NEIGHBOURS OF INDIA - 4 - ANSWERS

1. B. Kathmandu

"The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation" (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. The idea of regional cooperation in South Asia was first raised in November 1980. After consultations, the foreign secretaries of the seven founding countries—Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka—met for the first time in Colombo in April 1981. The SAARC was established with the signing of the SAARC Charter in Dhaka on 8 December 1985. Afghanistan became the newest member of SAARC at the 13th annual summit in 2005. There are currently 9 observers to SAARC - Australia, China, European Union, Iran, Japan, Mauritius, Myanmar, South Korea and United States. Its permanent secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. It launched the "South Asian Free Trade Area" in 2006 at its 12th Summit at Islamabad, Pakistan.

(South Asian Free Trade Area)

The last Summit of SAARC was the 18th SAARC Summit that was held at the Kathmandu from November 26 to November 27, 2014. The 19th Summit scheduled to be held at Islamabad in November, 2016 was postponed and later cancelled as India including Afghanistan, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives did not attend the Summit due to "2016 Uri attack". No further Summit of SAARC is held till date.

2. C. Qing Dynasty

The Summer Palace is a vast ensemble of lakes, gardens and palaces in northwest Beijing. It was an imperial garden commissioned by Emperor Qianglong, the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty between 1750 and 1764, said to be the best preserved imperial garden in the world.

Mainly dominated by Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake, it covers an expanse of 2.9 square kilometres, three-quarters of which is water. Longevity Hill is about 60 m high and has many buildings positioned in sequence. The front hill is rich with splendid halls and pavilions, while the back hill, in sharp contrast, is quiet with natural beauty. The central Kunming Lake, covering 2.2 square kilometres (540 acres), was entirely man-made and the excavated soil was used to build Longevity Hill.

In December 1998, UNESCO included the Summer Palace on its World Heritage List. It declared the Summer Palace "a masterpiece of Chinese landscape garden design. The natural landscape of hills and open water is combined with artificial features such as pavilions, halls, palaces, temples and bridges to form a harmonious ensemble of outstanding aesthetic value".

3. A. Gul Makai

Malala Yousafzai (born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate. She is known for human rights advocacy, especially the education of women and children in her native Swat Valley in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, northwest Pakistan, where the local Taliban had at times banned girls from attending school. Her advocacy has grown into an international movement, and according to former Pakistani Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, she has become "the most prominent citizen" of the country. Yousafzai was born to a Pashtun family in Mingora, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Her father Ziauddin Yousafzai used to run a chain of schools known as the Khushal Public School in the region. In early 2009, when she was 11–12, she wrote a blog under a pseudonym “Gul Makai” (a name taken from a character in Pashtun folktale) for the BBC Urdu detailing her life during the Taliban occupation of Swat. The blog records Yousafzai's thoughts during the First Battle of Swat, as military operations take place, fewer girls show up to school, and finally, her school shuts down. Gradually, her blog drew attention around the world. The following summer, journalist Adam B. Ellick made a New York Times documentary about her life as the Pakistani military intervened in the region. She rose in prominence, giving interviews in print and on television, and she was nominated for the International Children's Peace Prize by activist Desmond Tutu.

On 9 October 2012, while on a bus in the Swat District, after taking an exam, Yousafzai and two other girls were shot by a Taliban gunman in an assassination attempt in retaliation for her activism; the gunman fled the scene. Yousafzai was hit in the head with a bullet and remained unconscious and in critical condition at the Rawalpindi Institute of Cardiology, but her condition later improved enough for her to be transferred to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, UK. The attempt on her life sparked an international outpouring of support for Yousafzai. Weeks after the attempted murder, a group of fifty leading Muslim clerics in Pakistan issued a fatwā against those who tried to kill her. The Taliban was internationally denounced by governments, human rights organizations and feminist groups. Taliban officials responded to condemnation by further denouncing Yousafzai, indicating plans for a possible second assassination attempt. 

4. C. Ranasinghe Premadasa

                                    ("Sri Lankabhimanya" Medal)

"Sri Lankabhimanya" (The Pride of Sri Lanka) is the highest national honour of Sri Lanka awarded by the President of Sri Lanka on behalf of the Government. It is the country's highest civil honour and is conferred upon "those who have rendered exceptionally outstanding and most distinguished service to the nation". Since 1986, it has been awarded 8 times. The honour is conventionally used as a title or prefix to the name of the person who receives the award.

In 1986, Ranasinghe Premadasa, the third President of Sri Lanka from 2 January 1989 to 1 May 1993 and 8th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 6 February 1978 – 2 January 1989, became the first person to receive "Sri Lankabhimanya" by the then President Junius Richard Jayewardene.

5. A. February 21

"International Mother Language Day" is a worldwide annual observance held on 21st February to promote awareness of "linguistic and cultural diversity" and to promote multilingualism. First announced by UNESCO on 17 November 1999, it was formally recognized by the United Nations General Assembly with the adoption of UN resolution in 2002. Mother Language Day is part of a broader initiative "to promote the preservation and protection of all languages used by peoples of the world" as adopted by the UN General Assembly on May 16, 2007, which also established 2008 as the International Year of Languages. The idea to celebrate "International Mother Language Day" was the initiative of Bangladesh.

(The Bengali Language Movement)

(Shaheed Minar (Martyr Monument) in Dhaka commemorates the 21 February 1952 Bengali Language Movement demonstration)

In Bangladesh, 21 February is the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for recognition for the Bangla language during the "Bengali Language Movement" in 1952 in the former 'East Pakistan'. On February 21, 1952, the students of the University of Dhaka and other political activists organized protests against the decision of Govt of Pakistan to make "Urdu" as the sole National Language of Pakistan which had earlier caused public anger in the Bengali-speaking East Pakistan. The movement reached its climax when police killed student demonstrators on that day (February 21, 1952). The deaths provoked widespread civil unrest. After years of conflict, the central government relented and granted official status to the Bengali language in 1956.