Point-No-Point Bridge

Point-No-Point Bridge is a railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Newark and Kearny, New Jersey, United States, in the New Jersey Meadowlands. The swing bridge is the fourth from the river's mouth at Newark Bay and is upstream from it. A camelback through truss bridge, it is owned by Conrail as part of its North Jersey Shared Assets and carries the Passaic and Harsimus Line used by CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. River Subdivision (CSX Transportation) accesses the line via Marion Junction. Conrail is considering replacing the bridge, which was opened in 1901.
A crossing of the Passaic at Point-No-Point was originally built by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) in the early 1890s to bypass its mainline and thus shorten the distance to its rail yard at Harsimus Cove. At the time the railroad crossed the Passaic at the Centre Street Bridge (no longer in existence) near its Newark station, at the site of today's New Jersey Performing Arts Center. The new "Pennsylvania Cut-off" diverged from the line (now today's Northeast Corridor) at Waverly Yard, crossed the Newark Ironbound and the Passaic to the Kearny Meadows and then crossed the Hackensack River on the Harsimus Branch Lift Bridge. It rejoined the main line at the Bergen Hill Cut, but diverged again using the Harsimus Stem Embankment to reach its freight yards on the Hudson River waterfront north of its passenger terminal at Exchange Place. The PRR also used the Lehigh Valley Railroad Bridge to reach its car float operations at Greenville Yard on the Upper New York Bay.
The Point-No-Point Bridge's creosote-covered piers caught fire in 2000.
The lower of the Passaic River below the Dundee Dam is tidally influenced and navigable commercial maritime traffic upstream of the Point-No-Point Bridge is constricted by the width between its piers when the moveable span is open. Rules regulating the drawbridge operations determined by the US Coast Guard require 4 hours' notice for it to be swung open.


Jehandad Khan

Jehandad Khan (d. 1914) was an Afghan rebel emir who ruled only in Khost. He was born as a member of the Ghilzai tribe, and spent most of his life as a chieftain. After start of the Khost rebellion on 2 May 1912, he briefly laid claim to the Afghan trone in opposition to Habibullah Khan, but an offensive by Muhammad Nadir Khan forced him to flee to the British Raj by the end of the same month. When Jehandad arrived in India, he was given the option of immediately returning to Afghanistan or staying in India, and he chose the latter. He then appealed to the British authorities for an intervention in Afghanistan to aid the rebellion, but was unsuccessful. Later in 1912, Jehandad managed to return to Afghanistan, where he was apprehended, put on trial, sentenced to death and finally executed by a firing squad in 1914.


Petronilla of Aragon

Petronilla (29 June/11 August 1136 – 15 October 1173), whose name is also spelled Petronila or Petronella (Aragonese "Peyronela" or "Payronella", and ), was the queen of Aragon from the abdication of her father, Ramiro II, in 1137 until her own abdication in 1164. She was the last ruling member of the Jiménez dynasty in Aragon, and by marriage brought the throne to the House of Barcelona.
Background.
Petronilla came to the throne through special circumstances. Her father, Ramiro, was bishop of Barbastro-Roda when his brother, Alfonso I, died childless in 1134. Alfonso left the crown to the three religious military orders, but his decision was not respected. The aristocracy of Navarre elected a king of their own, restoring their independence, and the nobility of Aragon raised Ramiro to the throne. As king, he received a papal dispensation to abandon his monastic vows in order to secure the succession to the throne. King Ramiro the Monk, as he is known, married Agnes of Aquitaine in 1135; their only child, Petronilla, was born the next year in Huesca.
Petronilla's marriage was a very important matter of state. The nobility had rejected the proposition of Alfonso VII of Castile to arrange a marriage between Petronilla and his son Sancho and to educate her at his court. When she was just a little over one year old, Petronilla was betrothed in Barbastro on 11 August 1137 to Raymond Berengar IV, Count of Barcelona, who was twenty-three years her senior. At El Castellar on 13 November, Ramiro abdicated, transferred authority to Ramon Berenguer, and returned to monastic life. Ramon Berenger de facto ruled the kingdom using the title of "Prince of the Aragonese" ("princeps Aragonensis").
Reign.
In August 1150, when Petronilla was fourteen, the betrothal was ratified at a wedding ceremony held in the city of Lleida. Petronilla consummated her marriage to Ramon Berenguer in the early part of 1151, when she reached the age of 15. The marriage produced five children: Peter (1152–57), Raymond Berengar (1157–96), Peter (1158–81), Dulce (1160–98), and Sancho (1161–1223). While she was pregnant with the first, on 4 April 1152, she wrote up a will bequeathing her kingdom to her husband in case she did not survive childbirth.
While her husband was away in Provence (1156–57), where he was regent (since 1144) for the young Count Raymond Berengar II, Queen Petronilla remained in Barcelona. Accounting records show her moving between there and Vilamajor and Sant Celoni while presiding over the court in Raymond Berengar's absence.
Abdication and later life.
After her husband's death in 1162, Petronilla received the prosperous County of Besalú and the Vall de Ribes for life. Her eldest son was seven years old when, on 18 June 1164 ("Actum est hoc in Barchinona XIIII kalendas julii anno Dominice incarnationis M C LXIIII"), Petronilla abdicated the throne of Aragon and passed it to him. When Raymond Berenguer inherited the throne from his mother, he changed his name to Alfonso out of deference to the Aragonese. The second son, named Peter, then changed his name to Raymond Berenguer.
Petronilla died in Barcelona in October 1173 and was buried at Barcelona Cathedral; her tomb has been lost. After her death, Besalú and Vall de Ribes reverted to the direct domain of the Count of Barcelona, her son Alfonso, who by 1174 had bestowed Besalú on his wife, Sancha. In the Ribes, the local bailiff, Ramon, had carved out for himself "a virtually independent administrative authority" there. He had conducted an inventory for Petronilla after Raymond Berenguer's death, and his son and namesake was in power in 1198.
Legacy.
In 1410, after the death of King Martin without living legitimate descendants, the House of Barcelona became extinct in the legitimate male line. Two years later, Ferdinand I was enthroned per the Compromise of Caspe. Although Ferdinand triumphed mainly for political and military reasons, the theoretical basis of his candidacy was inheritance in the female line, for which Queen Petronilla served as the precedent. He was Martin's closest legitimate male relative, but related through a woman. His chief opponent, Count James II of Urgell, was related to Martin more distantly, but in the male line. In Catalonia there were indications that women were forbidden to hold comital office, but in Aragon there was no legislation on the subject. In both places there were a few cases of women who had passed on their right to their sons, most importantly Petronilla.
There is a long debate whether Petronilla was the true ruler of Aragon. Some claim that Ramiro II gave the kingdom of Aragon to his son-in-law and that the presence of Petronilla was secondary. According to Jerónimo de Zurita, there was a clause in the pact with Ramon Berenguer stating that if Petronilla died, Aragon would pass to the children of Ramon Berenguer through a future second marriage. In any case, there is insufficient documentation to make a completely conclusive statement about the question and the Compromise of Caspe confirmed the legitimacy of female transmission.
References.
Notes
Further reading


Jai Singh of Mewar

Jai Singh (5 December 1653 – 23 September 1698), was the Maharana of Mewar Kingdom, ruling from 1680 to 1698. He was a son of Mahanara Raj Singh I. Jai Singh fought a series of battles against Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. In 1680–81, he sent his noble Dayaldas in Malwa. Dayaldas occupied Dhar and Mandu. He looted those cities and fought a series of battles against Mughal army. Finally, Aurangzeb and the Rana signed a peace treaty, and Aurangzeb turned his attention to the Rathores of Marwar and the Marathas in the Deccan.
He married Dayawati Bai (1650–1683), a Kachhawa princess of Amber, who died in childbirth.
He built Dhebar lake, Udaipur in 1685.
On the last attack which was made by Aurangzeb with his three wives and an army of number more than 5 times than that of Maharana's, Maharana Jai Singh deployed a tactic under which he with his subjects (including villagers) took shelter under different dens after emptying all food supplies and water of well and taking it with them. When Aurangzeb attacked the villages he found nothing to be plundered and as he was moving to the core of Mewar, Maharana with a small battalion attacked Aurangzeb and plundered his food supplies while also taking Aurangzeb's three wives as hostages. Although Jai Singh did took Emperor's wives hostages he never misbehaved with them and were taken care as if they were guests unlike Mughals who raped whoever women they sighted. Then ashamed of the situation folded in front of him, he decided to sign a treaty with Maharana Jai Singh that he would never attack Mewar again.


Nagarajan Vedachalam

Nagarajan Vedachalam is an Indian space scientist, K. R. Ramanathan Distinguished Professor of the Department of Space and Distinguished Scientist Emeritus of Indian Space Research Organization, known for his contributions to Indian space programme. He is a former director of the Liquid Propulsion Systems Centre that developed the cryogenic engine of the Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) and is reported to have associated with over 100 space programmes of ISRO. He continues to sit in many committees of the Department of Space though officially retired from ISRO service as the director of ISRO Inertial Systems Unit (IISU) and holds several patents for his innovations.
Vedachalam, a recipient of the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from the Madurai Kamaraj University, was honoured by the Government of India in 2003 with Padma Shri, the fourth highest Indian civilian award.


Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation

The Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV) is the professional body for those working in the field of revenues, benefits and valuation in the United Kingdom. It is the largest professional association in the field of benefits, revenues and valuation with over 5,000 members. The Institute's focus is on supporting members’ professional development and sharing best practices.
The Institute has its roots in the Metropolitan Rate Collectors Association, founded on 1 April 1882 by the rate collectors of London. It became the Association of Rate Collectors and Assistant Overseers in 1911, the Incorporated Association of Rating and Valuation Officers (RVA) in 1927 and the Institute of Revenues Rating and Valuation (IRRV) in 1990.


Banca Popolare di Sondrio

Banca Popolare di Sondrio S.C.p.A. (BPSO) is an Italian bank based in Sondrio, Lombardy. The company was included in FTSE Italia Mid Cap Index.
History.
Banca Popolare di Sondrio was an urban cooperative bank found in 1871. Along with Credito Valtellinese, they were the major banks inside the Province of Sondrio.
The bank also owned equity interests in several companies that provide services to the bank, such as Banca Italease (4.252% on 30 June 2009), Arca Vita and Istituto Centrale delle Banche Popolari Italiane (2%).
In 2009–11 Banca Italease was dismantled. BPSO acquired 20.95% stake in Alba Leasing as well as 60.5% stake in Factorit.
Due to Decree-Law N°3/2015, the bank would be demutualized. However, it was held due to an appeal to the court.
In September 2017 the bank announced that, they acquired Banca della Nuova Terra.


Henkel Norden


Clara Gaymard

Clara Gaymard (née Lejeune; born 27 January 1960) is a French businesswoman, official and author. She co-founded RAISE, an investment fund and philanthropic group which promotes entrepreneurial growth. She was the president of GE France from 2006 to 2016 and vice-president of GE International from 2009 to 2016.
Education.
She received a degree from Sciences Po and is an alumna of the École nationale d'administration.
Career.
She served as an administrative officer to the Mayor of Paris from 1982 until 1984, when she went to study at the ENA. On graduating, she became an auditor at the court of auditors, and was appointed advisor for referenda in 1990. Thereafter she was assistant to the head of economic expansion services in Cairo (1991-1993), becoming head of the European Union office (sub-directorate of Europe) at the Directorate of External Economic Relations (DREE) in the Ministry of the Economy and Finance.
In June 1995 she was asked by Colette Codaccioni, the minister for inter-generational cohesion, to direct her office. She the joined the sub-directorate focusing on supporting SMEs and regional action at the DREE (1996-1999), then as the head delegate to SMEs (1999-2003). In 2002, the economy and finance minister, Francis Mer, refused to nominate her to lead the DREE, saying: In February she left the DREE being appointed the Goodwill ambassador for International Investment and president of the French Agency for International Investment (AFII).
In September 2006, she joined General Electric, as the CEO and President of GE France, and later, in 2008, as the President of the Region of North Western Europe. While president and CEO of GE France, Clara Gaymard was, in April 2009, appointed the vice-president of GE International in charge of government contracts (GE International for Government Sales and Strategy), then, in August 2010, as vice-president of government and cities.
In 2014, she used her expertise and strong network to argue for the acquisition of Alstom by GE. In 2015, she began an attempt to have a net increase of 1000 jobs, within GE France. She was trying to achieve this, as 10300 people were being let go world-wide and 2000 in France.
In January 2016, after 10 years at General Electric promoting French-American trade and defending industrial jobs in Europe, Gaymard was summoned before the French government to explain why 6,500 jobs were being lost against prior reassurance, and to confirm her immediate departure from the company.
Gaymard's style of management was cited as being liberal and progressive, notably her work for the LGBT community; as she supported the development of the diversity organisation, called GLBTA ("Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgenre Alliance"). She signed the "charte d’engagement LGBT" on behalf of General Electric.
In 2016 Gaymard co-founded the investment fund and philanthropic group Raise, with French businessman Gonzague de Blignières.
Other activities.
Parallel to her career, Gaymard was a lecturer in contract and public law, an auditor of the 53rd session of the Institut des hautes études de Défense nationale, and a founding member of the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation.
Personal life.
Gaymard is the daughter of Professor Jérôme Lejeune, the doctor and geneticist who discovered the chromosomal link of Down Syndrome, and the daughter of Birthe Bringsted. Clara Gaymard is married to Hervé Gaymard, a minister who served Jacques Chirac. The couple have nine children: Philothée, Bérénice, Thaïs, Marie-Lou, Amédée, Eulalie, Faustine, Jérôme-Aristide, Angélico.
Publications.
Works by Clara Lejeune:
Works by Clara Gaymard and her sister Bérénice Bringsted (using the last name of her maternal grandfather):


Ukrainian nationality law

Ukrainian nationality law is the law that governs the acquisition and loss of citizenship of Ukraine. This body of law includes the constitution, several treaties, and the Law on Citizenship of Ukraine. Key secondary legislation comprises the procedure, established by the president, for the authorities to decide on and record each case of acquisition or loss of citizenship. There also exists a body of administrative case law.
History.
Ukrainian People's Republic.
The Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR) established Ukrainian citizenship for the first time when it adopted citizenship laws on , just as Soviet Russia recognized the UPR's independence under the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. The laws instituted "jus soli", prohibited dual citizenship, and required "registration of citizenship through the process of proving one's right to citizenship through witnesses." The legislation was vulnerable to "undemocratic" abuse, and many provisions were "incorrectly formulated" so as to make compliance impossible. Therefore, the Central Council planned a revision.
The German-backed Ukrainian State seized control in April and adopted a law based on the UPR's proposed changes on . This law claimed as citizens all Russian subjects who resided in Ukraine and did not formally reject Ukrainian citizenship. The UPR resumed power in December. The autonomous Western Oblast of the UPR, whose territory remained in dispute with Poland, saw citizenship legislation enacted on . This law likewise conferred citizenship on everyone who belonged to one of the oblast's communities and who did not reject it.
Poland occupied most of the Western Oblast's territory by July, and the UPR recognized the territory as part of Poland in . In September of the same year, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the UPR, then in exile in Tarnów, stated in a letter that the Ukrainian State citizenship law remained valid. By November, the UPR had conclusively lost the last of its territory, which was divided in 1921 between Poland and the Ukrainian SSR.
Soviet Union.
The Ukrainian SSR became a founding republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. The 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union affirmed "single Union citizenship" for the citizens of all Union republics. The 1929 Ukrainian SSR Constitution stated that all Ukrainian SSR citizens were also Union citizens. Successive Soviet constitutions maintained this arrangement.
The 1978 Soviet Union citizenship law delegated to the presidiums of the supreme soviets of the Union republics the authority to grant republican citizenship and thereby Union citizenship to resident non-citizens. A 1981 decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR provided for naturalization in this way. This procedure "applied to non-Soviet citizens only and not to Soviet citizens who moved from one Soviet republic to another."
The Ukrainian SSR, like other Union republics, neither made laws on nor administered its own citizenship. Soviet law did not provide for documentation of republican citizenship. Thus, Ukrainian SSR citizenship had no practical consequences and its existence was dubious.
Independent Ukrainian citizenship and the end of the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union allowed the Union republics to make laws to govern their own citizenships beginning May 1990. The Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine, adopted , established Ukrainian SSR citizenship independent of and alongside Union citizenship, and envisaged further legislation to govern the acquisition and loss of this new citizenship. Ukraine declared independence from the Soviet Union on .
In the Verkhovna Rada, factions of nationalists, unreformed Communists, and the former "nomenklatura" in power supported different citizenship policies. The nationalists wanted citizenship for all ethnic Ukrainians. The Communists desired no independent citizenship or, when the collapse of the Soviet Union loomed, dual citizenship with Russia. Both nationalists and the nomenklatura disfavored dual citizenship. They feared that Russia would grant its own citizenship to Ukrainian citizens to justify intervention in Ukraine on behalf of Russian dual citizens. The first citizenship legislation resulted from compromise between these three factions.
The Law on the Succession of Ukraine, which took effect on , extended citizenship only to Soviet citizens with permanent residence in Ukraine as of independence. The first Citizenship Law entered into force on . The Law allowed those born in Ukraine or with parents or grandparents born in Ukraine to register for citizenship, and neither prohibited nor protected multiple citizenship. Its preamble proscribed "deprivation of citizenship", or denaturalization as the Soviet authorities had deployed "against the enemies of Soviet power", as well as deprivation of the right to change citizenship. The following month, the Soviet Union dissolved.
Since independence.
The 1978 Ukrainian SSR Constitution remained in effect but the Verkhovna Rada removed references to Soviet Union citizenship effective . Ukraine ratified a new constitution on that banned deprivation of citizenship and of the right to change citizenship.
From 1991 to 2005, Ukraine repeatedly expanded the grounds on which people anywhere could register for citizenship by birth on or through relatives born on Ukrainian or formerly Ukrainian territory. To defend its own "compatriots abroad", Russia campaigned from 1993 to 1997 for multiple citizenship in other post-Soviet states including Ukraine. Though some in Ukraine favored Russia's efforts, the authorities continued to oppose them. Restrictions on multiple citizenship tightened in the late 1990s but softened in the subsequent decade.
To reduce dual citizenship in cases of naturalization, Ukraine formed agreements with other post-Soviet states to establish a simplified, free-of-charge procedure to change citizenship from one country's to the other's. Ukraine and Uzbekistan implemented the first such agreement in October 1998 and enabled some 28,000 formerly deported Crimean Tatars to switch from Uzbek to Ukrainian citizenship. Though Russia and some other countries declined, Ukraine also concluded agreements with Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. Some of these agreements later ended, and by 2017, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry reported only that such treaties remained in force with Belarus, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.
The current Citizenship Law replaced the first law in 2001 and has undergone several amendments, most recently in 2019. In 2002, Ukraine acceded to the 1967 Protocol to the 1951 Refugee Convention, then to the Convention itself. Ukraine signed the European Convention on Nationality in 2003 and ratified it in 2006. That year, Ukraine also became the first country to sign the Council of Europe Convention on the Avoidance of Statelessness in Relation to State Succession, but never ratified it. The country acceded to the Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons and the Convention on the Reduction of Statelessness in 2013.
Definition of Ukrainian citizenship.
Citizens of Ukraine typically fall into at least one of the following categories:
Acquisition of citizenship.
Citizenship of Ukraine may be acquired in any one of the following ways:
Birth within the territory of Ukraine does not automatically confer citizenship.
Loss of citizenship.
From 2005 until mid-2017, 87,376 people lost their Ukrainian citizenship. 67,305 of them voluntarily renounced it, 19,738 lost it because of international agreements and 333 were involuntary deprived of their citizenship.
Voluntary loss of citizenship.
According to Ukraine's nationality law, Ukrainian citizenship can be voluntarily renounced by Ukrainian citizens who have taken up permanent residence in a foreign country and who have acquired a foreign citizenship or have received confirmation that they will acquire a foreign citizenship upon successful renunciation of their Ukrainian citizenship. Citizenship can only be renounced in the presence of a Ukrainian consular official at a Ukrainian diplomatic mission and proof of the final/impending acquisition of foreign citizenship is required to do so.
Automatic loss of citizenship.
Automatic loss of Ukrainian citizenship occurs in the event an adult Ukrainian citizen voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality or enters into the military or governmental service of a foreign power.
Ukrainian citizenship is not automatically lost in the following circumstances:
The decision on termination of Ukrainian citizenship must be taken by the President of Ukraine.
Dual citizenship.
Ukrainian law recognizes a unique citizenship inside the country. That does not explicitly deny the dual (external) citizenship, so there are citizens of Ukraine who hold dual citizenship. Ukrainian law states that, for strangers, after gaining Ukrainian citizenship, the new Ukrainian citizen must renounce its non-Ukrainian citizenship(s) within two years. A 2009 estimate put the number of Ukrainians with more than one passport from 300,000 to a few million. Within Ukrainian boundaries, Ukrainian citizens who also hold multiple citizenships are considered to be solely Ukrainian citizens.
On 8 February 2014, the Verkhovna Rada proposed a bill to criminalize the act of holding two citizenships.
Visa requirements.
In June 2017, Ukrainian citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 132 countries and territories, ranking the Ukrainian passport 42nd in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.


Mustapha Kamel Nabli

Mustapha Kamel Nabli (; born in 1948) is a Tunisian economist. He served as Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia from January 2011 until June 2012.
Biography.
Born on February 10, 1948 in Téboulba, Tunisia, Nabli studied Economics in Tunisia, where he received the Prize of the President of the Republic in June 1969 for his Bachelor in Economics. He received his Master's degree and a PhD in Economics at the University of California, Los Angeles. He also holds a degree from Tunis Ecole Nationale d’ Administration (ENA).
Professor of Economics at the Tunis University and member of Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts; visiting professor, various universities in Canada, US, Belgium and France; international consultant. 1988-90, Chairman, Tunis Stock Exchange. 1990-95, Minister of Economic Development and Minister of Planning and Regional Development of Tunisia; concurrently, 1994-1996: member of U.N. Secretary General High Level Group on “Development Strategy and Management of the Market Economy”. Economics Expert for the European Union and the Arab League. With World Bank: 1997, Senior Economic Adviser, Development Prospects, Development Economics; 1999-2010, Regional Chief Economist and Director, Social and Economic Development Group, Middle East and North Africa; 2010 - Jan. 2011, Senior Adviser to the World Bank Chief Economist. Jan. 2011 - July 2012, Governor of the Central Bank of Tunisia.


Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc.

Pike v. Bruce Church, Inc., 397 U.S. 137 (1970), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that power of states to pass laws interfering with interstate commerce is limited when the law poses an undue burden on businesses.
Background.
An Arizona statute required that Arizona-grown cantaloupes advertise their state of origin on each package. Church was an Arizona grower of high quality cantaloupes. Instead of packing them in Arizona, it transported them to nearby California facilities, where they were not labeled as grown in Arizona.
Arizona issued an order prohibiting Church from shipping uncrated cantaloupes from the Arizona ranch, and requiring that the cantaloupes be packed in Arizona and identified as coming from an Arizona packer. This would have cost Church $200,000 to pack a $700,000 crop.
Opinion of the Court.
State statutes that have a negative effect on interstate commerce are unconstitutional under the Dormant Commerce Clause. Justice Stewart used a balancing test.
Applying this test to the Arizona statute, the court found it imposed too great of a burden to justify its benefits.


Party for the Economic Development of Abkhazia

The Party for the Economic Development of Abkhazia (, , ) is an opposition party in Abkhazia led by businessman Beslan Butba.
History.
The Party for the Economic Development of Abkhazia (PEDA) was founded during its first congress on 26 September 2007 in Sukhumi. Businessman and former MP Beslan Butba was unanimously elected its Chairman. The Political Council consisted of Butba, Beslan Kvarchia, Georgi Basaria, Leonid Osia, Aslan Bartsyts, Irina Tkacheva, former Agriculture Minister Jamal Eshba, Irma Jgenaria, Abkhazian State University lecturers Beslan Baratelia and Batal Khagush, People's Artist Nurbei Kamkia, Ilia Gamasonia, Ekho Abkhazii journalist Vitali Sharia and Aleksandr Neproshin.
On 25 December the Party organised a roundtable discussion on the demographic situation in Abkhazia, which was attended by representatives of many other Abkhazian parties. On 30 January 2008 it signed a cooperation agreement with the People's Party of Abkhazia, one of the oldest political parties in Abkhazia. The Party financed the repair of the library in Chlou, native village of the writer Bagrat Shinkuba, which was reopened on 26 April. On 28 November 2008 it held its second congress, which was attended by around 400 delegates. During the congress chairman Beslan Butba condemned the corruption and lack of transparency of the Abkhazian government. On 23 January 2009 the Party organised a roundtable discussion about the run-up to the December 2009 Presidential election, which was attended by representatives from most other parties. On 23 October 2009 it held its fourth congress, during which Butba was nominated for President, and former Minister of the Interior Almasbei Kchach for Vice President.
At its fifth congress on 21 July 2011, party leader Butba expressed his support for Sergei Shamba in the upcoming Presidential election. On 6 February 2012, the party held its sixth congress, nominating six candidates for the upcoming Parliamentary elections, none of whom was elected.
On 27 June 2012, the party signed a cooperation agreement with the youth movement Young Abkhazia. On 10 July 2013, the Economic Development Party founded the Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Public Organisations along with fellow opposition parties United Abkhazia, the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia and the People's Party of Abkhazia, and a number of social movements including Young Abkhazia.
On 29 February 2016, the PEDA became a founding member of the Council for the National Unity of the Republic of Abkhazia, uniting political forces that were neither pro-government nor pro-opposition. It had initiated its creation together with United Abkhazia.


Charles, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried

Charles of Hesse-Wanfried (born: 19 July 1649 at Rheinfels Castle; died: 3 March 1711 in Schwalbach), was a Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried. He was the second son of Landgrave Ernest of Hesse-Rheinfels and Maria Eleonore of Solms-Lich.
Life.
After an inheritance dispute about the "Rotenburg Quarter", Charles received Hesse-Eschwege in 1667. He moved to Wanfried and founded the Catholic line of Hesse-Wanfried. He used the castle in Wanfried as his residence, because the castle in Eschwege had been pledged to Brunswick-Bevern, also in 1667.
Marriages.
Charles's first wife was Sophie Magdalene, a daughter of Count Eric Adolph of Salm-Reifferscheid and his wife Magdalene. Sophie Magdalene died in 1675 during a trip to Venice. Charles then married Alexandrine Juliane, a daughter of Count Emich XIII of Leiningen and the widow of Landgrave George III of Hesse-Itter-Vöhl. She died on 19 April 1703 and was buried in the family vault in the Hülfensberg in Wanfried.
Death and heir.
Charles died in 1711 and was succeeded as Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried by his son William II. After William's death in 1731, he was succeeded by his half-brother Christian, who died childless in 1755, thereby ending the Hessen-Wanfried line.
Issue.
From his marriage to Sophie Magdalene:
From his marriage to Alexandrine Juliane:


Jane Hardy

Jane Hardy is an Australian diplomat who was the Ambassador to Spain with non-resident accreditation to Andorra and Equatorial Guinea. Hardy has been Consul-General in Honolulu since December 22, 2017.
Education.
Hardy earned a Masters of Arts degree from Monash University; a Graduate Diploma (Foreign Affairs and Trade) from the Australian National University; a Bachelor of Arts from Flinders University; and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of South Australia.
Termination of Ambassadorship to Spain.
Less than two years into a three year term, Hardy "ceased duty" on November 3, 2014 and "returned by mutual agreement with the department" after the Australian Federal Police arrested her husband Vytas Kapociunas, on September 20, 2014 over "an allegation of sexual intercourse with a child outside Australia.",
In 2015, Kapociunas was found not guilty on two charges and on the third charge, the jury was unable to reach a verdict.


Magnus Julius De la Gardie

Magnus Julius De la Gardie (14 April 1669 – 28 April 1741), son of Axel Julius De la Gardie, was a Swedish general and statesman, member of the Swedish Hats Party.
Magnus Julius De la Gardie was born in 1668 in Stockholm. He started his military career in the French army, where he fought for the French in the War of the Spanish Succession. After the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, he became a Swedish Colonel at the Royal Dalarna Regiment, which he led in the Battle of Gadebusch in 1712. After the successful battle, he was appointed Swedish Major General, and in 1717 he became a Lieutenant General.
After the dramatic death of King Charles XII in 1718, Magnus Julius De la Gardie became a member of the Privy Council of Sweden. The newly appointed Privy Councillor commissioned architect Joseph Gabriel Destain to design Tullgarn Palace. In 1719 he was appointed President of the Kommerskollegium, and in 1727 he became a Marshal.
Magnus Julius De la Gardie was a vocal friend of the French kingdom. When the Riksdag of the Estates was summoned in 1734, he proposed closer ties between Sweden and France. Inspired by French customs, he arranged political salons, a novelty never heard of in Sweden at the beginning of the 18th century. It is believed that the Swedish Hats Party was founded at one of these receptions.
He was married to Hedvig Catharina Lilje and became the father of Eva Ekeblad and Hedvig Catharina De la Gardie. He died in Stockholm in 1741.


Spinka (Hasidic dynasty)

Spinka is the name of a Hasidic group within Haredi Judaism. The group originated in a city called Szaplonca (), in Máramaros County, Kingdom of Hungary (today Săpânţa, Romania).
Spinka rebbes.
The first Spinka Rebbe was Rabbi Yosef Meir Weiss, author of "Imrei Yosef". He was succeeded by his son, Rabbi Yitzchak Isaac Weiss, author of "Chakal Yitzchak". The "Chakal Yitzchak" was murdered by the Nazis in the Holocaust.
After World War II, the group was divided among many Rebbes, descendants of the "Imrei Yosef". Spinka Rebbes can be found in Williamsburg, Borough Park, Flatbush, Kiryas Joel, Queens, Monsey, Bnei Brak, London, Antwerp, throughout Israel, and Europe. All are offshoots of the original dynasty. Several Spinka Rebbes live in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn alone, and Israeli branches are found in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak.
Among the surnames of the Spinka Rebbes are Weiss, Kahana, and Horowitz.
Financial fraud.
In 2009, Rabbi Naftali Tzi Weisz and five other Spinka members pleaded guilty to charges in what prosecutors called "a decade-long tax fraud and money-laundering scheme".


Perry Warjiyo

Perry Warjiyo (born 25 February 1959) is the current Governor of Bank Indonesia, Indonesia's central Bank. His nomination for the post of Governor was approved by the Indonesian parliament on 28 March 2018. He was sworn into office on 24 May 2018, succeeding the previous Governor Agus Martowardojo.
Perry has over 30 years of experience working on central bank policy issues in Indonesia. He has been described as a central banker who is “as battle-tested as monetary policymakers get”. His appointment reflects the practice in Indonesia of frequently appointing professionals with strong economic and policymaking experience (often referred to as “technocrats”) to senior economic posts in government.
Background.
Perry Warjiyo was born in Sukoharjo, a town in Central Java south of the larger city of Surakarta. He attended primary and secondary school in Sukoharjo before studying at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He graduated from the Economics Faculty at Gadjah Mada University in 1982 and later undertook studies at Iowa State University in the United States. He graduated in economics at Iowa State University, specialising in monetary policies and international finance, with a master's degree in 1989 and a PhD in 1991.
Work with government.
A brief summary of Perry Warjiyo's work with government is as follows:
During his career in government, Perry Warjiyo has acted as an adviser to Indonesian delegations to numerous international meetings including with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, Asian Development Bank, G20, EMEAP, Bank for International Settlements, and the Consultative Group on Indonesia.
In October 2019, "Global Markets" on-line newspaper recognised Perry Warjiyo as Governor of the Year 2019 for the Asia-Pacific region. The award was presented to Perry "for his achievements in terms of maintaining economic stability in Indonesia despite economic and political shocks and throughout the digital transformation undertaken by Bank Indonesia."
Policies as Governor.
2018
Shortly after Perry become Governor in mid-2018, international economic conditions led to pressure on the Indonesian exchange rate and the rupiah depreciated noticeably. In response, several increases in the domestic interest rate were announced and Perry indicated that Bank Indonesia planned to pursue policies to promote domestic economic growth and maintain stability. He said that he believed that there were "three keys to a country's resilience in the face of external pressures." These were, "First, the conviction that our economy is healthy. Second, it's the courage to adopt the policies that are required, which are sound and preemptive. If you live under uncertainty, don't linger over it. ... Third, there should be clear and intensive communication." In mid-August 2018 when there appeared to be market pressures encouraging a depreciation of the rupiah, Perry announced a further increase in domestic interest rates.
Later in 2018, as the US Fed tightened monetary policy in America, Bank Indonesia indicated that interest rates in Indonesia would be increased further if necessary. In late September, the official rate in Indonesia was lifted to 5.25%. The rate was increased again in several moves to 6% by mid-November. This increase was the sixth rise in interest rates since Perry had been appointed Governor.
2019
Discussing the stance of monetary policy in early 2019, Perry suggested that he regarded monetary policy as quite tight. He said Bank Indonesia's interest policy rate would be set to anticipate external factors, especially to stabilize the exchange rate and to limit the current account deficit to 2.5% of GDP. Later, in May, when the rupiah began to weaken as a result of trends in international financial markets, Bank Indonesia indicated that monetary policy would remain firm. This approach was in contrast to decisions announced at the time in both Malaysia and the Philippines to relax monetary policy somewhat and to lower interest rates. However, beginning in July, a series of measures were taken to ease monetary policy in Indonesia:
2020
During 2020, in response to the COVID-19 crisis, monetary policy was further eased.
2021
Monetary policy easing continued in the early part of 2021. In mid-February, the benchmark interest rate (7-day reverse repo rate) was lowered to 3.5%.
Other activities.
Perry Warjiyo has an extensive publication record of articles covering a wide range of monetary policy issues in both English and Indonesian. He has also maintained links with universities across Indonesia. He has provided numerous guest lectures about monetary policy in Indonesian universities and has acted as a supervisor and examiner in post-graduate studies in the Faculty of Economics and Business in the University of Indonesia in Jakarta. More recently, in 2019 his book on "Central Bank Policy: Theory and Practice", co-authored with Solikin M. Juhro, was published. The book provides a survey of central bank policies in emerging market economies.


Sigurd the Stout

Sigurd Hlodvirsson (circa 960 – 23 April 1014), popularly known as Sigurd the Stout from the Old Norse "Sigurðr digri", was an Earl of Orkney. The main sources for his life are the Norse Sagas, which were first written down some two centuries or more after his death. These engaging stories must therefore be treated with caution rather than as reliable historical documents.
Sigurd was the son of Hlodvir Thorfinnsson and (according to the Norse sagas) a direct descendant of Torf-Einarr Rognvaldson. Sigurd's tenure as earl was apparently free of the kin-strife that beset some other incumbents of this title and he was able to pursue his military ambitions over a wide area. He also held lands in the north of mainland Scotland and in the "Sudrøyar", and he may have been instrumental in the defeat of Gofraid mac Arailt, King of the Isles. The "Annals of Ulster" record his death at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, the earliest known reference to the earldom of Orkney.
The saga tales draw attention to Sigurd's conversion to Christianity and his use of a totemic raven banner, a symbol of the Norse God Odin. This ambiguous theme and the lack of detailed contemporary records of his life have led to a variety of interpretations of the saga material by modern scholars.
Sources.
The sources for Sigurd's life are almost exclusively Norse sagas, none of which were written down at the time of the events they record. The "Orkneyinga Saga" was first compiled in Iceland in the early 13th century and much of the information it contains is "hard to corroborate". Sigurd also appears briefly in "St Olaf's Saga" as incorporated into the "Heimskringla" and in the "Eyrbyggja Saga". There are various tales about his exploits in the more fanciful "Njal's Saga" as well as the "Saga of Gunnlaugr Serpent-Tongue", "Thorstein Sidu-Hallsson's Saga", the "Vatnsdæla Saga" and in the tale of "Helgi and Wolf" in the "Flateyjarbók.
Family background.
The "Orkneyinga Saga" reports that Sigurd was the son of Hlodvir, one of the five sons of Thorfinn Skull-Splitter, and Eithne. She is said to be a daughter of a "King Kjarvalr". The period after Earl Thorfinn's death was one of dynastic strife; three of Earl Hlodvir's brothers ruled before him, although he died in his bed before being succeeded by Sigurd, probably in the 980s.
Sigurd's patronymic is an unusual one and there would appear to be a connection with this name and the early roots of the modern French name "Louis".
Rule.
Sigurd was in the fortunate position that on his accession to the earldom there seem to have been no other serious contenders. In this respect his rule was unlike that of the earlier generation of the sons of Earl Thorfinn and of the next generation in that it avoided the bitter feuding that beset the earldom during both of those periods.
Sigurd's great-grandfather, Torf-Einarr, lost the udal rights of the Orkney and Shetland farmers as part of a deal he brokered with the Norwegian crown. These rights were restored by Sigurd. The Burray hoard of silver ring-money has been dated to the period 997-1010, during Earl Sigurd's reign.
Mainland Scotland.
Sigurd's domain included not just Orkney itself but also Shetland, which formed part of the earldom and also extensive lands on mainland Scotland. For the latter his overlords were the Kings of Scotland rather than of Norway. The extent of these mainland dominions is uncertain. According to the rather dubious source, "Njal's Saga", they included Ross, Moray, Sutherland and the Dales. At the time Moray would have included districts on the west coast including Lochaber. Smyth (1984) notes the density of "dalr" placenames on Scotland's west coast and it has even been suggested that "the Dales" is a reference to Dalriada, although it is more likely that it means Caithness. During Sigurd's tenure the earldom approached its high point and his influence was perhaps only exceeded by that of his son Thorfinn.
Sigurd's uncle Ljot had been killed in war against the Scots, and Sigurd soon faced trouble from his southern neighbours. According to the "Orkneyinga saga" "Earl Finnleik" (Findláech of Moray) led an army against him which outnumbered Sigurd's forces by seven to one. The saga then records Sigurd's mother's reply when he went to her for advice:
The Raven banner worked as just Sigurd's mother said: he was victorious but three standard-bearers in succession were killed.
A battle was fought between Norwegian forces and Malcolm II of Scotland at Mortlach c. 1005 which may have involved or been led by Sigurd. Although victory went to the Scots, the Norwegians had clearly spent some considerable time encamped in Moray and came equipped with a large fleet. However, Orcadian influence in this part of Scotland is likely to have been temporary and on other occasions, such as during his uncle Ljot's earldom, Scottish forces had pushed north into Caithness.
The Hebrides.
Sigurd the Stout also took control of the Hebrides, and placed a "jarl" called Gilli in charge. "Njal's Saga" records an expedition that took place c. 980 in which Kari, Sigurd's bodyguard, plundered the Hebrides, Kintyre and "Bretland" (probably Strathclyde). On another occasion Kari sailed through The Minch in order to collect tribute from Gilli, whose base may have been either Colonsay or Coll.
The "Annals of Ulster" record a raid by "the Danes" on Iona on Christmas Night in which the abbot and fifteen of the elders of the monastery were slaughtered and this may have been connected with the successful conquering of the Isle of Man by Sigurd and Gilli between 985 and 989. "Njal's Saga" records a victory for Sigurd over Gofraid mac Arailt, King of the Isles with the former returning to Orkney with the spoils. The contemporary "Annals of Ulster" record a similar event in 987 although with the reverse outcome. Here it is claimed that 1,000 Norsemen were killed, among them the Danes who had plundered Iona. Two years later "Njal's Saga" reports a second campaign in the southern Hebrides, Anglesey, Kintyre, Wales and a more decisive victory in Man. Irish sources report only the death of King Gofraid in Dál Riata, an event that Thomson (2008) ascribes to Earl Gilli's Gall-Ghàidheil forces.
The "Eyrbyggja saga" records the payment of silver tribute from Man to Sigurd, and, although this is a rather unreliable source, there is corroboration of such an event occurring in 989 in a Welsh source, with payment being made of a penny each from the local population to "the black host of the Vikings". It has been suggested that the much later use of ounceland and pennyland assessments in the "Gàidhealtachd" may date from the time of Earl Sigurd and his sons.
By 1004 the western isles' independence from Orkney had been re-asserted under Ragnal mac Gofraid, who died in that year. It is possible the rules overlapped, with Gilli's zone of influence to the north and Ragnal's to the south. On Ragnal's death Sigurd re-asserted control, which he held until his own death a decade later after which the islands may have been held by Håkon Eiriksson.
Religion.
According to the "Orkneyinga saga", the Northern Isles were Christianised by King Olaf Tryggvasson in 995 when he stopped at South Walls on his way back to Norway from Dublin. The King summoned "jarl" Sigurd and said "I order you and all your subjects to be baptised. If you refuse, I'll have you killed on the spot and I swear I will ravage every island with fire and steel." Unsurprisingly, Sigurd agreed and the islands became Christian at a stroke.
This tale is repeated in "St Olaf's Saga", (although here Olaf lands at South Ronaldsay) as is a brief mention of Sigurd's son "Hunde or Whelp" who was taken as a hostage to Norway by King Olaf. Hunde was held there for several years before dying there. "After his death Earl Sigurd showed no obedience or fealty to King Olaf."
Death and succession.
The "Orkneyinga Saga" blandly reports that "five years after the Battle of Svolder" Earl Sigurd went to Ireland to support Sigtrygg Silkbeard and, after taking up the raven banner, was killed in a battle that took place on Good Friday. (The chronology is slightly awry in that Sigurd's death is known to have taken place 14 years after Svolder.)
"Njal's Saga" provides a little more detail, alleging that Gormflaith ingen Murchada prompted her son Sigtrygg into getting Sigurd to fight against her former husband, Brian Ború: "She sent him to Earl Sigurd to beg for help ... Then King Sigtrygg fared south to Ireland, and told his mother that the Earl had undertaken to come."
The 12th-century Irish source, the "Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh", records the events of the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. The "foreigners and Leinstermen" were led by Brodir of the Isle of Man and Sigurd, and the battle lasted all day. Though Brian was killed in the battle, the Irishmen ultimately drove back their enemies into the sea, and Sigurd himself was killed. His death is corroborated by the "Annals of Ulster", which record that amongst the dead was "Siuchraid son of Loduir, iarla Innsi Orcc" (i.e. of Sigurd, son of Hlodvir, Earl of Orkney). This is the earliest known contemporary reference to the earldom of Orkney.
Sigurd left four sons: Brusi, Sumarlidi, Einar and Thorfinn, each of whom would also bear the title Earl of Orkney; the lands were initially divided amongst the three older brothers, Thorfinn being only five years old at the time. Thorfinn's mother is specifically stated to be a daughter of Malcolm II, the Norsemen's foe at Mortlach.
"Njal's Saga" provides the names of various other relatives of Sigurd's. Havard, who was killed at Thraswick (the modern Freswick in Caithness) is referred to as his brother-in-law. Sigurd is said to have given his sister Nereida (also called Swanlauga) in marriage to Earl Gilli.
Interpretations.
Sigurd's earldom "exerted a magnetic attraction for high-born Icelanders" and inspired many tales of military prowess in their own family sagas.
"King Kjarvalr", Sigurd's supposed grandfather, appears as "Kjarvalr Írakonungr" in the "Landnámabók" and has been identified as Cerball mac Dúnlainge, King of Osraige who died in 888. There is clearly a chronological problem with Sigurd's mother being the daughter of a king who died more than 70 years before the death of his own grandfather, Earl Thorfinn. Furthermore, Thorstein "the Red" Olafsson (fl. late 9th century and Hlodvir's great-grandfather) was apparently married to a granddaughter of Kjarvalr. Woolf (2007) concludes that the saga writers may have confused this story about the provenance of Sigurd Hlodvirsson with one about Thorstein, a close ally of Sigurd Eysteinsson.
Drawing on Adam of Bremen's assertion that Orkney was not conquered until the time of Harald Hardrada, who ruled Norway from 1043 to 1066, Woolf (2007) speculates that Sigurd may have been the first Earl of Orkney. He also offers the hypothesis that the earldom was a created by the Danish king Harald Bluetooth, circa 980 rather than in the time of Harald Fairhair one hundred years earlier. He concludes that "If there were no earls in Orkney before Sigurð's time it might help to explain the islands' low profile in the annals since these, for the most part, record only the deaths of great men." However, the absence of comment on this subject by Irish sources prior to Sigurd's death there is hardly surprising. Irish sources of the period were not well informed about and "not much concerned" with Orkney. Smyth (1984) is more sympathetic to the claims of the sagas and argues that Torf-Einarr "may be regarded as the first historical earl of Orkney".
The conflict between Sigurd and Olaf Tryggvasson probably predates their chance meeting at Kirk Hope as the latter is known to have been raiding in the "Sudrøyar" during the period 991-94. His motives for a determined pursuit of Christian obedience are likely to have been essentially political rather than religious. His journey back to Norway was in order to bid for the kingship there, and securing a passive Orkney in advance of this was therefore greatly to his advantage. Although Sigurd's marriage to an unnamed daughter of Malcolm of Scotland is mentioned in the "Orkneyinga Saga" immediately after the death of Hunde and the earl's consequent break with Olaf Tryggvasson, Thomson (2008) views this nuptial arrangement as a joint attempt by the Orcadians and Scots to align themselves against the "common threat from Moray" rather than as a slight to Norway.
When the sagas were written down Orkney had been Christian for 200 years or more and the conversion tale itself is "blatantly unhistorical". When the Norse arrived in the Northern Isles they would have found organised Christianity already thriving there, although there is no mention of this at all in the sagas. Furthermore, the Norse dragon motif of the whale-bone plaque found at the Scar boat burial was found in conjunction with the grave of an elderly woman who had died by 950 AD at the latest, and the weight of archaeological evidence suggests that Christian burial was widespread in Orkney by Sigurd's time. The intention may have been to disown the influence of indigenous elements of Orcadian and Shetland culture and emphasise that positive cultural developments came from Scandinavia, whilst at the same time critiquing the unduly blunt method of Norwegian interference in this case. The inclusion of the tale of the raven banner in the saga material may convey the idea of a revival of heathenism in Orcadian society and a reaction to Norwegian attempts to control the islands. However, in the "Orkneyinga Saga" there is a vivid contrast between Sigurd's death clutching the raven banner and the later career of his son Thorfinn, who is credited with several achievements in bringing Orkney into mainstream Christendom. Taken as a whole the intention may be to draw attention to this transition.
References.
Notes
Footnotes


Masood Sharif Khan Khattak

Major Masood Sharif Khan Khattak {Urdu: ); born 5 June 1950 in the city of Karak- Karak, West Pakistan is a civilian intelligence officer and the first and former Director General of the Intelligence Bureau (I.B). He has served as the Vice-President of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians(PPPP) under the leadership of the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir Bhutto.
He also led a famous intelligence operation named Midnight Jackals, which thwarted a military coupe attempt of the elected PPP government in 1990. He was imprisoned in 1996 by the government of Farooq Leghari where he was charged with launching widespread wiretapping against government officials.
In 2002 he was appointed as the Senior Vice-President of Pakistan People's Party Parliamentarian. He was defeated in the 2002 general elections by a candidate of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal in his home constituency NA-15(KARAK KPK). He resigned from the PPP in 2007 in protest against political arrangements (In famous NRO deal) of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians with Gen. Musharaf. He Joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf on 11 November with the meeting with chairman Imran Khan.
Early life.
Masood Sharif Khan Khattak was born on 5 June 1950 to Captain Muhammad Sharif Khan of the Pakistan Navy and Begum Jan both belonging to the same village in Karak District village billand kala . Masood grew up in a typical armed forces household with strict discipline, complete with a dinner bell at the dining table. Masood is the eldest of three siblings, one sister and two brothers. Traveling and reading for education were the order of the day at the Sharif household. Formal dining engagements involving the royalty and influential people of Pakistan, Britain and India were a regular feature at the Sharif residence in Karachi and Delhi.
Education.
Masood Sharif Khan Khattak was educated in Delhi Public School. Later on after getting a Gold Medal from Sindh province, he completed his college at the prestigious Cadet College Petaro, where he was friends with the former President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari. He was also the youngest graduate of the Pakistan Military Academy. He completed his degree in War Studies at Command and Staff College, Quetta in 1978.
Military and civil service.
He retired from the army in 1986. He was also appointed as the Director-General, Intelligence Bureau from 1993 to 1996. This is where he played a pivotal role in securing Pakistan's borders in Baluchistan and in securing peace in Karachi. He increased the size of the organisation to three times its original size and revamped its organizational structure and introduced STS Anti-Terrorism training for all officers of the organisation.
Masood Sharif Khan Khattak created and headed a co-operation committee, chaired by the Prime Minister and the Interior Minister. This committee consisted of the Director Generals of the Military Intelligence (MI), the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), Naval Intelligence (NI), Air Force Intelligence (AFI), the Inspector General of Police (IGP) and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).
He was arrested by the Farooq Leghari government in 1996 and imprisoned on charges of corruption as well as allegations which included widespread wiretapping of opposition politicians, judges and senators.
Released in 1999, he was investigated by the NAB on corruption charges but no cases of corruption filed against him in any court.
World Economic Forum on East Asia.
Masood Sharif spoke recently at the 2009 World Economic Form on East Asia, held in Seoul, Korea. He spoke on the topic of Asian Flashpoints: Challenges to Security. Among other points, he said "that the divergent interests of leaders of countries and the populace is one reason three of the countries that have nuclear weapons – India, Pakistan and North Korea – also have millions of hungry mouths to feed."
Publications and TV appearances.
Masood Sharif writes regularly in "The News International" newspaper of Pakistan. Masood Sharif Khan is also a regular on TV and radio shows across the world including the BBC, GEO TV, Voice of America and more.


Catherine Douglas, Baroness Glenbervie

Catherine Douglas, Baroness Glenbervie (16 February 1760 – 30 January 1817), formerly Lady Catherine Anne North, was the wife of Sylvester Douglas, 1st Baron Glenbervie.
She was the daughter of Frederick North, 2nd Earl of Guilford, and his wife Anne.
She married Baron Glenbervie in 1789, several years before his elevation to the peerage. They had one son, Frederick Sylvester North Douglas, who sat in Parliament for Banbury, holding the seat until his death in 1819, aged 28, a few months after marrying Harriet Wrightson. Between 1808 and 1817, Lady Glenbervie was officially Mistress of the Robes to Caroline of Brunswick, Princess of Wales; between 1814 and 1820, the princess was living abroad.
A drawing of Catherine, by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, is held by the Morgan Library and Museum.


TMEIC

 ( ) is a joint venture between Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, specializing in industrial electric and automation systems for industrial plants. The company develops and produces power electronics apparatus, electric motors, drives, and uninterruptible power supplies. TMEIC has worldwide operations with approximately 2000 employees.
History.
Tokyo Electric Company, the predecessor of Toshiba Corporation, was founded in 1896.
Mitsubishi Electric Corporation was founded in 1921.
In 1999, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric established TMA Electric Corporation (TMAE), a joint venture specializing in rotating machinery.
In 2000, Toshiba and General Electric Company formed Toshiba GE Automation Systems (TGAJ) operating in sales and engineering of industrial plant systems.
Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric have decided to unify TMAE, TGAJ and their industrial systems division to form a joint venture named Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC).
TMEIC started business on October 1, 2003.


Europa Coins 2006

For 2006, at least 13 European countries have joined together to create the Silver Series for Europe. The theme for 2006 is distinguished European figures. The following are the countries that issue a Europa Coin in 2006:


Bypass trust

In the United States, a bypass trust is an irrevocable trust into which the settlor deposits assets and which is designed to pay trust income and principal to the settlor's spouse for the duration of the spouse's life. The transfer of the settlor's assets to the bypass trust for the benefit of the spouse is a tax-free transfer under the currently unlimited Marital Deduction. At the settlor's death, the assets in the bypass trust are not included in the settlor's estate, effectively reducing the total value of the estate and therefore potentially limiting the estate taxes owed at the settlor's death.
Bypass trusts are used in the United States as a legitimate tool to circumvent gift tax, and to minimize taxation of assets upon death of a married couple. The term may have different meanings in other jurisdictions.
In the United States.
A bypass trust is a long-term planning device. It is typically created as part of an A/B Living trust estate plan after the death of the first spouse to die. During life, a married couple transfers ownership of property into a trust. Upon the death of the first party to die, the terms of the trust require that some portion of the property be transferred into "TRUST A" and some other portion into "TRUST B."
Trust A holds property that remains accessible to the surviving spouse during his or her life. That way the surviving spouse has enough wealth at hand to provide for his or her needs until death.
Trust B receives the other portion of the original trust's property in a manner that minimizes taxation, which necessarily prevents it from being accessible to the surviving spouse during his or her life. This trust is meant to pass on property to heirs, usually the spouse's children, on death of the remaining spouse, but in a way that minimizes the estate tax and gift tax that would have been applied to the property if it had passed through a will, or if given as a gift during life (gift "inter vivos").
A bypass trust receives property as specified in the trust document - the bypass trust may receive all of the property of the decedent spouse, or half of the spouses' co-owned property, or it may receive enough property to make full use of the decedent's estate tax exclusion.
It is important that each trust be drafted with absolute precision as the IRS has specified the exact wording to be used.
The bypass trust is typically created to achieve one or more of the following goals:


Thomas Jordan (economist)

Thomas J. Jordan (born 1963) is a Swiss economist and central banker. He is the chairman of the governing board of the Swiss National Bank, chairman of the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence Group, a member of the board of directors of the Bank for International Settlements, and a member of the steering committee of the Financial Stability Board.
Jordan was born on 28 January 1963, in the city of Biel/Bienne. He studied economics and business studies at the University of Bern, completing his degree in 1989 and his doctorate in 1993. He wrote a post-doctoral thesis, on the subject of European Monetary Union and predicting the sovereign debt crisis and also the bank failures that eventually transpired, during three years he spent as a researcher at Harvard University in the United States. He was appointed a lecturer at the University of Bern in 1998, and an honorary professor in 2003.
Jordan joined the Swiss National Bank as an economic advisor in 1997, and progressed through various roles. He joined the governing board as an alternate member in 2004 and became a full member in 2007. He was appointed chairman on 18 April 2012, following the resignation of Philipp Hildebrand from that role.


List of monarchs who abdicated

This is a list of monarchs who have abdicated. Some monarchs have been forced to abdicate. The list is chronological.


Georges Janssen

Georges Janssen (1892 – 9 June 1941) was a Belgian lawyer, civil servant and governor of the National Bank of Belgium (NBB) from 1938 until 1941.
Career.
George Janssen started his career as a lawyer and also built an academic career, as from 1928 he was a professor in the Law Faculty of the Free University of Brussels. His father, Camille Janssen, had been the Governor-General of the Congo Free State. George also worked as an administrator at the "Mutuelle Solvay" (1928) and the "Société Belge de Banque" (1932). When in 1935 the Banking Commission was established, he was appointed as its president.
Georges Janssen was appointed as a director of the NBB on 13 October 1937 and one week later became its vice-governor. On the death of Louis Franck, he was appointed governor of the bank on 13 January 1938. He was criticised for combining the positions of governor of the NBB and president of the Banking Commission, which made him resign in September 1938 from the Banking Commission.
In 1938 heavily speculative attacks were launched against the belgian franc, which he had to ward off in order to protect the Belgian currency. He succeeded in establishing the leadership of the National Bank in monetary matters. During his term as governor, arrangements were made to safeguard the Belgian gold reserves by transferring them abroad before the outbreak of World War II.
When the war broke out in May 1940, he followed the Belgian government to France but returned to Belgium, with the approval of Camille Gutt, after the Franco-German armistice in June 1940. Although he resumed his post as governor of the National Bank, he almost immediately came into conflict with the Nazis who occupied Belgium. The conflict centered on such matters as payment for the occupation costs, the circulation of banknotes and the Bank’s gold, which had been transferred to the United Kingdom. In addition, he also came into conflict on the situation of the Université Libre de Bruxelles. The mounting conflicts with the occupying forces and his deteriorating health would lead to his death on 9 June 1941.


Yamamoto Tatsuo

 was a Japanese politician and Governor of the Bank of Japan from 1898 to 1903. He was also a member of the House of Peers and served as a cabinet minister in the pre-war government of the Empire of Japan.
Early life.
Yamamoto was born in Usuki Ōita Prefecture. He was the younger son of a samurai family of Usuki Domain. After the Meiji Restoration, at 19 he moved to Osaka, and at 22 to Tokyo, where he studied at a school run by the Mitsubishi company.
Career.
Yamamoto's first employment was as a teacher at the Osaka University of Commerce. At 26, he was appointed its principal.
In 1883, Yamamoto turned towards commerce, and obtained a position at the Mitsubishi-affiliated shipping firm Nippon Yusen, in which he rapidly rose through the corporate ranks. In 1890, he joined the Bank of Japan (BOJ), and in 1895 was appointed the chairman of the Yokohama Specie Bank. In April 1896, in order to better acquaint himself with issues pertaining to the gold standard, he travelled to England, and while still in England the following year, was appointed to the board of directors of the Bank of Japan. In October 1898, at the strong request of Bank of Japan governor Iwasaki Yasunosuke, he was recalled to Japan to assume the role of governor of the Bank of Japan. He had been with the Bank of Japan for eight years and was 43 years old at the time.
Yamamoto served as BOJ Governor from October 20, 1898, to October 19, 1903. During his tenure, the Japanese economy experienced various crisis pertaining to foreign exchange issues and the gold and silver standards. However, his greatest concern was the increasing budget deficits incurred by the Japanese government. As head of the Bank of Japan, Yamamoto refused to yield to political pressure from the Japanese Diet, the Cabinet, and the "genrō" to alter his fiscal policies. When political pressure was applied to his subordinates, causing eleven senior managers to resign in protest, Yamamoto used the opportunity to fill the positions with his supporters. Yamamoto’s actions were critical in preserving the future independence of the Bank of Japan from politics. In 1903, the combined efforts of Itō Hirobumi and Yamagata Aritomo managed to dislodge Yamamoto from his position. He was then appointed as a member of the House of Peers, and in 1909 became the head of Nippon Kangyō Ginkō.
In 1911, Prime Minister Saionji Kinmochi decided that he needed an expert in the field of finance to reform the Finance Ministry during his second cabinet, and appointed Yamamoto to become Finance Minister. This was the first time that a businessman had been selected to head a cabinet post, and set a precedent for selecting business executives to head ministries focused on economics or finance. However, with a looming financial crisis in the aftermath of the Russo-Japanese War, Yamamoto strongly opposed the Imperial Japanese Army’s demands for additional funding to support an increase in the number of infantry divisions. This issue led directly to the collapse of the Saionji cabinet in 1912. Afterwards, Yamamoto joined the Rikken Seiyūkai political party.
After the start of the Taishō period, during the 1st Yamamoto Gonnohyōe administration, Yamamoto was picked to become Minister of Agriculture and Commerce. Yamamoto also picked another former Bank of Japan governor, Takahashi Korekiyo, to head the Finance Ministry, hoping for a through fiscal revamp of the Japanese government. However, his cabinet was soon brought down by the Siemens scandal. Yamamoto returned again as Minister of Agriculture and Commerce under the subsequent Hara and Takahashi administrations from 1918 to 1922.
In 1925, Yamamoto joined the new "Seiyūhontō" party, along with Hatoyama Ichirō; however, the party failed to gain popular support and soon merged with the "Kenseikai" to form the "Rikken Minseitō". However, as a former member of the rival "Seiyūkai", Yamamoto found himself excluded from the highest ranks of the party leadership, and passed over for any important positions until 1932, when he was appointed as Home Minister under the Saitō Makoto administration in the aftermath of the March 15 incident. As Home Minister, he presided over a more severe interpretation of the Peace Preservation Laws.
Yamamoto continued to serve in the House of Peers until is dissolution by the post-war Constitution of Japan, and died in 1947 at the age of 91. His grave is at Aoyama Cemetery in Tokyo.


OSCE Minsk Group

The OSCE Minsk Group was created in 1992 by the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE), (now Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE)) to encourage a peaceful, negotiated resolution to the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh.
Founding and members.
The Helsinki Additional Meeting of the CSCE Council on 24 March 1992, requested the Chairman-in-Office to convene as soon as possible a conference on Nagorno-Karabakh under the auspices of the CSCE to provide an ongoing forum for negotiations towards a peaceful settlement of the crisis on the basis of the principles, commitments and provisions of the CSCE. The Conference is to take place in Minsk. Although it has not to this date been possible to hold the conference, the so-called Minsk Group spearheads the OSCE effort to find a political solution to this conflict.
On 6 December 1994, the Budapest Summit of Heads of State or Government decided to establish a co-chairmanship for the process. The Summit participants also expressed their political will to deploy multinational peacekeeping forces as an essential part of the overall settlement of the conflict.
Implementing the Budapest decision, the Hungarian Chairman-in-Office Marton Krasznai issued on 23 March 1995, the mandate for the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Process.
The main objectives of the Minsk Process are as follows:
The Minsk Process can be considered to be successfully concluded if the objectives referred to above are fully met.
The Minsk Group is headed by a co-chairmanship consisting of France, Russia and the United States. Furthermore, the Minsk Group also includes the following participating states: Belarus, Finland, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Turkey as well as Armenia and Azerbaijan. On a rotating basis, the OSCE Troika is also a permanent member.
The co-chairmen of the Minsk Group are: Ambassador Stéphane Visconti of France, Ambassador Igor Popov of the Russian Federation, and Ambassador Andrew Schofer of the United States.
The Minsk Conference on Nagorno-Karabakh would be attended by the same participating States that are members of the Minsk Group. The Conference will be headed by the Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Conference.
Activities.
In early 2001 representatives of Armenia, Azerbaijan, France, Russia and the United States met in Paris and in Key West, Florida. The talks in Key West however were largely kept secret and were not followed upon.
On 7 October 2002 during the CIS summit in Chisinau, the usefulness of the Minsk Group in peace negotiations was brought up for discussion by both the Armenian and the Azerbaijani delegations. According to them the ten-year-long OSCE mediation had not been effective enough.
On , Serzh Sargsyan and Ilham Aliyev held a summit in Bern, Switzerland under the auspices of the Co-Chairs. The Presidents supported ongoing work to reduce the risk of violence and confirmed their readiness to continue engagement on a settlement.
The last summit between Ilham Aliyev and Serzh Sargsyan took part on October 16, 2017 organized by Minsk Group in Geneva, Switzerland. The presidents admitted to take appropriate actions in order to reinforce the negotiations process and decrease tensions on the Line of Contact.
Azerbaijani criticism of OSCE Minsk Group.
Azerbaijanis have long distrusted the OSCE's Minsk group, co-chaired by Russia, France, and the United States. All three countries have large Armenian diasporas, while Russia and Armenia are strategic allies, something Azerbaijan argues is grounds for them to consider it as favouring the Armenians in the conflict. Many Azerbaijanis accuse the Minsk Group of not being effective and fair in their work. Azerbaijani media have accused certain co-chairs (such as Vladimir Kazimirov of Russia and Jacques Faure of France) of "observing the decencies" only as incumbents and going on to become "Armenia's best friends" soon after retiring from their position as mediators.
In 2016, the Minsk Group was criticised for alleged inefficacy by president Ilham Aliyev. It was also criticized by former president of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev.
Possible candidates for co-chairmanship.
Some argue that the failure of the Minsk Group has caused the belligerent parties, especially Azerbaijan, to search for more effective mechanisms and new approaches. The replacement of certain co-chairs or the addition of new ones are the most commonly voiced ideas. As the present mediators would probably not withdraw or terminate the mediation efforts, since their national interests are at stake and they do not want another mediator to undertake initiation, the most feasible proposal is to include new co-chairs in the Minsk Group.
In 2015, Azay Guliyev, an Azerbaijani member of parliament, proposed inclusion of Turkey and Germany to the co-chairmanship institute.
However, according to Matthew Bryza, former U.S. Ambassador to Azerbaijan, the EU would make more sense because it would represent all of Europe and has experience mediating similar conflicts in the Balkans.
Azerbaijani foreign affairs expert Rusif Huseynov proposed Kazakhstan as an additional co-chair in the Minsk Group. According to him, Kazakhstan, which has turned into a big actor in the post-Soviet area, has titular population that is culturally similar to the Azerbaijanis, but is a member of several Kremlin-led organizations together with Armenia. Therefore, Kazakhstan could be equally close or distant to either warring side. Kazakhstan's previous experience in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict also makes it a good candidate for the mediation process.


Michelle Chan (diplomat)

Michelle Chan is an Australian diplomat who served as Ambassador to Myanmar from May 2008 until January 2011. Chan serves as National Security Adviser to Prime Minister Scott Morrison. In April 2020, Chan was promoted to deputy secretary in the Office of National Intelligence.
Chan earned a Bachelor of Arts (Jurisprudence) and Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide, and a Master of Arts and Master of Laws (International Law) from the Australian National University.


Howrah Police Commissionerate

Howrah Police Commissionerate (Bengali:হাওড়া পুলিশ কমিশনারেট) or Howrah City Police, established in 2011, is a city police force with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation in Howrah city and some of its adjacent areas in Howrah district. The Commissionerate is part of the West Bengal Police and is under the administrative control of Home Ministry of West Bengal. It was formed after the bifurcation of the Howrah Police District and has eighteen police stations under its jurisdiction as of now. Presently, Kunal Aggarwal, IPS is appointed as the Commissioner of the Howrah Police Commissionerate.


Privatization in Morocco

Privatizations in Morocco were initiated by the Moroccan government in the early 1990s, following a policy of privatization of certain economic sectors which used to be in the hands of the government. Privatizations started in earnest in 1993, and advanced at a steady pace, averaging one sale of a public company per month. Raising more than US $1 billion in revenue plus investment commitments of another US $260 million, by the end of that year. The number of partly or fully privatized companies in Morocco between 1993 and 2005 reached 66 earning overall MAD 75.5 billion. The various industries affected include airlines, telecommunications, large industrial projects, and tourism. In the agricultural sector, the government plans to sell off agricultural lands currently managed by state farms.


Jean-Louis Bourlanges

Jean-Louis Bourlanges (born 13 July 1946) is a French politician who has been serving as a member of the National Assembly since the 2017 elections. He is a graduate of the Paris Institute of Political Studies (better known as "Sciences Po"), where he is currently associate professor.
Bourlanges served as Member of the European Parliament from 1989 to 2007. He was elected on the Union for French Democracy ticket and sat with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group.
Political career.
Career in local politics.
Bourlanges was a member of Dieppe Municipal Council (1983–1989) and of Haute-Normandie Regional Council (1986–1998).
Member of the European Parliament, 1989–2007.
During his time as Member of the European Parliament, Bourlanges served on the Committee on Transport and Tourism (1989-1993), the Committee on Budgetary Control (1993-1999), the Committee on Budgets (1994-2002) and the Committee on International Trade (2005-2007), among others. From 2003 until 2004 he chaired the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.
Following the 2004 European elections, Bourlanges was instrumental in establishing the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group in the European Parliament. In 2007, he left his parliamentary seat two years before the next elections.
Ahead of the 2007 French presidential election, Bourlanges was a vocal critic of efforts made by the Socialist Party's candidate Ségolène Royal to seek his party's endorsement.
Later career.
Bourlanges was a regular contributor to the radio broadcast until 2017.
Return to politics.
Ahead of the 2017 presidential election, Bourlanges quit his role as radio commentator and publicly endorsed Emmanuel Macron.
In the 2017 elections for the National Assembly, Bourlanges was elected as the representative of Hauts-de-Seine's 12th constituency for the MoDem. In parliament, he has since been serving on the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on European Affairs. From 2017 until 2019, he was also a member of the Finance Committee. Since 2019, she has also been a member of the French delegation to the Franco-German Parliamentary Assembly.
In July 2019, Bourlanges voted in favor of the French ratification of the European Union’s Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) with Canada.