St. Martin's Island

St. Martin's Island is a small island in the northeastern part of the Bay of Bengal, about 9 km south of the tip of the Cox's Bazar-Teknaf peninsula, and forming the southernmost part of Bangladesh. It is about 8 km west of the northwest coast of Myanmar, at the mouth of the Naf River. The local name of the island is "Narical Gingira", also spelled "Narikel Jinjira/Jinjera", means 'Coconut Island' in Bengali. It is the only coral island in Bangladesh.Most of the island's 5500 inhabitants live primarily from fishing. Besides, the other staple crops are rice and coconut. Being very common in the island, Algae is collected, then dried and finally exported to Myanmar. Between October and April, the fishermen from neighbouring areas bring their caught fishes to the island's temporary wholesale market. As the centre and the south are mainly farmland and makeshift huts, most of the strenuous things are around the far north of the island.Motel Nijhum is one of the best hotels in St. Martin’s Island. Besides,Abokash, Ratnodeep Resort, Nil Diganta,Blue Marine, Prashad Paradise and Sraboni Bilash are also well known hotels. All these hotels are situated near the seashore.

Do not expect to find taxis, tarred roads or electricity here. Except for the larger hotels that run on generators, there is no electricity supply from National grid in the island. The island is all about sun, sea and palm trees. During the day, the island comes alive with water and beach sports, with beach parties and bonfires lighting up the evening skies.

St. Martin's Island has become a popular tourist spot. Currently, five shipping liners run daily trips to the island, including Shahid Sher Niabat, L T Kutubdia, Eagle, Keary Cruise & Dine and Keary-Sindbad. Tourists can book their trip either from Chittagong or from Cox's Bazar. The surrounding coral reef of the island has an extension named Chera Dwip. A small bush is there, which is the only green part of Chera Dwip, enhancing the beauty of this island. People do not live on this part of the island, so it is advisable for the tourists to go there early and come back by afternoon.

You will get the best weather usually between November and February. Undoubtedly, this is the major tourist season. Between March and July, a tourist must keep his eyes on the forecast keenly, as cyclone can strike during these times. The island was devastated by a cyclone in 1991 but has fully recovered, and was untouched by the 2004 tsunami. Thus, March to July is tourist off season.

In the past 5 years St. Martin's visitor population has increased dramatically. While this situation has proven to be lucrative for the islanders, it is causing the natural beauty of the island to deteriorate. Presently there are many efforts being put forth to preserve the several endangered species of turtles that nest on the island, as well as the corals, some of which are found only on Narikel Jinjera. Pieces of the coral reef are being removed in order to be sold to tourists.Nesting turtles are sometimes taken for food, and their hatchlings are oftendistracted by the twinkling lights along the beach. Species of fish, a few just recently discovered, are being overfished. Every year the fishermen must venture further out to sea to get their catch. Most of them use motorless boats.

It's possible to walk around the island in a day because it measures only 8 km² (3 sq. mile), shrinking to about 5 km² (2 sq. mi) during high tide. The island exists only because of its coral base, so removal of that coral risks erosion of the beaches. Sadly, St. Martin's has lost roughly 25% of its coral reef in the past 7 years.

The Bermuda Triangle

The "Bermuda Triangle" or "Devil's Triangle" is an imaginary area located off the southeastern Atlantic coast of the United States of America, which is noted for a supposedly high incidence of unexplained disappearances of ships and aircraft. The apexes of the triangle are generally believed to be Bermuda; Miami, Florida; and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The US Board of Geographic Names does not recognize the Bermuda Triangle as an official name. The US Navy does not believe the Bermuda Triangle exists. It is reported that Lloyd's of London, the world's leading market for specialist insurance, does not charge higher premiums for vessels transiting this heavily traveled area

The most famous US Navy losses which have occurred in the area popularly known as the Bermuda Triangle are USS Cyclops in March 1918 and the aircraft of Flight 19 in December 1945. The ship probably sank in an unexpected storm, and the aircraft ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean -- no physical traces of them have ever been found. Another well known disappearance is the civilian tanker SS Marine Sulphur Queen carrying bulk molten sulfur which sank in February 1963. Although the wreck of Marine Sulphur Queen has not been located, a life preserver and other floating artifacts were recovered. These disappearances have been used to provide credence to the popular belief in the mystery and purported supernatural qualities of the "Bermuda Triangle."

Since the days of early civilization many thousands of ships have sunk and/or disappeared in waters around the world due to navigational and other human errors, storms, piracy, fires, and structural/mechanical failures. Aircraft are subject to the same problems, and many of them have crashed at sea around the globe. Often, there were no living witnesses to the sinking or crash, and hence the exact cause of the loss and the location of the lost ship or aircraft are unknown. A large number of pleasure boats travel the waters between Florida and the Bahamas. All too often, crossings are attempted with too small a boat, insufficient knowledge of the area's hazards, and a lack of good seamanship.

To see how common accidents are at sea, you can examine some of the recent accident reports of the National Transportation Safety Board for ships and aircraft. One of the aircraft accident reports concerns an in-flight engine failure and subsequent ditching of a Cessna aircraft near Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas on 13 July 2003. This is the type of accident that would likely have been attributed to mysterious causes in the Bermuda Triangle if there had been no survivors or other eyewitnesses of the crash.

A significant factor with regard to missing vessels in the Bermuda Triangle is a strong ocean current called the Gulf Stream. It is extremely swift and turbulent and can quickly erase evidence of a disaster. The weather also plays its role. Prior to the development of telegraph, radio and radar, sailors did not know a storm or hurricane was nearby until it appeared on the horizon. For example, the Continental Navy sloop Saratoga was lost off the Bahamas in such a storm with all her crew on 18 March 1781. Many other US Navy ships have been lost at sea in storms around the world. Sudden local thunder storms and water spouts can sometimes spell disaster for mariners and air crews. Finally, the topography of the ocean floor varies from extensive shoals around the islands to some of the deepest marine trenches in the world. With the interaction of the strong currents over the many reefs the topography of the ocean bottom is in a state of flux and the development of new navigational hazards can sometimes be swift.

It has been inaccurately claimed that the Bermuda Triangle is one of the two places on earth at which a magnetic compass points towards true north. Normally a compass will point toward magnetic north. The difference between the two is known as compass variation. The amount of variation changes by as much as 60 degrees at various locations around the World. If this compass variation or error is not compensated for, navigators can find themselves far off course and in deep trouble. Although in the past this compass variation did affect the "Bermuda Triangle" region, due to fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field this has apparently not been the case since the nineteenth century.

We know of no US Government-issued maps that delineate the boundaries of the Bermuda Triangle. However, general maps as well as nautical and aviation charts of the general area are widely available in libraries and from commercial map dealers.

Manikganj District : My Hometown.

Geography

Manikganj District (Dhaka Division) with an area of 1378.99 km², is bounded by Tangail District on the north, Dhaka District on the east, Faridpur and Dhaka districts on the south, the padma, jamuna and the districts of Pabna and Rajbari on the west. Annual temperature: maximum 36 °C and minimum 12.7 °C; annual rainfall 2376 mm. Main rivers are the Padma, Jamuna, Dhaleshwari, Ichamati and Kaliganga. An extensive area of the district especially riverine area of the upazilas of Harirampur, Shivalaya and Daulatpur becomes victim to riverbank erosion every year.

Subdivisions

Manikganj (Town) consists of 9 wards and 49 mahallas. The area of the town is 20.59 km². Administration Manikganj subdivision was established in 1845 and was turned into a district in 1984. It consists of 1 municipality, 7 upazilas, 65 union parishads, 1357 mouzas, 9 wards, 49 mahallas and 1647 villages. The upazillas are Manikganj Sadar Upazila, Singair Upazila, Shivalaya Upazila, Saturia Upazila, Harirampur Upazila, Ghior Upazila and Daulatpur Upazila.

History

Manikganj was formerly a subdivision of Dhaka District. It was turned into a district in 1984.

On the April 26, 1989 Manikganj was the site of, what was at the time, the world's worst tornado in terms of loss-of-life. 1,300 people were initially reported as having been killed with 12,000 injured. The towns of Saturia and Manikganj Sadar were leveled and about 80,000 people were made homeless.

Historical Events

• A decisive battle was fought between the Mughal Army and the combined forces of the Bara Bhuiyans under Musa Khan at Jatrapur and Dakchara on the Ichamati (in present-day Harirampur Upazila). It resulted in the defeat of the Bara Bhuiyans and established the Mughal supremacy over the central Bhati region.
• In the second half of the nineteenth century indigo uprisings spread over the district. On 12 February 1932, the anti-British revolutionists under Hiralal Mohanta of Manikganj town looted the postal despatch.

War of Liberation

During the War of Liberation in 1971 a group of Pakistani intruding soldiers on boats while proceeding towards the Singair camp was attacked by the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters on the Nurani-ganga Khal and in the encounter more than three hundred Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters were killed. In a pitched battle between the Pak-army and the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters at Baira under Singair upazila 15 Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters were killed. The Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters killed 41 Pakistani armies by gunshot at village Terasree under Ghior upazila on 22 November. The Pak-soldiers attacked the camp of the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters at Nayabari under Shivalaya upazila in the month of November and after a fight for four hours the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters were compelled of retreat. A battle was fought between the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters and the Pakistani intruding soldiers at village Kagajinagar of sadar upazila on 12 December in which the Pak-soldiers being pressed by guerrilla attack dispersed. In an encounter between the Pakistani army and the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters at Baliartek on 14 December one Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters was captured and Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters Nawsher Molla killed. The Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters Chand Mia was killed in an encounter at village Manra. A battle was fought between the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters and the Pakistani intruding soldiers on 15 December at village Ghazinda in which the Mukti Bahini Freedom Fighters Mohammad Aminur Rahman, Chhakkeluddin, Shariful Islam and Rahijuddin were died. During November 1971, at Mogra under Golaidanga union in Singair upazila, a group of Freedom Fighters attaked the boats carrying the Pakistani intruding soldiers and a terrible battle was occurred. Around 75 PAK soldiers were killed. After this battle, the PAK introding soldiers burnt sevral hundred of houses surrounding villages of the battle place.

Marks of War of Liberation Mass killing site: Saturia Pilot High School compound, Primary Training Institute campus, Tara-ghat, house of Balai Babu; mass grave: by the side of Thana pond; Memorial monument: at a place adjacent to the Manikganj Bus-stand, memorial monument at village Terasree in Ghior upazila.

Famous Persons

Manikganj district ( then subdivision of Dhaka District ) is the home land of Economist & Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen Manikganj is also birth place of first Indian film makers Ms Motilal Sen and Hiralal Sen. Acharjya Dinesh Chandra Sen -was also born in Manikganj.Tareque a cricketer was also born here.Naimur Rahman Durjoy was a Bangladeshi captain and He also born in Manikgonj. Dr. Munir Chowdhory born in Manikgonj.

Archaeological Heritage

Matta Math, Sree Sree Anandamayee Kalibari, Rajani Bhaban and Jhobhat Bhaban, Narayan Sadhu Asram, Sivabari Mandir, Neel-kuthi at Bimile (sadar upazila); Fort at Fordnagar, Baira Neel-kuthi, residence of Datta-Guptas, Ananda Kuthi and Mandir, Senabari and Durga-mandap, Imampara Jami Masjid, tomb of Ibrahim Shah, (Singair upazila); Ekdala Fort, Katasgarh Fort, Fort at Dhaki-jora, Daschira Buddha-vihara and stupa, Navaratna Math, Teota Zamindar Bari, Machain Masjid, tomb of Shah Rustam, Tepra Kali Mandir, Sree-bari, Neel-kuthi at Teota (Shivalaya upazila); Baliati Zamindar Palace, Dhankora Zamindar-bari, tomb of Kalu Shah, Gauranga Math (Saturia upazila); Neel-kuthi at village Sreebari Baratia, Panch-thubi Bauddha-vihara (Ghior); Jhitka Lokmania Dargah (Harirampur).kotkandi game mosque

Population

Manikganj District has a population of 1,274,829; 51.16% male and 48.84% female; the population denisty is 2582. Among the peasants, landless 23%, marginal peasant 29%, small peasant 25%, intermediate 18% and 5% rich.

Religion

Religion in Manikganj District
Religion			Percent
Islam			87%
Hinduism			12.41%
Christianity			0.03%
Buddhism			0.03%
other religions			0.53%

The district of Manikganj consists 3575 mosques, 160 temples, 10 churches, five Buddhist temples and a pagoda.

Literacy and education

Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 26.9%; male 33.7%, female 20.1%. Educational institutions: college 24, high school 130, junior high school 7, primary training institute 1, vocational training institute 1, madrasa 87, music school 1, tol 1, primary school 588, NGO operated school 290, community school 2, adult education centre 225, satellite school 10. Old and noted institutions: Government Devendra College (1942), Government Bhiku Memorial College (1966)- Daragram, Manikganj Government Girl's College (1972), Khondkar Nurul Hossain Law Academy, Manikganj Government High School (1884), Surendra Kumar Government Girl's High School (1938), Primary Training Institute, Baliati Iswar Chandra High School (1919), Ghior Durga Narayan High School(1929), Jaimandap High School (1921), Teota Academy (1891).

Newspapers , periodicals & magazine

Newspapers and periodicals (weekly) Karcha, Alor Bani, Muktir Vahana, Manikganjer Khabar, Ababil; (defunct) Paril Bartabaha (1280 BS), Weekly Manikganj (1972), Weekly Budhbar, Weekly Pataka, Navagram (1978), Chalaman (1980), Muktir Dak (1980), Manikganj Barta (1981), Maitree International (1979), Jagarani (1965), Ritu-rang-man (1967), Abahaman (1978), Bitapa (1981), Dishari, Aloklata, Shiuli, Durbachal, Dawal, Ghazikhali, Chhayapalli.

Occupations

Main occupations Agriculture 37.96%, fishing 1.87%, agricultural labourer 22.25%, wage labourer 3.92%, industry 1.15%, commerce 11.97%, construction 1.03%, service 8.43%. transport 1.76% and others 9.66%.

Agriculture

Land use Cultivable land 107897 hectares; fallow land 16193 hectares; single crop 25%, double crop 59.4% and triple crop land 15.6%. Cultivable land under irrigation 40%. Value of land The market value of the first grade arable land is Tk 11,642 per 0.01 hectare. Main crops Paddy, jute, sugarcane, wheat, tobacco, mustard, sesame, potato, ground nut, onion, chilli, garlic, khesari, lentil, leguminous pulse, vegetables.

Extinct and nearly extinct crops Kaun, china, linseed, barley, arahar, maize, sweet potato.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, safeda, banana, papaya, guava, coconut, palm, kamranga.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 660, livestock and dairy 741, poultry 1375, hatchery 16.

Communication facilities

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 264 km, semi pucca 52 km, mud road 2268 km, waterways 118-nautical-mile (219 km).

Traditional transport Horse, horse carriage, push van, palanquin, bullock cart, buffalo cart. These means of transport are either extinct or nearly extinct.

Manufactories

Manufactories Heavy industry 5, medium industry 15, small industry 945.

Cottage industries Weaving 1107, silk work 23, brass metal work 39, conch work 19, packaging 54, bidi factory 9, welding 294, candle and agar factory 51, molasses production 54, book binding 46, wood work 399, bamboo work 1264, goldsmith 460, blacksmith 382, potteries 953, tailoring 1042, miscellaneous cottage industries 97.

Haat, Bazar and Mela

There are total 166 Haats and Bazars. Besides 54 fairs (Mela) are held in Manikganj.

Main exports

Main exports Tobacco, cotton and silk fabrics, molasses, paddy, jute, wheat, potato, milk, poultry, metal products, ground nut, oil seed, electric pole, gas cylinder.

NGO Activities

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, proshika, asa, grameen bank, Prism Bangladesh, Sheds, NBCL, Gana Kalyan Trust, Shapla Neer, VON, Sonali Sangstha, Manab Unnayan, TURD, VIRK, Arab, ITCL, iccdr,b, SPUS, Usha, DRRS, CDC, ccdb, Samamana, Dak, OSP, SEEDS (Total NGOs 354).

Health Centres

Health centres Sadar hospital 1, Manikganj Diabetic Samiti (Hospital) 1, maternity and child care centre 2, upazila health complex 6, family planning centre 43, satellite clinic 27, community clinic 30, NGO operated health centre 2, private clinic 5. PASD

Places of interest

Tomb of Shah Rustam, forts at Fordnagar and DhakiJora, Imampara Jami Masjid, Teota Rajbari, Navaratna temple (Teota), Baliati Zamindar Bari, Ekdala fort, Machain Mosque, Dhankora Zamindar bari, Katasgarh fort, Ibrahim Shah tomb are some prominent places to visit in Manikganj.

Among the educational institutions Government Devendra College, Khan Bahadur Awlad Hossain Khan Degree College, Manikganj Model High School, Manikganj Government High School, Surendrakumar Government Girl High School, Khan Bahadur Awlad Hossain Khan High School are prominent.

Tipaimukh Dam: Is Bangladesh in the face of impending danger ?

India has unilaterally signed an agreement for construction of Tipaimukh dam over Barak river in Monipur state of India.without counsulting or informing Bangladesh. This is against the norms and expectation as per international law. This is also against the bilateral agreements signed between India and Bnagladesh at differet times. India was always giving hope that it will not do anything that will adversly affect Bangladesh. Even Monmohan when last visited Bangladesh when visited a few months back retaliated the same assurance. But in practice they are giving little heed to the interest of Bangladesh.

Regarding Tipaimukh dam, there is argument against the barrage within India also. The water experts and envronmentalists are agaisnt the barrage . They warn of econological disaster if the dam is constructed. The people of Monipur are protesting against the attempt of the central government. They are afraid of submersion of a large area in the vacinily, displacement of people and deprivation of livelihood. The dam will create havoc to the people on the downside of the river in Bnagladesh.

From the Bangladesh Government side, the State Minister of Water resource first speak on the issue. He said that it is an internal affair of India and India assured that it will not do anything that will harm Bangladesh. But the citizen groups and experts of Bangladesh expressed their concern over the issue and stand against the construction of the dam. Opposition BNP has taken up the issue to expose the weak stand of the government on the issue.

Frustration of people against the goverment is increasing and the odinary citizen fears that it will frustration of people will be reflected in the next general election.

An ordinary citizen

Follow up:
23/11/2011
Government at last responded to the issue. A statement from Foreign Ministry said that the government seek explaination on the issue from the Indian Government.
Prime Minister also spoke in the parliament toady and said that Bangladeesh will not tolerate any attempt that mayy affect the welfare of the people of Bangladesh.
But the tone of Bangladesh Minister Dipu Moni is softer and while she says that Bangladesh is convinced with the assurance of India that it will not do anything that will harm Bangladesh.
In the meantime BNP chairperson sent a letter to Indiam PM to settle the Tipaimukh issue by bilateral negotiation, joint survey and expert opinion.
Question is also arose whether Bangladesh should go to the international court. The Government yet not decided on the issue.

The Provisional New7Wonders of Nature

AMAZON, HALONG BAY, IGUAZU FALLS, JEJU ISLAND, KOMODO,
PUERTO PRINCESA UNDERGROUND RIVER, & TABLE MOUNTAIN,  

These above are the provisional New7Wonders of Nature, based on the first count of vote results announced at the N7W headquarters in Zurich on 11/11/11. The process of confirming the provisional New7Wonders of Nature results is now underway, and includes the following:
- The validation of all phone and SMS voting results.
- The verification of the calculation.
- The preparation of the Official Inauguration event for each confirmed New7Wonder of Nature. We will update and announce as each one of the New7Wonders of Nature is confirmed. We expect to start doing this in early 2012 once the validation, verification and preparation process is complete for each one. At that point each confirmed New7Wonder of Nature will host an Official Inauguration at the location and in the capital city, during which the Official New7Wonders of Nature Plaque will be ceremonially presented as final confirmation of the status as one of the Official New7Wonders of Nature as voted by the people of the world.Total voting set a new world record for N7W, many hundreds of millions of votes and a multiple of the votes achieved in our first campaign to elect the man-made New 7 Wonders of the World declared in 2007. We will update on the exact number of votes once the confirmation process is fully completed.