Keith Noreika

Keith A. Noreika is an American lawyer who specializes in the regulation of financial institutions. He served as Acting Comptroller of the Currency from May 5, 2017, to November 27, 2017, following the 30th Comptroller of the Currency, Thomas J. Curry, and preceding the 31st Comptroller of the Currency, Joseph Otting. Noreika rejoined the law firm of Simpson Thacher on January 8, 2018.
Career at the OCC.
As Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Noreika headed a 4,000-person agency responsible for chartering, regulating, and supervising all national banks and federal savings associations as well as federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency supervises approximately 1,400 national banks and federal savings associations and about 50 federal branches and agencies of foreign banks in the United States. These institutions comprise nearly two-thirds of the assets of the commercial banking system. The Comptroller also is a director of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and member of the Financial Stability Oversight Council.
Major Issues as Acting Comptroller of the Currency
Noreika's focused on reducing unnecessary regulatory burden, promoting economic growth and opportunity, and enhancing the value of the federal charter for national banks, federal savings associations, and federal branches of foreign banks operating the United States.
"Arbitration"
Noreika played a role in the opposition of a rule made by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) regarding arbitration agreements in the contracts of certain financial products. He first raised concerns with the proposed rule in June 2017 questioning whether the rule would adversely affect the safety and soundness of community banks and savings associations. Following the issuance of the final rule, the OCC conducted a review of the data and analysis used by the CFPB to develop and support the rule. The OCC found that the rule would likely increase the cost of credit by a significant amount. Noreika summarized his concerns with the rule in an op-ed in "The Hill" on October 13, 2017. The U.S. Treasury followed with a separate analysis criticizing the rule. On October 24, 2017, the U.S. Senate voted to overturn the CFPB using the Congressional Review Act, and on November 1, 2017, President Trump signed the resolution repealing the rule.
"De Novo Banks"
On October 27, 2017, Noreika signed and presented the first full-service national bank charter since the financial crisis to Winter Park National Bank of Florida. As Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Noreika advocated to make the process for chartering new banks and obtaining federal deposit insurance more efficient. Those views were summarized in an op-ed in the "American Banker" on October 30, 2017. In the article, Noreika repeated calls made during June 2017 testimony before the U.S. Senate to change the process to rely on the due diligence, examination and judgment of the prudential regulator during its decision making process both to grant a bank charter and grant deposit insurance, unless the FDIC objects, with reason, within a given period. This approach would reduce the paperwork burden for applicants and create a clearer timeline for a final decision. Eliminating ambiguity would help de novo banks project startup costs and timing, which is critical for companies raising capital and kicking off a new business. At the same time, the suggestion preserves the FDIC's veto power if it has reason to differ substantively with the judgment of the primary regulator.
"Short-Term, Small-Dollar Lending"
Following the CFPB's issuance of its final rule on payday lending, the OCC rescinded its guidance related to Deposit Advance Products, a kind of short-term loan repaid from customers' direct deposits to their accounts. Noreika stated that it has become difficult for banks to serve consumers' need for short-term, small-dollar credit in part because of the guidance. As a result, consumers who would rely on highly regulated banks and thrifts for these legitimate and well-regulated products to meet their financial needs turn to other, lesser regulated entities, which may result in consumer harm and expense, hurting the very consumers it was intended to help—the most marginalized, unbanked and underbanked portions of society. Noreika repeated calls made by prior Comptrollers encouraging banks and savings associations to meet the short-term, small-dollar credit needs of consumers. He summarized these views in an op-ed in "The Hill" on November 17, 2017.
"Community Reinvestment Act"
Noreika approved several changes related to the Community Reinvestment Act. The changes provide greater transparency regarding the OCC's framework for evaluating certain types of licensing applications and incentive for covered institutions to support the goals of the Community Reinvestment Act. The changes also require evaluation of banks' performance under the Community Reinvestment Act to consider activities directly related to community reinvestments and states that it is OCC policy not to lower a bank's Community Reinvestment Act composite or component rating by more than one rating level.
"Reducing Regulatory Burden and Promoting Economic Opportunity"
Noreika advocated for changes to regulations that reduced unnecessary burden on banks and promoted economic opportunity, while ensuring financial institutions continued to operate in a safe and sound manner, provide fair access to financial services, and treat customers fairly. Noreika proposed a number of changes to the Volcker Rule (§ 619 of 12 U.S.C. § 1851, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act). On August 2, 2017, the OCC solicited public input on whether certain aspects of the implementing regulation should be revised to better accomplish the purposes of section 619 while decreasing the compliance burden on banking entities and fostering economic growth. Noreika also called for policy makers to rethink their use of arbitrary thresholds, specifically the $50 billion asset threshold for determining systemically important financial institutions (SIFI). Thresholds such as these become barriers to competition and can serve to protect the largest institutions, according to Noreika. On November 13, 2017, Senator Mike Crapo announced a bipartisan proposal to exempt small banks from the Volcker Rule and revise the threshold for SIFIs.
Noreika also pushed to rationalize and simplify capital requirements for banks and savings associations to ensure banks continued to operate in a safe and sound manner and remain capable of serving as powerful engines for the U.S. economy and meeting the needs of consumers, businesses, and communities across the United States. Federal banking agencies took initial steps to simplify regulatory capital in August 2017 and September 2017.
"Innovation and Financial Technology"
Noreika continued to encourage responsible innovation in the federal banking system and to support federal charters for financial technology companies engaged in the business of banking, as had his predecessor.
The Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) sued the OCC, challenging its authority to grant special purpose national bank charters to nondepository financial technology companies engaged in the business of banking. Companies engaged in the business of banking can seek a national bank charter under the agency's existing authority to charter full-service national banks and federal saving associations, as well as other long-established special purpose national banks, such as trust banks, bankers' banks, and other so-called CEBA banks. According to Noreika, chartering innovative de novo institutions through these existing authorities enhances the federal banking system, increases choice, promotes economic opportunity, and can improve services to consumers, businesses, and communities. On December 12, 2017, a federal judge in Manhattan dismissed the NYDFS' lawsuit challenging the OCC's fintech-charter effort, finding that legal challenges to the initiative were premature.
"Separation of Banking and Commerce"
Noreika questioned the presumptive separation of banking and commerce in the United States. He suggested policy makers should reexamine the reasons for maintaining the separation of banking and commerce to determine whether it still makes sense for banks, businesses, and the economy today. In a speech before The Clearing House on November 8, 2017, he pointed out that the United States is unusual in maintaining a separation between banking and commerce. He suggested that by allowing banking and commerce to mix, small banks could access more diverse sources of capital and consumers could benefit from increased choice and greater competition among financial service providers.
"Bank Holding Companies and the Bank Holding Company Act"
While at the OCC, Noreika raised questions regarding the continued usefulness of the Bank Holding Company Act and whether bank holding companies had become obsolete. He explored how bank holding companies have evolved in the United States and their advantages and disadvantages for banking companies during a speech at the American Enterprise Institute on November 28, 2017.
"Special Government Employee"
While Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Noreika was a Special Government Employee (SGE). As a special government employee serving on a short-term basis (expected to serve fewer than 130 days in a 365-day period), he was not required to sign the Executive Branch ethics pledge, consistent with guidance from the Office of Government Ethics under Presidents Obama and Trump. The 130 days is an expectation and does not bar SGE from serving more than that number of days. Following his service, Noreika will be permanently barred from communicating with or appearing before any executive or judicial branch employee on behalf of any person concerning any particular matter involving specific parties in which he participated personally and substantially at any time as a federal employee. And, for two years after leaving government he will be barred from communicating with or appearing before any executive or judicial branch employee on behalf of any person concerning any particular matter involving specific parties which he knows or reasonably should know was pending under his official responsibility during the last year of his federal service. These restrictions are described at 18 USC 207 (a) and (b).
Prior to serving as Acting Comptroller of the Currency.
Prior to becoming Acting Comptroller of the Currency, Noreika served on President Donald J. Trump's transition team within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.
Noreika served as a partner in Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP and a member of the firm's Financial Institutions Practice, where he focused on banking regulation and related litigation. He advised a range of domestic and international financial institutions on regulatory issues relating to mergers and acquisitions, minority investments, capital issuances, structuring and compliance activities, and litigation matters, particularly in the area of federal preemption. Noreika's experience includes advising regional, multinational, and other banks on the structuring of their operations, including complying with the Volcker Rule and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau regulations, and Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering rules. He has represented national banks before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals, and the U.S. District Courts. He previously served as partner at Covington & Burling LLP.
Academic career.
Noreika has been an adjunct faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania Law School and the University of Virginia School of Law. He received his juris doctor in 1997 from Harvard Law School, where he was editor of the "Harvard Law Review". He earned his bachelor of science from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1994.
Speeches and statements.
3/3/2021 Remarks to the Virtual Training Program on Building the Foundations of Modern Financial Regulation in Indonesia, Program on International Financial Systems (PIFS) and Harvard University (Online).
8/17/2018 Innovation and Financial Technology: Rethinking the Banking & Commerce Split, The Utah Association of Financial Services and the National Association of Industrial Bankers. Park City, Utah.
7/17/2018 Written testimony, "The Need For Reasoned, Transparent Tailoring of Enhanced Prudential Requirements and Supervision." Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. U.S. House of Representatives.
1/02/2018 Comptroller's Viewpoint, written while serving as Acting Comptroller of the Currency and included in the OCC Annual Report for Fiscal Year 2017.
11/30/2017 Remarks before the Vilnius Fintech Conference 2017, hosted by the Ministry of Finance, Vilnius, Lithuania
11/28/2017 First Deputy Comptroller Discusses Whether Bank Holding Companies Are Obsolete (Watch on YouTube)
11/08/2017 Acting Comptroller Explores the Separation of Banking and Commerce
11/02/2017 Acting Comptroller Discusses Efforts to Promote Lending and Investment in Distressed Communities
10/19/2017 Acting Comptroller Discusses Innovation and Financial Technology (Watch on YouTube)
10/05/2017 Acting Comptroller Discusses Efforts to Reduce Regulatory Burden and Expand Economic Opportunity
09/28/2017 A Fintech Conversation with OCC Comptroller Keith Noreika
09/25/2017 Acting Comptroller of the Currency Discusses Online Lending and Responsible Innovation
07/19/2017 Acting Comptroller Discusses Responsible Innovation and Granting National Bank Charters to Financial Technology Companies
07/07/2017 Acting Comptroller of the Currency Discusses OCC’s Semiannual Risk Perspective, Spring 2017
06/27/2017 Acting Comptroller of the Currency Addresses the Agency’s Minority Depository Institutions Advisory Committee
06/22/2017 Acting Comptroller Discusses Opportunities to Promote Economic Growth, Reduce Regulatory Burden


Nazifuddin Najib

Dato' Muhammad Nazifuddin Bin Muhammad Najib (born 1985) is a Malaysian businessman, the son of Najib Razak, the former Prime Minister of Malaysia.
Early life.
He is the son of Najib Razak and his first wife, Tengku Puteri Zainah Tengku Eskandar ("Kui Yie"). He has an older brother, Muhammad Nizar Najib and a sister, Puteri Norlisa Najib, as well as two half-siblings from his father's second marriage, Muhammad Norashman and Nooryana Najwa.
He started a degree in computer science at the University of Nottingham, but soon changed to study international business at American Intercontinental University in 2002, where he obtained a bachelor's degree. He then enrolled at Cass Business School at City University.
Career.
Nazifuddin started his career in 2012 with UBS Wealth Management Hong Kong and worked there for three years, before starting as an entrepreneur in Malaysia.
Nazifuddin is the youngest-ever vice-president of the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM), when he was appointed in August 2015.
Nazifuddin has been named in the Panama Papers, and has responded that he is no longer involved in the two companies involved in the data leak.
Nazifuddin further stated, "I held directorships in two companies based in the British Virgin Islands (BVI): Jay Marriot International and PCJ International Venture Limited. These companies were incorporated by the international law firm Mossack Fonseca," and that he had transferred all of his Jay Marriot shares to fellow director Ch'ng Soon Sen's sister and had resigned in 2011, and that PCJ was shut down a year after its 2013 foundation and had had no business transactions.
Controversy.
On 1 August 2019, the government had filed a tax evasion lawsuit through the Inland Revenue Board (IRB), against Nazifuddin and Jho Low to claim RM37.6 million in unpaid taxes since 2011 till 2017.


Melvyn R. Leventhal

Melvyn Rosenman Leventhal (born March 18, 1943) is an American attorney known primarily for his work as a community organizer and lawyer in the 1960s–70s Civil Rights Movement, and for being the husband of author Alice Walker for ten years; they were the first legally married interracial couple in Mississippi history.
Early life and education.
Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York City, Leventhal attended a yeshiva elementary school and Brooklyn Technical High School. When he was nine years old, his parents divorced, and he and his siblings were split up, with the father taking Leventhal's older brother to live with him. Leventhal recalled that he rarely saw his father after that, and that on one occasion, when Leventhal was a teenager, he took a younger sibling to see their father, who "slammed the door in our face". In Leventhal's formative years he was greatly influenced by Judaism's emphasis on community service and in particular recalls being "outraged and disgusted by the way white people treated Jackie Robinson". He resolved to fight injustice, and in pursuit of this, after receiving his undergraduate degree from New York University's Washington Square College in 1964, he received a J.D. from the New York University School of Law in 1967.
Early career and marriage.
As a young lawyer, Leventhal worked in Mississippi for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (“LDF”), and from this work he formed the first interracial law partnership in the state's history, with Reuben V. Anderson, Fred L. Banks Jr., and John A. Nichols. Anderson and Banks went on to become the first two African American justices of the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Through his work, Leventhal met Alice Walker, who came to trust and admire him due to his willingness to endanger his own social status and well-being by standing up to bigotry. On March 17, 1967, Leventhal and Walker married in New York, in a civil ceremony performed by Family Court Judge Justine W. Polier. The marriage was at that time illegal in Walker's home state of Georgia. When the couple returned to Mississippi in July 1967, they were the first legally married interracial couple in the state. Walker and Leventhal had one child, Rebecca Walker, and divorced in 1976.
During spring, summer and winter recesses from law school, Leventhal worked as a student volunteer at LDF's offices in Jackson, Mississippi, under Marian Wright Edelman's supervision. This included serving as LDF's liaison to Martin Luther King, Jr., during the June 1966 Meredith March Against Fear from Memphis, Tennessee, to Jackson.
From 1969 to 1974 Leventhal served as LDF's lead counsel in Mississippi. He represented plaintiffs in approximately 75 lawsuits filed throughout the state to eliminate segregation and discrimination in public schools, employment, public accommodations, housing and municipal services (e.g., street paving, street lighting and fire protection). After Leventhal moved back to New York in 1974, he continued to work for LDF as a staff attorney, litigating cases brought in Mississippi and other states. His ten-year career at the LDF was highlighted by three landmark cases:
Leventhal also testified before the U.S. Senate's Select Committee on Equal Educational Opportunity in 1970 on the progress of school desegregation in Mississippi.
Later public service career.
After returning to New York in 1974, Leventhal remarried. Between 1979 and 1984, he served first as the Assistant Attorney General of New York, in charge of the Consumer Frauds and Protection Bureau, and then as the Deputy First Assistant Attorney General of New York and Chief of the Litigation Bureau. Leventhal has argued two cases before the Supreme Court of the United States, "Norwood v. Harrison", 413 U.S. 455 (1973, argued in 1972) and "Blum v. Stenson", 465 U.S. 886 (1984, argued in 1983).


Juan de Garay y Becerra

Juan de Garay y Becerra (1558–1638) was a Spanish nobleman, who served during the Viceroyalty of Peru as alcalde and lieutenant governor of Santa Fe (Argentina).
He was born in Asunción (Paraguay), son of the founder of Buenos Aires Don Juan de Garay and Doña Isabel de Becerra, daughter of Francisco de Becerra and Isabel de Contreras y Mendoza, belonging to a distinguished family. He was married to Juana de Saavedra, daughter of Martín Suárez de Toledo and María de Sanabria. And the sister of Hernando Arias de Saavedra, governor of the Río de la Plata and Paraguay.
His second wife was Juana de Espindola y Palomino, daughter of Spanish conquistadores.


Nadeem Ahmad

Lieutenant-General Nadeem Ahmad, (Urdu: نديم احمد; HI(M), SE, TBt), is a now-retired senior three-star rank general officer who is famed and widely honored for planning and coordinating the relief and reconstruction non-combatant military operations after the devastating earthquake of October 2005. Securing the appointment as the director of Federal Relief Commission of Pakistan Army, his credentials secured him the directorship of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA). After serving in the military for nearly 40 years, he was duly appointed as the chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA); his efforts included the successful disaster management and preparations to contain the nationwide 2010 floods and coordinate the rescue operations in the Hunza Valley, Attabad Lake, and the Airblue crash.
His other military staff appointments included the directorship of the Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) and the vice-chief of general staff at the Army combatant headquarters (GHQ). His last military assignments included the field operations commander of the I Strike Corps at Mangla Cantt, until his retirement in May 2010. He commanded military operations in the war in north-west fronts and was the battlefield commander of the Special Support Group (SSG) for IDPs affected by the successful military operations in Swat and Waziristan.
Career in the military.
Nadeem Ahmad was commissioned in the Pakistan Army on 12 December 1971 in the 48th PMA Long Course in the Baloch Regiment, which later became the Sind Regiment. He commanded the Lahore Infantry Division as well as Force Commander Northern Areas (FCNA) in Gilgit from 2001 to 2003 and then as director general of the Anti-Narcotics Force (DG ANF) from 2003 to 2005. He was then called back into the Army and served as the Vice Chief of General Staff (VCGS) from 2005 to 2006. He was serving as VCGS when the fateful earthquake hit the Kashmir region on 8 October 2005. He later served as commander of the Mangla Corps from 2007 to 2009.
Nadeem Ahmad is a graduate of Command and Staff College, Quetta and College of EME, Rawalpindi besides holding two master's degrees in war studies, and strategic studies from National Defence College, Islamabad and U.S. Army War College, Carlisle, Pennsylvania. He is also recipient of an Honorary Doctorate in Disaster Management from University of Huddersfield, UK.
Chief Military Coordinator of Federal Relief Commission (FRC).
Following the devastating Pakistan earthquake that killed 73,338 people, injured 128,304, and rendered 3.5 million people homeless, then Maj-Gen Nadeem Ahmad (close friend of Nadeem Ahmed Advocate) was appointed Chief Military Coordinator for the Military Wing of the Federal Relief Commission (FRC). The FRC at that time was headed by Lt Gen (R) Farooq Ahmad Khan, who was in-charge of relief efforts from the civilian side.
Maj-Gen Nadeem and the Pakistan Army worked with the United Nations and other representatives of national and international agencies, donor countries and NGOs, to plan and implement the massive relief operations. He is credited by some in the international community as having been the key player in organizing the Pakistan Government's response to the earthquake.
Deputy Chairman ERRA.
Following the relief phase, Nadeem was promoted to lieutenant general and appointed deputy chairman of Pakistan's Earthquake Reconstruction & Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA), the organization responsible for the $5bn reconstruction efforts. Under his leadership, ERRA planned, funded and implemented programmes for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of the 30,000 km2 devastated region of North West Frontier Province and Kashmir in twelve key sectors of Health, Education, Water & Sanitation, Social Protection, Telecommunications, Industry & Tourism, Livelihoods, Agriculture, Governance, Roads & Transportation, Power, and Environment, with cross-cutting themes of Gender Equity and Disaster Risk Reduction.
Chairman Special Support Group for IDPs.
On 11 May 2009, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Yousuf Raza Gilani, appointed General Nadeem to head a Special Support Group (SSG) for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) at Federal Government level, to support to Provincial efforts to assist people displaced by the fighting in the Swat region of North West Frontier Province (NWFP). The Support Group's worked with government's agencies and departments, military, donors and international humanitarian organizations and communities, and to organise an International Donors Conference to raise funds to assist the IDPs. The Special Support Group is crowned for the successful return of over 2 million IDPs to Swat Region within a short period of 2 months.
The Special Support Group led the relief efforts for the dislocated families of Waziristan. Headquartered in Peshawar, it was the focal point for all operations relating to IDPs in Pakistan. Under the guidance and direction of chairman, the Special Support Group set new standards in Internally Displaced Persons relief, assistance and return.
Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).
Soon after retirement, the General was appointed as Chairman National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), where he supervised the entire Relief and Early Recovery efforts during the 2010 Pakistan floods, the biggest disaster to have struck Pakistan, affecting 20 million people over an area of 100,000 km2.
He sought resignation in April 2011 after his request to bring ERRA under the NDMA was denied by the political and military leadership.
General Nadeem was a member of the Abbottabad Commission investigating the circumstances surrounding the 2 May 2011 killing of Osama bin Laden by United States Special Forces.
Recognition for services.
In recognition of his outstanding services to humanity, General Nadeem was awarded the nation's highest award, Sitara-e-Esar, by the president of Pakistan in 2006. In 2007, he was presented with the UN Habitat Scroll of Honour at The Hague, Netherlands and also the Shah-e-Hamdan Medal by the Government of Azad Kashmir.
General Nadeem has spoken at numerous conferences, seminars and workshops in Pakistan, the United Arab Emirates, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, China, Denmark, Australia, Nepal and Thailand on all aspects of Disaster Management in both natural disasters and complex emergencies.


T. S. Prahlad

Tumkur Seetharamaiah Prahlad (born 21 May 1940) is an Indian aerospace scientist and the former director of the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL), Bengaluru, known as a specialist in Aerodynamics and Aerospace Design. His contributions are reported in Indian civil aircraft development programmes of Hansa and NAL Saras and light combat aircraft development programme. The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2004, The same year, he received the H. K. Firodia Award from H. K. Firodia Memorial Foundation.
Biography.
After graduating in mechanical engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru (IISc), Prahlada continued his studies there to complete his master's degree in mechanical engineering and secured a doctoral degree (PhD) in aeronautical engineering. He started his career by joining Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and worked at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, Thiruvananthapuram (VSSC), as the head of various divisions such as Aerodynamics Division, Aerospace Dynamics and Design Group, and the Flight Dynamics Group. During his tenure at VSSC, he was involved with development of such space programmes as SLV-3, ASLV, PSLV and GSLV. Later he moved to the Aeronautical Development Agency of the Ministry of Defence where he served as the project director of Light Combat Aircraft development programme.
In 1996, Prahlada joined the National Aerospace Laboratories (NAL) as its director when the civil aircraft programme of the organization was facing difficulties. With encouragement from Raghunath Anant Mashelkar, then director general of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), he revived the NAL Saras programme and obtained the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs in 1999. Under his leadership, which lasted till 2002, NAL is known to have developed its infrastructure and transformed into a cohesive unit.
Prahlad, whose researches have been documented by several articles, has participated in many scientific projects and workshops and has delivered orations, including the "Satish Dhawan Memorial Lecture" of 2013. He is the chairman of the Asian Fluid Mechanics Committee, an organization promoting advanced research in Fluid Mechanics. He is a Fellow of the Aeronautical Society of India (AeSI) and the Indian National Academy of Engineering (INAE). The Government of India awarded him the civilian honour of the Padma Shri in 2004 and H. K. Firodia Award of the H. K. Firodia Memorial Foundation also reached him the same year. Five years later, he received two more awards; the Indian Institute of Science Alumni Association honoured him with the "2009 Distinguished Alumni Award" and he received the "Eminent Engineer Award" of the Institution of Engineers. He continues to be associated with the National Aerospace Laboratories is its advisor and lives in the south Indian city of Bengaluru.


Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank

Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank (ZWMB), whose full name is Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank Limited, is a deposit-taking microfinance institution in Zimbabwe. The bank serves those members in the community, who have been un-reached by conventional commercial banks, particularly rural women.
Location.
The bank maintains its headquarters and main branch in the "Trust Towers Building", along Samora Machel Avenue in the central business district of Harare, the capital and largest city of Zimbabwe. The geographical coordinates of the bank's headquarters are:17°49'37.0"S, 31°02'47.0"E (Latitude:-17.826944; Longitude:31.046389).
Overview.
As of June 2018, ZWMB's assets were valued at US$10 million, all of it being shareholders' equity. A that time the bank maintained one branch, in downtown Harare. Media reports indicate that ZWMB is the first Women's bank in Southern Africa. While serving customers regardless of gender, the bank focuses on delivering services to women, specially rural women with emphasis on the previously un-banked. Services offered include savings accounts with low opening deposits, group accounts, availability in rural areas, lending to micro, small and medium enterprises and provision of financial literacy classes. During the first ninety days, the bank opened nearly 9,000 client accounts.
History.
After a period of planning, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe granted a microfinance banking license to Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank Limited to commence operations on 29 May 2018. The bank commenced banking services on Tuesday 12 June 2018.
Ownership.
The company is 100 percent owned by the Zimbabwean government, through the Zimbabwe Ministry of Women's Affairs, Gender and Community Development.


Gudalur Janmam Abolition Act

The Gudalur Janmam Estates (Abolition and Conversion into Ryotwari) of 1969 was an act aiming at vesting of agricultural land to the cultivators and was specially created for the Gudalur Taluk of Nilgiris District in Tamil Nadu State in India. The Act passed by the Tamil Nadu State Legislature as Act 24/1969.This was also included in the ninth schedule of the Constitution. Section 3 of the said Act was for vesting the private forest with the State Government and this provision was struck down by the Court as unconstitutional. to overcome the Court Judgment, this Act was placed in the 9th Schedule of the Constitution of India. A Bench of Supreme Court held that the purpose of the Act, enacted by the Tamil Nadu government, was meant to do away with hereditary ship.
Act.
This act is placed in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution of India as entry number 80. Therefore, it is exempt from constitutional challenge on civil right grounds


Sujata Mehta (Indian Foreign Service)

Sujata Mehta is a former Indian Foreign Service officer, currently serving as a member of the Union Public Service Commission.
Personal life.
Sujata Singh was born on 30 March 1957. She holds a Master of Philosophy in Political Science and joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1980.
Career.
An Indian Foreign Service officer of the 1980 cadre, Mehta served as the Third Secretary at the Embassy of India in Moscow from August 1982 to February 1984. She has also served at Indian missions in Dhaka, India's permanent mission at the United Nations and as the Indian Ambassador to Spain. She was also deputed at the United Nations. Sujata Mehta served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations Conference on Disarmament, Geneva. She also served in various capacities at the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office.
Sujata Mehta was appointed as a member of the Union Public Service Commission about a month prior to her superannuation. She left the Indian Foreign Service and was sworn in on 21 February 2017.


Malaysian motor vehicle import duties

Malaysian motor vehicle import duties is an article describing the excise duty on imported vehicles into the country.
Background.
Malaysia's car industry is dominated by two local manufacturers which are heavily supported by the government through National Car Policy e.g. trade barriers. These local manufacturers are Proton and Perodua.
These excise duties imposed on foreign manufactured cars have made them very expensive for consumers in Malaysia. These taxes are also one of the highest in the world.
This makes most foreign cars extremely expensive for buyers, although cheaper in other countries. These taxes cause a foreign car to cost almost three times or 200% more than the original price.
Passenger cars (including station wagons, sports cars and racing cars).
Source: http://maa.org.my/pdf/malaysia_duties_taxes_on_motor_vehicles.pdf
Four-wheel-drive vehicles.
Source: http://maa.org.my/pdf/malaysia_duties_taxes_on_motor_vehicles.pdf
Others (MPV & VAN).
Source: http://maa.org.my/pdf/malaysia_duties_taxes_on_motor_vehicles.pdf
Commercial vehicles.
Source: http://maa.org.my/pdf/malaysia_duties_taxes_on_motor_vehicles.pdf
Motorcycles.
Source: http://maa.org.my/pdf/malaysia_duties_taxes_on_motor_vehicles.pdf


Privatization in Slovakia

Privatization in Slovakia occurred primarily in the 1990s as a result of the Velvet Revolution in 1989 and after the creation of Slovak Republic in 1993 due to the splitting of Czechoslovakia. While the Czech Republic, under the leadership of President Václav Havel and Prime Minister Václav Klaus, has emerged as a favorite for Western investors and entrepreneurs, Slovakia under autocratic Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar struggled with the transition.
Background.
Privatization in Slovakia started even before the creation of the Slovak Republic on 1 January 1993. The so-called "first wave of voucher privatization" started in Czechoslovakia in November 1991; Czechoslovak citizens could order shares of state-owned companies using the technique as part of the transition to the private sector.
History.
On 6 January 1993, Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar announced that Slovakia would not continue its voucher privatization, but would continue the privatization process in different ways.
The Minister for Privatization in the First Mečiar government was Ľubomír Dolgoš (HZDS), who was perceived as an independent economist. Despite his hasting of the privatization process, privatization effectively stalled in Slovakia. According to Dolgoš, various Ministry offices did not work on preparing privatization but instead they were only concerned with how to find ways to give certain state-owned companies to certain people. In June 1993, after conflicts with Mečiar, Ľubomír Dolgoš resigned as a Minister and left the political party HZDS. After the President of Slovakia Michal Kováč refused to name Ivan Lexa the next Minister of Privatization, Mečiar officially took over the responsibilities of the Minister and named Lexa the Deputy Minister ().
On 5 August 1996 the FNM Presidium President Štefan Gavorník said that the agency is preparing to privatize firms, including banks, under pressure from the ministers of agriculture, economy, and construction and public works, in spite of Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar's written pledge to the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ), in which he guaranteed a halt to privatization.


Trust Fund Recovery Penalty

In the United States, the term trust fund recovery penalty refers to a tax penalty assessed against the directors or officers of a business entity which failed to pay a required tax on behalf of its employees. The name derives from the fact that Social Security and Medicare taxes are paid into a trust fund which is used to pay out benefits under these programs.
Applicable law.
Section 6672 of the Internal Revenue Code provides that employers (rather than the employees themselves) must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on their employees wages, as well as withhold a certain percentage of the wages and pay this withholding to the Internal Revenue Service. If the employer is a business entity such as a corporation or a limited liability company, then any person who was "required to collect, truthfully account for, and pay over" the individual is liable "for a penalty equal to the total amount of tax" that went unpaid. Once assessed, these "trust fund penalties" cannot be discharged in bankruptcy, and the taxpayer will be liable for them even if the business entity itself is liquidated.
Administration.
The Internal Revenue Service determines whom to assess the penalty against by conducting "trust fund penalty interviews" and filing a report using Form 4180. Questions asked include the scope of the individual's role regarding the business and the means by which taxes such as payroll were dealt with and paid over. Taxpayers unhappy with the result of the interview have the right to petition a court and be heard.


Jane Lambert

Jane Lambert is the former Australian High Commissioner to Malta with non-resident accreditation to Tunisia (2012-2016). She has also served as Deputy High Commissioner to South Africa, Counselor at the Australian High Commission in Nigeria, and First Secretary at the Australian Embassy to the European Union, Belgium and Luxembourg.
Lambert earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Flinders University, and a Master of Arts degree in Public Policy from the Australian National University.


Men of the Lightship

Men of the Lightship is a short propaganda film produced by the Crown Film Unit for the British Ministry of Information in 1940, the year after the beginning of the Second World War. It dramatises the bombing of the East Dudgeon lightship by the "Luftwaffe" on 29 January 1940 and was designed to portray Germany as a barbaric enemy. An opening narration explains the traditional understanding of lightships (stationary ships used as lighthouses) as neutral vessels during war.
The filmmakers attempted to recreate the original incident as realistically as possible; the crew of the lightship is composed of real lightship men rather than professional actors. The realism of the film was praised in press reviews upon its release, and it was considered one of the best British propaganda films of the period. "Men of the Lightship" was also distributed in America in 1941, in an edited version produced under the supervision of Alfred Hitchcock.
Plot.
In 1940, the East Dudgeon lightship's seven-man crew are waiting for the arrival of another crew to relieve them of their duties so they can return home. While they are waiting, a momentary danger is encountered and dealt with: a drifting mine comes perilously close to the ship and the crew call for a minesweeper to destroy it.
Later, while the crew are gathered on deck, two "Luftwaffe" aircraft fly overhead. To the men's surprise, the aircraft begin firing at them with machine guns, wounding the captain in the arm. As the attack intensifies, and the aircraft begin to drop bombs, the entire crew manage to escape the vessel on a lifeboat. The efforts of the German bombers eventually result in the lightship sinking.
The escaped crew row during the night in an attempt to reach the shore. Before they can land the boat, the lifeboat capsizes and overcome by tiredness, the men drown. A new lightship is then stationed in place of the sunken vessel.
Cast.
The filmmakers cast real lightship men rather than professional actors. The only identified actor is Bill Blewitt, a fisherman who appeared, as himself, in four documentary films, notably "The Saving of Bill Blewitt" (1937), as well as appearing as an actor in four other productions between 1942 and 1945.
Not all the crewmen died as shown in the film. John Sanders of Great Yarmouth was the sole survivor.
Production.
"Men of the Lightship" was based on a real incident that happened to the East Dudgeon lightship on 29 January 1940. The Ministry of Information decided to use this event for propaganda purposes, to portray Germany as a barbaric enemy and thus encourage support of the war effort against them. The film ends with the narrator concluding: "The Nazis must be stopped. We must, we can, we will stop them." Central to this propaganda aim of the film is the idea that the German aircraft are violating the traditional wartime convention that lightships should be protected as neutral, as they are undefended ships that serve all vessels regardless of the nationality of their crew. Another propaganda theme supported by "Men of the Lightship" is that of sacrifices for the war effort being made by ordinary working class citizens. To support this end, the characters in the film are developed to show their everyday concerns and activities, including the upcoming wedding of one crew member, and the pet tortoise owned by another.
During production, the makers of the film sought to recreate the original event as completely as possible, and the credits note the director David MacDonald "reconstructed" the film (rather than "directed"). As with other documentary films produced by the Crown Film Unit during the war, this desire for realism led to the use of "real people" in place of professional actors. When the film was originally shot, professional actors had been used for the roles of the lightship's crew, but producer Alberto Cavalcanti contacted David MacDonald during the film's production, asking him to re-shoot the sections containing professional actors because he thought they were "totally unconvincing", in contrast with the "splendid" performances of the amateurs. These scenes were then re-filmed with real lightship men.
An alternative ending, not consistent with the course of the original incident, was proposed by RAF officials. The suggestion was that additional propaganda value could be added to the film's narrative if the German aircraft were shot down by RAF aircraft. This idea was rejected by the filmmakers, although the RAF still assisted with the reconstruction of the attack, lending two Bristol Blenheim bombers.
Reception.
"Men of the Lightship" was highly praised by both the trade and general press. A reviewer in the "Daily Express" stated that it was "the best British documentary film I have yet seen". In the trade magazine "Cinema", a reviewer considered that it had cinematic merit outside of its propaganda value, commenting on the "grim realism" of the work and concluding that the film was an "absolutely first-class job of work" and a "credit to everyone concerned in its production". The film's realism was also mentioned in a review in "The Times", which stated that "the employment, not of professional actors but of men who might well have had such an experience... turns out to be inexplicably a better means of attaining reality than any skilled imitation." This reviewer also considered the attack to be "astonishingly vivid". Writing in anticipation of the film's distribution in Australia, Betty Wilson in "The Sydney Morning Herald" described it as "the best propaganda film England has put out this war", "worth half a dozen films of the calibre of "The Lion Has Wings"".
When the film was released in Australia in early 1941, it was met with a positive reception. In "The Sydney Morning Herald", it was described as a "tensely thrilling and moving document". "The Australian Women's Weekly" praised the film's realism, stating: "It is difficult to believe you are not watching the real lightship and its crew, so natural is the acting of the cast, so vivid the action scenes."
The high praise received for the film meant that some cinemas in the United Kingdom listed it as the main feature. In a survey of propaganda shorts conducted by Mass-Observation in July 1941, "Men of the Lightship" was one of the best rated titles, receiving only positive responses.
U.S. release.
As with many other British propaganda films, "Men of the Lightship" was distributed in the United States. It was released in an edited version under the title "Men of Lightship 61". Twentieth-Century Fox and RKO had been approached as possible distributors for the film in the U.S., but had both declined, suggesting that the film in its current state was unsuitable for an American audience. Alfred Hitchcock was subsequently approached to explore the possibility of adapting the narration, using an American narrator. As well as supervising the editing process, Hitchcock funded the project at a cost of $4,428. Robert Emmet Sherwood, who co-wrote the screenplay for the 1940 Hitchcock film "Rebecca", was chosen to edit the script for the narration, which was spoken by actor Robert Montgomery. The modified version of the film was distributed by Twentieth-Century Fox in 1941. Hitchcock also later oversaw the editing of the film "Target for Tonight". On both occasions, he was uncredited.
DVD release.
"Men of the Lightship" is included on Volume 3 of the BFI GPO Film Unit Collection, "If War Should Come". The collection of 18 films cover the period 1939–1941.


Sardar Singh of Udaipur

Sardar Singh (29 August 1798 – 14 July 1842) was the Maharana of Mewar Kingdom (r. 1838–1842). He was great grandson of Sangram Singh II, grandson of Nath Singh of Bagore, son of Shivdan Singh of Bagore and was adopted by Maharana Jawan Singh.


Luis de Las Casas

Luis de las Casas y Aragorri (Sopuerta, Spain, 25 August 1745 - Puerto de Santa María, 19 July 1800) was Spanish Governor of Cuba and the Commander in Chief of the Province of Louisiana and the Floridas.
Links.
Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia


United States Deputy Secretary of State

The Deputy Secretary of State of the United States is the principal deputy to the secretary of state. The current deputy Secretary of State is Wendy Ruth Sherman, serving since April 2021 under secretary of state Antony Blinken. If the secretary of state resigns or dies, the deputy secretary of state becomes acting secretary of state until the President nominates and the Senate confirms a replacement. The position was created in 1972. Prior to July 13, 1972, the Under Secretary of State had been the second ranking officer of the Department of State. The position was most recently held by Stephen Biegun.
The State Department is the only federal Cabinet-level agency that had two co-equal Deputy Secretaries in its history. The second Deputy Secretary of State, the Deputy Secretary of State for Management and Resources, served as the "first assistant" for the purposes of the Vacancies Reform Act, but both deputy secretaries had full delegated authority to act for the secretary, if not otherwise prohibited by law. They are listed with a "B" designation, below, during the years of President Barack Obama, under Secretary Hillary Clinton and Secretary John Kerry. These Deputies were Jack Lew, who, after almost two years at the State Department, left to become Obama's Chief of Staff and then later Treasury Secretary in 2013; Thomas Nides, who had only pledged 2 years of service and then subsequently returned to be the chief operating officer at Morgan Stanley; and Heather Higginbottom, who filled out Barack Obama's second term under Secretary Kerry as the first female Deputy Secretary of State. This practice was ended under President Donald Trump.
Certain Deputy Secretaries of State went on to become appointed as the Secretary of State, such as Warren Christopher in 1992 and Lawrence Eagleburger in 1993 under President William Jefferson Clinton, and Antony Blinken, as the Secretary of State under President Joseph Biden in 2021.


Toldos Aharon

Toldos Aharon is a devout, insular, fervently anti-Zionist Hasidic movement. The group is characterized by extreme conservatism and a desire to preserve the life of the old Yishuv in Jerusalem, in sharp opposition to Zionism, in a strict Haredi way of life, in a special style of clothing, and in an emphasis on prayer at a moderate pace and with enthusiasm. Headquartered in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood, it also has significant numbers in Ramat Beit Shemesh, and New York City, and additional members in Tiberias and in Harish. The sect has about 1,800 households. Toldos Aharon is a split-off from Shomer Emunim. It is led by its Rebbe, Dovid Kohn.
History.
The Chassidus is named after Aharon Roth, who established a group in Satmar in the year 1921, which was characterized by far-reaching criteria for the worship of God. In 1928, Rabbi Roth immigrated to the Land of Israel. Because of the special importance he saw in reciting amen aloud, Roth changed the group's name in 1933 to "Shomer Emunim".
Roth died on 6 Nisan in 1947. About a year later, his students split up, and a relatively small group chose his son, Avraham Chaim Roth, to succeed his father as Rebbe. Most of the students chose Aharon's son-in-law, Avrohom Yitzchok Kohn. He established his court on the outskirts of the Mea She'arim neighborhood (today, stands instead the "beth midrash" of the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Hasidic group). Yoel Teitelbaum of Satmar opposed Aharon's approach, but with the rise of Kohn, who was his disciple, to serve as rebbe, there was a rapprochement between the two Hasidic sects.
Avrohom Yitzchok Kohn died during Hanukkah of 1996. Kohn had many sons, four of whom are rebbes today.
Accession of the current rebbe.
At the end of Avrohom Yitzchok Kohn's life, and in the context of two years in which he did not function, there was controversy in the community over who would inherit it. During these years, the institutions of the community found it difficult to function. Most of the members of the community and the administration of its institutions supported Kohn's second son, Dovid, who until then served as rabbi of Toldos Aharon in the town of Monsey, New York. Others favored the eldest son, Shmuel Yaakov, as successor. Among the supporters of the first-born were also the rabbi of the community in Jerusalem and its representative in the "beth din" of the "Edah HaChareidis", Meir Brandsdorfer, and the kabbalist Daniel Frisch.
After Rabbi Kohn died, two of his sons came to an agreement, whereby the younger son, Dovid, from Monsey, New York, inherited the title "Toldos Aharon Rebbe". The eldest son, Shmuel Yaakov, a disciple of the Viznitzer Rebbe, became a rebbe as well, of a group that was entitled "Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok", named after his father. The main "beth midrash" of Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok is also in Meah Shearim, one block away from the Toldos Aharon building. Both live in Jerusalem. Another son is a rosh yeshiva in Kiryas Joel, New York. The other two sons formed Hasidic courts on their own, both located in Meah Shearim as well, and are known as the Mevakshei Emunah Rebbe and the Nachlas Aharon Rebbe, respectively.
Dress and customs.
In Jerusalem, married men wear white and grey "zebra" coats during the week and golden bekishes/Caftan (coats) on Shabbos. Toldos Aharon and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok are the only groups where boys aged 13 and older (bar mitzvah) wear the golden coat and a "shtreimel", as married men do; however, married men can be differentiated by their white socks, while the unmarried boys wear black socks. In other Hasidic groups, only married men wear a "shtreimel". All boys and men wear a traditional Jerusalemite white yarmulke. Unmarried boys wear a regular black coat with attached belt on weekdays, unlike the married men, who wear the "zebra" style coat.
Married women cover their hair without wearing wigs, and the standards of "tzniut" expected from them are the strictest among all Hasidic/Orthodox Jewish groups. As is customary in the traditional Jerusalemite community, unmarried girls have their hair in two braids, unlike most other Haredi communities, where the girls wear a simple ponytail.
The Shomrei Emunim are characterized by fervent and visibly emotional prayer, and by a rigid lifestyle controlled largely by ""takanos" - decrees written by the Rebbe. One such decree, for example, forbade wearing wool. (Jewish law forbids wearing anything that contains both wool and linen. Rabbi Aharon worried that it would be safest not to wear wool at all, in order to avoid the possibility of violating the law altogether.) A strong emphasis is placed on the importance of full-time Torah study, and daily immersion in ritual baths.
Hasidic books of the Shomer Emunim, Toldos Aharon, and Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok groups.
In addition to those books which are revered by all Hasidic Jews, the Toldos Aharon Hasidim particularly revere the books, "Shomer Emunim", "Shulchan HaTahor", and "Taharas HaKodesh", by Aharon Roth, and "Divrei Emunoh" by Avrohom Yitzchok Kohn. The version of the prayer book used by Toldos Aharon Hasidim is called "Brochoh u'Tehilloh". The Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok have published a weekday prayer book called, "Tehillas Avrohom Yitzchok", but also use the "Brochoh u'Tehilloh" version as well.
Avrohom Yitzchok Kohn was said to have instructed his followers to learn the works of Aharon HaLevi of Staroshelye, which include "Sha'arei HaYichud VeHaEmunoh", "Sha'arei Avoda", and "Avodas HaLevi"". The Staroselyer Rebbe was a follower of the first Rebbe of Chabad, Shneur Zalman of Liadi. After the passing of Shneur Zalman, Aharon HaLevi started his own Hasidic following, an offshoot of Chabad, in Staroselye.


Four Courts

The Four Courts () is Ireland's most prominent courts building, located on Inns Quay in Dublin. The Four Courts is the principal seat of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal, the High Court and the Dublin Circuit Court. Until 2010 the building also housed the Central Criminal Court; this is now located in the Criminal Courts of Justice building.
Court structure.
The building originally housed four superior courts, of Chancery, King's Bench, Exchequer and Common Pleas, giving the name to the building.
Under the Supreme Court of Judicature Act (Ireland) 1877, these four courts were replaced by two - the Court of Appeal, presided over by the Lord Chancellor, and the High Court of Justice, headed by the Lord Chief Justice - but the building has retained its historic name.
Under the Courts of Justice Act 1924, courts were established for the new Irish Free State with the Supreme Court of Justice, presided over by the Chief Justice, replacing the Court of Appeal and a reconstituted High Court of Justice, presided over by the President of the High Court, continuing the jurisdiction of the old High Court. The Constitution of Ireland in 1937 provided that courts would be established in a manner provided by the Constitution; this did not in fact occur until the implementation of the Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act 1961. The Supreme Court and High Court (now dropping "of Justice" from their title) established under this act continued the jurisdiction of the courts established under the 1924 Act.
A new Court of Appeal was established in 2014, following a referendum in 2013, largely taking over the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court and the old Court of Criminal Appeal. Its civil division sits in the Four Courts.
History.
Gandon's building.
Work based on the design of Thomas Cooley for the Public Records Office of Ireland, began in 1776. After his death in 1784 renowned architect James Gandon was appointed to finish the building which we recognise today as the Four Courts. It was built between 1786 and 1796, while the finishing touches to the arcades and wings were completed in 1802. The lands were previously used by the King's Inns.
Easter Rising.
The Four Courts and surrounding areas were held by Commandant Edward Daly's 1st Battalion during the Easter Rising in 1916. Some of the most intense fighting of Easter Week took place in the Church Street/North King Street/North Brunswick Street area. At the end of the week the Four Courts building itself became the headquarters of the 1st Battalion.
Destruction in Civil War.
On 14 April 1922 the courts complex was occupied by IRA forces opposed to the Anglo-Irish Treaty, led by Rory O'Connor. On 27 June the new National Army attacked the building to dislodge the rebels, on the orders of the Minister for Defence Richard Mulcahy, authorised by President of Dáil Éireann Arthur Griffith. This attack provoked a week of fighting in Dublin. In the process of the bombardment the historic building was destroyed. The west wing of the building was obliterated in a huge explosion, destroying the Irish Public Record Office at the rear of the building. Nearly a thousand years of archives were destroyed by this explosion, the ensuing fire, and the water poured onto the fire.
O'Connor's forces were accused of mining the records office; however, those present, who included future Taoiseach Seán Lemass, said that, while they had used the archive as a store of their ammunition, they had not deliberately mined it. They suggest that the explosion was caused by the accidental detonation of their ammunition store during the fighting.
Reopening in 1932.
For a decade after the destruction of the Civil War, the courts sat in the old viceregal apartments in Dublin Castle. In 1932, a rebuilt and remodelled Four Courts was opened. However, much of the decorative interior of the original building had been lost and, in the absence of documentary archives (some of which had been in the Public Records Office and others of which were among the vast amount of legal records lost also), and also because the new state did not have the funds, the highly decorative interior was not replaced.
Further development.
The Office of Public Works added a modern two-store extension to the roof of the old Public Records Office in the late 1960s. They also built River House on Chancery Street, which served as Dublin's only motor tax office for a number of years.
Criminal courts.
Prior to 2010 both civil and criminal trials were heard in the Four Courts, which was also the location of the Court of Criminal Appeal. When the Criminal Courts of Justice building, near the Phoenix Park, opened in January 2010, all criminal trials were transferred there. The Four Courts remain in use for civil matters.
Plans for Supreme Court building.
There are plans to relocate the Supreme Court to a new purpose-built building near the Four Courts.


National Intelligence Directorate (Colombia)

The National Intelligence Directorate (; DNI) is the main intelligence agency of Colombia. It is the successor organization to the Administrative Department of Security (DAS) which was tasked with providing internal and external intelligence, law enforcement and immigration control. The agency reports solely to the President of Colombia, and is currently led by retired Admiral Rodolfo Amaya.
In November 2011, President Juan Manuel Santos announced that he would be dissolving the Administrative Department of Security after the agency went through various scandals involving agents spying on politicians and judges. Aside from the scandals, the creation of the DNI was incentivised by the need to revamp the intelligence services, and decentralise power among the security and intelligence institutions in Colombia. The DNI unlike its predecessor organisation the DAS, does not take part in Law Enforcement activities, nor does it control the border and immigration services. Its main task is Intelligence both domestic and abroad, and counter intelligence. Its strategic vision was laid out in 2011, with the aim of becoming a leader in the production and analysis of strategic intelligence and counter intelligence in the national and international realm by the year 2019. One practical aspect towards reaching this goal has been to diversity its recruitment pool by providing more professional career pathways for individuals with no military or police background.


Office of Space Commerce

The Office of Space Commerce is an office within the United States Department of Commerce. It is currently one of several offices within the department that are responsible for overseeing and promoting economic activity in space. The office is small in size and the current director is Kevin O'Connell.
In May 2018, Wilbur Ross, the Secretary of Commerce announced plans to consolidate the Office with the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs Office to form a new administration, the Space Policy Advancing Commercial Enterprise (SPACE) Administration. The goal of the new agency would be to streamline the regulatory process.


East Midlands Electricity

The East Midlands Electricity Board (EMEB) was formed in 1947 as one of the United Kingdom's twelve area electricity boards specified under the Electricity Act 1947. In 1990 it was floated on the stock market as East Midlands Electricity plc, which went through several changes of ownership.
Supply area.
The board covered a large area: from Chesterfield in Derbyshire, to Newport Pagnell (near modern-day Milton Keynes), in Buckinghamshire, and from Coventry in the west to Skegness in the east.
Structure.
The organisation's headquarters were at Mapperley Hall in Mapperley Park, Nottingham in the 1960s, then on Coppice Road in Arnold, a suburb of the city.
The board was responsible for the purchase of electricity from the electricity generator (the Central Electricity Generating Board from 1958) and its distribution and sale of electricity to customers.
The key people on the board were: Chairman A.N. Todd (1964) A. H. Kenyon (1967), Deputy Chairman A. H. Kenyon (1964) P. Sydney (1967), full-time members J. A. MacKerrell (1964, 1967) R. A. York (1967).
History.
The board was required to supply electricity to homes and businesses, as regulated by the Act, and under terms of reference from the Electricity Council and the CEGB. In many towns, the board opened showrooms, to provide customer service facilities such as paying bills, as well as demonstrating and supplying the latest electrical goods to customers. The total number of customers supplied by the Board was:
The post-war period was one of fast growth for the electricity industry. The pre-war National Grid system was vastly expanded, and many new power stations were opened across the region. One major customer was British Rail: when the West Coast Main Line was electrified in the 1960s, and the East Coast Main Line in the 1980s, the electricity boards were required to supply the lines passing through their territory with electricity direct from the National Grid. The amount of electricity, in GWh, sold by East Midlands Electricity Board was:<graph>{
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Privatisation.
In 1987, the Conservatives’ election manifesto committed the party to further privatisation of nationalised industries, and the electricity industry was to be one of these. In March 1990, the board became East Midlands Electricity plc, a new regional electricity company. In December 1990 it floated on the stock market. Although operations continued as usual for a few years, the business began to be separated, and broken up. The electricity showroom and sales business merged with those of other companies into the Powerhouse chain, in 1994/5. In November 1995, the company split into three divisions of distribution, metering and supply. In 1996, the company was bought by Dominion Resources for £1.3bn in December 1996. In September 1998, EME's distribution and supply business was bought by Powergen for £1.9bn, ensuring the business remained vertically integrated. The EME brand was not replaced until 1999, although the distribution business continued under the EME brand until it merged with Central Networks in 2004.


Border-adjustment tax

A border-adjustment tax (also known as a border-adjusted tax, destination tax, destination-based cash flow tax or a border tax adjustment) is a tax on goods based on location of final consumption rather than production. It allegedly eliminates incentives for companies to reduce their tax bills through tax inversion and intangible asset relocation.
History.
The concept of a border-adjustment tax was originally the subject of a 1997 article by economist Alan J. Auerbach. Auerbach worked with Michael Devereux, who had introduced with Stephen R. Bond, the term destination-based corporate tax. Auerbach described a system that he claimed would align business incentives with the national interest.
Currency adjustment.
While it may appear that this would increase consumer prices, Auerbach's theory holds that a border-adjustment tax would strengthen the domestic currency by a proportion corresponding to the tax rate. The stronger domestic currency would effectively reduce the price of imported goods, effectively cancelling out the higher tax on imports.
Trade effects.
In theory, a border-adjustment tax is trade neutral: the stronger domestic currency would make exports more expensive internationally, lowering demand for exported products while reducing the costs incurred by domestic firms in purchasing goods and services in foreign markets, helping importers. Thus, the anticipated strengthening of the domestic currency effectively neutralizes the border-adjustment tax, resulting in a trade-neutral outcome. However other studies indicate that currency adjustments may not always flow through to price adjustments, shifting the incidence of the tax to consumers and/or producers.
United States.
In the United States, the Republican Party in 2016 included most of Auerbach's recommendations in their policy paper "A Better Way — Our Vision for a Confident America", which promoted a move to "a destination-basis tax system." As of February 2017, the proposal was the subject of heated debate - with Gary Cohn, Director of the National Economic Council opposing it and the Koch brothers-funded Americans for Prosperity (AFP) lobby group, unveiling their plan to fight the tax.


United States Deputy Secretary of Commerce

The deputy secretary of commerce is a high-ranking position within the U.S. Department of Commerce. It was created on December 13, 1979, when President Jimmy Carter sent a letter to the U.S. Senate and nominated Luther H. Hodges, Jr., who then currently held the title of under secretary of commerce. The deputy secretary serves as the department’s chief operating officer, with responsibility for the day-to-day management of its approximately $11.4 billion budget, 13 operating units, and 46,000 employees. In that capacity, the deputy secretary is also a member of the President’s Management Council. The current deputy secretary is Don Graves, who was sworn in on May 14, 2021.
History.
The deputy secretary serves as the principal deputy of the secretary of commerce in all matters affecting the department and performs continuing and special duties as the secretary may assign including, as may be specified by the secretary, the exercise of policy direction and general supervision over operating units not placed under other Secretarial Officers or other Department officials. In addition, the deputy secretary acts as secretary if the secretary has died, resigned, or is otherwise unable to perform the functions and duties of the office of secretary.
Rebecca M. Blank was the deputy secretary of commerce until she stepped down on May 31, 2013. She was confirmed by unanimous consent by the U.S. Senate in March 2012. She had been serving as acting deputy secretary since November 18, 2010. She replaced Dennis F. Hightower, who was deputy secretary of commerce from August 2009 to August 2010.
Patrick D. Gallagher was appointed acting deputy secretary on June 1, 2013. Bruce H. Andrews was confirmed as the next deputy secretary on July 24, 2014.


Syahril Sabirin

Syahril Sabirin (born 14 October 1943 in Bukittinggi, West Sumatra) served as governor of Indonesia's central bank from 1998 to 2003. In 2009, he was sentenced to two years in jail for his role in the Bank Bali scandal.
Education.
Syahril studied at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta, graduating with an economics degree from the Faculty of Economics in 1968. In 1972, he earned a scholarship from USAID to study at Williams College and graduated with Master of Arts in Development Economics in 1973. Under the USAID scholarship, he then continued to study at Vanderbilt University, earning a Ph.D in economics in 1979.
Career.
Syahril joined Bank Indonesia in 1969. He later served a three-year term as Senior Financial Economist at the World Bank, Washington DC. In late 1997, Indonesian President Suharto summoned him back to Bank Indonesia, at which time the country was suffering from the Asian financial crisis. In February 1998, at the height of the economic and financial crisis, he was appointed Governor of Bank Indonesia, succeeding Soedradjad Djiwandono. Syahril oversaw the central bank's efforts to deal with the crisis under President Suharto until May 1998 and then under presidents BJ Habibie and Abdurrahman Wahid. He also oversaw the transformation of Bank Indonesia to an independent central bank in May 1999. He completed his term as Governor in May 2003.
Legal case.
In 2000, Syahril had a dispute with President Wahid over banking issues, but as Bank Indonesia had become an independent central bank, the president did not have the legal authority to remove the central bank governor. The Attorney General then accused Syahril of involvement in the Bank Bali fraud scandal. In March 2002, Central Jakarta District Court sentenced him to three years' imprisonment, but he remained free pending an appeal and retained his position as central bank governor. In August 2002, Jakarta High Court overturned the conviction. The Supreme Court in 2004 upheld his acquittal. Then in 2009, in a controversial procedure, the Supreme Court re-examined the case and sentenced Syahril to two years' imprisonment.


Glidden Co. v. Zdanok

Glidden Co. v. Zdanok (consolidated with Lurk v. United States), 370 U.S. 530 (1962), is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that judges of the Court of Claims and the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals were judges created under Article III of the Constitution (also known as "Article III judges"). As such, it was permissible for the Chief Justice of the United States under 28 U.S.C. § 293(a) to designate judges from the Court of Claims and the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals to serve on district courts and courts of appeals.
Background.
In "Ex parte Bakelite Corp." and "Williams v. United States", the Court held that the United States Court of Customs and Patent Appeals and the United States Court of Claims were courts created under Article I of the Constitution. However, the U.S. Congress in 67 Stat. 226 (1953) and 72 Stat. 848 (1958), had indicated that the two courts were constituted under Article III of the Constitution. This distinction was important as judges of Article III courts are considered part of the independent judiciary as they are appointed for life and their salary cannot be decreased, which is in turn considered a requirement for the operation of judiciary as a separate branch of government. In the two cases at hand, judges from these courts had been assigned to courts of appeals and districts court by the Chief Justice of the United States as part of the task of balancing the workloads among the various courts. It was contended that these judges were judges of Article I courts and therefore could not adjudicate decisions on Article III courts. It was contended that as the judgments of the Court of Claims had traditionally required Congressional appropriation to pay prevailing plaintiffs, because the Court of Claims issued advisory reports in response to matters referred to it by Congress under , and because the Court of Customs and Patent Appeals could review certain administrative decisions of the Tariff Commission under , that they there not truly independent as required by Article III.
Opinion of the Court.
In a plurality opinion, the Justice Harlan, writing for himself, Justice Brennan and Justice Stewart, held that "Bakelite" and "Williams" were decided incorrectly and that the courts had always been Article III courts and that the Congressional act of 1953 and 1958 confirmed that status. As such, it was permissible for judges from either court to be designated for service on courts of appeals and district courts and the decisions of the lower courts in this instance were valid. Justice Clark, writing for himself and the Chief Justice, concurred in the result, but concurred on the grounds that the 1953 and 1958 Acts made the courts Article III courts in light of the confusion that led to the "Bakelite" and "Williams" decisions, which were otherwise accurate. He found that the issues of Congressional reference cases under could be resolved by the Court of Claims declining future cases and that the Tariff Commission cases under were too insignificant to countermand the express Congressional intent of the 1958 act. Justice Douglas, writing for himself and Justice Black, dissented on the grounds that the courts were Article I courts and that the importance of an independent judiciary prevented non-Article III judges from deciding matters brought before Article III courts. The same confluence of practical considerations that dictated the result in Canter has governed the decision in later cases sanctioning the creation of other courts with judges of limited tenure. Tenure that is guaranteed by the Constitution is a badge of a judge of an Article III court. The argument that mere statutory tenure is sufficient for judges of Article III courts was authoritatively answered in "Ex parte Bakelite Corp.":
... the argument is fallacious. It mistakenly assumes that whether a court is of one class or the other depends on the intention of Congress, whereas the true test lies in the power under which the court was created and in the jurisdiction conferred. Nor has there been any settled practice on the part of Congress which gives special significance to the absence or presence of a provision respecting the tenure of judges. This may be illustrated by two citations. The same Congress that created the Court of Customs Appeals made provision for five additional circuit judges and declared that they should hold their offices during good behavior; and yet the status of the judges was the same as it would have been had that declaration been omitted. In creating courts for some of the Territories Congress failed to include a provision fixing the tenure of the judges; but the courts became legislative courts just as if such a provision had been included.
In "United States v. Coe", for example, the Court sustained the authority of the Court of Private Land Claims to adjudicate claims under treaties to land in the territories, but left it expressly open whether such a course might be followed within the States. Upon like considerations, Article III has been viewed as inapplicable to courts created in unincorporated territories outside the mainland, and to the consular courts established by concessions from foreign countries.
Subsequent developments.
In response to this decision, Congress passed 80 Stat. 958 in 1966 which assigned Congressional reference cases from the Article III appellate division judges of the Court of Claims to the Article I trial division commissioners of the Court of Claims. This permitted the Court of Claims to resume hearing Congressional reference cases, which it had ceased accepting in light of "Glidden". In 1982, as part of the Federal Courts Improvement Act, Congress passed 96 Stat. 25, which removed the ability to designate judges from the new Article I Claims Court for use on Article III courts.
Despite the reasoning's status as a plurality opinion that lacks stare decisis, it remains important, having been cited in 68 Supreme Court cases and at least 367 lower court cases. It also stands as a defining case in the distinctions between Article I and Article III courts. Further, the need to retain Congressional reference jurisdiction was a reason that the Claims Court was specifically designated an Article I court by Congress in 1982.


George C. Chamberlain

George C. Chamberlain (1837—1896) was a state representative, newspaper editor, and soldier from Jackson, Minnesota. He served a partial term in the 20th district of the Minnesota State House of Representatives and a full term in the 38th district.
Personal life.
Chamberlain was born in Newbury, Vermont on February 24, 1837. He moved from Vermont to Jackson, Minnesota in August 1866. He worked as the editor of the "Jackson Republic" when he was first elected. In 1881, he moved to Mankato where he became partial owner of the "Mankato Free Press". Chamberlain was a Presbyterian and a member of the freemasons. As he aged, Chamberlain became blind. He died in Bradford, Vermont in November 1896.
Education.
Chamberlain was formally educated at Newbury Seminary in Vermont. He also received vocational education in the "printer's trade".
Career.
State legislature.
Chamberlain ran for election in the 20th district, representing Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Martin, Murray, Pipestone, and Rock counties, in 1870. He won the election; however, it was contested by his opponent A. L. Patchen. He served a portion of the session; however, it was determined that there was gross election fraud and Patchen was given the seat. He was preceded in this position by Michael E. L. Shanks.
Chamberlain successfully ran for election in the 38th district in 1871. He served Cottonwood, Jackson, Murray, Nobles, Pipestone, and Rock counties from 1872 to 1873. He served on the Joint Apportionment and Public Lands committees and was the chair of the Joint Printing committee. He was succeeded in his house seat by Stephen Miller, former Governor of Minnesota.
Other government service.
In addition to his work in the legislature, Chamberlain served in the military and in local government posts. He served as county attorney for Jackson County and later served as county auditor from 1863 to 1865. At the state level, he served on the Minnesota State Board of Equalization. He also served as Serjeant-at-Arms in the Minnesota State Senate in 1875. He served in the Jackson city government in 1882 and served as mayor in 1887.
Military Service.
Chamberlain was a First lieutenant in the 9th Vermont Infantry of the Union Army. He was an acting adjutant in the American Civil War from 1863 to 1865.


Zemlyanka (song)

"Zemlyanka" was the name for a German-Soviet War song written by Alexey Surkov (verses) and Konstantin Listov (music) in 1941 during the Battle of Moscow. The use of zemlyankas by soldiers is mentioned in the song.
Popular culture.
The entire poem was mentioned in the 2005 Canadian historical novel, "Four Steps to Death", by John Wilson, in which Red Army soldiers sing it on the way from Moscow to Stalingrad (present-day Volgograd). The title of the novel is derived from a line of the poem, "And here there are four steps to death."
The song is part of the repertoire of the Alexandrov Ensemble.


Serhiy Tihipko

Serhiy Leonidovych Tihipko or Sergiy Tigipko ( ) (born 13 February 1960) is a Ukrainian politician and finance specialist who has been Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine. Tihipko was Minister of Economics in 2000 and subsequently served as Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine from 2002 to 2004. He ran unsuccessfully for President of Ukraine in the 2010 presidential election and participated in the 2014 presidential election, in which he placed fifth with 5.23 percent of the vote. Tihipko is also former Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Social Policy.
Early life.
Tihipko was born on 13 February 1960 in the village of Drăgănești, Sîngerei, in the Lazovskiy district of the Moldovian SSR in Ukrainian family who moved there from Podolia in 1902. His father fought in World War II where he was badly wounded, and died when Tihipko was 10. His mother was a village nurse. He has two brothers: one six years older, and one two years younger.
Tihipko grew up in suburb of Chișinau and moved to Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR after finishing school when he was 17.
Education, the army, and the young communist league (Komsomol).
Tihipko was educated at the local school in Lazovskiy district, and then went to university in Dnipropetrovsk, where he graduated in engineering-metallurgy from the Dnipropetrovsk Metallurgical Institute in 1982.
He served in the Soviet Army in a tank regiment from 1982–1984.
Tihipko was first head of a department, and then deputy director for teaching and educational work at the Dnipropetrovsk Mechanical-Metallurgical Technical Secondary School from 1984–1986. At the same time he developed a strong career in Komsomol, the youth arm of the Soviet communist party. This enabled him to become First Secretary of Dnipropetrovsk Komsomol regional organization from 1986–1989; there were nearly half a million members of Komsomol in the Dnipropetrovsk region, and Tihipko became its first popularly elected First Secretary in 1989. From 1989–1991, Tihipko was the First Secretary of Dnipropetrovsk regional committee of the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League.
Banking 1991–1997.
"After the break up of the Soviet Union and the results of the political power struggles that followed he decided to put his political interests aside and start a business career as a manager in a private bank. This was an undeveloped industry in the early stages of the former Soviet Union and it turned out to be a shrewd move." He "made swift progress and from 1991–1992 he was appointed Deputy Chairman of a small commercial bank called Dnipro Bank. From there he became Chairman of the Board of the commercial bank Pryvat until 1997, helping in taking the small regional bank to become one of the biggest private banks in Eastern Europe."
Politics again (1994 onwards).
In 1994 he became a non-staff consultant on monetary policy to the President Leonid Kuchma. He was also an advisor to Kuchma in the lead up to the introduction of the national currency, the Hryvnia in 1996. Realising that there was a conflict of interest between his political role and his shareholding in Privat Bank, he divested himself of the shares
Tihipko served as the minister of economics (1997–1999). In June 2000 Tihipko left the Yushchenko Government to take part in a parliamentary by-election on 25 June and eventually won a seat at the majoritarian constituency #36 in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. In November 2000 became member and leader of Labour Ukraine. At the 2002 parliamentary elections, with the Labour Ukraine being part of the For United Ukraine alliance, he was again elected into parliament. Tihipko was Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine in the years 2002–2004.
Tihipko chaired the election campaign in 2004 for presidential candidate Viktor Yanukovych. After the election Tihipko temporarily left Ukrainian politics, resigning as Labour Ukraine leader on 23 April 2005, to build up a bank which he sold to Swedbank group for nearly $1 billion. Tihipko was an ally of former President Leonid Kuchma. Analysts have claimed Kuchma should have given his support to Tihipko during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential elections instead of supporting Viktor Yanukovych, however Yanukovych had more popular support.
"Korrespondent" estimated his fortune at $369 million in 2009.
Ukrainian presidential election, 2010.
Tihipko was elected leader of the party Strong Ukraine in November 2009. In January 2010, Tihipko declared "his team" will participate in the 2014 Kyiv local election.
Tihipko was a candidate for President of Ukraine in the 2010 presidential election.
Of the 18 presidential candidates, Tihipko has declared the biggest income to the Ukrainian election Committee. He had an income of about $2.5 million in 2008 and told "Kyiv Post" he had spent roughly the same amount on his presidential campaign till December 2009. “I will spend as much as I need. This is my own money.” Tihipko claims he has spent 90 million hryvnia (about $11 million) on his election campaign.
Tihipko was defeated in the first round of the presidential election, receiving 13.05% of the vote; two candidates (Yulia Tymoshenko and Viktor Yanukovych) received more votes.
On 22 January 2010 Tihipko warned outgoing president Viktor Yushchenko could introduce a state of emergency during the transfer of power after the presidential election 2010.
Tihipko did not endorse a candidate for the run-off of the election. He did state he would agree to become Prime Minister of Ukraine under the new President whose program is close to him. Tymoshenko did offer Tihipko to become Prime Minister if she would win the election. While (then) candidate Victor Yanukovych stated that Tihipko and (another 2010 presidential candidate) Arseniy Yatseniuk would "have a good chance to be in the team that will unite Ukraine and will build our country together with me".
According to a poll by Research & Branding Group, as of 27 November Tihipko was running fifth in polls at 4.4%, behind Viktor Yanukovych (32.4%), Yulia Tymoshenko (16.3%), Arseniy Yatseniuk (6.1%) and Volodymyr Lytvyn (4.5%), and ahead of Petro Symonenko (3.8%) and incumbent President Viktor Yushchenko (3.5%).
A poll conducted by FOM-Ukraine in late November placed him in third place at 7.4%, with 23% of the respondents stating that they consider Tihipko "a promising young politician whom they would like to see at the presidential elections." Director of the Penta Center for Applied Political Studies Volodymyr Fesenko thought that this third-place by Tihipko could be explained by the fact that some voters started to consider Tihipko not only an alternative to the leader of the Party of Regions Viktor Yanukovych, but as an alternative to fellow candidate Arseniy Yatseniuk. According to a Russian poll taken in the last week of the campaign, Serhiy Tihipko was to be the unexpected outsider, snapping the second place from Tymoshenko.
According to the results of an exit poll initiated by the ICTV TV channel, Tihipko would have won the 2010 presidential election if had participated in the second round of the election.
Political career after the 2010 presidential election.
On 11 February 2010 Tihipko stated that he would agree to become Prime Minister of Ukraine if President Victor Yanukovych offered him the post. On 15 February Yanukovych stated "I do not rule out the candidature of Tihipko. Tihipko is on the list which, in my opinion, will be discussed next week in parliament". On 17 February 2010 Tihipko stated that he had met Yanukovych twice after the election to discuss issues of the country's development and that he had reached no agreement with the parliamentary faction of the Our Ukraine-People's Self-Defense Bloc regarding their support of his candidacy for the post of Prime Minister. On 21 February 2010 President Yanukovych offered three candidates for the Prime Minister post: Tihipko, Our Ukraine faction member Arseniy Yatsenyuk and Party of Regions lawmaker Mykola Azarov. On 11 March 2010 Tihipko was elected as one of six deputy Prime Ministers (in charge of economic issues) in the Azarov Government. This cabinet was reshuffled in December 2010; according to Deputy Head of the "Situations Modelling Agency" Oleksiy Holobutsky this resulted in Tihipko being responsible for all unpopular reforms. He was appointed Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine – Minister of social policy of Ukraine.
In August 2011 Tihipko and Prime Minister (and a Party of Regions leader) Mykola Azarov announced that Strong Ukraine and Party of Regions were going to team up and eventually Strong Ukraine would be merged into POR. Tihipko stated (in October 2011) he would become a Party of Regions member after the negotiations between the parties was concluded. The two parties merged on 17 March 2012. The same day Tihipko was unanimously elected Party of Regions deputy chairman and member of the Party of Regions political council. In the 2012 parliamentary election he was (re)-elected into parliament on the party list of Party of Regions. Tihipko did not return to a ministerial post after and hinted (in December 2012) that he would mainly deal with the ideology of Party of Regions since. He was one of the 36 members of the Party of regions faction (who consisted of 96 deputies) who voted in favour of the impeachment of President Viktor Yanukovych in February 2014.
Ukrainian presidential election, 2014.
Tihipko is a self-nominated candidate for President of Ukraine in the 2014 presidential election. Of the 23 presidential candidates, Tihipko has declared the biggest income to the Ukrainian election Committee. He had an income of about UAH 263 million in 2013. According to the first poll published after Vitali Klitschko withdrew from the presidential race, as of 31 March Tihipko was running second at 17.9%, behind Petro Poroshenko (38.3%).
On 29 March a Party of Regions convention supported Mykhailo Dobkin's nomination as a presidential candidate. On 7 April 2014 the political council of the party expelled Tihipko from the party. He then accused that the party had "been turned into a branch of a specific financial and industrial group, a private enterprise".
On 23 April 2014 Tihipko announced that (the party) Strong Ukraine would be re-established and that its 2012 merger with Party of Regions had been "a mistake". On 5 August 2014 he was re-elected party leader of Strong Ukraine.
In the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election he received 5.23% of the vote, ranking 5th among all candidates. He did do better than Dobkin, who gained 3.03%.
Career after the 2014 presidential election.
In the 2014 Ukrainian parliamentary election Tihipko headed the national list of Strong Ukraine. But he was not elected into parliament because the party won one constituency parliamentary seat (only).
Banking 2015 onwards.
Early May 2015 Tihipko was appointed head of the supervisory council of TAScombank, in which he holds the largest stake of nearly 49%.
Tihipko bought a controlling stake (99.9230%) in Russian Sberbank's Ukrainian subsidiary in December 2017. He then merged this subsidiary with TAScombank without shutting down the financial institutions' branches.
Political positions.
In the buildup to the 2010 Ukrainian presidential election Tihipko stated that Ukraine should conduct the most constructive policy possible in relations with neighboring countries, including both Russia and the West. In September 2009 he wrote an article that was published in the Ukrainian edition of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" in which he criticized Ukraine's foreign policy over the past five years, saying its goal had been to "participate in a cordon sanitaire" around Russia, which has done "enormous economic damage" to Ukraine, weakened Ukraine’s position in the post-Soviet realm, and turned Moscow into a "powerful opponent of Ukrainian interests." According to Tihipko (in January 2010) Ukraine is not yet ready to seek membership in the European Union or NATO and must first focus on forming a unified government that can stimulate the country's economy. In the long term he seeks European integration for Ukraine. In December 2012 Tihipko stated that European integration was more advantageous to Ukraine than accession to the Customs Union of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia.
Tihipko supports legalization of prostitution in Ukraine. In November 2009 he stated, "...we should not be hypocrites. If certain things exist we should speak about them openly and resolve [them] if necessary."
Tihipko supports the privatization of Ukraine's gas-pipeline system and its joint management by Russia and Europe, but warned that he would "not support the seizure of the pipeline" by Russia, which he believed the conditions (late 2009) where being set for. He was critical about the April 2010 natural gas agreement stating that while the deal might make economic sense "The procedure of debating the agreement and completing it behind closed doors is not what the Ukrainian people want."
Presidential candidate Tihipko intends to make Russian a second state language if he wins the 2014 Ukrainian presidential election. In the campaign he spoke out against the separatism of the pro-Russian armed groups in Eastern Ukraine and for decentralisation. In the campaign he advocated Ukraine's non-aligned status "if we now start talking more about NATO – it completely will split the country. He also called Russia "an aggressor which invaded Crimea".
Family and private life.
Tihipko was married to Natalia Tihipko from 1981 to 2004. They had one daughter together, Hanna, born in 1984; she now works in a company owned by her father.
Tihipko married Viktoriya Tigipko later in 2004, during the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election campaign. Viktoria is the President of the Odessa International Film Festival. She is also Managing Director at a venture company which invests in online projects worldwide, and is considered to be one of the most successful businesswomen in Ukraine. The couple have three children, born in 2002, 2005 and 2008.
External links.
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Columbia and Port Deposit Railway