There are many things to be learned in life, such as values, manners, cultural traditions, so on and so forth. Personally from my experiences, I’ve learned so many that I can’t even recall. One of the ones that I do value and that I can honestly say that I believe in the most is the importance of spending time with my family.

In my immediate family, I am the second child out of four girls. Yes, a lot of people do ask my dad how he manages to live with five girls, the fifth being my mom. As a kid, my family and I would go on many what I like to call, “field trips.” These trips would mostly be to simple everyday places, such as the zoo, museums, the beach, places of that sort. A couple of times we went to places out of state, for example, SeaWorld in Ohio and Wisconsin Dells. All these mini vacations used to be so much fun when I was younger, but later as my sisters and I got older, these trips slowly happened less and less, eventually stopping altogether. 

The last vacation I went on with my family was to India in the summer of 2006. Trips to India usually meant going to see my grandparents, but this time I actually went sight seeing too. One of the places I went to was to a city named Mysore. This city is famous for all its ancient palaces and statues, so my dad decided that we should go tour some of them. One of the statues he wanted to visit was this enormous one in the shape of a bull. Now getting to this big bull required walking down about a hundred billion stone steps. After a while, one by one, my sisters and I started complaining, me being the one who complained the most. I kept mentioning how stupid and lame it was to be walking down all those steps just to see a dumb statue. My dad kept telling me that it would be worth it once we got there, but I didn’t care. I just wanted to go back to the hotel. Time went by with my never ending nagging, so my dad just gave up and said we can turn around and leave, so we did. The expression on his face is one that I’ll never forget. It was so full of disappointment and sadness, just having realized that all his girls are grown and aren’t interested in what he finds “cool” anymore. My heart broke a little after seeing it, but my desire to go back was so great that I didn’t say anything. After that day, he never brought up going on another “fieldtrip” again. I felt so bad that I came to a resolution that the next time I visited India with him; I would bring him to Mysore and walk down all those stairs with him so he could see that statue.

Two weeks ago, my dad had to get surgery on both of his legs for excessive vein clots. Over ten veins were pulled out in each leg, leaving both not as strong as they used to be. Climbing down all those steps is now physically impossible for him, so my resolution of taking him back to Mysore is no longer achievable. Not walking that extra bit for my dad is something I’ll always repent because really, how bad would it have been? It certainly wouldn’t have killed me. It would have resulted in his happiness, something that would always be worth the sacrifice.

After that day, I realized how nice it was to have been able to have done stuff together with my family, even if sometimes it was lame or dumb. All of us are very busy now, my parents constantly working trying to make ends meet and my older sister off at college. Most of the time, just me and my two younger sisters are at home doing homework. Those times when my older sister comes down for break and when my parents get time, we all go out to a restaurant or to the movies, small places like that. These outings are nothing like our “fieldtrips,” but they’re still something that mean a lot to me. Being with my family makes me happier than I usually am and it’s something that I’ll always cherish, love, and believe in. 

“Friends, come and go. But family? They’re forever.”

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A democracy is a system wherein power is supposed to lie in the hands of the people. They may choose to exercise this power directly or to elect representatives from amongst their numbers. These representatives then form a governing body such as a parliament.

In order for a democracy to work, it needs to have four solid aspects – free and fair elections, protection of the people’s human rights, the participation of citizens and the rule of law applied equally to everyone. However, without the freedom of the press, all of this is moot.

Freedom of Press in Democracy

There can be no denying the fact that a democracy will only survive if there is freedom of the press or media. Since a democracy depends upon its citizens, these citizens must be well-informed so that they can make political decisions and elect their representatives appropriately. However, it is impossible or creates difficulty for every citizen to go searching for such information themselves.

This is where the press comes in. It falls upon the news media to collect, verify and disseminate the information that can help people make the decisions that allow a democracy to work. As such, the press becomes a powerful tool for the efficient functioning of a democratic government. By reporting verified facts, the press not only allows people to be knowledgeable about what is going on but also acts as a check on the government.

It becomes obvious, then, that the press must be free to do its job. It should not have to face censorship that hides crucial information from the public. The right to freedom of speech and expression also includes the right of the press to the same freedom. If members of the press are intimidated and harassed or are discredited without reason, the people lose the only tool they have to participate effectively in the running of their country.

Conclusion

Without freedom of the press, no government can be considered ‘of the people, by the people and for the people’. Unfortunately, the past few years have seen increasing curbs, direct or indirect, on the media and its ability to report. These curbs have come in the form of harassment, threats and intimidation and are having increasingly disastrous consequences for the dissemination of unbiased information. Unless this trend is reversed, we may see some of the most powerful democracies in the world collapsing soon.

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Foreign aid refers to the international movement of money, services, or goods from governments or international institutions for the benefit of the receiving country or its citizens. Foreign aid can be fiscal, military, or humanitarian and is considered one of the significant sources of foreign exchange.

Foreign aid is the voluntary movement of money or other resources from one nation to another. The transactions are mostly from developed countries to developing countries. A developing nation typically lacks a strong manufacturing base and is distinguished by a low value of the Human Development Index (HDI). Foreign aid may be offered as a contribution or a loan, which can either be a hard or soft loan. If the loan is in a foreign currency, it is termed as a hard loan.

Summary

Foreign aid is the voluntary movement of resources from one country to another.

Foreign aid may require the transfer of professional advice and training, commodities, or financial resources.

The assistance can be used to advance the political aims of government, allowing it to obtain diplomatic recognition.

Purpose of Foreign Aid

Foreign aid may require the transfer of professional advice and training, or commodities or financial resources. Financial resources can occur in the form of concessional loans or grants, such as export credits. Official Development Assistance (ODA) is the most common form of foreign aid, which is the help provided to support development and to fight poverty. The main source of ODA is the bilateral grants from one country to another, while some of the funding is in the form of loans, and often it is channeled by non-governmental organizations and foreign organizations.

Countries also offer foreign aid in order to improve their own security. Economic aid may also be used to discourage friendly countries from coming under the control of unfriendly governments or paying for the right to set up or use military bases on foreign soil.

Foreign aid can be used to accomplish the political aims of a government, allowing it to obtain diplomatic recognition, to gain respect for its role in international institutions, or to improve the accessibility of its diplomats to foreign countries.

Foreign aid also seeks to promote the exports of a country and spread its literature, culture, or religion. Countries often provide aid to relieve the distress caused by man-made or natural disasters like drought, illness, and conflict. It helps to promote sustainable prosperity, create or reinforce political institutions, and address a range of worldwide concerns, including cancer, terrorism, and other violations, and environmental degradation.

Types of Foreign Aid

1. Tied Aid

Tied aid is a type of foreign aid that must be invested in a country that is providing support or in a group of chosen countries. A developed country can offer a bilateral loan or grant to a developing nation but will be required by the government to invest the money on goods and services produced in that country.

2. Bilateral Aid

Bilateral aid is given directly by one country’s government to that of another country’s government. It occurs when money flows from a country with a developed economy to a country with a developing economy. Bilateral aid is directed by strategic, political, and humanitarian interests. This is meant to further foster democracy, economic growth, peace, and sustainability of long-term programs.

3. Multilateral Aid

Multilateral aid is the support offered by several countries that share funds to foreign organizations such as the United Nations, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The funds are used to relieve hunger in developing nations. While the sector represents a minority of financial aid of the U.S., the donations provided by the country make up a large proportion of the donor funds obtained by the organizations.

4. Military Aid

Military aid typically allows the recipient country either to procure weapons or security contracts directly from the U.S. In other situations, it actually simplifies the mechanism by enabling the federal government to buy weapons on its own and ship them to military transport.

5. Project Aid

The assistance is known to be project aid when the funds are used to support a certain project, such as a hospital or school.

There are six seasons in Bangladesh. Winter is one of the coldest seasons among those six. It’s a foggy morning and different from any other season of the year. There is dew here and there. Also, the surrounding becomes misty and dim. The trees, leaves, tin shades, crops and different environmental objects are fully coated with dew. In the morning the fog becomes so heavy that nothing can be seen within a few distances. But when the sun rises, it becomes a beautiful cozy morning. This season is famous for Pitha-puli, cakes, pies, trendy warm clothes, fresh vegetables etc. There are some benefits of this season. People can work out more than in the summer season. So, they become more fit and able to burn fat fast, allergic patients’ pain reduces, metabolic rate increases, and inflammation decreases. In this season we see two different scenarios both in cities and villages. In rural areas people make a fire to protect themselves from the extremely foggy morning. They mostly have pithas in their breakfast. There is a crowd in front of the kiln to warm them up. They are not privileged with trendy suiters or warm clothes which bring havoc for them. In cities people are busy and it becomes crowded in the morning. They mostly have roadside pithas from Pitha sellers. Also, they are privileged with warm clothes, suiters, jackets, socks, mufflers etc. But in cities, the needy poor people suffer a lot. They don’t have warm clothes, blankets or anything to put on. A lot of NGOs take care of those needy poor people. When the sun can’t be seen their havoc becomes much more. In this period of time, people can’t go outside early in the morning, get up late, or feel lazy. Except for those sceneries and havoc, winter is one of the most beautiful seasons among the six.

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Road accident is a common phenomenon in the Dhaka city. A large number of people die every year while they try to cross the road ignoring the traffic rules. They cross the road in front of moving vehicles and consequently fall victims of fatal accidents. The government and pedestrians both should think that lives are most valuable and nothing should be compared with it. To save lives we need to be social; we need to follow the traffic rules because life will not come for the second time.
The authorities should take the necessary steps to prevent these road accidents. Traffic police and the citizen should be more aware of the problem. Rules and regulations should be followed more strictly. When there is a VIP on the road, the traffic police are very conscious. However, they should be conscious all the time, and make sure no one can jaywalk through the busy roads.  People who break the rules should be punished, possibly via fines. The foot over-bridges should be cleared of all vendors. The authorities needs to improve the over-bridges to encourage people to use them. The first and most important step is to ensure people are using them. The media should highlight the importance of their use by pointing out the many accidents that are occurring due to jaywalking. The roads in our city should have signs for pedestrians not to jaywalk. Overall, this should be practised by all classes of people. Otherwise, the foot over-bridges will remain unused and accidents will continue. It is now time to make your family, friends, colleagues and neighbours conscious about the negative effects of jaywalking. Textbooks can be a useful tool in educating people about their use. Print and electronic media can play a vigorous role to educate the masses about the necessity of using footbridge, and avoid jaywalking.

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Cricket is my favourite sport. Cricket is a sport that is widely played across the globe and it is played by everyone irrespective of their caste, creed or colour. It is also called the Gentleman’s Game as it was played by British officers back in the 16th century. 

I play cricket every day in the evening with my neighbourhood friends. Although we don’t obey the rules of cricket, it is a great source of physical exercise and entertainment. We play in a team of 5 versus 5 whereas in this game of cricket each team has 11 members. 

Before the game starts we toss a coin and whoever gets the head wins to choose between batting and bowling. This is an outdoor game, it is played with a bat, and ball along with the stumps. It is one of the most famous games of India. My favourite cricketer is Virat Kohli. 

In the game of cricket, each team competes with the other and the team with the highest scores wins the game. There’s an umpire who observes the game and ensures that rules are being followed. Players have to listen to the umpire and the judgement of the umpire is the final decision. 

Cricket is a popular game and it has got its diversity because it is played by almost everyone. People also make careers in the field of cricket as the cricketers earn huge amounts of money by just playing. That’s the reason why cricket is my favourite game. Everyone should play one or another sport to stay healthy and fit.

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Food is one of the basic needs of human life. By taking foods we get heat and energy. It helps to survive on the earth. But our food is being adulterated. Food adulteration means the process of making food by mixing another substance or chemical which makes the food less pure and harmful for the human body. Chemicals are mixed with food to make the food attractive. Food loses its purity and standard in this way. By taking these foods, we become ill. It destroys the disease preventive power of the human body.

Every man is the victim of food adulteration. But children are the worst victims of it. Recently we find melamin a poisonous chemical in milk powder. The dishonest businessmen are solely responsible for adulteration. Recently the government set up mobile courts to punish them. The government should take more necessary steps to stop food adulteration.

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Yellow journalism, or "yellow press", refers to an unethical, irresponsible brand of journalism given to hoaxes, altered photographs, screaming headlines, "scoops", frauds, and endless promotions of the newspapers themselves. This term was first used in the 1890's to describe the competition between two rival New York City newspapers, the World, and the Journal.
             In 1883, Joseph Pulitzer purchased the New York-based newspaper, the World. With its vivid, sensational reporting and excellent crusades against political corruption and social injustice, Pulitzer made the World, the largest newspaper circulation in the country. One of his most famous staff writers was Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cockrane).
             Bly was best known for her "stunt" stories. An example of one of her "stunts" was when she pretended to be insane and committed herself to the New York Blackwell Island Asylum. When she was released after ten days, she wrote a story exposing the asylum's poor conditions. The story sparked reform from all around the country! Her most famous story, however, included her trip around the world. During that time period, Jules Verne wrote "Around the World in Eighty Days"; Bly was inspired to do it in less time. Her mission was accomplished in 72 days! She captured readers' attentions by writing daily about her adventures.In 1895, however, William Randolph Hearst, the son of a California mining tycoon, challenged Pulitzer's superiority, when he bought the Journal. Previous to his relocation to New York, Hearst owned the widely popular newspaper, Examiner, back in San Francisco. Hoping to duplicate the Examiner's success with the Journal, Hearst intended to surpass his competitors in sensationalism, crusades, and Sunday features. One of the Journal's more notable headlines, published in 1898, was when they provoked a quarrel between the U.S. and Spain.

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Everyone has a favorite hobby. I have also a favorite hobby. My favorite hobby is fishing. Fishing is an interesting hobby. I enjoy fishing when I am free. I was started to fishing by my father when I was six years old. The first time I did it, I felt interested. It is a delightful pastime. But it is a means of livelihood to many people of our country. Our country is a land of rivers, canals and ponds. All of those abound with fish. So, fishing provides many people with livelihood. These people are called fisherman. 

They catch fish in rivers, canals and ponds and sell them in the market. The fisherman have some fishing instruments of them. Net is the most common and important. Angling is another means of fishing. Many people of Bangladesh catch fish by angling in tanks, canals and other watery places. Angling is a favourite hobby to many people of our country.

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Women empowerment is a widely discussed term in today’s society and talks about the upliftment of the female gender. First, it is a long term and revolutionary protest against discrimination based on sex and gender. Women empowerment refers to educating women and helping them build an identity of their own.

In our patriarchal society, women are expected to mould themselves according to the wishes of the man who “feed them.” They are not allowed to have an individual opinion or an independent identity. Empowering women involves encouraging them to be financially, culturally, and socially independent. A woman must be entitled to pursue what she loves and develop into a fully functioning human. Her individuality must be nurtured and acknowledged. Women empowerment has lead millions of women across the globe to pursue their dreams. They are steadily moving forward in life with strong determination, respect, and faith. However, we must realize that despite the efforts being made to uplift women, most of them still suffer under patriarchy and suppression. Domestic violence is extremely common in countries like India. The society has always tried to curb the freedom of a woman because it is afraid of a woman who is strong and independent. We must recognize the ingrained misogyny in our society and work towards removing it. for example, we must teach both girls and boys to respect each other. Women fall victim to atrocities because men feel that they have the birthright to assert their power and authority over women. This can only be resolved by teaching boys from the very beginning that they are in no way superior to girls, and they have no right to touch a woman without her consent. The future is not a female. The future is equal and beautiful.

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