Mother Languse Day

A solemn and symbolic sculpture erected in the place of the massacre. The monument is the symbol of Bangladesh Nationalism.
How important is the mother language?
Our mother tongue is more than a language, a soul inside us. It is an armory of the human mind; an archive of the history. We invent the world through language.
Mrunalini feats her mother tongue Telugu:
“How sweet our languages are, how proud they make us. How much we miss talking in our mother tongue. Especially, when we are away from it.”
Ripon Kumar Biswas in Bangladesh watchdog says:
“Mother tongue is the language of nature, which is intimately related to the individual because it is structured and upheld by local laws of nature, which structure the physiology of the individual.”
But it is even more than that. “One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland –and no other;” said E. M. Cioran, the Rumanian-born French Philosopher.
That is why some times we see nationalism sparking in the world based on languages and language matters!
The freedom of languages in the world:
Thousands of local languages used as the daily means of expression are absent from education systems, the media, publishing and the public domain in general because of state policies.
We learn better in our mother tongue when it is taught in school (Mother tongue Dilemma –UNESCO News letter). But this is not the case of all minority languages. 476 million of world’s illiterate people speak minority languages and live in countries where children are mostly not taught in their mother language.
From Southern Azerbaijan under Iranian rule BayBak, Voice of a Nation says:
“It is more than 80 years that Iranian Fars authority has banned other nationalities language, such as Turks (majority in Iran), Arabs, Baluchs, Turkmens and Kurds. Every year in 21st of February all nationalities celebrate the International Mother Language Day named by UNESCO. But as before, of the day of celebration Iranian police will ride on the crowd and will arrest many.
Regarding news from Southern Azerbaijan, preparations for the 21st of February are continuing widely compare to last year. Also thousands of flyers been spread in Azerbaijan’s major cities. Capital Tebriz has been well prepared and the time for demonstration been set.”
The Unesco Courier:
Several thousand years old, the Ainu language spoken in northern Japan was dying out due to political pressure from the central government. At the end of the 20th century, this trend was reversed. While Ainu’s future is still not guaranteed because it isn’t taught in schools, the resurgence of interest is undeniable.
Sid writes in Picked Politics:
“International Mother Language Day deserves celebration in Zambia. The country has worked hard to establish and maintain political unity over the years. But as other societies are learning too late, it would be a tragedy if this hard-fought unity should be maintained at the expense of the variety of languages and dialects that have long called these lands home.”
Is your mother tongue facing extinction?
About 27 percent of the world's languages (about 6000) are threatened to be extinct. The Foundation for Endangered Languages says 83 percent of the world's languages are restricted to single countries, making them more vulnerable to the policies of a single government.
Abhinaba Basu at Geek Gyan says:
“A lot of people speaking English natively forget the importance of mother language due to its predominance. They take their language for granted. However, each year a bunch of languages become extinct, the latest being Eyak, which got extinct exactly a month ago with the death of Marie Smith Jones the last native Eyak speaking person.
I believe that if we don't actively try to preserve our mother language they will slowly become extinct. One of the most important things to preserve a language is to ensure that they are better covered by technology.”
Using ICT in Mother Language advocacy:
Citizen media is a great tool to promote own languages. According to Technorati there are more than 100 million blogs out there. A previous year’s report show that about 37% blogs are in Japanese followed by English (36%), Chinese (8%), Spanish(3%), Italian (3%), Portuguese (2%), French(2%) among others. And there are other growing language communities and they will rise eventually.
There are ICT based advocacy sites like Bisharat which promotes research, advocacy, and networking relating to use of African languages in software and web content.
Global Voices Online also supports and promotes the diversity of languages. Its Lingua project translates the contents of its main English page in a dozen languages. Now that is one example many international online media may want to follow to secure meaningful transfer of information to global readers.

Every time I visit the national monuments in Bangladesh I come home with mixed feelings. Although I have visited numerous other national historic national monuments all over the globe, very few of them emotionally jolt me so much.
It was almost 10 years since I last visited the Savar Shaheed Smriti Soudha (The mausoleum of the martyred in Savar). Like before, the enormous campus, the greenery and water body surrounding the mausoleum impressed me. Compared to Bangladesh standard and definitely compared to other national mausoleums like Shaheed Minar or Rayer Bazar intellectual mausoleum, the Savar mausoleum was much better maintained. However, despite all the beautiful landscaping work, well maintained water bodies, the sanctity of the mausoleum itself was in a relatively sad state. People are sitting, sleeping on the pillars, badam/ ice cream/fruit vendors are selling their products, young couples are busy with themselves, gangs of young men are loitering–all on the alter of the mausoleum. Then at the base of the mausoleum, the floors are covered with excreta of the birds sitting on those seven pillars.

Invironment

Bangladesh, South Korea to sign MoU for protection of forest, environment ,
Bangladesh and South Korea would sign MoU for cooperation in various areas including environment protection and forest conservation. The MOU is likely to sign during visit of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to South Korea in May this year, said the state minister for Environment and Forest, Dr Hasan Mahmud, after a meeting with his Korean counterpart Dr Byung Wook in Indonesian tourist city Bali on Friday. The two leaders are in Bali now to attend the Governing Council meeting of the United Nations Environment Programme. Official sources in Dhaka said the two leaders discussed various issues including possible visit of the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to Korea in May this year. The South Korean minister said Korea intends to sign a MOU on cooperation in the areas of environment during the prime minister’s visit. He also said that his country is willing to provide training on environmental protection and forest conservation to the officials of Bangladesh. The minister expressed his country’s desire to bring some plant/tree species from Bangladesh to Korea. Dr Wook sought support of Bangladesh in the bid to organise the Eighteenth Conference of Parties of UN Framework on Climate Change in Korea. Dr Hasan sought Korea’s help for development and promotion of solar energy in Bangladesh. Earlier, Dr Hasan also held a meeting with UNEP Executive Secretary Achim Steiner. Steiner praised Bangladesh’s initiatives to tackle climate change and for environmental protection. He also appreciated the role of Bangladesh played in Copenhagen climate conference. Dr Hasan sought UNEP’s support to establish an International adaptation center in Bangladesh. As Dr Hasan requested UNEP to appoint a ‘Goodwill Ambassador of UNEP from Bangladesh during the next world cup cricket, the UNEP Executive Secretary said he would actively consider of it. Dr Hasan also participated in the panel discussion on bio-diversity and ecosystem, where UK secretary of state for environment Hilary Benn, Nobel prize winner Wangari Maathai, the Australian minister for environment Piter Garrett, Japan’s minister for environment Sakihito Ozawa, Maxico’s minister for environment Juan Rafael Elvira, German Federal minister for environment and nature conservation and nuclear safety Norbert Rottgen spoke. Dr Hasan in his deliberation said that climate change is not solely responsible for the loss of biodiversity. Over the last few decades more than 70 percent of the globe’s land area has been altered mainly due to human activity, he added. He said because of the expansion of the cities, infrastructural buildup, increased agricultural activities and for making shelter for increased number of population we are loosing biodiversity.

Serial killer

Killer Roshu Kha’s aide held in Tongi
An accomplice of infamous killer Roshu Kha also an accused in Kohinoor murder case was arrested in the Tongi area in Gazipur early Thursday. The arrested is Delwar, husband of victim Kohinoor. Acting on a tip-off, a police team from Chandpur town raided Modhumati area in Tongi and arrested him. Later, he was sent to jail hajat when produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court. Kohinoor was one of 10 victims who were killed by Roshu Kha in Tongi in 2008 and 2009. Roshu was arrested from Tongi on October 7, last year for stealing ceiling fans from a mosque in Faridganj upazila in the district.

The Dhaka city

‘The Dhaka city has been plagued with many problems in such a manner that the mayor has nothing to do with these nagging problems .
Overpopulation and mismanagement are the major reasons of the capital’s acute problems such as unplanned growth, traffic congestion, and water and gas shortage which are making Dhaka unliveable, experts and planners said.( The New Age BD )They called for immediate action to save Dhaka, which ranks the second among the worst liveable cities of the world, according to the Liveability Survey 2010 of the Economist Intelligence Unit.Residents of the capital have for long been suffering from nagging traffic congestion, water stagnation, road stretches in poor conditions with wastes piled on them and acute water and gas shortage.Repeated attempts of government agencies, including the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, have failed to ease tailback on the road that eats up several working hours.(The New Age BD)The should work out a comprehensive plan to manage the capital and it should also take measures to decentralise administrative facilities from the capital and develop other divisional cities so that there could be no surge in migration to the capital, urban experts told New Age.‘The Dhaka city has been plagued with many problems in such a manner that the mayor has nothing to do with these nagging problems. It needs the attention of the people high up in the government,’ said the Bangladesh Institute of Planners president, Sarwar Jahan.‘The government will first need to decide how it will manage the overcrowded city which will for certain need a comprehensive plan,’ he said.As the Election Commission is preparing to hold elections to the Dhaka City Corporation, urban experts and planners said the first of many tasks of the new city mayor should be to work out a comprehensive management plan for the capital.The city corporation has always been seen struggling to manage the affairs but wastes continued to remain scattered here and there on the roads posing a serious health risk.The city residents are not even free from the mosquito menace. The menace has gone beyond the control for lack of regular anti-mosquito drive by the Dhaka City Corporation. Even during the day, people need to use anti-mosquito spray in business establishments, offices and also in houses.The urban experts observed there would be no end to the nagging problems unless a coordination authority was formed to deal with the problems of the city.‘The first task of the next city mayor will be to check nagging traffic congestion as the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board runs under the supervision of the mayor,’ said urban expert Jamilur Reza Choudhury, also a former vice-chancellor of the BRAC university.‘The city corporation in cooperation with Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha should also identify risky buildings and take necessary measures either to demolish or to retrofit them and make necessary preparations to enforce the detailed area plan, which is almost completed by Rajuk, to stop unplanned urbanisation,’ he said.Jamilur Reza also suggested computerised automation of the activities of the city corporation and other utility agencies to bring dynamism in the organisations.Urban expert Nazrul Islam, also chairman of the University Grants Commission, stressed the need for the formation of a coordination authority, brining the utility service agencies under a single roof for an effective result in addressing the problems of the city.‘City residents face the problem of water stagnation and mosquito menace all the year round,’ Nazrul Islam said. ‘The corporation must also keep public toilets useable.’Water stagnation has become commonplace during rains every year for lack of sufficient storm sewers and drains and lack of their proper maintenance.Acute water crisis during the dry season every year compel the dwellers to take to the streets.As for traffic congestion in the capital, Nazrul Islam said the issue should be handled exclusively by a senior minister.‘Containing snarl-up is not possible only with the efforts of the Dhaka City Corporation as it involves affairs of many government organisations. The government should look into the issue in a holistic manner and should designate a senior minister to resolve the longstanding problems,’ he said.The honorary secretary of the Centre for Urban Studies, Nurul Islam Nazem, also emphasised ensuring good governance, transparency and accountability in administrative affairs of the corporation and other related agencies in addition to the formulation of an innovative management plan.Architect Iqbal Habib, who is also member secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan, said the next mayor should play the role of a coordinator in addressing city problems as such problems are related to 11 ministries and 54 government organisations.’Air and sound pollution have also increased alarmingly posing a serious health hazard for city dwellers.


The New Age BD

My first bloge

Hi ! This is my first bloge . I'm traying to publised hear about Bangladesh . Bangladesh is a country of natural wonders . I publised hear about latest neuse , historical plase , natural wonders , Bangladases lafestile , ther stargoal , Cristy , cature , and manymore . I wish you all are joyen with me.