English | All Combined Chapter,

21 February is a memorable day in our national history. We observe the day every year as International Mother Language Day. The day is a national holiday. On this day, we pay tribute to the martyrs who laid down their lives to establish Bangla as a state language in undivided Pakistan in 1952. The struggle to achieve our language rights is known as the Language Movement. The seed of the Language Movement was sown on 21 March 1948 when Mohammad ALi Jinnah, the Governor General of Pakistan, declared in a public meeting in Dhaka that Urdu would be the only state language of Pakistan. The declaration raised a storm of protest all over the country. The protest continued non-stop, gathering momentum day by day. It turned into a movement and reached its climax in 1952. The government outlawed all sorts of public meetings and rallies to stop it. The students of Dhaka University defied the law and brought out a peaceful protest procession on 21 February 1952. When the procession reached near Dhaka Medical College, the police opened fire on the students, killing Salam, Rafiq, Barkat, Safiur and Jabbar. As a result, there were mass protests all over the country and the government had to declare Bangla as a state language. This kindled the sparks of independence movement of Bangladesh.

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26 March, our Independence Day, is the biggest state festival. The day is celebrated every year in the country with great enthusiasm and fervour. It is a national holiday. All offices, educational institutions, shops and factories remain closed on this day. The day begins with a 31 gun salute.

Early in the morning the President and the Prime Minister on behalf of the nation place floral wreaths at the National Mausoleum at Savar. Then other leaders, political parties, diplomats, social and cultural organisations, educational institution and freedom fighters pay homage to the martyrs. People from all walks of life also go there in rallies and processions. There are many cultural programmes throughout the day highlighting the heroic struggle and sacrifice in 1971.

In Bangabandhu National Stadium, school children, scouts and girl guides take part in various displays to entertain thousands of spectators. Educational institutions also organise their individual programmes. Sports meets and tournaments are also organised on the day including the exciting boat race in the river Buriganga.

In the evening, all major public buildings are illuminated with colourful lights. Bangla Academy, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and other socio-cultural organisations hold cultural functions. Similar functions are also arranged in other places in the country.

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Adolescents constitute a nation's core resource for national renewal and growth. Adolescence is a period in life when transition from childhood to adulthood takes place and behaviours and lifestyles are shaped. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) adolescence is the period which shapes the future of girls and boys' lives. There are 28 million adolescents in Bangladesh; 13-7 million of them are girls and 14-3 million boys.

The situation of adolescent girls in Bangladesh is characterised by inequality and subordination within the family and society. This inequality leads to widespread practice of child marriage, marginalisation or exclusion from health, education and economic opportunities, and vulnerability to violence and sexual abuse.

In Bangladesh the legal age of marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys. However, 33 percent of adolescent girls are married before the age of 15 and 60 percent become mothers by the age of 19. Research finds that adolescents with higher level of education and from more affluent families tend to marry at a later age. Boys, however, become ready for marriage only after several years of adolescence and young adulthood.

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26 March, our independence day, is one of the most important state festivals. The day is celebrated every year in the country with great enthusiasm and fervour. It is a national holiday. All offices, educational institutions, shops and factories remain closed on this day. The day begins with a 31gun salute.

Early in the morning the President and the Prime Minister, on behalf of the nation place floral wreaths at the National Mausoleum at Savar. Then other leaders, political parties, diplomats, social and cultural organizations, educational institutions and freedom fighters pay homage to the martyrs? People from all walks of life also go there in rallies and processions. There are many cultural programmes throughout the day, high lighting the heroic struggle and sacrifice in 1971.

In Bangabandhu National Stadium, school children, scouts and girl guides take part in various displays to entertain thousands of spectators. Educational institutions also organize their individual programmes. Sports meets and tournaments are also organized on the day, including the exciting boat race in the river Buriganga. In the evening, all major public buildings are illuminated with colourful lights.j Bangla Academy e Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and other socio-cultural organizations hold cultural functions Similar functions are also arranged other places in the country.

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  Humans can neither change the sun's radiation nor the earth's orbit around the sun. But they can control the increase in the amount of greenhouse gases and its effect on the atmosphere. Only sphere the last hundred years the carbon dioxide concentration has been raised alarmingly in the atmosphere and we humans can be held responsible for this.

The main cause of the increase in carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere is the burning of fossil fuels Since the end of the 19th century, industrial activities increased rapidly giving rise to many factors. These factories required energy, which was produced through the combustion of coal. Besides coal, other sources of energy such as mineral oil and natural gas were also burned to heat our houses, run cars and airplanes or to produce electricity. Nowadays, about 85 million barrels of crude oil are burned daily. Every time a fossil raw material is burned, it releases carbon dioxide into the air.

Therefore, it is clear that more and more greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide are being generated worldwide by humans. Moreover, we are also strengthening the greenhouse effect by deforestation. which means cutting down trees. Every year enormous areas of forests are destroyed by people to obtain wood and to clear regions for mining and to create pasture. This loss of the forest causes dual problems. Trees that are burned up release large volumes of carbon dioxide gas into the air. On the other hand, as forests absorb a lot of carbon dioxide from the air and deliver oxygen instead, we also destroy an important storehouse of carbon dioxide when we clear forests.

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Valentina Tereshkova was born in a village, in central Russia on 6 March 1937. Her father was a tractor driver and her mother worked in a textile plant. At the age of eight, she began her schooling but did not enjoy it much. She left the school within a few years. Afterwards she completed her education through distance learning. She became interested in parachuting from a young age, and trained in skydiving at the local Aeroclub, making her first jump at age 22 on 21 May 1959. It was her expertise in skydiving that led to her selection as a cosmonaut. After the flight of Yuri Gagarin, the first human being to travel to outer space in April 1961, the Soviet Union decided to send a woman in space. On 16 February 1962, "Proletaria" Valentina Tereshkova was selected for this project from among more than four hundred applicants. Tereshkova had to undergo a series of training that included weightless flights, isolation tests, centrifuge tests, rocket theory, spacecraft engineering, 120 parachute jumps and pilot training in MiG-15UTI jet fighters.

Since the successful launch of the spacecraft Vostok-5 on 14 June 1963, Tereshkova began preparing for her own flight. On the morning of 16 June 1963, Tereshkova and her back-up cosmonaut Solovyova were dressed in space-suits and taken to the space shuttle launch pad by a bus. After completing her communication and life support checks, she was seated inside Vostok-6. Finishing a two-hour countdown, Vostok-6 launched faultlessly.

Although Tereshkova experienced nausea and physical discomfort for much of the flight, she orbited the earth 48 times and spent almost three days in space. With a single flight, she logged more flight time than the combined times of all American astronauts who had flown before that date. Tereshkova also maintained a flight log and took photographs of the horizon, which were later used to identify aerosol layers within the atmosphere.

Vostok-6 was the final Vostok flight and was launched two days after Vostok-5, which carried valary Bykovsky into a similar orbit for five days, landing three hours after Tereshkova. The two vessels approached each other with 5 kilometers at one point, and from space Tereshkova communicated with Bykovsky and the Soviet leader Khrushchev by radio.

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Mainul Islam qualified farmer in Naogaon, Mr. Islam was very brilliant as a student. He took his higher education from Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh. After completing his higher education. Mainul came back home and started advanced farming. He has two other brothers who are graduates in different areas. The speciality of the Islam family is that they all are living in their village and all have fame in their own fields. His younger brother, who is a Rajshahi University graduate, is a science teacher in a local school. His youngest brother is a Social Science graduate and he too would like to start a local NGO to work for this area. When asked "What makes you decide to stay here in this village? Mr. Islam smiled. He said, "Look, It's true that we could leave this village for a city life. I could be an officer or my brother could be a bureaucrat. But it didn't attract us, We are sons of this soil. Yes, we have education but does education prepare a person only to be an officer? Don't we have an obligation to the soil that has made us what we are? He also added that every educated individual shouldn't be a job seeker. He continued that since his discipline was Agriculture, after his education he took the occupation of a farmer. In response to the question whether they have any frustrations to live in a village, he confirmed that they were very pleased with their life. He said, “I Work . All o farm, stay with my family members, pass time with my old friends, and sleep at my own home. All these count a lot.”

Mr. Islam is right. Many people go to cities and forget or loosen their roots knowingly or unknowingly Mr. Islam and his brothers are great roots, they have been torch bearers for others to be respectful of their own roots. 

26 March, our independence day, is one of the most important state festivals. The day is celebrated every year in the country with great enthusiasm and fervour. It is a national holiday. All offices, educational institutions, shops and factories remain closed on this day. The day begins with a 31gun salute.

Early in the morning the President and the Prime Minister, on behalf of the nation place floral wreaths at the National Mausoleum at Savar. Then other leaders, political parties, diplomats, social and cultural organizations, educational institutions and freedom fighters pay homage to the martyrs? People from all walks of life also go there in rallies and processions. There are many cultural programmes throughout the day, high lighting the heroic struggle and sacrifice in 1971.

In Bangabandhu National Stadium, school children, scouts and girl guides take part in various displays to entertain thousands of spectators. Educational institutions also organize their individual programmes. Sports meets and tournaments are also organized on the day, including the exciting boat race in the river Buriganga. In the evening, all major public buildings are illuminated with colourful lights.j Bangla Academy e Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and other socio-cultural organizations hold cultural functions Similar functions are also arranged other places in the country.

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The internet technology has helped design a large number of websites to facilitate social relations among people around the world. These are known as social networking services or social networks or social media. At present, Facebook is the most popular social media site. Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. are other frequently used social services. Social network services are web-based and hence, provide ways for the users to interact through the internet. These services make it possible to connect people across the borders and they have made the users feel that they really live in a global village.

Why are social networks expanding so fast? The answer is simple. Most of the social services are cost-free. You can make use of them free, paying a very little to your internet service provider. Secondly, you can make your personal profile public before the entire online community. It is like presenting yourself before the entire world. You can also look into other people's profile if you are interested. It is simple and easy. Thirdly, social networks allow users to upload pictures, multimedia contents and modify the profile. Some services like Facebook allow users to update their profiles. Fourthly, networks allow users to post blog entries. User profiles have a section dedicated to comments from friends and other users. Finally, there are privacy protection measures too. A user himself or herself decides over the number of visitors/viewers, and what information should be shared with others.

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The river Buriganga is an example of a dying river. A report published in the Daily Sun describes what has happened to the river Buriganga and why. Its water is polluted and a perpetual stench fills the air around it. But that is not what it was like before. The report says that the river had a glorious past. Once it was a tributary of the mighty Ganges and flowed into the Bay of Bengal through the river Dhaleshwari. Gradually it lost its link with the Ganges and got the name Buriganga. The Mughals marvelled at the tide level of the Buriganga and founded their capital Jahangirnagar on its bank in 1610. The river supplied drinking water and supported trade and commerce. Jahangirnagar was renamed Dhaka which grew into a heavily populated city with chronic shortage of space.

The city paid back the bounty of the river by sucking life out of it! According to newspaper report, the Buriganga is dying because of pollution. Huge quantities of toxic chemicals and wastes from mills and factories, hospitals and clinics and households and other establishments are dumped into the river everyday. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4500 tons of solid waste everyday and most of it is directly released into the Buriganga. According to the Department of the Environment (DOE) 20,000 of tannery waste, including some highly toxic materials, are released into the river everyday. Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi. Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal.

The river would need a monster's stomach to digest all the wastes mentioned above. There is a limit upto which it can put up with its cruel and thoughtless treatment. We the humans have successfully killed one of our rivers. There are other rivers in the country that are being subjected to similar thoughtless treatment. Unless we take care of our rivers, there may come a time when we will cry 'water, water and find it nowhere.

Beauty is easy to appreciate but difficult to define. As we look around, we discover beauty in pleasurable objects and sights- in nature, in the laughter of children, in the kindness of strangers. But asked to define, we run into difficulties. Does beauty have an independent objective identity? Is it universal, or is it dependent on our sense perceptions? Does it lle in the eye of the beholder? We ask ourselves. A further difficulty arises when beauty manifests itself not only by its presence, but by its absence as well, as when we are repulsed by ugliness and desire beauty. But then ugliness has as much a place in our lives as beauty. or may be more as when there is widespread hunger and injustice in a society. Philosophers have told us that beauty is an important part of life, but isn't ugliness a part of life too? And if art has beauty as an important ingredient, can it confine itself only to a projection of beauty? Can art ignore what is not beautiful? Poets and artists have provided an answer by incorporating both into their work. In doing so, they have often tied beauty to truth and justice, so that what is not beautiful assumes a tolerable proportion as something that represents some truth about life. John Keats, the romantic poet, wrote in his celebrated 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty', by which he means that truth, even if it's not pleasant, becomes beautiful at a higher level. Similarly, what is beautiful forever remains true. Another meaning, in the context of the Grecian Urn- -an art object-is that-truth is a condition of art.

26 March, our Independence Day, is the one of the most important state festival. The day is celebrated every year in the country with great enthusiasm and fervour. It is a national holiday. All offices, educational institutions, shops and factories remain closed on this day. The day begins with a 31 gun salute. Early in the morning the President and the Prime Minister, on hehalf of the nation place floral wreaths at the National Mausoleum at Savar. Then other leaders, political parties, diplomats, social and cultural organisations, educational institutions and freedom fighters pay homage to the martyrs. People from all walks of the also ago there in rallies and processions. There are many cultural programmes throughout the day, highlighting the heroic struggle and sacrifice in 1971. In Bangabandhu National Stadium, school children, scouts and girls guides take part in various displays to entertain thousands of spectators. Educational institutions also organise their individual programmes. Sports meets and tournaments are also organised on the day, including the exciting boat race in the river Buriganga. In the evening, all major public buildings are illuminated with colourful lights. Bangla Academy, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and other socio-cultural organisations hold cultural functions. Similar functions are also arranged in other places in the country.

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The famous Greek Philosopher Aristotle said, "Man is by nature a social animal." What he meant was that man, by instinct seeks company of others and establishes relationships, much like most animals of the wild, for companionship and for physical and emotional support. Unlike the animals, however, man's relationships give meaning to his existence and inspire him to do well in education, in workplace or in a profession that he pursues.
Relationships are of different kinds. Some are familial and intimate, formed by blood and by marriage; some are social like the ones we have with friends and some are made in school where we form close bonds with classmates and teachers.

Relationships can also be fostered in workplace, which may quickly change from professional' to social. There are relationships also between human beings and animals between children and their toys that they can not part with.

All these relationships keep us close to each other and provide us all kinds of support, love and affection. A person who has no family feels the pain of loneliness and isolation. There is no one to laugh or cry with him/her. When we share our joys with someone, it simply redoubles, and when we suffer a loss and someone shares our sorrow, it lessons. Relationships are thus needed for our emotional health.

To build relationships, we need to have trust and respect for each other, and love where this is needed. We cannot be selfish and possessive if we want to establish an effective relationship. But quite often we see people quarreling and fighting with each other which only brings misery and loss to all.

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May Day or International Workers' Day is observed on May 1 all over the world today to commemorate the historical struggle and sacrifices of the working people to establish an eight-hour workday. It is a public holiday in almost all the countries of the world.

Since the Industrial Revolution in the 18th and 19th centuries in Europe and the US, the workers in mills and factories had been working a long shift, fourteen or even more hours a day.

On May 1st in 1886, inspired by the trade unions, half of the workers at the Mc.Cormick Harvester Machine Company in Chicago went on strike demanding an eight-hour workday. Two days later, a workers' rally was held near the Mc.Cormick Harvester Machine Company and about 6000 workers' joined it. The rally was addressed by the labour leaders. They urged the workers to stand together, to go on with their struggle and not to give in to their bosses. At one point of the rally, some strike breakers started leaving the meeting place. The strikers went down the street to bfing them back. Suddenly about 200 policemen attacked them with clubs and revolvers. One striker was killed instantly. five or six others were seriously wounded and many others were injured.

The events of May 1, 1886 are a reminder that workers will continue to be exploited until they stand up and speak out to gain better working conditions, better pay and better lives.

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Sheikh Kamal, the eldest son of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Bangamata Fazilatunnesa Mujib, was born at Tungipara in Gopalganj district. He spent his childhood there. Kamal received his secondary education at Dhaka's BAF Shaheen school from where he passed his SSC examination. He was than admitted to Dhaka College, and after his HSC examination, he became a student at the department of sociology of Dhaka University. Kamal had a colorful life marked by liveliness and creativity. Besides his academic studies, he also pursued his passion for sports and cultural activities. He was a first division basketball and cricket player as well as a sports organizer. He was also interested in classical music, and became a student of Chhayanaut to learn Sitar under the tutelage of Ustad Ful Mohammad. Apart from Sitar, Kamal had a passion for Piano. He had a good collection of musical instruments on the second floor of their house at Dhanmondi, Road no. 32. it is well known to his friends that Sheikh Kamal used to begin his day practicing the Sitar and during the day played basketball or football or cricket. In the evening he was often seen on stage rehearsing a play. He took part in stage performance of Kabar written by prominent playwright shaheed Munir Chowdhury. Kamal was one of the founders of Dhaka theatre. He was also a founder of 'Spondon Shilpi Gosthi'-a cultural organization. And who doesn't know that Sheik Kamal was the founder of Abahoni Krira Chokro that introduced modern football in our country.
There are interesting traits in Kamal's Character. He was the eldest son of a Prime Minister and later of a President. Yet, his life was very simple. He didn't take any advantage of his father's name and office. As he loved to spend time with his frineds at Tungipara in his childhood, he loved to do the same during his college and university days. Watching good movies with then in Madhumita, Naz or Balaka cinema hall was also something that he really liked.

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It was late summer, 26 August 1910. A little girl was born to a rich Catholic merchants' family of Albanian descent in a small town called Skopje, Macedonia. She was the youngest of the three siblings and was named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu. Who could imagine at the time that this little girl would one day become the mother of humanity, loving and serving the poorest of the poor. Yes, we are talking about none other than Mother Teresa.

At the age of 12, she heard a voice from within that urged her to spread the love of Christ. She decided that she would be a missionary. At the age of 18, she left her parental home. She then joined an Irish Community of nuns called the Sisters of Loreto, which had missions in India. After a few months of training at the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Dublin, Mother Teresa came to India. On May 24, 1931, she took her initial vows as a nun. From 1931 to 1948, Mother Teresa taught geography and theology at St. Mary's High School in Kolkata. However, the widespread poverty in Kolkata had a deep impact on Mother Teresa and in 1948 she received permission from her superiors to leave the convent and devote herself to caring for the poorest of the poor in the slums of Kolkata.

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The famous Greek philosopher Aristotle said, "Man is by nature a social animal." What he meant was that man by instinct, seeks company of others and establishes relationships, much like most animals of the wild, for companionship and for physical and emotional support. Unlike the animals, however, man's relationships give meaning to his existence and inspires him to do well in education, in workplace or in a profession that he pursues.

Relationships are of different kinds. Some are familial and intimate, formed by blood and by marriage; some are social like the ones we have with friends and some are made in school where we form close bonds with classmates and teachers. Relationships can also be fostered in work place, which may quickly change from professional to social. There are relationships also between human beings and animals, between children and their toys that they cannot part with.

All these relationships keep us close to each other and provide us all kinds of support, love and affection. A person who has no family feels the pain of loneliness and isolation. There is no one to laugh or cry with him/her. when' we share our joy with someone, it simply redoubles, and we when we suffer a loss and someone shares our sorrow, it lessens. Relationships are thus needed for our emotional health.

To build relationships, we need to have trust and respect for each other, and love where this is needed. We cannot be selfish and possessive if we want to establish an effective relationship.

But quite often we see people quarrelling and fighting with each other which only brings misery and loss to all.

A. Choose the correct answer from the alternatives

Chawla was born in Karnal, India. She completed her earlier schooling at Tagore Baal Niketan Senior Secondary School, Karnal. She is the first Indian-born woman and the second person in space from this subcontinent. After graduating in Aeroriautical Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, India, in 1982, Chawla moved to the United States the same year. She obtained her Master's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Texas in 1984. Later she did her Ph.D. in Aerospace Engineering in 1988 from the University of Colorado. Determined to become an astronaut even in the face of the Challenger disaster 1986 that broke apart after 73 seconds into flight, leading to the deaths of its seven crew members, Chawla joined NASA in 1988. She began working as a Vice President where she did Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) research on vertical take-off and landing. In 1991 she got U.S. citizenship and started her career as a NASA astronaut in 1995. She was selected for her first flight in 1996. She spoke the following words while travelling if the weightlessness of space, "You are just your intelligence.". She had travelled 10.67 million miles, as many as 252 times around the earth.

Her first space mission (Mission STS 87) began on 19 November 1997 with six other astronauts on the Space Shuttle Columbia. On her first mission that lasted for 15 days 16 hours, 34 minutes and 4 seconds, she travelled 6-5 million miles. She was responsible for deploying the Spartan Satellite which however malfunctioned, necessitating a spacewalk by Winston Scott and Tako Doi, two of her fellow astronauts, to retrieve the satellite.

In 2000 she was selected for her second space mission STS 107. This mission was repeatedly delayed due to scheduling conflicts and technical problems. On 16 January 2003, Kalpana Chawla started her new mission with six other space crew on the ill-fated space shuttle Columbia. She was one of the mission spaecialists. Chawla's responsibilities included the microgravity experiments, for which the crew conducted nearly 80 experiments studying earth and space science, advanced technology development, and astronaut health and safety.

After a 16 day scientific mission in space, on I February 2003, Columbia disintegrated over Texas during its re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere. All the crew in Columbia including Chawla died only 16 minutes prior to their scheduled landing. Investigation shows that this fatal accident happened due to a damage in one of Columbia's Columbia's wings caused by a piece of insulating foa foam from the enternal fuel tank peeling off during the lunch. During the intense heat of re- entry, hot gases penetrated the interior of the wing, destroying the support structure and causing the rest of the shuttle to break down.

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Adolescents constitute a nation's core resource for national renewal and growth. Adolescence is a period in life when transition from childhood to adulthood takes place and behaviours and life styles are shaped. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), adolescence is the period which shapes the future of girls' and boys' lives. There are 28 million adolescents in Bangladesh; 13.7 million of them are girls and 14.3 million boys.

The situation of adolescent girls in Bangladesh is characterised by inequality and subordination within the family and society. This inequality leads to widespread practice of child marriage, marginalization in exclusion from health, education and economic opportunities, and vulnerability to violence and sexual abuse.In Bangladesh, the legal age of marriage is 18 for girls and 21 for boys. However, 33 percent of adolescent girls are married before the age of 15 and 60 percent become mothers by the age of 19.Research finds that adolescents with higher level of education and from more affluent families tend to marry at a later age. Boys, however, become ready for marriage only after several years of adolescence and young adulthood.

 Meherjan lives in a slum on the Sirajgonj Town Protection Embankment. The whispering wind from the river Jamuna makes the fire unsteady. The dancing flames remind Meherjan of the turmoil in her life. Not long ago Meherjan had everything a family, arable land and cattle. The erosion of the Jamuna gradually consumed all her land property. It finally claimed her only shelter during the last monsoon. It took the river only a day to devour Meher's house, trees, vegetable garden and the bamboo bush. She had a happy family once. Over the years, she lost her husband and her family to diseases that cruel hunger and poverty brought to the family. Now, she is the only one left to live on with the loss and pain. The greedy Jamuna has shattered her dreams and happiness. There are thousand others waiting to share the same fate like Meherjan. Bangladesh is a land of rivers. Some of whose banks overflow or erode during monsoon. Erosion is a harsh reality for the people living along the river banks. During each monsoon many more villages are threatened by the mighty rivers like the Jamuna, the Padma and the Meghna. It is estimated that river erosion makes at least 100,000 people homeless every year in Bangladesh. In fact, river erosion is one of the main dangers caused by climate change. If we can't take prompt actions to adapt to climate change, there will be thousands of more Meherjans in our towns and villages every year. 

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One of the sources of water in our country are the rivers. Rivers are everywhere in our life, literature, economy and culture. But are the rivers in good shape? Unfortunately, they are not. A few are already dead and several are going through the pangs of death. The river Buriganga is an example of a dying river. A report published in the Daily Sun describes what has happened to the river Buriganga and why. It's water is polluted and a perpetual stench fills the air around it. But that is not what it was like before.

The report says that the river had a glorious past. Once it was a tributary of the mighty Ganges and flowed into the Bay of Bengal through the river Dhaleswari. Gradually. It lost its link with the Ganges and got the name Buriganga. The Mughals marvelled at the tide level of the Buriganga and founded their capital Jahangirnagar on its banks in 1610. The river supplied drinking water and supported trade and commerce. Jahangirnagar was renamed Dhaka which grew into a heavily populated city with a chronic shortage of space.

The city paid back the bounty of the river by sucking life out of it! According to newspaper report, the Buriganga is dying because of pollution. Huge quantities of toxic chemicals and wastes from mills and factories, hospitals and clinics and households and other establishments are dumped into the river everyday. The city of Dhaka discharges about 4500 tons of solid waste every day and most of it is directly released into the Buriganga. According to the Department of the Environment (DOE) 20.000 tons of tannery waste, including some highly toxic materials are released into the river every day. Experts identified nine industrial areas in and around the capital city as the primary sources of river pollution: Tongi, Tejgaon, Hazaribagh, Tarabo, Narayanganj, Savar, Gazipur, Dhaka Export Processing Zone and Ghorashal.

26 March, our Independence Day, is the biggest state festival. The day is celebrated every year in the country with great enthusiasm and fervour. It is a national holiday. All offices, educational institutions, shops and factories remain closed on this day The day begins with a 31 gun salute.

Early in the morning the President and the Prime Minister on behalf of the nation place floral wreaths at the National Mausoleum at Savar. Then other leaders, political parties, diplomats, social and cultural organisations, educational institutions and freedom fighters pay homage to the martyrs. People from all walks of life also go there in rallies and processions. There are many cultural programmes throughout the day, highlighting the heroic struggle and sacrifice in 1971.

The country also witnesses a spectacular parade of defence forces, border guards, police, ansars and the VDP (Village Defense Party) at the National Parade Ground near the National Parliament. In Bangabandhu Stadium, school children, scouts and girl guides take part in various displays to entertain thousands of spectators. Educational institutions also organise their individual programmes. Sports meets and tournaments are also organised on the day, including the exciting boat race in the river Buriganga.

In the evening, all major public buildings are illuminated with colourful lights. Bangla Academy. Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, and other socio-cultural organisations hold cultural functions. Similar functions are also arranged in other places in the country.

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21 February is observed as Shaheed Dibosh every year throughout the country in remembrance of the martyrs of Language Movement of 1952. The commemoration begins at the early hours of the day with mourning songs that recall the supreme sacrifices of our language martyrs.

People wear black badges and go to the Shaheed Minar in barefoot processions, singing mourning songs. They place wreaths at the Minar. Many of them visit the graves of the martyrs at Azimpur graveyard and pray for them. They also attend various programmes organized in remembrance of the language martyrs. The UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) on 17 November in 1999 proclaimed February 21 as the "International Mother Language Day in recognition of the sacrifices of the martyrs for the rightful place of Bangla. The day is now annually observed worldwide to promote awareness of linguistic and cultural diversity and multilingualism.

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Mother Teresa was moved by the sight of the sick and dying on the streets of Kolkata. She founded a home for the dying destitute and named it 'Nirmol Hriday* meaning 'Pure Heart'. She and her fellow nuns brought the dying people off the streets of Kolkata to this home. They were lovingly looked after and cared for. Since then many men, women and children have been taken from the streets and carried to 'Nirmo! Hriday. These unloved and uncared for people get an opportunity to die in an environment of kindness and love. In their last hours they get human and divine love, and can feel they are also children of God. The Missionaries of Charity try to find jobs for those who survive, or send them to homes where they can live happily for some more years in a caring environment. Regarding commitment to family, Mother Teresa said. "May be in our own family, we have somebody, who is feeling lonely, who is feeling sick, who is feeling worried. Are we there? Are we willing to give until it hurts in order to be with our families, or do we put our interest first? We must remember that love begins at home and we must also remember that future of humanity passes through the family."

Mother Teresa's work has been recognized throughout the world and she received a number of awards. These include the Pope John XXIII Peace Prize (1971), the Nehru Prize for Promotion of International Peace & Understanding (1972), the Balzan Prize (1978), the Nobel Peace Prize (1979) and the Bharat Ratna (1980).

Mother Teresa died at the age of 87, on 5 September 1997. The world salutes her for her love and compassion for humanity. She has taught us how to extend our hand towards those who need our love and support irrespective of creed, caste and religion. The picture of Mother Teresa, draped in a white and blue-bordered sari with a wrinkled face, ever soft eyes and a saintly smile, lives on in our mind.

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 Meherjan lives in a slum on the Sirajgonj Town Protection Embankment. The whispering wind from the river Jamuna makes the fire unsteady. The dancing flames remind Meherjan of the turmoil in her life. Not long ago Meherjan had everything a family, arable land and cattle. The erosion of the Jamuna gradually consumed all her land property. It finally claimed her only shelter during the last monsoon. It took the river only a day to devour Meher's house, trees, vegetable garden and the bamboo bush. She had a happy family once. Over the years, she lost her husband and her family to diseases that cruel hunger and poverty brought to the family. Now, she is the only one left to live on with the loss and pain. The greedy Jamuna has shattered her dreams and happiness. There are thousand others waiting to share the same fate like Meherjan. Bangladesh is a land of rivers. Some of whose banks overflow or erode during monsoon. Erosion is a harsh reality for the people living along the river banks. During each monsoon many more villages are threatened by the mighty rivers like the Jamuna, the Padma and the Meghna. It is estimated that river erosion makes at least 100,000 people homeless every year in Bangladesh. In fact, river erosion is one of the main dangers caused by climate change. If we can't take prompt actions to adapt to climate change, there will be thousands of more Meherjans in our towns and villages every year. 

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