INDIAN Symbol of Revolution

Bhagat Singh, 23 years of age when hanged by the British on 23rd March 1931, remains to this day a model for the youth of India and the world. The accomplishments and heroism of his short life are worthy not only of our remembrance, but of our homage.

MARCH 23 this year marks the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh, Rajguru and Sukhdev who, along with their comrades, challenged the might of the British empire and set before their countrymen an example of supreme sacrifice for the cause of the country’s independence. On their part, our people too have no doubt always cherished the memories of these and countless other martyrs. But the fact is that remembering the sacrifice of these martyrs has never been of so crucial significance in the history of independent India as it is today when US imperialists are seeking to dominate us and draw India into their global hegemonic designs.

This is the reason that our party, the CPI(M), has given a call to all its units to observe the 75th anniversary of the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh and his comrades on March 23 this year, and to utilise the occasion to propagate their message of anti-imperialism, secularism and socialism.

Here we will do well to recall the fact that when Bhagat Singh went to the gallows in a cheerful, singing mood, he was hardly 23 years and a half. Yet, he came to symbolise the best of aspirations of a nation that was struggling for independence and for a worthy life for all its members. In fact, no other national revolutionary (“terrorist” in British imperialist parlance) of the earlier generations identified himself so closely with the Indian masses on the move, as did Bhagat Singh, and in the process he himself became the symbol of revolution, insofar as the Indians are concerned. Just to take one example, while our national liberation movement produced numerous slogans, ranging from “Do or Die” to “Delhi Chalo,” none of these proved as enduring as the slogan of “Inqilab Zindabad” (Long Live Revolution) that was upheld by Bhagat Singh and his comrades-in-arms. Even today, almost every political meeting through the length and breadth of the country starts and concludes with this slogan.

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World TUBERCULOSIS Day

TB is preventable and curable.

ROBERT KOCH discovered the TB bacillus more than 100 years ago but the disease is still far from being controlled.TB spreads by AIR,and commonly affects the LUNGS.

TB is contagious and spreads through the air; if not treated, each person with active TB infects on average 10 to 15 people every year.

2 billion people, equal to one third of the world’s total population, are infected with TB bacilli, the microbes that cause TB.

1 in 10 people infected with TB bacilli will become sick with active TB in their lifetime; people with HIV are at a much greater risk.

TB is a disease of poverty; affecting mostly young adults in their most productive years; the vast majority of TB deaths are in the developing world with more than half of all deaths occurring in Asia.

1.6 million people died from TB in 2005, equal to an estimated 4400 deaths a day. • TB is a leading killer among HIV-infected people with weakened immune systems; about 200 000 people with HIV die from TB every year, most of them being in Africa.

There were 8.8 million new TB cases in 2005 and 80% of them were in 22 countries.Per capita, global TB incidence rates are now stable or falling in all six WHO regions and have peaked globally; however the total number of cases is still rising in the African, Eastern Mediterranean and South East Asia regions.

TB is a worldwide pandemic; though the highest rates per capita are in Africa (28% of all TB cases), half of all new cases are in 6 Asian countries (Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia,Pakistan, the Philippines).

Multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) is a form of TB that does not respond to the standard treatments using fi rst line drugs; MDR-TB is present in virtually all countries recently surveyed by WHO and partners.

450 000 new MDR-TB cases are estimated to occur every year; the highest rates of MDR-TB are in countries of the former Soviet Union and China.

Extensively drug-resistant TB (XDR-TB) occurs when resistance to second-line drugs develops; it is extremely diffi cult to treat, and cases have been confi rmed worldwide.

The Global Plan to Stop TB 2006-2015

Full funding and implementation will:

Achieve the Millennium Development Goal to have halted and begun to reverse the incidence of TB by 2015.

Expand access to high-quality TB diagnosis and treatment for all.

Save an additional 14 million lives.

Treat 50 million people for TB.

Treat all diagnosed MDR-TB patients.

Put 3 million TB patients coinfected with HIV onto antiretrovirals.
Produce the fi rst new anti-TB drug in 40 years by 2010.

Develop a new vaccine by 2015.

Provide rapid and inexpensive diagnostic tests at the point of care.

World Meteorological Day

MARCH 23

Every year, on 23 March, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), its 187 Members and the worldwide meteorological community celebrate World Meteorological Day. This Day commemorates the entry into force, on that date in 1950, of the WMO Convention creating the Organization. Subsequently, in 1951, WMO was designated a specialized agency of the United Nations System.

In 2005, on the occasion of its fifty-seventh session, the WMO Executive Council decided that the theme for the year 2007 would be “Polar meteorology: understanding global impacts”, in recognition of the importance of, and as a contribution to, International Polar Year (IPY) 2007‑2008, which is being co-sponsored by WMO and the International Council for Science (ICSU). To ensure that researchers can work in both polar regions during the summer and winter months, the event will actually be held from March 2007 to March 2009. The fundamental concept of the IPY is an intensive burst of internationally coordinated, interdisciplinary scientific research and observations focused on the Earth’s polar regions and their far-reaching global effects.

The International Polar Year 2007-2008 will, therefore, be addressing a wide range of physical, biological and social issues, closely or indirectly linked to the polar regions. The urgency and complexity of the changes being observed in the polar regions will demand a broad and integrated scientific approach. Enhanced international collaboration and open partnerships resulting from this landmark scientific effort will, no doubt, stimulate and facilitate unrestricted data access and cross-cutting research initiatives. Through an ample outreach effort, IPY will also represent a major step forward in making scientific knowledge available and accessible to the general public. At the same time, a foremost concern will be the fact that the impacts derived from the polar regions are also important to the global climate system as a whole, so that many changes detected at the higher latitudes will also be found to have significant impacts on the sustainable development of all societies, regardless of geographic latitude.

Meteorology has long been recognized as a paradigm of a science without frontiers and polar meteorology is perhaps the ultimate example of this principle. Therefore, as the international meteorological community celebrates World Meteorological Day 2007, it is my hope that all Members of the World Meteorological Organization will recognize the importance of polar meteorology and its potential global impacts on their lives, their security and their prosperity. Moreover, it is also my expectation that the outcomes of this endeavour will contribute to a better understanding of climate variability and climate change, as well as to the development of much needed climate applications to address some of the major challenges of the 21st century.

WORLD WATER DAY

MARCH 22

The international observance of World Water Day is an initiative that grew out of the 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro.

The United Nations General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/47/193 of 22 December 1992 by which 22 March of each year was declared World Day for Water, to be observed starting in 1993, in conformity with the recommendations of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) contained in Chapter 18 (Fresh Water Resources) of Agenda 21. States were invited to devote the Day, as appropriate in the national context, to concrete activities such as the promotion of public awareness through the publication and diffusion of documentaries and the organization of conferences, round tables, seminars and expositions related to the conservation and development of water resources and the implementation of the recommendations of Agenda 21.

'Coping with Water Scarcity' is the theme for World Water Day 2007, which is celebrated each year on 22 March. This year's theme highlights the increasing significance of water scarcity worldwide and the need for increased integration and cooperation to ensure sustainable, efficient and equitable management of scarce water resources, both at international and local levels.

Equity and rights, cultural and ethical issues are essential to be addressed when dealing with limited water resources. Imbalances between availability and demand, the degradation of groundwater and surface water quality, intersectoral competition, interregional and international disputes, all center around the question of how to cope with scarce water resources.

The theme was decided among all members of UN Water at the World Water Week in Stockholm in August 2006. FAO acts as coordinator, on behalf of all the UN Agencies and Programmes members of UN-Water for the celebration of World Water Day 2007. It is assisted by the Secretariat for UN-Water, which is based at UN DESA in New York, and which is serving as point of contact within the UN system for freshwater-related issues.

WORLD KIDNEY DAY

MARCH 8

Also comes WORLD WOMEN'S DAY on this day March 8th

Chronic, non-communicable diseases (particularly cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease) have now replaced the communicable diseases as the leading threat to public health and health budgets worldwide.

Deaths claimed by infectious diseases will decline by 3% over the next decade. In marked contrast, chronic diseases that already account for 72% of the total global burden of disease in people over 30 will increase by 17%. Much of this in developing countries.

The cost of treating these chronic diseases, already 80% of many health care budgets, represents a leading threat to public health and healthcare resources worldwide.

The only feasible global response to this pending health and socio-economic crisis is chronic disease prevention.

THE CASE FOR EARLY DETECTION AND PREVENTION
The kidney, too often overlooked as part of global public health efforts, has now emerged as central to prevention efforts.

The cost of renal replacement therapy (RRT) for total kidney failure weighs heavy on many health care budgets. Over 1.5 million individuals around the world receive dialysis or have had a kidney transplant.

Even more importantly, kidney disease is a “disease multiplier”. It causes death in many people with diabetes and hypertension and predicts the development of a cardiovascular event.
If detected early CKD can be treated, thereby reducing other complications.

Abnormalities in kidney function often represent an early window into the state of the general vascular system. This window facilitates early disease detection before patients develop more devastating problems such as a stroke, peripheral vascular disease, coronary heart disease and kidney failure.

This new information now demands that kidney assumes a central role in global health and prevention efforts, because increased awareness of kidney disease has the immediate potential to dramatically reduce the growing burden of deaths and disability from chronic cardiovascular disease worldwide.

Promoting early detection and prevention of CKD will be an important step towards achieving the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended goal of reducing death rates related to chronic disease in the world by 2% per year over the next decade.
Chronic kidney diseases and cardiovascular diseases will kill 36 million people by the year 2015.

Also comes WORLD WOMEN'S DAY on this day March 8th

WORLD FORESTRY DAY

MARCH 21

The other Day Which falls on this March 21st is

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

In November 1971, at the request of the European Confederation of Agriculture, FAO'S member governments supported the annual observance of 21 March as World Forestry Day. Since then many nations have adopted this practice.

This day commemorates the contribution and value of forests and forestry to the community.

The need to explain

Forestry, more than other branches of agriculture, is an activity which needs to be brought before the public, as is well noted in the article entitled "Explaining forestry to forest users". But to make the practices and benefits of forestry comprehensible to the public is not as simple as it may at first seem. This is partly because of the long time scale involved in forest management compared to the increasingly rapid pace which modern man has come to accept as normal in so many other activities. In some countries there is also a residue of public suspicion of foresters as the "policemen of the woods" and this has to be overcome.

Every forester appreciates and understands the value of the forest as a source of raw material, as a provider of local employment and national income, as the great sponge which gathers and releases water, as the habitat for flora and fauna that otherwise would become extinct, and as the environment and atmosphere in which man feels uniquely at home with nature. If foresters and forest services talk in plain language about that which they know best, people will listen, understand and be with them.

"Man is weaned of the forest, and yet the forest is still very much a part of us." This is at the root of the concern of so many people today for the preservation of forests and other natural environments.

Preventing forest destruction

At a time where there is an awareness throughout the world of the serious imbalance between food production and distribution and population increases, there should be much more research and practical work on agri-silviculture for tropical countries. As foresters we should also spread an awareness of the imbalance between the vast areas of the tropics which are being devastated by unchecked slash-and-burn cultivation and the relatively small areas where agri-silviculture is being practiced, and in good part successfully practiced. The latter can and should be greatly increased. Forest services in tropical countries and university faculties specializing in tropical forestry should concentrate more resources and efforts in these directions.

The other Day Which falls on this March 21st is
International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

MARCH 21

WORLD FORESTRY DAY also falls on this Day, March 21st

Since 1966, the 21st of March has been recognized by the United Nations as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

UNESCO wishes to mark 21 March,the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in a truly exceptional manner. This will be the second International Day to be celebrated by UNESCO since the World Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia, and Related Intolerance was held in 2001, in Durban, South Africa. This Conference, which marked the United Nations Third Decade (1993-2003) to combat Racism and Racial Discrimination, lends a second wind to the long and patient fight against the plague of racial discrimination.

Why 21 March?

The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination was established in 1966, following a tragic event that shocks the conscience: the massacre of young students peacefully protesting against apartheid laws, adopted by the South African government, a brutal regime that applied the theory of inequality between races, regardless of humanity’s moral and ethical advances. Proclaiming the International Day, the United Nations General Assembly called upon the international community to redouble its efforts to eliminate all forms of racial discrimination

Forty-six years ago, on 21 March 1960, police opened fire and killed 69 people in the township of Sharpeville, South Africa, who were peacefully demonstrating against apartheid’s “pass laws.” The United Nations General Assembly subsequently declared that day –- 21 March -- the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (resolution 2142 (XXI). The Assembly called on the international community not only to commemorate that tragedy, but also to work together to combat racism and racial discrimination wherever they exist.

Canada was one of the first countries to support the UN declaration and, in 1989, the Department of Canadian Heritage launched its annual March 21 Campaign.

Youth are the heart and soul of the annual March 21 Campaign. They have the energy, commitment and creativity to advance the struggle against racism. They are the voice of the present and the future. They are among the most exposed to racism in their schools and on the streets. In villages, towns and cities across the Globe, the March 21 Campaign engages youth to transcend the boundaries of race, ethnicity and religion and to embrace diversity.

WORLD FORESTRY DAY also falls on this Day, March 21st

World Consumer Rights Day

MARCH 15

World Consumer Rights Day was introduced in 1983 by Consumers International (CI) and is observed every year on March 15. World Consumer Rights Day activities focus on the eight (8) basic consumer rights: access to basic goods and services, to safety, to choose, to information, to representation, to redress, to consumer education and to a healthy environment. By co-ordinating and promoting World Consumer Rights Day, Consumers International helps to ensure that these rights are given high priority by all governments at the international level.

The Consumer Affairs Division joins over two hundred and fifty (250) consumer organizations in one hundred and fifteen (115) countries in the celebration of this day. The Consumer Affairs Division, Ministry of Legal Affairs is a member of Consumers International (CI) which selects the theme for each year’s observance.

The mission of the Consumer Affairs Division is to improve the quality of life of consumers by promoting consumer awareness and assertiveness. The major objective in observing World Consumer Rights Day continues to be to facilitate discussions among the public and to collaborate and hold discussions with other relevant agencies and stakeholders. These discussions have resulted in the past in recommendations for action to be taken by government and other consumer protection agencies for the general good of the economy and society.

World Consumer Rights Day (WCRD)2007:

Consumers are largely unaware of how their drug consumption choices are being shaped by corporate motives for gargantuan profits.

For WCRD 2007, Consumers International and its member organisations around the world are calling on national governments to put an end to unscrupulous marketing practices by the pharmaceutical industry.

WCRD 2007 is part of our long-term campaign to tackle Unethical Drug Promotion. The purpose of this global campaign is to :

Hold industry accountable for compliance with global codes for ethical drug promotion

Hold governments accountable for rigorous enforcement of regulations on drug promotion

in order to uphold consumer rights to safety and information

Improve consumer access to credible, reliable and transparent drug and health information.

Women's Day Poll

Read more: Why Women's Day is celebrated and
When it was Initiated.

History of Women's Day.

World Wetlands Day

February 2

World Wetlands Day is celebrated each year on the 2 of February. It marks the anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Wetlands (Ramsar Convention) in Ramsar, Iran, on 2 February 1971.

World Wetlands Day was first celebrated in 1997. Since this time government agencies, non-government organisations and community groups have celebrated World Wetlands Day by undertaking actions to raise public awareness of wetland values and benefits and promote the conservation and wise use of wetlands. These activities include seminars, nature walks, festivals, launches of new policies, announcement of new Ramsar sites, newspaper articles, radio interviews and wetland rehabilitation.

World Wetlands Day 2007

The international theme for World Wetlands Day 2007 is 'Wetlands and Fisheries', in recognition of the importance of fish and fisheries to all people around the world. Raising our awareness of the importance of wetlands and fish increases our appreciation of the challenges we are now facing in sustainably managing our wetlands amidst the many, often conflicting, uses.

The World Wetland Day slogan 'Fish for tomorrow?' encapsulates many of these challenges we are facing, which include:

Sustainable management of fish (and other marine species) populations, especially those that are commercially fished

Supporting sustainable aquaculture practices

Effectively managing wetlands and other important fish habitats to protect and conserve fish populations

Increasing buyer awareness of fish species for consumption

Healthy and functional inland and coastal wetlands play a very important role in the management and conservation of our important fish resources. They provide important habitat for fish populations, including rare and endangered fish species, and are spawning and nursery areas for many fish and other marine species.

World Wetlands Day - Ramsar Convention on Wetlands web site

International Women's Day

MARCH 8

Also the World Kidney Day falls on this day, March 8th

International Women's Day (IWD) is marked on every year on March 8. It is a major day of global celebration for the economic, political and social achievements of women.

Take a Women's Day POLL

Started as a political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries (primarily Russia and the countries of former Soviet bloc). In some celebrations, the day lost its political flavour, and became simply an occasion for men to express their sympathy and love to the women around them - somewhat similar to Western Mother'sDay and Valentines Day mixed together. In others, however, the political and human rights theme as designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

International Women's Day is an occasion marked by women's groups around the world. This date is also commemorated at the United Nations and is designated in many countries as a national holiday. When women on all continents, often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their Day, they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development.

International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage.

The idea of an International Women's Day first arose at the turn of the century, which in the industrialized world was a period of expansion and turbulence, booming population growth and radical ideologies. Following is a brief chronology of the most important events:

1909

In accordance with a declaration by the Socialist Party of America, the first National Woman's Day was observed across the United States on 28 February. Women continued to celebrate it on the last Sunday of that month through 1913.

1910

The Socialist International, meeting in Copenhagen, established a Women's Day, international in character, to honour the movement for women's rights and to assist in achieving universal suffrage for women. The proposal was greeted with unanimous approval by the conference of over 100 women from 17 countries, which included the first three women elected to the Finnish parliament. No fixed date was selected for the observance.

1911

As a result of the decision taken at Copenhagen the previous year, International Women's Day was marked for the first time (19 March) in Austria, Denmark, Germany and Switzerland, where more than one million women and men attended rallies. In addition to the right to vote and to hold public office, they demanded the right to work, to vocational training and to an end to discrimination on the job.

Less than a week later, on 25 March, the tragic Triangle Fire in New York City took the lives of more than 140 working girls, most of them Italian and Jewish immigrants. This event had a significant impact on labour legislation in the United States, and the working conditions leading up to the disaster were invoked during subsequent observances of International Women's Day.

1913-1914

As part of the peace movement brewing on the eve of World War I, Russian women observed their first International Women's Day on the last Sunday in February 1913. Elsewhere in Europe, on or around 8 March of the following year, women held rallies either to protest the war or to express solidarity with their sisters.

1917

With 2 million Russian soldiers dead in the war, Russian women again chose the last Sunday in February to strike for "bread and peace". Political leaders opposed the timing of the strike, but the women went on anyway. The rest is history: Four days later the Czar was forced to abdicate and the provisional Government granted women the right to vote. That historic Sunday fell on 23 February on the Julian calendar then in use in Russia, but on 8 March on the Gregorian calendar in use elsewhere.

Since those early years, International Women's Day has assumed a new global dimension for women in developed and developing countries alike. The growing international women's movement, which has been strengthened by four global United Nations women's conferences, has helped make the commemoration a rallying point for coordinated efforts to demand women's rights and participation in the political and economic process. Increasingly, International Women's Day is a time to reflect on progress made, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and determination by ordinary women who have played an extraordinary role in the history of women's rights.

Also The World Kidney Day falls on this Day, MARCH 8th

Indian National Safety Day

MARCH 4

The National Safety Day Campaign being spearheaded by the National Safety Council of India for nearly three decades to mark its Foundation Day (4th March) has significantly contributed to reduction in the rate of industrial accidents and created wide spread safety awareness even in such sectors which have not been covered by any safety legislation. The campaign is comprehensive, general and flexible with an appeal to the participating organisations to develop specific activities as per their safety requirements.

The Campaign celebrates the foundation by the Government of India of the National Safety Council (NSC) in the Ministry of Labour on 4 March 1966 as an autonomous, non-political and non-profit-making organization at the national level to generate, develop and sustain a voluntary movement with respect to occupational safety and health (OSH). The NSC's Board of Governors is broad-based, with representation from all the central organizations of employers and trade unions. Total membership was approximately 4,000 in April 1995, drawn predominantly from the industrial sector, although there also is some membership from non-industrial sectors. In 1966, industrial workplaces in India experienced a rising trend of accidents, and enforcement of safety and health statutes by government agencies alone was not sufficient to reverse this trend. The birth of the NSC as a voluntary body in such a national perspective therefore constituted an important milestone. For many years, the NSC mainly concerned itself with industrial safety; however, with the coverage of some non-industrial sectors in recent years, its scope has been expanded from industrial to occupational safety. The coverage of occupational health, however, is still in its infancy in India. As the idea found favour of commemorating the foundation day of the NSC in the form of a national awareness campaign, the first NSD Campaign was launched in 1972. NSD became an annual event, and even though the duration of the Campaign has been increased to a week, it continues to be known as the National Safety Day Campaign due to the popularity that the title has gained.

Objectives

to take Safety, Health and Environment (SHE) movement to different parts of the country.

to achieve participation of major players in different industrial sectors at different levels.

to promote use of participative approach by employers by involving their employees in SHE activities.

to promote development of need-based activities, self-compliance with statutory requirements and professional SHE management systems at work places.

to bring into the fold of voluntary SHE movement sectors, which have not so far been statutorily covered.

to remind employers, employees and others concerned of their responsibility in making the workplace safer.

METHODOLOGY AND APPROACH

InitialAppeal to the Members to organise theCampaign.

Supply them with professionally designed promotional materials and promotional-cum-utility items with SHE slogans/messages printed on them.These materials are centrally designed, produced and distributed by the Council with following aims :

Convenience in organising the Campaign. Ensuring that the materials are of professionalquality with appealing messages reflecting national SHE issues.

Generating fund to contribute to NSC's financial self-reliance.

Expanded

Secured Government support at the national level.

Electronic media advised by the government to promote coverage which has made the Campaign highly visible.

Effective use of NSC's journal, newspapers and house magazines of industries.

Duration of the Campaign increased to a week.This has increased the span of the visible impact of the Campaign.

State Chapters and District Action Centres of NSC actively following up and involving State Governments and District Administrations in the Campaign at the grassroot level.

Text of National Safety Day Pledge

On this day, I solemnly affirm that I will rededicate myself to the cause of safety, health and protection of environment and will do my best to observe rules, regulations and procedures and develop attitudes and habits conducive for achieving these objectives.

I fully realize that accidents and diseases are a drain on the national economy and may lead to disablement, death, damage to health and property, social suffering and general degradation of environment.

I will do everything possible for prevention of accidents and occupational diseases and protection of environment in the interest of self, my family, community and the nation at large.

(In some states, the above pledge has been administered by the Governor of State to state ministers, other government officials, executives and workers from industries, and the public participating in NSD functions. In private enterprise, it is usual for the chief executive or some other top executive to administer the pledge to all employees.)