period, Sufi missionaries played a pivotal role in converting a majority of ing the regional Buddhist and Hindu population to Islam. The Rai Dynasty (489–632 CE) Gandhara, Pakistan of Sindh, at its zenith, ruled this region and the surrounding territories.

The Arab general Muhammad bin Qasim conquered Sindh and Multan in southern Punjab in 711CE. The Pakistan government's official chronology identifies this as the point where the "foundation" of Pakistan was laid. This conquest set the stage for the rule of several successive Muslim empires in the region, including the Ghaznavid Empire (975– 1187 CE), the Ghorid Kingdom and the Delhi Sultanate (1206–1526 CE). The Lodi dynasty, the last of the Delhi Sultanate, was replaced by the Mughal Empire (1526–1857 CE). The Mughals introduced Persian literature and high culture, establishing the roots of Indo-Persian culturein the region.

Colonial period:

The gradual decline of the Mughal Empire in the early eighteenth century enabled Sikh rulers to control large areas until the British East India Company gained ascendancy over South Asia. The Indian Rebellion of 1857, also known as the Sepoy Mutiny, was the region's major armed struggle against the British. The largely non-violent freedom struggle led by the Indian National Congress engaged millions of protesters in mass campaigns of civil disobedience in the 1920s and 1930s .

The All-India Muslim League rose to popularity in the late 1930s amid fears of under-representation and neglect of Muslims in politics. In his presidential address of 29 December 1930,Muhammad Iqbal called for "the formation of a consolidated North-West Indian Muslim State" consisting of Punjab, North-West Frontier Province, Sind and Baluchistan. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, espoused the two-nation theory and led the Muslim Mughal emperor Aurangzeb League to adopt the Lahore Resolution of 1940, popularly known as the Pakistan Resolution. In early 1947, Britain announced the decision to end seated on a golden throne in itsrule in India. In June 1947, the nationalist leaders of British India—includ- the Durbar ing Jawaharlal Nehru and Abul Kalam Azad representing the Congress, Jinnah representing the Muslim League, and Master Tara Singhrepresenting the Sikhs—agreed to the proposed terms of transfer of power and independence.

The modern state of Pakistan was established on 14 August 1947 (27 Ramadan 1366 in the Islamic Calendar) in the eastern and northwestern regions of British India, where there was a Muslim majority. It comprised the provinces of Balochistan, East Bengal, the North-West Frontier Province, West Punjab andSindh. The partition of the Punjab and Bengal provinces led to communal riots across India and Pakistan; millions of Muslims moved to Pakistan and millions of Hindus and Sikhs moved to India.Dispute over the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir led to the First Kashmir War in October 1947.

Independence and Modern Pakistan:

From 1947 to 1956, Pakistan was a dominion in the Commonwealth of Nations, under two monarchs. In 1947, King George VI relinquished the title of Emperor of India and became King of Pakistan. He retained that title until his death on 6 February 1952, after which Queen Elizabeth II became Queen of Pakistan. Pakistan became an Islamic and Parliamentary republic in 1956, but civilian rule was stalled by a military coup led by the Army Commander-in-Chief, General Ayub Khan. The country experienced exceptional growth until a second war with India took place in 1965 and led to economic downfall and internal instability. Ayub Khan's successor, General Yahya Khan (President from 1969 to 1971), had to deal with a devastating cyclone which caused 500,000 deaths in East Pakistan.

The 1940 Working Committee In 1970, Pakistan held its first democratic elections since independence.

They were meant to mark a transition from military rule to democracy, but of the Muslim League in Laafter the East Pakistani Awami League won, Yahya Khan and the ruling elite hore in West Pakistan refused to hand over power. There was civil unrest in the East, and the Pakistan Army launched a military operation on 25 March 1971, aiming to regain control of the province.

The targeting of civilians and other atrocities during this operation led to a declaration of independence and to the waging of a war of liberation by the Bengali Mukti Bahini forces in East Pakistan, with support from India. Independent estimates of civilian deaths during this period range from 1 million to 3 million. Attacks on Indian military bases by the Pakistan Air Force in December 1971 sparked the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, which ended with the formal secession of East Pakistan as the independent state of Bangladesh.

With Pakistan's defeat in the war, Yahya Khan was replaced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as Chief Martial Law Administrator. Civilian rule resumed from 1972 to 1977. During this period Pakistan began to build nuclear weapons; the country's first atomic power plant was inaugurated in 1972. Civilian rule ended with a military coup in 1977, and in 1979 General Zia-ul-Haq became the third military president. Military government lasted until 1988, during which Pakistan became one of the fastest-growing economies in South Asia.Zia consolidated nuclear development and increased Islamization of the state. During this period, Pakistan helped to subsidise and distribute US resources to factions of the Mujahideen movement against the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

Zia died in a plane crash in 1988, and Benazir Bhutto, daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, was elected as the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan. She was followed by Nawaz Sharif, and over the next decade the two leaders fought for power, alternating in office while the country's situation worsened; economic indicators fell sharply, in contrast to the 1980s. This period is marked by political instability, misgovernance and corruption. In May 1998, while Sharif was Prime Minister, India tested five nuclear weapons and tension with India heightened to an extreme: Pakistan detonated six nuclear weapons of its own in the Chagai-I and Chagai-II tests later in the same month. Military tension between the two countries in the Kargil district led to the Kargil War of 1999, after which General Pervez Musharraf took over through a bloodless coup d'état and assumed vast executive powers.

Musharraf ruled Pakistan as head of state from 1999 to 2001 and as President from 2001 to 2008, a period of extensive economic reform and Pakistan's involvement in the US-led war on terrorism. On 15 November 2007, Pakistan's National Assembly became the first to completed its full five-year The Minar-e-Pakistan, a symterm, and new elections were called. After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto in December 2007, her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) won the bol of Pakistan's independlargest number of seats in the 2008 elections, and party member Yousaf ence Raza Gillani was sworn in as Prime Minister. Musharraf resigned from the presidency on 18 August 2008 when threatened with impeachment, and was succeeded by Asif Ali Zardari, the current President. Gillani was disqualified from membership of parliament and as prime minister by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in June 2012. By its own estimates, Pakistan's involvement in the war on terrorism has cost up to $67.93 billion, thousands of casualties and nearly 3 million displaced civilians.

V.J. Day U.S. - Aug 14

Early history:

Between about 1000 BC and 1000 AD, Ubangian-speaking peoples spread eastward from Cameroon to Sudan and settled in most of the territory of the CAR. During the same period, a much smaller number of Bantu-speaking immigrants settled in Southwestern CAR and some Central Sudanic-speaking populations settled along the Oubangi.

The majority of the CAR's inhabitants thus speak Ubangian languages or Bantu languages belonging to the Niger–Congo family.

A minority speak Central Sudanic languages of the Nilo-Saharan family. More recent immigrants include many Muslim merchants who most often speak Arabic or Hausa.

Exposure to the outside world:

Until the early 19th century, the peoples of the CAR lived beyond the expanding Islamic frontier in the Sudanic zone of Africa and thus had relatively little contact withAbrahamic religions or north- Bangui shopping district ern economies. During the first decades of the 19th century, however, Muslim traders began increasingly to penetrate the region of the CAR and to cultivate special relations with local leaders in order to facilitate their trade and settlement in the region.

The initial arrival of Muslim traders in the early 19th century was relatively peaceful and depended upon the support of local peoples, but after about 1850, slave traders with well-armed soldiers began to penetrate the region. Between c. 1860 and 1910, slave traders from Sudan, Chad, Cameroon, Dar al-Kuti in Northern CAR and Nzakara andZande states in Southeastern CAR exported much of the population of Eastern CAR, a region with very few inhabitants today.

French colonialism:

European penetration of Central African territory began in the late 19th century during the so-called Scramble for Africa (c. 1875–1900). Count Savorgnan de Brazza took the lead in establishing the French Congo with headquarters in the city named after him,Brazzaville, and sent expeditions up the Ubangi River in an effort to expand France's claims to territory in Central Africa. King Leopold II of Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom also competed to establish their claims to territory in the Central African region.

In 1889 the French established a post on the Ubangi River at Bangui, the future capital of Ubangi-Shari and the CAR. De Brazza then sent expeditions in 1890–91 up the Sangha River in what is now Southwestern CAR, up the center of the Ubangi basin toward Lake Chad, and eastward along the Ubangi River toward the Nile. De Brazza and the pro-colonial in France wished to expand the borders of the French Congo to link up with French territories in West Africa, North Africa and East Africa.

In 1894, the French Congo's borders with Leopold II's Congo Free State and German Cameroon were fixed by diplomatic agreements. Then, in 1899, the French Congo's border with Sudan was fixed along the Congo-Nile watershed, leaving France without her much coveted outlet on the Nile and turning Southeastern Ubangi-Shari into a cul- Jean-Bédel Bokassa de-sac.

Once European negotiators agreed upon the borders of the French Congo, France had to decide how to pay for the costly occupation, administration, and development of the territory. The reported financial successes of Leopold II's concessionary companies in the Congo Free State convinced the French government in 1899 to grant 17 private companies large concessions in the Ubangi-Shari region. In return for the right to exploit these lands by buying local products and selling European goods, the companies promised to pay rent to the colonial state and to promote the development of their concessions. The companies employed European and African agents who frequently used extremely brutal methods to force Central Africans to work for them. At the same time, the French colonial administration began to force Central Africans to pay taxes and to provide the state with free labor. The companies and French administration often collaborated in their efforts to force Central Africans to work for their benefit, but they also often found themselves at odds.

Some French officials reported abuses committed by private company militias and even by their own colonial colleagues and troops, but efforts to bring these criminals to justice almost always failed. When news of atrocities committed against Central Africans by concessionary company employees and colonial officials or troops reached France and caused an outcry, there were investigations and some feeble attempts at reform, but the situation on the ground in Ubangi-Shari remained essentially the same.

In the meantime, during the first decade of French colonial rule (c. 1900–1910), the rulers of African states in the Ubangi-Shari region increased their slave raiding activities and also their sale of local products to European companies and the colonial state. They took advantage of their treaties with the French to procure more weapons which were used to capture more slaves and so much of the eastern half of Ubangi-Shari was depopulated as a result of the export of Central Africans by local rulers during the first decade of colonial rule. Those who had power, Africans and Europeans, often made life miserable for those who did not have the power to resist.

During the second decade of colonial rule (c. 1910–1920), armed employees of private companies and the colonial state continued to use brutal methods to deal with local populations who resisted forced labor but the power of local African rulers was destroyed and so slave raiding was greatly diminished. In 1911, the Sangha and Lobaye basins were ceded to Germany as part of an agreement which gave France a free hand in Morocco and so Western UbangiShari came under German rule until World War I, during which France reconquered this territory using Central African troops.

The third decade of colonial rule (1920–1930) was a period of transition during which a network of roads was built, cash crops were promoted, mobile health services were formed to combat sleeping sickness, and Protestant missions established stations in different parts of the country. New forms of forced labor were also introduced, however, as the French conscripted large numbers of Ubangians to work on the Congo-Ocean Railway, and many of these recruits died of exhaustion and illness.

In 1925 the French writer André Gide published Voyage au Congo in which he described the alarming consequences of conscription for the Congo-Ocean railroad and exposed the continuing atrocities committed against Central Africans in Western Ubangi-Shari by employees of the Forestry Company of Sangha-Ubangi, for example. In 1928 a major insurrection, the Kongo-Wara 'war of the hoe handle' broke out in Western Ubangi-Shari and continued for several years. The extent of this insurrection, perhaps the largest anti-colonial rebellion in Africa during the interwar years, was carefully hidden from the French public because it provided evidence, once again, of strong opposition to French colonial rule and forced labor.

During the fourth decade of colonial rule (c. 1930–1940), cotton, tea, and coffee emerged as important cash crops in Ubangi-Shari and the mining of diamonds and gold began in earnest. Several cotton companies were granted purchasing monopolies over large areas of cotton production and were thus able to fix the prices paid to cultivators in order to assure profits for their shareholders. Europeans established coffee plantations and Central Africans also began to cultivate coffee.

The fifth decade of colonial rule (c. 1940–1950) was shaped by the Second World War and the political reforms which followed in its wake. In September 1940 pro-Gaullist French officers took control of Ubangi-Shari.

Independence:

On 1 December 1958 the colony of Ubangi-Shari became an autonomous territory within the French Community and took the name Central African Republic. The founding father and president of the Conseil de Gouvernement, Barthélémy Boganda, died in a mysterious plane accident in 1959, just eight days before the last elections of the colonial era. On 13 August 1960 the Central African Republic gained its independence and two of Boganda's closest aides, Abel Goumba and David Dacko, became involved in a power struggle. With the backing of the French, Dacko took power and soon had Goumba arrested. By 1962 President Dacko had established a one-party state.

On 31 December 1965 Dacko was overthrown in the Saint-Sylvestre coup d'état by Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa, who suspended the constitution and dissolved the National Assembly. President Bokassa declared himself President For Life in 1972, and named himself Emperor Bokassa I of the Central African Empire on 4 December 1976. A year later, Emperor Bokassa crowned himself in a lavish and expensive ceremony that was ridiculed by much of the world. In 1979 France carried out a coup against Bokassa and "restored" Dacko to power. Dacko, in turn, was overthrown in a coup by General André Kolingba on 1 September 1981.

Kolingba suspended the constitution and ruled with a military junta until 1985. He introduced a new constitution in 1986 which was adopted by a nationwide referendum. Membership in his new party, theRassemblement Démocratique Centrafricain (RDC) was voluntary. In 1987, semi-competitive elections to parliament were held and municipal elections were held in 1988. Kolingba's two major political opponents, Abel Goumba and Ange-Félix Patassé, boycotted these elections because their parties were not allowed to compete.

By 1990, inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall, a pro-democracy movement became very active. In May 1990 a letter signed by 253 prominent citizens asked for the convocation of a National Conference but Kolingba refused this request and detained several opponents. Pressure from the United States, more reluctantly from France, and from a group of locally represented countries and agencies called GIBAFOR (France, USA, Germany, Japan, EU, World Bank and UN) finally led Kolingba to agree, in principle, to hold free elections in October 1992, with help from the UN Office of Electoral Affairs. After using the excuse of alleged irregularities to suspend the results of the elections as a pretext for holding on to power, President Kolingba came under intense pressure from GIBAFOR to establish a "Conseil National Politique Provisoire de la République" (Provisional National Political Council) (CNPPR) and to set up a "Mixed Electoral Commission" which included representatives from all political parties.

When elections were finally held in 1993 (again with the help of the international community) Ange-Félix Patassé led in the first round and Kolingba came in fourth behind Abel Goumba and David Dacko. In the second round, Patassé won 53 percent of the vote while Goumba won 45.6 percent. Most of Patassé's support came from Gbaya, Kare and Kaba voters in seven heavily populated prefectures in the northwest while Goumba's support came largely from ten less-populated prefectures in the south and east. Furthermore, Patassé's party, the Mouvement pour la Libération du Peuple Centrafricain (MLPC) or Movement for the Liberation of the Central African People gained a simple but not an absolute majority of seats in parliament, which meant Patassé needed coalition partners.

Patassé relieved former President Kolingba of his military rank of general in March 1994 and then charged several former ministers with various crimes. Patassé also removed many Yakoma from important, lucrative posts in the government. Two hundred mostly Yakoma members of the presidential guard were also dismissed or reassigned to the army. Kolingba's RDC loudly proclaimed that Patassé's government was conducting a "witch hunt" against the Yakoma.

A new constitution was approved on 28 December 1994 and promulgated on 14 January 1995, but this constitution, like those before it, did not have much impact on the practice of politics. In 1996–1997, reflecting steadily decreasing public confidence in its erratic behaviour, three mutinies against Patassé's government were accompanied by widespread destruction of property and heightened ethnic tension. On 25 January 1997, the Bangui Peace Accords were signed which provided for the deployment of an inter-African military mission, the Mission Interafricaine de Surveillance des Accords de Bangui (MISAB). Mali's former president, Amadou Touré, served as chief mediator and brokered the entry of ex-mutineers into the government on 7 April 1997. The MISAB mission was later replaced by a U.N. peacekeeping force, the Mission des Nations Unies en RCA (MINURCA).

In 1998 parliamentary elections resulted in Kolingba' RDC winning 20 out of 109 seats, which constituted a comeback, but in 1999, notwithstanding widespread public anger in urban centers with his corrupt rule, Patassé won free elections to become president for a second term.

On 28 May 2001 rebels stormed strategic buildings in Bangui in an unsuccessful coup attempt. The army chief of staff, Abel Abrou, and General François N'Djadder Bedaya were shot, but Patassé regained the upper hand by bringing in at least 300 troops of the rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba (from across the river in the Democratic Republic of the Congo) and by Libyan soldiers.

In the aftermath of this failed coup, militias loyal to Patassé sought revenge against rebels in many neighborhoods of the capital, Bangui, that resulted in the destruction of many homes as well as the torture and murder of many opponents. Eventually Patassé came to suspect that General François Bozizé was involved in another coup attempt against him and so Bozizé fled with loyal troops to Chad. In March 2003, Bozizé launched a surprise attack against Patassé, who was out of the country. Libyan troops and some 1,000 soldiers of Bemba's Congolese rebel organization failed to stop the rebels, who took control of the country and thus succeeded in overthrowing Patassé.

François Bozizé suspended the constitution and named a new cabinet which included most opposition parties. Abel Goumba, "Mr. Clean", was named vice-president, which gave Bozizé's new government a positive image. Bozizé established a broad-based National Transition Council to draft a new constitution and announced that he would step down and run for office once the new constitution was approved. A national dialogue was held from 15 September to 27 October 2003, and Bozizé won a fair election that excluded Patassé, to be elected president on a second ballot, in May 2005.

Independence Day India - Aug 15 Independence Day of India is celebrated on Fifteenth of August (8/15/47) to commemorate its independence from British rule and its birth as a sovereign nation in 1947. The day is a national holiday in India. All over the country, flag-hoisting ceremonies are conducted by thel ocal administration in attendance. The main event takes place in New Delhi, the capital city ofIndia, where the Prime Minister hoists the national flag at the Red Fort and delivers a nationally televised speech from its ramparts. In his speech, he highlights the achievements of his government during the past year, raises important issues and gives a call for further development. The Prime Minister also pays his tribute to leaders of the freedom struggle.

Background In 1946, the Labour government in Britain, its exchequer exhausted by the recently concluded World War II, and

conscious that it had neither the mandate at home, the international support, nor the reliability of native forces for continuing to control an increasingly restless India, decided to end British rule of India, and in early 1947 Britain announced its intention of transferring power no later than June 1948.

Celebrations The Prime Minister of India hoists the Indian flag on the ramparts of the historical site, Red Fort Delhi, on August 15.

This is telecasted live on the National Channel Doordarshan and many other News Channels all over India. Flag hoisting ceremonies and cultural programs take place in all the state capitals. In the cities around the country the national flag is hoisted by politicians in their constituencies. In various private organisations the flag hoisting is carried out by a senior official of that organisation. All over the country, flags are given out to citizens who wear them proudly to show their patriotism towards India. Schools and colleges around the country organise flag hoisting ceremonies and various cultural events within their premises, where younger children in costume represent their idols of the Independence era.

Independence Day Congo (Republic of) - Aug 15 The Republic of the Congo (French: République du Congo), also referred to as Congo-Brazzaville or simply Congo, is a country located in Central Africa. It is bordered byGabon, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and the Angolan exclave of Cabinda.

The region was dominated by Bantu-speaking tribes, who built trade links leading into theCongo River basin. Congo was formerly part of the French colony of Equatorial Africa.Upon independence in 1960, the former French region of Middle Congo became the Republic of the Congo. The People's Republic of the Congo was a Marxist-Leninist single-party state from 1970 to 1991. Multiparty elections have been held since 1992, although a democratically elected government was ousted in the 1997 Republic of the Congo Civil War.

History

The earliest inhabitants of the region were Pygmy people, who later were largely displaced and absorbed by Bantuspeaking peoples who found tribes during the Bantu expansions. The Bakongo are a Bantu ethnicity that also occupied parts of present-day Angola, Gabon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo, forming the basis for ethnic affinities and rivalries among those countries. Several Bantu kingdoms—notably those of the Kongo, the Loango, and the Teke—built trade links leading into the Congo River basin.

The mouth of the Congo was reached by thePortuguese explorer Diogo Cão in 1484.Commercial relationships were quickly established between the inland Bantu kingdoms and European merchants who traded various commodities, manufactured goods, and slaves captured from the hinterlands. For centuries, the Congo river delta was a major commercial hub for transatlantic trade. However, when direct European colonization of the African continent began in the late 19th century, the power of the Bantu societies in the region was eroded.

The area north of the Congo River came under French sovereignty in 1880 as a result ofPierre de Brazza's treaty with Makoko of the Bateke. This Congo Colony became known first as French Congo, then as Middle Congo in 1903. In 1908, France organizedFrench Equatorial Africa (AEF), comprising Middle Congo, Gabon, Chad, and Oubangui-Chari (the modern Central African Republic). Brazzaville was selected as the federal capital. Economic development during the first 50 years of colonial rule in Congo centered on natural resource extraction. The methods were often brutal: establishment of theCongo–Ocean Railroad following World War I has been estimated to have cost at least 14,000 lives.

During the Nazi occupation of France during World War II, Brazzaville functioned as the symbolic capital of Free France between 1940–1943. The Conference of 1944 heralded a period of major reform in French colonial policy.

Congo benefited from the postwar expansion of colonial administrative and infrastructure spending as a result of its central geographic location within AEF and the federal capital at Brazzaville. It also received a local legislature after the adoption of the 1946 constitution that established the Fourth Republic.

Following the revision of the French constitution that established the Fifth Republic in 1958, the AEF was dissolved and its constituent parts reformed into autonomous colonies within the French Community. During these reforms, Middle Congo became known as the Republic of the Congo in 1958 and published its first constitution in 1959. Antagonism between the pro-Opangault Mbochis and the pro-Youlou Balalis resulted in a series of riots in Brazzaville in February 1959, which had to be subdued by the French army.

The Republic of the Congo was granted full independence from France on August 15, 1960. Fulbert Youlou ruled as the country's first president until labour elements and rival political parties instigated a three-day uprising that ousted him. The Congolese military took charge of the country briefly and installed a civilian provisional government headed

by Alphonse Massamba-Débat. Under the 1963 constitution, Massamba-Débat was elected President for a fiveyear term. The regime adopted "scientific socialism" as the country's constitutional ideology.

In 1965, Congo established relations with the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Korea and North Vietnam.Massamba-Débat was unable to reconcile various institutional and ideological factions and his regime ended abruptly with an August 1968 coup d'état. Marien Ngouabi, who had participated in the coup, assumed the presidency on December 31, 1968. One year later, President Ngouabi proclaimed Congo to be Africa's first "people's republic" and announced the decision of the National Revolutionary Movement to change its name to the Congolese Labour Party (PCT). On March 16, 1977, President Ngouabi was assassinated. An 11-member Military Committee of the Party (CMP) was named to head an interim government with Joachim Yhombi-Opango to serve as President of the Republic. Two years later, Yhombi-Opango was forced from power and Denis Sassou Nguesso become the new president.

Sassou Nguesso aligned the country with the Eastern Bloc and signed a twenty-year friendship pact with the Soviet Union. Over the years, Sassou had to rely more on political repression and less on patronage to maintain his dictatorship.

Pascal Lissouba, who became Congo's first elected president during the period of multi-party democracy, attempted to implement economic reforms with IMF backing to liberalise the economy. In June 1996 the IMF approved a threeyear SDR69.5m (US$100m) enhanced structural adjustment facility (ESAF) and was on the verge of announcing a renewed annual agreement when civil war broke out in Congo in mid-1997. .

Congo's democratic progress was derailed in 1997 when Lissouba and Sassou started to fight over power. As presidential elections scheduled for July 1997 approached, tensions between the Lissouba and Sassou camps mounted.

On June 5, President Lissouba's government forces surrounded Sassou's compound in Brazzaville and Sassou ordered members of his private militia (known as "Cobras") to resist. Thus began a four-month conflict that destroyed or damaged much of Brazzaville and caused tens of thousands of civilian deaths. In early October, the Angolan socialist regime began an invasion of Congo to install Sassou to power. In mid-October, the Lissouba government fell.

Soon thereafter, Sassou declared himself President.

In the controversial elections in 2002, Sassou won with almost 90% of the vote cast. His two main rivals Lissouba and Bernard Kolelas were prevented from competing and the only remaining credible rival, Andre Milongo, advised his supporters to boycott the elections and then withdrew from the race. A new constitution, agreed upon by referendum in January 2002, granted the president new powers, extended his term to seven years, and introduced a new bicameral assembly. International observers took issue with the organization of the presidential election and the constitutional referendum, both of which were reminiscent in their organization of Congo's era of the single-party state. Following the presidential elections, fighting restarted in the Pool region between government forces and rebels led by Pastor Ntumi; a peace treaty to end the conflict was signed in April 2003.

The regime held the presidential election in July 2009. According to the Congolese Observatory of Human Rights, a non-governmental organization, the election was marked by "very low" turnout and "fraud and irregularities." The regime announced Sassou as the winner.

King's Death (Elvis) U.S. - Aug 16

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King".

Born in Tupelo, Mississippi, Presley moved to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family at the age of 13. He began his career there in 1954, working with Sun Records owner Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African American music to a wider audience. Accompanied by guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, Presley was the most important popularizer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country andrhythm and blues. RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage the singer for over two decades. Presley's first RCA single, "Heartbreak Hotel", released in January 1956, was a number one hit. He became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll with a series of network television appearances and chart-topping records. His energized interpretations of songs, many fromAfrican American sources, and his uninhibited performance style made him enormously popular—and controversial. In November 1956, he made his film debut in Love Me Tender.

Conscripted into military service in 1958, Presley relaunched his recording career two years later with some of his most commercially successful work. He staged few concerts however, and guided by Parker, proceeded to devote much of the 1960s to making Hollywood movies and soundtrack albums, most of them critically derided. In 1968, after seven years away from the stage, he returned to live performance in a celebratedcomeback television special that led to an extended Las Vegas concert residency and a string of profitable tours. In 1973 Presley staged the first concert broadcast globally via satellite, Aloha from Hawaii, seen by approximately 1.5 billion viewers. Prescription drug abuse severely compromised his health, and he died suddenly in 1977 at the age of 42.

Presley is regarded as one of the most important figures of 20th-century popular culture. He had a versatile voice and unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including country, pop ballads, gospel, and blues. He is the best-selling solo artist in the history of popular music. Nominated for 14 competitive Grammys, he won three, and received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36. He has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame.

Victory over Japan Day (also known as Victory in the Pacific Day, V-J Day, or V-P Day) is a name chosen for the day on which the Surrender of Japan occurred, effectively endingWorld War II, and subsequent anniversaries of that event. The term has been applied to both of the days on which the initial announcement of Japan's surrender was made – to the afternoon of August 15, 1945, in Japan, and, because of time zone differences, to August 14, 1945 (when it was announced in the United States and the rest of the Americas and Eastern Pacific Islands) – as well as to September 2, 1945, when the signing of the surrender document occurred.

August 15 is the official V-J Day for the UK while the official US commemoration is September 2. The name, V-J Day, had been selected by the Allies after they named V-E Day for the victory in Europe.

On September 2, 1945, a formal surrender ceremony was performed in Tokyo Bay, Japan, aboard the battleship USS Missouri. In Japan, the day usually is known as the "memorial day for the end of the war" (終戦記念日 Shūsen-kinenbi?); the official name for the day, however, is "the day for mourning of war dead and praying for peace" (戦歿者 を追悼し平和を祈念する日 Senbotsusha wo tsuitōshi heiwa wo kinensuru hi). This official name was adopted in 1982 by an ordinance issued by the Japanese government. August 15 is commemorated as Liberation Day in Korea.

Surrender

Events before V-J Day:

On 6 and 9 August 1945, the United States dropped atom bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively. On 9 August, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan. The Japanese government on 10 August communicated its intention to surrender under the terms of the Potsdam Declaration, but with too many conditions for the offer to be acceptable to the Allies.

The news of the Japanese offer, however, was enough to begin early celebrations around the world. Allied soldiers in London danced in a conga line on Regent Street. Americans and Frenchmen in Paris paraded on the ChampsElyséessinging "Don't Fence Me In". American soldiers in Berlin shouted "It's over in the Pacific", and hoped that they would now not be transferred there to fight the Japanese.

Germans stated that the Japanese were wise enough to— The Japanese representatives aboard the unlike themselves—give up in a hopeless situation, but were USS Missouri at the Surrender of Japan on grateful that the atomic bomb was not ready in time to be September 2, 1945 used against them. Moscow newspapers briefly reported on the atomic bombings with no commentary of any kind. While "Russians and foreigners alike could hardly talk about anything else", the Soviet government refused to make any statements on the bombs' implication for politics or science.

In Chungking, Chinese fired firecrackers and "almost buried [Americans] in gratitude". In Manila, residents sang "God Bless America". On Okinawa, six men were killed and dozens were wounded as American soldiers "took every weapon within reach and started firing into the sky" to celebrate; ships sounded general quarters and fired anti-aircraft guns as their crews believed that a Kamikaze attack was occurring. On Tinian island, B-29 crews preparing for their next mission over Japan were told that it was cancelled, but that they could not celebrate because it might be rescheduled.

Japan accepts the Potsdam Declaration:

A little after noon in Japan Standard Time on August 15, 1945, Emperor Hirohito'sannouncement of Japan's acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration was broadcast to the Japanese people over the radio. Earlier the same day, the Japanese government had broadcast an announcement over Radio Tokyo that "acceptance of the Potsdam Proclamation [would be] coming soon," and had advised the Allies of the surrender by sending a cable to U.S. President Harry S Truman via the Swiss diplomatic mission inWashington, D.C. A nation-wide broadcast by President Truman was aired at seven o'clock p.m. (daylight time in Washington, D.C.) on August 14 announcing the communication and that the formal event was scheduled for September 2. In his announcement of Japan's surrender on August 14, President Truman said that "the proclamation of V-J Day must wait upon the formal signing of the surrender terms

by Japan".

Since the European Axis Powers had surrendered three months Allied military personnel in Paris celearlier (V-E Day), V-J Daywould be the official end of World War II. In Australia and most other allied nations, the name V-P Day was ebrating the Japanese surrender used from the outset. TheCanberra Times of August 14, 1945, refers to VP Day celebrations, and a public holiday for VP Day was gazetted by the government in that year according to the Australian War Memorial.

Public celebrations:

After news of the Japanese acceptance and before Truman's announcement, Americans began celebrating "as if joy had been rationed and saved up for the three years, eight months and seven days since Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941." In Washington, D.C. a crowd attempted to break into the White House grounds as they shouted "We want Harry!" In San Francisco two women jumped naked into a pond at theCivic Center to soldiers' cheers. More seriously, rioting sailors looted city stores, overturned automobiles, and attacked women, causing more than 1,000 casualties. The largest crowd in the history of New York City's Times Square gathered to celebrate, while in theGarment District, workers threw out cloth scraps and ticker tape, leaving a pile five inches deep on the streets. A "coast-to-coast frenzy of [servicemen] kissing" occurred, with Life publishing photographs of such kisses in Washington, Kansas City, Los Angeles, andMiami.

Famous photograph:

The best-known kiss that day appeared in V–J day in Times Square, one of the most famous photographs ever published by Life. It was shot in Times Square on August 14, 1945, shortly after the announcement by President Truman occurred and people began to gather in celebration. Alfred Eisenstaedt went to Times Square to take candid photographs and spotted a sailor who "grabbed something in white. And I stood there, and they kissed. And I snapped five times." Several people have since claimed to be the sailor and nurse.

Japanese reaction:

On August 15 and 16 some Japanese soldiers, devastated by the surrender, committedsuicide. Well over 100 American prisoners of war also were executed. In addition, many Australian and British prisoners of war were executed in Borneo, at both Ranau and Sandakan, by the Imperial Japanese Army. At Batu Lintang camp, also in Borneo, death orders were found which proposed the execution of some 2,000 POWs and civilian internees on September 15, 1945.

Ceremony aboard the USS Missouri:

The formal signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender took place on board thebattleship USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September 2, 1945, and at that time Truman declared September 2 to be the official V-J Day.

Acadian Day Canada - Aug 15

The National Acadian Day is observed in Canada each year on August 15, celebrating the Assumption of Mary. It was during the first National Convention of the Acadians held at Memramcook, New Brunswick, in 1881 that the Acadian leaders received the mandate to set the date of this celebration.

The choice of the date was the object of a debate at the convention between those wishing for Acadians to celebrate June 24, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, and National Day of French Canadians since 1834 and National Holiday of Quebecsince 1977, and others wishing the celebration to occur on August 15.

The arguments put forth by those who favored June 24 were: • Acadians must unite with the other francophone Canadi ans in common objectives before the anglophone majority of Canada.

• August 15 occurs during harvest, so it would be difficult for all to be free for the celebration.

• The arguments put forth by those who favored August 15 were: • The Acadians constitute a distinct nationality and must adopt their own national day.

• The adoption of a national day distinct from that of French Canadians will not prevent unity between the two peoples.

• June 24 occurs during seeds, so it would be equally difficult for all to be free for the celebration.

• August 15 is Assumption Day, Catholic celebration of Virgin Mary, patron saint of the Acadians.

During this period of time, a good number of people among the Acadian leaders were traditionalists wishing for the conservation of the values and customs of pre-revolutionary France. This did not however prevent the Acadians from adopting a tricolor flag three years later at the Miscouche convention.

Abbot Marcel-François Richard, who favored August 15, is believed to have had an influence on the decision with the speech he gave at the convention. His arguments were: ... In fact, it seems to me that a people who, for over a century of hardships and persecutions, was able to preserve its religion, language, customs and autonomy, must have acquired enough importance to affirm its existence in a solemn way; and this could not be accomplished better than by being able to celebrate its own national holiday...

Allow me, at this time, to point out a few of the motives that will encourage you to choose Our Lady of Assumption as National Acadian Day instead of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste. Since Canadians have chosen Saint-Jean-Baptiste as their patron, it seems to me that unless you wish to mistake our nationality with theirs, it is crucial that Acadians choose a particular holiday. It is important to stress that we are not descendants of Canada, but of France. Consequently, I see no reason why we should adopt the Saint-Jean-Baptiste as our national holiday... We must choose a holiday that reminds us of our origin. I am even going to go as far as to affirm that the Assumption has always been, and must always remain, National Acadian Day, since Acadians are descendants of the French race. Louis XIII vowed to give his empire to the Blessed Virgin and he wanted the Assumption to be the kingdom's national holiday. However, not long afterwards, he sent colonists to take over Acadia. They did, however, have to bring the customs of their homeland along, and if unfortunate circumstances prevented them from celebrating their national holiday in a regular manner, it is true that the national devotion of the Acadians is their devotion to Mary.

In the end, the members present at the convention decided on August 15.

The Vatican ratified the choice of the Acadian convention many years later in a proclamation issued on January 19, 1938.

Since June 19, 2003, a National Acadian Day officially exists in virtue of a law of the Parliament of Canada.

Anniversary of Liberation North Korea - Aug 15

North Korea occupies the northern half of the Korean peninsula.

Its capital and largest city is Pyongyang. The Amnok and Tumen River forms the boarder between North Korea and China. In the history of North Korea, the date August 18, 1948 is very significant, as they got independence from Japan on this day. North Korea celebrates this day as The Liberation Day.

History

A great leader of Korea, Kim IL Sung travelled to China in 1925 to start rebellion against Japan. Anti Japanese forces were urbanized in China. This army consisted of Chinese, Korean and later Soviets. Guerrilla forces were assembled in Northeast part of China.

Korean People’s Revolutionary Army (KPRA) was organized which took over Ponchobo, which was considered a great victory in North Korea. The Korean guerrilla attacked around the Chinese-Korean frontier. These frequent wars continued for years.

After the defeat of Japan in World War II in 1945, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel in agreement with a United Nations arrangement. The north was to be administered by Soviet Union and the south by the United States. However, the Soviets and the Americans could not continue the treaty of sharing government over Korea. This led to the establishment of two separate governments and North Korea became a Democratic People’s Republic in 1948.

Traditions and Activities

In commemoration of North Korea’s liberation from the Japanese colonial rule, the local residents celebrate a national holiday, the Liberation day, on August 18, every year. A two day rally is organized where participants perform various kinds of joint events including joint solidarity meeting, cultural performances and seminars. Hundreds of social and religious representatives take part in the festivals. Following the opening ceremony, the dance troupes and artists give their spectacular performances.

The festival also includes photo exhibitions and religious preaching. They also recall the memoirs of the great leaders, who fought for their independence and lost their lives. In the recent years, North and South Korea celebrate their Liberation day together by organizing glamorous ceremonies at Seoul. These grand festivals for reunification will provide Korean nation with an opportunity to further accelerate the movement for independent reunification which started in 1925. The residents clearly convey the will of the North and South Korean people to achieve great national unity.

This liberation day is held in high pride a it denounced Japan’s 40 year rule of Korea and is celebrated with rejoice.

North Korea after so many years of liberation: After 61 years of Korean Liberation day, Korea has emerged as one of the first class nations in the world. It has fascinating cities and tourism has become an important part of the economy. Korean government stress more domestic firms and they have become an independent democratic country. Thus, Korea has at last made a place on the world platform of development and urbanization. The rebellion by Kim IL Sung started in 1925 at last brought independence to the country after lots of bloodshed. The Korea residents of today are really proud to be a Democratic Republic country.

Constitution Day Equatorial Guinea - Aug 15

Equatorial Guinea located on the western coast of Africa celebrates its constitution day on 15th august every year. This independent republic nation adopted the constitution on 15th august 1982. Since then 15th august is a public holiday for the nation to respect the constitution of the country.

History

Equatorial Guinea used to be a single party state under the 1982 constitution. In 1987, this state party was identified as the Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea. However, in 1991 a fresh multiparty constitution was started after the approval from people referendum. House of Representative consisting of 80 members replaced the actual legislature of 41 members. Under this constitution, universal adult voters elect a president for a period of seven years and the legislators or Chamber of People’s Representatives members for a period of five years. The president appoints a cabinet. All elements of the government including the legislative and judiciary division are under the supervision of the president. A prime minister who is appointed and assigned powers by the president runs the government. The nation is separated into seven provinces administratively.

The Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea currently serves as the only legal and commanding administrative organization. There has been no past record of democratic procedure in the country, the leadership being passed from colonial power to a domineering dictatorship.

Under the 1982 constitution, the president is the most powerful person in the government. He can discard the members of the cabinet, dictate laws, dismiss the Chamber of Representatives, discuss and sign treaties and summon the legislative elections. The president maintains his post of the commander in chief of the armed forces and also supervises closely on the military movements. Recently in June 2004 the president reformed the cabinet by introducing two additional posts of Minister of National Security and Director of National Forces.

The Fundamental Law of the State has been changed to the Constitutional Law under which Spanish and French were declared as the official language of the nation. Spanish law and the tribal system together form the basis of the constitutional system. Brutal crimes as well as minor theft occur much less in this country compared to other African nations. The rights of the civilians are limited and extensively controlled by the government. The convicts are severely tortured and are not entertained by the judicial system. There has been a long record of government’s intervention in privacy and family. There is strict regulation on activity and migration, press and religion among other assaults.

Traditions and Activities

Equatorial Guinea was a Spain colony until August 12 1968. On august 17, 1968 the natives of Equatorial Guinea had accepted a Constitution under which they were asked for vote of approval soon after the referendum. On august 12, 1979 London was supposed to draft a constitution for the nation to separate the white minority continuing the political party.

Equatorial Guinea is currently one of the honorable members of the United Nation, the African Union and the European Union and celebrates the national holiday of Constitution Day with joy and happiness.

Foundation of Old Panama Panama - Aug 15

Republic of Panama better known as Panama is present on the isthmus joining North and South America. A flourishing business economy Panama celebrates its Foundation Day on the 15th of august each year. Pedro Arias de Avila discovered Panama La Vieja or Old Panama in the year 1519. Actually, 15th august is the combined anniversary celebration of both foundation of Panama Veija and the opening of the Panama Canal. At one such ceremony on function day a photo exhibition of Panama City photos in the 40s, 50s and 60s was inaugurated at the Casa de Gobernacion. It is the office of the Panama provincial governor. The chief guests of the function were Governor Irina Brown and IPAT director Liriola Pittí de Cordoba.

History The relics of Old Panama are about two miles away from the pres-

ent capital of the state, Panama City. An open park flaunts the remnants of walls and vaults refreshing the pomp of the first camp of the Spaniard on the Pacific Ocean. The sumptuous amount of gold coming from Peru, Chile and California lured cunning pirates to Panama’s water.

The city suffered the most when Henry Morgan plundered and raided the city in 1671. Panama’s governor soon commanded the power magazine burned and the entire city was lost in flames. Consequently, the capital had to be shifted to a new location leading to the foundation of Panama City in 1673. Among the leftovers in Old Panama are the cathedral with a huge bell-tower, Matadero Bridge, King’s Bridge and the Bishop’s House. These remains are World Heritage and their archaeological sites are being restored. An artisan’s bazaar filled with native’s handworks and a tiny restaurant is present just in front of the rubbles.

Traditions and Activities The Panama Railroad Company was set up a year ahead of the discovery of the gold coin. However it could not start

before 1855.There had been a great advantage and boost to the infrastructure and economy when the Panama Canal was constructed.

The most significant improvement was seen in health and sanitation. This was clearly visible since yellow fever and malaria were almost eradicated and a good quality water supply system was started. The benefits were however followed by disturbances. Since most of the workers were from West Indies, a sudden social and racial discrimination started growing in the city.

Panama City was the hub of international banking in Late 1970’s and 1980s which made it the worldwide money laundering pivot. In 1989, after a year long problem between Panama and U.S., General Manuel Noriega, the leader of Panama was deposed by George Bush, president of United States. However Panama City still remains a banking hub though there is little flow of cash.

Balboa earlier a part of the Panama Canal Zone was the Headquarter of the region. Nowadays tourism is considered as an important source of money collection in Panama. Panama is the fourth largest and also a rapidly flourishing economy in Central America. The scope of tourism is increasing at a rapid rate and as such it has become one of the most interesting and sought after tourist destinations in the world.

Lefthanders Day - Aug 13 Worldwide

August 13 is designated International Lefthanders Day by Lefthanders International. It was first observed 13 August 1976. As its name suggests, it is meant to promote awareness of the inconveniences facing left-handers in a predominantly right-handedworld. It celebrates their uniqueness and difference, who are fromseven to ten percent of the world's population. Many left-handed people are discriminated against today's society, and are forced to use right handed tools, drive on the right side of the road, and even get harassed. International Lefthanders Day is made to end this discrimination.

Assumption Day- Aug 15 International

According to the belief of Christians of the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern Catholic Churches, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, and parts of the Anglican Communion and Continuing Anglicanism, the Assumption of Mary was the bodily taking up of the Virgin Mary into Heaven at the end of her life. The Roman Catholic Church teaches as dogma that the Virgin Mary "having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory." This doctrine was dogmatically and infallibly defined by Pope Pius XII on November 1, 1950, in his Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus. This belief is known as the Dormition of the Theotokos by the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox Churches. In the churches which observe it, the Assumption is a major feast day, commonly celebrated on August 15. In many countries it is a Catholic Holy Day of Obligation.

In his August 15, 2004, homily given at Lourdes, Pope John Paul II quoted John 14:3 as one of the scriptural bases for understanding the dogma of the Assumption of Mary. In this verse, Jesus tells his disciples at the Last Supper, "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will receive you to myself; that where I am, you may be there also." According to Catholic theology, Mary is the pledge of the fulfillment of Christ's promise.

The feast of the Assumption on August 15 is a public holiday in many countries, including Austria, Belgium, Chile, Ecuador, France, Greece, Lebanon, Italy, Malta, Poland, Portugal and Spain . In Eastern Orthodox churches following the Julian Calendar, the feast day of Assumption of Mary falls on August 28, and is a public holiday in the Republic of Macedonia.

The Assumption of the VirThe capital city of Paraguay is named Asunción in honour of the Assumption gin Mary has been a subject of Mary. It was founded on August 15, 1537, by Juan de Salazar y Espinoza.

of veneration, doctrine and Catholic Marian art for cenAlthough the Assumption (Latin: turies. This painting is by assūmptiō, "taken up") was only rel- Rubens, 1626.

History

atively recently defined as infallible dogma by the Catholic Church, and in spite of a statement by Saint Epiphanius of Salamis in AD 377 that no one knew whether Mary had died or not, apocryphal accounts of the assumption of Mary into heaven have circulated since at least the 4th century. The Catholic Church itself interprets chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation as referring to it. The earliest known narrative is the so-called Liber Requiei Mariae (The Book of Mary's Repose), which survives intact only in an Ethiopic translation. Probably composed by the 4th century, this Christian apocryphal narrative may be as early as the 3rd century. Also quite early are the very different traditions of the "Six Books" Dormition narratives. The earliest versions of this apocryphon are preserved by several Syriac manuscripts of the 5th and 6th centuries, although the text itself probably belongs to the 4th century.

Later apocrypha based on these earlier texts include the De Obitu S. Dominae, attributed to St. John, a work probably from around the turn of the 6th century that is a summary of the "Six Books" narrative. The story also appears in De Transitu Virginis, a late 5th century work ascribed to St. Melito of Sardis that presents a theologically redacted summary of the traditions in the Liber Requiei Mariae. The Transitus Mariae tells the story of the apostles being transported by white clouds to the deathbed of Mary, each from the town where he was preaching at the hour. The Decretum Gelasianum in the 490s declared some transitus Mariae literature apocryphal.

Coptic icon of the Dormition of An Armenian letter attributed to Dionysus the Areopagite also mentions the event, although this is a much later work, written sometime after the 6th Our Lady century. John of Damascus, from this period, is the first church authority to advocate the doctrine under his own name; he had been brought up in an environment in which a corporeal ascent of Muhammed into heaven was official policy, since he, and his father before him, held the post of imperial chancellor of the Islamic empire of the Umayyads, and Muhammed's ascent into heaven is the subject of The Night Journey, a Surah in the Quran. His contemporaries, Gregory of Tours and Modestus of Jerusalem, helped promote the concept to the wider church.

In some versions of the story the event is said to have taken place in Ephesus, in the House of the Virgin Mary, although this is a much more recent and localized tradition. The earliest traditions all locate the end of Mary's life in Jerusalem (see "Mary's Tomb"). By the 7th century a variation emerged, according to which one of the apostles, often identified as St Thomas, was not present at the death of Mary, but his late arrival precipitates a reopening of Mary's tomb, which is found to be empty except for her grave clothes. In a later tradition, Mary drops her girdle down to the apostle from heaven as testament to the event. This incident is depicted in many later paintings of the Assumption.

The taking of Mary into Heaven became an established teaching across the Eastern, Western, Coptic and Oriental churches from at least the late 7th Century, the festival date settling at August 15. Theological debate about the Assumption continued, following the Reformation, climaxing in 1950 when Pope Pius XII defined it as dogma for the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church has not claimed that this doctrine is founded on the apocryphal accounts as having any authority, nor that the church bases its teaching about the Assumption on them, but rather on the historic teaching of the Church down the centuries, the scholastic arguments in favor of it, and its interpretations of biblical sources. However, Protestant theologians reject such arguments as semantics; that apocryphal accounts did in fact become the basis for such church teachings, which were then set forth as dogma. St Thomas receiving the Virgin They cite the fact that the idea did not gain acceptance in the church Mary's girdle until the sixth century, after Gregory of Tours accepted the apocryphal work "Transitus Beatae Mariae". Catholic theologianLudwig Ott stated, "The idea of the bodily assumption of Mary is first expressed in certain transitus-narratives of the fifth and sixth centuries.... The first Church author to speak of the bodily assumption of Mary, in association with an apocryphal transitus B.M.V., is St. Gregory of Tours." The Catholic writer Eamon Duffy goes further, conceding that "there is, clearly, no historical evidence whatever for it.". However, the Catholic Church has never asserted nor denied that its teaching is based on the apocryphal accounts. The Church documents are silent on this matter and instead rely upon other sources and arguments as the basis for the doctrine.

Catholic teaching

In this dogmatic statement, the phrase "having completed the course of her earthly life," leaves open the question of whether the Virgin Mary died before her assumption or whether she was assumed before death; both possibilities are allowed. Mary's assumption is said to have been a divine gift to her as the 'Mother of God'. Ludwig Ott's view is that, as Mary completed her life as a shining example to the human race, the perspective of the gift of assumption is offered to the whole human race.

In Ludwig Ott's Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma he states that "the fact of her death is almost generally accepted by the Fathers and Theologians, and is expressly affirmed in the Liturgy of the Church", to which he adduces a number of helpful citations, and concludes that "for Mary, death, in consequence of her freedom from original sin and from personal sin, was not a consequence of punishment of sin. However, it seems fitting that Mary's body, which was by nature mortal, should be, in conformity with that of her Divine Son, subject to the general law of death". The point of her bodily death has not been infallibly defined, and many believe that she did not die at all, but was assumed directly into Heaven. The dogmatic definition within the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus which, according to Roman Catholic dogma, infallibly proclaims the doctrine of the Assumption leaves open the question whether, in connection with her departure, Mary underwent bodily death; that is, it does not dogmatically define the point one way or the other, as shown by the words "having completed the course of her earthly life".

On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII solemnly declared: By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter The Cathedral of the Assumption and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define of Our Lady in Vladimir, Russia. it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory Roman Catholic theologians consider this declaration by Pius XII to be an ex cathedra use of Papal Infallibility. Although Pope Pius XII deliberately left open the question of whether Mary died before her Assumption, the more common teaching of the early Fathers is that she did.

Assumption and Dormition (Eastern Christianity) compared The Catholic Feast of the Assumption is celebrated on August 15, and the

Eastern Orthodox andEastern Catholics celebrate the Dormition of the Theotokos (the falling asleep of the Mother of God) on the same date, preceded by a 14-day fast period. Eastern Orthodox Christians believe that Mary died a natural death, that her soul was received by Christ upon death, and that her body was resurrected on the third day after her death and that she was taken up into heaven bodily in anticipation of the general resurrection.

Her tomb was found empty on the third day. "...Orthodox tradition is clear and unwavering in regard to the central point [of the Dormition]: the Holy Virgin underwent, as did her Son, a physical death, but her body – like His – was afterwards raised from the dead and she was taken up into heaven, in her body as well as in her soul. She has passed beyond death and judgement, and lives wholly in the Age to Come. The Resurrection of the Body ... has in her case been anticipated and is already an accomplished fact. That does not mean, however, that she is dissociated from the rest of humanity and placed in a wholly different category: for we all hope to share one day in that same glory of the Resurrection of the Body which she enjoys even now."

Many Catholics also believe that Mary first died before being assumed, but Pius XII: The Immaculate they add that she was miraculously resurrected before being assumed, while Mother of God, the ever Virothers believe she was assumed bodily into Heaven without first passing gin Mary, having completed through death. As mentioned earlier, this aspect of the Assumption is not au- the course of her earthly life, thoritatively defined in Catholic theology, and either understanding may be was assumed body and soul legitimately held by Catholics. Eastern Catholics observe the Feast as the into heavenly glory.

Dormition. Many theologians note by way of comparison that in the Catholic Church, the Assumption is dogmatically defined, while in the Eastern Orthodox tradition, the Dormition is less dogmatically than liturgically and mystically defined. Such differences spring from a larger pattern in the two traditions, wherein Catholic teachings are often dogmatically and authoritatively defined – in part because of the more centralized structure of the Catholic Church– while in Eastern Orthodoxy, many doctrines are less authoritative.

Assumption in Protestantism

The Protestant Reformer Heinrich Bullinger believed in the assumption of Mary. His 1539 polemical treatise against idolatry expressed his belief that Mary's "sacrosanctum corpus" ("sacrosanct body") had been assumed into heaven by angels: Hac causa credimus et Deiparae virginis Mariae purissimum thalamum et spiritus sancti templum, hoc est, sacrosanctum corpus ejus deportatum esse ab angelis in coelum.

For this reason we believe that the Virgin Mary, Begetter of God, the most pure bed and temple of the Holy Spirit, that is, her most holy body, was carried to heaven by angels.

Assumption in Anglicanism

Although the Assumption of Mary is not an Anglican doctrine, 15 August is observed by some within Anglicanism as a feast day in honour of Mary. The Common Prayer Books of the Scottish Episcopal Church and the Anglican Church of Canada mark the date as the Falling Asleep of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Episcopal Church in the United States of America, the day is observed as the Holy Day of Saint Mary the Virgin. In the Church of England the day is a Festival of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In some churches of the Anglican Communion and the Continuing Anglican churches, many Anglo-Catholics often observe the feast day as the "Assumption of Mary".

The Anglican-Roman Catholic agreed statement on the Virgin Mary assigns a place for both the Dormition and the Assumption in Anglican devotion.

Scriptural sources

As mentioned, recent papal scholarship has cited John 14:3 as evidence of the Assumption in principle if not formally.

Near the end of a review of the doctrine's history – a review which serves as the bulk of Munificentissimus Deus – Pope Pius XII tells us: "All these proofs and considerations of the holy Fathers and the theologians are based upon the Sacred Writings as their ultimate foundation." Precedent to this, he cites many passages that have been offered in support of this teaching: 29. ...the holy writers...employed statements and various images and analogies of Sacred Scripture to Illustrate and to confirm the doctrine of the Assumption, which was piously believed... On the feast day of the Assumption, while explaining the prophet's words: "I will glorify the place of my feet," [Isaiah 60:13] he [i.e. St. Anthony of Padua] stated it as certain that the divine Redeemer had bedecked with supreme glory his most beloved Mother from whom he had received human flesh. He asserts that "you have here a clear statement that the Blessed Virgin has been assumed in her body, where was the place of the Lord's feet..." 30. ...St. Albert the Great... in a sermon which he delivered on the sacred day of the Blessed Virgin Mary's annunciation, explained the words "Hail, full of grace" [Luke 1:28]-words used by the angel who addressed her-the Universal Doctor, comparing the Blessed Virgin with Eve, stated clearly and incisively that she was exempted from the fourfold curse that had been laid upon Eve [cf. Genesis 3:16]... 32.

Along with many others, the Seraphic Doctor held the same views. He considered it as entirely certain that...God...would never have permitted her body to have been resolved into dust and ashes. Explaining these words of Sacred Scripture: "Who is this that comes up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved?"

[Song of Songs 8:5] and applying them in a kind of accommodated sense to the Blessed Virgin, he reasons thus: "From this we can see that she is there bodily...her blessedness would not have been complete unless she were there as a person. The soul is not a person, but the soul, joined to the body, is a person. It is manifest that she is there in soul and in body. Otherwise she would not possess her complete beatitude. ...

The Pope also cites, significantly in paragraph 39, 1st Corinthians 15, where we read (vv. 21–26): For by a man came death, and by a man the resurrection of the dead. And as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all shall be made alive. But every one in his own order: the firstfruits Christ, then they that are of Christ, who have believed in his coming. Afterwards the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father, when he shall have brought to nought all principality, and power, and virtue. For he must reign, until he hath put all his enemies under his feet. And the enemy death shall be destroyed last: For he hath put all things under his feet.

In this passage Paul alludes to Genesis 3:15 (in addition to the primary reference of Psalms 8:6), where it is prophesied that the seed of the woman will crush Satan with his feet. Since, then, Jesus arose to Heaven to fulfill this prophecy, it follows that the woman would have a similar end, since she shared this enmity with Satan. The pope comments thus in paragraph 39: ...although subject to [Jesus, who is] the new Adam, [Mary, the new Eve] is most intimately associated with him in that struggle against the infernal foe which, as foretold in the protoevangelium [i.e. Genesis 3:15], would finally result in that most complete victory over the sin and death which are always mentioned together in the writings of the Apostle of the Gentiles. Consequently, just as the glorious resurrection of Jesus was an essential part and the final sign of this victory, so that struggle which was common to the Blessed Virgin and her divine Son should be brought to a close by the glorification of her virginal body, for the same Apostle says: "When this mortal thing hath put on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: Death is swallowed up in victory."

The pope also mentions (in paragraph 26) Psalms 132, a liturgical psalm commemorating the return of the Ark of God to Jerusalem and lamenting its subsequent loss. The second half of the psalm says that the loss will be recompensed in the New Covenant, and so it is hopefully prayed, "Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified" (v. 8). Since the Church sees this New Covenant ark in Mary, it understands that she was taken into Heaven in the same manner as the Lord – that is, body and soul.

In the same paragraph, the pope mentions also Psalms 45:9–17 for support of a heavenly Queen present bodily with the heavenly King Jesus, and Song of Songs 3:6, 4:8, and 6:9, which speaks of David's lover "that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer".

Regarding the Marian interpretations of those passages from Psalms 132 to Song of Songs 6:9 and those in between, the pope did, however, consider them "rather free in their use of events and expressions taken from Sacred Scripture" (paragraph 26).

Finally, he mentions in the next paragraph "that woman clothed with the sun [Revelation 12:1–2] whom John the Apostle contemplated on the Island of Patmos" as support for the doctrine. The text seems to parallel this woman with the woman of the Genesis 3 prophecy (and hence Mary): for in verse 9 the passage recalls "that old serpent" of Genesis 3, and reflects the prophecy that God would place "enmities between thee [i.e. Satan] and the woman, and thy seed and her seed" when it says that Satan "was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed" (Rev. 12:17).

All these passages – viz., John 14:3, Isaiah 60:13, Luke 1:28, Song of Songs 8:5, 1st Corinthians 15:21–26, Psalms 132:8, Psalms 45:9–17, Song of Songs 3:6, 4:8, 6:9, Genesis 3:15, and Revelation 12:1–2 – are drawn upon as Scriptural support of the Assumption both in that original document, and today by Catholic apologists. ce of the development of the Syrian Christian traditions, the very area where we later first find references to the such a similar translation of the Virgin Mary to the state of ultimate blessedness.

Judeo-Christian traditions Jean Danielou in his classical study of Jewish Christian theology noted in reference to state of the blessed dead

before the resurrection on the last day that "there is . . . and exception to this waiting of the just before they enter into blessedness; in some cases their entrance is put forward. This seems to be a strictly Jewish Christian teaching. In the Ascension of Isaiah the visionary sees 'holy Abel and Enoch" already in the seventh heaven (IX, 8-9), and with their raiment of glory (IX, 9), that is to say, they have been brought to life. Resurrection is in fact a necessary condition for entry into this place. II Enoch shows the ascension of Enoch as a final entry into the highest heaven, which is the place of ultimate blessedness (LXVII, 2), whereas I Enoch only knows of a temporary ascension. Irenaeus ascribes the former doctrine to the Elders. say that those who have been translated are taken to Paradise, and remain there until the final consummation of all things, being the first to enter upon incorruption' (Adv.Haer.V,5:1)." Danielou concludes "There is a clear distinction between the exceptional state of those who are already restored to life, and the common condition of the souls of the righteous, who wait in Sheol for the resurrection, but in a happy region of that place." Danielou also noted in his study that when the original Jewish Christian community of Jerusalem was dispersed after 70 A.D., the majority of this community established itself in Syria, becoming a major influence of the development of the Syrian Christian traditions, the very area where we later first find references to the such a similar translation of the Virgin Mary to the state of ultimate blessedness.

According to some ancient Judeo-Christian traditions, 206 days (i.e., seven months) after Mary's death and burial, Jesus appeared in the Merkabah with the soul of his Mother and calls out to her body which leaves her tomb and ascends to embrace her own soul in the Merkabah. These accounts are closely associated with Mary's role as the intercessor for the souls of the dead (i.e., just as Christ entered the realm of the dead to redeem them from death, Mary entered the realm of the dead and then like him leaves it in order to become the heavenly intercessor for those still dead.)

Liberation Day South Korea - Aug 15

Gwangbokjeol, (literally "Restoration of Light Day") celebrated annually on August 15, is one of the Public holidays in South Korea.

It commemorates Victory over Japan Day, which liberated Korea from colonial rule. The South Korean government was created three years later, on August 13, 1948, when Syngman Rhee was sworn in as the firstPresident of South Korea and Gwangbokjeol was officially designated a public holiday on October 1, 1949.

Public holiday

Many activities and events happen during the day, including an official ceremony with the president in attendance that takes place at the Independence Hall of Korea inCheonan or at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts.

All buildings and homes are encouraged to display the national flag Taegukki, and most public museums and places are open free of charge to the descendents of independence activists on the holiday.

The official "Gwangbokjeol song"(광복절 노래) is sung at official ceremonies. The song's lyrics were written by Jeong Inbo(정인보) and the melody by Yoon Yongha(윤용하). The lyrics speak of "to touch the earth again" and how "the sea dances", how "this day is the remaining trace of 40 years of passionate blood solidified" and to "guard this forever and ever".

The government traditionally issues special pardons on Gwangbokjeol.

culture Popular The special pardons given out on Gwangbokjeol are the subject of a comedy movie, Jail Breakers (Korean title

Gwangbokjeol Teuksa 광복절특사, literally "Gwangbokjeol special pardon"), where the two main characters break out of prison only to find out later that they were already on the special pardon list.

Flooding of the Nile Egypt - Aug 15

(Arabic: ‫لينلا ءافو ديع‬‎)This is an annual flooding cycle in Egypt since ancient times. It is celebrated by Egyptians as an annual holiday for two weeks starting August 15, known asWafaa El-Nil. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr'srelic into the river, hence the name, Esba` al-shahīd ('The Martyr's Finger'). Ancient Egyptians believed that the Nile flooded every year because of Isis's tears of sorrow for her dead husband, Osiris.

The flooding cycle

The three stages of the Egyptian flood cycle were Akhet, the time of the Nile flood, Peret, the sowing time, and Shemu, the time of harvest. Without this cycle people would die from starvation.The flood cycle was so predictable that the Egyptians even based their ancient calendar on it. Akhet was the first season of the year, between the months of June and September. Peret or the Egyptian Autumn season marked the time when their crops grew in the fields and were harvested, running from October to mid-February. Shemu was the third and last season of the Egyptian year which ran from mid-February until the end of May; it essentially signalled the spring season of the Egyptian calendar.

Importance for Egypt

Were it not for the Nile River, Egyptian civilization could not have developed, as it is the only significant source of water in this desert region. Its other importance was the fact that it was their gateway to the unknown world. The Nile flows from south to north, to its deltaon the Mediterranean Sea. It would flood each year, bringing in silt-laden waters; when the waters receded the silt would stay behind, fertilizing the land,the silt would be helpful for growing crops. If a flood was to large it would wash over mud dykes protecting a village. A small flood or no flood at all would mean famine. A flood must be of just the right intensity for a good season.

The ancient Egyptians did not realize that the flood in fact appeared due to rains on the mountains to the south, and it was seen as the annual coming of the god Hapi. The rains would swell the different tributaries and other rivers that joined to become the Nile River.

End of the flooding

In 1970, with the completion of the High Dam at Aswan, the annual flooding cycle in Egypt came to an end. Today, farmers must usefertilizers to keep their land productive, as the deposits of silt no longer occur each year. Flooding still occurs above the dam in modern-day Sudan.

Independence Day Gabon - Aug 16

Gabon officially the Gabonese Republic (French: République Gabonaise) is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. It borders Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and theRepublic of the Congo on the east and south. To its west is the Atlantic Ocean's Gulf of Guinea. It has an area of nearly 270,000 km², and its population is estimated at 1.5 million people. Its capital and largest city is Libreville.

Since its independence from France on August 17, 1960, Gabon has been ruled by three presidents.

In the early 1990s, Gabon introduced a multi-party system and a newdemocratic constitution that allowed for a more transparent electoral process and reformed many governmental institutions. Gabon was also a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2010–2011 term.

Low population density, abundant natural resources, and foreign privateinvestment have helped make Gabon one of the most prosperous countries inSub-Saharan Africa, with the highest HDI and the third highest GDP per capita (PPP) (after Equatorial Guinea and Botswana) in the region.

History The earliest inhabitants of the area were Pygmy peoples.

They were largely replaced and absorbed by Bantu tribes as they migrated.

In the 15th century, the first Europeans arrived. The nation's present name originates from "Gabão", Portuguese for "cloak", which is roughly the shape of the estuary of theKomo River by Libreville. French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza led his first mission to the Gabon-Congo area in 1875. He founded the town of Franceville, and was later colonial governor. Several Bantu groups lived in the area that is now Gabon whenFrance officially occupied it in 1885.

In 1910, Gabon became one of the four territories of French Equatorial Africa, a federation that survived until 1959. These territories became independent on August 17, 1960. The first president of Gabon, elected in 1961, was Léon M'ba, with Omar Bongo Ondimba as his vice president. French interests were decisive in selecting the future leadership in Gabon after Independence; French logging interests poured funds into the successful election campaign of M'ba, an évolué from the coastal region.

After M'ba's accession to power, the press was suppressed, political demonstrations banned, freedom of expression cur- Coat of arms tailed, other political parties gradually excluded from power and the Constitution changed along French lines to vest power in the Presidency, a post that M'ba assumed himself.

However, when M'ba dissolved the National Assembly in January 1964 to institute one-party rule, an army coup sought to oust him from power and restore parliamentary democracy. The extent to which M'ba's dictatorial regime was synonymous with "French Interests" then became blatantly apparent when French paratroopers flew in within 24 hours to restore M'ba to power.

After a few days of fighting, the coup was over and the opposition imprisoned, despite widespread protests and riots.

The French government was unperturbed by international condemnation of the intervention, and paratroops still remain in the Camp de Gaulle on the outskirts of Gabon's capital. When M'Ba died in 1967, Bongo replaced him as president.

In March 1968, Bongo declared Gabon a one-party state by dissolving the BDG and establishing a new party—the Parti Democratique Gabonais (PDG). He invited all Gabonese, regardless of previous political affiliation, to participate. Bongo sought to forge a single national movement in support of the government's development policies, using the PDG as a tool to submerge the regional and tribal rivalries that had divided Gabonese politics in the past. Bongo was elected President in February 1975; in April 1975, the position of vice president was abolished and replaced by the position of prime minister, who had no right to automatic succession. Bongo was re-elected President in both December 1979 and November 1986 to 7-year terms.

Economic discontent and a desire for political liberalization provoked violent demonstrations and strikes by students and workers in early 1990. In response to grievances by workers, Bongo negotiated with them on a sector-by-sector basis, making significant wage concessions. In addition, he promised to open up the PDG and to organize a national political conference in March–April 1990 to discuss Gabon's future political system. The A map of West Africa in 1670.

PDG and 74 political organizations attended the conference.

Participants essentially divided into two loose coalitions, the ruling PDG and its allies, and the United Front of Opposition Associations and Parties, consisting of the breakaway Morena Fundamental and the Gabonese Progress Party.

The April 1990 conference approved sweeping political reforms, including creation of a national Senate, decentralization of the budgetary process, freedom of assembly and press, and cancellation of an exit visa requirement. In an attempt to guide the political system's transformation to multiparty democracy, Bongo resigned as PDG chairman and created a transitional government headed by a new Prime Minister, Casimir Oye-Mba. The Gabonese Social Democratic Grouping (RSDG), as the resulting government was called, was smaller than the previous government and included representatives from several opposition parties in its cabinet. The RSDG drafted a provisional constitution in May 1990 that provided a basic bill of rights and an independent judiciary but retained strong executive powers for the president. After further review by a constitutional committee and the National Assembly, this document came into force in March 1991.

Opposition to the PDG continued after the April 1990 conference, however, and in September 1990, two coup d'état attempts were uncovered and aborted. Despite anti-government demonstrations after the untimely death of an opposition leader, the first multiparty National Assembly elections in almost 30 years took place in September–October 1990, with the PDG garnering a large majority.

Following President Omar Bongo's re-election in December 1993 with 51% of the vote, opposition candidates refused to validate the election results. Serious civil disturbances led to an agreement between the government and opposition factions to work toward a political settlement. These talks led to the Paris Accords in November 1994, under which several opposition figures were included in a government of national unity. This arrangement soon broke down, however, and the 1996 and 1997 legislative and municipal elections provided the background for renewed partisan politics.

The PDG won a landslide victory in the legislative election, but several major cities, including Libreville, elected opposition mayors during the 1997 local election.

Facing a divided opposition, President Omar Bongo coasted to easy re-election in December 1998, with large majorities of the vote. While Bongo's major opponents rejected the outcome as fraudulent, some international observers characterized the results as representative despite many perceived irregularities, and there were none of the civil disturbances that followed the 1993 election. Peaceful though flawed legislative elections held in 2001–2002, which were boycotted by a number of smaller opposition parties and were widely criticized for their administrative weaknesses, produced a National Assembly almost completely dominated by the PDG and allied independents. In November 2005, President Omar Bongo was elected for his sixth term. He won re-election easily, but opponents claim that the balloting process was marred by irregularities. There were some instances of violence following the announcement of Omar Bongo's win, but Gabon generally remained peaceful.

National Assembly elections were held again in December 2006. Several seats contested because of voting irregularities were overturned by the Constitutional Court, but the subsequent run-off elections in early 2007 again yielded a PDG-controlled National Assembly.

On June 8, 2009, President Omar Bongo died of cardiac arrest at a Spanish hospital in Barcelona, ushering in a new era in Gabonese politics. In accordance with the amended constitution, Rose Francine Rogombe, the President of the Senate, became Interim President on June 10, 2009. The first contested elections in Gabon's history that did not include Omar Bongo as a candidate were held on August 30, 2009 with 18 candidates for president. The lead-up to the elections saw some isolated protests, but no significant disturbances. Omar Bongo's son, ruling party leader Ali Bongo Ondimba, was formally declared the winner after a 3-week review by the Constitutional Court; his inauguration took place on October 16, 2009.

The court's review had been prompted by claims of fraud by the many opposition candidates, with the initial announcement of election results sparking unprecedented violent protests in Port-Gentil, the country's second-largest city and a long-time bastion of opposition to PDG rule. The citizens of Port-Gentil took to the streets, and numerous shops and residences were burned, including the French Consulate and a local prison. Officially, only four deaths occurred during the riots, but opposition and local leaders claim many more. Gendarmes and the military were deployed to Port-Gentil to support the beleaguered police, and a curfew was in effect for more than 3 months.

A partial legislative by-election was held in June 2010. A newly created coalition of parties, the Union Nationale (UN), participated for the first time. The UN is composed largely of PDG defectors who left the party after Omar Bongo's death. Of the five hotly contested seats, the PDG won three and the UN won two; both sides claimed victory.

National Day Indonesia - Aug 17 Restoration Day Dominican Republic - Aug 16 Spain controlled the Dominican Republic until 1863. The Dominicans started the war in Santiago to restore the independence from Spanish rule. On August 16, 1965, Spain ended its occupation and Dominican independence was established.

History Since the European countries had arrived in the Western Hemisphere

during the 1400-1500s, the Dominican Republic had been at a crossroads of commerce. Its capital, Santo Domingo, is the oldest city in the New World, it has the oldest university, the oldest cathedral and even the first hospital. The Dominican Republic is the perfect place for a relaxing vacation with beaches that stretch for about 1,000 miles.

Background

Traditions and Activities August 16 is known as a day of great celebration. Although it is not as

elaborate as Mardi Gras celebrations, costumed people are still part of the festivities. The laughter and joy is contagious and the costumes worn are magnificent. Male traditonal folk dancers and beautiful girls costume dress celebrate in the street parades.

Bennington Battle Day (Vermont) U.S. - Aug 16 The Battle of Bennington was a battle of the American Revolutionary Warthat took place on August 16, 1777, in Walloomsac, New York, about 10 miles (16 km) from its namesake Bennington, Vermont. A rebel force of 2,000 men, primarily composed of New Hampshire and Massachusetts militiamen, led byGeneral John Stark, and reinforced by men led by Colonel Seth Warner and members of the Green Mountain Boys, decisively defeated a detachment of General John Burgoyne's army led by Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum, and supported by additional men under Lieutenant Colonel Heinrich von Breymann.

Baum's detachment was a mixed force of 700 composed of dismountedBrunswick dragoons, Canadians, Loyalists, and Indians.

He was sent by Burgoyne to raid Bennington in the disputed New Hampshire Grants area for horses, draft animals, and other supplies. Believing the town to be only lightly defended, Burgoyne and Baum were unaware that Stark and 1,500 militiamen were stationed there. After a rain-caused standoff, Stark's men enveloped Baum's position, taking many prisoners, and killing Baum. Reinforcements for both sides arrived as Stark and his men were mopping up, and the battle restarted, with Warner and Stark driving away Breymann's reinforcements with heavy casualties.

The battle was an important victory for the rebel cause, as it reduced Burgoyne's army in size by almost 1,000 men, led his Indian support to largely abandon him, and deprived him of needed supplies, all factors that contributed to Burgoyne's eventual surrender at Saratoga. The victory also galvanized colonial support for the independence movement, and played a role in bringingFrance into the war on the rebel side. The battle anniversary is celebrated in the state of Vermont as Bennington Battle Day.

Background

After the British victories at Hubbardton, Fort Ticonderoga, and Fort Anne, General John Burgoyne's plan for the 1777 Saratoga campaign was to capture Albany and gain control of the Hudson River Valley, dividing the American colonies in half. This was part of a grand plan to separate the rebellious New England colonies from the (believed) more loyal southern colonies via a three-way pincer movement. The western pincer, under the command of Barry St. Leger, was repulsed when the Siege of Fort Stanwix failed, and the southern pincer, which was to progress up the Hudson valley from New York City, never started since General William Howe decided instead to capture Philadelphia.

British forces:

Burgoyne's progress towards Albany had initially met with great success, including the scattering of Seth Warner's men in the Battle of Hubbardton. However, his advance had slowed to a crawl by late July, due to logistical difficulties, exacerbated by the American destruction of a key road, and the army's supplies began to dwindle. Burgoyne's concern over supplies was magnified in early August when he received word from Howe that he was going to Philadelphia, and was not in fact going to advance up the Hudson River valley. In response to a proposal first made on July 22 by the commander of his German troops, Baron Riedesel, Burgoyne sent a detachment of about 800 troops under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Friedrich Baum from Fort Miller on a foraging mission to acquire horses for the German dragoons, draft animals to assist in moving the army, and to harass the enemy. Baum's detachment was primarily made up of dismounted Brunswick dragoons of the Prinz Ludwig regiment. Along the way it was joined by local companies of Loyalists, some Canadians and about 100 Indians, and a company of British sharpshooters. Baum was originally ordered to proceed to the Connecticut River valley where they believed horses could be procured for the dragoons. However, as Baum was preparing to leave, Burgoyne verbally changed the goal to be a supply depot at Bennington, which was believed to be guarded by the remnants of Warner's brigade, about 400 colonial militia.

American forces:

Unknown to Burgoyne, the citizens of the New Hampshire Grants territory (which was then disputed between New York and the Vermont Republic) had appealed to the states of New Hampshire andMassachusetts for protection from the invading army following the British capture of Ticonderoga. New Hampshire responded on July 18 by authorizing John Stark to raise a militia for the defense of the people "or the annoyance of the enemy". Using funds provided by John Langdon, Stark raised 1,500 New Hampshire militiamen in the space of six days, more than ten percent of New Hampshire's male population over the age of sixteen. They were first marched to the Fort at Number 4 (modernCharlestown, New Hampshire), then crossed the river border into the Grants and stopped at Manchester, where Stark conferred with Warner. While in Manchester, General Benjamin Lincoln, whose promotion in preference to Stark had been the cause for Stark's resignation from the Continental Army, attempted to assert Army authority over Stark and his men. Stark refused, stating that he was solely responsible to the New Hampshire authorities. Stark then went on to Bennington with Warner as a guide, while Warner's men remained in Manchester. Lincoln returned to the American camp at Stillwater, where he and General Philip Schuyler hatched a plan for Lincoln, with 500 men, to join with Stark and Warner in actions to harass Burgoyne's communications and supply lines atSkenesboro. Baum's movements significantly altered these plans.

Death of Gen Jose de San Martin Argentina - Aug 17 José Francisco de San Martín (c. 1778 – 17 August 1850), known simply as José de San Martín was an Argentine general and the prime leader of the southern part of South America's successful struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire.

Born in Yapeyú, Corrientes, in modern Argentina, he left his mother country at the early age of seven and studied in Málaga, Spain.

In 1808, after joining Spanish forces in the Peninsular War against the French, San Martín started making contact with South American supporters of independence from Spain. In 1812, he set sail for Buenos Aires from England and offered his services to theUnited Provinces of South America, present-day Argentina. After the Battle of San Lorenzo of 1813, and some time on command of the Army of the North (Spanish:Ejército del Norte) during 1814, he began to put into action his plan to defeat the Spanish forces that menaced the United Provinces from Upper Peru, making use of an alternative path to the Viceroyalty of Peru.

This objective first involved the establishment of a new army, the Army of the Andes, in Cuyo Province, Argentina.

From there, he led the Crossing of the Andes to Chile, and prevailed over the Spanish forces at the Battle of Chacabuco and the Battle of Maipú (1818), thus liberating Chile from royalist rule. Then he set sail to attack the Spanish stronghold of Lima, Peru, by sea.

On 12 July 1821, after seizing partial control of Lima, San Martín was appointed Protector of Peru (Protector del Perú), and Peruvian independence was officially declared on 28 July. On 22 July 1822, after a closed-door meeting with fellow libertadorSimón Bolívar at Guayaquil, Ecuador, Bolívar took over the task of fully liberating Peru. San Martín unexpectedly left the country and resigned the command of his army, excluding himself from politics and the military, and moved to France in 1824. The details of the 22 July meeting would be a subject of debate by later historians.

San Martín is regarded as a national hero of Argentina and, together with Simon Bolívar, one of the liberators of Spanish South America. The Order of the Liberator General San Martín (Orden del Libertador General San Martín), created in his honor, is the highest decoration conferred by the Argentine government.

Budapest conference on cyberspace 2012 (Online 09 Aug) On 4-5 October 2012 the Hungarian capital will host the first follow-up conference to the 2011 London Conference on Cyberspace. The event, taking place in the heart of Budapest, will gather together nearly 600 representatives from government, the private sector, civil society and the scientific community, as well as around 100 international journalists.

The conference will adopt the thematic and programme structure of last year’s event in London, giving participants the opportunity to discuss various

questions related to cyberspace. Elements will include the following: three plenary sessions; five thematic panel discussions on social, economic and security questions; eight workshops; a Youth Forum; and the ‘Innovation Exhibition’.

The event’s official slogan – ‘With Trust and Security for Freedom and Prosperity’ – reflects the main objectives: to promote capacity development, security and the free use of cyberspace through close and practical cooperation between the private sector and government, as well as through

more efficient cooperation between regional organisations.

Since the programme pays particular attention to the fight against cybercrime, the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also encouraging other countries to join the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime, which was adopted by the Council of Europe in 2001; since then 36 countries have ratified and another 11 have signed the convention.

The follow-up event to the London and Budapest conferences will be a conference in Seoul next year.

MNE: the state budget closed with a HUF 80.2b surplus in July (Online 08 Aug) In July the surplus of the central subsystem in the state budget was 80.2 billion forints. Last year, even ignoring the 500 billionforint block purchase of MOL shares, the surplus for the same period was only around 40 billion forints, therefore a significant development of the

budgetary position can be observed.

Macroeconomic analysts have told MTI that this year the Government can achieve its 2.5% deficit target.

In the meantime, one of the main investors in Hungarian bonds is confident: the amount of

The Indonesian National Revolution or Indonesian War of Independencewas an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between Indonesia and theDutch Empire, and an internal social revolution.

It took place betweenIndonesia's declaration of independence in 1945 and the Netherlands' recognition of Indonesia's independence in 1949.

One of the largest revolutions of the twentieth century, the struggle lasted for over four years and involved sporadic but bloody armed conflict, internal Indonesian political and communal upheavals, and two major international diplomatic interventions.

Dutch forces were not able to prevail over the Indonesians, but were strong enough to resist being expelled. Although Dutch forces could control the towns and cities in Republican heartlands onJava and Sumatra, they could not control villages and the countryside. Thus, the Republic of Indonesia ultimately prevailed as much through international diplomacy as it did through Indonesian determination in the armed conflicts on Java and other islands.

The revolution destroyed the colonial administration of the Dutch East Indieswhich had ruled from the other side of the world. It also significantly changed racial castes, as well as reducing the power of many of the local rulers (raja).

It did not significantly improve the economic or political fortune of the majority of the population, though a few Indonesians were able to gain a larger role in commerce.

Hungarian assets held

by Franklin Templeton and managed by Michael Hasenstab has increased, according to the Hungarian daily Napi Gazdaság in its review of second quarter portfolio reports.

Indonesian nationalism and movements supporting independence from Dutch colonialism, such asBudi Utomo, the Indonesian National Party (PNI), Sarekat Islam, and the Indonesian Communist Party (PKI), grew rapidly in the first half of the twentieth century. Budi Utomo, Sarekat Islam and others pursued strategies of co-operation by joining the Dutch initiated Volksraad ("People's Council") in the hope that Indonesia would be granted self-rule. Others chose a non-cooperative strategy demanding the freedom of self-government from the Dutch East Indies colony. The most notable of these leaders were Sukarno and Mohammad Hatta, two students and nationalist leaders who had benefited from the educational reforms of the Dutch Ethical Policy.

The occupation of Indonesia by Japan for three and a half years during World War II was a crucial factor in the subsequent revolution. The Netherlands, under German occupation, had little ability to defend its colony against the Japanese army, and within only three months of their initial attacks, the Japanese had occupied the Dutch East Indies. In Java, and to a lesser extent in Sumatra (Indonesia's two dominant islands), the Japanese spread and encouraged nationalist sentiment. Although this was done more for Japanese political advantage than from altruistic support of Indonesian independence, this support created new Indonesian institutions (including local neighbourhood organisa- A defiant Sutomo, one of the most tions) and elevated political leaders such as Sukarno. Just as significantly for the subsequent revolution, the Japanese de- revered revolutionary leaders. This fastroyed and replaced much of the Dutch-created economic, ad- mous photo represents for many who took part, both Dutch and Indonesian, ministrative, and political infrastructure.

With Japan on the brink of losing the war, the Dutch sought to the very soul of the revolutionary re-establish their authority in Indonesia and asked that the struggle Japanese Army "preserve law and order" in Indonesia. The Japanese, however, were in favour of helping Indonesian nationalists prepare for self-government. On 7 September 1944, with the war going badly for the Japanese, Prime Minister Koiso promised independence for Indonesia, but no date was set. For supporters of Sukarno, this announcement was seen as vindication for his apparent collaboration with the Japanese.

Independence declared

Under pressure from radical and politicised pemuda ('youth') groups, Sukarno and Hatta proclaimedIndonesian independence, on 17 August 1945, two days after the Japanese Emperor’s surrender in the Pacific. The following day, the Central Indonesian National Committee (KINP) elected Sukarno asPresident, and Hatta as Vice President.

Euphoria of revolution:

It was mid-September before news of the declaration of independence spread to the outer islands, and many Indonesians far from the capital Jakarta did not believe it. As the news spread, most Indonesians came to regard themselves as pro-Republican, and a mood of revolution swept across the country. External power had shifted; it would be weeks before Allied Forces entered Indonesia, and the Dutch were too weakened by World War II. The Japanese, on the other hand, were required by the terms of the surrender to both lay down their arms and maintain Bendera Pusaka, the first Indonesian order; a contradiction that some resolved by handing weapons flag, is raised on 17 August 1945. to Japanese-trained Indonesians.

The resulting power vacuums in the weeks following the Japanese surrender, created an atmosphere of uncertainty, but also one of opportunity for the Republicans. Many pemudajoined pro-Republic struggle groups (badan perjuangan). The most disciplined were soldiers from the Japanese-formed but disbanded Giyugun (PETA) and Heiho groups.

Many groups were undisciplined, due to both the circumstances of their formation and what they perceived as revolutionary spirit. In the first weeks, Japanese troops often withdrew from urban areas to avoid confrontations.

By September 1945, control of major infrastructure installations, including railway stations and trams in Java's largest cities, had been taken over by Republican pemuda who encountered little Japanese resistance. To spread the revolutionary message, pemuda set up their own radio stations and newspapers, and graffiti proclaimed the nationalist sentiment. On most islands, struggle committees and militia were set up. Republican newspapers and journals were common in Jakarta, Yogyakarta, and Surakarta, which fostered a generation of writers known as angkatan 45('generation of 45') many of whom believed their work could be part of the revolution.

Republican leaders struggled to come to terms with popular sentiment; some wanted passionate armed struggle; others a more reasoned approach. Some leaders, such as the leftist Tan Malaka, spread the idea that this was a revolutionary struggle to be led and won by the Indonesian pemuda. Sukarno and Hatta, in contrast, were more interested in planning out a government and institutions to achieve independence through diplomacy. Pro-revolution demonstrations took place in large cities, including one led by Tan Malaka in Jakarta with over 200,000 people, which Sukarno and Hatta, fearing violence, successfully quelled.

By September 1945, many of the self-proclaimed pemuda, who were ready to die for '100% freedom', were getting impatient. It was common for ethnic 'out-groups' – Dutch internees, Eurasian, Ambonese and Chinese – and anyone considered to be a spy, to be subjected to intimidation, kidnap, robbery, and sometimes murder, even organised massacres. Such attacks would continue to some extent for the course of the revolution. As the level of violence increased across the country, the Sukarno- and Hatta-led Republican government in Jakarta urged calm. However, pemuda in favour of armed struggle saw the older leadership as dithering and betraying the revolution, which often led to conflict amongst Indonesians.

Formation of the Republican government:

By the end of August, a central Republican government had been established in Jakarta. It adopted a constitution drafted during the Japanese occupation by the Preparatory Committee for Indonesian Independence. With general elections yet to be held, a Central Indonesian National Committee (KINP) was appointed to assist the President. Similar committees were established at provincial and regency levels.

Questions of allegiance immediately arose amongst indigenous rulers. Central Javanese principalities, for example, immediately declared themselves Republican, while many raja ('rulers') of the outer islands, who had been enriched from their support of the Dutch, were less enthusiastic. Such reluctance among many outer islands was sharpened by the radical, non-aristocratic, and sometimes Islamic nature of the Java-centric Republican leadership. Support did, however, come from South Sulawesi (including the King of Bone, who still recalled battles against the Dutch from early in the century), and from Makassarese and Bugis raja, who supported the Republican Governor of Jakarta, a Menadonese Christian. Many Balinese raja accepted Republican authority.

Fearing the Dutch would attempt to re-establish their authority over Indonesia, the new Republican Government and its leaders moved quickly to strengthen the fledgling administration. Within Indonesia, the newly formed government, although enthusiastic, was fragile and focused in Java (where focused at all). It was rarely and loosely in contact with the outer islands, which had more Japanese troops (particularly in Japanese naval areas), less sympathetic Japanese commanders, and fewer Republican leaders and activists.In November 1945, a parliamentary form of government was established and Sjahrir was appointed Prime Minister.

In the week following the Japanese surrender, the Giyugun (PETA) and Heiho groups were disbanded by the Japanese. Command structures and membership vital for a national army were consequently dismantled. Thus, rather than being formed from a trained, armed, and organised army, the Republican armed forces began to grow in September from usually younger, less trained groups built around charismatic leaders. Creating a rational military structure that was obedient to central authority from such disorganisation, was one of the major problems of the revolution, a problem that remains through to contemporary times. In the self-created Indonesian army, Japanese-trained Indonesian officers prevailed over those trained by the Dutch. A thirty year-old former school teacher, Sudirman, was elected 'commander-in-chief' at the first meeting of Division Commanders in Yogyakarta on 12 November 1945.

H unga r ia n – It a lia n c ultur a l s e a s on 2 0 1 3 t e nt a t t he Szige t f e s t iv a l (Online 08 Aug) The Government is promoting the Hungarian – Italian Cultural Season 2013 (which starts on 1 January) by setting up a Hungarian – Italian tent at the Sziget Festival. The slogan of the 2013 event series – which aims to strengthen diplomatic and cultural relations between the two nations – is Találkozások/Incontri (‘Meetings’). Visitors to the festival can meet Hungarian and Italian celebrities in the tent, as a symbol of the friendship

between the two countries.

The Hungarian – Italian tent is a Ministry of Foreign Affairs initiative, which is being jointly operated by the Ministry of Public Administration and Justice and Budapest’s Moholy-Nagy University of Art and Design. Visitor participation is maximised through interactive games, including a ‘blackbox studio’ with videorecording technology. The tent provides an opportunity for young Hungarians and Italians to meet and

get to know each others’ cultures, while also getting a foretaste of the Hungarian – Italian Cultural Season 2013.

The opening of the tent on Wednesday afternoon will be attended by Italy’s ambassador to Hungary H.E. Maria Assunta Accili, and Deputy State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Gergely Prőhle. Over the next few days the tent will welcome a number of celebrities, in acknowledgment of Hungarian – Italian relations.

The 29th Int’l summer camp for disabled youth opens in Balatonföldvár (Online 06 Aug) The week-long 29th International Summer Camp for Disabled Youth opened in Balatonföldvár on Sunday. Its aim is to help dismantle invisible walls between those living with disability and the rest of society.

At the opening ceremony Pál Szekeres, Deputy State Secretary for Sports within the Ministry of Human Re-

sources (and a threetime Paralympic fencing champion), told participants that they should forget their disabilities and should believe in themselves and in God. The event has gathered together 170 disabled young people from 22 countries.

A total of around 13 000 young people have attended the event over the course of its history.

Every year the international camp is organised in a different location, and so far Hungary has hosted the event three times.

This year the Hungarian government contributed ten million forints towards the organisation of the international camp.

HUNGARY H unga r ia n M oD de nie d t he c r itique of N e w Ze a la nd’s PM (Online 10 Aug) New Zealand’s Prime Minister John Key criticised the Hungarian troops this week, saying that they refused to patrol after dark in Baghlan, the province under Hungarian control, and their reluctance had led to an increase in insurgent activity in the area.

Referring to the critics the Ministry of Defense (MoD) in Hungary issued a statement that the Hungarianled Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) had met the International Security Assistance Force requirements and performed its mission at a high standard.

The MoD declared that it is not the Hungarian contin-

gent's task to prevent the emerging Taliban resistance in the region, since this task is performed by combat units composed of US, German and Afghan soldiers - adding that - the PRT group is in charge of directing and coordinating reconstruction and development projects in the province, with focus on education, health care, agriculture and the infrastructure.

In its statement the ministry and the Armed Forces have expressed sympathy with the comrades in arms and relatives of the two victims.

Recently the Hungarian PRT group removed a magnetic improvised explo-

sive device (IED) emplaced on a tanker truck in the town of Pol-e Khumri. Led by the commander, the Quick Reaction Force and the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) technicians of the Hungarian contingent quickly deployed to the scene where they cordoned off the area and cooperated with the EOD technicians of the Afghan national security forces until successfully removing the IED after more than three hours of constant work. Through their action, the Hungarian soldiers have thwarted a bomb attack that would have claimed around 1,500 lives.

Yie ld r e duc t ion a nd inc r e a s e d s a le s in gov e r nm e nt bond a uc t ion (Online 09 Aug) With oversubscription rates of three or four, the Government Debt Management Agency (ÁKK) has sold 3-, 5- and 10-year bonds at an increased price, with reduced yields well below sub-prime

levels.

The ten-year average auction yield fell by 28 basis points from the previous auction’s 7.61%, and was 9 basis points lower than Wednesday’s 7.42% benchmark, at 7.33%. After

the bond auction the forint started to rise sharply, with the euro falling from 277 to 276 forints; euro-dollar exchange rates were essentially unchanged.

Need for action against trafficking in human beings (Online 09 Aug) Besides nat i o n a l efforts there is a s t r o n g need for action at European level to f i g h t against trafficking in human beings (THB) – t o l d Krisztina Berta, the deputy state secretary for EU and international affairs of the Ministry of Interior on a press conference held on the 20th Sziget Festival in Budapest.

The Deputy State Secretary, who is the anti-traffick-

ing coordinator in Hungary, on the opening ceremony of thematic tent set up in Civil Sziget added: owing to its geographical location Hungary is both a transit country and a country of origin.

She emphasized that besides exploitation for sexual purposes, labour exploitation is also a growing problem.

Ms Berta drew the attention of the audience that the visitors of this civil tent can get information on the hazards of THB and fill out quizzes too.

British, German, Dutch and Austrian Embassy were also present on the press conference.

Positive developments regarding employment and the rate of activity in Hungary (Online 09 Aug) According to the latest Hungarian data published by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in the country the number of employed in the second quarter of 2012 av-

eraged 3 million 876 thousand which has been the best figure of the past couple of years. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the number of people who had managed

to get a job thereby increased by 67 000. The below chart shows the change in the number of employed over time.

Erzsébet camps: a unique way of practicing social solidarity (Online 09 Aug) As part of the Erzsébet P r o gramme, more than fourteen thousand children have been able to spend part of their summer holiday at a preferential price in soc a l l e d ‘Erzsébet camps’; these are being set u p throughout H u n g a r y, including at Lake Balaton.

The Hungarian Nat i o n a l Holiday Foundation (MNÜA) announced a call for applications for the camps, the total budget being one b i l l i o n forints. Selection of applications is automatic, meaning that all are accepted providing they meet the eligibility criteria.

The first camp opened on 18 June, and camps will

close on 25 August.

Children can spend their summer in various types of camp, including sports and arts camps. This is a huge help for tens of thousands of families in which parents

are working throughout summer: their children are well looked after in the camps, and they also learn more about certain basic values, such as environment a l awareness, health, culture and traditions.

The Erzsébet Programme is an innovative Europ e a n approach to the goal of social solidarity, with an emphasis on concrete a c t i o n rather than mere rhetoric.

The programme is funded through the existing resources of the Hungarian Nat i o n a l Holiday Foundation (MNÜA) and the National Holiday Service (NÜSZ), with no additional burden on the central budget.