Reuben D. Jones

Reuben D. Jones is a retired United States Army major general. In his final assignment, he served as the deputy commanding general of operations for the Installation Management Command from June 3, 2011 to Dec. 3, 2012.
Previously, Major General Jones served as the Commanding General, Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command from July 30, 2009, until the command was deactivated on June 3, 2011. Major General Jones has also served as Adjutant General of the U.S. Army; Commanding General, U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency and Executive Director, Military Postal Service Agency in Alexandria, Virginia.
Early life and education.
Major General Jones was born in West Point, Mississippi, and in 1974 graduated from Provine High School in Jackson, Mississippi. He is a 1978 graduate of Jackson State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology. Major General Jones was commissioned through the Army ROTC program at Jackson State University. He also holds a Master of Strategic Studies Degree from the U.S. Army War College and a Master of Arts Degree in Administration from Central Michigan University. His military education includes the Adjutant General Basic Officer Course, the Adjutant General Officer Advanced Course, the Airborne School, the Military Personnel Officer Course, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Command and General Staff College, and the Army Senior Service College.
Military career.
Early in his career, Major General Jones was a Receiving Officer; Chief, Personnel Actions Branch and Commander, Reception Station at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. From November 1980 to February 1982, he served in Germany as the Equal Opportunity Officer, U.S. Army Military Community Activity, and as Chief, Administrative Support Division, 200th Theater Logistics Material Management Center, Zweibrücken, Germany. In June 1984, Major General Jones assumed duties as Instructor and Doctrinal Author, U.S. Army Soldier Support Center, Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana. From July 1987 to June 1991, while in Korea, he served as Chief, Force Structure, 8th Personnel Command; Commander, 199th Personnel Services Company, Camp Coiner; and Deputy G-1, 2d Infantry Division, Camp Casey. He returned to the United States in July 1992, and served as Chief, Analysis Section and then as Personnel Management Officer, U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, Virginia. Major General Jones joined the Office of the Army Chief of Staff as an Assistant to the Director Army Staff in July 1994 where he served until assuming command of the Military Entrance Processing Station, Baltimore, Maryland. In July 2000, he became Deputy Commander, 8th Personnel Command, Camp Coiner, Korea. Upon his return to the United States in August 2001, he became Director, Army Development System, Force XXI, at the U.S. Total Army Personnel Command, Alexandria, Virginia. In July 2002, he assumed command of the U.S. Army Enlisted Records and Evaluation Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. He returned to the Washington, D.C., area in August 2004, where he assumed duties as the Deputy Director, Military Personnel Policy, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1. Major General Jones assumed duties as the Executive Officer, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-1, in July 2005 to June 2006. Major General Jones then held the positions of The Adjutant General of the U.S. Army; Commanding General, U.S. Army Physical Disability Agency and Executive Director, Military Postal Service Agency, prior to assuming command of the Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command in July 2009.
He was promoted to the rank of major general on January 6, 2010.
In June, 2011, he became the deputy commanding general of operations for the Installation Management Command. and retired Dec. 3, 2012.
Decorations and badges.
Jones has been awarded the following:


Friends of Libya

The Friends of Libya group was an international collective established to support the Libyan National Transitional Council in their effort to overthrow the regime of Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. It was hosted by western nations and members of the Arab League, and known by a variety of other names including the Libya Contact Group and the International Contact Group for Libya.
Formation.
The Contact Group was set up following the London Conference on Libya in March 2011. The conference included United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki Moon, prominent delegates from the Arab League and from European countries, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, and representatives from NATO. Leaders of the Libyan National Transitional Council including Mahmoud Jibril were consulted prior to the conference but did not attend.
Contact Group.
Its first three meetings were in Doha, Rome and Abu Dhabi.
In its fourth meeting, held in Istanbul in July 2011 and attended by American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Contact Group announced its participants' agreement to deal with the Libyan National Transitional Council, the major coalition of anti-Gaddafi forces, as the "legitimate governing authority in Libya".
The fifth meeting was planned to take place in New York on September, but the events in Tripoli forced the members to meet again in Istanbul on extraordinary meeting on 25 August to set up road map for construction of "new Libya".
The group recognized the progress made by the Libyan people, NTC, and NATO forces, and underlined the importance of continued support from all entities in the formation of a free and democratic Libya.
Friends of Libya.
At the meeting on 1 September 2011 in Paris, the Contact Group was dissolved and replaced with a new international meeting group called the Friends of Libya.
A second Friends of Libya conference was held on September 20, 2011 in New York City.
Members.
Countries.
Belgium, Luxembourg, and Netherlands shared a rotating Benelux seat. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden had a similar arrangement, sharing a Nordic seat.
Observers.
Bulgaria was originally an observer, but it began sitting as a full member at the June meeting in Abu Dhabi and thereafter. South Africa boycotted the September meeting in Paris.
International organisations.
Observers.
Arab League, Gulf Cooperation Council and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation were originally observers, but they began sitting as a full members probably from 29 of July.
Last meeting in Paris.
President of France Nicolas Sarkozy invited several new countries and one international organisation on the last meeting of Libya Contact Group:
Nigeria and Saudi Arabia reportedly did attend.


Emperor Qinzong

Emperor Qinzong of Song (23 May 1100 – 14 June 1161), personal name Zhao Huan, was the ninth emperor of the Song dynasty in China and the last emperor of the Northern Song dynasty.
Emperor Qinzong was the eldest son and heir apparent of Emperor Huizong. His mother was Emperor Huizong's empress consort, Empress Wang. In 1126, when the forces of the Jurchen-led Jin Empire invaded the Song Empire beginning the first siege of Bianjing. Frightened, Emperor Huizong intended to flee but was convinced by his officials to abdicate first and then flee. Huizong then abdicated and passed on his throne to Emperor Qinzong, and then assumed the title "Taishang Huang" ("Retired Emperor") himself and fled to the countryside.
Reign.
Left to deal with the Jin invasion by himself, Emperor Qinzong appointed the general Li Gang () to lead the Song military to fend off the invaders. However, Emperor Qinzong was not a decisive leader and often made poor judgments. Eventually, he removed Li Gang from his appointment in the hope of starting peace talks with the Jin Empire and sent his younger brother Zhao Gou to negotiate but he was captured and ransomed. This may contribute to Emperor Gaozong's decision to not rescue Qinzong. The first siege of Bianjing ended after Qinzong gave a city to the Jurchens and paid them annual tribute. Emperor Huizong returned after hearing that the siege was over.
Causes of the Second Siege of Bianjing.
Despite this, almost as soon as the Jin armies had left Kaifeng, Emperor Qinzong reneged on the deal and dispatched two armies to repel the Jurchen troops attacking Taiyuan and bolster the defenses of Zhongshan and Hejian. An army of 90,000 soldiers and another of 60,000 were defeated by Jin forces by June. A second expedition to rescue Taiyuan was also unsuccessful. Emperor Qinzong rejected an proposal to reinforce the northern borders reasoning that they may never come back and sent his generals to other parts of the country. The Jin imperial court sent two ambassadors to Song. The two ambassadors were nobles from the former Liao dynasty. Emperor Qinzong misjudged the situation and believed that they could be used to turn against the Jin ruler, Emperor Taizong. Emperor Qinzong sent a coded letter which was sealed in candle wax, inviting them to join Song to form an Anti–Jin alliance but the ambassadors handed the letter to Emperor Taizong and in retaliation, accused Emperor Qinzong for violating the peace treaty and sent an even bigger army against the Song.
Capture.
Since Qinzong mistakenly removed the army to post in different parts of the country, the Jin forces eventually breached the walls of the Song capital, Bianjing, in 1127 and occupied the city in an event historically known as the Jingkang Incident ("Jingkang" was the era name of Emperor Qinzong.) Emperor Qinzong, along with his father Emperor Huizong and the rest of their family, were taken prisoner by Jin forces, marking the end of the Northern Song. Qinzong's brother Zhao Gou managed to escape to southern China, where he reestablished the empire as the Southern Song dynasty and became historically known as Emperor Gaozong.
Life in the Jin Dynasty.
Emperor Qinzong and his father were demoted to the status of commoners on 20 March 1127 and deported to Huining Prefecture, the Jin capital, on 13 May 1127. In 1128, the two former Song emperors were forced to wear mourning dresses and pay homage to the ancestors of the Jin Emperors at their ancestral temple in Huining Prefecture. Furthermore, the Jurchen ruler, Emperor Taizong, gave the two former Song emperors contemptuous titles to humiliate them: Emperor Qinzong was called "Marquis Chonghun" (重昏侯; literally "Doubly Muddle-headed Marquis") while Emperor Huizong was called "Duke Hunde" (昏德公; literally "Muddle-headed Duke").
In 1141, as the Jin Empire normalised relations with the (Southern) Song Empire, the Jurchens renamed Emperor Qinzong's title to the more neutral-sounding "Duke of Tianshui Commandery" (), which is based on a commandery located in the upper reaches of the Wei River. A few months later, the former emperor started receiving a stipend due to his nobility status. He lived the rest of his life as a captive in the Jin Empire, which used him as a hostage to put pressure on the Song Empire.
In 1142, Emperor Gaozong signed the Treaty of Shaoxing which made peace with the Jin Dynasty. This destroyed Qinzong's chance of returning.
In 1156, in an act of humiliation, the Jin Emperor who at the time was the Prince of Hailing ordered him and the former Emperor Tianzuo of Liao to compete in a match of polo. Emperor Qinzong was weak and frail, thus quickly fell off the horse. Emperor Tianzuo himself despite being very old, was more familiar to horse riding, tried to escape but was shot to death by Jurchen archers.
Emperor Qinzong died as a sick and broken man in 1161 having spent two-thirds of his life in the Jin Dynasty. He was 61. His temple name means "Venerate Ancestor".
Family.
Consorts and Issue:


Richard Levett

Sir Richard Levett (also spelled Richard Levet) (died 1711), Sheriff, Alderman and Lord Mayor of London, was one of the first directors of the Bank of England, an adventurer with the London East India Company and the proprietor of the trading firm Sir Richard Levett & Company. He had homes at Kew and in London's Cripplegate, close by the Haberdashers Hall. A pioneering British merchant and politician, he counted among his friends and acquaintances Samuel Pepys, Robert Blackborne, John Houblon, physician to the Royal Family and son-in-law Sir Edward Hulse, Lord Mayor Sir William Gore, his brother-in-law Chief Justice Sir John Holt, Robert Hooke, Sir Owen Buckingham, Sir Charles Eyre and others.
Early life and career beginnings.
Although born into a once-powerful Sussex Anglo-Norman family (its surname derives from the village of Livet in Normandy), the future Lord Mayor grew up in straitened circumstances after the family lost much of its medieval wealth. Levett's father was an intruding minister and he was ejected in 1660 after the Restoration when the legitimate incumbent returned to the living. Although born with connections, Richard Levett and his brother Francis were thrown onto their own resources, and were as much pioneers in business as they were in society.
Despite their impressive Norman lineage, the Levett brothers were strictly middle-class. They represented an emerging England, an England of meritocracy and hard work that trumped the old aristocratic England. (Perhaps it was not an accident that their father, Rev. Richard Levett, had Puritan sympathies.) The enterprising brothers demonstrated that through hard work and pluck, ordinary Englishmen could move into the upper-middle classes. The Levett brothers were abetted in their rise by profound changes in the evolving English economy, with trade opening and feudal privileges diminishing in favour of a growing mercantile middle class. Although Levett was a nominal Tory, he was a free market capitalist by practice.
Levett and his brother Francis began as small haberdashers, trading everything from tobacco to textiles. The sons of a country parson in Rutland, the two Levett brothers imported goods into England, which they then sold to chapmen at fairs across the country, including those at Lenton, Gainsborough, Boston, Beverley and elsewhere. As the British Empire began to expand, bolstered by increasing military might, aggressive merchants like the Levetts leapfrogged other foreign and domestic competitors. From their small operation grew a behemoth, with the Levett brothers using their own ships to import everything from tobacco to linens.
Eventually, their empire became among the largest factors of its day in England, with an immense working capital estimated between £30,000 and £40,000 in 1705, buying tobacco and other goods around the world for import into the English market. The firm they set up came to embrace trade with the Levant (principally Turkey and Syria), India, Africa, the West Indies, North America, Ireland and even Russia. Contemporaneous records show Levett often immersed in the details of arranging shipping terms and trading voyages to places as disparate as French Guinea, Virginia, Maryland and elsewhere.
In 1705, for instance, Levett sent a letter to the Board of Trade and Plantations to complain about interference with his ships. "The Governors of Virginia and Maryland", Levett complained to the Board, "had refused to permit two ships of theirs to saile from those colonies with their ladings... And it being alleged in the petition that the masters of those two ships (who came away in ballast) were obliged to give security to touch at the Maderas in their way home." The Board directed its agent to "write to the said masters at Bristol for further information in that matter."
The building of a business empire.
By the early eighteenth century, the firm of Sir Richard Levett and Company had become one of England's largest, dominating especially the enormous tobacco trade with the Virginia Colony, as well as the tobacco coming from Turkey. Detailed records of tobacco transactions at the time between Levett and Virginia planters reveal that the London merchant drove a hard bargain.
Levett eventually was named a merchant adventurer of the London East India Company, one of the first directors of the new Bank of England, and even, on 17 February 1698, a member of the New England Company. With his deep interests in shipping, Levett was also one of the earliest investors in what became Lloyd's of London, the insurance firm. He was knighted at Kensington in 1691.
In the close-knit world of London traders at the dawn of the eighteenth century, Levett often found himself acting in conjunction with, or competing against, most of the other large traders known to him. At a meeting of the Governors and adventurers of the London East India Company held on 30 April 1701, for instance, Levett found himself in the company of his fellow London traders and ranking India servants "Gov. T. Cooke, Deputy Sir Samuel Dashwood, Sir Thomas Rawlinson, Sir Jonathan Andrews, Sir John Fleet, Sir William Gore, Sir Henry Johnson, Sir William Langhorne, Sir William Prichard and Mr. Vansittart."
In the year of 1695, Levett's increasingly powerful firm accounted for 3,894,864 pounds of tobacco imported into England. Of that, the firm subsequently re-exported some 1.3 million pounds to Holland, Germany and the Baltic. Acting as middlemen in an increasingly vertically integrated corporation, which was coming to resemble a modern trading company, Levett and his partners began raking in enormous profits, partly due to their access to large amounts of capital, as well as their access to a proprietary shipping fleet.
As their trading grew, Richard Levett became a prominent fixture on the London scene. He was elected Master of the Haberdashers' Company (1690 and 1691), Sheriff of the City of London for 1691, an Alderman, and eventually, in 1699, Lord Mayor of London. As Master of the Haberdashers' Company, Levett played a key role in building fellow Master of the Haberdashers' Company Sir Robert Aske's Hospital, with Levett's friend Robert Hooke serving as architect.
From his home in Cripplegate, formerly the home of Sir Thomas Bloodworth, a previous Lord Mayor, Levett conducted his trading empire and the mayoral business. Levett's home, formerly that of the controversial Bloodworth, who served as Lord Mayor at the time of the Great Fire of London, was a large mansion on the old Noble Street near Lily Pot Lane. (The home was later occupied by printer Charles Rivington.)
Home and family life.
Also available for Levett's use were two country homes at Kew, including the Dutch House (now Kew Palace), as well as the large estate surrounding them. (After Levett's death, his daughter Mary Thoroton leased the Dutch House to Queen Caroline, wife of King George II, for use as a children's nursery, likely accounting for the decision of Frederick, Prince of Wales, to settle at Kew with his wife, Augusta, Princess of Wales. Both Levett homes as well as the estates surrounding them were sold to the Royal family in 1781 by Sir Richard's grandson Levett Blackborne, Esq., a prominent Lincoln's Inn barrister).
Sir Richard Levett was married to Mary Crispe, likely the daughter of merchant adventurer Sir Nicholas Crispe of Fulham, London. The couple were prominent in London during the years following the Restoration. Levett was mentioned by Samuel Pepys in his diaries; he was frequently mentioned in contemporary accounts of weddings and soirées of the age, and became a philanthropist, donating to charities like St. Thomas' Hospital in Southwark, and church charities in the West Country and Ireland.
Sir Richard Levett's wife, in particular, was a generous donor to religious causes. Edmund Calamy, the English Nonconformist churchman, refers to "Lady Levett" in his memoirs as his great "friend", and Mrs. Levett was noted in other accounts as a generous donor to religious and educational causes. Minister Calamy even dedicated a sermon to Lady Levett.
Samuel Pepys, the diarist and Secretary of the Admiralty (and friend of Robert Blackborne, who held the same job), apparently socialised with Richard Levett. "After staying here a great while at Westminster", Pepys noted in his diary of 14 March 1668, "we (went) back to London, and there to Philips's, and his man directed us to Mr. Levett's, who could not come, and he sent us to two more, and they could not; so that, at last, Levett as a great kindness did resolve he would leave his business and come himself, which set me in great ease in my mind."
Levett also figures prominently in the recently published diaries of politician Roger Whitley, Member of Parliament from Wales and then from Chester. Whitley was a prominent figure in Chester and a major Whig politician. Whitley's massive diaries reveal frequent meetings between the two men.
Death and legacy.
Sir Richard Levett died in 1711. He and his wife and several of their daughters are buried in the churchyard at Kew, where there are memorials to them in the church as well as to the Blackborne family with whom they intermarried. The inscription carved into a mural slab set in the tower of Saint Anne's Church, Kew, reads: "Within this vault lie the remains of Sir Richard Levett, Knight, of Kew. Also of Lady Mary Levett, his wife, who died October 15th, 1722."
Sir Richard Levett's son Richard, also an Alderman (1722) and Sheriff of London, inherited his father's interests, but apparently mismanaged them, filing for bankruptcy in 1730. Consequently, many heirlooms of the Levett family of Sussex passed to the family of the Lord Mayor's daughter and her husband, the Hulse family of Hampshire, and are today at Breamore House, the Hulse family seat. (Alderman Levett, son of the Lord Mayor, died and was buried in Temple Church in 1740).
The third brother of Richard and Francis Levett was Rev. Dr. William Levett, principal of Magdalen Hall, Oxford, and Dean of Bristol. The brothers' uncle, brother of their father Rev. Richard Levett of Rutland, was courtier William Levett Esq., who accompanied King Charles I during his flight from Cromwellian forces, and thence to his imprisonment at Carisbrooke Castle and to his eventual execution.
Some twelve years following Sir Richard's death, his wife Mary, by then living at Bath, changed her will to exclude two paintings she had previously bequeathed to a friend at Bath upon discovering that the portraits of King Charles I and his Queen were painted by the artist Anthony van Dyck. Given the discovery, Dame Mary Levett made a codicil to her will directing that the valuable paintings be sold with the proceeds going to her granddaughters. Presumably the Levett family had inherited the paintings from the Lord Mayor's uncle, groom of the bedchamber to the late King.
External links.
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Polton (record label)

Polton is a music record label, established in Poland in 1983. It was one of the three (together with Savitor and Arston) better known Polonia-assisted Polish record labels.
In 1990-1991 it was overtaken by Starstream Communications Group and eventually by Warner Music Group (Polton / Warner Music Poland), the latter eventually closed its office in Poland.


Commissioner of Internal Revenue

The Commissioner of Internal Revenue is the head of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), an agency within the United States Department of the Treasury.
The office of Commissioner was created by Congress by the Revenue Act of 1862. Section 7803 of the Internal Revenue Code provides for the appointment of a Commissioner of Internal Revenue to administer and supervise the execution and application of the internal revenue laws. The Commissioner is appointed by the President, with the consent of the Senate, for a five-year term.
The current commissioner is Charles P. Rettig.
Responsibilities.
The Commissioner's duties include administering, managing, conducting, directing, and supervising "the execution and application of the internal revenue laws or related statutes and tax conventions to which the United States is a party" and advising the President on the appointment and removal of a Chief Counsel of the IRS. Treasury Order 150-10 states in relevant part: "The Commissioner of Internal Revenue shall be responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Internal Revenue laws." The Commissioner reports to the Secretary of the Treasury through the Deputy Secretary of the Treasury.
One of the Commissioner's most important responsibilities with respect to the internal revenue laws involves prescribing Treasury Regulations administered by the IRS. The U.S. Treasury Regulations provide (in part):
However, the General Counsel of the Department of the Treasury has "the authority to approve all regulations pertaining to the internal revenue laws, including the authority to ratify and approve, where necessary, any such regulations previously issued."
By law, the Commissioner is also part of the "federal law enforcement community."
Current and past commissioners.
The following lists Commissioners of Internal Revenue, in chronological order:


United States v. Hatter

United States v. Hatter, 532 U.S. 557 (2001), was a United States Supreme Court case decided in 2001. The case concerned an alleged violation of the Compensation Clause of the United States Constitution when Congress extended Medicare and Social Security taxes to federal judge salaries. Additionally, the case dealt with whether a later increase of federal judge salaries, greater than the new taxes, remedied the potential violation.
Background.
The Compensation Clause to the United States Constitution was written to help protect federal judges from external political pressures. There was a concern in the early United States that without such independence, the judiciary could become "dependent on" the other branches, which could skew their rulings. The question in "Hatter" involved this principle and other taxes Congress applied to the judiciary.
Congress extended Medicare to federal employees in 1982, including the taxes that were carried with it. Additionally, Congress required federal judges to pay into Social Security. A group of judges filed suit against both taxes, alleging a violation of the Compensation Clause of the Constitution. The Court of Federal Claims found that the judges' Medicare claims were "time barred" and that a later salary increase "cured" the Social Security tax increase violation. The group of judges appealed to the Supreme Court, who agreed to review the decision.
Opinion of the Court.
Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion for the Court, joined by Chief Justice Rehnquist and Justices Kennedy, Souter, and Ginsburg.
The opinion argued that the Social Security tax application was problematic as it "singled out then-sitting federal judges for unfavorable treatment". The determination that the Social Security tax was unconstitutional became the first instance in which the Court invalidated legislation as a discriminatory reduction of compensation. However, the Medicare tax was proper as it was not "discriminatory". The fact that one of the taxes was just a tax of "general application" meant that it could also apply to judges.
The rule that came out of these decisions was that any "direct" reduction of judicial salaries is unconstitutional "whether or not the reduction is targeted at judges". The chances however that Congress would impose a "discriminatory" tax just on judges in the future are small, and thus the effect of this decision may not be that broad. The Court refused to hear cases after "Hatter" which dealt with cost-of-living salary changes.
Justices Stevens and O'Connor recused themselves from participation in the case.
Concurring/Dissenting opinions.
Scalia's dissent.
Justice Scalia wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. He agreed with the majority that the Social Security tax was unconstitutional but went farther and said the Medicare tax was "also unconstitutional". He noted the unique nature of compensation rules in relation to the judiciary, which unlike other federal employees except the President, cannot be diminished during their time of service.
Thomas' dissent.
Justice Thomas too wrote an opinion concurring in part and dissenting in part. In a two sentence statement, he simply said he would "affirm the judgment of the Court of Appeals in its entirety". His basis was an older case, "Evans v. Gore", 253 U.S. 245 (1920). "Evans" dealt with the application of federal income tax laws to the executive and judiciary. However, the Supreme Court functionally overruled "Evans" on the 'net reduction' standard.


George Edward Anson

George Edward Anson (1812 – 1849) was a courtier and British politician from the Anson family.
Anson was the son of the Very Reverend Frederick Anson (1779–1867), Dean of Chester, son of George Anson and the Honourable Mary Vernon, daughter of George Venables-Vernon, 1st Baron Vernon. Frederick Anson was his brother. He served as Keeper of Her Majesty's Privy Purse, Treasurer of the Household to HRH Prince Albert, Treasurer and Cofferer of the Household of HRH the Prince of Wales, a member of the Council of the Duchy of Lancaster and of the Prince of Wales's Council for the Duchy of Cornwall.
Anson served as private secretary to Prince Albert, and was frequently employed on diplomatic missions for the Prince. He was married to the Honourable Georgiana Mary Harbord, who was a Woman of the Bedchamber to the Queen and sister of Edward, Third Lord Suffield. Anson died at age 37 in Barton-under-Needwood, Staffordshire. He was the son of the Rev. Frederick Anson, Dean of Chester, born at Shugborough Hall, and his wife Anne, only daughter of Rev. Richard Levett and Louisa Frances (Bagot) of Milford Hall.


Zimpapers

Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited, operating as Zimpapers, is a state-controlled Zimbabwean mass media company. Originally a newspaper Publishing company, in the 2010s it expanded its operations to include commercial printing, radio and television. The company's portfolio includes over a dozen Magazines and newspapers, including "The Herald" and "The Chronicle", several radio stations, and a television network. It is the largest newspaper publisher in Zimbabwe.
Zimpapers traces its origins to 1891, when William Fairbridge established the "Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times" on behalf of the South African Argus Printing and Publishing Company. Argus spun its Southern Rhodesia newspapers into the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company and went public on 8 March 1927, making Zimpapers one of the oldest listings on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange. The company was renamed upon Rhodesia's independence as Zimbabwe in 1980, and the Zimbabwean government acquired majority ownership in the company. The government established the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) to oversee the country's newspapers under an independent board. The ZMMT was disbanded in 2000, and the company's newspapers are now largely seen as Government mouthpieces.
Overview.
Zimpapers publishes over a dozen Newspapers and Magazines, including the two leading Daily newspapers in Zimbabwe, "The Herald" in Harare and "The Chronicle" in Bulawayo. Other publications include the Manicaland regional newspaper, "The Manica Post", two Sunday supplements, "The Sunday Mail" and "The Sunday News", and two newspapers in Zimbabwe's main indigenous languages, the Shona-language "Kwayedza" and the Ndebele-language "uMthunywa". In addition to its newspapers, Zimpapers also publishes two magazines, "Bridal Magazine", which focuses on Weddings, and "Zimtravel", which covers tourism. "The Southern Times", a regional newspaper in Southern Africa, is published as a joint venture between Zimpapers and New Era Newspapers of Namibia. Zimpapers is headquartered at Herald House in Harare and maintains offices in Harare, Bulawayo, Mutare, and Gweru, with bureaux located across Zimbabwe. Zimpapers publications are printed in Harare and Bulawayo.
History.
Origins and Rhodesia years, 1891–1980.
Zimpapers traces its origins to 1891, when William Fairbridge, the Rhodesia representative of South Africa's Argus Printing and Publishing Company, established the "Mashonaland Herald and Zambesian Times" in Salisbury (now Harare). The "Mashonaland Herald" was succeeded by "The Rhodesia Herald" in 1892. The "British South Africa Company Government Gazette" was published between 1894 and 1923, initially as a supplement to "The Herald". In 1893, the company established "The Umtali Post" in Umtali (now Mutare), followed in 1894 by "The Bulawayo Chronicle" in Bulawayo. In 1927, Argus spun off its Southern Rhodesia newspapers into a new company, the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company Limited. The company went public on the Rhodesia Stock Exchange on 8 March 1927. Argus gave up a majority of shares, but still held a controlling shareholding.
In the 1930s Sunday editions of "The Herald" and "The Chronicle"—"The Sunday Mail" and "The Sunday News", respectively—were added through the inexpensive purchase of two existing weeklies bankrupted by the Great Depression. During these years, "The Umtali Post" was sold and later repurchased by Argus. During the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland period, Argus began publishing "The Northern News" in Ndola, Northern Rhodesia, but stopped after Zambia gained independence in 1964. The company's efforts to establish two other daily papers in Salisbury, the "Evening Standard" and "The National Observer", also ended unsuccessfully in the early 1960s. Initially largely staffed by South Africans and Britons from the 1930s, senior positions in the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company began to be filled by native-born white Rhodesians in the 1960s. Only in the 1970s did the company see its first Rhodesian-born editors, and later its first Rhodesian-born managing director. Only in the 1970s did the company also begin hiring blacks for entry-level technical and journalist positions.
Zimpapers, 1980–present.
When Zimbabwe gained independence in 1980, the Rhodesian Printing and Publishing Company was renamed Zimbabwe Newspapers (1980) Limited. In 1981, the Zimbabwean government, concerned about the foreign ownership of the country's newspapers, purchased a controlling 43-percent shareholding in the company from the Argus Group, using a grant from Nigerian government. The trust continued buying smaller amounts of shares and eventually acquired a 51-percent majority shareholding in 1986. In January 1981, the government established the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) to manage the Nigerian grant and to oversee Zimpapers through an independent board, to shield it from commercial and political influence. That year, information minister Nathan Shamuyarira told a meeting of the Zimbabwe Union of Journalists, "We created the MMT so that the media would be in neutral hands and not business tycoons or the government—that would quash the free voice of journalists. The ZMMT appointed a new board of directors as well as new editors for the company's three biggest papers, "The Herald", "The Chronicle", and "The Sunday Mail". After the acquisition, Argus offered guaranteed jobs in South Africa to former Zimpapers staff, leading to an exodus of whites from the company. The staff shortages that followed were addressed by the implementation of large-scale training and hiring programs. In addition, many vacant posts were filled by returning black Zimbabwean journalists and printers, particularly from Zambia, as well as by a small number of anti-apartheid South Africans, who arrived in the years after independence.
In 1984, Zimpapers took out a loan and purchased new color lithographic Printing presses, allowing the company's newspapers to publish in color. This was followed by the transition to phototypesetting in the late 1980s, and later to a digital production process in the 1990s. In 1986, the company launched its first indigenous-language newspaper, "Kwayedza", published in Shona. An Ndebele-language paper, "uMthunywa", followed in 2004. Zimpapers set up websites for its publications in the early 2000s. In 2004, the company partnered with Namibia-based New Era Newspapers to launch "The Southern Times", a Southern African regional weekly circulating in Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In 2009–10, Zimpapers diversified its publication portfolio with the introduction of tabloid newspapers "H-Metro" and "B-Metro" in Harare and Bulawayo, respectively. The company purchased a full-color third generation lithographic press in 2013. Business Weekly, a business newspaper launched in 2017, is the latest addition to the Zimpapers portfolio.
After the Zimbabwean government opened the radio and television markets to private actors, Zimpapers applied for one of the first commercial radio licenses. In 2012, it launched the Harare-based Star FM. It has since launched other radio stations in Harare, Mutare, and Kariba. In 2014, Zimpapers reentered the television market with the launch of Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN), having previously been one of the leading early shareholders in Rhodesia Television before it was nationalized during Rhodesia's UDI years.
Post-independence government control.
When the Zimbabwean government created the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust (ZMMT) to oversee the Zimpapers newspapers, there were initially safeguards to guard against interference by the state and the ruling ZANU–PF party. For instance, the trust's constitution stipulated that civil servants, members of Parliament, and uniformed services personnel could not serve as trustees. However, the trustees were appointed by the government, and in the 1980s, information minister Nathan Shamuyarira chose appointees who lacked a personal power base and were dependent on him for their political fortunes. In addition, Shamuyarira's picks excluded trade unionists, human rights activists, ZAPU supporters, and others who might challenge the government's agenda. Davison Sadza, a ZANU–PF member, was appointed ZMMT chairman, and Zimpapers came under the oversight of the Ministry of Information. By the mid-1980s, the ZMMT was heavily dependent on government funding and administrative support for its operation. The ZMMT, which was meant to be independent and nonpartisan, made a substantial financial contribution to ZANU–PF's campaign for the 1990 general election.
Beginning in the early 1980s, the Zimbabwean government began appointing loyalists to top posts within Zimpapers, who the company's former chief executive, a ZANU–PF supporter, referred to as "ZANU's hatchet men". The party and government directly interfered with the selection of newspaper editors starting in February 1981. Between 1985 and 1989, three Zimpapers editors were dismissed on ZANU–PF orders for political offenses, without objection by the ZMMT. Journalists were routinely subjected to warnings, reprimand, and other forms of intimidation. When Willie Musarurwa was removed as editor of "The Sunday Mail" in 1983, Minister Shamuyarira said that Prime Minister Robert Mugabe wanted to replace him with a "true and trusted cadre". In 1989, Geoffrey Nyarota, the editor of "The Chronicle" in Bulawayo, was moved to an insignificant administrative post in Harare after he exposed government corruption in the Willowgate scandal. Zimpapers managing director Elias Rusike, who was appointed by Shamuyarira in 1984, resigned in 1989 in protest of increasing political interference in the company's operations. By the 1990s, "The Herald" and "The Sunday Mail" consistently supported President Mugabe, though they would occasionally criticize his cabinet ministers.
On 14 December 2000, the board of the Zimbabwe Mass Media Trust was disbanded, allowing the Zimbabwean government to exercise a more direct role in Zimpapers operations. The decision to dissolve the board occurred after a reported meeting between its chairman, Honour Mkushi, and information minister Jonathan Moyo. The trust still technically owned Zimpapers, but without a board of trustees, it was effectively nonexistent. In November 2019, the government announced plans to revive the ZMMT. President Emmerson Mnangagwa appointed a six-member board, with Mkushi as chair, with effect from 10 February 2020.
Radio and television.
In 2011, Zimpapers expanded its portfolio beyond newspaper publications with the launch of the Harare-based Star FM, Zimbabwe's first commercial radio station. It later launched several other regional radio stations, including Diamond FM in Mutare, Nyaminyami FM in Kariba, and Capitalk 100.4 FM in Harare. In 2014, the company entered television with the launch of Zimpapers Television Network (ZTN).


Seyyed Ali Shafiei

Seyyed Ali Shafiei () (born 1940 in Dezful, resident in Ahwaz) is an Iranian Twelver Shia scholar, who is a member of Assembly of Experts from Khuzestan province. He is a/the son of Seyyed Mohammad Reza (Shafiei) who was from the known Islamic scholars of Khuzestan. Seyyed Ali Shafiei commenced his educations from Maktabkhaneh (Kuttab), and began to peruse Quran and Islamic issues. Afterwards, he entered a new school. Later on, he went to educate Hawzah lessons in the city of Ahwaz. Then, Seyyed-Ali departed to the Seminary of Najaf, in Iraq. After Najaf, he came back to Ahwaz; and was appointed as a/the Imam of Jama'ah in Ahwaz, and commenced to promote Islamic rulings.
Seyyed Ali who has reached to the (Islamic) scientific degree of Ijtihad, used to teach Islamic-science and ... for the members of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRCG) and other organizations; and was also active in combating against the regime of the Shah. This Shia ayatollah, was appointed by the first/former supreme leader of Iran, Seyyed Ruhollah Khomeini in a 17-member-mission to settle the affairs of Ahwaz, after the Islamic revolution of Iran. Since many years ago, he is the "Imam of Jama'ah" at the mosque of Shafiei in the center of Ahwaz which is considered among the oldest mosques of the city. Shafaei has compiled several works, such as:
Etc.
Teachers.
Seyyed Ali Shafiei who was/is active in the fields of research, teaching, authorship, lecturing and Tafsir (interpretation) of the Qur'an, applied several known teachers and scholars during his studies period; amongst of them are:
Etc.


United States v. Carolene Products Co.

United States v. Carolene Products Company, 304 U.S. 144 (1938), was a case of the United States Supreme Court that upheld the federal government's power to prohibit filled milk from being shipped in interstate commerce. In his majority opinion for the Court, Associate Justice Harlan F. Stone wrote that economic regulations were "presumptively constitutional" under a deferential standard of review known as the "rational basis test".
The case is most notable for "Footnote Four", wherein Stone wrote that the Court would exercise a stricter standard of review when a law appears on its face to violate a provision of the United States Constitution, restricts the political process in a way that could impede the repeal of an undesirable law, or discriminates against "discrete and insular" minorities. Footnote Four would influence later Supreme Court decisions, and the higher standard of review is now known as "strict scrutiny".
Background.
The case dealt with a federal law that prohibited filled milk (skimmed milk compounded with any fat or oil other than milk fat to resemble milk or cream) from being shipped in interstate commerce. The defendant, a company that traded in a form of filled milk consisting of condensed skim milk and coconut oil, argued that the law was unconstitutional because of both the Commerce Clause and the Due Process Clause.
The previous term, the Court had dramatically enlarged the activities that were considered to be in or to affect interstate commerce. It had also altered its settled jurisprudence in the area of substantive due process, the doctrine dealing with rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution. The changes meant that many New Deal programs that the Court would previously have struck down as unconstitutional would now be found constitutional.
The defendant company, charged with breaking the law, at trial filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds that the law was unconstitutional. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Illinois granted the defendant's motion, and the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the District Court's ruling.
Decision.
Justice Harlan Stone, writing for the Court, held that the law was "presumptively constitutional" properly within legislative discretion. It was not for the courts to overrule because it was supported by substantial public-health evidence and was not arbitrary or irrational. In other words, the Court applied a "rational basis" test.
Footnote Four.
"Carolene Products" is best known for its fourth footnote, considered to be "the most famous footnote in constitutional law." Although the Court had applied minimal scrutiny (rational basis review) to the economic regulation in this case, Footnote Four reserved for other types of cases other, stricter standards of review.
Stone said that legislation aimed at "discrete and insular minorities" without the normal protections of the political process would be one exception to the presumption of constitutionality and justify a heightened standard of judicial review. The idea has greatly influenced jurisprudence on the Equal Protection Clause jurisprudence and judicial review. It recapitulated common law jurisprudence by which evidence of fraud or other significant legal defects in the transaction, such as self-dealing or other impropriety, may justify overturning a rule.
The constitutional law scholar John Hart Ely based his major work, "Democracy and Distrust," on Footnote Four's second and third paragraphs, which correspond to the "Democracy" and "Distrust" of his title.
Significance.
In keeping with the New Deal Revolution, "Carolene Products" applies the "rational basis test" to economic legislation. An extremely low standard of judicial review, there is a presumption that the legislation in question is constitutional and the challenging party must show that the law fails the test. Most legislation enacted by Congress or state legislatures that deals with economic regulation falls under rational basis review and, therefore, must only be rationally related to a legitimate state interest. However, "Carolene Products" is most famous for Footnote Four.
Footnote Four describes certain legislative acts that might give rise to a higher level of scrutiny. If a law:
This higher level of scrutiny, now called "strict scrutiny", was applied to strike down an inmate forced sterilization law in "Skinner v. Oklahoma" (1942) and in Justice Black's infamous opinion in "Korematsu v. U.S." (1944) in which Japanese internment was upheld despite being subject to heightened scrutiny. Under strict scrutiny, a law will be struck down unless it serves a compelling governmental interest and is necessary to achieve that end, which means that less restrictive alternatives to the law must be considered by the government even if there is a compelling interest. Therefore, the law must be narrowly tailored to serve the governmental interest and employ the least restrictive alternative.
Intermediate scrutiny, which is often applied in gender discrimination cases, did not arise until decades later. When applied, the law must serve an important governmental interest and be substantially related to that end.
Some argue that the "most famous footnote" was in fact written by not Stone but his law clerk, Louis Lusky. In fact, the cited work above, while quite useful on the origin and growth of the footnote, does not claim that the law clerk was the author, and it implies the opposite, based on letters between the justices. In his later work, "Our Nine Tribunes: The Supreme Court in Modern America", however, Lusky includes facsimiles of the original drafts of the footnote, the first of which is in his own hand. Stone edited the second, typed draft, and at the behest of the Chief Justice, he added certain passages.


Alexander Solovyov (politician)

Aleksandr Vasilyevich Solovyov (Udmurt and ; born June 18, 1950) is a Russian politician who was the head of Udmurtia (2014–2017).


I. G. Patel

Indraprasad Gordhanbhai Patel (11 November 1924 – 17 July 2005) popularly known as I. G. Patel, was an Indian economist and a career civil servant who served as the fourteenth Governor of the Reserve Bank of India from 1 December 1977 to 15 September 1982.
He served as Director of the London School of Economics, making him the first person of Indian origin to head a higher education institute in the United Kingdom. He also served as Chairperson of the Board of Governors from 1996 to 2001 at Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. He also well known for his formidable intellectual powers in the select company of central bankers and economic statesmen such as the "Committee of the Thirty" set up by the former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
He also served as Deputy Administrator at United Nations Development Programme headquarters in New York.
Education.
Patel stood first in the Matriculation examination and established a record score that was never beaten. He then came top in his BA at the University of Bombay. He later earned Doctor of Philosophy in economics from King's College at University of Cambridge with a scholarship from the Gaekwads of Baroda. His tutor Austin Robinson regarded him as his best tutee over his entire tenure as fellow of King's.
Career.
Civil Service.
He was a member of the Indian Economic Service and served in Government of India. He held the rank and post of Special Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and later Secretary to Government of India (Economic Affairs) in the Ministry of Finance.
Academic career.
Patel returned to India and joined Baroda college as Professor of Economics and as the Principal in 1949. Eduard Bernstein later his mentor, invited him to join the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in 1950. After five years there, Patel came back to Delhi as Economic Adviser to the Ministry of Finance in 1954 and spent the next 18 years in one or other top capacity in the Government of India.
In 1972 he became the Deputy Administrator of the UN Development Programme for five years, returning only to take up the position of the Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. It was during this period marked by turbulence in the foreign exchange markets that Patel's formidable intellectual powers came into use in sessions of the Bank for International Settlements. In 1982 he was appointed Director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, which he helped launch on a trajectory to become the best management school in India.
But again Patel was picked up to serve abroad. In 1984, he was chosen to be the Director of LSE, where he improved the school's finances and added several properties to its portfolio, as well as securing the freehold of the school's Old Building in Houghton Street. He had to handle student protest about LSE's investments in South Africa and their support of Winston Silcott, who had been convicted of the murder of a police officer in the Broadwater Farm riots in Tottenham. Patel handled both the situations with tact and firmness but also with a sympathetic understanding of students' concerns about racism. His initiatives, too, in setting up an innovative inter-departmental forum bore fruit in the Interdisciplinary Management Institute and the Development Studies Institute.
RBI Governor.
The Indian Rupee notes of 1000, 5000 and 10,000 denomination and the gold auctions were demonetized during his tenure (he later featured on a special commemorative 1000 rupee note). However, the 1000 notes had to be reintroduced later.
In later life, he taught at the Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara. and in 1991 Patel was requested by then Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao to assume the responsibility of the finance minister of India, but this offer was declined by him. He was bestowed the Padma Vibhushan award in 1991 for his furthering of the field of economic science. Indraprasad Gordhanbhai Patel was known as Baba 'IG' from his childhood days in Vadodara, then the capital of the princely state ruled by the Gaekwads of Baroda, where he was born. The post of I.G. Patel Professor of Economics and Government at the London School of Economics was created in his honour; it is currently held by Nicholas Stern.
Personal life.
He married Anuradha Dasgupta, daughter of renowned professor of economics Amiya Kumar Dasgupta - and sister of renowned economist Sir Partha Dasgupta.


Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke

Elizabeth Herbert, Countess of Pembroke, Countess of Montgomery (January/March 1737 – 30 April 1831) was the daughter of Charles Spencer and Elizabeth Trevor.
Biography.
Born "Elizabeth Spencer" to Charles Spencer, 3rd Duke of Marlborough and Elizabeth Trevor.
Her siblings were George, Charles, and Diana.
In 1756, aged nineteen, she married Henry Herbert, 10th Earl of Pembroke. In 1762, he left her to elope with another woman.
"Husbands are dreadfull and powerful animals," wrote the long-suffering Elizabeth after reconciling with her husband in 1762. She refused to allow his illegitimate son from that affair to keep the surname Herbert, and she and Henry ended up living in separate quarters at Wilton (he downstairs, she upstairs).
She was admired by George III in the early 1760s, becoming a Lady of the Bedchamber to his wife, Queen Charlotte. The King and Queen stayed for two nights with Henry and Elizabeth at Wilton House in 1778.
She would eventually move to Pembroke Lodge in Richmond Park in 1788, which King George had put at her disposal. However, the King – who had been attracted to Elizabeth as long as he had known her – suffered his first bout of insanity that same year, and she had to endure the embarrassment of his sporadic and unwanted attentions until his recovery later that year.
Issue.
Despite Henry's frequent affairs, they had the following issue:


David Walker (diplomat)

David Walker is a New Zealander and diplomat. Walker is a chartered accountant. He has served since 2017 as the New Zealand Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the WTO. He was nominated to hold the Chair of the WTO Dispute Settlement Body in 2019, and then was nominated to the Chair of the WTO General Council in March 2020.


Castroville, Texas

Castroville is a small town in Medina County, Texas, United States. The population was 2,680 at the 2010 census. Castroville was founded by Alsatians from the French and German border region who came to Texas in search of a better life. Most settlers tended to dislike French people, therefore most spoke mostly German or Alsatian( A Germanic dialect) and tended to be insular. Castroville and it’s culture only survived so long because residents did not want outsiders to change it, and it worked. Nowadays many descendants of the town’s founders still live in Castroville and keep its culture and traditions alive. Residents of Castroville tend to be Catholic.
History.
Castroville was established in 1844 by Henri Castro, an empresario of the Republic of Texas, who brought several dozen European families to the area from Alsace and adjoining Baden to populate his land grant along the Medina River west of San Antonio. The first colonists disembarked at Galveston on January 9, 1843. They were taken by ship to Lavaca Bay and traveled overland to San Antonio, where they took shelter in abandoned buildings until the Texas Rangers were prepared to escort them to their land and protect them from hostile Indians. On September 2, 1844, the first colonists arrived at Castro's land grant on the Medina River.
From 1849, Castroville, on the Medina River was a water stop on the San Antonio-El Paso Road and a stagecoach station on the San Antonio-El Paso Mail Line and San Antonio-San Diego Mail Line.
After a few hard years, the town and surrounding farms flourished; although for generations, the residents remained insular. In Castroville's first century, a visitor would be more likely to hear Alsatian—a dialect spoken in Europe before Standard German was prevalent—than English spoken in the town's homes, stores, and taverns. Modern Alsatian travelers noted that the dialect spoken in Castroville was more like that which was spoken in the 1840s. The descendants of the original settlers worked diligently to preserve their language, whose usage in Europe has been diminished by the political actions of France and Germany, especially since World War II.
The Steinbach Haus (originally built between 1618 and 1648 in Wahlbach, Alsace) was dismantled and reconstructed in Castroville in 1998. It was opened to the public in 2002.
Castroville is a sister city of Ensisheim (Alsace) in France.
Geography.
Castroville is located at (29.3550, −98.8807). This is 20 miles west of Downtown San Antonio.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which, of it is land and 0.39% is covered with water.
Demographics.
As of the census of 2010, 3,053 people resided in the city. The population density was 1,045.4 people per square mile (403.4/km). There were 1,025 housing units at an average density of 402.2 per square mile (155.2/km).
Of the 941 households, 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 10.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.5% were not families. About 20.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.17.
In the city, the population was distributed as 28.0% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $42,308, and for a family was $51,007. Males had a median income of $35,625 versus $27,228 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,615. About 5.4% of families and 9.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.9% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
Education.
The City of Castroville is served by the Medina Valley Independent School District and Saint Louis Catholic School (pre-k through 5th grade).


Atomstroyexport

Atomstroyexport () is the Russian Federation's nuclear power equipment and service exporter. It is a fully owned subsidiary of Rosatom. The activities of Atomstroyexport are financially supported by the Russian government. The President of ASE Group of Companies is Alexander Lokshin.
History.
The first research reactor was built and launched in China now, in the "Institute of Nuclear Physics," in 1958. After two years in the city of Lanzhou to her it was erected a "Physical Institute". In it was an accelerator of the brand "U-150", specially built at the Izhorskiye Zavody for the Chinese (150 - is the diameter of the magnet poles in cm), the cyclotron, the deuteron has the energy of 18 MeV. The following year, the organization in the city of Rez (Czechoslovakia) is building "VVR-S", a research reactor (4 MW). In the Institute for Nuclear Research at Dresden, East Germany in 1960 it building a full range of physical and chemical laboratory, the cyclotron "U-120" research reactor "VVR-S" (power of 2 MW). In the same year in Yugoslavia organization (under the "Nuclear Research Center") built: a major scientific center named. Boris Kidridzha heavy water reactor (capacity up to 10 MW), radiochemical, and various other laboratories. After that, your own research reactor (2 MW) appears and Egypt - in 1961. At the same time near the Sophia, capital of Bulgaria was constructed "Institute of Nuclear Physics", which included were: Experimental Reactor type "IRT" and the radiochemical laboratory. And in 1962 "Institute for Nuclear Research" (with 2MW experimental reactors "VVR-S") appear in the Hungarian People's Republic and the Socialist Republic of Romania, respectively, in the cities of Debrecen and in Bucharest.
Recent period.
The Russian nuclear vendor is building the first reactor power unit in Iranian Bushehr nuclear power plant located southwest of Tehran under a US$1 billion contract signed in 1995. In 2007, AtomStroyExport signed a memorandum of understanding with Ciner Insaat Ticaret ve Sanayi to promote its VVER-design pressurized water reactors in Turkey. In Bangladesh, proposals have been prepared to resurrect the potential Rooppur nuclear power plant. In the UK, Atomstroyexport would consider partnering with a Western manufacturer for a new UK builder. In Morocco, Atomstroyexport is considering participation in construction of a nuclear power plant at Sidi Boulbra.
In late October 2006, the offer of Atomstroyexport for construction of the Belene Nuclear Power Plant in Bulgaria, using third-generation VVER-1000/V-446B reactors, was approved. The first unit would be in operation by 2013 and the second a year later.
On 28 March 2012 the Bulgarian government announced the withdrawal from the Belene project due to a negative report regarding the viability of the future power plant and the lack of another major European or American investor.
Between 1999 and 2007, Atomstroyexport constructed the Tianwan Nuclear Power Plant in China, which consists of two VVER reactors with 1,060 MW each, and has signed an agreement for construction of units 3 and 4. Unit 5 to 8 are firmly planned.
On 19 February 2008, Atomstroyexport signed a cooperation agreement with Technopromexport, a Russian exporter of other large-scale power generation types, on the construction and management of power projects in Russia and abroad.
On 14 December 2009, Atomstroyexport bought Nukem Technologies for 23.5 million Euros, adding nuclear power plant decommissioning, waste management and engineering services to its portfolio.
Atomstroyexport will build 4 reactors in Ninh Thuận, Vietnam. The reactors are slated to open one each year from 2021–4. An 8 billion US$ loan has been extended by the Russian state.
Other projects include Akkuyu NPP, Hanhikivi NPP, Koodankulam NPP and Mochovce NPP. See also VVER#Power plants.


Kate Lackey

Kate Lackey is a diplomat from New Zealand who was their high Commissioner to Australia (2002-2005) and in 1997, was appointed their first female Deputy Secretary of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Lackey was also High Commissioner to Canada and Barbados from 2006 until 2010.


Atiur Rahman

Atiur Rahman (;born 3 August 1951) is a Bangladeshi development economist, writer and banker. He served as the 10th Governor of Bangladesh Bank, which is the central bank of Bangladesh. He has also been called "the banker of the poor" for his contributions in developing the economy of Bangladesh. Atiur Rahman is credited for instituting changes in the banking industry of Bangladesh that greatly increased the foreign exchange reserves of the country and brought massive automation and digitization in the banking sector of Bangladesh. Achievements during his tenure include the creation of the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh; introducing automated check clearing for banks in Bangladesh using local currency cheques; starting mobile banking, which lets people carry out banking transactions via SMS (text messages) or apps; establishing the Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN), which is a system of transferring money from one bank account directly to another bank without paper money ever changing hands; and installing the Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH), which permits rapid electronic inter-bank transfers within the country with automatic adjustment of accounts. On 15 March 2016, he resigned as the governor of the central bank after the cyber hacking and theft of US$101 million in foreign reserves from the Bangladesh Bank account held at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
Early life and education.
Atiur Rahman was born in a village in Jamalpur district in 13 December 1953. His father, who was a landless farmer, had received no schooling in his life. Rahman went to school but had to quit after grade III because of financial conditions.
He was able to resume his education shortly after, taking the final examination for grade VI. After grade VI, his principal showed him the Cadet Colleges' admission circular, for his better education. But Atiur Rahman did not want to. Eventually, he was admitted to Mirzapur Cadet College in grade-VII. A school teacher of the village, Foyez Moulavi, collected charity funds to facilitate his admission. Considering his financial inability, the college authority granted him free tuition. Thus he could continue at the college, where he passed the SSC and HSC examinations, securing positions in the merit list both times.
He earned BSS and MSS degrees in economics from the University of Dhaka. With a Commonwealth scholarship, he went to SOAS, University of London to complete his Ph.D. in 1977. His thesis later came out as a book under the title "Peasants and Classes" published by the Oxford University Press.
Career.
Rahman was a planning officer in the Bangladesh Tourism Corporation in 1975. In 1994, he established a development NGO under the title 'Unnayan Shamannay'. He had worked at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies in different capacities for nearly 28 years and retired as Senior Research Fellow on 4 April 2006. He also served as director of the state-owned Sonali Bank, the largest in Bangladesh.
In 2001, government appointed him as the chairman of the board of directors of the Janata Bank, the second-largest in the country. In 2006, he joined the University of Dhaka in the Department of Development Studies as a professor. Also, he served in Mohammed Yunus' National Task Force on Poverty Eradication. He was also involved in the management of a number of socio-cultural organisations including Credit Development Forum, Monajatuddin Smriti Sangsad, Bangladesh Economic Association and Asiatic Society and Bangla Academy. Rahman focused his work in the area of poverty alleviation, engaging in first-hand research to find the causes of poverty and means of remedy. He worked specifically with shoal dwellers and poverty alleviation.
On 29 April 2009, Rahman was appointed as the 10th governor of Bangladesh Bank, the central bank of the country, for a tenure of four years. He assumed the title on 3 May 2009 and was reappointed until July 2016. After his tenure as a governor, he joined again the Department of Development Studies. The Dhaka University Syndicate appointed him as a "'Bangabandhu Chair"' from 1 November 2019. Also, he is serving as a Chairperson of Unnayan Shamannay.
Governor of the central bank.
As governor of the Central Bank of Bangladesh, he took steps in developing the economy of his country by instituting programs such as women entrepreneurs loans, a loan for landless farmers and special programs around Green Finance. Rahman worked to bring automation and digitization into the banking sector of Bangladesh by creating the National Payment Switch of Bangladesh; introducing automated check clearing for banks in Bangladesh using local currency cheques; starting mobile banking, which lets people carry out banking transactions via SMS (text messages) or apps; establishing the Bangladesh Electronic Funds Transfer Network (BEFTN); instituting the Bangladesh Automated Clearing House (BACH), which permits rapid electronic inter-bank transfers within the country with automatic adjustment of accounts; etc. BEFTN is a system of transferring money from one bank account directly to another bank without paper money changing hands. The foreign exchange reserves of Bangladesh quadrupled during his tenure as governor of the central bank. In March 2016, Rahman resigned from his post following the 2016 Bangladesh Bank heist. He submitted his resignation letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on 15 March 2016. Fazle Kabir was selected as the new governor the same day. Before the resignation was made public, Rahman stated that he would resign if it would benefit his country. Two days after his resignation, he returned to his position as professor at the Department of Development Studies at the University of Dhaka. Currently he is the 'Bangabandhu Professor' of University of Dhaka.
Publications.
Rahman is a regular newspaper columnist who often writes on poverty, public expenditure, economic development, public welfare and other similar socio-economic issues. He has published 45 titles as of 2009, of which 16 are in English and 29 in Bengali. He writes books on different issues but mainly socio-economic issues, for example his recent publication about Rabindranath Tagore's socio-economic thoughts compilation and research. Some of his publications and books are as follows:
"Bengali language"
"English language"
Awards and recognitions.
Rahman was awarded "Central Banker of the Year 2015" from the Asia-Pacific region, in recognition of his achievement in supporting lending to farmers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) without compromising growth and macroeconomic stability, by the London-based Financial Times owned magazine, "The Banker"; he was also awarded the Central Bank Governor of the year 2015, Asia by The Emerging Markets Newspaper (UK based financial newspaper of the Euromoney Group).
The British Parliament lauded Rahman for women empowerment on 8 March 2015. Meanwhile, The Banker, a subsidiary monthly of the Financial Times of London, published captioned news with highlighting BB Governor Rahman in People Column of its March 2015 issue under the title "Movers and Shakers". He is the only Bangladeshi who gets the title.
In 2014, he received the GUSI Peace Prize International 2014 for his work in the field of economics focusing on the welfare of poor people. He has also been awarded the "World No-Tobacco Day Award 2012" by the World Health Organization (WHO).
Rahman was also awarded the "Indira Gandhi Gold Plaque" in 2011, the Atish Dipankar Gold Medal in 2000 and the Chandrabati Gold Medal in 2008.
Nepal's Prime Minister Sushil Koirala expressed his sincere gratitude to Rahman for extending CSR support towards victims of the disastrous earthquake in Nepal on 7 June 2015.
Rahman received "Dharitri Bangladesh National Award", presented by Dharitri Bangladesh, for the Bengali Year 1421 on 30 December 2015
Rahman was awarded one of the most prestigious awards of Bangladesh, the Bangla Academy Literary Award in 2016.
Dr. Rahman was got honorary 'Bangabandhu Chair' from University of Dhaka in 2019
Personal life.
Rahman is married to Shahana Rahman, who is a professor of pediatrics at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and they have three daughters.


Suzy (record label)

Suzy Records () is a record label based in Zagreb, Croatia.
History.
The company was established in the then Socialist Republic of Croatia in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1972.
After the abandonment of the socialist system and the subsequent breakup of Yugoslavia, during the 1990s the company transformed to SUZY d.o.o. (limited company). However, unlike its bigger competitors Jugoton and PGP-RTB which changed their names to Croatia Records and PGP-RTS respectively, Suzy continued to work under the same name. Several of its older important domestic titles were re-released in cooperation with another Croatian record label Hit Records during the 2000s.
Artists.
The company is notable for releasing several prominent former Yugoslav pop and rock artists. Some of the artist that have been signed to Suzy, include:
Like other former Yugoslav record labels, Suzy also released numerous foreign pop and rock albums for the domestic market including: AC/DC, Adam and the Ants, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Blue Öyster Cult, The Clash, Leonard Cohen, Phil Collins, Alice Cooper, Elvis Costello, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Doors, Bob Dylan, Europe, Fleetwood Mac, Aretha Franklin, Iron Butterfly, Michael Jackson, Judas Priest, Cyndi Lauper, Led Zeppelin, MC5, Midnight Oil, Prince, The Rolling Stones, Sade, Santana, Bob Seger, Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen, Rod Stewart, Johnny Winter, Yes, and others. Suzy closely cooperated with many international major labels such as CBS Records for instance.
Competition.
Other major labels in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia were: PGP-RTB and Jugodisk from Belgrade, Jugoton from Zagreb, Diskoton from Sarajevo, ZKP RTLJ from Ljubljana, Diskos from Aleksandrovac, and others.
Logos.
From 1972, for this record label, there are three different logos. The first logo of record label has been in use from 1972 to 1974, the second logo has been in use from 1974 to 1989, and the third and current logo is in use from 1989.


Mirza Taleb Khan Ordubadi

Mirza Taleb Khan Ordubadi () was an Iranian aristocrat from the Ordubadi family, who served as the grand vizier of the Safavid king ("shah") Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) from to 1610/1 to 1621, and later as grand vizier of his grandson and successor Safi (r. 1629–1642) from 1632 to 1633.
Biography.
Mirza Taleb was the son of Hatem Beg Ordubadi, and thus belonged to the Ordubadi family, an Iranian family which was descended from the medieval philosopher and polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Furthermore, Mirza Taleb was also the brother-in-law of the governor of Qandahar, Ali Mardan Khan. In 1610/1, Mirza Taleb was appointed as the grand vizier of Abbas I, thus succeeding his father. He was later replaced by Salman Khan Ustajlu in 1621. In 1632, Mirza Taleb was reappointed as grand vizier by Abbas I's grandson and successor Safi, succeeding the former grand vizier Khalifeh Sultan. A year later, Mirza Taleb was dishonored by Saru Taqi, who then secretly had him assassinated.
The reason behind these actions was due to a personal hatred Saru Taqi had towards the family of Mirza Taleb Khan, whose father had denied to give Saru Taqi's father a post which he had asked for. Furthermore, Saru Taqi also took over the house of Mirza Taleb, which was in Isfahan, the capital of the Safavid Empire.


Fazeel Najeeb

Dr. Fazeel Najeeb is former governor of the Maldives Monetary Authority (2008-2013) where he is also the Chairman of the Board of Directors. A native of Fuvahmulah, Fazeel is also the Governor of Maldives to the International Monetary Fund, and the current Chairman of SAARC Finance, a network of Central Banks in South Asia. He began his public service in 1987 at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He also had his own consulting firm, before taking up his doctoral studies in London. He assumed office at Maldives Monetary Authority in 2008.
Fazeel holds a PhD in Commercial Law (Intellectual Property), an LLM in International Business Law, and a BA Honours degree in Economics. He acquired education from the United Kingdom.
After assuming the office of the Governor of MMA, in 2009 Fazeel introduced the first prudential regulations for banks in the Maldives – a set of 11 prudential regulations. In the same year he also proposed to the government, the first banking act of Maldives and introduced the first ever monetary policy framework and operations at the Central Bank, and, simultaneously introduced the auctioning of treasury bills.


Arif Mustafa Jatoi

Arif Mustafa Jatoi is a Pakistani politician who has been a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh since August 2018. Previously he was a member of the Provincial Assembly of Sindh from 2008 to 2013.
Political career.
He was elected to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of National Peoples Party from Constituency PS-19 (Naushahro Feroze-I) in 2008 Pakistani general election. He received 53,302 votes and defeated Haji Khan Bhatti, a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).
He was re-elected to the Provincial Assembly of Sindh as a candidate of Grand Democratic Alliance from Constituency PS-36 (Naushahro Feroze-IV) in 2018 Pakistani general election. He received 47,406 votes and defeated Zia-ul-Hassan, a candidate of Pakistan Peoples Party Parliamentarians (PPP).


Shamsuddeen Usman

Shamsuddeen Usman, CON, OFR (born 18 September 1949 Kano, Nigeria) is a Nigerian economist, banker and public servant. He is currently the CEO of SUSMAN & Associates, an economic, financial and management consulting firm headquartered in Nigeria. He was the Finance Minister of Nigeria between June 2007 and January 2009 and also served as the Minister of National Planning from January 2009 to September 2013.
As Minister of National Planning, he was responsible for the development of Nigeria's long-term development strategy, Nigeria Vision 2020 and the National Integrated Infrastructure Master Plan. During his tenure as the Minister of Finance and National Planning, he was the Chairman of the Nigerian National Economic Management Team.
He represented Nigeria as a Governor on the Governing Boards of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. He was a Member of the Federal Executive Council, National Economic Council and the National Council on privatization.
He was the first Nigerian Minister to publicly declare his assets before assuming office as a public officer, an act considered as a sign of accountability and transparency in a country noted for its high levels of corruption.
Background.
Usman was born in Warure Quarters of Kano State. His Father, an Islamic scholar, died when he was about six years old.
He began his education at Dandago Primary School. After attending secondary school at the prestigious Government College Keffi and King's College, Lagos, he gained a BSc. in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University in Zaria, Nigeria. He later won a National scholarship to study for his MSc. and PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science between 1977 and 1980. His PhD was on "Tax Incentives and Investment in the Nigerian Oil Industry".During his first two years at the London School of Economics, he served as a teaching assistant for the final year class in Public Finance.
Early career.
From 1974 to 1976, Usman worked as the Planning Officer for the Kano State Ministry of Economic Planning. He taught Economic Analysis and Public Finance in Ahmadu Bello University, Bayero University Kano and University of Jos between 1976 and 1981. He was a controller at the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB) and then served as the Director of Budget/Special Economic Adviser to the Kano State Government between 1981 and 1983. He was then appointed the General manager of NAL Merchant Bank (currently Sterling Bank).
Impact of Privatisation and Commercialisation on the Nigerian Economy.
From 1989 to 1991 Usman served as the pioneer Director General of The Technical Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, now the Bureau of Public Enterprises. He was responsible for the Phase I of the programme with the mandate to reform public enterprises, as an integral and critical component of the International Monetary Fund-led Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which was started in 1986.
Under his supervision, about 88 public enterprises were either fully or partially privatised without any foreign technical assistance. The programme succeeded in relieving the government of the huge and growing fiscal burden of financing public enterprises, minimised the overstretching of government's managerial capacity through a redefinition of the role of the supervising ministries, created a large body of shareholders and deepened and broadened the Nigerian Capital Market to the position of being the most developed in black Africa. The market capitalisation of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) through which the shares were sold has grown from N8.9 billion in 1987 (before privatisation) to N65.5 billion in 1994 (after the Phase-I). The catalytic effect of the volume of shares released into the market via the privatisation exercise cannot be over emphasised, the TCPC became the current Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) in 1993.
The Phase-I of the pravatisation generally led to the improved Performance of the privatised enterprises, which inturn led to a considerable increase in the volume of corporate taxes accruing to the national treasury, among several other benefits. The sale of shares and assets realised over N3.7 billion as gross privatisation proceeds from the privatisation of 55 enterprises whose total original investment according to the records of the Ministry of Financed Incorporated (MOFI) was N652 million. This represents less than 2% of the total value of the Federal Government's investments as at 30 November 1990 which stood at N36 billion. Privatisation has massively expanded personal share ownership in Nigeria. By reducing the reliance of public enterprises on the government for finance, the programme of privatisation has encouraged new investments in the enterprises and sectors concerned.
The new operational autonomy of these enterprises and their liberation from political interference in day-to-day management has also improved the internal efficiency of these enterprises allowing them to commercialise their operations, adopt more resource efficient private sector business models and rationalise labour practices. Flotation of shares of privatised enterprises has greatly stimulated the rapid growth of the Nigerian Capital Market and helped to deepen and broaden it.
Banking.
Usman was head-hunted to become the executive director of United Bank for Africa in charge of the International and Investments Sector. This included direct supervision of the New York Branch. Subsequently, he was appointed by Union Bank of Nigeria as executive director and head of Corporate and International Banking. His time at Union Bank was short-lived as NAL Merchant Bank recruited him as managing director and chief executive officer, a post that he held for over five years. He was also a member of the Committee on Vision 2010.
At the return to democracy in Nigeria in 1999, he was appointed as the Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in charge of Domestic Monetary and Banking Policy, later name Financial Sector Surveillance. He was also responsible for heading Project Eagles, the CBN's reform programme, responsible for converting the organisation into one of the most efficient, effective and goal-focused institutions in Nigeria. From January 2004 to June 2007 he was the Deputy Governor in charge of Operations Directorate in charge of the Operations Directorate. From 2005, he served as Chairman and then Alternate Chairman of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company Limited (NSPMC) also known as "the Mint". In this role, he oversaw the introduction of N500 and N1000 notes and the reorganisation of the Mint into a more profitable company with greater operating efficiency.
He has served as the Chairman of the Abuja Stock Exchange, Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and Financial Institutions Training Centre. He is also a fellow of the Nigerian Economic Society and has also served as President of the Society. He is also a board member of the African Economic Research Consortium and the African Export-Import Bank.
Ministerial career.
Usman was appointed as the Minister of Finance of Nigeria from May 2007 to January 2009. In this role, he served as the head of the Economic Management Team and as the Vice Chairman of the National Council on Privatisation. Usman introduced a system of performance-based budgeting and pursued various economic reforms such as reducing the average Nigerian Ports Clearing time from approximately 2 months to approximately 14 days during his tenure; increasing the capitalization, trust and effectiveness of the insurance sector together with pursuing the implementation of the Insurance Act; cancellation of illegal waivers and concessions which led to revenue leakages of over $2 billion; reducing Nigeria's external debt; and easing customs charges and capital market charges for operators to promote a vibrant and hassle-free environment for investment in the economy.
In times leading to the presentation of the government's budget by the President (Umaru Musa Yar'Adua) to the National Assembly, Usman did not enjoy a cordial relationship with a few Members of the Senate and House of Assembly as both, on all occasions during the preparation of the budget, were pushing for increased government spending against Usman's wishes, particularly as the Nation was suffering from dwindling oil revenues. Usman claimed the reason for this is that the Economy of Nigeria lacked the capacity to take this increased spending, given its deflated revenue base and in order to control inflation and curtail corruption and improper implementation as in the Power Sector during the Obasanjo administration; this should be avoided. Usman blamed the low level of execution of the 2008 budget partly to the delays caused by the National Assembly in approving the budget, a statement that the Members of the National Assembly were very unhappy with.
In preparing the 2007 (appropriation), 2008 (appropriation) and 2009 budgets, Usman also introduced a system of budgeting based on Medium Term Development Plans as opposed to misguided annual budgeting which showed coherency with respect to national development plans in succeeding years, as was done in the past.
In a similar manner to Trevor Manuel, the previous Finance Minister of South Africa, Usman was appointed as the minister/deputy chairman of the National Planning Commission of Nigeria and as the chairman of the Steering Committee on Nigeria Vision 2020 in January 2009. In this role, he was responsible for Economic and Developmental Strategy of the Nation through the formulation of a Medium Term National Plan/Policy Framework, a Long-Term National Plan (Nigeria Vision 2020) and working with the Ministry of Finance to set the overall objectives of the Annual Budget (Short-Term Plan).
He was also responsible for supervising the Monitoring and Implementation of these National Development Plans, the European Development Fund (EDF) Country Strategy Paper (CSP) and the National Indicative Programme (NIP). As the Minister of National Planning, he also oversees the National Bureau of Statistics, the Centre for Management and Development and the Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research (NISER).
He was mentioned by Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as one of the major individuals that made a tremendous impact in Nigerian economy and their contributions at that moment would help alleviate the current economic recession.
He is also a member of the Presidential Steering Committee on the global financial crisis.
Minister of National Planning (January 2009 to September 2013).
As Minister of National Planning, Usman:
Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund.
In the years preceding 2008, Nigeria benefited from the surge in oil prices, which allowed the government to build up excess reserves and increase public expenditure. However, Usman had identified that oil price volatility posed very high risks to growth in Nigeria's oil-dependent economy, and as such pushed for the establishment of a sovereign wealth fund, which will serve as a long-term saving fund for future generations and also as a development fund for socio-economic projects It was planned to be similar to the Government Pension Fund of Norway. Normally, excess revenue (i.e., actual revenue less budgeted revenue) was saved in the excess crude account, to prevent overheating the economy, though as there is no legal arrangement for the management of the excess crude account-: However as there was no legal arrangement for the crude account and no mandate for it to be used as a future generations, as Sovereign Wealth Fund became necessary to enhance efficiency in the management of the country's reserves. He constituted a Presidential Technical Committee on the Establishment of the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Fund, which submitted its report to the National Economic Council and the President. However, due to his direct redeployment to the Ministry of National Planning, he was not able to directly oversee the establishment of the Sovereign Wealth Fund.
Ministerial screening.
Following the dissolution of the cabinet by then acting president, Goodluck Jonathan on February 10, 2010, Usman was one of nine re-nominated to serve as a government minister in the new cabinet out of a total of forty-two. This was due to his neutrality on political issues and good working relationship with the acting president. However, Usman's re-nomination was not viewed favorably by members of the Kano State PDP chapter, as they perceived Usman to be a technocrat and not a politician, and as such the People's Democratic Party stakeholders in Kano State. This led to political lobbying from several interest groups to prevent his nomination. As a result, it appeared that the National Assembly had delayed his screening and by the next morning, the local newspapers were reporting that he had been dropped as a Minister due to political interests against his appointment as a Technocrat.
However, on the same morning of the newspaper reports, Usman was the first to be screened by the Senate where he answered a variety of questions on the economy, and answered questions on his performance as a Minister of Finance and National Planning. It was here where he made his famous statements on his battles with the economic mafia in Nigeria who sabotage the government's revenue generating ability.
Philanthropy.
Usman is the chairman and one of the founding members of the Kano Peace and Development Initiative (KAPEDI), a group of concerned indigenes of Kano State driven to rebuild peace and the economic well being of Kano State, especially after the religious conflict in 2004.
He also started Gidauniyar Alheri, an NGO in the Garangamawa area of Kano city that provides human resource development training to youth and carries out other charitable activities in the state.


John Witherspoon Breckinridge

John Witherspoon "Owen" Breckinridge (December 22, 1850 – May 9, 1892) was an American lawyer and politician who served in the California State Assembly.
Early life.
Breckinridge was born on December 22, 1850 in Lexington, Kentucky in the prominent Breckinridge family. He was the fourth child of Hon. John Cabell Breckinridge (1821–1875), who served as Vice-President of the United States under James Buchanan, and Mary Cyrene (née Burch) Breckinridge (1826–1907). Among his siblings were Joseph Cabell Breckinridge, Clifton Rodes Breckinridge, Frances Viley (née Breckenridge) Steele, and Mary Desha (née Breckinridge) Maltby. He was named after his great-great-grandfather, John Witherspoon, who signed the Declaration of Independence.
Known as "Owen" in appreciation of the heavy vote his father received in Owen County, he attended Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.
Career.
Around 1877, Breckinridge moved to California eventually settling in Merced in the northern San Joaquin Valley section of the Central Valley. Breckinridge was a member of California State Assembly from 1884 to 1885. He also served as District Attorney of Merced County, California until his death in 1892. In his obituary, it was said:
"Mr. Breckinridge was one of the most talented men in California gifted with all that goes to make up a brilliant lawyer and gentleman. Although still a young man, he had climbed high in his profession and was known in many cities and towns of California as a lawyer of unquestioned ability and of unquestioned integrity in business matters."
Personal life.
In 1877, Breckinridge was married to Florence "Louise" Tevis, a daughter of Lloyd Tevis, the President of Wells Fargo Bank. Together, they were the parents of:
Owen and Louise divorced and she remarried to Frederick William Sharon (a son of U.S. Senator William Sharon) in 1883 with whom she had four more children. Owen remarried to Harriett Dudley.
Breckinridge died on May 9, 1892 in Merced, California.
Descendants.
Through his son John, he was posthumously a grandfather of John Cabell "Bunny" Breckinridge Jr. (1903–1996), an actor and drag queen best known for his role as "The Ruler" in Ed Wood's film "Plan 9 from Outer Space".
Through his daughter Florence, he was the grandfather of Frederick Fermor-Hesketh, 2nd Baron Hesketh (1916–1955), the British peer and soldier.