The New Nation - Internet Edition

It is an age-old question, "What jewelry to wear with a particular outfit?" Well, times have definitely changed and we hope to enlighten a few of you about the new style of jewelry!

Earrings as large and gaudy as you could find were absolutely perfect and quiet frankly are still very en vogue. However, many people have been under the impression for quite some time that the only acceptable jewelry to wear is earrings. Today's women are showing their ability to accessorize by adding necklaces and very often even designing their dresses or outfits around the jewelry. Of course, keeping alive the golden rule of no dangles in the horsemanship is a must. However, with the rage of chandelier earrings, loves the idea of using these as queen jewelry. Add a beautiful coordinated necklace with your dress and you are ready to turn some heads. Young women can really express themselves with the accessories that they choose to incorporate into their outfits. It gives them a chance to show their personality as well as jazz up and create the perfect outfit in their eyes.

One very important thing to remember when selecting jewelry, however, is to always try the jewelry on before purchasing them to compare with your facial features. Some lengths of earrings are better than others on certain facial shapes as well as shapes of earrings and necklaces. It is important to compare the neckline on your dress or blouse with the necklace in question also.

Vintage and antique jewelry have been found in many different places throughout the years. So girls get out there and be creative!! Show your personality and have fun in every aspect of competition. That is what we do it for!

The hottest jewelry to hang around your neck is a long necklace with a large, circular pendant. Slap on a cuff bracelet or a colorful bangle and finish off your look with an oversized ring. They may be enormous, but why stop at one? Wear a few, maybe even a couple on one finger!

Bright colored gems, chain links and elegant formal looks have replaced bohemian beads, gypsy flair and casual looks. Longer necklaces continue to be a top trend thanks to their versatility when it comes to the popular layered look. Even at lower price points, they can be worn together to give the illusion of one, two or even three different necklaces.

Nature has inspired the latest jewelry with leaf pendant charms and Asian-inspired floral designs. This organic look will pop up on more necklaces and in unexpected places like the inside of hoop earrings and on ponytail holders. Birds are also a way to bring a bit of nature to your wardrobe.

Celebrities have inspired a new fashion statement: colorful cocktail and gemstone rings. The bigger the better with this trend. These rings are even more flashy and noticeable when worn on the index finger.

Finally in '07, 70s glam is back. Thick gold will continue to dominate over dainty silver chains and sometimes one signature piece is all you need. Bold looks like a single cuff bracelet, dramatic earrings in bright colors and thick chain necklaces are fresh once again.

The jewelry was worn to accent the clothing and most of the models today wore simple but layer of chains with a variety of shapes. The chain is adorned with beads and with gold and silver together as to provide a more casual look.

Cuff bracelets are adorn with copper is being shown along with silver and or mass of brilliant beads.

Rings with a lot of color, with large colored stones and are being worn on the index finger.

Today fresh cultured pearls come in huge range of colors, from pastel to bright Pearl shape are in today with round and oval pearls. At festive events are the perfect opportunity to wear pearl necklaces and other and other pearl jewelry.

Simple pendants are being adorn by leaves, flowers or birds in gold or silver with brilliant colored cords in leather, rubber and niobium

Mystic Topaz is in today because it uses a natural topaz with a coating that transforms the gem into something like ever seen in the gem industry

The big pieces from last year will eventually come back but add a large classic chains, cuffs, and big colored ring.

Metallics, sculpted resins in smooth and bold designs, semi-precious gemstones, Murano-style glass, shell and crystal glass are all setting the glamorous trends in fashion jewelry this summer.

Keep in mind that fashion jewelry is indispensable this season, not only because it is the fashion trend, but also because it reaches an historical high in artistic beauty. When it comes to handbags, oversized is the name of the game. For shoes, it's height and metallics.

Mix and match accessories with the easier trends in clothing this summer and you'll be adorning your inner trendsetter! Most importantly, have fun with playing with integrating some of the fashion accessory trends into your wardrobe.

Just as we choose certain fashion styles to suit our body shape, so too can we choose earrings to suit our face shapet

For every woman, there are right and wrong earrings to wear. What can be flattering for one face shape may be a fright on another. Just as a layered longer bob looks great on long face, it doesn't show much compliment on a round.

Here are the golden rules for selecting earrings that complement one of the six basic face shapes: square, round, heart-shaped, long, wide, and oval.

Round Face

Lean, long, angular and curvy lines give a look of length to a round face. Avoid circles. A round face needs earrings with length to elongate it. A drop earring works best in shapes that are also soft like a teardrop.

Heart-shaped Face

Lovely heart-shaped faces have slightly small pointy chins. Balance this shape out with teardrop earrings, or ovals with mini chains.

Long Face

For a long face pick extra large chandelier earrings with lots of volume. For an extra touch choose earrings with a combination of round and square shapes.

Wide Face

For a wider face, always consider cascading earrings to create the illusion of a longer look. A great way is to wear sleek, flat earrings or ovals! Nothing too bulky.

Oval Face

Anyone with an oval face is a lucky girl! It suits any style of earrings. A keynote to remember is to keep the size of the earring in balance to the size of the person. Soft shapes such as pearls tear drops, circles, and ovals are the best. Try simple splendid studs.

Square Face

Angular shapes with rounded edges soften the contours of a square face. Proportionately medium-long sized styles are best.

Here are some indispensable rules:

1 Avoid wearing your jewelry especially white gold in a chlorine pool or a hot tub. The chemicals may slowly erode the finish, weaken the prongs, and discolor the gold or sterling silver.

2. Use ½ water and ½ ammonia to clean diamonds and some colored stones. Dip the jewelry into this solution and use a soft brush to clean under the prongs. Do not clean the following stones in this solution: Turquoise, opal, emeralds, tanzanite, pearls, amber, coral and ivory, shell cameos, lapis, bone, horn, any assembled stone

3. Store your jewelry in separate soft boxes or plastic bags to avoid scratching the finishes.

4. Platinum is an extremely durable precious metal. It is resistant to tarnishing and discoloration due to chlorine and other chemicals but needs to be cleaned like gold jewelry.

5. Clean silver jewelry with a non-detergent soap and water, using a small, soft brush to clean under the stones. To remove tarnish, try a polishing cloth. They are charged with a cleaning compound just for silver.

6. Hair spray, perfume and perspiration can weaken the silk thread that pearls are strung on. The corrosive effects can damage pearl luster.

7. Should your pearl strand break, the knots in between each pearl will prevent the loss of any pearl. Knots separate pearls to prevent them from rubbing against each other.

8. Clean pearls only with a non-detergent soap, rinse and pat dry.

9. Place a piece of aluminum foil, shiny side up, on the bottom of a glass bowl or glass pan. Fill the container with a solution of boiling water and three teaspoons of baking soda. To remove tarnish, soak any sterling silver and good quality silver plate (the finish on cheap silver plate will bubble if it's soaked).

Shakhawat Hossain

Friendship

In 1994, Yves Marre sailed a surplus river barge all the way from France and, thanks to the sponsorship of Unilever, transformed it here into a hospital boat, which then became the centre of operations for the NGO “Friendship” run by Mrs Runa Khan-Marre, wife of Yves who is still the technical consultant of the association.

Friendship has more than one goal:

First and foremost, it caters to health, with over 200 000 patients in the “Char” Islands, (shifting islands) of the upper Jamuna since the inauguration of the floating hospital, in March 2002, by the then President HE Badruddjoda Chowdhury until December 2005. NGOs from France, the Netherlands and Sweden regularly send highly specialised teams of doctors and surgeons who come for free to perform “miraculous” operations for those populations without access to basic health services. With the help of « Emirates Airline Foundation », Friendship is now building a new two-hulled hospital-ship.

Education: Friendship has just finished ten new schools within a pilot project. The NGO built the school, selects and trains teachers chosen from the community and puts together a learning program specially adapted to children in the Chars.

Development: Friendship takes advantage of its unique knowledge of the area to counsel and help inhabitants to better their economy and find new ways to protect houses from floods.

Emergency help: after the 2004 floods, Friendship, with the sponsorship of the French “Carrefour”, has distributed over 600.000 food rations and, with the financial help of the French Government, has rebuilt 600 houses, dug wells and installed latrines. Friendship also helps victims of industrial accidents in the garment sector.

Culture : Friendship is involved in the preservation of one of the oldest crafts of Bengal, which it chooses to regard as part of the world heritage: the naval construction of traditional boats. Friendship has called together the last generation of naval carpenters, blacksmiths, bamboo workers and rope-makers. With them, it is in the process of renovating or building anew around ten full-sized traditional wooden boats ; the team has also be trained in making scale models of those boats and number of exhibition have already been organised, including with the National Museum of Dhaka. The ultimate aim is the creation of a life-sized boat museum, which should open around the beginning of 2007.

Partners Bangladesh

Street Children’s PARTNERS-BGD

Maer Achole Shelter

PARTNERS is an international solidarity organisation created in France in 1991 by Christian Raymond, an engineer and diplomat. Partners’ volunteers conduct development projects in poor areas, which get little assistance from large international organisations. They work in close conjunction with the local population, whose involvement in designing and implementing the program is of paramount importance.

Particular emphasis is placed on health, education, and training, essentially for the benefit of women and children. PARTNERS’ main objective is sustainability and thus aims to leave the communities concerned in charge in the long term.

PARTNERS has had projects in Nigeria, Brazil and India and is currently active mainly in Myanmar, Bolivia, Moldova and of course, in Bangladesh.

In November 2001 the Street Children day/night shelter in Dhaka opened. The name of the shelter is “Maer Achole” after the place in a mother’s sari where children can find traditionally consolation and security.

The objectives of this project are the rehabilitation, socialisation and reinsertion of street children, enabling them to contribute to their country’s development.

The centre is accommodating up to 100 children, pursuing a policy of gender equity. Experience has shown that the children, if given a chance, can leave the streets and make a fresh start. A team of 9 people: educators, teachers, a physiologist, a doctor, a paramedical, and residential caretakers are working daily with the children. A social worker visits them in their favourite 'hangouts’ and working places, and encourages them to come to the shelter.

The outcome expected is to break the vicious circle of poverty, and to raise the street children’s socio-economic condition, with enhanced dignity. This capacity building shall allow them to live on their own, with real access to resources, and to reduce their involvement in hazardous jobs. It appears to be fundamental to restore the confidence of the children, both in them-selves and enable them to trust in adults.

Handicap International

Handicap International is a non-government Organisation established in 1982 and now present in more than 50 countries.

Its main focus is supporting and helping the disabled and vulnerable groups in developing countries, in order to help them recover their capacities of action and also to improve their livings conditions, through a better participation in the society.

Handicap International started its action in Bangladesh in 1997, having in mind how to make an impact to help the integration of the disabled people in the society by upholding up their rights in every domain of life.

More than 5.6 % of the population of Bangladesh suffer from a handicap, which represents between of individuals. These persons and their families are most of the time excluded from the society. Women and children are the most fragile towards the exclusion.

Unawareness, negative perception, limited access even impossible of the public services as well as private exclude these disabled people from the realms of decision and participation in the social, cultural, economic life.

Handicap International and their national partners works towards the government of Bangladesh to promote and establish rights of the disabled people, construction of institutional capacities to able the instruction of basic services in the domain of health and re-education.

The prevention, re-education and insertion are the key words of the action of Handicap International, based more and more on “rights”.

The domain of action by Handicap International in Bangladesh are the following:

Awareness campaign on the rights of disabled people

Integration of disabled people in all domain of development

Development and improvement of the quality of specialised services

Capacity building of key service providers and policy makers to create equal opportunities for the full participation of people with disability

Disaster management

Work in progress on “mental handicap” in order to develop activities in this domain, often neglected.

Aide Médicale et Développement / Kinésithérapeutes Du Monde

In the coastal area of Cox’s Bazaar (South East of Bangladesh), thousands of children are suffering from important deformations of the lower limbs due to a severe form of rickets, whose cause is still not well known. Surveys have shown that it is a kind of multifactorial rickets without vitamin deficiency.

This new disease appeared about 30 years ago and affects, now, 5 to 10 % of the children. A number of them suffer from such severe deformations that they are unable to walk and are definitively condemned to disability.

This form of rickets is mainly found in this area of Bangladesh although similar cases have been observed in other countries such as South Africa, Nigeria or Ethiopia.

Aide Médicale et Développement (AMD), Kinésithérapeutes Du Monde (KDM), and Shahidul Association (three French associations) have decided to fight in favour of these children. Since 2001, they have been leading a programme in Cox’s Bazaar District in partnership with the local NGO Social Assistance and Rehabilitation for the Physically Vulnerable (SARPV) which is very involved in this issue. SARPV were the first to discover an important number of disabled children in the Chakaria area (Cox’s Bazaar District).

The Straight Leg Project aims at providing a long-term solution to prevent this rare form of rickets and at taking in charge these disabled children especially those suffering from rickets.

Our action is focused on the research of the real causes of rickets, the prevention (nutritional counselling), and a medical and surgical treatment of the children suffering from disabilities. To make this possible we have set up a disability centre which will be run by SARPV in the years to come.

French Association SOLINFO

The SOLINFO association, which stands for the “informatique solidarity”, was started in summer of 2002 by a small group of people who had no experience in the domain of humanitarian aid. It started with an unoriginal idea which is to reuse of used computers. It is a non-political NGO, aimed at promoting and teaching computing to underprivileged people in foreign countries by teaching, of course, but also by providing equipment for schools, hospitals, even NGOs or local administrations if the use is in the same idea of the association. The association has chosen to manage micro-projects. A simple computer is a fabulous tool for learning as a service to the school children, students of course, but also the ill, the handicapped and many more. SOLINFO can play a part in various domains: - providing computing and ancillary equipment, - introduction to the use of microcomputer; - providing of pedagogical aids (software or books); - follow up and assistance on a long term and others

Financed by civil and business donations, SOLINFO does not have the vocation to establish itself in a region on long-terms. Each travel has a goal of, of course: achieving what has been planned, but also researching ideas for the following projects. The absence of a permanent office allows for more flexibility and adaptability as well as for economical reasons

The Bangladeshi projects

In 2004, SOLINFO decided to work in Bangladesh. In October , a first mission to estimate the situation allowed to confirm this choice. Already, SOLINFO Worked with differents NGO as French association PARTNERS or AEWA. In 2005, we will realise several projects in aid of, by example, WELFARE ASSOCIATION FOR DISAVANTADGED CHILDREN (orphanages and mentally retarded children) in Dacca and Chittagong or ASSOCIATION FOR REALISATION OF BASIC NEEDS (schools in slums of Dacca).

French Support Committee to GK-Savar

(Comité Français de Soutien à GK-Savar)

The French Support Committee to GK-Savar (FSC) is supporting the Bangladeshi NGO Gonoshasthaya Kendra, GK ( website: http://www.gkbd.org/) since 1972. In Bangla, Gono means People, Shastaya means Health and Kendra means Center. GK’s roots are to be found in the liberation war of Bangladesh in 1971, when a bamboo-built field hospital was established near the eastern border to take care of refugees and wounded « freedo

m fighters ». After independence, the founders, among them Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury who is till now the GK coordinator, decided to begin a new « war » against poverty, hunger and diseases striking mostly rural areas landless and poor farmers. His team undertook a rural health programme in Savar, 40 km NW of Dhaka. GK recruited and trained many health workers (paramedics), most of them women, to become intermediates between patients and doctors.

GK widened its action to education, creating primary schools, professional schools, and a university (medicine, health sciences); to women’s advancement; to pharmaceuticals production, to relief operations after natural disasters; to rural and small industries development. Today, GK’s staff is over 2500 people, including 40 doctors and 300 paramedics, attending more than 1,000,000 people in rural and urban areas through ten centers scattered all over Bangladesh.

Actions of the French Support Committee to GK-Savar As soon as 1972, a support committee to GK was established in France, as a member of Abbé Pierre’s UCOJUCO (Twinning committees union). When the aims of the twinning operations were no more oriented towards the poorest, UCOJUCO stopped its activities in Bangladesh, while the French support committee (FSC) maintained its support to GK programmes. FSC and its hundreds of donors were convinced that nobody knows better how to choose and to implement the best solutions for Bangladesh than the Bangladeshis themselves. FSC supported projects are defined and proposed by GK with people’s active participation. Since 1972, FSC has raised more than 2,000,000 euros (2006 value) not including 2,500,000 euros from different cofinancings (European Union, Emmaüs International, British NGOs t). Many different programmes have been funded such as: supply of drugs, vaccines, medical and surgical equipments; support to credit co-operatives (1976); building of multipurpose cyclone shelters; rehabilitation after May 1991 cyclone in Cox’s Bazar region; support to primary schools (since 1981); etc.

In 2006, FSC is involved in several programmes such as: food supply for tribal school children and parents in the Tanchi area (Bandarban); cultural exchange with French schools and food supply in a Mahato school near Tarash; arsenic-free dugwells; support of a driving school for women in Cox’s Bazar.

FSC tries to publicize widely GK’s works amongst its donors, French medias and public, especially through activity reports edited twice a year.

Every year some FSC Board members and donors visit GK at their own expenses, in order to evaluate progresses in the supported programmes and to keep alive the friendly links established more than 30 years ago with GK workers.

A New French NGO in Bangladesh.

Action contre la Faim, or ACF, (Action against hunger) is an important French ONG, active in many countries. Following the last floods, they have decided to open a permanent branch in Bangladesh.

The Humanitarian Wing of the French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs has granted ACF a 79,000€ subsidy to help them start their operations in Bangladesh.

By Shakhawat Hossain, Attaché de Presse,

Embassy of France

A.T.M.Nurun Nabi

Popular writer Humayun Ahmad always tries to incorporate a lesson in his writings, drama and movie. He works with a definite intention, and not for giving the audiences amusement only. During the holy Eid Ul Fitr, the television channels telecast five plays stories whereof are written by him.. Of them, Channel i telecast 'Antorar Baba' and Ntv aired 'Bank Draft' on the Eid day.

The story of Antorar Baba speaks of those persons, in particular the females, who become desperate to hide their ages and forget the inevitable death. Mother of Antora, a 22-year old girl, is one of them. She has appointed a beautician to look after her beauty that none could scan her actual age. She selects a room exclusively for her where none, even her husband, has access.

But father of Antora does not like it. He wanted to rouse consciousness in his wife but how? Just at that time, he reads a story titled 'Paruler Baba.' He gets the idea and decides to use it. One afternoon he purchases the burial cloth for him on his way back to the residence from office. But none of his family members accepts it and expresses their dissatisfaction. The first move failing, father of Antorar purchases this time the burial box that his corpse could be transported after death for burial in his village home. At length, his wife, daughter, beautician and female servant realise that nothing is more truth than death in this world and age continues to travel in front and no power in the world can stop it. The lesson is if every human being realises this inevitable truth 'that every man will be produced before Allah for trial,' then sins and vices will disappear from the society. There are two more lessons. One, the servant, male or female, should not be trusted unconditionally and wedding proposal with an expatriate should be properly scrutinised before solemnisation.

Humayun Ahmed definitely deserves special thanks from every quarter.

Ali Jaker (father), Sara Jaker (mother), Shaon (daughter) and Mir Sabbir (writer) played the central characters. Direction, photography and acting were good.

The play of Bank Draft is a noble attempt to remind the society of guarding against the ongoing attempts to trade one's illness for personal gains. Trading becomes easy when the sick is child. The story is centered round an 8- year old sick child attacked with blood cancer. The physicians have suggested her father to go to Madras, India for better treatment. As her father is not a well off man, friends and relatives come forward and donate money of about 12 lakh. When they are taking preparation for flight, just then a wicket person meets him and says, "If you pay me 25 percent commission, I shall collect one crore of taka with slogan, ' Save my soul.' The guardian of the family inquires, how is that? The man replies, "It is easy. We shall convince a television channel for advertisement of a heart rending song sung by the child." Father says that her daughetr does not know how to sing. The man says, it is not a problem at all. She will just move her lips with the recorded song which nobody will undestand.

Thus, they collected one crore and nine lakh of taka, mainly contributed by the expatriates. On the day of counting money, the condition of the child deteriorates and finally dies. He mother too dies after two months. It makes the father very sad, who meets a writer with a bank draft of taka one crore and 26 lakh. The writer refuses to take the burden of the money as saying, "I am neither greedless nor extraordinary."

The bewildered father comes out with the draft in hand and begins walking directionless. The drama is a warning to the society against the traders in disease.

Asaduzzaman Noor, Tania Ahmed and others played different roles. Making, acting, photography are splendid. Antorar Baba and bank Draft prove that Humayun Ahmed is a legend in the showbiz world.