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BANGLADESH
Capital | Dhaka
FLAG DESCRIPTION: green field with a large red disk shifted slightly to the hoist side of center; the red disk represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh
Population | 158,065,841 (July 2010 est)
Area | 144,000 SQ KM
Official Language | Bengali
Holidays | 16 December 1971 (from West Pakistan); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is known as Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh
Currency | taka (BDT)
Time Zone | UMT +6
Best Time to Visit | October to February (winter)
Connecting with the Culture | Wandering through the 19th – century mansions of the maharajas. Watching the panorama of the river-life in Dhaka’s oldest city. Taking a ride in one of Dakah’s 600,000-plus rickshaws. Visiting Sompapuri Vihara- a Buddhist monastery covering 11 hectares.
Read | Gitanjali by Richard Tagore, the great Bengali poet and winner of the 1913 Nobel Prize for Literature
Listen | to Garo of the Madhupur Forest, a collection of traditional Bengali music
Watch | the Apu-Trilogy of Satyajit Ray, one of the fathers of Bengali cinema
Eat | dal (yellow lentils) and rice; fish or meat with vegetables cooked spicy
Drink | yogurt sharbat, a chilled spicy yogurt drink flavored with chili, mint, coriander and cumin
In a Word | No-mosh-kar (hello)
Characteristics | Green rice fields; manicured tea plantations; palm trees; rickshaws; mosques; Hindu temples; tribal villages; forests full of monkeys and spectacular bird life
Surprises | The Bangladeshi habit of staring at the unusual means that foreigners can draw a fixed gaze just by walking out on the street.
NEWS ABOUT BANGLADESH:
Bangladesh Garment Leader Murdered
(Video NDTV, 2010 Dhaka fire)
(HN, 4/12/12) - Weeks after winning a major commitment from American clothing giant Phillips-Van Heusen (PVH) to improve labor conditions in the garment factories of Bangladesh, a prominent leader of the garment workers' movement has been found murdered, his body showing evidence of brutal torture. Aminul Islam, 40, a head of the Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity (BCWS) & the Bangladesh Garment & Industrial Workers Federation, disappeared from the country's main textile center of Ashulia last Wednesday after receiving a call from a worker asking for help. Police discovered his body dumped by a roadside northwest of Dhaka Friday, reportedly burying it in "a state-run graveyard the next day". He had fought for years organizing garment workers to push for higher wages & safer factories, forcing one of the worst paying countries in the world to increase the minimum wage in 2010; workers can make as little as 21 cents an hou. Last month an ABC News `Nightline' investigation focused on a 2011 factory fire that killed 29 workers & led Phillips-Van Heusen to commit more than $1 million to improving standards in factories that produce clothing for brands including Calvin Klein, Nautica, Kenneth Cole, Timberland, & Tommy Hilfiger. Before his death Islam was helping 8,000 workers of Shanta Group, a garment manufacturer making clothing for Nike & Ralph Lauren. Over the past 5 years, nearly 500 workers have died in a series of gruesome factory fires; Bangladesh is currently the cheapest place in the world for garment manufacturers to make clothing. (Read more at JOYOnline)
Bangladesh ferry sinks with about 200 people on board
(AFP)(HN, 3/14/12) - A ferry packed with about 200 people has capsized in a river in southern Bangladesh, drowning 18 people and leaving dozens more missing, according to the authorities. Police chief Mohammad Shahabuddin Khan said around 35 people were rescued after the double-deck ferry sank on the Meghna river after a collision with a cargo boat early in the morning. Divers have recovered 18 bodies from inside the sunken ferry, he said. (READ MORE from THE GUARDIAN)
(video via EuroNews)
