Abd-al-Hafid Mahmud al-Zulaytini

Dr. Abd-al-Hafid Mahmud al-Zulaytini () is a Libyan politician who served as Assistant Secretary of the General People's Committee of Libya (Deputy Prime Minister) prior to the Libyan Civil War.
Background.
In late 2001, Zulaytini took over from Ahmad Abdel Karim Ahmad as acting chairman of the governing council for state-owned National Oil Company (NOC), becoming the top man in the petroleum sector in Libya. Ahmad had been chairman since 1 October 2000 and was relatively a new figure promoted by someone close to Gaddafi. He had taken over from Abdallah Salem el-Badri. Zulaytini was appointed as NOC chairman in January 2002, with specific directions to work on attracting foreign investment into Libya.
On 23 February 2007, the Libyan General People's Congress passed a resolution appointing a new cabinet led by Baghdadi Mahmudi, the current prime minister and a new deputy, al-Zulaytini.
Other activities.
Al-Zulaytini is also deputy chairman for the Libyan Investment Corporation (LIC), which was established in early 2007 as a holding company with a mandate to manage and restructure state enterprises, such as the Fund for Africa and the Economic and Social Development Fund. Board member include Planning Secretary Taher Al-Jehaimi, Secretary of Finance Muhammad al-Huwayj, and Farhat Bengdara, who is governor of the Central Bank of Libya. LIC's President and CEO is Muhammad Layas who previously chaired the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank (LAFB). He was Secretary of Finance from 2009 to 2011.
Zulaytini is also the current chairman of Al Masraf, a commercial bank in the United Arab Emirates.


John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire

John Hobart, 2nd Earl of Buckinghamshire (17 August 17233 August 1793) was a British nobleman and politician.
Biography.
The son of John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire by his first wife Judith Britiffe, he was educated at Westminster School and Christ's College, Cambridge. He was Member of Parliament for Norwich from 1747 to 1756, having also been elected for St Ives in 1747 but opting to sit for Norwich. He held office as Comptroller of the Household in 1755-56 and as a Lord of the Bedchamber from 1756 to 1767, having succeeded his father as Earl in 1756. He was Ambassador from the United Kingdom to Russia from 1762 to 1765 and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland from 1776 to 1780, when his Chief Secretary was Sir Richard Heron, Bt. In the latter role he had to concede free trade and, more importantly, the enactment of the Papists Act 1778 which partially repealed the Penal laws and provided measures for the relief of Roman Catholics and Dissenters.
Family.
He married firstly Mary Anne Drury, daughter of Sir Thomas Drury, 1st Baronet, and secondly Caroline, daughter of William James Conolly, but died without surviving male issue and was succeeded by his half-brother George Hobart, 3rd Earl of Buckinghamshire.
He had three daughters by his first wife:
and three sons, who died young, and one daughter by his second wife:
He was laid to rest in the family mausoleum at Blickling Hall, the family seat in Norfolk. The bodies of his two wives are also in the mausoleum, which is an unusual grade II* listed pyramidal structure designed by architect Joseph Bonomi the Elder, based on Pyramid of Cestius in Rome.
References.


Vasily Vasilievsky

Vasily Grigorievich Vasilievsky (also spelled "Vasiljevskij" and "Wasiliewski"; ) was a Russian Empire historian who founded the St. Petersburg school of medieval studies and was a major force in Byzantine studies during the second half of the 19th century.
The son of a rural priest, Vasilievsky was born on 2 February 1838. Graduating with honours from the University of St. Petersburg in 1860, he was appointed professor there and was elected into the Russian Academy of Sciences in 1890.
Vasilievsky edited the Journal of the Ministry of Education before founding, in 1894, the "Vizantiyskiy Vremennik", which remains the chief organ for Byzantine studies in Russia to this day. He was the first to publish many medieval Greek sources relating to Russian history ("Byzantium and the Pechenegs", 1872). He was also the first to research the agrarian history of Byzantium and its tax system ("Iconoclast Legislation", 1878).
Vasilievsky died in Florence on 25 May 1899. His collected works were published in four volumes between 1908 and 1930. The Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (1890-1906) noted that "almost every modern Byzantinist is Vasilievsky's disciple". The foremost among his pupils was Alexander Vasiliev (1867-1953).


Mahmud Jan Daylami

Sharaf al-Din Shah-Mahmud Jan Daylami Qazvini (), better known as Mahmud Jan Daylami () was an Iranian bureaucrat from the Daylami family, who occupied high offices under the Aq Qoyunlu and the Safavids.
Biography.
A native of Qazvin, Mahmud Jan was a member of the Daylami family from the regions of Persian Iraq and Gilan. In his early career, Mahmud Jan served as administrator of the financial affairs of Persian Iraq and Fars under the Aq Qoyunlu ruler Sultan Khalil (r. 1478). During the reign of Sultan Khalil's brother and successor Ya'qub Beg (), the powerful chief military judge and chief financial minister, Qazi Isa Savaji utilized his power by appointing his friends and relatives to high offices, including Mahmud Jan, who was his brother-in-law and thus received the offices of "vazir" (finance officer) and "mushrif" (inspector) of the royal council. Mahmud Jan's son (Qazi Isa's nephew) Najm al-Din Mas'ud Savaji was made the "parvanachi" (royal secretary). The contemporary Timurid statesman and writer Ali-Shir Nava'i refers to Mahmud Jan as one of the leading figures under Ya'qub. Mahmud Jan is included amongst the figures mentioned in the "Munsha'at" of Qadi Husayn Maybudi, a collection of 112 letters to prominent political and intellectual figures of the Aq Qoyunlu and
Timurid realms.
While Mahmud Jan along with Shaykh Ali Savaji (Qazi Isa's brother) were assessing and seizing tax-free places in the southern city of Shiraz, Ya'qub became severely ill and died in December 24, 1490 in the Transcaucasian region of Qarabagh. Following his death, the Aq Qoyunlu fell into a state of succession wars, thus leading to its decline. The governor of Shiraz had Shaykh Ali captured and taken to the capital of Tabriz, where he was tortured. Four days following Ya'qub's death, Qazi Isa was captured and afterwards hanged. Najm al-Din Mas'ud managed to escape for a short while, until he was as well captured and executed. Mahmud Jan escaped the fate of his associates by fleeing to Qazvin. During this period, he moved in and out of his government posts. After the Aq Qoyunlu prince Rustam Beg Bayandur () had captured Tabriz in May 1492, Mahmud Jan was summoned to serve as his financial manager.
By 1497, Rostam found himself largely deserted by his subjects, and was soon deposed and killed by his cousin Gövde Aḥmad, who had received reinforcements by the Ottoman Empire. In 1499, Mahmud Jan was once more recalled by another Aq Qoyunlu ruler, Sultan Khalil's son Alvand Beg (), who had captured Tabriz with the backing of the Bayandur and Mawsillu chieftains. Mahmud Jan appears in records as a high-ranking administrator under Alvand Beg. In 1502, the Safavid shah (king) Ismail I () appointed Mahmud Jan as his vizier to jointly serve with Amir Zakariya, another former Aq Qoyunlu bureaucrat. Mahmud Jan's former colleague Idris Bitlisi soon contacted him, asking him to help as a mediator with Ismail I, whom he had fallen out with. In 1507, as a part of a larger rearrangement of the bureaucracy, Mahmud Jan and Amir Zakariya were replaced with Najm-e Sani.


Vurka (Hasidic dynasty)

Vurke (Yiddish: ווארקא) is a Hasidic dynasty originating from the city of Warka, Poland, where it was founded by Israel Yitzhak Kalish (1779–1848). Vurka is a branch of Peshischa Hasidism, as Israel Yitzhak Kalish was a leading disciple of Simcha Bunim of Peshischa (1765–1827). Following Simcha Bunim's death, he led a part of the divided Peschischa community, in Przysucha, later incorporating the community into his own Hasidic dynasty based in Warka. Like the other branches of Peshischa Hasidism, such as Kotzk and Ger, Vurka is known for their rationalistic and individualistic approach to Hasidism.
History.
After Simcha Bunim of Peschischa's death in 1827, Peschischa became divided into several different sects led by Menachem Mendel of Kotzk and Avraham Moshe of Peshischa. Originally Kalish supported the secession of Simcha Bunim's son Avraham Moshe, however after his death a year later in 1828, he took over as Avraham Moshe's successor. Kalish moved the majority of the community to Warka, where he established his own Hasidic court. He also established a minor court in Przysucha, which he put Avraham Moshe's son, Tzvi Mordechai of Peshischa in charge of. Israel Yitzhak Kalish’s eldest son Yaakov David (1814–1878) founded the Amshinov Hasidic dynasty, which still exits today in Israel and the United States as the only continuation of Vurka. Following Israel Yitzhak Kalish’s death, a large percentage of his followers accepted Shraga Fayvel Dancyger (the founder of Aleksander Hasidism) as Kalish's successor. Israel Yitzhak Kalish’s younger son, Menaḥem Mendel Kalish (1819–1868) reluctantly became the Vurka rebbe. Menaḥem Mendel’s son and successor Simcha Bunim Kalish (1851–1907) moved the community to Otwock, where he amassed several new followers. In 1905, he suddenly left for the Land of Israel, and was succeeded by his son Menachem Mendel (1860-1918).


Deepali Pant Joshi

Deepali Pant Joshi is a former executive director of the Reserve Bank of India (retired in 2017). She is a development economist and a writer on economic subjects. Her professional responsibilities have included the Department of Currency Management, Legal Department and Premises Department. She was the First Appellate authority under the Right to Information Act, as well as the RBI nominee on the governing council of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS) and director on the board of Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Private Limited (BRBNMPL).
Joshi has also served as the RBI regional director of Rajasthan. Prior to her appointment as executive director, Joshi was responsible for Customer Service Department and Rural Planning and Credit Department.
Early life.
Deepali Pant Joshi studied at St Mary's Convent Allahabad and at the University of Allahabad. Her father, Mr Jagdish Mohan Pant was an Advocate at the Allahabad High Court and later Administrator General and Official Trustee for the state of Uttar Pradesh. Her mother Professor Chandra Pant taught History at the University of Allahabad.
Personal life.
Joshi is an only child. She is married to Rajeev Joshi. They have two sons, Paritosh and Kunal.
Career.
Joshi is a fellow of Harvard University Asia Centre where she did post doctoral research in the areas of Finance and Economics. She holds a doctoral degree from the University of Allahabad and Law and Management degrees. She joined the Reserve Bank of India as a direct recruit in 1981 and has been with the Reserve Bank since. She has held several important professional responsibilities as Chief General Manager in charge of Urban Banks and Currency Management and administrative responsibilities at RBI Hyderabad. She was the Banking Ombudsman for the State of Andhra Pradesh and Principal, Bankers Training College and Director on the Board of Andhra Bank. Her previous professional responsibility was Chief General Manager in Charge of Rural Planning and Credit Department. She is a prolific writer and has four significant books to her credit. She renders faculty support to the College of Agricultural Banking and has lectured extensively at the IAS Academy at Mussoorie, at the Administrative Staff College, Hyderabad and at several Indian and foreign Universities. She has represented the RBI in several important International Conferences and is the India representative on the Financial Inclusion Expert Group of the G-20. Her policy interests lie in the area of welfare and development economics, law and currency management.


First Djerad government

The first Djerad government (Arabic: حكومة جراد الأولى) is the forty-sixth government of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. It is a government formed by Abdelaziz Djerad on 2 January 2020 under President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.
Formation.
After holding the elections that the Army was betting on in order to end the protests, and the announcement of Abdelmadjid Tebboune's victory and his inauguration as President, the unsurprising resignation of Noureddine Bedoui came.
The First Minister Noureddine Bedoui submitted the resignation of his government on 19 December 2019, which the new President Abdelmadjid Tebboune accepted. At the same day, the TV1 has announced that the Minister of Foreign Affairs Sabri Boukadoum was named as acting First Minister by the President.
On 29 December 2019, the President of the Republic has appointed the Professor Abdelaziz Djerad as First Minister to form a new government. The composition of the government was announced on 2 January 2020 by Belaïd Mohand-Oussaïd, Spokesman of the Presidency, with a number of ministers from the previous one retained.


Energy Tax Act

The Energy Tax Act (, , enacted November 9, 1978) is a law passed by the U.S. Congress as part of the National Energy Act. The objective of this law was to shift from oil and gas supply toward energy conservation; thus, to promote fuel efficiency and renewable energy through taxes and tax credits.
Tax credits for conservation.
This law gave an income tax credit to private residents who use solar, wind, or geothermal sources of energy. The credit is equal to 30% of the cost of the equipment up to $2000, as well as 20% of costs greater than $2000, up to a maximum of $10,000. There were also tax credits to businesses for renewable energy equipment, amounting to a maximum of 25% of the cost of the equipment.
The renewable energy credits of this law were increased by the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act of 1980.
Gas Guzzler Tax.
The Act also created the Gas Guzzler Tax which applies to the sales of vehicles with official EPA-estimated gas mileage below certain specified levels. In 1980, the tax was $200 for a fuel efficiency of 14 to 15 miles per gallon, and was increased to $1800 in 1985. In 1980, the tax was $550 for fuel efficiencies of 13 mpg and below, and was changed in 1986 to $3,850 for ratings below 12.5 mpg. The Gas Guzzler Tax applies only to passenger cars. Trucks, sport utility vehicles (SUV), and minivans are not covered because these vehicle types were not widely available in 1978 and were rarely used for non-commercial purposes. The tax is collected by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and normally paid by the manufacturer or importer. The following chart shows the current tax for various levels of MPG that have been in effect since January 1, 1991.
The combined fuel economy MPG value (55% city, 45% highway) is used to determine tax liability. The MPG value is also adjusted slightly to account for differences in test procedures made since the base year, but it is not adjusted for in-use short fall. The unadjusted combined MPG of a vehicle can be approximated from the city and highway values provided in the "Fuel Economy Guide" by the following equation:
Since this is an approximate calculation, the actual gas guzzler tax may be off by one tax bracket.
We can then find out how much penalty, formula_2, the manufacturer has to pay for that particular vehicle by using the following equation. formula_3 needs to be looked up on the table above and formula_4 is the numbers of cars that are found to be under the set Gas Guzzler standard,
formula_5
Economic impact.
Gas guzzler tax creates incentive to meet the minimum MPG requirement by manufacturer. Due to elimination of vehicles that are below minimum MPG which is 22.5 MPG, vehicle sales have decreased approximately 0.5 percent. However, sales revenues increase by a greater amount due to the added value in vehicles making greater use of fuel economy technology. Currently, the additional cost of efficient hybrid systems can range from $2,000-$10,000 on the vehicle sticker price.
Manufacturers benefit from the increase in price of products. However, the fuel sector may lose revenue if the increase in sales and production of fuel efficient vehicles doesn't just encourage people to drive more.
Market impact.
The Gas Guzzler Tax led to the successive downsizing of most major American passenger autos, and the combination of the tax and late-'70s/early-'80s economic woes effectively killed the American full-size car as it had been known up to that point. Coincidentally, it only took one product cycle before the first modern SUVs were introduced, the Cherokee XJ and the S-10 Blazer (in 1984). By the time Ford introduced the Explorer, the SUV had become the common man's luxury vehicle and Ford capitalized on this using extensive cross-marketing, most notably with Northwest clothier Eddie Bauer.
Critics of the Gas Guzzler Tax contend that the increased fuel economy of the US passenger car fleet observed since 1978 must be considered in the context of the increased market share of mid-size and full-size SUVs. Many consumers' stated reasons for SUV purchase (comfort, interior room, and a perception of safety based on the vehicle's size) also apply to the now-obsolete American full-size car as produced from the 1920s through the 70s; critics contend that the dominance of the modern SUV is a direct result of the Gas Guzzler Tax, which could have applied to all consumer vehicles but does not.


Basel II

Basel II is the second of the Basel Accords, (now extended and partially superseded by Basel III), which are recommendations on banking laws and regulations issued by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision.
The Basel II Accord was published initially in June 2004 and was intended to amend international banking standards that controlled how much capital banks were required to hold to guard against the financial and operational risks banks face. These regulations aimed to ensure that the more significant the risk a bank is exposed to, the greater the amount of capital the bank needs to hold to safeguard its solvency and overall economic stability. Basel II attempted to accomplish this by establishing risk and capital management requirements to ensure that a bank has adequate capital for the risk the bank exposes itself to through its lending, investment and trading activities. One focus was to maintain sufficient consistency of regulations so to limit competitive inequality amongst internationally active banks.
Basel II was implemented in the years prior to 2008, and was only to be implemented in early 2008 in most major economies; the financial crisis of 2007–2008 intervened before Basel II could become fully effective. As Basel III was negotiated, the crisis was top of mind and accordingly more stringent standards were contemplated and quickly adopted in some key countries including in Europe and the US.
Objective.
The final version aims at:
While the final accord has at large addressed the regulatory arbitrage issue, there are still areas where regulatory capital requirements will diverge from the economic capital.
The accord in operation: Three pillars.
Basel II uses a "three pillars" concept – (1) minimum capital requirements (addressing risk), (2) supervisory review and (3) market discipline.
The Basel I accord dealt with only parts of each of these pillars. For example: concerning the first Basel II pillar, only one risk, credit risk, was dealt with easily while the market risk was an afterthought; operational risk was not dealt with at all.
The first pillar: Minimum capital requirements.
The first pillar deals with maintenance of regulatory capital calculated for three major components of risk that a bank faces: credit risk, operational risk, and market risk. Other risks are not considered fully quantifiable at this stage.
As the Basel II recommendations are phased in by the banking industry it will move from standardised requirements to more refined and specific requirements that have been developed for each risk category by each bank. The upside for banks that do develop their bespoke risk measurement systems is that they will be rewarded with potentially lower risk capital requirements. In the future, there will be closer links between the concepts of economic and regulatory capital.
The second pillar: Supervisory review.
This is a regulatory response to the first pillar, giving regulators better 'tools' over those previously available. It also provides a framework for dealing with systemic risk, pension risk, concentration risk, strategic risk, reputational risk, liquidity risk and legal risk, which the accord combines under the title of residual risk. Banks can review their risk management system.
The Internal Capital Adequacy Assessment Process (ICAAP) is a result of Pillar 2 of Basel II accords.
The third pillar: Market discipline.
This pillar aims to complement the minimum capital requirements and supervisory review process by developing a set of disclosure requirements which will allow the market participants to gauge the capital adequacy of an institution.
Market discipline supplements regulation as sharing of information facilitates the assessment of the bank by others, including investors, analysts, customers, other banks, and rating agencies, which leads to good corporate governance. The aim of Pillar 3 is to allow market discipline to operate by requiring institutions to disclose details on the scope of application, capital, risk exposures, risk assessment processes, and the capital adequacy of the institution. It must be consistent with how the senior management, including the board, assess and manage the risks of the institution.
When market participants have a sufficient understanding of a bank's activities and the controls it has in place to manage its exposures, they are better able to distinguish between banking organizations so that they can reward those that manage their risks prudently and penalize those that do not.
These disclosures are required to be made at least twice a year, except qualitative disclosures providing a summary of the general risk management objectives and policies which can be made annually. Institutions are also required to create a formal policy on what will be disclosed and controls around them along with the validation and frequency of these disclosures. In general, the disclosures under Pillar 3 apply to the top consolidated level of the banking group to which the Basel II framework applies.
Recent chronological updates.
September 2005 update.
On September 30, 2005, the four US Federal banking agencies (the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of Thrift Supervision) announced their revised plans for the U.S. implementation of the Basel II accord. This delays implementation of the accord for US banks by 12 months.
November 2005 update.
On November 15, 2005, the committee released a revised version of the Accord, incorporating changes to the calculations for market risk and the treatment of double default effects. These changes had been flagged well in advance, as part of a paper released in July 2005.
July 2006 update.
On July 4, 2006, the committee released a comprehensive version of the Accord, incorporating the June 2004 Basel II Framework, the elements of the 1988 Accord that were not revised during the Basel II process, the 1996 Amendment to the Capital Accord to Incorporate Market Risks, and the November 2005 paper on Basel II: International Convergence of Capital Measurement and Capital Standards: A Revised Framework. No new elements have been introduced in this compilation. This version is now the current version.
November 2007 update.
On November 1, 2007, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (U.S. Department of the Treasury) approved a final rule implementing the advanced approaches of the Basel II Capital Accord. This rule establishes regulatory and supervisory expectations for credit risk, through the Internal Ratings Based Approach (IRB), and operational risk, through the Advanced Measurement Approach (AMA), and articulates enhanced standards for the supervisory review of capital adequacy and public disclosures for the largest U.S. banks.
July 16, 2008 update.
On July 16, 2008 the federal banking and thrift agencies (the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision) issued a final guidance outlining the supervisory review process for the banking institutions that are implementing the new advanced capital adequacy framework (known as Basel II). The final guidance, relating to the supervisory review, is aimed at helping banking institutions meet certain qualification requirements in the advanced approaches rule, which took effect on April 1, 2008.
January 16, 2009 update.
For public consultation, a series of proposals to enhance the Basel II framework was announced by the Basel Committee. It releases a consultative package that includes: the revisions to the Basel II market risk framework; the guidelines for computing capital for incremental risk in the trading book; and the proposed enhancements to the Basel II framework.
July 8–9, 2009 update.
A final package of measures to enhance the three pillars of the Basel II framework and to strengthen the 1996 rules governing trading book capital was issued by the newly expanded Basel Committee. These measures include the enhancements to the Basel II framework, the revisions to the Basel II market-risk framework and the guidelines for computing capital for incremental risk in the trading book.
Basel II and the regulators.
One of the most difficult aspects of implementing an international agreement is the need to accommodate differing cultures, varying structural models, complexities of public policy, and existing regulation. Banks' senior management will determine corporate strategy, as well as the country in which to base a particular type of business, based in part on how Basel II is ultimately interpreted by various countries' legislatures and regulators.
To assist banks operating with multiple reporting requirements for different regulators according to geographic location, there are several software applications available. These include capital calculation engines and extend to automated reporting solutions which include the reports required under COREP/FINREP.
For example, U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chair Sheila Bair explained in June 2007 the purpose of capital adequacy requirements for banks, such as the accord:
Implementation progress.
Regulators in most jurisdictions around the world plan to implement the new accord, but with widely varying timelines and use of the varying methodologies being restricted. The United States' various regulators have agreed on a final approach. They have "required" the Internal Ratings-Based approach for the largest banks, and the standardized approach will be available for smaller banks.
In India, Reserve Bank of India has implemented the Basel II standardized norms on 31 March 2009 and is moving to internal ratings in credit and AMA (Advanced Measurement Approach) norms for operational risks in banks.
Existing RBI norms for banks in India (as of September 2010): Common equity (incl of buffer): 3.6% (Buffer Basel 2 requirement requirements are zero); Tier 1 requirement: 6%. Total Capital: 9% of risk-weighted assets.
According to the draft guidelines published by RBI the capital ratios are set to become: Common Equity as 5% + 2.5% (Capital Conservation Buffer) + 0–2.5% (Counter Cyclical Buffer), 7% of Tier 1 capital and minimum capital adequacy ratio (excluding Capital Conservation Buffer) of 9% of Risk Weighted Assets. Thus the actual capital requirement is between 11 and 13.5% (including Capital Conservation Buffer and Counter Cyclical Buffer).
In response to a questionnaire released by the Financial Stability Institute (FSI), 95 national regulators indicated they were to implement Basel II, in some form or another, by 2015.
The European Union has already implemented the Accord via the EU Capital Requirements Directives and many European banks already report their capital adequacy ratios according to the new system. All the credit institutions adopted it by 2008–09.
Australia, through its Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, implemented the Basel II Framework on 1 January 2008.
Basel II and the global financial crisis.
The role of Basel II, both before and after the global financial crisis, has been discussed widely. While some argue that the crisis demonstrated weaknesses in the framework, others have criticized it for actually increasing the effect of the crisis. In response to the financial crisis, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published revised global standards, popularly known as Basel III. The Committee claimed that the new standards would lead to a better quality of capital, increased coverage of risk for capital market activities and better liquidity standards among other benefits.
Nout Wellink, former Chairman of the BCBS, wrote an article in September 2009 outlining some of the strategic responses which the Committee should take as response to the crisis. He proposed a stronger regulatory framework which comprises five key components: (a) better quality of regulatory capital, (b) better liquidity management and supervision, (c) better risk management and supervision including enhanced Pillar 2 guidelines, (d)
enhanced Pillar 3 disclosures related to securitization, off-balance sheet exposures and trading activities which would promote transparency, and (e) cross-border supervisory cooperation. Given one of the major factors which drove the crisis was the evaporation of liquidity in the financial markets, the BCBS also published principles for better liquidity management and supervision in September 2008.
A recent OECD study suggest that bank regulation based on the Basel accords encourage unconventional business practices and contributed to or even reinforced adverse systemic shocks that materialised during the financial crisis. According to the study, capital regulation based on risk-weighted assets encourages innovation designed to circumvent regulatory requirements and shifts banks' focus away from their core economic functions. Tighter capital requirements based on risk-weighted assets, introduced in the Basel III, may further contribute to these skewed incentives. New liquidity regulation, notwithstanding its good intentions, is another likely candidate to increase bank incentives to exploit regulation.
Think-tanks such as the have also argued that European legislators have pushed dogmatically and naively for the adoption of the Basel II recommendations, adopted in 2005, transposed in European Union law through the Capital Requirements Directive (CRD), effective since 2008. In essence, they forced private banks, central banks, and bank regulators to rely more on assessments of credit risk by private rating agencies. Thus, part of the regulatory authority was abdicated in favour of private rating agencies.
Long before the implementation of Basel II George W. Stroke and Martin H. Wiggers pointed out, that a global financial and economic crisis will come, because of its systemic dependencies on a few rating agencies. After the breakout of the crisis Alan Greenspan agreed to this opinion in 2007. At least the Financial Crisis Inquiry Report confirmed this point of view in 2011.


Mykhailo Lev

Mykhailo Lev (""; born 9 October 1987, Luhansk) — acting Head of the State Space Agency of Ukraine, lawyer, public and political figure, Head of Sarata District State Administration of Odessa region during 2015–2017.
Professional and public experience.
Prior to 2020 has been co-founder and member of the board of Community Organization "Sklyk", Executive Officer of Community Organization "The Initiative of Real Action", Head of the Board of Community Organization "The Center for Political and Legal Studies". In 2016 won the competition for a vacancy of a Deputy Head - Head of Odessa Region State Administration Apparatus.
Public Activities.
Great Political Reform.
On September 7, 2017, at a briefing in the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, the creation of the socio-political movement (NGO) "The Initiative of Real Action" was announced with Mykhailo Lev being its executive director.
By the initiative of "The Initiative of Real Action", together with partners from other NGOs who lobbied the adoption of the law on the Anti-Corruption Court and electoral reform, it was decided to hold a campaign on October 17, called "Great Political Reform", and included three key requirements :
Various meetings in the cities of Ukraine were also held as part of the campaign.
Campaign results:
As to this day, all three requirements have been implemented by the Ukrainian Government.
National Unity Coalition SPILNO.
Created in December 2018, the National Coalition Coalition SPILNO (a member of which was Mykhailo Lev) aimed to provide a communication platform for democratic leaders and support those who can win the 2019 presidential election.
One of the key initiatives was the signing of a memorandum, according to which, after conducting a poll, the optimal candidate for the presidential election was determined. The rest of those who signed the memorandum, withdrew their candidacies from the elections.
During the election campaign, Andriy Sadovyi, Dmytro Gnap, Viktor Chumak, Michel Tereshchenko, Dmytro Dobrodomov and others withdrew their candidacies in favor of Anatoliy Hrytsenko.
Selected works.
Publication in scientific journal of the Uzhgorod National University. "The Theoretical Concept of Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments". "Legal" Series, Iss.21. – P. ІІ, V 1. – Uzhgorod: 2013. – p. 224-228.
Publication in journal of the Kyiv University of Law. "Understanding of Recognition of Foreign Judgment in Private International Law". Kyiv. – 2013/2. – P. 378-381


TsNIIMash

TsNIIMash () is a Russian rocket and spacecraft scientific center, dealing with all phases of development from conceptual design to flight test. It specializes in the development of long range ballistic missiles, air defense missiles, and propulsion units for the defense industry. It was established in 1946.
The name TsNIIMash is an initialism for Central Research Institute of Machine Building ().
History.
Originally called NII-88 (Scientific-Research Institute No.88), the entity was established on May 13, 1946, located at what was then called Kaliningrad, Moscow Oblast (now Korolyov), northeast of Moscow. Based on his Plant No. 88, Dmitriy Ustinov had successfully lobbied to control post-war research and development of rockets in late 1945.
Impressed by his work in Germany on the analysis of the V-2, Ustinov appointed Sergey Korolev chief designer of section 3 on long-range missiles, later called OKB-1. In 1956, OKB-1 was removed from NII-88 to become an independent bureau.
Helmut Gröttrup headed a group of German scientists working for the Soviets at Branch 1 of NII-88 located on Gorodomlya Island. Their job was to help reconstruct a Russian Version of the V-2, called the R-1, after which they were returned to Germany.
The facility was also spied on by American U-2 spy planes in the late 1950s.
It was renamed Central Research Institute of Machine Building in 1967.
Activities.
TsNIIMash performs the following activities:
2018 espionage arrests.
On 21 July 2018, FSB raided offices of TsNIIMash and Roscosmos Research and Analytical Center and arrested ten employees suspected of passing classified hypersonic Russian missile technologies to Western intelligence agencies. Arrested are accused of high treason.
A senior researcher Sergey Meshcheryakov suspected of treason was put under house arrest in July 2019.


Everard Hambro

Sir Everard Alexander Hambro (11 April 1842 – 26 February 1925) was a British banker and philanthropist.
Early life.
Everard Hambro was born 11 April 1842 in Willesden, London. His father, Carl Joachim Hambro, was a Danish immigrant who founded the Hambros Bank in London in 1839. His paternal grandfather, Joseph Hambro, was a Danish banker and political advisor. His paternal great-grandfather, Calmer Hambro, was a Danish merchant and banker.
He graduated from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Career.
Hambro started his career at the family business, Hambros Bank, in 1869.
He served on the Board of Directors of the Bank of England from 1879 to 1925. He helped save Barings Bank in 1891. He was a co-founder of the Central Bank of India in 1911.
Personal life.
He was married twice. He married Gertrude Mary Stuart in 1866. They resided at Milton Abbey in Milton, Dorset. They had five children:
Violet married Everard Martin Smith and her elder son was Eric Martin Smith, MP. Everard Hambro married Ebba Harline d'Iberville Le Moyne Whyte in 1911.
Death.
He died on 26 February 1925.


State Department Award for Valor

The Award for Valor is an obsolete award of the United States Department of State. It has since been replaced with the Award for Heroism. It was presented to employees of State, USAID and Marine guards assigned to diplomatic and consular facilities in recognition of acts of valor or outstanding performance under unusually difficult or dangerous circumstances, whether or not in connection with the performance of assigned duties.
The award consisted of a gold medal set and a certificate signed by an assistant secretary, an official of equivalent rank or the Chief of Mission.
The basic difference between the Award for Valor and the Award for Heroism is that the Valor Award was issued in 10K gold whereas the Heroism Award is issued in sterling silver. The ribbon reflects this; the designs are almost identical, but the color scheme indicates the precious metal issued with the respective awards.
Criteria.
The following criteria were applicable to granting an Award for Valor:
Military use.
Upon authorization, members of the U.S. military may wear the medal and ribbon in the appropriate order of precedence as a U.S. non-military personal decoration.


Butterfield Overland Mail in California

The Butterfield Overland Mail in California was created by the United States Congress on March 3, 1857, and operated until June 30, 1861. Subsequently, other stage lines operated along the route until the Southern Pacific Railroad arrived in Yuma, Arizona in 1877.
History.
The route lasted from 1857 to 1861 and became one of the most important roads in the early settlement and development of California.
Routes.
Second Division.
The Second Division's route from Fort Yuma to Warners Pass followed the Sonora Road, an old Spanish and Mexican trail from Sonora, México to San Diego. The Sonora Road linked with the Kearney Trail that was used during the Mexican–American War by the U.S. Army. During the California Gold Rush the route pioneered by Kearny and Cooke, with the addition of a road from Warner's Pass to the Pueblo of Los Angeles, became the Southern Emigrant Trail used by American immigrants.
The route crossed the Colorado River from New Mexico Territory at present day Yuma, Arizona to Fort Yuma in California, then descended into Baja California Mexico for to avoid the Algodones Dunes sand barrier in the dry southern Colorado Desert. The Mexican route also provided stations with water in the Sonoran Desert, from the Colorado River's spring flooding into the Alamo River and New River.
The route then reentered California to cross the Yuha Desert, and proceeded through the present day Carrizo Impact Area, then up Carrizo Wash through the Carrizo Badlands, to Carrizo Springs Station. It proceeded up Carrizo Creek through the present-day Carrizo Impact Area, towards the oasis of Vallecito Station. From there the route ascended northwest into the Peninsular Ranges, crossing the Laguna Mountains at Warner's Pass to Warner's Ranch Station, and then on to Temecula Station. This route's terminus was Los Angeles, the headquarters of the Second Division of the Overland Mail. The 2nd Division was headquartered in a brick building at the Pueblo de Los Angeles, consisting of an office, blacksmith shop, stables and sheds.
First Division.
The First Division's California route north from Los Angeles followed the Stockton - Los Angeles Road that was established as a southern route to the goldfields during the California Gold Rush. The route went through the San Fernando Valley, with a stop at Rancho Los Encinos. It proceeded over Fremont Pass out of the Valley, up San Francisquito Canyon and over San Francisquito Pass, to the Fort Tejon Pass, where it dropped to the San Joaquin Valley.
The Butterfield route split off the Stockton - Los Angeles Road at Elkhorn Spring Station. From there it went west across the upper San Joaquin Valley, crossing El Camino Viejo on the Rancho San Luis Gonzaga (St. Louis Ranch). It crossed over the Diablo Mountains at Pacheco Pass to reach to Gilroy. It then proceeded north through the Santa Clara Valley and San Jose, to its western terminus in San Francisco, also the headquarters of the First Division of the Butterfield Overland Mail.
Stage stations.
There were originally 53 in California. Thirty-four stations were in the First Division (Bay Area to Los Angeles) and 19 stations in the Second Division (Los Angeles to Colorado River). These stations were located from to apart. The total length of the route across the state was approximately .
Later some of the larger gaps between stations were filled by six new stations.


Hartley Moon

Colonel Hartley Allen Moon (5 February 1877 – 9 April 1946) was the adjutant general of Alabama from 1919 to 1927.
Moon was born in Goodwater, Alabama. At the rank of major, Moon commanded the US Infantry 167th 2nd Battalion during World War I; they arrived in France in late 1917 and saw action in the Lorraine region in early 1918. Moon was wounded in the action.
After the war, he helped World War I flying ace James Meissner in the transformation of the Birmingham Flying Club into the 135th Observation Squadron, which was assigned to the state of Alabama in 1922.
In the late 1920s, he had a house built in the Cloverdale-Idlewild neighborhood of Montgomery, a house which was later inhabited by Wayne Greenhaw. In the 1930s he served as colonel in the Alabama National Guard.
He died in Montgomery, Alabama in 1946, aged 69.


Abdulmejid II

Abdulmejid II (, , 29 May 1868 – 23 August 1944) was the last Caliph of the Ottoman Dynasty, the first and the last Caliph of the Republic of Turkey, nominally the 37th Head of the Ottoman Imperial House from 1922 to 1924.
Biography.
Early years.
On 30 May 1868, he was born at Dolmabahçe Palace, Beşiktaş, Istanbul, to then Sultan Abdulaziz and his wife Hayranidil Kadın. He was younger full brother of Nazime Sultan. He was educated privately.
In accordance with late Ottoman custom, Abdulmejid was confined to the palace until he was 40. On 4 July 1918, his first cousin Mehmed VI became Sultan and Abdulmejid was named Crown Prince. When his cousin was deposed on 1 November 1922, the Ottoman Sultanate was abolished. But on 19 November 1922, the Crown Prince was elected Caliph by the Turkish National Assembly at Ankara. He established himself in Istanbul on 24 November 1922.
On 3 March 1924, six months after the foundation of the Turkish Republic, the Ottoman Caliphate was abolished and the Ottoman dynasty was deposed and expelled from Turkey.
As artist.
Abdulmejid was given the title of General in the Ottoman Army, but did not have strong military inclinations. He had a more significant role as Chairman of the Ottoman Artists' Society.
He is considered as one of the most important painters of late period Ottoman art. His paintings of the Harem, showing a modern musical gathering, and of his wife, Şehsuvar Hanım, reading Goethe's novel "Faust", express the influence of western Europe in his elite circle. These were displayed at a 1918 exhibition of Ottoman paintings in Vienna. His personal self-portrait can be seen at Istanbul Modern.
Abdulmejid was also an avid collector of butterflies, an activity that he pursued during the last 20 years of his life. His favourite magazine was "Revue des deux Mondes".
Personal life.
Abdülmecid's first wife was Şehsuvar Hanım, a Turk. They married on 23 December 1896. She was the mother of Şehzade Ömer Faruk, born in 1898. She died in Paris in 1945, and was buried in Bobigny cemetery. His second wife was Mihrimah Hanım. She died at the Nakkaştepe Palace, on 23 May 1899, and was buried in Nuhkuyusu Mosque, Istanbul.
His third wife was Hayrünissa Hanım, a Circassian. She was childless. His fourth wife was Mehisti Hanım. She was a Circassian-Abkhazian. Her father was Akalsba Hacımaf Bey, and her mother was Safiye Hanım. They married on 16 April 1912. She was the mother of Dürrüşehvar Sultan (who married Azam Jah, son of Mir Osman Ali Khan), born in 1914. She died in Middlesex, London in 1964, and was buried in Brookwood cemetery.
Life in exile and death.
The caliph was nominally the supreme religious and political leader of all Muslims across the world, with the main goal to prevent extremism or protect the religion from corruption. In the last session of the budget negotiations on 3 March 1924, Urfa Deputy Sheikh Saffet Efendi and his 53 friends demanded the abolition of the caliphate, arguing it was not necessary anymore. This was approved by majority of the votes and a law was established. With the same law, it was decided to expel all members of the Ottoman dynasty. Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, however, offered the caliphate to Ahmed Sharif as-Senussi, on the condition that he reside outside Turkey; Senussi declined the offer and confirmed his support for Abdulmejid.
Although Abdülmecid and his family were upset about this decision, they did not want the people to revolt, so they secretly went to Çatalca by car from the Dolmabahçe Palace at 5:00 the next morning. Here, after being hosted by the head of the Rumeli Railways Company for a while, they were put on the Simplon Express.
When Abdulmejid II arrived in Switzerland, he was detained at the border for a while, but was admitted to the country after a delay. In Switzerland, he said multiple times that he was upset about the abolition of the caliphate, and that this would bring chaos to the Islamic world, with the rise of extremism. But after the Turkish government put pressure on the Swiss government, Abdulmejid was never allowed to give such speeches in Switzerland again. After staying in Switzerland for a while, he moved to Nice, France in October 1924.
Abdulmejid lived a quiet life in Nice, France. At first he was poor, hungry, and almost homeless. His daughter Dürrüşehvar Sultan and his niece Nilüfer Hanım Sultan married the Sons of the Nizam of Hyderabad, one of the richest people in the world; thanks to this, his financial situation improved. Because he did not see interest in restoring the caliphate from the Islamic world, he became depressed and focused more on worship, painting and music.
Abdulmejid, who later settled in Paris, used to perform Friday prayers at the Grand Mosque of Paris with other Muslims in the region. After the departure of his very fond grandchildren and son, who left France to marry the Kavala princes of Egypt, he spent painful days alone. He wrote a 12-volume book of memoirs, preserved by his daughter Dürrüşehvar Sultan.
On 23 August 1944, Abdulmejid II died at his house in the Boulevard Suchet, Paris, due to a heart attack. His death coincided with the Liberation of Paris from the German occupation. Despite the efforts of Dürrüşehvar Sultan, his funeral was not accepted to Turkey. Because his funeral was not accepted to Turkey, he was held at the Grand Mosque of Paris for up to 10 years, and after the mosque's Board of trustees said they could no longer hold his body, he was buried in the special Al-Baqi' cemetery in Medina due to being a caliph.


Frank Campbell

Frank Campbell (March 27, 1858 in Bath, Steuben County, New York – February 20, 1924) was an American banker and politician.
Life.
He was the son of Lt. Gov. Robert Campbell and Frances Fowler Campbell. He was educated at Haverling Academy and at Trenton, New Jersey. In 1879, he married Mary Louise Willson (d. 1914), and their son was Willson R. Campbell.
With his brother Clarence he founded the Campbell Brothers Bank in Bath in 1880. After dissolving the partnership, he organized the Farmers & Mechanics Bank of Bath, of which he was Cashier until 1922, and then President until his death.
As a Democrat he was New York State Comptroller from 1892 to 1893, elected in 1891 but defeated for re-election in 1893. He was a delegate to the 1892 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. He was Chairman of the New York State Democratic Committee from 1898 to 1904.


Mariano Olier

Mariano Olier (1752-1816) was an Argentine Catholic priest, who had an outstanding performance in the fight against the smallpox epidemic, that hit the city of Buenos Aires towards the end of the 18th century.
Biography.
Mariano Vicente Joseph Ignacio Olier García was born in Buenos Aires, the son of Matheo Olier and Nicolaza Garcia de la Huerta, belonging to a distinguished family. His grandfather, Sebastian de Olier y Sopuerta, had possessed a title of nobility who was granted him by the King of Spain. The Olier family belonged to a family of noble knights from Sigüenza in the province of Guadalajara.
Mariano Olier had an outstanding performance in the fight against smallpox epidemic of 1778. In 1794 he made a petition addressed to His Majesty the King Charles IV, requesting to be granted a Chaplaincy in the Indies.
He maintained a relationship of friendship with the family of Juan Canaverys and Bernarda Catalina de Esparza, being godfather of one of his children Juan Miguel del Espíritu Santo Canaverys Jugluns, baptized on June 7, 1778.


Humphrey Trevelyan

Humphrey Trevelyan, Baron Trevelyan, (27 November 1905 – 9 February 1985) was a British diplomat and author.
Trevelyan was a son of Reverend George Trevelyan, great-grandson of the Venerable George Trevelyan, Archdeacon of Taunton, third son of Sir John Trevelyan, 4th Baronet. He was educated at Lancing and Jesus College, Cambridge. After Cambridge Trevelyan joined the Indian Civil Service. He served in India until independence in 1947, then transferred to HM Diplomatic Service. He held many key diplomatic posts, including charge in Beijing after the Revolution, ambassador to Egypt at the time of Suez, a development with which he was clearly uncomfortable, ambassador to Iraq at the time of the 1961 Kuwait crisis, Iraq's first attempt to annex Kuwait, and ambassador to the Soviet Union. He completed forty years of public service as the last high commissioner of Aden, where he wound up British protection and oversaw the British withdrawal from what had been the Aden Protectorate and became South Yemen.
Trevelyan wrote a number of books about his career, including "The India We Left" and "The Middle East in Revolution".
On 12 February 1968, he was elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer with the title Baron Trevelyan, of Saint Veep in the County of Cornwall.


Events DC

Events DC is a semi-public company in Washington, D.C. that owns and manages the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, RFK Stadium, and Nationals Park among other DC venues. It also promotes cultural events and activities and receives millions in funding from taxpayers.
History.
The Washington Sports and Convention Authority (WSCA) was formed on October 1, 2009 following the merger of the Washington Convention Center Authority (WCCA) and the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission (DCSEC). The plan was announced by D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty as a cost saving measure in his 2010 budget proposal. In 2011, the WSCA was renamed Events DC to align with the other brands of the District and its tourism arm, Destination DC.
Leadership.
Greg O'Dell has served as its president and CEO since its founding and earns $295,000 per year. The board is chaired by Max Brown, a businessman and lobbyist for Zipcar, CSX Corporation and Corizon Health who previously served as legal counsel and deputy chief of staff to Anthony Williams. Brown is also an investor and lobbyist in esports at the same time that EventsDC started a large esports initiative.
Operations.
Events DC receives more than $100 million in taxpayer money but has an independent board appointed by the Mayor. In addition to overseeing the Convention Center, Nationals Park, RFK Stadium, St. Elizabeths East Entertainment and Sports Arena, and the D.C. Armory, it has provided funding to various construction and development projects in the District. It provided more than $200 million in public money into construction of the Marriott Marquis convention center hotel and acquired the rights to the Carnegie Library. In 2017 and 2018, Events DC spent $150,000 to unsuccessfully lobby Congress to give the District greater authority over RFK Stadium, which could enable the Washington Football Team to return to DC.
Convention center and hotel.
As part of the $520 million construction of the Marriott Marquis which opened in 2014, Events DC expected an increase in citywide conventions. DC hosted 22 conventions in 2011 but only 15 in 2015 and 2016. In October 2015, the DC auditor called on Events DC to increase profitability of the Convention Center after it fell below the average revenues and higher expenses per square foot of 13 other large convention centers studied.
Events DC was responsible for training staff to work at the Marriot Marquis, which had a requirement of hiring district residents for 51 percent of the hotel's staff as a condition of its public financing. Events DC trained and referred 719 District residents to Marriott, while 178 were hired by the hotel, which did not meet the local staffing requirement.
In June 2016, former convention center employees filed suit against Events DC for unpaid wages. They allegedly worked overtime on various tasks but were denied comp time.
Nationals Park.
Nationals Park, which opened in 2008, is managed by Events DC and built almost entirely with taxpayer funding. In 2016, O'Dell announced that $160 million was needed for upgrades and repairs to the facility.
Wizards and Mystics facility.
In 2016, it was announced that Events DC would play a prominent role in the $55 million construction of an arena on the site of St. Elizabeths Hospital that would serve as a practice facility for the Washington Wizards and the new home venue for the Washington Mystics. Members of the DC Council sought to introduce legislation capping public expenditure in the case of cost overruns. On July 28, O'Dell requested an additional $10 million in funding while decreasing the number of seats in the facility. He said earlier estimates were premature. In 2018, O'Dell announced that the cost had increased to $68.8 million, due in part to additions like drywall, and catwalks and higher than anticipated costs like contractors.
O'Dell boasted about the number of local business used in the construction of the facility, but could not provide a list of any of the businesses. Local businesses reported that they were unable to find work at the site. Events DC significantly underestimated the costs of operating the facility and in 2019 the Events DC board approved more than $1 million in additional costs.
Carnegie library.
In 2014, Events DC twice sought to move the International Spy Museum into the library, but failed to win historic preservation approval. In December 2016, Events DC announced an agreement with Apple to turn the library into a new store for the company, designed by Foster and Partners.
Esports.
In 2018, Events DC announced a partnership with Red Bull intended to capitalize on the growing esports market. It was later revealed that Events DC chairman Max Brown had extensive ties with the industry as an investor and lobbyist.
Events DC is also the main jersey sponsor of the Overwatch League's Washington Justice.
Community services.
In December 2009, Events DC, then known as WCSA, was criticized for quoting a usage fee of $77,000 to a nonprofit organization, Remote Area Medical, who wished to use the D.C. Armory to host free health clinics.


Goods and Services Tax (New Zealand)

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a value-added tax or consumption tax for goods and services consumed in New Zealand.
GST in New Zealand is designed to be a broad-based system with few exemptions, such as for rents collected on residential rental properties, donations, precious metals and financial services. Because it is broad-based, it collects 31.4% of total taxation, making New Zealand the highest taxed country in the OECD in terms of sales tax as a proportion of GDP.
The rate for GST effective since 1 October 2010 is 15%. This 15% tax is applied to the final price of the product or service being purchased and goods and services are advertised as GST inclusive.
Background.
GST was introduced by the Fourth Labour Government of New Zealand on 1 October 1986 at a rate of 10% on most goods and services. It replaced existing sales taxes for some goods and services. GST was a part of the economic reforms initiated by Labour Finance Minister Roger Douglas dubbed Rogernomics. GST was introduced in conjunction with compensating changes to personal income tax rates and removal of many excise taxes on imported goods.
Since its introduction it has had two increases, on 1 July 1989 the rate increased to 12.5% and on 1 October 2010 it increased again to 15%.
How it works.
GST-registered organisations and individuals pay GST only on the difference between GST-liable sales and GST-liable supplies (i.e., they pay GST on the difference between what they sell and what they buy: income less expenditure). This is accomplished by reconciling GST received (through sales) and GST paid (through purchases) at regular periods (typically every two months, with some qualifying companies opting for one-month or six-month periods), then either paying the difference to the Inland Revenue (IRD) if the GST collected on sales is higher or receiving a refund from IRD if the GST paid on purchases is higher.
Businesses exporting goods and services from New Zealand are entitled to "zero-rate" their products: effectively, they charge GST at 0%. This permits the business to claim back the input GST, but the eventual, non-New Zealand based consumer does not pay the tax (businesses that produce GST-exempt supplies are not able to claim back input GST).
Because businesses claim back their input GST, the GST inclusive price is usually irrelevant for business purchasing decisions, other than in relation to cash flow issues. Consequently, wholesalers often state prices exclusive of GST, but must collect the full, GST-inclusive price when they make the sale and account to the IRD for the GST so collected.
Digital services supplied by offshore companies.
On 1 October 2016, the taxation of digital ('remote') services supplied by offshore companies (non-New Zealand) to consumers based in New Zealand changed. Since that date, a GST of 15% (dubbed the 'Netflix Tax') is applied to all supplies from offshore digital service suppliers to New Zealand-based consumers. It is the supplier's responsibility to apply, collect and remit the new GST to New Zealand's Inland Revenue Department.
That new piece of GST legislation mirrors similar rules governing the supply of digital services introduced in the European Union (EU) in January 2015 on the taxation of digital goods.
The general taxation of digital goods and services has become more common internationally since the OECD released its long-awaited BEPS report in October 2015. Action 1 of the report deals with the taxation of the digital economy. The report provided guidelines and recommendations for such taxes be they in the form of value-added tax, GST, equalisation levy, or withholding tax.
New Zealand is the latest jurisdiction to include such rules in legislation following in the path of Norway, the EU, South Africa, South Korea, and Japan. In July 2017, the Australian government also plans to introduce similar rules.


House of Li

The House of Li () was the ruling house of the Western Liang and the Tang dynasty of China.
Family history.
Origin.
The Li family originated from the Longxi Commandery with patrilineality origins from the Han Chinese.
The Li family belonged to the northwest military aristocracy prevalent during the Sui dynasty and claimed to be paternally descended from the Daoist founder Laozi (whose personal name was Li Dan or Li Er), the Han dynasty General Li Guang, and Western Liang ruler Li Gao. This family was known as the Longxi Li lineage (隴西李氏), which includes the Tang poet Li Bai. On the other hand, there is also evidence indicates the Tang Emperors also had Xianbei maternal ancestry, from Emperor Gaozu of Tang's Xianbei mother Duchess Dugu. Li Yuan's father Li Bing (李昞), of Han ethnicity, inherited the title of the Duke of Tang and married one of the Dugu sisters, a daughter of the prominent Xianbei general Dugu Xin. Northern Zhou General Li Xian, who claimed to have the same ancestor as the imperial family of the Tang, was in fact of Xianbei origin. Genealogical records of the house seem to have been extensively modified during the rule of the Tang dynasty to conceal their Xianbei heritage. The Tang imperial family preserved many Xianbei customs. Marriages between elite Han men and Xianbei princess have been common. The Northern Wei started to arrange for Chinese elites to marry daughters of the Xianbei Tuoba royal family in the 480s. More than half of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to Han Chinese men from the imperial families and aristocrats from the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei.
The Tang Imperial family was watched over by the Zongcheng si (宗正寺). Longxi Li were claimed by the Tang Emperors as their ancestors. The bigger Longxi Li lineage outside of the Tang Imperial family had prominent members like Li Jiongxiu, Li Yiyan, Li Kui (chancellor), Li Wei (Tang dynasty), Li Fengji, Li Zhongyan, Li Jing (general), Li Zhaode, and Li Bai. The Tang Imperial Longxi Li lineage also included sub lineages like the Guzang Li (姑臧李), from which Li Zhuanmei (李專美) came from, who served the Later Jin.
During the Tang dynasty the Li family of Zhaojun (趙郡李氏), the Cui clan of Boling, the Cui clan of Qinghe, the Lu clan of Fanyang, the Zheng family of Xingyang (滎陽鄭氏), the Wang family of Taiyuan (太原王氏), and the Li family of Longxi (隴西李氏) were the seven noble families between whom marriage was banned by law.
The Tang dynasty included in their imperial family the title of Kaghan of the Yenisei Kirghiz, because the Tang dynasty family asserted Li Guang as their ancestor, and one of Li Guang's grandsons, Li Ling, was asserted as ancestor by the Kaghan of the Yenisei Kirghiz.
Some of the Tang dynasty Imperial family's cadet branches ended up in Fujian. The branch founded by Li Dan (李丹) became prominent during the Song dynasty, as did another founded by Li Fu (李富). Descendants of the Tang Emperors now live in Chengcun village near the Wuyi Mountains in Fujian.
There were dukedoms (二王三恪) established for the offspring of the royal families of the Zhou dynasty, Sui dynasty, and Tang dynasty during the Later Jin (Five Dynasties).
The Hu family of Xidi are descended from Hu Shiliang, from Wuyuan, who was a descendant of Hu Changyi, a son of Emperor Zhaozong of Tang who was adopted by the Wuyuan Hu family.


Emperor Guangzong of Song

Emperor Guangzong of Song（ 宋光宗 ）（30 September 1147 – 17 September 1200), personal name Zhao Dun, was the 12th emperor of the Song dynasty in China and the third emperor of the Southern Song dynasty.
He was the third son of his predecessor, Emperor Xiaozong. His mother was Emperor Xiaozong's first wife, Lady Guo (郭氏; 1126–1156), who was posthumously honoured as "Empress Chengmu" (成穆皇后). His reign was relatively peaceful, but his lack of filial piety eventually made officials replace him with his son Emperor Ningzong.
Early life.
During his childhood, Guangzong either suffered from bipolar or severe neurosis. Despite this, Guangzong was reportedly filial to his father albeit his father kept on delaying the succession.
In 1194, was promoted from the ruler of a Zhou to Fu.
Emperor Xiaozong abdicated in favor of Emperor Guangzong in 1194 which Emperor Guangzong later described his crowning as king and then Emperor Guangzong as a "double celebration" which gave the city of Chongqing its present-day name in honour of Guangzong.
Reign.
Upon the succession of Emperor Guangzong in 1189, it was actually suggested that Empress Dowager Wu would act as his regent, because of his bad health. However, during his reign, it was the spouse of Guangzong who "de facto" ruled the Song Empire.
Guangzong constantly accompanied his father in tours and banquets. This changed due to the enormous influence of his wife Empress Li Fengniang became notorious in Chinese history for being ruthless and shrewd, and for ruling the state through her husband, who became known a "henpecked weakling" dominated by his wife. Eventually, Guangzong made up excuses in order to avoid his father.
According to Xu Wei, the Nanxi style of theatre began in Emperor Guangzong's reign. Guangzong listened to some treacherous officials and dismissed the popular military leader Xin Qiji. Furthermore, Guangzong gave into drinking in his middle years which deteriorated his mental state.
When the Retired Emperor Xiaozong became sick, Guangzong refused to visit him upsetting Xiaozong and furthermore, making Xiaozong's illness worse.
He was forced to give up his throne to Zhao Kuo, his only surviving son and child in 1194 by his officials and his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Wu under the reason that he was "too ill" to perform the mourning rites. In reality, they had forced him to abdicate because he refused to attend the funeral procession of his father, Emperor Xiaozong due to the influence of his wife Empress Li Fengniang, and that he refused to wear mourning clothes making the officials angry about his lack of filial piety. He died in 1200 near Shaoxing, Zhejiang possibly from melancholy as he was mentally ill or he became sick and died.
Family.
Consorts and Issue:


Yorkshire Water

Yorkshire Water is a water supply and treatment utility company servicing West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire, in England. The company has its origins in the Yorkshire Water Authority, one of ten regional water authorities created by the Water Act 1973, and privatised under the terms of the Water Act 1989, when Yorkshire Water plc, the parent company of the Yorkshire Water business, was floated on the London Stock Exchange. The parent company was Kelda Group in 1999.
In February 2008, Kelda Group was bought by a consortium of infrastructure funds.
It is regulated under the Water Industry Act 1991.
Area.
The company's area includes West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, the East Riding of Yorkshire, part of North Lincolnshire, most of North Yorkshire and part of Derbyshire. The area is adjoined on the north by that of Northumbrian Water, on the west by United Utilities, on the south west by Severn Trent Water and on the south by Anglian Water. It serves 2.3 million households and 130,000 business customers.
Environmental record.
Yorkshire Water has received fines for breaches of environmental law. For example:
Performance.
In June 1996, Yorkshire water was effectively fined £40 million by the regulator, Ofwat, by freezing their ability to raise bills for customers. This was a result of what Ofwat described as a "failure to deliver the standards required to consumers". This fine was a result of being the most hated water company during the "year of the drought" (1995). However, Yorkshire Water's performance had turned around so much so that the company was awarded the title by "Utility Week magazine" three years in succession while no other water company has won it more than once."
1992 Sludge tip blocks River Colne Huddersfield.
Landslip of sewage sludge engulfed a sewage works at Huddersfield in 1992. Almost of sewage slipped from its Deighton waste tip on to the plant, and completely blocked of the River Colne. The disaster also forced the closure of a nearby ICI plant.
1995 Year of Drought.
For many months between September 1995 and January 1996 reservoirs in the west side of the region ran dry and water had to be taken by (up to) 700 tankers (delivering of water a day) from the east side of the region near Goole in a convoy of trucks with 3,500 daily deliveries along the M62 in a drastic emergency measure which cost £3 million a week. The trucks were famously shown on TV delivering water into Booth Wood Reservoir. The company has now built a pipeline from the east to the west to allow balancing of water levels to take place should the need arise. Following the "year of drought" Yorkshire Water became known as "the most hated water company" during the many suspected Yorkshire Water would never be able to win back customers trust. However, though to a series of managerial changes and policy shifts, Yorkshire Water quickly turned things around, and won “Utility Company of the Year” from Utility Week Magazine for three years in a row, a record unmatched by any other water or energy company. The company have also either met or exceeded every leakage target set for the company by the Water Services Regulation Authority.
2007 Hull floods.
The company came under intense criticism when the Bransholme pumping station failed, worsening the flood damage of the city and flooding two thousand homes on the Kingswood and Bransholme estates. The pumping station was upgraded in 2015.
Customer service.
Yorkshire Water ranked 11th of 21 water companies in Ofwat’s ‘Satisfaction by company’ survey 2012/13.
in January 2015 the UK Customer Service Index (UKCSI) announced that Yorkshire Water was the leader for service in the Utilities sector, they were also the second most improved organisation in the whole UKCSI, beating competitors such as Severn Trent, Anglian, Thames Water as well as United Utilities and EDF.
The UKCSI is the only external measure showing the state of customer satisfaction in the UK and allows individuals to benchmark across all sectors as well as utilities.
Drinking water quality.
Not taking into account human composition:
In the year ending 31 March 2013, 99.93% of Yorkshire Water’s samples met the UK standards; in the previous year it was 99.95%.
Carbon footprint.
In 2012/13 the company’s greenhouse gas emissions totalled 386 kilotonnes, compared to 394 kilotonnes the previous year.
Constituents.
The authority created in 1973 took over the following public sector water supply utilities:
In early 1999 the company took over York Waterworks Company, a small water-only company serving the city of York.
Reservoirs.
Yorkshire Water allows recreational use of some of its reservoirs. Activities include walking, fishing, horse riding, cycling, water sports and bird watching.
Reservoirs with public access include:
Full details are given on their leisure website. Walking packs and podcasts are available for free download for some of these reservoirs.
Other reservoirs include:


East Timor Trading

East Timor Trading Group is a group of companies based in Dili, Timor-Leste, founded by Mr Sakib and Mrs Neelo Awan in July 2002
Beginning as a distributor of fast-moving consumer goods for retail outlets around Dili, the company has expanded to distribute products from some of the world's leading brands throughout Timor-Leste. The company operates across Sales and Distribution: the import, sale, and distribution of fast-moving consumer goods, and Retail and Hospitality: chains of Burger King franchise restaurants, Gloria Jean's Coffees restaurants, Cheers Bottle Shops, along with Il Gelato in Timor Plaza, and the boutique hotel Discovery Inn incorporating award-winning Diya Restaurant at 84 Rua 30 de Agosto, Dili. The group employs around 300 people, comprising 50% women and 50% men in its total workforce.
History and founder.
Pakistan-born founder, Sakib Awan moved to Sydney, Australia in 1987 with his wife, Neelo, and their then two young children. Sakib Awan held senior management positions at the Holiday Inn Menzies at Wynyard in Sydney, followed by the Sheraton Hotel, Darwin.
Upon Sakib Awan's departure from the hospitality industry, the Awans remained in Darwin and established the company "Transglobal Marketing", a successful export business which won the Northern Territory New Exporter Award in 1993. Following that award, the Awans were offered premises in Darwin's Trade Development Zone. The following year in 1994, they were awarded Northern Territory Exporter of the Year. From 1993 to 2006, Sakib Awan held the position of Honorary Consul for Mexico to the Northern Territory.
Sakib Awan first visited East Timor in 1997 with a delegation of Darwin businesses in his position as Chair of the International Business Council, Darwin. Then in 2000, Transglobal Marketing became part of a consortium to deliver essential supplies to Australian troops stationed in East Timor after Indonesia's military activity leading up to the Timorese independence vote that year.
After moving to Dili in 2002 to expand the business, Sakib Awan registered the business name "East Timor Trading" and proceeded to build a successful national distribution and retail business. It won tenders to operate the United Nations Commissaries at PX Maliana (2004) and PX Obrigado (2005). Then in 2007, the company expanded into hotels with the opening of the Discovery Inn, which initially became the headquarters of the European Commission delegation who were stationed in Dili to oversee the country's 2007 elections.
In Timor-Leste, Awan held the position of Honorary Consul for Poland from 2009 to 2019. In 2012, Sakib Awan was awarded the Order of Timor-Leste by Nobel Laureate and then President Dr José Ramos-Horta GColIH GCL for "Ongoing Commitment to and Services in Timor-Leste".
Sakib Awan retired as CEO in December 2016 to become Chair of the East Timor Trading Group. He was succeeded as CEO by Mr Sam Aluwihare, who is also vice-chairman on the board of the newly formed Hotel Owners Association of Timor-Leste, which was launched in March 2019 as a critical driver to encourage tourism in Timor-Leste.


Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples

The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was a Canadian Royal Commission established in 1991 with the aim of investigating the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. It was launched in response to status and rights issues brought to light following events such as the Oka Crisis and the failure of the Meech Lake Accord. The commission culminated in a final report of 4,000 pages, published in 1996 and set out a 20-year agenda for implementing recommended changes.
Scope.
The Commission of Inquiry investigated the evolution of the relationship among Aboriginal peoples (First Nations, Inuit and Métis), the Government of Canada, Indian and Northern Affairs Canada and part of the Culture of Canada as a whole. It proposed specific solutions, rooted in domestic and international experience, to the problems which have plagued those relationships and which confront Aboriginal peoples today. The Commission examined many issues which it deems to be relevant to any or all of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The study of the historical relations between the government and Aboriginal people, in order to determine the possibility of Aboriginal self-government, and the legal status of previous agreements that included, the Royal Proclamation of 1763, the "Indian Act", the Numbered treaties and Aboriginal case law.
Public hearings.
The commission consisted of several high-profile Aboriginal members and jurists, including Paul Chartrand (Commissioner of the Aboriginal Justice Implementation Commission), J. Peter Meekison, Viola Robinson, Mary Sillett, and Bertha Wilson, and was chaired by René Dussault, and Georges Erasmus.
Using its $60-million dollar budget, the five commissioners visited 96 First Nation communities and held 178 days of public hearings.
Final report.
The Commission issued its final report in November 1996. The five-volume, 4,000-page report covered a vast range of issues; its 440 recommendations called for sweeping changes to the relationship between Aboriginal, non-Aboriginal people and the governments in Canada.
Some of the major recommendations included the following:
The Report outlined a 20-year timeline for the implementation of identified recommendations. In 2016, during an interview regarding the conclusion of the 20-year period, Paul Chartrand, one of the Report commissioners, acknowledged not much had changed.
Criticism.
In an uncharacteristic move, Georges Erasmus denounced the historical role of the Roman Catholic Church in Canada in the forced assimilation of Aboriginal Peoples, citing the abandonment of indigenous languages, and traditions.
Legacy.
Despite the majority of the RCAP recommendations remaining unimplemented, the Summary of the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada credits the Report of the Royal Commission of Aboriginal Peoples with drawing the attention of non-Indigenous Canadians to the lived experiences of Indigenous peoples in Canada and redirecting the nature of related conversations. The RCAP report also led to greater recognition in Western Canada of "the urgent need for preservation of Canada's Indigenous languages, many of which face extinction if current trends continue." In response to the threat of extinction, institutes for the revitalization of indigenous languages, including the Canadian Indigenous Languages and Literacy Development Institute (CILLDI), were established. Now based at the University of Alberta, CILLDI had attracted over 1,000 participants to its summer school programmes by 2016.


Narol (Hasidic dynasty)

Narol is a dynasty of Hasidic rebbes originally based in the village of Narol, W. Galicia (now Poland).
The Naroler dynasty was founded by Rabbi Yaakov Reinman (1778–1814) (b. 5538, d. 4 Tamuz 5574 on the Hebrew calendar), who served as rabbi of Radichow, Kozowa and Holishits before being appointed to the rabbinate of Narol.
The late Naroler Rebbe, Rabbi was born on the 25th of Elul 5667 (1907), and at the time of his death was one of the oldest living Hasidic rebbes. He was a Belzer chasid. In 1927, at the age of 20, he was appointed as the 20th Rabbi of Narol. He married the daughter of Rabbi Meshulam Zalman Yosef Zilberfarb of Toporow (now Toporiv); they had a son Aharon and a daughter Malka who perished in World War II, and a son Dov Berish who is the present Naroler Rebbe.
He survived World War II in Siberia; then resided in Antwerp, Lower East Side, Manhattan, Crown Heights and finally, for the last 30 years of his life, in Bnei Brak, Israel. He died on 18 Tamuz 5767 (July 4, 2007) at the age of 99; having been the Naroler rebbe for 80 years.
The present Naroler Rebbe, Rabbi Berish Shapiro, is the only surviving son of Rabbi Chaim Myer Yechiel. He resided in the Gravesend section of Brooklyn, New York, but now lives in B'nei Brak, Israel. He is a prominent board member of Kolel Chibas Yerushalayim. His son, , is active in the Jewish community of Stamford Hill, London. The UK Mincha Guide is just one of his projects. Other children of the Naroler Rebbe include Rabbis Aharon Shapiro, Naroler Rav, and Zalman Shapiro, and the Koidanover Rebbetzin.
Other descendants of the Narol dynasty include Rabbi Yaakov Yosef Reinman, an acclaimed scholar and author, and son of Rabbi Arye Leib Reinman of Narol.


Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation

The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In matters regarding Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), Norad reports to the Norwegian Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Norad's functions are laid down in the agency's terms of references and annual letters of allocation issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Climate and Environment.
Norad works to ensure effective foreign aid, with quality assurance and evaluation. Norad finances NGOs and does its own research and projects. The current director general is Jon Lomøy. Norad used to be the official development assistance organization in Norway. As of mid-2004, the responsibility for state-to-state official development assistance has been transferred to the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while Norad continues to fund NGO activities in developing countries, contributes to the management of development funds and endeavours to ensure that the Norwegian development cooperation is evaluated and efficient.
Organization.
Norad consists of the following departments:
Finances.
Norway granted NOK 36.6 billion in development assistance in 2016, corresponding to 1.11 per cent of Norway's gross national income (GNI).
According to the OECD, 2019 official development assistance from Norway increased 9.7% to USD 4.3 billion.


Varney Parkes

Varney Parkes (4 June 1859 – 14 May 1935) was an Australian politician, architect and son of Henry Parkes.
Life and career.
Parkes was born in the Sydney suburb of Ryde, the seventh child of Henry Parkes and Clarinda Varney. He attended public schools and then The King's School in Parramatta before working at the Bank of New South Wales and the Colonial Architect's Office. On 21 March 1883 he married Mary Cameron Murray, but she died only five months later. On 24 December 1884, Parkes married Mary's older sister Isabella, with whom he had three surviving children.
Parkes worked as an architect at Liverpool and Canterbury, and in partnership with C.H.E. Blackmann (1880–1885). He was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly in 1885 as the member for Central Cumberland. He left the Assembly in 1888 but was re-elected for East Sydney in 1891, switching to Canterbury in 1894. He served until 1900 and then a second term from 1907 to 1913 as a Liberal. In 1895 he was bankrupted, and not discharged until 1907.
Parkes served as Postmaster-General from August 1898 to September 1899. He died in Sydney in 1935.


Alexander Macomb (general)

Alexander Macomb (April 3, 1782 – June 25, 1841) was the Commanding General of the United States Army from May 29, 1828, until his death on June 25, 1841. Macomb was the field commander at the Battle of Plattsburgh during the War of 1812 and, after the stunning victory, was lauded with praise and styled "The Hero of Plattsburgh" by some of the American press. He was promoted to Major General for his conduct, receiving both the Thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal.
Early life.
Born at British-held Detroit in 1782, Macomb was the son of Alexander Macomb, a merchant and fur trader from upstate New York, and Mary Catherine Navarre, she of ethnic French descent.
He moved with his parents to New York City, where his father gained wealth as a land speculator, particularly in the millions of acres of New York land released by the federal government for sale after the Iroquois nations had been largely forced from the state into exile in Ontario following British defeat in the American Revolutionary War. The son received a classical education at Newark Academy in New Jersey.
Early career.
In 1798, at the age of 16, Macomb joined a New York militia company. In January 1799, with the recommendation of Alexander Hamilton, he was commissioned a Cornet in the Regular Army during the French emergency. In March he was promoted to second lieutenant, and he was honorably discharged in June 1800.
In February 1801, he was commissioned a second lieutenant, 2d Infantry, serving as secretary to a commission that treated with the Indians of the Southeast.
He was commissioned a first lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers, which was established in 1802 at West Point to constitute a military academy. He was one of the first officers to receive formal training there.
For five years, Macomb directed construction of coastal fortifications in the Carolinas and Georgia. He also established fortifications at Fort Gratiot, Michigan, Chicago, Mackinaw, Prairie du Chien, St. Peter's, and St. Mary's in what was considered the Northwest area - Michigan and Illinois.
At the beginning of the War of 1812, in July 1812 Macomb was promoted at the age of 30 to colonel of the newly organised 3rd Artillery Regiment.
He was in command of the Sacketts Harbor garrison. Under Winfield Scott, he took part in the Capture of Fort George. He was part of James Wilkinson's failed St. Lawrence expedition.
Command at the Battle of Plattsburgh.
He won acclaim during the War of 1812 as brigadier general in command of the Right Division of the Northern Army, responsible for defending the frontier of northern New York. At the Battle of Plattsburgh on September 11, 1814, with only 1,500 regular troops and some detachments of militia, he was opposed by a British force of 10,531 men under Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost. Macomb's heavily outnumbered troops fell back before the British columns in a series of encounters as Prevost advanced towards the American defensive works.
In the weeks leading up to the battle, Macomb, knowing full well he would be greatly outnumbered, worked with his men to move trees and create fake roads; in order to obscure the genuine roads and lead the British into dead-end traps far from the three nearby American forts (a maneuver Macomb called "abattis"). The British attack was diffused by these efforts. The long narrow lines of marching soldiers were unable to easily stop and about-face. They became entangled in the narrow false road maze, where they became targets for American ambush.
The British were about to launch an assault on the American defenses when the news came through of the defeat of the British naval squadron on Lake Champlain. Prevost needed the British Lake Champlain squadron to supply his planned advance into Vermont. Without it, he had no choice but to abandon the expedition. The British invaders returned to Canada.
Macomb was showered with praise and styled "the Hero of Plattsburgh" by some in the American press. He was promoted to major general for his conduct at this battle, and received the formal thanks of Congress and a Congressional Gold Medal.
Commanding General of the United States Army.
When Major General Jacob Brown, the Army's commanding general, died in February 1828, Macomb was the senior brigadier general on the Army register, although, as the Army's chief of engineers, he was paid only at the rank of a colonel. President John Quincy Adams promoted him to commanding general of the Army with the rank of major general. The Army's two serving brigadier generals — Winfield Scott and Edmund P. Gaines — had been vying for the position. Their quarrels over seniority had scandalized the Army and Adams bypassed them to offer the post to Macomb.
The general's last active service in a theater of war was in the Seminole War in Florida, in 1835.
Macomb's tenure as Commanding General was marked by "continuing uncertainty about the responsibilities and authority of his position. To secure his seniority over Scott and Gaines, both two-star brevet major generals, Macomb added a provision in the 1834 regulations that 'the insignia of the major general commanding in chief should be three stars.' In the same document he sought to define his relationship to the Secretary of War and establish his primacy over the bureau chiefs, including his successor as Chief of Engineers. This was easier said than done. Most issues were not fully resolved until early the next century."
He advocated doubling Army strength, increasing enlisted pay, providing relief for some widows and orphans, and regularizing the officer retirement and replacement system. In 1840 the Army Corps of Engineers adopted the castle uniform insignia and first described the Corps of Engineers' distinctive "Essayons" button (Motto in French, meaning: "Let us try").
Macomb was succeeded by Major General Winfield Scott, who had worked "hard at mending fences in the intervening 13 years..." within the Army.
Writings and other works.
In 1809, Macomb was the author of a seminal book (republished in 2006) on martial law and the conduct of courts-martial. It was the first book written on American procedures. During this period he was serving as a judge-advocate general (JAG) in the Army. He published a revised, updated book solely on courts martial in 1809.
He also wrote a play on the siege of Detroit by Ottawa chief Pontiac. It features Macomb's maternal grandfather, Robert Navarre, who helped defend the settlement. "See" Published Works and Further Reading, "infra".
In addition, Macomb is recognized as an artist. His painting "Detroit as Seen from the Canadian Shore in 1821," a watercolor and pencil work, is held by the Detroit Institute of Arts.
Engineers as commanding generals.
Macomb was the first of five Commanding Generals (Chiefs of Staff after the 1903 reorganization) who had held Engineer commissions early in their careers. All had transferred to other branches before being appointed to this top position. The others were George B. McClellan, Henry W. Halleck, Douglas MacArthur, and Maxwell D. Taylor.
Congressional Gold Medal.
Following the Battle of Plattsburgh and the end of the War of 1812, a Congressional Gold Medal honoring Alexander Macomb and his men was struck by Act of Congress (3 Stat. 247), to wit:
Obverse: MAJOR GENERAL ALEXANDER MACOMB. Bust of Gen. Macomb, in uniform, facing the right FÜRST. F("ecit"). indicates the engraver Moritz Fuerst (1782–1840), who designed several medals of 1812 heroes for the Philadelphia mint. The bust of Macomb found on the Congressional Medal, however, is reminiscent of the 1809 portrait of Macomb by Saint-Mémin (1770–1852), in which Macomb is wearing the undressed coat of blue with black velvet collar and cuffs typical of an Engineering officer.
Reverse: RESOLUTION OF CONGRESS NOVEMBER 3. 1814. The American army repulsing the British troops, who are striving to cross the Saranac river. To the left, Plattsburgh in flames; to the right, naval battle on Lake Champlain; in the distance, Cumberland Head. Exergue: BATTLE OF PLATTSBURGH September 11. 1814. FÜRST. F("ecit").
This was one of 27 Gold Medals authorized by Congress arising from the War of 1812.
Historical recognition.
Alexander Macomb is recognized by a Michigan Historical Marker installed at the corner of Gratiot Avenue and Macomb Street in Mount Clemens, Michigan, the county seat of Macomb County, named for him. It is Registered Site S0418, erected in 1974. It states:
He is memorialized by several statues. One was sculpted by Adolph Alexander Weinman and erected in 1906 in downtown Detroit, Michigan. This statue was made from melted down cannons, and was a notable and monumental task. Another is in downtown Mount Clemens, Michigan, in front of the Circuit Court building at 40 N. Gratiot Avenue. Several others exist.
Macomb died while in office at Washington, D.C. He was originally buried at the Presbyterian Burying Ground, but in 1850 his remains were disinterred and he was reburied at Congressional Cemetery.
His remains, and those of his wife, Catherine, were disinterred again in June 2008 so that the brick-lined burial vault beneath their 6-ton, 13-foot-tall marble monument could be repaired to prevent its impending collapse. During the month it took to make the necessary repairs, the couple's remains were held at the Smithsonian; they were viewed by several of the general's descendants, including his great-great-great granddaughter. After the $24,000 repairs were completed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, their remains were re-interred on July 17, 2008. The monument to Alexander Macomb is "one of the most unusual in the nation."
Societies.
During the 1820s, Macomb was a member of the Columbian Institute for the Promotion of Arts and Sciences, who counted among their members former presidents Andrew Jackson and John Quincy Adams and many prominent men of the day, including well-known representatives of the military, government service, medical and other professions.
Legacy and eponymous locations.
His youngest son was Commodore William H. Macomb.
 "See," .
In addition to the ship, Alexander Macomb has been the source for the name of a number of locations, communities, and institutions around the country, including:
An elementary school named after him in Detroit opened in 1929 and closed in 2009.
Dates of rank.
Macomb's effective dates of rank were:


Saudi Arabian nationality law

Saudi nationality law, officially called the Saudi Arabian Citizenship System, is the law that determines who is a Saudi citizen. Foreigners are given citizenship if they meet the terms and conditions.
Original Saudis.
Anyone who was born or resided on Saudi Arabian land from 1332 Hijra – 1914 A.D. until 22/3/1345 Hijra provided that they did not acquire a foreign citizenship prior to this date.
By birth.
A child born in Saudi Arabia to a non-Saudi father and a Saudi mother has the right to Saudi citizenship upon reaching the age of majority if they fulfill the following:
Children born to unknown parents in Saudi Arabia automatically get citizenship until the identities of the parents are known. Children born to foreigners do not have the right to citizenship, but may be given nationality if they have a Saudi father.
Before the 1970s, anybody who was born in Saudi Arabia had the right for a citizenship. They had to apply for the citizenship at the age of 18, before turning 19.
By descent.
Children born to a Saudi father or an unknown or stateless father and Saudi mother could be a Saudi citizen if the conditions are satisfied.
By marriage.
A foreign woman who marries a Saudi man has right to citizenship provided that she gives up her foreign citizenship. Saudi women who give up citizenship upon marriage to a foreign husband (the marriage should complete 10 years and should have 3 children) has the right to take up Saudi citizenship if she divorces or returns to Saudi Arabia. One can only apply for citizenship if he is mature.
By naturalization.
A foreigner may apply for citizenship if they fulfill the following:
The application is sent to the prime minister, who is advised by the Ministry of Interior. They may or may not reject the application with no given reason. Wives of naturalized citizens have the right to Saudi citizenship, their minor children automatically become Saudis if living in the country. If the children are not living in the country, they remain non-Saudis and have right to take up Saudi nationality upon reaching age of maturity, if the naturalized male citizen has female relatives who have the male citizen as their guardian, they will also have right to citizenship.
Loss of citizenship.
Loss of Saudi citizenship may occur due to one of the following reasons:
Saudi citizens cannot give up their citizenship without permission; however, the government can revoke someone's nationality if the person is a terrorist threat, as in the case of Osama bin Laden.
Dual nationality.
Saudis are not permitted to acquire any foreign citizenship without the permission of the Prime Minister. If a Saudi Citizen acquired a foreign Citizenship without this permission, they will be considered Saudi unless the Saudi Government revokes their Saudi Citizenship according to the terms of Article 13: takes up foreign Citizenship without permission of the Prime Minister; works for another country's military; works for the benefit of a foreign Government during wartime with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia; works for a foreign Government or International Organisation despite the Saudi Government's order for them to quit.
Travel freedom.
In 2018, Saudi citizens had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 74 countries and territories, ranking the Saudi passport 60th in the world according to the Visa Restrictions Index.


Alexey Sergeyevich Yermolov

Alexey Sergeyevich Yermolov (; 12 November 1847 – 4 January 1917) was a Russian politician.
Yermolov was born in 1847 (by some other sources in 1846), in 1866 graduated from the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum, in 1871 received the Kandidat of agricultural sciences degree from the Petersburg Agricultural Institute. Worked as a senior editor of the statistical department and member of the Research Council of the Imperial Ministry for Agriculture. He was the leader of the expedition to study sheep husbandry in the Empire. In 1883-1892 he served as the head of the Indirect taxation department of the Ministry for Economics. In 1892 he became the Deputy to Ministry for Finance. In 1893 became Minister of Agriculture and State Properties of Russian Empire and served until 1905. Since 1905 he was a member of State Council of Imperial Russia.
He was an active member of the "Free Economic Society" (Вольное Экономическое Общество) and published a lot of scientific articles in the "Works" of the Society. In 1878 he represented the society at the World Fair in Paris. In 1886-1888 he served as the Vice-President of the Society. In 1899 Yermolov was elected a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Yermolov and Sergei Witte were targets of the sharp criticism by Vladimir Lenin in his work "What the “Friends of the People” Are and How They Fight the Social-Democrats". According to Lenin Yermolov voiced the interests of the feudal landlords and his policy was one of retaining the relics of serfdom.