Veni, vidi, vici

Veni, vidi, vici (, ; "I came; I saw; I conquered") is a Latin phrase popularly attributed to Julius Caesar who, according to Appian, used the phrase in a letter to the Roman Senate around 47 BC after he had achieved a quick victory in his short war against Pharnaces II of Pontus at the Battle of Zela. The phrase is used to refer to a swift, conclusive victory.
The phrase is attributed in Plutarch's "Life of Caesar" and Suetonius's "Lives of the Twelve Caesars: Julius". Plutarch writes that Caesar used it in a report to Amantius, a friend of his at Rome. Suetonius states that Caesar displayed the three words as an inscription during his Pontic triumph.
Allusions and references.
Variations of the sentence "Veni, vidi, vici" are often quoted, and also used in music, art, literature, and entertainment.
Since the time of Caesar, the phrase has been used in military contexts. King Jan III of Poland alluded to it after the 17th-century Battle of Vienna, saying "Venimus, Vidimus, Deus vicit" ("We came, we saw, God conquered"). In 2011 the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton referred to the death of Muammar Gaddafi with a similar phrase, saying "We came, we saw, he died".
The sentence has also been used in music, including several well-known works over the years. The opening of Handel's 1724 opera "Giulio Cesare" contains the line: "Curio, Cesare venne, e vide e vinse" ("Curio, Caesar came, saw and conquered"). In popular music, it is expected that the audience will know the original quotation, so modified versions are frequently used. This can range from slight changes in perspective, as in the title song in the musical "Mame" ("You came, you saw, you conquered") or the 1936 song These Foolish Things (Remind Me of You) ("You came, you saw, you conquered me") to wordplay, such as in the album title "Veni Vidi Vicious" by Swedish band The Hives or Pitbull's song "Fireball" ("I saw, I came, I conquered Or should I say, I saw I conquered, I came") or Ja Rule's debut album Venni Vetti Vecci.
The phrase has also been heavily referenced in literature and film. The title of French poet Victor Hugo's "Veni, vidi, vixi" ("I came, I saw, I lived"), written after the death of his daughter Leopoldine at age 19 in 1843, uses the allusion with its first verse: "J'ai bien assez vécu..."("I have lived quite long enough..."). Peter Venkman, one of the protagonists in the 1984 film "Ghostbusters", delivers a humorous variation: "We came. We saw. We kicked its ass!" This line was among the 400 nominees for the AFI's 100 Years...100 Movie Quotes.
Latin grammar.
"Veni", "vidi," and "vici" are first person singular perfect indicative active forms of the Latin verbs "venire", "videre", and "vincere", which mean "to come", "to see", and "to conquer", respectively. The sentence's form is classed as a tricolon and a hendiatris.
English grammar.
The English phrase "I came, I saw, I conquered" employs what is known as a comma splice. Grammarians generally agree that using a comma to join two independent clauses should be done sparingly. Sometimes, the comma splice is avoided by using a semicolon instead: "I came; I saw; I conquered". Alternatively, "I came, I saw, I conquered" can be justified as an example of asyndeton, where the lack of the expected conjunction emphasizes the suddenness and swiftness of Caesar's victories.


George Douglas, Master of Angus

George Douglas, Master of Angus (1469 – 9 September 1513) was a Scottish Nobleman. The son of Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus and Elizabeth Boyd, daughter of Robert Boyd, 1st Lord Boyd, he was born at Tantallon Castle and died at the Battle of Flodden.
Overview.
In 1489 the 5th Earl of Angus, Douglas's father resigned his lordships of Tantallon, Douglasdale, Liddesdale, Ewesdale, Eskdale, Selkirk, and Jedburgh Forest to the crown. James III then granted a new charter in favour of the Master.
During the stand off between James III and the party backing his son James, then Duke of Rothesay, the Master attended the last parliament of the king before his death in the Battle of Sauchieburn. It is not recorded to which faction the younger Angus adhered to. He attended parliament again under the newly crowned James IV in 1490.
The Master did not take an active part in Public affairs until 1499 when he took formal control over his lordships of Eskdale and Ewesdale. These lordships had become renowned for lawlessness and banditry, and the Master was appointed by the King as warden of Eskdale. In his capacity of Warden he met with his English counterpart Lord Dacre at Canonbie to hear grievances and fix punishments.
The Younger Angus was not a particularly effective at restoring law and order. His undue leniency to his own tenantry caused the King to deprive him of office in 1506, granting it instead to Alexander Home, 3rd Lord Home. George did however, gain the Barony of Crawford-Lindsay in 1510, and his father made over his estates of Kirriemuir, Abernethy, and Horsehopecleugh in the same year.
Death at Flodden Field.
In late August 1513 the Master of Angus rode out with his father the Earl, and his younger brother Sir William Douglas of Glenbervie at the head of a large Douglas contingent and their adherents. On reaching the mustering point at the Ellemford, north of Duns, they joined with the largest and most modern army that Scotland had ever fielded. The army proceeded under King James into England where it eventually met with the army of the Earl of Surrey at Flodden Edge.
A petulant Earl of Angus, having had his advice snubbed by King James, left the field and returned to Scotland, leaving the Master and his brother in charge of the Douglas contingent.
Nothing more is recorded of the Master of Angus except an anecdote recorded by David Hume of Godscroft recording the last moments of King James. When Sir Edward Stanley had broken the Scottish left under the Earl of Lennox and Earl of Argyll. King James in the centre dismounted and prepared to make his stand amongst his spearmen. On noticing the Master of Angus still on horseback, he cried to him, "asking if it had been in the manner of his race to remain mounted while their sovereign fought on foot". To which the Master replied asking whether "it was the fashion of the King of Scots to wear his mail and armorial bearings while fighting on foot". The master hit a raw nerve in James's chivalric mind and he replied "I dare fight upon my feet as well as you or any subject I have, and that without coat-armour or royal cognisance."
The English billmen now closed on the Scottish centre and King James was found within a spear length of Surrey. Whether Godscroft's anecdote is true or not, that the Master of Angus's taunts drove him to his death, the Master was equal to the King in reckless gallantry. The Master's corpse was found amongst the twelve Scottish Earls and seventeen Lords who lost their lives. According to Godscroft over 200 men of the name of Douglas also died.
Marriage.
In 1485 the Master of Angus was contracted in marriage to Margaret, daughter of Laurence Oliphant, 1st Lord Oliphant. It appears that this contract was not fulfilled as George was wed in 1488 to Elizabeth Drummond, daughter of John Drummond, 1st Lord Drummond. The marriage ran afoul of the strictures of a small feudal society such as Scotland: it was found out some years after the marriage that it was within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity. The Master of Angus applied for and successfully obtained Papal dispensation in 1495.
Issue.
By Elizabeth Drummond, George Master of Angus had three sons and four daughters:


South Easton and Phillipsburg Railroad


William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans

William Eliot, 2nd Earl of St Germans (1 April 1767 – 19 January 1845), known as William Elliot until 1823, was a British diplomat and politician.
Eliot was born at Port Eliot, Cornwall, the third son of Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot and his wife Catherine (née Elliston). He was educated at Pembroke College, Cambridge, taking an M.A. in 1786.
From November 1791 until 1793 he was a Secretary of Legation at Berlin, from 1793 to 1794 Secretary of Embassy and Minister Plenipotentiary at The Hague and from 1796 Minister Plenipotentiary to the Elector Palatine and to the Diet of Ratisbon. Eliot also sat as Tory Member of Parliament for St Germans from 1791 to 1802 and for Liskeard from 1802 to 1823. He served as a Lord of the Admiralty from 1800 to 1804, as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs from 1804 to 1805 and as one of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury from 1807 to 1812.
In 1823 he succeeded his elder brother as second Earl of St Germans and entered the House of Lords.
Family.
Lord St Germans married four times.
He died at Port Eliot in 1845 and was succeeded by his eldest son.


J. H. Frimpong-Ansah

J. H. Frimpong-Ansah (22 October 1930 – 21 April 1999) was an economist and a Governor of the Bank of Ghana. He was governor from 8 March 1968 to 28 February 1973.
References.


Acceptance in lieu

Acceptance in lieu (AiL) is a provision in British tax law under which inheritance tax debts can be written off in exchange for the acquisition of objects of national importance. It was originally established by Chancellor of the Exchequer David Lloyd George as a means for the wealthy to pay the increased estate taxes imposed by his People's Budget of 1909 but had its roots in similar schemes dating to the late 19th century. It has developed from the early years when it was used mainly as a means for the aristocracy to dispose of country estates to the National Trust to the modern day when it is more associated with the transfer of works of art, antiquities and archive material to museums. The scheme is administered by Arts Council England, a non-departmental public body of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The scheme has brought many houses, works of art and other collections into publicly accessible institutions when they would otherwise have gone to auction. In April 2013 the Cultural Gifts Scheme was started which allows taxpayers to make a donation of art in return for a credit on income tax, capital gains tax or corporation tax. The Cultural Gifts Scheme is also administered by Arts Council England and is reported jointly with the Acceptance in Lieu scheme.
History.
With increasing Death Duty (later known as estate duty, capital transfer tax and inheritance tax) being levied on the wealthy in the late 19th century many were forced to sell off their large country houses and estates to pay for their tax liabilities. This often resulted in unique family collections of antiques and works of art being lost and dispersed. The 1896 Finance Act sought to limit the damage by exempting nationally important works of art from taxation and was strengthened by the 1903 establishment of the National Art Collections Fund which sought to acquire important paintings for the nation. Houses and collections continued to be sold however and David Lloyd George's People's Budget of 1909, with its increased land and estate taxes, would have worsened matters. However Lloyd George made a provision in the Finance Act 1910 for the creation of the Acceptance in Lieu scheme to allow land to be given to the nation in lieu of Estate Duty.
The scheme was little used in its early years owing to the disruption of the First World War and the Treasury's insistence that any shortfall in tax caused by the scheme was made up by reductions in the budget of a government department. The government made it easier for country estates to be given to the nation in the National Trust Act of 1937 and the Finance Act of 1953, which allowed for the contents of houses to be transferred also. The years after World War II saw a large number of houses given to the nation in this manner and brought into the custody of the National Trust. A minor scandal erupted in 1977 when the Treasury refused to accept the late Lord Rosebery's Mentmore house in lieu of £2 million of inheritance tax, seeing it instead sold at public auction for £6.25 million and enter private hands. As a result new guidelines for the scheme were introduced by the 1980 National Heritage Act.
Conservative Minister for the Arts Lord Gowrie provided a guaranteed allocation of £10 million a year (later increased to the present level of £20 million) from the Treasury reserves to make up the tax revenue shortfall arising from objects received for the nation. Having originally been associated mainly with the acquisition of country estates for the National Trust by the late 20th century the scheme was becoming known more for accepting works of art and archival material for national, regional and local collections. This is due to a decline in inheritance tax levels from 75% in 1975 to 40% by 1988, rising artwork prices and more effective tax arrangements made by the owners of large, historic houses. Since 1984 only one country house has been given to the nation through the Acceptance in lieu scheme, this being Seaton Delaval Hall which was allocated to the National Trust in 2009. The scheme continues to provide a valuable means of preserving national treasures and has provided objects worth £140 million to public collections in the five years following 2006. Though the National Trust is still a large recipient of assets, receiving more than £21 million worth in 2000–10, objects are allocated to a wide variety of institutions of all levels across the country and there are few major public collections that have not received a donation from the scheme.
Procedure.
The current legislation under which the scheme is established is Section 230 of the Inheritance Tax Act 1984. The scheme applies to works of art, manuscripts, heritage objects and historic documents. In addition items must be in an acceptable condition and of "particular historical, artistic, scientific or local significance, either individually or collectively, or associated with a building in public ownership, such as a National Trust property, which will be expected to have public access for at least 100 days each year". Different rules apply to manuscripts and archive material which must have "an especially close association with our history and national life", "especial artistic or art-historical importance", "especial importance for the study of some particular branch of art, learning or history" or "an especially close association with a particular historic setting".
Approval of potential cases lies with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport or the relevant ministers in the devolved Scottish and Welsh governments (where applicable). The minister is advised on the acquisition of an item by a panel of experts from Arts Council England in most cases (the Historical Manuscripts Commissioner at The National Archives advises on manuscripts). Until its abolition in October 2011 the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council provided the advising panel. The panel assesses the open market value of an item and passes this to the minister who makes the final decision whether to accept it or not. The panel aims to provide an assessment of value that is fair to the offerer and the tax-payer.
Once accepted any items currently associated with buildings in public ownership are allowed to remain there, provided public access is available. If they are associated with a private building they may be granted to a public museum but lent back to the house-owner providing public access and security can be maintained. This arrangement allows for unique collections (such as the contents of country estates) to remain intact and not be dispersed or separated from their associated historic buildings. Other items might be allocated by the minister to a museum or gallery at no cost, particularly where the offerer has requested a specific institution be assigned the item. Other items are advertised to museums who are invited to apply for their allocation. In cases where the value of an item exceeds the tax settled the institution receiving the item will pay the difference to the offerer.
Due to certain tax benefits an item offered under the Acceptance in Lieu scheme is worth 17% more to the offerer than if the item was sold at public auction. This makes the scheme a particularly attractive alternative and has been described by the government as "the most important means of acquiring important works of art and cultural objects for public ownership". Some criticism of the scheme has focussed on its failure to provide for settlement of "everyday" taxes such as income tax such as occurs in France, Ireland and Australia.


Shih Keh-her

Shih Keh-her () is a politician of the Republic of China. He is currently the Deputy Minister of Labor since October 2017.
Education.
Shih obtained his bachelor's degree in political science from National Taiwan University. He then obtained his master's degree in regional and urban planning from London School of Economics and Political Science and master's in business administration from Imperial College London in the United Kingdom.


W. M. Q. Halm

William Marmon Quao Halm (born 24 July 1902) was a Ghanaian economist. He was a governor of the Bank of Ghana from the 5th of October 1962 to the 13th of August 1965. He was born in Akuse. From 1959 to 1962 ambassador of Ghana to the USA.
References.


Barron Trump


Advanced Technical Intelligence Center

The Advanced Technical Intelligence Center for Human Capital Development (ATIC) is a university and industry-focused research, education, and training nonprofit corporation within the Dayton Region.It consolidates technical intelligence education and training in the DoD, national agencies, and civilian institutes and industry.
ATIC incorporates on-site and distance learning environments and a research lab. ATIC is close to the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC), a technical intelligence exploitation center; to the scientists and engineers of the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL); to the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT), an Associate member of the National Intelligence University System; and to the large and growing contractor base in the Dayton region. ATIC reinforces Wright Patterson Air Force Base’s (WPAFB) reputation as the leader in education, training, research, development and operational employment of intelligence data.
History.
ATIC was formed in 2006 by a confederation of Dayton-area government, industry and academic organizations with congressionally directed funding to help solve the shortage of technical intelligence expertise. Growth in the use of technical intelligence, e.g., Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT)/Advanced Geospatial Intelligence (AGI), Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT) and Signals Intelligence (SIGINT)—combined with the increased application of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) and Open Source Intelligence (OSINT)—by the Intelligence Community (IC) and warfighters are straining the technical intelligence workforce. This is leading to a nationwide shortage of expertise with appropriate clearances. Growth in this workforce from within civilian U.S. graduate schools is hindered by the increasing numbers of foreign national faculty and students enrolled in engineering and science programs. ATIC intends to be the only not-for-profit organization of its kind, to offer the IC specialized, technical, in-residence and distance learning, short courses, certificate programs, accredited associate and bachelor programs, along with the ability to host conferences and events in a secure auditorium, Video Teleconferencing (VTC) and/or meeting room capability, all delivered from a single, secure location.
Aims.
The ATIC aim is to develop an Advanced Technical Intelligence (ATI) workforce by providing training and education to all elements of the Intelligence Community (IC) and those interested in becoming part of the IC, and by providing research facilities for emerging technologies. To accomplish this mission, the ATIC will operate an educational and research facility, staffed by faculty and subject-matter experts, to instruct and grow this workforce in the Dayton area.
Board of Trustees and Officers.
ATIC has a Board of Trustees. Members come from a variety of backgrounds and professions.
Officers


Vat 69

Vat 69 is a blended Scotch whisky created by William Sanderson & Son Limited of South Queensferry, Scotland, now part of Diageo.
History.
William Sanderson was born in Leith, Scotland January 27, 1839. He started an apprenticeship with wine and spirituous liquors producer Matthew Buchan at the age of 13. By 1863, he already owned his own business producing liqueurs and whisky blends. In 1880, his son William Mark joined the business and persuaded his father to bottle various blends of whisky.
The iconic Vat 69 bottle with its bulbous neck was introduced to the market and was not changed for the next hundred years. In 1882, William Sanderson prepared one hundred casks of blended whisky and hired a panel of experts to taste them. The batch from the cask (or “vat”) with number 69 was judged to be the best, and this provided the whisky's brand name. The whisky was at first bottled in port bottles. In 1884, Sanderson bought the Glen Garioch distillery which was situated in the middle of a barley field. The distillery was meant to ensure the delivery of grain whisky.
Sanderson took care that there were always new products to be blended, because DCL, which was a strong society at that time, controlled such a large amount of the production that it had a huge influence on the supply of the competing company. For this reason Sanderson, together with Usher and Bell, founded a company to produce grain whisky, which still exists today as the North British Distillery. Sanderson sourced a few malt whiskies used to blend VAT 69 from a friend, John Begg, who owned the Royal Lochnagar distillery. When Begg died, Sanderson became director of Begg's distillery. In 1933, Sanderson's company merged with Booth's Distilleries, which merged again with the DCL group in 1935.
In autumn 1980, "Vat 69 Reserve" from the House of Sanderson had its world première in England.
Blend.
Despite its name, it is not a vatted malt, but a blend of about 40 malt and grain whiskies. Vat 69 Reserve carries no standard age statement.
Since autumn 1980, Glenesk, which is a 12-year-old Highland Single Malt (40%), is available from Sanderson in Germany. Glenesk is stored for at least 12 years in sherry barrels. Since 1964, William Sanderson & Sons Ltd. has produced "Antiquary", which is a 12-year-old De-Luxe-Scotch-Whisky (40%).
Products.
Whisky products available from Sanderson in Germany are:
Whisky products available from Sanderson in Australia are:
Media appearances.
Vat 69 was the spotlight whiskey for the bad guys in Bollywood movies throughout 60s, 70s and 80s.
Captain Lewis Nixon, an American World War II army officer who is a major figure in the 1992 non-fiction book "Band of Brothers" by Stephen E. Ambrose and the award-winning 2001 HBO miniseries made from it, is portrayed as an enthusiastic drinker who went to great lengths to obtain supplies of Vat 69.
At approximately 1:36:27, a bottle of Vat 69 can be seen on the wall of the bar called Martini's, in 1946's "It's a Wonderful Life".
A Vat 69 dispenser and bottle can be seen behind the bar of Fawlty Towers in the 1975 British television comedy of the same name.
Jake McQuillen (Frankie Miller) and Dancer Dunnichy (Ken Hutchison) drink straight from a bottle of Vat 69 in the cab of a cantilever crane in a Greenock shipyard in BBC Play for Today’s Just a Boys' Game, 1979, written by Peter McDougall. Time 31:15
A bottle of Vat 69 can be seen on the shelf behind Nelson, barman of the Railway Arms in episode 1, series 2 of "Life on Mars".
Dan Turner, Hollywood Detective, a fictional character created by pulp magazine, radio, and TV writer Robert Leslie Bellem, kept a ready supply of Vat 69 in his apartment, and had remarkably good luck finding a handy bottle at most of the murder scenes he investigated.
Penny Priddy, a character in "The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension", got drunk on Vat 69 in the scenes where Buckaroo was playing in a club.
Orson Welles in "The Roots of Heaven" (1958) is seen drinking from a bottle of Vat 69 in his first appearance in the film.
A bottle of Vat 69 can be seen being removed from the clenched hand of a dead man in the 1959 film "Our Man In Havana" starring Alec Guinness.
Vat 69 is referenced by the protagonist of the BBC show "Yes, Minister" in the episode "English Customs", where a British delegation to a fictional Arab country is trying to sneak alcoholic beverages to a party held in their honor by their (presumably Muslim) hosts.
Stanley Baker pours a glass of Vat 69 in a casino in Venice in the movie directed by Joseph Losey, "Eva", in 1962.
Gregory Peck, as Brigadier General Frank Savage, pours an impressive half a tumbler glass for himself from a bottle of Vat 69 in the 1949 movie, "Twelve O'Clock High" , at the friendly request/order from his commanding officer, Major General Pritchard, who is lying sick in bed, with a head cold, and unable to join him.
In a cartoon "Gustavus (Gustav) wants to marry" you can see the main character pouring VAT 69 into two glasses for him & his date.
In History channels "The Food That Built America" opening credits season 2 episode 9 a bottle is held for a moment.
Timothy Farrell’s Joe (a drug dealer) in Gun Girls (1957)—a role he played originally in Girl Gang (1954)—has a bottle of Vat 69 in front of him during most of the film.


Vera Karalli

Vera Alexeyevna Karalli (; 27 July 1889 – 16 November 1972) was a Russian ballet dancer, choreographer and silent film actress during the early years of the 20th century.
Early life and career.
Born in Moscow, Karalli graduated from the Moscow Theatre School in 1906 under the direction of the prominent Russian instructor Alexander Gorsky. Karalli performed with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company in 1909, as well as 1919 and 1920. She became a soloist at the Bolshoi Theatre after two years and became a ballerina in 1915. Karalli was frequently paired with "danseur" Mikhail Mordkin.
In 1914 Karalli also embarked on a successful acting career, and became one of Russia's first celebrated film actresses. Her first role was in the 1914 Pyotr Chardynin directed drama "Ty pomnish' li?" (English title: "Do You Remember?") opposite the successful actor Ivan Mozzhukhin. From 1914 to 1919, Vera Karalli would appear in approximately sixteen Russian silent films, including the 1915 adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's "War and Peace" titled "Voyna i mir". Her last film appearance was in a German dramatic release entitled "Die Rache einer Frau" (English title: A Woman's Revenge) in 1921. Often chosen as a leading lady by the notable director Yevgeni Bauer, Karalli is possibly best recalled for her performances in the Bauer directed adaptations of novelist Ivan Turgenev's "Posle smerti" (English: "After Death") in 1915 and her role as Gizella in the 1917 melodrama "Umirayushchii Lebed" ("The Dying Swan").
Rasputin's death.
Karalli was a mistress of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia and was reportedly also a co-conspirator in the December 1916 murder of Grigori Rasputin. She was allegedly one of two women present in the palace of Felix Yussupov on the night of Rasputin's murder. The other was Marianne Pistohlkors. Their alleged male co-conspirators never publicly identified the two women.
Exile.
After fleeing to the West following the October Revolution, Karalli made her final film appearance in the 1921 Robert Wiene-directed German silent drama "Die Rache einer Frau" opposite Olga Engl and Franz Egenieff, credited as "Vera Caroly".
In 1920, Karalli participated in a large charity concert at the Paris Opéra along with opera singer and dancer Maria Nikolaevna Kuznetsova amongst others, to raise funds to aid impoverished fellow Russian émigrés.
In the 1920s, Vera Karalli taught dance in Kaunas, Lithuania and from 1930 until 1935 she was the ballet mistress of the Romanian Opera in the capital city of Bucharest. From 1938 until 1941 Karalli lived in Paris, France. Later, she settled in Vienna, Austria and taught ballet there. Karalli died in Baden, Austria in 1972. She was interred at the Vienna Central Cemetery.


Oldenburgische Landesbank

Oldenburgische Landesbank AG (OLB) is a private financial institution based in the northwest of Germany. Its headquarters are in Oldenburg.
OLB was founded in 1869 by the Frankfurt bank Erlanger & Söhne with the privilege of issuing banknotes. The business areas of the universal bank today include private clients business including private banking and wealth management, corporate and commercial clients business, specialized lending, for example in the area of commercial real estate or acquisition financing, and also the brokerage of real estate, building society contracts and insurance.
OLB maintains a wide network of locations, which focuses on the northwestern part of Germany, known as Weser-Ems (comprising Osnabrück Land, Emsland, County of Bentheim, East Frisia, Ammerland, Friesland, Oldenburg (Oldenburg), and Oldenburg Münsterland), as well as Bremen (since 1 July 2009), Bremerhaven (since 4 October 2010) and Verden (since 4 April 2011). Its first branch in North Rhine-Westphalia opened 7 November 2011 in Rheine.
Currently, OLB has 127 branches offering personal advice and 40 self-service branches (as of 31 December 2019). The bank has announced that it will bundle its advisory services at larger locations, which will lead to smaller branches being closed or converted to self-service branches in the medium to long term, while at the same time further expanding the contact channels telephone and internet.
On 23 June 2017, Bremer Kreditbank AG acquired a majority stake in OLB from Allianz. Bremer Kreditbank was a portfolio company of the private equity firm Apollo. The parent company Bremer Kreditbank was merged with OLB in 2018.


Federal Taxation Service

The Federal Taxation Service (In Russian: Федеральная налоговая служба, ФНС России) is a federal body of executive authority responsible for carrying out state registration of legal entities and natural persons as individual entrepreneurs and farmsteads. Formed on March 19, 2004, after the dissolution of the Federal Tax Police Service of the Russian Federation, whose functions were split between the new Federal Tax Service and the Taxes Crimes Department of MVD (Управление по налоговым преступлениям МВД).
It is also a federal body of executive authority responsible for ensuring the presentation of claims for mandatory payments in bankruptcy cases and bankruptcy procedures, as well as the Russian Federation's claims under monetary obligations.
The Service's HQ is located in 23 Neglinnaya Street, Moscow. Daniel Yegorov is the current Director of the Federal Taxation Service.
History.
The service was formed in 1991 as The State Taxes Service (Госналогслужба РФ), which later becomes the Ministry for Tax and Revenue of Russia. In 2004 the Ministry was reorganized as the Federal Tax Service.
Functions and missions.
The Federal Taxation Service has the following functions:


Prasarn Trairatvorakul

Prasarn Trairatvorakul is a Thai banker. He is former governor of Bank of Thailand.
Education.
He graduated with first class honour,gold medal in bachelor degree of electrical engineering from Chulalongkorn University.Moreover, He graduated in master degreee which are Master of Engineering in Industrial Engineering and Management from Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok, Thailand and Master in Business Administration, Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.A.. Finally,He graduated in doctoral degree which is Doctor of Business Administration, Harvard University, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
Careers.
He started working as an academic economist at Bank of Thailand in 1983 until 1989. He became secretary of The Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand. He worked as CEO of Kasikorn Bank from 2004-2010. In 2010, He was appointed as governor of Bank of Thailand.In 5 February 2021, he was appointed to be president of Stock Exchange of Thailand.


Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services

Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. United States Department of Health and Human Services 682 F.3d 1 is a United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit decision that affirmed the judgment of the District Court for the District of Massachusetts in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the section that defines the terms "marriage" as "a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife" and "spouse" as "a person of the opposite sex who is a husband or a wife." Both courts found DOMA to be unconstitutional, though for different reasons. The trial court held that DOMA violates the Tenth Amendment and Spending Clause. In a companion case, "Gill v. Office of Personnel Management", the same judge held that DOMA violates the Equal Protection Clause. On May 31, 2012, the First Circuit held the act violates the Equal Protection Clause, while federalism concerns affect the equal protection analysis, DOMA does not violate the Spending Clause or Tenth Amendment.
The First Circuit, anticipating that the parties would seek a review of the decision, stayed its decision. Both the Department of Justice and Commonwealth of Massachusetts asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review the decision by filing petitions for a writ of certiorari. The Supreme Court decided a similar case, "United States v. Windsor", on June 26, 2013, and dismissed the petitions the following day.
Trial proceedings.
On July 8, 2009, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed suit challenging the constitutionality of section 3 of DOMA in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. It claimed that Congress "overstepped its authority, undermined states' efforts to recognize marriages between same-sex couples, and codified an animus towards gay and lesbian people."
Judge Joseph Tauro heard arguments on May 26, 2010. Massachusetts Assistant Attorney General Maura Healey described how a veteran of the U.S military sought burial for himself and his same-sex spouse in a veterans' cemetery, which DOMA's definition of marriage prohibits. Tauro asked Christopher Hall, who represented the U.S. Justice Department, if the federal government had an interest in "perpetuating heterosexuality in the graveyard." He also questioned the government's contention that DOMA was an attempt to preserve the 1996 status quo, noting that the government considers the status quo at the time the restriction of marriage to heterosexual couples while another way of describing the status quo in 1996 is that the federal government deferred to each state's definition of marriage and provided no definition of its own. In response to arguments that the federal government has consistently used state definitions of marriage, Hall cited the federal government's definition of marriage in immigration cases without relying on any state's definition.
Decision.
On July 8, 2010, exactly one year after the suit was filed, Judge Tauro released his decision in the case. He ruled that DOMA section 3 violates the Tenth Amendment and falls outside Congress' authority under the Spending Clause of the Constitution.
In response, Attorney General Coakley said,
Today's landmark decision is an important step toward achieving equality for all married couples in Massachusetts and assuring that all of our citizens enjoy the same rights and protections under our Constitution. It is unconstitutional for the federal government to discriminate, as it does because of DOMA's restrictive definition of marriage. It is also unconstitutional for the federal government to decide who is married and to create a system of first- and second-class marriages. The federal government cannot require states, such as Massachusetts, to further the discrimination through federal programs.
Tauro ruled in a companion case, "Gill v. Office of Personnel Management", on the same day, finding part 3 of DOMA unconstitutional on Fifth Amendment grounds. Tauro issued an amended final judgment on August 18, but he stayed it pending appeal. The text of the decision was developed in consultation with the parties.
Appeals.
First Circuit.
On January 14, 2011, the DOJ filed a brief in the First Circuit Court of Appeals that defended DOMA in both this case and the related "Gill" case. Despite its victory, GLAD supported an appeal, stating "the chance to argue in front of a higher court with a broader reach ... [and] an opportunity to address the harms DOMA Section 3 causes to already married couples across the country." On February 25, the DOJ notified the Court that it would cease to defend both cases. On May 20, 2011, the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group (BLAG) filed a motion asking to be allowed to intervene to defend DOMA section 3, and leave was granted.
Chief Judge Sandra Lynch and Judges Michael Boudin and Juan Torruella heard arguments in the case on April 4, 2012. On May 31, 2012, they unanimously found section 3 of DOMA unconstitutional, but rejected Tauro's rationale in this case that it violated the Tenth Amendment and the Spending Clause. The Court stayed enforcement of its decision in anticipation of an appeal to the Supreme Court.
Supreme Court.
On June 29, BLAG filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court in "Gill". The DOJ filed a petition in this case on July 3, while asking the Supreme Court to review "Golinski v. Office of Personnel Management" as well. The DOJ's petitions in "Gill" and "Massachusetts" raised the question of whether section 3 violates the Equal Protection Clause. In its reply to those petitions, filed on July 20, 2012, Massachusetts proposed the additional questions of whether section 3 violates the Tenth Amendment and the Spending Clause. BLAG on July 30 asked for extension of the August 2 deadline for its responses to the DOJ petition in this case and in "Golinski" to August 31, which request was granted. The petition for the writ of certiorari was dismissed after "United States v. Windsor" was decided.


Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club

The Jakarta Foreign Correspondents Club (JFCC) is a non-profit organization for international journalists in Indonesia.
The group has more than 250 members and 50 foreign media organizations [1]. Its members include foreign journalists, Indonesian journalists, diplomats, analysts, business people and corporations [2]. The JFCC regularly hosts speakers and public forums on issues of interest to international media, as well as informal social events.
The club has met in several different venues over the past 40 years, including the Hotel Indonesia, The Sari Pan Pacific, The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, and the Intercontinental Hotel.
The JFCC awards three annual scholarships, the Sander Thoenes[3], Harry Burton[4], and Morgan Mellish funds, each in remembrance of former members who died during the course of their work.


Juniata Valley Railroad

The Juniata Valley Railroad is a short line that operates 11 miles of track in Mifflin County, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is part of the North Shore Railroad System.
The communities served include Lewistown (and the MCIDC industrial park), the unincorporated village of Maitland in Derry Township, and Burnham. All the track meets at Lewistown, with lines to the industrial park to the southwest, Maitland to the northeast (roughly parallel to U.S. Route 522), and Burnham to the northwest (roughly parallel to U.S. Route 322).
The system has trackage rights via the Norfolk Southern Railway, but they do not connect to the Juniata Valley Railroad.
History.
The line operated by the Juniata Valley Railroad was a Penn Central Railroad line that was taken over by Conrail. SEDA-COG JRA (Susquehanna Economic Development Association - Council of Governments Joint Rail Authority) was formed in July, 1983 to continue to provide rail service to communities whose rail lines Conrail had decided to abandon. In 1996 the JRA took over the line when Conrail abandoned it, and the Juniata Valley Railroad was born as its fourth railroad.


Yakiv Smolii

Yakiv Vasilyovich Smolii (, born on 1 February 1961) is a Ukrainian economist and banker and former Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine. He was acting Governor of the National Bank from 11 May 2017 (when Valeriia Hontareva resigned) until the Ukrainian parliament elected him Governor on 15 March 2018. Smolii was dismissed by parliament on 3 July 2020 after he had tendered his resignation, he claimed he had done this as a result of long-standing political pressure.
Early life.
Smolii was born on February 1, 1961 in Verbovets, Lanivtsi Raion, Ternopil Oblast.
Education.
Smolii received his university education from Lviv University where he graduated with B.Sc in mathematics in 1983. He majored in applied mathematics.
Career.
Since 15 March 2018 — Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Since 11 May 2017 — Acting Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Since 25 October 2016 — First Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Since 25 April 2014 — Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.
2006 – 2014 — Director on Banking Business, Prestige-Group.
2005 – 2006 — Consultant at Office Stolychnyi CJSC and Prestige-Group.
1994 – 2005 — Head of Automation Office, and later — Deputy Chairman of the Board, Aval Joint Stock Post Pension Bank.
Between 1987 and 1991 Smolii worked as software engineer in private firm Orion, from where he left to work as head if IT division of regional office of National Bank of Ukraine in Ternopil.
Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.
From March 15, 2018 — appointed Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine by the decision of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. 247 deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine voted for him.
"The National Bank must continue to be independent of political spectrum. Political independence will allow the National Bank to fulfill its mandate effectively, to ensure price and financial stability."
Speaking before the Verkhovna Rada, Yakiv Smolii, as Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine, promised to focus the regulator's attention on:
""Over the past three years, the National Bank has been able to stabilize the macroeconomic situation, improve the health of the banking system, and introduce such important innovations as inflation targeting and floating exchange rate. The National Bank team will continue to build a modern and open bank of the country that has the trust of the society"."
"The banking system already has enough money to launch full-fledged credit financing. In total, more than 80 billion UAH can be invested for reviving the country's economy. At the same time, we have several challenges: the critical amount of non-performing loans in the banks’ portfolios and the weak protection of the creditors rights. Their solution is possible only by amending the legislation."
"We will not allow returning to the domination of fiscal policy over the monetary price of purchasing power of Ukrainians"
On March 2, 2018, in the interview for Interfax portal Yakiv Smolii noted that the NBU prepared a renewal of the development strategy of the financial sector of Ukraine (in particular, for the time period 2020–2025). In addition, for the first time, a strategy of the National Bank of Ukraine was developed. It sets goals for the regulator in the medium run. The NBU has set 7 target benchmarks: the NBU plans to focus on resuming loan origination and a smooth transition to free capital movement in addition to the mandate, determined by the law on the NBU, to support low and stable inflation and ensure the stability and efficiency of the banking system. New tasks were also defined: ensuring the effective regulation of the entire financial sector and the development of financial inclusion.
Y. Smolii also noted that the NBU plans to join several modern trends of financial digitalization, among which:
Cashless economy — transfer of most payments to non-cash form:
Dismissal as Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine.
Smolii was dismissed by the Ukrainian parliament on 3 July 2020 after he had tendered his resignation two days earlier. He claimed he had tendered his resignation because of long-standing political pressure. Before the vote Smolii addressed parliament and stated that he had "made a difficult but necessary decision to resign" because according to him the National Bank had "been under systematic political pressure for a long time. Pressure to approve decisions that are not economically sound, that focus on short-term simple victories and can cost the Ukrainian economy and Ukraine in the longer term". Smolii claimed this pressure was "paid rallies, pressure through the courts, information attacks and unfounded political assessments." He didn't explicitly state pressure from individual politicians but claimed that "at all meetings where the president, people's deputies or the prime minister were present the National Bank was asked to flood the economy with money and to cancel sound principles of regulation."
Advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Economics Oleh Ustenko denied that Smolii had been pressured but that the National Bank had an outdated communication policy "when it seems that you explain, but you explain only when you want to."
Member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.
On March 28, 2018, he was appointed a member of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine by a decree of the President of Ukraine.


DeLisle Worrell

Dr. DeLisle Worrell is a former governor of the Central Bank of Barbados. He served as governor from November 2009 until March 2017. He has also served as executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF). Since June 2018, he is a member of the Financial Policy Council of the Bermuda Monetary Authority.
Early life and education.
Worrell was born in Barbados, then a British territory, in 1945. He is married to Monica Drayton.
He completed his Bachelor of Science (BS) degree in economics from the University of the West Indies in 1967. He then proceeded to Canada for graduate work. He holds a Master of Arts (MA) and a Ph.D (1975), both in economics, from McGill University, where he trained as an econometrician. He has held fellowships at Yale University , Princeton University, the Smithsonian Institution, and the University of the West Indies.
Professional career.
Before and after his graduate schooling at McGill University, Worrell worked as an economist at the Central Bank of Barbados from 1973 to 1998, during which time he founded its Research Department. He rose to become the bank's deputy governor from 1988 to 1998, with responsibilities for research, management information systems, and banking supervision. As deputy governor during the 1991 economic crisis in Barbados, he helped the government of Prime Minister Erskine Sandiford formulate a monetary strategy to bring the country out of the crisis.
After completing two terms as deputy governor, Worrell worked at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1998 to 2008. As IMF technical adviser, his work focused on monetary policy, financial stability, and stress testing in countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Caribbean. From 2008 until 2009, he served as the executive director of the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance (CCMF).
Appointment as Central Bank governor.
In November 2009, Barbadian Prime Minister David Thompson recruited Worrell back into the Central Bank of Barbados and promptly appointed him to its top leadership. He served two terms as the bank's governor, first from 2009 to 2014. In 2014, he was reappointed to a second term by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart.
In March 2017, he was removed from the post, as a result of disagreement with Finance Minister Chris Sinckler and the board of the Central Bank of Barbados. Worrell, through his counsel, appealed the dismissal by Sinckler before the Barbadian Court of Appeal. The appeal was denied with finality in March 2017, thereby ending his shorter, second term as bank governor. Deputy bank governor Cleviston Haynes took over as acting governor. He eventually succeeded Worrell as full-fledged governor in July 2017.
Other positions.
After leaving the bank, Worrell founded and became president of his consulting firm, DeLisle Worrell & Associates, which specializes in economic modeling and forecasting. In June 2018, he was appointed a Member of the Financial Policy Council of the Bermuda Monetary Authority, a post which he continues to hold. He also continues to be a member of the prominent Bretton Woods Committee, a network of prominent global citizens which works to demonstrate the value of international cooperation and to foster strong, effective Bretton Woods institutions.
More recently, he co-chaired the Financial Stability Board's Regional Consultative Group, Americas (RCG-A), alongside Carolyn Wilkins, senior deputy governor of the Central Bank of Barbados .
A prolific writer and speaker, Worrell is the author of "Policies for Stabilization and Growth in Small Very Open Economies" (Group of Thirty, Washington D C, 2012) and "Small Island Economies" (Praeger Publishers, 1987). His other publications on money and banking, exchange rate policy and the balance of payments, fiscal policy, the economic implications of size, and the comparative economic performance of Caribbean and South Pacific economies, may be found on the websites of the IMF, the Central Bank of Barbados, the Caribbean Centre for Money and Finance, and the juried economic journals in which he has extensively published.


Damahaar of the Maldives


Aguinaldo Jaime

Aguinaldo Jaime (born January 15, 1954) is an Angolan political figure and economist. He served as Minister of Finance from June 1990 to April 1992, President of the African Investment Bank (beginning in 1996), and as Central Bank Governor from 1999 to 2002. He was subsequently Deputy Prime Minister. He is also alumnus of London School of Economics.


Otto I, Landgrave of Hesse

Otto I of Hesse (c. 1272 – 17 January 1328) was Landgrave of Hesse from 1308 until his death.
Otto was born in Marburg, a son of Henry I, Landgrave of Hesse and his first wife Adelheid of Brunswick-Lunenburg. Following the death of his father in 1308, he inherited Upper Hesse, the "Land on the Lahn", which included Marburg, Giessen, Grünberg and Alsfeld. After his half-brother John died in 1311, he also became landgrave of Lower Hesse. This included the area below the Fulda, Eder, Schwalm, Werra, and the upper reaches of the Weser, with the residence of Kassel, as well as the towns of Homberg (Efze), Melsungen, and Rotenburg an der Fulda.
After Otto inherited the whole Landgraviate, he resided alternately in Kassel and Marburg. Otto had a long conflict with the Archbishop of Mainz, Matthias von Bucheck. In 1324 Mainz won the battle in the Lahnberg with help from troops from Amöneburg. In 1327, Mainz adopted Giessen with the help of troops from the Electorate of Trier, but the citizens of the town quickly enabled Otto to regain control. Only after Otto's victory at Wetzlar and with the mediation of King John of Luxembourg in 1328 was conciliation made possible.
Otto died on 17 January 1328 in Kassel, and was buried in the Ahnaberg monastery.
Family and children.
He was married 1297 in Saint Elisabethkirche, Marburg to Adelheid of Ravensberg, daughter of Count Otto III of Ravensberg and had the following children:


Alejandro Vanoli

Alejandro Vanoli (born 10 April 1961) is an Argentine economist and public official, He was the former President of the Central Bank of Argentina.
Biography.
Vanoli was born in Buenos Aires in 1961. He was raised in the city's Palermo district and attended high school in the Colegio Nacional de Buenos Aires. He later enrolled at the University of Buenos Aires and earned a degree in Economics in 1987, following which he spent a year as a teaching assistant in the School of Economics' Department of Economic Development under Professor Pedro Paz. Vanoli and his wife are separated; the couple has three children.
His work experience in the public sector began in July 1988 as Assistant Division Head in the Central Bank's Office of Management of External Debt, where he also served as a senior analyst. He joined the Ministry of Economics' National Bureau of Public Credit in 1992, and remained there until 2000. Vanoli began a long career at the National Securities Commission (CNV) in 2000 as chief adviser to the head of the agency at the time, Carlos Weitz. He returned to the Central Bank in 2002 as adviser to the Board of Governors member Arturo O'Connell, and in October 2006, when Eduardo Hecker was named president of the CNV, Vanoli was appointed as its vice president. Hecker ultimately resigned in November 2009 over differences with the powerful Commerce Secretary at the time, Guillermo Moreno, and Vanoli thus became President of the CNV.
Vanoli's tenure at the National Securities Commission was marked by a sustained growth in Buenos Aires Stock Exchange prices, as well as by numerous regulatory reforms. The most meaningful of these was the Capital Markets Reform Law of 2012, which sought to strengthen the CNV's watchdog role over rating agencies, IPOs, and mutualization (formerly left to private sector operators). The computer systems among the nation's several stock and commodity exchanges were integrated during Vanoli's tenure, with monitoring efforts shared with state-funded public universities and results made freely available to investors. The exchange of information between the CNV, Economy Ministry, Central Bank, AFIP tax agency, and the Superintendent of Insurance was likewise mandated as a deterrent against money laundering and other illicit financial activities. Following these reforms the Financial Action Task Force removed Argentina from its “gray list” in October 2014, noting significant progress in these areas.
President of Central Bank of Argentina.
Alejandro Vanoli was appointed President of the Central Bank on October 1, 2014, replacing Juan Carlos Fábrega. Vanoli was the only President of the Central Bank of Argentina who previously become of the staff of the Central Bank, since 1988.
During the Vanoli administration, the inflation rate fell 12 percentage points in a context of recovery of GDP growth that reached 2.4% per year in 2015, following the rise in inflation and recession in early 2014, prior to the arrival of Vanoli to the Central Bank. Under Vanoli chairmanship, the dollar fell sharply in the illegal market and the dollar was liquidated both by stimulus to savings in domestic currency and by greater supervision on the foreign exchange market.
Although Alejandro Vanoli had a mandate with the Senate's agreement until December 2019, he resigned on December 9, 2015 at the end of the presidency of Cristina Férnández de Kirchner.
Present.
He is currently a university professor and international consultant in economics and international finance and Director of Synthesis Argentina.


Otto, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel

Landgrave Otto of Hessen-Kassel (24 December 1594 in Kassel – 7 August 1617 in Hersfeld), was hereditary prince of Hesse-Kassel and administrator of Hersfeld Abbey.
Life.
Otto was the eldest son of Landgrave Maurice of Hesse-Kassel (1572-1632) from his marriage to Agnes (1578-1602), the daughter of Count John George of Solms-Laubach.
Otto was educated by his father, together with his siblings. When he was 10 years, he was enlisted in Hersfeld Abbey. He became administrator of the Abbey in 1606, and Joachim Röll, the abbot, intended him to become coadjutor and his successor as abbot.
After completing his studies at the University of Marburg, Otto made a Grand Tour, visiting London and Paris. When he returned, his father involved him in the business of government.
In 1617, he suffered from the German measles. He had a fever and from his sickbed, he tried to shoot a barking dog, which annoyed him. He missed so badly that he hit himself in the chest and died. He was buried in the Lutheran St. Mary's church in Marburg.
Marriages and issue.
In Kassel on 24 August 1613 Otto married firstly Catherine Ursula (b. Schloss Karlsburg, 19 June 1593 - d. Marburg, 15 February 1615), daughter of George Frederick, Margrave of Baden-Durlach. She died after giving birth a still-born son.
In Dessau on 14 June 1617 Otto married secondly Agnes Magdalene (b. Dessau, 29 March 1590 - d. Eschwege, 24 October 1626), daughter of John George I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau. This marriage was childless.
Otto left a son born out of wedlock:


Virginia and Maryland Railroad


Council for the National Unity of the Republic of Abkhazia

The Council for the National Unity of the Republic of Abkhazia (CNURA) () unites a number of political parties and organisations in Abkhazia who have declared that they are neither pro-government nor pro-opposition. Three of the political parties had previously been part of the pro-government Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Public Organisations.
History.
The CNURA was founded on 29 February 2016 by the Communist Party, the political party United Abkhazia, the Party for the Economic Development of Abkhazia (PEDA), the People's Party, the Union of Afghanistan Veterans and the Foundation for International Business Cooperation, on the initiative of United Abkhazia and the PEDA.


Ma Xingrui

Ma Xingrui (; born October 1959) is a Chinese politician and aerospace engineer who is the Governor of Guangdong. Prior to his governorship, he had served as head of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission of Guangdong, Communist Party Secretary of Shenzhen, and Deputy Party Secretary of Guangdong. Ma is a full member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China.
Ma is recognized as one of China's top scientists. He previously served as Vice President of Harbin Institute of Technology, General Manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation, Director of the China National Space Administration, and chief commander of Chang'e 3, China's first lunar exploration mission.
Education and academic career.
Ma Xingrui was born in October 1959 in Shuangyashan, Heilongjiang province, to a family of mine workers in China's industrial northeast. His branch of the family migrated from Yuncheng County, Shandong to Shuangyashan in the 1930s during his grandfather's generation. He received a bachelor's degree at Fuxin Mining College (now Liaoning University of Technology) in 1982, and went on to graduate school for general mechanics at Tianjin University. He earned his doctorate in mechanics at Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT). He joined the Communist Party of China in January 1988. He stayed at HIT to pursue post-doctoral work, and was named a professor in 1991. In April 1992 he became dean of the school of mechanics at the institute. In April 1996 he was named vice president of the institute.
Aerospace industry.
In May 1996 Ma was appointed Vice-Dean of Chinese Academy of Space Technology (CAST), and became the leader and chief engineer of the "Shijian 5" satellite project. In 1999 he was named deputy general manager of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC). In December 2003 he was additionally appointed Chairman of the Sino Satellite Communications Company and worked on various lunar missions. In September 2007, Ma was promoted to General Manager of CASC.
In 2013 Ma was appointed Director of the China National Space Administration, Director of the China Atomic Energy Authority, Director of the SASTIND, and Vice-Minister of Industry and Information Technology. He was the chief commander of the successful Chang'e 3 mission, China's first lunar surface exploration.
Political career.
In 2012, Ma was elected as a full member of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China. In November 2013, Ma left his posts in the world of science and was transferred to Guangdong to serve as deputy party chief of the province and concurrently the Secretary of the provincial Political and Legal Affairs Commission. In March 2015, he was named Communist Party Secretary of Shenzhen, replacing Wang Rong. Ma's appointment in Shenzhen placed him in his first executive party leadership role. His appointment also elevated the status of the office, given that his predecessor Wang is only an alternate member of the Central Committee, while Ma is a full member.
In December 2016, Ma was appointed as the acting Governor of Guangdong. In a break with tradition, Ma became the first governor in over 30 years to have not been native to the province. Ma was elected as the Governor of Guangdong on January 23, 2017.


Valiollah Seif

Valiollah Seif (, born 1 January 1952) is an Iranian banker. He was the governor of the Central Bank of Iran from 2013 until 2018.
Early life.
Seif was born on 1 January 1952 in Nahavnd. He gained his Bsc. and Msc. from Petroleum University of Technology (former N.I.O.C. school of Accounting and Finance) and his Ph.D. from Allameh Tabatabaei University in Accounting. He is currently a professor at the Allameh University.
Career.
He was CEO and chairman of some private banks in Iran, Mellat Bank (1990–1992), Saderat Bank (1992–1995), Sepah Bank (1995–2000), Future Bank of Bahrain (2001–2003) and Karafarin Bank (2010–2013). He was also governor of National Bank of Iran from 2003 to 2007. He was nominated as governor of Central Bank of Iran by the bank's board of directors and was accepted by President Hassan Rouhani. He was officially appointed on 2 September 2013 and quickly hinted that interest rates should rise in order to control inflation in the country. He is currently vice president of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Honours.
He received Gold Medal for Public Relations from President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in January 2011. He was also named as one of Iran's banking industry faces persistent in 2012.
Criticisms.
On November 1995, following the embezzlement of 123 billion tomans ($820 million) of Bank Saderat Iran Valiollah Seif who was chairman of the bank at the time was criticized.
On 2017, Seif's reputation was hit hard when one of the five official Central Bank-approved credit institutions was unable to pay back the deposits of the customers. Unable to give reasonable explanation to the public, Valiollah Seif was soon the target for the public, media, and government officials. Protesters generally called for his execution.
On 2017 case was filed against Seif. On 13 September 2018, immediately after dismissal from service he was designated as an advisor for financial and banking affairs of Hassan Rouhani. The judiciary's spokesman, Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei explained: he was accused of violating the law after the arrest of his deputy for currency affairs, Ahmad Araqchi (the brother of deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi).
On 2021, his case was referred to an economic court. Tehran Prosecutor General, Ali Alqasi Mehr accused Valiollah Seif of "repeatedly violating regulations" and of "dereliction of duty" Which has caused "Wasting" more than $30bn and 60 tonnes of gold reserves.


Dmitry Begichev

Dmitry Nikitich Begichev (; 28 September 1786 - 24 November 1855) was a Russian writer, governor of Voronezh Province, and senator.
Biography.
Begichev was born into a family of the ancient nobility. He had a successful military and civil service career. He was governor of Voronezh Province from 1830 to 1836, and in 1840 he was appointed as a senator.
He published his literary works anonymously. His five-volume novel "The Kholmsky Family" was published in Moscow in 1832. The language of "The Kholmsky Family" is fluent and often colloquial. The novel contains numerous quotes from Russian and French literature, and even quotes of "worldly wisdom" from Benjamin Franklin. "The Kholmsky Family" is an important antecedent of Leo Tolstoy's War and Peace. Like "War and Peace" it reflects the world-view of the Russian gentry.


Bank Melli Iran

Bank Melli Iran (BMI; , "Bank Mili-ye Iran") is the first national and commercial retail bank of Iran. It is considered as the largest Iranian company in terms of annual income with a revenue of 364 657 billion Rials in 2016. It is the largest bank in the Islamic world and in the Middle East. By the end of 2016, BMI had a net asset of $76.6 billion and a vast network of 3.328 banking branches; so it is known as the largest Iranian bank based on the amount of assets. The brand of BMI was recognized as one of the 100 top Iranian brands in 10th National Iranian Heroes Championship in 2013. The National Bank has 3328 active branches inside, 14 active branches and 4 sub-stations abroad and it has 180 booths. The first managing director of BMI was from Germany. Also, the first foreign branch of BMI was opened in Hamburg, Germany in 1948.
History.
The formation of a new bank was first proposed by Haj Mohammad Hassan Amin Dar al-Zarb known as Amināl-Zarb (one of the great Tehran stockholders) in 1879 ten years before the creation of the King Bank, to Naser-al-Din Shah Qajar. But this proposal was not accepted with the interference of the countries that dominated Iran and their agents. Instead, the King Bank was established in Iran. After the establishment of the constitution, when the government allowed the National Assembly to allow external borrowing, the national feelings were excited that had been hurt by past loans and the behavior of foreign banks. So, the deputies demanded the establishment of the National Bank in order to curtail the political and economic influence of said banks and restore the treasury finances while opposing external borrowing. A group of traders and merchants committed to participate in the bank. Thus, it was published with a statement that showed the general feelings and popular interest in establishing a national credit bank in Iran in December 1906.
On 23 November 1906, Mirza Abolqasem Nasser al-Malik, the Minister of Finance of the time of Muzaffar al-Din Shah, was present in the National Assembly. He announced the financial crisis of the country. He suggested that the government get a loan from European countries to deal with this problem, but the deputies dissented strongly. After that, on 9 December, the deputies agreed to establish a bank that could benefit the country and work with people's deposits in the interests of the country and the people. The news of Bank Melli formation with a capital of 15 million (300 million) that could be increased to 50 million Tomans faced with the nation's eagerness.
On the other hand, sudden changes in the political situation and the 1907 agreement between the governments of Russia and Britain and the division of Iran, as well as the beginning of the First World War and the arrival of occupation forces in Iran, have undermined all efforts to form the National Bank. This great wish of people was postponed for many years. Finally, by the end of First World War and withdrawal of invaders from Iran, the law for establishing the National Bank of Iran was approved by the parliament on 14 May 1927. The statute of bank was approved by the Parliament's Finance Committee on 14 July 1928. Thus, the National Bank of Iran officially started its work in Tehran on Tuesday, 20 September 1928.
The first CEO of the National Bank, Kurt Lindenblatt, and his vice-president, Fogel, came to Iran with 70 experts from Germany.
According to the statute of bank, the National Bank of Iran was recognized as joint-stock company with legal personality; it was considered to be subject to commercial laws. The initial capital of the bank was 20 million Rials, of which only 8 million were paid. In 1935, the bank's capital increased to 300 million Rials and in 1952 it was increased to 2 billion Rials, all of which was paid. At present, it is187 trillion Rials with an increase in 2016.
Due to the fact that there were no bank specialists in Iran at that time, the law allowed the recruitment of Swiss or German nationals for the administration of the bank. The number of bank employees on the opening day, including Iranian and German, did not exceed 27. Now, the number of employees of BMI is over 45 thousand people.
At the beginning of establishment of the bank, two branches were established in the market of Tehran and Bandar-e Bushhehr, the most important commercial port of Iran, in addition to the central branch. The first bank branch abroad was established in Hamburg, Germany, in 1948.
On 22 March 1931, the right to publish the banknote was approved by the National Assembly. It was officially granted to the National Bank of Iran for 10 years, which could be renewed on its own. In April 1932, the first banknote of BMI was issued.
Saving Fund: saving fund of Bank Melli Iran was established under a law to encourage people to save money in 1939. It is one of the active units of the bank after establishment of Islamic banking system as a cash loan.
After the Islamic Revolution.
After victory of Islamic Revolution and establishment of Islamic Republic sovereignty, the change in banking system and elimination of usury and creation of a bank were considered based on Islamic teachings and laws. By adoption of lawful bill of bank operation without any usury in 1983 and its communication to banks, the instructions and executive regulations were prepared. Then, the law was implemented in BMI since April 1984.
Currently, there are more than 3328 active branches inside, 14 active branches and 4 subsidiaries abroad and 180 offices, which has made it one of the strongest financial institutions in Iran, even in the world.
The 20 Rials Pahlavi coin had two pictures: On one side, there was image of Reza Pahlavi with the words of Reza Shah: Establishment of BMI was one of the long-term wishes of my nation, and on the other side was the image of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi with the written: Establishment of BMI was one of the real foundations of independence of Iran.
Governors.
Source:
Museum of BMI.
The Museum of BMI was opened with the presence of Eshaq Jahangiri, the first vice president on 21 July 2017. The Museum of BMI was opened with a collection of exquisite works of art, especially banking treasures from various historical periods of Iran, at savings fund building. The National Bank of Iran has ancient objects from Achaemenid, Sasanian and precious artistic works, including fine paintings, lines, rugs and blankets. So, the objectives of establishing BMI Museum is displaying old and historical banking instruments, as well as gifts from various countries during the activity of BMI. The building of BMI Fund was constructed at Ferdowsi Street in Tehran in 1928; it was registered in the category of national works of Iran on 20 December 2000 by number of 2930. This building was designed by a German architect H. Heinrich, inspired by remained Achaemenid periodic buildings and combination of Iranian and European architecture. In this museum, a comprehensive collection of historical gifts of the bank, office equipment and banknote printing machine, ancient paintings, coins, old banknotes and ceremonial bank items are publicly displayed.
Banknote printing.
On 22 March 1931, the National Assembly handed over the right to BMI to print the banknote for 10 years. Also, it was decided that, after expiration of this period, if this right was not canceled, it would act for next ten years.
Finally, first National Banknotes were issued on 1 April 1932. The banknotes of Imperial Bank and National Bank of Iran were prevalent from that date to three months. The banknotes of BMI have become the only paper money in Iran since July of that year.
By 1960, BMI was issuing banknotes for its economic needs. However, that year, upon establishment of Central Bank of Iran, the exclusive right to issue banknotes was transferred to this bank, which is still ongoing.
Fund.
From the beginning of establishment, BMI was a public company; its initial capital was 20 million Rials divided to 20 thousand shares of thousand Rials (13,500 shares with name and 6,500 anonymous shares). But, the transfer of bank shares to non-state shareholders was banned in 1938. In 1935, the capital of BMI increased to 300 million Rials and increased to 2 billion Rials in 1952.
Due to banking system constraints, the National Bank carried out all duties of Central Bank in the economy before 1956. After establishment of Central Bank of Iran, the duties were assigned to this bank. The last registered capital of National Bank was 198 thousand and 565 billion and 600 million Rials in June 2017.
Social responsibilities.
The activities of BMI in the field of social responsibilities have always been considered from organizational and personnel perspectives. The large family of BMI has always played a role as a cornerstone of society in reviving these tasks, in addition to systemic and official activities.
Islamic banking.
All banks in Iran must follow the banking principles and practices described in the Islamic Banking (Sharia) law of Iran passed in 1983 by the Islamic Majlis of Iran. According to this law, banks can only engage in interest-free Islamic transactions (interest is considered as usury or riba and is forbidden by Islam and its holy book the Quran). The permitted commercial transactions involve exchange of goods and services in return for a share of the assumed profit. All such transactions are performed through Islamic contracts, such as "mozarebe", "foroush aghsati", "joale", "salaf", and "gharzol-hassane". Details of these contracts and related practices are contained in the Iranian Interest-Free banking law and its guidelines.
Number of employees.
Serving condition table of BMI employees by gender
National Bank Hospital.
The Hospital of BMI was established to provide health care and to meet the medical needs of its employees in 1938. Following this, the current building of the Bank Hospital was built in 1973. Currently, this unit is located in a 9-story building with an area of about 24,000 square meters; it has 250 beds, about 800 staff, 11 clinics and 14 departments; it uses modern medical equipment to serve the health of the staff of BMI. The health clinics are also located in different locations to meet the needs of the clients in order to provide facilities for those employees of BMI who do not have access to the Bank's Hospital.
Services of National Bank Hospital:
Financial numbers and statistics.
 16 June 2008 (1 USD is approximately 133,130 Iranian rial (Rls)):
Debts and claims.
Mohammad Reza Hosseinzadeh, director of BMI, announced that the Islamic Republic of Iran owes over 220,000 billion Rials to BMI. In 2009, the announcement of Mahmoud Reza Khavari's talks with ISNA news agency was published on the debt of 50 trillion Rials of Iranian government to the bank and the government's inability to repay the debt. But then, the news of "the government's inability to pay the debt" was denied by Khavari
Offices.
Bank Melli Iran has 18 international branches and services in 11 countries:
Terrorist bombing.
On 26 January 1981, a bomb exploded outside the San Francisco offices of Bank Melli Iran. According to the National Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, a bomb exploded at BMI branch in San Francisco, shattering windows and damaging the wall of the building where the explosive was planted. No injuries were reported and no arrests were made.
Civil lawsuit.
Following the September 1997 suicide bombing in Jerusalem, five American students who had been wounded were awarded $251 million in compensatory and punitive damages against the government of Iran and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps by Judge Ricardo M. Urbina, under the Flatow Amendment of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, in accordance with Section 201a of the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, which states that "in every case in which a person has obtained a judgment against a terrorist party on a claim based upon an act of terrorism ... the blocked assets of that terrorist party ... shall be subject to execution". Since most Iranian assets in the United States had been withdrawn after the embassy hostage crisis, the only substantial monetary asset left was approximately $150,000 in the Bank Melli's account in the Bank of New York. Before turning over the funds to the five students, however, the Bank of New York sued for a legal decision regarding its responsibilities in the case. The United States Department of Justice, speaking as amicus curiae in support of Bank Melli, advised that the bank had no responsibility for turning the funds over to the students; in March 2006, Judge Denise Cole ruled against them, and was upheld by the Second Circuit Court in April 2007. Bank Melli then withdrew the funds from Bank of New York.
On 5 March 2018, Bank Melli lost an appeal "related to credit card use in Iran" concerning "roughly $17.6 million that Visa Inc and Franklin Resources Inc" were holding for Bank Melli.
United States sanctions.
On 25 October 2007, the United States imposed unilateral sanctions against Iran. These sanctions include new measures to reduce Iran's ability to conduct financial transactions between the state-owned banks of Iran and United States citizens or private organisations. Bank Melli was included in these sanctions, on the grounds that, besides its other customers, Bank Melli provides financial services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes. A fact sheet released by the US Treasury Department also asserts that between 2002 and 2006 Bank Melli sent at least $100 million to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah and other groups, via the Quds Force, a branch of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.
In a statement published on its web site, BMI refutes the US allegations and categorically denies that it has ever been involved in any "deceptive banking practices".
European Union sanctions.
On 16 June 2008, the European Union imposed further unilateral sanctions against Iran. These sanctions will include the European Union freezing the assets of Bank Melli, in response to Tehran's refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program.
After the lifting of sanctions BMI was the first Iranian bank to be reconnected to Swift.
Subsidiaries.
Sadad data company.
In 1999, Sadad Data Company was registered at Companies Registration Office and Non-commercial Enterprises under the number 151478 for an indefinite period of time.
Publishing company of BMI.
After assignment of right to publish banknotes to BMI, a limited organization was created to publish the date of issue on banknotes. This organization evolved along with development of BMI; it was known as "BMI Printing House". This printing house, which was founded by the name of "printing shop" in 1938, gradually became one of the most prestigious printing houses in the country and in the Middle East. The printing needs of branches of BMI were also fulfilling throughout the country in addition to providing print services to government agencies. Printing company of BMI received the publication license from Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance in order to allow publication of book and magazine; so it renamed "BMI Printing and Publishing Company".
National Development Group.
The National Development Group's investment is a conglomerate company (cluster company).
Which is accepted on the Tehran Stock Exchange and this cluster company consists of several holding companies (parent company) which includes the following companies
1- Seydko Cement Industries
2- Holding food industry in Behshahr
3- Holding the Iranian Power Plant
4- Holdings of Iran Transfo Group
5- Tangible rubber holding
6- Pharmaceutical holding
7. National Development Investment
8- Arak Petrochemical Industries
Shareholders of National Development Group Investment Company:
The National Bank of Iran owns 71 percent of the company's shares. Other shareholders of the company are as follows
Pension fund and disability pension 8%
Sector Capital Management Services 2%
Tedbir Investment Company 1%
Iran Insurance Company 1%
Eurasian Economy Tadbirgaran Company 1%


John Dawnay (MP)

The Honourable John Dawnay (8 December, 1686 – 12 August, 1740) of Cowick Hall, Yorkshire was a British politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1713 and 1716.
Dawnay was the son of Henry Dawnay, 2nd Viscount Downe and his wife Mildred Godfrey, daughter of William Godfrey, of Thornock, Lincolnshire. He matriculated at Christ Church, Oxford on 16 July, 1703, aged 16 and was created M.A. on 9 July, 1706.
At the 1713 general election Dawney was returned as Member of Parliament for Aldborough and Pontefract constituencies. There was a petition against the result at Aldborough, but this had not been resolved by the time the Parliament was dissolved in 1715. While there was an outstanding petition against one of the elections, he was not required to choose which constituency he would represent, and so sat for both boroughs throughout the Parliament. He was returned for Pontefract at the 1715 general election until he was unseated on petition on 22 March, 1716.
Dawnay married Charlotte Louisa, daughter of Robert Pleydell, of Ampney Crucis, Gloucestershire, on 10 August, 1724. She died in April 1729. Dawnay died on 31 July, 1740, aged 53, predeceasing his father by one year and was buried on 12 August at Snaith. His sons Henry and John both succeeded in turn to the viscountcy.


Frexit

Frexit (a portmanteau of "French" or "France" and "exit") is the hypothetical French withdrawal from the European Union (EU). The term is similar to "Brexit", which denotes the UK leaving the EU. The term was mostly used during the campaign leading to the French presidential election of 2017.
A poll by the Pew Research Center in June 2016, before the 2016 United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, found France to have a 61% unfavourable view of the EU, second only to Greece's 71%, with the United Kingdom on 48%. However, when asked about an actual departure from the EU, 45% of French wanted to stay in the bloc while 33% expressed a desire to leave. The figure in favour of remaining increased to 60% in a subsequent poll in 2019.
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum held on 23 June 2016, which resulted in 51.9% of votes being cast in favour of exiting the EU, occurred during the electoral campaign leading to the French presidential election of 2017. Following the referendum result, Front National Leader Marine Le Pen promised a French referendum on EU membership if she were to win the presidential election. Former President François Hollande met with politicians including Le Pen in the aftermath of the vote and rejected her proposal for a referendum. Fellow 2017 candidate Nicolas Dupont-Aignan of Debout la France also advocated for a referendum. François Asselineau's Popular Republican Union instead advocate a unilateral withdrawal of the EU using article 50 of the Treaty of Lisbon.
In an early use of the term Frexit, Le Pen said "Just call me Madame Frexit" in a Bloomberg Television interview she gave journalist Caroline Connan on 23 June 2015, one year before the Brexit referendum in June 2016.
In August 2019, "Le Monde" editorial director Sylvie Kauffmann argued that "Brexit has made Frexit impossible" and that Le Pen "no longer dared push her Frexit argument" by the time of the 2017 presidential election.
Surveys.
In a January 2018 interview with the British Broadcasting Corporation, President of France Emmanuel Macron agreed with Andrew Marr that the French people were equally disenchanted with globalisation and if presented with a simple yes / no response to such a complex question, they would "probably" have voted for Frexit in the same circumstances.
In January 2019, pollster Institut français d'opinion publique conducted a survey on several questions that might be asked were the Citizens' initiative referendum to be applied in France. One of these questions is about the exit of France from the EU. The result was that 60% opposed it.


Ahmed Sareer

Ahmed Sareer (born 28 August 1965) is a Maldivian diplomat who served as Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations from 2012 to 2017.
He has a Master of Arts degree in foreign affairs and trade from Monash University in Australia. He first joined the Maldivian Foreign Ministry in April 1986, as a civil servant. He served in a junior diplomatic posting in Colombo, Sri Lanka for a year (1988-1989), before returning to work at the ministry, rising to the position of Assistant Under-Secretary in 1992. He was then appointed chargé d’affaires at the Maldives' Permanent Mission to the United Nations, serving from 1992 to 1993. Returning to the Maldives, he eventually became Deputy Director for Foreign Relations in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. From 2000 to 2003, he was Director at the Secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation in Kathmandu, Nepal.
Having risen in the ranks of the Foreign Ministry, he subsequently served as Deputy High Commissioner for the Maldives in Sri Lanka, chargé d'affaires at the Maldivian mission to the European Union (2008), Deputy High Commissioner to the United Kingdom (2008-2009). From 2009 to 2012, he was High Commissioner to Bangladesh; in February 2012, he became Ambassador to the United States. On 20 December 2012, he presented his credentials to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, as the Maldives Permanent Representative to the United Nations. As chairman of the Alliance of Small Island States from 2015 to 2017, he was a key figure in negotiating the Paris Agreement and for adopting the target of limiting temperature increase to 1.5 °C. His tenure as Permanent Representative ended on 5 July 2017.
On 18 July 2017 he was appointed Foreign Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, succeeding in that role Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, who was in turn appointed Permanent Representative to the United Nations and Ambassador to the United States. Since November 2018 he has been adviser to the Secretary-General of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
He and his wife, Fathimath Athifa, are the parents of four children. He is a painter whose works have been publicly exhibited.