English | All Combined Chapter,

As a child you must have been told to greet your elders and visitors to your home according to your culture and tradition. You must also have been taught to be polite in company and keep quiet while others, especially your elders, spoke. Possibly, you at times grudged such schooling. Possibly, at times you even protested such disciplining. Now, certainly you know that you can't always behave the way you want specially in the presence of others. There are rules of behaviour you have to follow in a company. We are social beings and have to consider the effect of our behaviour on others, even if we are at home and dealing with our family members.

We have two terms to describe our social behaviour- 'etiquette' and 'manners'. 'Etiquette' is a French word and it means the rules of correct behaviour in a society. The word 'manners' means the behaviour that is considered to be polite in a particular society or culture. Manners can be good or bad. For example, it is a bad manner to speak with food in one's mouth. No one likes a bad- mannered person. Remember that etiquette and manners vary from culture to culture and from society to society.

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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Michael Madhusudan Dutt was a celebrated 19th century Bangalee poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagordari on the bank of the Kopotaksho River, a village in Keshabpur Upazila under Jashore district.

From an early age, Michael aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Though he was born in a sophisticated Hindu family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, much to the ire of his family, and adopted the first name Michael. In his childhood, he was recognized by his teachers as a precious child with a gift of literary talent. His early exposure to English education and European literature at home and his college inspired him to imitate the English in taste, manners and intellect. Since his adolescence he started believing that he was born on the wrong side of the planet, and that his society was unable to appreciate his talent. He also believed that the West would be more receptive to his creative genius.

Madhusudan was an ardent follower of the famous English poet Lord Byron. So, after adopting Christianity, he went to Europe and started composing poems and plays in English. They showed his higher level of intellectual ability. However, he failed to gain the right appreciation. To his utter frustration he found that he was not esteemed as a native writer of English literature. Out of his frustration, he composed a sonnet in Bangla "Kopotaksha Nad" which earned him huge reputation in Bangla. Gradually he could realise that his true identity lay in Bengal and he was a sojourner in Europe. Afterwards he regretted his fascination for England and the West. He came back to Bengal and devoted himself to Bangla literature from this period. He has written the first Bangla epic "Meghnad Badh Kabya."

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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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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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As a child you must have been told to greet your elders and visitors to your home according to your culture and tradition. You must also have been taught to be polite in company and keep quiet while others, especially your elders, spoke. Possibly, at times you even protested such disciplining. Now, certainly you know that you can't always behave the way you want specially in the presence of others. There are rules of behaviour you have to follow in a company. We are social beings and have to consider the effect of our behaviour on others, even if we are at home and dealing with our family members. We have two terms to describe our social behaviour-etiquette' and 'manners'. 'Etiquette' is a French word and it means the rules of correct behaviour in society. The word 'manners' means the behaviour that is considered to be polite in a particular society or culture. Manners can be good or bad. For example, it is a bad manner to speak with food in one's mouth. No one likes a bad mannered person. Remember that etiquette and manners vary from culture to culture and from society to society. We learn etiquette and manners from our parents, familles and various institutions such as schools, colleges or professional bodies. There are rules of behaviour for all kinds of social occasions and it is important to learn them and practise them in everyday life. The manners that are correct in a wedding reception will not do in a debating club. Therefore, we have to be careful about etiquette and manners. We know how important it is to say 'please' and 'thank you' in everyday life. A few more polite expressions such as pardon me', 'excuse me, may I', are bound to make your day smooth and pleasant.

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 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, 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 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. Bangla Academy. Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and other socio-cultural organizations hold cultural functions. Similar functions are also arranged in other places in the country.

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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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Coleridge's poem, a ballad narrates the harrowing sea-voyage of an old mariner who at one point of his journey didn't have any water to drink because of a curse. Cursed or not, we know how important drinking water is in our life. We know we cannot survive without it. In fact two-thirds of our body is made up of water. Not for nothing is it said that the other name of water is life. Is there a crisis in our time with regard to access to clean drinking water? The United Nations in a meeting on the eve of the new millennium identified the drinking water problem as one of the challenges for the future. But do we need to worry about the problem as ours is a land of rivers and we have plenty of rainfall. Besides, we have a sea in our backyard too. One of the sources of water in our country are 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.

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.

Michael Madhusudan Dutt, popularly known as Madhusudan, was a celebrated 19th century Bangalee poet and dramatist. He was born in Sagordari on the bank of the Kopotaksho River, a village in Keshabpur Upazila under Jashore district.

From an early age. Dutt aspired to be an Englishman in form and manner. Though he was born in a sophisticated Hindu family, he converted to Christianity as a young man, much to the ire of his family and adopted the first name Michael. In his childhood, he was recognised by his teachers as a precious child with a gift of literary talent. His early exposure to English education and European literature at home and his college inspired him to imitate the English in taste, manners and intellect.

Since his adolescence he started believing that he was born on the wrong side of the planet and that his society was unable to appreciate his talent. He also believed that the west would be more receptive to his creative genius.

Madhusudan was an ardent follower of the famous English poet Lord Byron. So after adopting Christianity, he went to Europe and started composing poems and plays in English. They showed his higher level of intellectual ability. However, he failed to gain the right appreciation. To his utter frustration he found that he was not esteemed as a native writer of English literature. Out of his frustration he composed a sonnet in Bangla "Kopotaksha Nad" which earned him huge reputation in Bangla. Gradually he could realise that his true identity lay in Bengal and he was a sojourner in Europe. Afterwards he regretted his fascination for England and the West. He came back to Bengal and devoted himself to Bangla literature from this period. He has written the first Bangla epic "Meghnad Badh Kabya".

Choose the correct answer from the following alternatives:

  Heritage' is what we inherit from the past, live with in the present and then pass on to our children or future generation. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak of 'World Heritage, It indicates places and sites that we inherited from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The Shat Gambuj Mosque' in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985. Originally, the historic Mosque City was known as Khalifatabad. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat Town- not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Sundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15th century. The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was dominated by the tradition of Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable. There are about 360 mosques in the city. Among them the most remarkable is the multi- domed Shat Gambuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with 77 low height domes. The 4 towers at 4 corners have smaller domes at the top as well. The vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall.

The west wall in the interior has 11 mihrabs (niche in mosque pointing towards Makkah) mihrabs are decorated with stonework and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick. These Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as his court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and one of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

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Countries of the world rely heavily on petroleum, coal and natural gas for their energy sources. There are two major types of energy sources: renewable and non-renewable. Hydro-carbon or fossil fuels are non-renewable sources of energy. Reliance on them poses real big problems. First, fossil fuels such as oil, coal, gas etc. are finite energy resources and the world eventually will run out of them. Secondly, they will become too expensive in the coming decades and too damaging for the environment. Thirdly, fossil fuels have direct polluting impacts on earth's environment causing global warming. In contrast, renewable energy sources such as, wind and solar energy are constantly and naturally replenished and never run out.

Most renewable energy comes either directly or indirectly from the sun. Sunlight or solar energy can be used for heating and lighting homes, for generating electricity and for other commercial and industrial uses.

The sun's heat drives the wind and this wind energy can be captured with wind turbines to produce electricity. Then the wind and the sun's heat cause water to evaporate. When the water vapour turns into rain or snow and flows downhill into rivers or streams, its energy can be captured as hydroelectric energy.

Along with the rain and snow, sunlight causes plants to grow. Plants produce biomass which again can be turned into fuels such as firewood, alcohol, etc. that are called bioenergy.

Scientists have identified hydrogen as another form of renewable energy source.. It is the most abundant element in nature. But it does not exist separately as a gas. It is always combined with other elements, such as with oxygen to make water. Hydrogen, separated from another element, can be burned as a fuel to produce electricity.

Our Earth's interior contains molten lava which gives off extreme heat. This heat inside the earth produces steam and hot water which can be used as geothermal
energy to produce electricity for heating homes, etc.

Ocean energy comes from several sources Ocean's force of tide and wave can be used to produce energy. The surface of the ocean gets more heat from the sun than the ocean depths. This temperature difference can be used as energy source too.

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I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. 

I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream that one day in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of 'interposition' and 'nullification', that one day right down in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, "and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flash shall see it together". With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.

With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. So, let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania .........

Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring. When we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

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My name is Amerigo. I am 13 years old and I live on the street alone. My mother, who is separated from my father, doesn't want me. She told me to go away....... Now she is married to another man. My father lives very far away. I want to go to him, but he won't take me either. I begged him to send me some money so that I could buy a bus ticket. I am still waiting. He hasn't answered.

The streets are now my home. Sometimes I find work. I used to collect trash and sell it to a vendor. I stopped doing that after I had a serious infection, and a doctor told me to stay away from the trash dump. Once I worked for an ice cream shop owner and sold ice cream on the beach. But I got no money in return. The owner of the shop gave me something to eat, and let me sleep sleep in his hut at night. The work was difficult and painful. The ice cream box is quite heavy when it is full. I had to walk for hours. offering my ice cream to whoever wanted to buy. There were days when I could not even sell one ice cream.

In a way, I am lucky because I an alive. My friends who work sorting rubbish in dumps often suffer from serious diseases. One of them was recently killed after he fell into a hole that opened up in the pile of trash. Many of us work for 10 to 12 hours, and get so little in return that we can't even buy food.

Shoe-shining is very popular among the street kids. A few of my friends also work in factories and workshops. A boy I know lost one of his eyes after a piece of hot glass flew into his eye at the glass factory where he worked. The owner refused to pay for medical help and fired him.

For me, like all other children on the street, it is very hard. I am always hungry, and I đơn't know where I will sleep the next night. I would like to live in my own home and sleep there in peace. The nights are very cold in the winter. You can die of cold in the street.

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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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Pahela Boishakh' is the first day of Bangla new year. The day is a public holiday. This day has a special significance for us as it is a part of Bangalee culture and tradition. People from all walks of life irrespective of their ethnic identity or religious beliefs, celebrate the day with traditional festivities. On this day, the whole of Bangladesh is in a festive mood. The day inspires people to start life with renewed hopes and inspirations. Every year the day is celebrated traditionally. People wake up early in the morning, have a bath and wear traditional clothes Women wear white sarees with red borders and adorn themselves with colourful churis and flowers, while men dress themselves in pajamas and panjabis. It is a day when people love eating traditional food. One of the most colourful events of the day is held in Dhaka. Early in the morning, people in hundreds and thousands pour in from all directions to attend the cultural function at Ramana. Batamul organised by Chhayanaut. The cultural programme begins just at sunrise and the renowned artists of the country take part in the programme that starts with the famous Tagore-Song Esho-he- Boishakh, Esho Esho-Artists also sing traditional folk songs and perform classical dances to the rhythm of musical instruments. People also come to join the colourful processions, the biggest carnival of the country, organized by the Fine Arts students of Dhaka University. The procession usually displays the traditional practices of Bangalee culture. The masks and wreaths worn by the people are so fascinating! Often they symbolise contemporary worries of happiness in the national life. It attracts an increasing number of foreign tourists every year. The day is also observed all over the country. Different social and cultural organisations and educational institutions celebrate the day with their own cultural programmes. On this day, newspapers bring out special supplements. There are also special programmes on the radio and television. The celebration of Pahela Boishakh marks a day of cultural unity for the whole nation.

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'Heritage' is what we inherit from the past, live with in the present and then pass on to our children or future generation. Our unique source of life and inspiration is our cultural and natural heritage. When we speak of 'World Heritage', it indicates places and sites that we inherited from the past and pass on to the future generation of the entire world.

The 'Shatambuj Mosque' in Bagerhat is such a heritage. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985. Originally, the historic Mosque City was known as 'Khalifatabad'. It is situated at the outskirts of Bagerhat town not very far from the dense mangrove forest of the Shundarbans. Khalifatabad was a Muslim colony. It was founded by the Turkish general, a saint warrior Ulugh Khan Jahan in the 15the century. The infrastructure of the city reveals significant technical skills in many mosques as well as early Islamic monuments. Baked bricks were used for the construction of the buildings. The planning of the city was dominated by the tradition of Islamic architecture and the decorations were a combination of Mughal and Turkish architecture.

Khan Jahan built a network of roads, bridges, public buildings and reservoirs to make the city habitable There were about 360 mosques in the city. Among them the most remarkable is the multi-domed Shat Gombuj Mosque. The mosque is unique in the sense that it has 60 pillars that support the roof, with 77 low height domes. The 4 towers at 4 corners have smaller domes at the top as well. The vast prayer hall has 11 arched doorways on the east and 7 each on the north and south for light and ventilation. It has 7 aisles running along the length of the mosque and 11 deep curves between the slender stone columns. These columns support the curving arches created by the domes. The thickness of the arches is 6 feet and have slightly narrowing hollow and round wall. The west wall in the interior has 11 'Mihrabs' (niche in mosque pointing towards Makkah). These Mihrabs are decorated with stonework and terracotta. The floor of the mosque is made of brick.

Besides being used as a prayer hall, Khan Jahan used the mosque as his court too. Today, it is one of the greatest tourist attractions and orie of the best architectural beauties of Bangladesh.

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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 or 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 and 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.

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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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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Let's save our planet!

Everyone must play a part in protecting the environment. There are many things you can do on your own every day to help save the planet. Here are some suggestions.

REDUCE!

Really, the best thing we can do for the planet is to use its resources properly. Our unplanned activities are mainly responsible for the environmental crisis. Here are some questions you can ask yourself before buying something. "Do I really need this?" or "Is there another product which would do the same thing but is more sustainable? or ask the question, "Will this last a long time?" Some other questions may be, "Do I know how this item was made, how it will be used and how it will be disposed of?

REUSE!

What do you think of using your own ceramic cup or mug at your school or local club? It means there are no plastic cups to throw away. You can wash it and reuse it every day. Unfortunately, we are encouraged to buy a new improved item even if the one we have can be repaired or reused. When we buy things, we should buy those that are durable; we should use them properly, and have them repaired when necessary. If we practise this, many things will not only last a lifetime, but also be passed on for future use. However, if something is truly unusable for its original purposes, try to be more creative and think of how else it might be used. When you're done with it. think of whether someone else might be able to use it. You can donate some of the things to the poor. You may also sell some of your used items through personal advertisements in a local newspaper or in social media.

RECYCLE!

Rather than throwing an item out when neither you nor anyone else can make use of it. have it recycled. And if recycling is not possible, it is better to send goods to a landfill or have them burned up. Find out what types of materials can be recycled in your area. Clean and sort the materials before putting them out in the bin, Recveling your drink and food cans means there will be less trash in a resource recovery facility or landfill. Moreover, a company can use the old cans to make new ones.

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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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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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Kuakata, locally known as Sagar Kannya (Daughter of the Sea) is a rare scenic spot located on the southernmost tip of Bangladesh. Kuakata in Latachapli union under Kalapara Police Station of Patuakhall district is about 30 km in length and 6 km in breadth. It is 70 km from Patuakhali district headquarters and 320 km from Dhaka. An excellent combination of the picturesque natural beauty, sandy beaches, blue sky and the shimmering expanse of water of the Bay of Bengal and the evergreen forest makes Kuakata a much sought after tourist destination. The name Kuakata takes its origin from the story of a 'Kua' or well-dug on the sea shore by the early

Rakhaine settlers for collecting drinking water. The Rakhaines had landed on Kuakata coast after being expelled from Arakan by the Mughals. Following the first well, it became a tradition to dig wells in the neighborhood of Rakhaine homesteads for fresh water supply. Kuakata is one of the unique spots which allow a visitor to watch both the sunrise and the sunset from the beach. That perhaps makes Kuakata one of the world's most attractive beaches. The long and wide beach at Kuakata has a typical natural setting. This sandy beach slopes gently into the Bay and bathing there is as pleasant as is swimming or diving.

Kuakata is truly a virgin beach and a sanctuary for migratory winter birds. Fishing boats plying in the Bay of Bengal with colorful sails, surfing waves and the lines of coconut trees add to the vibrant colours of Kuakata. The indigenous culture of the Rakhaine community and hundred years old Buddhist temples indicate the age-old tradition and cultural heritage of this area. Kuakata is also a holy land for the Hindus and Buddhists. Each year thousands of devotees come here to attend the festivals Rash Purnima and Maghi Purnima. On these two days, pilgrims take holy bath and enjoy going to the traditional fairs.