Sarath Chandrasiri Mayadunne

Sarath Chandrasiri Mayadunne () is Sri Lankan civil servant and politician. He was the 36th Auditor General of Sri Lanka and was appointed to the Parliament of Sri Lanka in 2015.
Mayadunne attended Kegalu Vidyalaya. Graduating from University of Ceylon, Peradeniya with a Bachelor of Commerce in 1970, he became a Chartered Accountant. He is a Fellow of the Canadian Comprehensive Auditing Foundation.
Joining the Auditor-General's Department, he was appointed Auditor General on 13 August 2000, succeeding S. M. Sabry, and held the office until his retirement from public service on 23 October 2006. He was succeeded by P. A. Pematilaka.
He was listed by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna as a national list candidate at the 2015 general election. Following the election Mayadunne was appointed to Parliament as a national list Member of Parliament taking oaths on 1 September 2015, however he resigned two days later on 3 September 2015.


John Savile Lumley-Savile, 2nd Baron Savile

John Savile Lumley-Savile, 2nd Baron Savile born with the name John Savile-Lumley, (20 September 1854 – 3 April 1931) was an English landowner, diplomat, and sportsman.
John Savile-Lumley was the son of the Rev. Frederick Savile-Lumley, Rector of Bilsthorpe and nephew of John Savile (1818–1896). The latter was raised to the peerage in 1888 as Baron Savile, of Rufford in the County of Nottingham, with remainder to his nephew John Savile-Lumley (later Lumley-Savile). Lord Savile died in November 1896, aged 78 and was succeeded in the Barony, according to the special remainder, by his nephew John Savile Lumley-Savile, 2nd Baron Savile, who in 1898 assumed by royal license the name of Savile after Lumley.
After education at Eton, John Savile-Lumley joined Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service. He was nominated Attaché at Brussels in 1874, became 2nd Secretary in Athens in 1879, exchanged into the Foreign Office in 1881, and retired in 1889. In the early 1900s he owned about 33,900 acres, comprising the family estates in Nottinghamshire and the West Riding of Yorkshire. He enjoyed shooting, fishing, and golf.
He was a Justice of the Peace for Nottinghamshire and in 1904 was made KCVO. He married in 1894 but his first wife died in 1912 without issue. He married for the second time in 1916; the marriage produced George Halifax Lumley-Savile, heir to the title. Henry Lumley-Savile (1923–2001) was the younger son from the marriage.
He died on 3 April 1931 at his Nottinghamshire home, Rufford Abbey.


Paul Gutkeled

Paul Gutkeled () was a Hungarian influential lord, ban of Severin between 1272 and 1275 under Ladislaus IV of Hungary reign.
Career in Hungary.
He was appointed many times as ban of Severin by king Ladislaus IV of Hungary between 1272 and 1275.


List of governors of the Banque Centrale du Congo

This is a list of the governors of the Banque Centrale du Congo in Kinshasa. The bank, which is the country's central bank, was founded after independence in 1960.


Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Public Organisations

The Coordinating Council of Political Parties and Public Organisations unites a number of political parties and public movements in Abkhazia who support the current Government of President Khajimba.
History.
The Council was founded on 10 July 2013 to unite the principal parties and movements opposed to the Government of President Ankvab. Its founding members were the political parties United Abkhazia, the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia, the People's Party of Abkhazia and the Party for the Economic Development of Abkhazia (PEDA) as well as the public movements Akhatsa, Aruaa and Abaash, the Civil Union For the Rule of Law, Stability and Democracy and the Patriotic Movement Young Abkhazia. On 9 August, the Council was joined by two more movements, the Congress of Russian Communities of Russian Compatriots in Abkhazia, and the Coordinating Council of Russian Compatriots in Abkhazia.
The Coordinating Council organised protests that led to the May 2014 revolution against Ankvab. Its candidate Raul Khajimba, chairman of the Forum for the National Unity of Abkhazia, won the presidential election organised in August.
On 9 February 2016, United Abkhazia announced that it was leaving the Coordinating Council, claiming that the role of the Council had been marginalised by the government. On 29 February, United Abkhazia, the PEDA and the People's Party became founding members of the Council for the National Unity of the Republic of Abkhazia, uniting political forces that are neither pro-government nor pro-opposition.


Hatem Beg Ordubadi

Hatem "Beg" Ordubadi (), was an Iranian aristocrat from the Ordubadi family, who served as the grand vizier of the Safavid king ("shah") Abbas I (r. 1588–1629) from 1591 to 1610/1.
Biography.
Background and early life.
Hatem was the son of Bahram Khan Ordubadi, the lord of Ordubad, the homeland of the Ordubadi family—an Iranian family which was descended from the medieval philosopher and polymath Nasir al-Din al-Tusi. Hatem later succeeded his father as the lord of Urdubad, and received the title of "Beg" (lord). Due to local disagreements, he resigned however, and went to the royal court. In the ensuing period he served as vizier of the governor of Khoy. However, when the latter was dismissed later on, Hatem Beg lost his job as well, and settled again in Ordubad and later Ardabil. His fortunes changed in the early rule of Abbas I, when he was appointed as the vizier of the governor of Kerman, Vali Beg Yuz Bashi Afshar and was later made the accountant ("mostowfi al-mamalek") of Yazd.
Vizierate under Shah Abbas I.
In 1587-1588, Hatem's brother Abu Taleb Beg, then the "mostowfi al-mamalek" was sent as an envoy to the ruler of the Uzbeks, Abdullah Khan II, who was trying to take Herat from the Safavids at the time. Abdullah Khan II was not interested in negotiations, and had Abu Taleb Beg executed by putting him in front of the mouth of a cannon. As a result of this gruesome tale in relation to his close relative, Hatem Beg was taken under Abbas I's wings, and in 1591, he appointed him as the "mostowfi al-mamalek" of all of Iran, while six months later he made him his grand vizier. Hatem Beg, who became known by his honorific of "Etemad-e daulat" ("Trusty Support of the State"), which was given to every Safavid grand vizier, demonstrated to be a statesman of noteworthy capacity during his tenure as grand vizier. During his tenure he managed to form a highly potent state administration that allowed the country to persist to prosper under considerably less adept shahs after Abbas I's death.
The Safavid court historian Iskandar Beg Munshi, who was attached to the retinue of Hatem Beg, states that he "brought security into the lives of Iranians" and "was a model for all in regard to the administration of justice, his knowledge of accounting procedures, and his organisation of divan affairs." Hatem Beg was evenly held in high regard by the Europeans—the Carmelite monk Father Paul Simon, recounted Hatem Beg's calmness in dealing with difficult tasks. He describes how Hatem Beg "used to despatch 200 petitions in a morning, and after having sat and given a hearing for six or seven hours would go out as serene as if he were coming from taking his horse for a walk." Aside from his administrative responsibilities, Hatem Beg also distinguished him as a military commander in the consolidation of the country. It was unusual for a person of Iranian stock to be involved in military affairs—the Iranian statesman Mirza Salman Jaberi, who had served as grand vizier from 1577 to 1583, had as a result of his involvement in military affairs made the Qizilbash hostile towards him, who felt that their power had been usurped. Mirza Salman Jaberi was eventually murdered by the Qizilbash. Hatem Beg's involvement in military affairs, however, did not arouse the antagonism of the Qizilbash, which, in the words of David Blow, was "a sign of changing times".
In 1594/5, Hatem Beg, together with a group of administrators and accountants, were sent to the newly subdued province of Gilan, where they improved the structure of tax charge and contribution, which, supposedly, was done at the demand of the residents who were discontent with the oppressive governorship of Mehdi Qoli Khan Shamlu. More likely, however, this reform took place due to the economic capability the province offered—its rich silk manufacture, tea, caviar, and lumber encouraged Abbas I to dispatch his most prominent officers to overhaul the economic system of the province in a just approach.
Death and offspring.
Hatem Beg died in 1610/1 near Urmia during an expedition—he was buried in Mashhad. His son, Mirza Taleb Khan Ordubadi, succeeded him as grand vizier, occupying the office till 1621. He was reappointed as grand vizier during the reign of shah Safi (r. 1629–1642) from 1632 until 1633, where he was assassinated by the eunuch Saru Taqi, due to a personal hatred he had towards the Ordubadi family, the reason being that Hatem Beg had denied to give Saru Taqi's father a post which he had asked for.


Khalid Abdel Nasser

Khalid Abdel Nasser (, also spelled Khalid 'Abd al-Nasir; 13 December 1949 – 15 September 2011) was the eldest son of Egypt's second President Gamal Abdel Nasser.
Biography.
Nasser was born in 1949. He is a graduate of Cairo University and Cambridge University where he studied civil engineering.
Nasser's public profile became pronounced in his early adulthood on account of his often troubled relationship with Egyptian president Anwar Sadat, his father's successor. "Time Magazine" stated that when Sadat asked to acquire Gamal Abdel Nasser's bulletproof limousine, Khalid refused and after a heated argument with Sadat, he set the car on fire, destroying it.
In later years, Nasser became a vocal critic of Sadat, and his presidential successor, Hosni Mubarak, both of whose policies had diverged significantly from those of Gamal Abdel Nasser. In 1988, he was accused of being part of a secret leftist organization, ("Thawret Misr,") a Nasserist group that violently opposed the 1979 Camp David Accords between Egypt and Israel. The Mubarak government sought the death penalty in a case which accused Nasser of trying to overthrow the Egyptian government, and of involvement in a spate of assassinations and bombings. The case eventually became a test of strength between the judiciary and the executive when judges threw out much of the case, accusing police and prosecutors of collusion in torturing the defendants.
The case also created anger among many Egyptians who sympathized with Nasser because of the general anti-Israeli sentiment at the time, the fact that he was the son of Gamal Abdel Nasser, a popular figure in the country, and reports that the evidence was provided by American intelligence. Nasser had escaped to Yugoslavia during the trial, but was acquitted anyway.
Later life and death.
In the mid-1990s following international sanctions against Iraq, Nasser received $16.6 million worth of Saddam Hussein's oil vouchers in the Oil-for-Food Programme, more than anyone else in Egypt, according to the list of beneficiaries. He later became a professor at Cairo University's Faculty of Engineering, a job which he held for the remainder of his life.
In February 2011, during the Egyptian Revolution of 2011, Nasser joined pro-democracy demonstrations in Tahrir Square against Mubarak and his regime. According to "The Telegraph", Nasser's participation "was seen as helping to give the revolution a posthumous stamp of approval from an iconic Egyptian hero. Later that year, on 30 August he fell into a coma ending in his death at age 61 in a Cairo hospital on 15 September. He is survived by three children.


British protected person

A British protected person (BPP) is a member of a class of British nationality associated with former protectorates, protected states, and territorial mandates and trusts under British control. Individuals with this nationality are British nationals, but are neither British nor Commonwealth citizens. Nationals of this class are subject to immigration controls when entering the United Kingdom and do not have the automatic right of abode there or any other country.
This nationality was created to accommodate residents of certain areas that were under British protection or administration but not formally incorporated as Crown dominions. About 1,200 British protected persons currently hold active British passports with this status and enjoy consular protection when travelling abroad. However, individuals who only hold BPP nationality are effectively stateless as they are not guaranteed the right to enter the country in which they are nationals.
Background.
Portions of the British Empire were not incorporated as Crown territory proper and instead considered foreign soil under British suzerainty. These included protectorates, protected states, League of Nations mandates, and United Nations trust territories. Because they were foreign lands, birth in one of these areas did not automatically confer British subject status. Instead, most people associated with these territories were designated as British protected persons.
In the 19th century, the term referred to any member of the native populations of protectorates or to a subject of protected state rulers. Over time, it became a substantial form of nationality. Eligibility requirements for the status were initially not well defined. The designation was given to anyone who was considered to owe allegiance to a local ruler of a state under British protection or who was indigenous to a protectorate without local government. More substantial requirements were codified in 1934; individuals born in protected territories who had no other nationality at birth or those born abroad who would otherwise be stateless to a BPP father, who was himself born in a protected territory, became British protected persons. The status was granted solely by royal prerogative until it was first statutorily defined in the British Nationality Act 1948. As Britain withdrew from its remaining overseas possessions during decolonisation, some protected persons remained BPPs despite the independence of their territories. After almost all protected territories had become independent, Parliament severely restricted acquisition of BPP status in 1978.
The several types of protected territories were differentiated by how their administrative structures were established:
Acquisition and loss.
Becoming a British protected person is effectively no longer possible. Registration as a BPP is currently only permitted for individuals who have always been stateless and were born to at least one BPP parent in the United Kingdom or an overseas territory. Prior to decolonisation, individuals born in a protected territory and held no other nationality at birth were British protected persons. The status was transferable by descent to children of BPP fathers (but not mothers) who did not have any other nationality following independence of their territories until 16 August 1978. BPP status was granted in addition to other British nationality classes; an individual can be both a British citizen and a British protected person.
Retaining BPP status past the end of British jurisdiction over a protected territory is dependent on the type of territory it was. Persons connected with former protectorates or trust territories may remain BPPs if they did not acquire citizenship of the relevant countries, while all who were associated with former protected states or mandated territories automatically had the status revoked on independence. For those associated with the British Solomon Islands, BPP retention has the added requirement of never having possessed any other nationality. Additionally, Citizens of the United Kingdom and Colonies who were solely connected with that protectorate lost CUKC status on independence and became BPPs instead.
British protected person status is automatically lost if an individual acquires any other nationality or citizenship after 16 August 1978, including other British nationality classes. It can also be voluntarily relinquished by a declaration made to the Home Secretary, provided that an individual already possesses or intends to acquire another nationality. BPP status may be deprived if it was fraudulently acquired. There is no path to restore BPP status once lost.
Rights and privileges.
British protected persons are exempted from obtaining a visa or entry certificate when visiting the United Kingdom for less than six months. When travelling in other countries, they may seek British consular protection. BPPs are also eligible to serve in non-reserved Civil Service posts and enlist in the British Armed Forces.
BPPs may become British citizens by registration, rather than naturalisation, after residing in the United Kingdom for more than five years and possessing indefinite leave to remain for more than one year. Registration confers citizenship "otherwise than by descent", meaning that children born outside of the UK to those successfully registered will be British citizens "by descent". Individuals who become British citizens automatically lose their BPP status. BPPs who do not hold and have not lost any other nationality on or after 4 July 2002 are entitled to register as British citizens.
Restrictions.
BPPs who hold no other nationality are "de facto" stateless because they do not have a right to enter the country that claims them as nationals. The Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 allowed these individuals to register as British citizens, after which statelessness was generally resolved for people who were solely BPPs.
United Kingdom.
Unlike members of other British nationality classes, British protected persons are not Commonwealth citizens. BPPs are subject to immigration control and have neither the right of abode nor the right to work in the United Kingdom. They are required to pay a "health surcharge" to access National Health Service benefits when residing in the UK for longer than six months. They do not have the right to vote in UK elections and are ineligible to stand for election to the House of Commons and local government. They are additionally barred from being sitting members in the House of Lords.
European Union.
Before the United Kingdom withdrew from the European Union on 31 January 2020, full British citizens were European Union citizens.<ref name="EU2019/592">.</ref> British protected persons have never been EU citizens and did not enjoy freedom of movement in other EU countries. They were, and continue to be, exempted from obtaining visas when visiting the Schengen Area.


Neal B. Freeman

Neal B. Freeman (born July 5, 1940 in New York City) is an American businessman and political writer. He served as the Washington Editor for "National Review" magazine from 1978 until 1981. Freeman graduated with a bachelor's degree from Yale in 1962.
In 1981, he founded The Blackwell Corporation, an advisory firm with clients in communications, defense, and wealth management. He previously worked as an executive with the Hearst Corporation and was appointed by President Reagan as Director of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. In 2017, Freeman selected 79 of his previously published writings and addresses to audiences for book publication.
He is the father of James Freeman, assistant editor of "The Wall Street Journal's" editorial page.


Palace of Justice, Rome

The Palace of Justice, Rome (Italian: "Palazzo di Giustizia", also colloquially named "Il Palazzaccio"), the seat of the Supreme Court of Cassation and the Judicial Public Library, is located in the Prati district of Rome. It fronts onto the "Piazza dei Tribunali", the "Via Triboniano", the "Piazza Cavour", and the "Via Ulpiano". The huge building is popularly called in Italian the "Palazzaccio (the bad Palace)".
History.
Designed by the Perugia architect Guglielmo Calderini and built between 1888 and 1910, the Palace of Justice is considered one of the grandest of the new buildings which followed the proclamation of Rome as the capital city of the Kingdom of Italy. The foundation stone was laid on 14 March 1888 in the presence of Giuseppe Zanardelli, Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Great Seal, who had insisted on a prestigious location in the Prati district, where various other new court buildings were already going up.
The alluvial soil on which the building sits required a massive concrete platform to support the foundations. Despite this, instability problems developed after the Palace was completed, and settlement led to a need for a painstaking restoration project which was begun in 1970.
The excavations for the foundations unearthed several archaeological finds, including some sarcophagi. In one of these was found the skeleton of a young woman, Crepereia Tryphaena, together with a superbly crafted articulated ivory doll, now conserved in the "Centrale Montemartini" museum.
On 11 January 1911, twenty-two years after construction began, the building was officially opened in the presence of the King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III.
The building's unusually large size, astonishing decorations, and long period of construction created the suspicion of corruption. In April 1912 a parliamentary commission was appointed to inquire into the matter and it presented its findings the following year. The affair gave rise to the building's popular and pejorative nickname of "Palazzaccio" ("Bad Palace").
Description.
Inspired by late Renaissance and Baroque architecture, the building is 170 meters by 155 in size and is completely covered with Travertine limestone. Above the façade looking towards the River Tiber it is surmounted by a great bronze quadriga, set there in 1926, the work of the sculptor Ettore Ximenes from Palermo. Ten large statues of notable jurists adorn the ramps before the main façade and the internal courtyard. The upper part of the façade looking onto the Piazza Cavour is ornamented with a bronze coat of arms of the House of Savoy. Inside the Hall of the Supreme Court, also known as the Great Hall (or on Calderini's plans as the "Aula Maxima") are several frescoes, begun by Cesare Maccari (1840–1919), who became paralysed in 1909 while the work was unfinished. It was continued until 1918 by Maccari's former student Paride Pascucci (1866–1954).


Arthur Parfenchikov

Arthur Olegovich Parfenchikov (, born November 29, 1964) is a Karelian politician who since February 2017, has been serving as the Head of the Republic of Karelia, a federal subject of Russia. Parfenchikov was appointed to the post of acting governor after Aleksandr Hudilainen resigned in 2017. He was later confirmed in the position in a general election, where he was a candidate representing the ruling United Russia party. Prior to his appointment as governor, Parfenchikov was the head of the Federal Court Bailiff Service.


Internet Access and Training Program

The Internet Access and Training Program (IATP) funded by USAID since 2007, is a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA), US Department of State, funded in the past under the Freedom Support Act (FSA). IATP was administered by Project Harmony in Russia and still is administered by the International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) in other Eurasian countries. IATP promotes Internet training and provides Internet access in developing countries around the world.
Overview.
IATP consists of a network of Internet access sites located throughout 11 countries of Eurasia. Through these sites, thousands of individuals per month receive free-of-charge access to the Internet as well as to a wide variety of computer-related training programs. IATP access sites are located in the countries of Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan.
IATP began in the mid 1990s. At that time, the program was aimed at providing Internet access and training exclusively to scholars from Eurasia who had participated in US government-sponsored exchange programs. Through its services, IATP helped these exchange program alumni stay in contact with the professional colleagues they had made while in the United States, assisting them in the process of continuing their research and academic growth once back home. Over time, IATP gradually began to provide Internet access and training to other non-alumni groups such as journalists, lawyers, NGO representatives, and students. Providing the services of the program to new audiences has continued to this day. Today, IATP provides its services to the public at large in the countries in which it works.
Almost all IATP access sites are housed within local partner institutions. These institutions typically include public libraries, universities, and NGOs. An IATP access site usually occupies one room in the partner institution’s premises. This room houses all IATP equipment, computer-related books and manuals, and an IREX staff member who oversees the operations of the access site. In a limited number of cases, IATP sites are part of the larger IREX office in a given country.
IATP began operating in Moldova in 1998. At present, there is one core IATP access site and there are seven independent Internet centers. In July 2006, 333 residents of Moldova visited the IATP training laboratory, and 63 people attended training courses. IATP's server in Moldova hosts 244 non-commercial websites.
IATP undertakes four primary activities—provided free of charge—through its network of sites:
Internet Access. Users can reserve time in increments of one hour to access e-mail and the Internet, or use the computers for other purposes such as word processing.
Training.
Members of the public can enroll in a wide variety of training courses on information technology. These include basic courses in computer literacy to higher-end training on subjects such as Web programming and network administration.
Online Chats.
Chats have evolved into a valuable medium for exchanging unrestricted information about events across borders, offering an alternative perspective to other types of media. Governmental officials from many countries have been the guests of honor in IATP-hosted Web chats, including numerous members of parliament and US Embassy officials. For example, nationwide chats held in Ukraine in December 2005 gave librarians the opportunity to lobby the Ministry of Culture for simplification of the regulations regarding procurement. This lobbying effort was successful, and is being studied among librarians in other countries across Eurasia through additional online chats.
A series of chats hosted by the IATP network in Eurasia in November 2005 with representatives of Ministries of Education, US Embassy officials, and ECA alumni gave opportunities for citizens to discuss problems and solutions in the educational system, learn about available scholarships for high school, undergraduate, and graduate studies as well as short-term professional qualification courses in the United States and European countries, and obtain first-hand information about the advantages of studying abroad directly from alumni. This example shows that the network of IATP access sites throughout Eurasia supports implementing new educational practices and helping establish cooperation between educators from different countries of the region.
Web Hosting.
IATP collaborates with users to create websites and other electronic media. The focus is on creating resources in local languages, making Internet usage more relevant and useful within each of the countries.
IREX works to run IATP less like a foreign technical assistance program and more like a community-based technology initiative. One way to do this is by attempting to create a sense of community at IATP sites that encourages users to share their knowledge and time for the benefit of others and the program as a whole. For example, users volunteer at IATP sites to assist with tasks such as routine computer maintenance and translation of materials for publication on the Web. In other cases, users donate their time to conduct Internet training that ties Internet usage with a specific theme such as journalism, environmental conservation, organizational networking, or language teaching. The institutions that house IATP access sites also contribute to community buy-in and support by providing a substantial amount of cost-share. Cost-share most often takes the form of a partner institution providing IATP with free rent, utilities, and security.


Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic

The Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic is an institution guaranteeing high professional level of tax advisory services in the Czech Republic. The Chamber watches over proper performance of tax advisory services, regulates activities of tax advisers, creates preconditions for improvement of their qualification, offers its members a wide range of various services, protects and promotes their rightful interests and helps to form a suitable environment for tax advisers' work.
Constitution.
The Chamber is an independent professional organization of tax advisers. Its existence is given by the "Tax Advisory Services and the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic Act" no. 523/1992 Coll., which came into effect on 1 December 1992. This act regulates both the position and activities of tax advisers and the activity of the Chamber itself. The "Tax Advisory Services Act" guarantees demanded professional standards of the profession, regulates the position of the Chamber of Tax Advisers, rights and duties of tax advisers and defines tax advisory services themselves as provision of legal help and financial-economic advice concerning taxes, tax payments, duties and other payments as well as concerning things associated directly with taxes.
Pursuant to this act, only those individuals who are listed on the list of the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic can be considered as tax advisers. Tax advisers are compulsory members of the Chamber by law.
The autonomous character of the Chamber is an important feature which ensures the independence of the Chamber and at the same time it is a precondition for its high professional level.
Performance of tax advisory services.
The regulation of performance of tax advisory services has its basis in the law and subsequently in the Statutes of the Chamber. Pursuant to the Tax Advisory Services Act, only those individuals who are listed on the list of the Chamber of Tax Advisers of the Czech Republic can be considered as tax advisers. Tax adviser is entitled and obliged to protect rights and rightful interests of his/her client. He/she is obliged to act honestly and conscientiously, to use all legal means consistently and to apply everything he/she considers to be beneficial in accordance with his/her own conscience and client's order. Tax advisory services are based on independence, high professional qualification and tax advisers guarantee extensive professional confidentiality and full responsibility for potential harm to their clients.
An important legislative change in the field of tax advisory services was brought by the amendment of Tax Advisory Services and the Chamber of Tax Advisers Act no. 523/1992 Coll., with effect from the 1st of July 2008. This amendment regulates the position of legal entities entitled to perform tax advisory services. The amendment responds to the change of the Administration of Taxes Act from 2007, by which the legislative term “tax adviser” has involved also legal entities entitled to provide tax advisory services, and thus has enabled these legal entities to represent clients in tax procedures to the same extent to which tax advisers can do that. These legal entities are not members of the Chamber. The Chamber records them on a special list and, as providers of tax advisory services, these legal entities must observe the Act no. 523/1992 Coll.


Lutz Wahl

Lutz Wahl (November 2, 1869 – December 30, 1928) was a major general in the United States Army who served as Adjutant General of the U.S. Army from 1927 to 1928.
Biography.
Lutz Wahl was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on November 2, 1869. He graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1891. He served with the 5th Infantry in Louisiana and Georgia, and was then assigned as Professor of Military Science at Louisiana State University. During the Spanish–American War he served with the 21st Infantry, and was later assigned to mobilize and train volunteer units from Mississippi.
After an assignment with the 15th Infantry in Plattsburgh, New York, Wahl served in the Philippines from 1899 to 1901. Assigned there during the Philippine–American War, Wahl saw action at Guadeloupe Ridge and other battles. He performed recruiting duty in Colorado and Louisiana, and then served with the 21st Infantry in Montana.
He served again in the Philippines again beginning in 1906, Colorado in 1909, and the Philippines again in 1911. He was assigned to Fort Monroe, Virginia, and then Madison Barracks, New York. He graduated from the United States Army War College in 1916, and served at Eagle Pass, Texas during and after the Pancho Villa Expedition.
Wahl was an instructor at the War College until the start of World War I, when he took command of the 58th Infantry Regiment, which he led during mobilization and training at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania and Camp Greene, North Carolina. He then directed operations for the Army General Staff, after which he commanded the 14th Infantry Brigade, receiving promotion to temporary Brigadier General. He led the brigade from training in Texas to embarkation at Camp Merritt, New Jersey to combat in France, arriving in time for the final offensive before the Armistice.
After the war Wahl remained in France on occupation duty. In September 1919 he took command of the 7th Infantry Division at Camp Funston. He then served on the board that appraised civilian claims against the Army for property lost and damaged during the war, reverting to the permanent rank of colonel.
He graduated from the United States Army Command and General Staff College in 1921, after which he was assigned as assistant to the Adjutant General of the Army, receiving promotion to permanent brigadier general.
From 1927 until his death Wahl served as adjutant general, receiving promotion to major general and serving until his death.
Wahl died in Washington, D.C. on December 30, 1928. He is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, Section W, Site 1628.
He received the Distinguished Service Medal for his World War I service.
Wahl was married twice. His first wife was Emma Joubert (1871–1923) of New Orleans, with whom he had two children, Gretchen Marie and George Douglas. With his second wife, Fenella Hero Castanado (1891–1976), he had a daughter named Barbara and a stepdaughter named Fenella.
His son, George Douglas Wahl, was a career army officer who achieved the rank of brigadier general.


China Record Corporation

China Record Corporation (CRC; ) is the Chinese government's oldest and largest record company. CRC's catalog of traditional Chinese ethnic, classical and folk music features over 60,000 releases spanning over 1,000 years of Chinese musical history, and includes the Peking operas and a large collection of children's tunes and pop music. Many of the recordings, which date back to the 1920s and 1930s, are the oldest known recordings in China.


Rocket Internet

Rocket Internet SE is a European Internet company headquartered in Berlin. The company builds startups and owns shareholdings in various models of internet retail businesses. The company model is known as a startup studio or a venture builder.
It provides office space to new companies at its headquarters in Berlin, with IT support, marketing services and access to investors. As of 2016, Rocket Internet has more than 28,000 employees across its worldwide network of companies, which consists of over 100 entities active in 110 countries. The company's market capitalization was €3.49 billion as of November 3, 2017.
History.
The company was founded in Berlin in 2007 by three brothers: Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer and was once also connected to the European Founders Fund, an associated company.
In 2008, Rocket Internet founded Zalando, inspired by US online retailer Zappos.com.
On July 1, 2014, Rocket Internet changed its legal form from a GmbH (private limited company) to an AG (public limited company). The initial public offering took place on October 2, 2014 on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at €42.50 per share. The company was listed in the Entry Standard and got uplisted in Prime Standard on September 26, 2016. In October 2016 it was announced that Rocket Internet replaces Chorus Clean Energy AG in SDAX. Rocket Internet SE joined the MDAX index of German mid-cap stocks on March 19, 2018. This decision was announced by Deutsche Börse AG (Frankfurt Stock Exchange) on March 5, 2018. On March 18, 2015 the company changed its legal form into an SE (Societas Europaea).
In mid-December 2016, Global Founders held 37.1% in Rocket Internet, Kinnevik 13.2%, United Internet 8.3%, Baillie Gifford 6.5%, Philippine Long Distance Telephone Company 6.1% and Access Industries 6.0%. Holtzbrinck Ventures held a 1.8% share, with main investors holding shares of 3.4%; 16.3% was held in free float. In January 2017, Rocket Internet Capital Partners announced its final closing of $1 billion dedicated to early stage and growth equity investments. It is the biggest tech fund of any VC firm to date in Europe.
On September 1, 2020 Rocket Internet announced a delisting. As of February 2021, Rocket Internet was recognized as one of the top startup studios based on website traffic to its top 3 portfolio companies.
The network of companies.
Rocket Internet follows the strategy of building companies on the basis of proven Internet-based business models. According to Rocket Internet's financial statements the company especially concentrates on Food & Groceries, Fashion, Home & Living and Travel. In addition to the companies in the five industry sectors, Rocket Internet owns stakes in companies at varying maturity stages, ranging from recently launched models to companies that
are in the process of establishing leadership positions or still expanding their geographic reach.
Rocket Internet's current portfolio englobes the following companies:
Rocket Internet's past investments include shares in the following companies:
Controversy.
The company has been criticised for its "copycat" strategy of founding startups which replicate the business models of other established, successful companies.
In 2011, 20 of the then-130 employees left Rocket Internet at the same time. According to media coverage at the time, the reason for this string of layoffs was "bad quality of new products" and a "gruff manner" towards employees in the course of Rocket Internet's expansion into a "large corporation". The former Rocket Internet managers subsequently went on to found the incubator Project A Ventures with help from the Otto Group.
Questions have also been raised around Rocket's support of multiple competing companies in a particular business sector. Rocket Internet's original backing of both Take Eat Easy and Delivery Hero was questioned when Take Eat Easy was forced into liquidation in July 2016.


Carl McCall

Herman Carl McCall (born October 17, 1935) is an American politician of the Democratic Party. A former New York State Comptroller and New York State Senator, McCall was the Democratic candidate for Governor of New York in 2002. McCall was the first African-American to be elected New York State Comptroller. He is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ, and he currently serves on the board of directors of several corporations. From October 17, 2011 until his retirement on June 30, 2019, McCall served as chairman of the State University of New York Board of Trustees.
Early life and education.
McCall was born in the Roxbury section of Boston, Massachusetts. He is the oldest of six children of Herman McCall and Caroleasa Ray. Herman McCall moved to Boston from Georgia and worked as a railroad porter; he abandoned the family when Carl was 11 years of age. Thereafter, the family was supported primarily by welfare and by relatives due to Carl's mother's infirmity. McCall graduated from Roxbury Memorial High School in Boston, where he was president of his class. He attended Dartmouth College on private and ROTC scholarships, graduating in 1958 with a Bachelor's degree in government. McCall was also educated at the University of Edinburgh and received a Master of Divinity (M.Div.) Degree from Andover Newton Theological School.
Early career.
During the 1960s, McCall worked as a high school teacher and a bank manager. He taught for six months at Jamaica Plain High School on Sumner Hill in Boston, and then joined the Army. He opened a church in the Dorchester neighborhood. By the late 1960s, McCall had moved to New York City. He was appointed by New York Mayor John Lindsay to head the Commission Against Poverty.
Political career.
During the 1970s, McCall, as a member of the Harlem Clubhouse, backed by the Harlem political power of Percy Sutton, was elected to three terms as a State Senator representing Harlem and the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He was a member of the New York State Senate from 1975 to 1980, sitting in the 181st, 182nd and 183rd New York State Legislatures. He left the Senate to accept an appointment from President Jimmy Carter as a member of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations with the rank of Ambassador.
In 1982, McCall was an unsuccessful candidate for the Democratic nomination for Lieutenant Governor of New York. Governor Mario Cuomo then appointed McCall to serve as the state's Commissioner of Human Rights (1983–84). While serving in the private sector as a vice president for governmental relations with Citicorp (1985–93), McCall accepted an appointment to the New York City Board of Education, where he served as President of the Board from 1991 to 1993.
New York State Comptroller.
In 1993, McCall was selected by the New York State Legislature to fill the unexpired term of Republican Edward Regan as state comptroller. As comptroller, McCall was responsible for serving as the state's chief fiscal officer, conducting audits of state and local entities, serving as the state's bookkeeper, investing the state's funds, overseeing the state's debt issuances, and serving as the sole trustee of the state pension fund.
McCall was elected to a full term as Comptroller in 1994 (defeating Conservative Herbert London) and was re-elected in 1998 (defeating Republican Bruce Blakeman). In 1998, he announced that he would not seek election to the U.S. Senate in 2000, helping to pave the way for the successful candidacy of Hillary Clinton.
Al Sharpton was quoted as saying that "if David Dinkins has a cold in the black community, Carl McCall has pneumonia", and it has been said that McCall was a "stiff, bourgeois figure" who generally did not excite the black electorate.
2002 campaign for Governor of New York.
In 2002, McCall officially announced his campaign against Republican incumbent George Pataki. After his primary opponent, former US Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo, withdrew from the race, McCall entered the general election as the uncontested Democratic candidate, but lost to Pataki. McCall remains New York state's highest-ranking black elected official and first black major party gubernatorial candidate.
McCall was the favorite of the Democratic establishment, but he faced a tough challenge from Cuomo which almost split the party. Cuomo proved to be a better fundraiser, and McCall's own campaign war chest was heavily depleted in the primary battle. Although McCall himself did not make any negative attacks, his close supporter, US Congressman Charles B. Rangel, stated that the McCall camp would not necessarily endorse Cuomo in the general election should the latter win. This backfired as some Italian-Americans interpreted that as racism, and many of Cuomo's supporters refused to unite behind McCall after McCall won the nomination. McCall was endorsed by Senator Chuck Schumer. While Senator Hillary Clinton did not officially take sides during the primary, she loaned a staffer and a fundraiser to McCall's campaign and she marched by McCall's side at the West Indian American Day parade in New York City, as the Clinton wanted to retain strong African-American support in case she made a president run in the future. Cuomo withdrew from the primary race after McCall moved to a double-digit lead in polls.
Money would prove to be a handicap in the general election, as DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe stated that he would not channel large sums of money to McCall's campaign unless the gap could be closed with Pataki, which McCall never managed to do. In an unusual show of support, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh urged his listeners to donate to McCall's campaign. Limbaugh said the refusal to give the McCall campaign money was a show of racism on the part of the DNC.
Charles Rangel suggested that Andrew Cuomo's gubernatorial run in 2010 would undo years of work that Cuomo spent rebuilding his standing in the state Democratic Party after his bruising 2002 gubernatorial primary contest against Carl McCall. Rangel said "it would be immoral for the white attorney general to challenge New York's first black governor in a primary" with the "inclination for racial polarization in a primary in the state of New York. Since we have most African-Americans registered as Democrats, and since you would be making an appeal for Democrats, it would be devastating in my opinion". David Paterson, the incumbent and first African-American governor of New York, whom Rangel staunchly supported, fared poorly in polls due to several scandals and later abandoned his campaign re-election.
Letterhead controversy.
In October 2002, McCall released 61 letters he had written on state letterhead to heads of companies in which the state pension fund owned large blocks of stock, asking them to review enclosed resumes of his relatives and other job-seekers.
Some of the letters referred to the size of the state's ownership interest in the corporation targeted, which critics claimed amounted to a veiled threat to punish companies that didn't hire his relatives. A Quinnipiac poll released October 16 showed that two-thirds of likely voters were aware of the letters and of those more than a fifth were less likely to vote for McCall as a result.
McCall defended the letters. Although he did issue a statement regretting the "appearance" and "impression" of the letters he wrote on government stationery, he maintained that he "never sought to leverage my public position nor mix my government role with my personal and professional relationship" in the letters. McCall's daughter, Marci, was hired by Verizon, which received such a letter, but was subsequently fired for using her company credit card to pay for substantial personal expenditures. Charges of larceny against her were dropped after some reimbursement to Verizon, and she was then hired as a marketer by McCall's running mate, Dennis Mehiel.
Results.
McCall was defeated in the election for governor by the Republican incumbent, George Pataki. McCall received 33% of the vote, a low percentage for a Democratic nominee for statewide office in a state where the Democratic Party is by far the dominant party based on voter registrations. Some observers felt that this seemingly poor showing was in part due to the revelation of the above-referenced letters; others insinuated that McCall's showing was related to racism, especially in upstate New York. However, others point out that Pataki was able to make crucial inroads into traditional areas of Democratic support, such as unions and even African-American congregations. The three-way vote-split efforts of Tom Golisano, who primarily ran against Pataki on his own third-party line, also diverted much of the anti-Pataki vote away from McCall.
Other political commentators attribute McCall's defeat to the growing popularity of the Republican Party after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, along with Governor Pataki's successful administration of the state.
Later career.
McCall was a recent member of the Board of the New York Stock Exchange (1999–2003), as well as the Apollo Theater Foundation, Inc. Currently, he is a member of the Fiscal Control Board for Buffalo, New York as well as the SUNY Board of Trustees. He also serves on the Boards of Directors for TYCO International, New Plan Realty, TAG Entertainment Corporation, Ariel Mutual Fund, and as Chair of the New York State Public Higher Education Conference Board. He spoke at his alma mater Dartmouth College's annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration in 2006 about modern civil rights and the legacy of Dr. King. He operates his own financial services fund called Convent Capital, LLC.
In January 2007, McCall was appointed to a panel, along with former New York State Comptroller Ned Regan and former New York City Comptroller Harrison Jay Goldin, to interview and recommend up to five candidates to the State Legislature to replace Alan Hevesi, who resigned as state comptroller due to scandal.
In May 2009, Convent Capital, the financial services firm run by McCall, was subpoenaed, along with other unregistered placement agents, by state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's office as part of an inquiry into possible corruption involved in deals brokered between investment firms and the state pension fund.
McCall joined the State University of New York Board of Trustees on October 22, 2007, and was appointed chairman on October 17, 2011. He announced his retirement in April 2019, effective at the end of June. He was succeeded as chair by vice chair Merryl Tisch.
Personal life.
McCall's first marriage--to Cecilia McCall, the mother of his daughter Marcella (Marci)--ended in divorce. In 1983, McCall married his second wife, Dr. Joyce F. Brown; Dr. Brown is a former psychology professor, was a Deputy Mayor of New York City under Mayor David Dinkins, and is president of SUNY's Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City. They have no children.
McCall is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
Awards.
McCall is the recipient of nine honorary degrees. In 2003, he was awarded the Nelson Rockefeller Distinguished Public Service Award from the Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy at the University of Albany.


Growth Commission

The Commission on Growth and Development (informally known as the Growth Commission) was an independent body chaired by American economist Michael Spence that brought together 22 policy-makers, academics, and business leaders to examine various aspects of economic growth and development.
Launched in 2006, the Commission set out to take stock of the state of theoretical and empirical knowledge on economic growth with a view to drawing implications for policy for the current and future policymakers. Its work culminated in two publications – "The Growth Report: Strategies for Sustained growth and Inclusive Development" in May 2008 – and a "Special Report on Post Crisis Growth in Developing Countries" in October 2009. Five thematic volumes and nearly 70 working papers were also published by the Commission.
The Growth Commission’s work was sponsored by the governments of Australia, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Sweden, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the World Bank Group. The group's activities formally ended in June 2010.


Lyndhurst Draw

The Lyndhurst Draw is a railroad bridge crossing the Passaic River between Clifton and Lyndhurst in northeastern New Jersey. Built in 1903, it is owned and operated by New Jersey Transit Rail Operations (NJT).
The swing bridge is situated between the Lyndhurst and Delawanna stations of NJT's Main Line, from its origination point at Hoboken Terminal, and from the river's mouth at Newark Bay. Norfolk Southern Railway uses the bridge to access Croxton Yard to the east across the New Jersey Meadowlands. The bridge is required by federal regulations to open on 24-hour notice. It is listed on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places (ID#2950).
The lower of the long Passaic River downstream of the Dundee Dam is tidally influenced and navigable. Rail service across the river was originally oriented to bringing passengers and freight from the points west over the Hackensack Meadows to Bergen Hill, where tunnels and cuts provided access terminals on the Hudson River. The crossing of the river was developed under the auspices of the Delaware, Lackawanna, and Western Railroad (DL&W) as part of its Boonton Branch, which in 1960 merged with the Erie Railroad to form the Erie-Lackawanna. In 1963, the Erie's Main Line south of Paterson through downtown Passaic was abandoned and service was shifted to the alignment over the Lyndhurst Draw and the Upper Hack Lift. Operations were later taken over by Conrail under contract with the New Jersey Department of Transportation and in 1983 by NJT.


Battle of Spahan

The Battle of Spahan was fought between the Rashidun Caliphate and the Sasanian Empire in 642. The Arabs were victorious during the battle, where they reportedly killed the Mihran commander Shahrvaraz Jadhuyih. After the battle, the Arabs made peace with Fadhusfan, the governor of the city. According to Abu No'aym, many people were killed or enslaved after the conquest and the settlement pattern of the region changed. Isfahan capitulated by 644 after a few failed revolts and treaties for paying taxes and tributes in exchange for military protection were drawn up.


William II, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels

William II, Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels (also known as "William the Younger"; born: 25 August 1671 in Langenschwalbach; died: 1 April 1731 in Paris, and also buried there) was a son of the Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Wanfried (1649–1711) and his first wife, Sophie Magdalene of Salm-Reifferscheid (d. 1675). He succeeded his father as Landgrave of Hesse-Wanfried and Hesse-Rheinfels. After 1711, he styled himself "Landgrave of Hesse-Rheinfels".
Life.
William the Younger began his career as canon in Cologne and Strasbourg. He was described as "stunted poor in mind and in bad environment". After his father's death in 1711 he travelled to Wanfried, where his younger half-brother Christian had assumed power. They had a dispute, which was sellted by emperor Charles VI. Christian gave up his claim on Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels, in exchange for an annual pension of 7500 guilders, plus Eschwege Castle. The castle had been pledged to Brunswick-Bevern in 1667. It was, however, redeemed for Christian in 1713.
William ruled Hesse-Wanfried-Rheinfels from 1711 to 1731. He travelled often, usually to the Imperial Court in Vienna. In 1718, the emperor put him in charge of Rheinfels Castle, where troops of Landgrave Charles of Hesse-Kassel had withstood and repulsed three heavy sieges by the French.
In 1719, William obtained permission from the Pope to revert to the lay state, to avert the impending extinction of the Hesse-Wanfried line. After mediation by the Emperor, he married on 19 September 1719 with Ernestine, the daughter of Count Palatine Theodore Eustace of Sulzbach. The marriage remained childless.
After William's death, Ernestine continued to live at Rheinfels Castle for a while, but then became prioress of the Carmelite monastery at Neuburg an der Donau, where she died on 5 April 1775.
Hesse-Wanfried and Hesse-Rheinfels were inherited by his younger half-brother, who had styled himself "Christian of Eschwege" since 1711.


Kwabena Duffuor

Kwabena Duffuor was the Finance Minister of Ghana. He has also served as the governor of the Bank of Ghana. He was named as one of the four best Central Bank Governors in the World at an IMF/World Bank meeting in 1999.
He is a Fellow of the Akuafo Hall, University of Ghana, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.
Duffuor is the founder and chairman of HODA Holdings, a business entity comprising Insurance, Banking, Real Estates, Farming, Mining and Media. He is also the founder and president of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in Ghana, a non-profit think-tank providing economic advocacy and training which he established in March, 2013. He is also the founder of uniBank which controversially collapsed in 2018.
Early life and education.
Kwabena Duffuor had his secondary education at the Prempeh College at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He proceeded to the University of Ghana where he graduated in 1968 with a B. Sc. degree in economics. His postgraduate studies were at the Syracuse University in New York, United States where he obtained a Masters in Business Administration degree in Finance and Banking and Master of Arts in Economics in 1975. He was also awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in International Finance in 1979 at the same university.
In 1958, Duffuor entered Prempeh College in Kumasi on a Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board scholarship, where he obtained both his O-Level and A-Level certificates in 1962 and 1964 respectively.
In 1968, Duffuor obtained a B.Sc. (Economics) degree from the University of Ghana and after working briefly with V.R.A he started his career with the Ghana Commercial Bank in 1969. Between the years 1973 and 1979, while working with GCB Bank, Dr. Duffuor obtained a USAID and African Graduate Fellowship Awards to pursue further studies at Syracuse University in New York. He obtained an MBA in Finance and Banking, an MA in economics in 1975 and a PhD in 1979, all from Maxwell School at the Syracuse University. After working briefly as an economist at the IMF in Washington, Dr. Duffuor returned to Ghana and combined his banking work at Ghana Commercial Bank with Lecturing in Economics and Finance at the University of Ghana between 1980 and 1991.
Career.
He started work with the Ghana Commercial Bank in 1969, where he rose to become chief economist and head of research department. Between 1982 and 1991, Duffuor worked full-time as a banker. He also worked as a part-time lecturer in economics, finance and banking at the Economics Department and the School of Administration at the University of Ghana. He was appointed an external examiner in finance from 1985 at the university. In 1995, he became deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana. In July 1997, President Jerry Rawlings appointed Duffuor as the governor of the Bank of Ghana. He held this position till his four-year term ended in September 2001.
At Ghana Commercial Bank, he rose through the ranks, becoming general manager and head of London Branch in 1991. Under his tenureship the GCB London Branch registered very impressive growth. The bank's profits soared from £1.5 million in 1991 to £3.6 million in 1994. Consequently, the Income/Expense ratio dropped from 75per cent in 1991 to 55 per cent by the end of 1994. During the same period Duffuor led a group of international banks including chemical bank (London), standard chartered bank (London) in arranging a syndicated loan of $140 million for Ghana Cocoa Board and $65 million for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). By 1994 the GCB London had become so visible in the city of London that he was invited to the prestigious Annual Dinner of the Lord Mayor of London at Mansion House on 14 June 1994. The invitation was to give Dr Duffuor opportunity to meet notable personalities including the Chancellor of Exchequer, governor of the Bank of England, head of Lloyd's of London and the lord mayor of London as well as captains of industry and finance in the United Kingdom.
In July 1995, Dr. Duffuor was appointed the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, and therefore came back home. As deputy governor he focused on the restructuring of Government Accounts, Human Capital Development, Commercial Banking Services and Treasury Services and Foreign Exchange Market Development of the bank. He again initiated the introduction of two-way quotation system (offer/bid rates in the Foreign Exchange transaction in the bank and thereby removed the subsidy to users of foreign exchange. In 1996, he arranged US$100 million Syndicated Facility with Societe General Bank (London) Branch for the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance.
In July 1997, he was appointed governor of the bank; driving a range of reforms in the bank, including the conversion of Ghana Commercial Bank London Branch into a UK incorporated Bank – Ghana International Bank, plc in March 1998. In November 1997, an honorary fellowship was conferred on Dr Duffuor by the Institute of Bankers in Ghana for his loyal and meritorious service to the banking industry. He was nominated Ghana's man of the year by the readers of "The Independent" newspaper.
Board engagements.
In March 2003, Dr. Duffuor was appointed chairman of the Presidential Committee on Promotion and Revitalization of the Industrial Sector on Sustainable Basis. Again in December 2003, the governments of Ghana and Denmark jointly appointed him to the chairmanship of the Programme Committee for the Business Sector Programme Support (BSPS) which the Danish Government sponsored for the Ghanaian Private Sector Development for the period 2003–08.
Duffuor is currently the chairman of Ghana Heart Foundation and Kumawuman Rural Bank. He has also served in a number of directorship positions in various companies, including Accra Brewery Limited, Shell Ghana Limited, Ecobank Cote d'lvoire, State Gold Mining Corporation. Ghana Cocoa Board, Ashanti Goldfields Company Limited, and, Ghana International Bank Plc. London where he was the board chairman between 1998 and 2001.
He is also a Fellow of the Akuafo Hall, University of Ghana, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers.
Politics.
Kwabena Duffuor was a member of the Convention People's Party. He was appointed as finance minister in John Atta Mills's National Democratic Congress government in February 2009.
Awards.
In 1998, Duffuor was voted "Personality of the Year" by the "Independent" newspaper in Ghana.
In this same year, he was again voted "Marketing Man of the Year" by the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG).
For his loyal and meritorious service to the banking industry in Ghana the Institute of Bankers – Ghana, conferred an Honorary Fellowship on Dr. Duffuor in November 1997. In September 1999, he was commended for being one of the best four Central Bank Governors in the World by Euromoney Publications at the IMF/World Bank meeting held in Washington, DC. In May 2002, Duffuor was honoured by the GCB Bank in recognition of his 26 years of loyal and dedicated service to the bank as well as the honour done to the bank in his appointment to the high office of the governor of the Bank of Ghana.
In February 2002, the Rural Bankers’ Association of Ghana honoured Dr. Duffuor for his immense contribution to the development of the Rural Banking sector in the country.
In September 2002, The Ashanti Regional chapter of the Rural Banker's Association's appreciated and honoured Dr. Duffuor for being founder and first president of the association who also made very significant contribution to the development of a vibrant rural banking industry in the Ashanti Region.
In July 2010, Duffuor was awarded the International Distinguished Merit Award by the West African Insurance Institute, in recognition for his outstanding contribution to the development of Insurance in Africa and specifically for his unreserved support for the promotion of insurance education in the region and especially to the West African Insurance Institute.
In 2011 he was named by The Banker as Africa's finance minister of the Year 2011. Also in October 2011, Africa investor (Ai), a leading international investment research and communication group awarded Duffuor the African Finance Minister of the Year 2011 Award during the prestigious Africa investor (Ai) Investment and Business Leader Awards held in Washington during the World Bank Annual Meetings.
Duffuor received a Lifetime Achievement Award in Banking and Finance from Corporate Initiative Ghana, organizers of Ghana Banking Awards, at a ceremony held in December 2014. In January 2015, TV station Viasat 1 named Dr Duffuor "Man of the Year 2014" in Ghana, for his outstanding success in business. This was the second time this ‘‘Man of the Year ’’ award has been given to the same person in his lifetime in Ghana.
In July 2015, Duffuor received an Exceptional Achievement Award from GUBA at an event that took place at the Hilton Metropole Hotel, London.
In September 2015, he was awarded a Special Music Pillar Honour award by MUSIGA at an event which took place at the Banquet Hall, State House.
In recognition of his extraordinary contribution to the development of this country, the Republic of Ghana conferred on Dr Kwabena Duffuor the State honour of Companion of the Order of the Volta (CV) in December 2015.
Controversies and allegations.
Duffuor was a founder of uniBank, a defunct major Ghanaian bank. The bank was set up in 1997 at a time when he was Governor of the BoG. The bank was put into administration by the Bank of Ghana (BoG) in 2018 and then consolidated with four other defunct banks during Ghana's banking crisis. At the time of its administration the bank was led by his son Dr Kwabena Duffuor jr.
In taking over the bank, the BoG cited weak supervisory standards, weak operations and persistent liquidity shortfalls and breaches in its cash reserve requirements as reasons for taking over the bank. At the time of its administration, it was reported that it had a negative capital adequacy of -24% at December 2017 and had been reliant on more than 2.2 billion cedis (US$498m at the time) of liquidity support from the BoG to continue to operate.
The bank's Receivers subsequently sued Duffuor, HODA, his son and a number of others for the return of 5 billion cedis in assets. The Receivers allege that Directors and shareholders of the bank engaged in illegal transactions by giving out unlawful loans as well as illegal acquisition of assets in the name of related interests.
Duffuor has attempt to regain control of the bank by countersuing the Ghana Government alleging the bank had been effectively expropriated. The lawsuit disclosed that almost all of uniBank's loan book was classed as impaired. His son has also sued the administrator KPMG and its staff alleging deceit and that they aimed to enrich themselves by deliberately misleading the Government into collapsing the bank.
References.


Agessa

The AGESSA is a French association that manages social security taxation for some individuals who earn money through licensing or sale of original, copyrighted material such as photographs, musical manuscripts, or written texts. The AGESSA exists since January 1, 1978, and stands for "Association pour la Gestion de la Sécurité Sociale des Auteurs" (Association for the Management of Authors' Social Security).
Precise information regarding taxation can be obtained from their website, as the percentages and manners of payment change regularly. In recent years, a percentage of proceeds from copyright licensing in France must be paid directly to the AGESSA by the party obtaining the license. For example, imagine that a script is licensed to a production company for the filming of a movie. If the contract of sale of the license to use the script stipulates that the production company will pay the author 10,000 euro, the production company will not, in fact, pay the author 10,000 euro. Rather, the production company will pay the author some lesser amount (in 2006, 9215.5 euro) and will pay the AGESSA the remainder (in 2007, 784.5). This may be thought of as the equivalent of the Federal Tax Withholding in the United States. The monies withheld by the buyer do not account for all tax to be paid.


Graphisoft

Graphisoft SE is a Hungarian design software company headquartered in Budapest, Hungary. As a subsidiary of Nemetschek, Graphisoft develops Building Information Modeling software products for architects, interior designers and planners. Graphisoft has subsidiaries in Germany, United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Japan and representative offices in Russia and Singapore. The company's flagship product is ArchiCAD — an architectural design software developed since 1984 for Windows and Mac platforms.
History.
Foundation.
In 1982, Graphisoft was established by Gábor Bojár. The Hungarian software developer created terrain modeling software on microcomputers while he was head of a mathematical department at the Geophysical Institute in Budapest. The communist history of Hungary was an important factor in the success of Graphisoft. When private companies had been allowed, Bojár promptly left his job and launched Graphisoft with a competent team. They were all experts in three-dimensional mathematical modeling, but had no access to the most modern and efficient computers. This limitation led to the development of 3D modeling software that could be used on low cost PCs. Then the team provided such software to architects. Since 1984, Graphisoft has been supported by Apple. Steve Jobs was impressed by Graphisoft’s capability and the development of the architectural CAD from Bojár in the 2D/3D technology. Therefore, he sent them an Apple computer. This made it possible to create ArchiCAD, the first desktop BIM system and Graphisoft's flagship product.
Graphisoft's flagship product, ArchiCAD was introduced in 1987 as the Virtual Building concept, later (2003) regarded as building information modeling (BIM), and allowing architects to draw walls, windows, doors, slabs and roofs — a common feature now of every BIM-based architectural design software. Subsequent ArchiCAD releases introduced other BIM features such as Teamwork, which enabled more architects to work on the same building in parallel, edit functions in three-dimensional model views, and interoperability add-ons to communicate with other applications using IFC — now a de facto standard in data exchange between BIM applications.
Graphisoft built a campus north of Budapest, the Graphisoft Park. The construction of the technology park began in 1998. Today, it includes the company‘s global headquarters and hosts several technology companies such as Microsoft, SAP and Canon. Graphisoft was introduced to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange in 1998 and the Budapest Stock Exchange in 2000, and was purchased by Nemetschek AG (Germany) in 2007.
In 2013, Graphisoft signed a contract with Nikken Sekki, to create the BIM Competence & Research Center in order to advance BIM in Japan and Southeast Asia. In 2016, Graphisoft partnered with the company Atlas Cloud to provide a cloud-based access to ArchiCAD. In September 2018, the Graphisoft Park expanded by 20,000 square-meters in the cause of its 20th anniversary, lifting the park’s total area to 75,000sqm. The new buildings are rented to companies under lease. In addition, Graphisoft Park developed an advanced learning center, the Aquincum Institute of Technologie (AIT-Budapest).
In April 2019, Graphisoft’s CEO Viktor Várkonyi started to manage the Planning and Design Division at Graphisoft’s mother company Nemetschek. Huw Roberts was appointed the new CEO of Graphisoft.
In June 2019, Graphisoft entered a partnership with Epic Games to launch next-generation real-time rendering solution for its customers.
Products.
Graphisoft ArchiCAD.
ArchiCAD is a complex architectural design tool offering 2D and 3D drafting, visualization and documentation functions for architects and planners to create three-dimensional designs and detailed technical documentation, thus enabling architects to use ArchiCAD from the earliest design phases to the technical detail drawings. As of 2019 ArchiCAD is in its 23rd generation.
Graphisoft BIM Server.
Graphisoft's second generation collaboration solution lets more architects work on the same building simultaneously with ArchiCAD by allowing them to access and manage the building information model database over the Internet. Graphisoft BIM Server is shipped with ArchiCAD from version 13.
Graphisoft MEP Modeler.
Graphisoft MEP Modeler (Mechanical/Electrical/Plumbing) Modeler is an ArchiCAD extension for architects to incorporate duct work and piping into the architectural design. MEP Modeler allows architects to create, edit or import 3D MEP networks and coordinate them with the Building Information Model, facilitating the BIM workflow between engineers and architects.
Graphisoft EcoDesigner.
Graphisoft EcoDesigner helps architects to use virtual building information to evaluate energy performance, thus the sustainability of the building from the very first concept design. EcoDesigner allows architects to analyze their design for energy efficiency, providing feedback on the building's estimated energy performance.
Graphisoft BIMx.
BIMx, formerly marketed as Virtual Building Explorer is an interactive BIM model presentation tool, which allows the presentation of entire building models without the need for installing ArchiCAD or other BIM authoring tool. The software combines video game-like navigation with native BIM features, including measurement of real building dimensions.


Alexandre Trudeau

Alexandre Emmanuel "Sacha" Trudeau (born December 25, 1973) is a Canadian filmmaker, journalist and author of "Barbarian Lost". He is the second son of Canada's former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and Margaret Trudeau, and the younger brother of Canada's current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Early life and education.
Alexandre is the younger one of the two Christmas babies of Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau, exactly two years younger than Justin Trudeau. The family was attending the 1973 Christmas midnight mass at Mount Carmel Roman Catholic Church when Margaret Trudeau went into labour and was rushed to The Ottawa Hospital. His mother struggled with severe postpartum depression after his birth, and was later diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He was given the nickname "Sacha" (the French spelling of the Russian diminutive for Alexander) in recognition of his father's love of Russian literature and culture. The name also is linked to former ambassador of the USSR to Canada and family friend Alexander Yakovlev. Alexandre Trudeau's younger brother, Michel, was born in 1975. All three of Pierre and Margaret Trudeau's children became media sensations from birth.
When talking about her sons each having distinctly different personalities, in an interview in 1977, Margaret Trudeau said, "Justin, 6, is a prince – a very good little boy. Sacha, born Christmas Day, 1973, is a bit of a revolutionary, very determined and strong willed. Miche (Michel) is a happy, well-adjusted child, who combined the best traits of both brothers."
His parents announced they would separate in 1977; his mother, unbeknownst to the public, then lived in an attic suite within the Prime Minister's official residence at 24 Sussex Drive in Ottawa for the next three years, so as to make the adjustment easier on the children. After the divorce was finalized on April 2, 1984, he and his brothers attended the civil ceremony in which Margaret Trudeau remarried to Ottawa real estate developer Fried Kemper on April 18, 1984. A half-brother, Kyle Kemper (born 1984), and a half-sister, Alicia Kemper (born 1988), soon followed. Pierre and Margaret Trudeau tried as much as possible to protect their children from the public eye, and following Pierre Trudeau's retirement as Prime Minister in 1984, he raised them in relative privacy in Montreal. Alexandre Trudeau gained another half-sister, Sarah Coyne (born 1991), from his father's relationship with Canadian politician Deborah Coyne.
Like his father and brothers, Alexandre Trudeau studied at Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf. He graduated with a B.A. in philosophy and a Masters in architecture from McGill University. While attending McGill, he joined the Canadian Forces as a Reserve Entry Scheme Officer with Royal Canadian Hussars reserve regiment in 1996. He trained at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, but released voluntarily before completing his training as an armoured officer. Following graduation, he traveled to West Africa to produce his first documentary: "Liberia, the Secret War" (1998). In the same year in which the documentary was made, his brother Michel died in an avalanche that pushed him into British Columbia's Kokanee Lake, where he drowned.
When Pierre Trudeau died in 2000, both his surviving sons returned to the public eye. Although Alexandre Trudeau was visibly more reserved and quieter than his brother, his heightened public profile brought new attention to his work as a journalist. After Pierre Trudeau's death, Alexandre continued to live in his father's Art Deco home (Cormier House) in Montreal.
Work.
In the years following his father's death, Trudeau produced documentaries for Canadian television. In 2003, he was one of the highest-profile Canadian journalists covering the 2003 invasion of Iraq, producing a documentary film for the CTV program W5, "Embedded In Baghdad". His 2004 film, "The Fence", shot in Afula, Israel and Jenin of the Palestinian territories draws up a portrait of families on either side of the Israeli-built security barrier around the West bank.
In June 2005, Trudeau focused attention on what he said were the implications for civil liberties in the Canadian government's use of security certificates to detain indefinitely, without trial, suspected terrorists based on secret evidence. Trudeau offered to be a surety for Hassan Almrei, a Syrian refugee held in a Canadian jail for four years without any charges being laid. His appearance in court in support of Almrei resulted in front-page coverage in the "Toronto Star" and "National Post" and major media attention being given to the security certificate issue for the first time. Trudeau's efforts were chronicled in his documentary "Secure Freedom". Almrei was ordered released under house arrest by a Federal Court judge on January 2, 2009. On December 14, 2009, Almrei was released.
Known for his staunchly anti-imperialist views, Trudeau attracted controversy in August 2006 for an article he penned praising Fidel Castro's Cuba. Trudeau's documentary "Refuge", produced in 2008, tells the story of the humanitarian crisis facing Africa's Darfur region and eastern Chad. In 2012, he produced the film "The New Great Game", for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation about the maritime geopolitics of the Middle-East and Western Indian Ocean.
In 2016, Trudeau published his first book with Harper Collins, "Barbarian Lost, Travels in the New China", a number one Canadian best-seller. The book is a travel mémoire with an undercurrent of philosophical and historical reflection. It dresses a personal and nuanced portrait of an ancient country in the throes of massive change. About the book, Trudeau is quoted as saying: "My whole professional career has had a focus on geopolitics, and in this age, you cannot understand the world without understanding the massive role that China has grown to play."
In 2018, Trudeau presented his first scripted work, the short film "Wiisgaapte" (Bitter Smoke). A product of a collaboration with Dr Shirley Williams, an Ojibwe language specialist, the film’s dialogue is entirely in old Ojibwe dialect and tells the story of the windigo legend of Algonquian lore.
Public life.
Currently, Trudeau is President and Chief Producer at Same Adventure Productions. He and wife Zoë Bedos are the parents of a son, Pierre-Emmanuel, and two daughters, Gala Simone and Ariane Lea. He is a founding member of the Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation for excellence in social sciences and humanities research and innovation.


Isabel Schnabel

Isabel Schnabel (née Gödde, born 9 August 1971 in Dortmund) is a German economist who currently serves as executive board member of the European Central Bank.
She became professor of financial economics at the University of Bonn in 2015 and a member of the German Council of Economic Experts in 2014. She worked previously at the University of Mainz from 2007 to 2015.
Early life and education.
Schnabel began her studies in Economics at the University of Mannheim, Paris I (Sorbonne) and the University of California, Berkeley, back in 1992 after completing her training as a bank clerk at Deutsche Bank in Dortmund.
Career.
Career in academia.
After receiving her diploma in 1998, Schnabel started her doctorate studies in the graduate program "Allocation on financial markets" at the Department of Economics, University of Mannheim until 2003. That same year, she also wrote a dissertation, "Macroeconomic Risks and Financial Crises – A Historical Perspective", under the supervision of Martin Hellwig. Following that, she then worked as a student research assistant to Axel Börsch-Supan while she completed internships at Deutsche Bank in Saint Petersburg and Frankfurt. For the next three years, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Research on Collective Goods, Bonn.
In 2007 Schnabel became a Professor of Financial Economics at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz. In 2014 she was appointed as member of the German Council of Economic Experts (Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung) and started teaching Financial Economics at the University of Bonn in 2015.
Member of the Executive Board of the ECB, 2019–present.
Following a proposal of Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, the German government nominated Schnabel to the European Central Bank’s executive board in 2019, replacing Sabine Lautenschläger. Shortly after, the Eurogroup supported Schnabel’s candidacy for a non-renewable 8-year term.
On the Executive Board, Schnabel is responsible for market operations. In this capacity, she oversees the ECB's 2.6 trillion-euro ($2.9 trillion) quantitative easing program.
Political positions.
Schnabel is considered to have moderate views on monetary policy. In early 2019, she strongly advised against a possible merger of Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank.


Edward Baker Lincoln

Edward Baker Lincoln (March 10, 1846 – February 1, 1850) was the second son of Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. He was named after Lincoln's friend Edward Dickinson Baker. The National Park Service uses "Eddie" as a nickname and the name is also on his gravestone.
Early life.
Little is known about the Lincolns' second son. A surviving story says that one day during a visit to Mary's family, Eddie's older brother, Robert Todd Lincoln, found a kitten and brought it to the house. Despite Mary's stepmother's dislike of cats and order to throw it out, Eddie screamed and protested. He nursed and cared for the helpless kitten, which he loved. Eddie was described by his parents as a tender-hearted, kind, and loving child.
Death.
Eddie died a month before his fourth birthday. Although census records list "chronic consumption" (tuberculosis) as the cause, cardiologist John Sotos has suggested that Eddie died of medullary thyroid cancer given that: (a) "consumption" was a term then applied to many wasting diseases, (b) cancer is a wasting disease, (c) his father and two of his brothers had several features compatible with the genetic cancer syndrome multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2b (MEN2B), (d) Eddie's thick, asymmetric lower lip is a sign of MEN2B, and (e) 100% of persons with MEN2B develop medullary thyroid cancer, sometimes as early as the neonatal period.
Eddie's funeral was held at the Lincoln home by the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, and his body was buried at the nearby Hutchinson's Cemetery in Springfield, Illinois. Both parents were devastated. A week after Eddie's death, an unsigned poem entitled "Little Eddie" was printed in the "Illinois Daily Journal".
Authorship of the poem was long a mystery with some supposing that Abraham and Mary Lincoln wrote it. In 2012, the Abraham Lincoln Association published an article in their journal that concludes neither parent wrote the poem, and that it was instead an early draft by a young poet from St. Louis. The final line is on the boy's tombstone.
The next child of Abraham and Mary (Willie Lincoln) was born ten months after Eddie's death. After the death of President Lincoln, Eddie's remains were transferred to the Lincoln Tomb at Oak Ridge Cemetery in Springfield.


Alcabala

The alcabala or alcavala () was a sales tax of up to fourteen percent, the most important royal tax imposed by Spain in the early modern period. It applied in Spain and the Spanish dominions. The Duke of Alba imposed a five percent alcabala in the Netherlands, where it played an important role in the Dutch Revolt. Unlike most taxes in Spain at the time, no social classes were entirely exempt (for example, nobles and clergy had to pay the tax), although from 1491 clergy were exempt on trade that was "not for gain." Certain towns were also, at times, given exemptions.
Etymology.
According to the "Diccionario de la lengua española de la Real Academia Española" "(DRAE)" (22nd edition, 2001), the word derives from the Arabic "alqabála". Editions of the "DRAE" from 1956–1991 state that that Arabic word means a "contract" or "tax". The 1726 edition agrees that the word comes from Arabic, and gives two possibilities, preferring the one that corresponds closely to the current view. They cite Padre Alcalá as saying it comes from "cabála" or "cabéle", to receive, collect or deliver. They offer an alternative from Sebastián de Covarrubias, "gabál", to limit or tax. In either case, these words would be preceded by the Arabic article "Al". The Arabic term "alqabala" or "al qabála" is essentially the same word as "Kabbalah".
The term is often used in the plural, "las alcabalas", also embracing some other related taxes.
Rate and significance.
The alcabala was the most important royal tax imposed by the Spanish crown, first imposed in 1342. The other tax of comparable importance was the "diezmo", a tithe for the support of the Catholic Church, a substantial portion of which went to the Crown by virtue of agreements with the Holy See.
The rate of the alcabala varied over time, from as low as two percent to as high as fourteen percent. It was by no means equally imposed everywhere: rates would differ in various parts of the empire, certain goods would be exempted from the alcabala (sometimes because they were considered subsistence goods, sometimes because they fell under a different tax), and tax farming often led the royal treasury to contract with a city government or merchant guild to collect the tax in a particular geographical area and pay a fixed sum to the Spanish treasury. There were numerous specific exemptions such as (from the time of Philip II onwards) horses and mules, hunting birds, and books.
Unlike a modern value added tax, the full amount was (at least in theory) charged at each transaction so, for example, the same food could be fully taxed as grain, meal, and bread. Eventually, baked bread was exempted from the tax.
In 1341, the rate of the alcabala was five percent. It was doubled to ten percent in 1491 and reduced back to five percent in 1539. By 1793, in some places in peninsular Spain it had reached fourteen percent; it was reduced that year to seven percent.
It is not entirely clear what these rates meant in practice. It does not appear that the tax was consistently collected in full. For example, it appears the during the reign of Philip II, "small villages often paid as little as three-and-a-half per cent".
Collection.
The relatively limited administration of a 15th-century government was ill-prepared to collect a sales tax, therefore tax farming was more or less inevitable. Because taxes in different jurisdictions were farmed out separately, and because rates were not equal everywhere, the tax location of a particular transaction was important. This could be tricky if, for example, a transaction was made in one place for delivery in another. The theory was that the tax was paid where the article finally came to rest; if goods were handed over at a different place to avoid payment, the fine could be four times the tax owed. There were rules requiring permission to move goods from one town or village to another.
Sellers were supposed to notify the tax farmer of transactions within two days and pay the tax to the "alcabalero" within three days after that, again on possible penalty of four times the tax owed. Sellers were allowed to make arrangements to pay a fixed, periodic tax instead of paying on each transaction. Buyers were also supposed to report, as a check on the sellers. If the seller was from outside the area, or was a cleric, priest, local council official or a powerful individual ("hombre poderoso"), the buyer was required to report the transaction in advance, and could be held liable if the seller did not pay the tax.
History.
Although the origin of the alcabala is unclear, and it may have dated back to the era of Muslim rule, it is known that in 1342 Alfonso XI of Castile convinced the Cortes Generales (the equivalent of a parliament) to make it a royal duty for Castile. Originally the tax was specified to run for three years. However, reality might have been a more complicated story. For example, a 19th-century Spanish legal dictionary says that in 1341 it was conceded to Alfonso for three years to defray the costs of the Siege of Algeciras (1342-1344), extended in 1345 to maintain the costs of frontier castles, further extended in 1349 for the siege of Gibraltar and in 1388 for the war with Portugal, finally becoming perpetual in 1393.
While Isabella I considered applying the alcabala to Spain's American colonies as early as 1503, in fact it was not applied there until the late 16th century. It was imposed in Mexico in 1574 and Peru in 1591. Typically the "capitulaciones" (contracts) for those who set out to conquer territory for Spain gave them a certain period of exemption from the alcabala. For example, through the "capitulación" between the Crown and Francisco Pizarro, Peru was supposed to be exempt from the alcabala for a century, though in practice the Crown did not wait quite so long.
The alcabala was a trigger for unrest in Quito when it was first imposed there in the 1590s, and for the Quito Revolt in 1765. In the latter case, the viceroy of New Granada, told to increase revenues but apparently without any direct order from Madrid as to the means by which to do so, had given instructions to remove collection of the alcabala and the brandy monopoly from private tax-farmers and to have royal officials collect the tax directly. An increase to six percent in the late 1770s led to violence in the Viceroyalty of New Granada (northern South America) in 1780–1781 and in Arequipa (Southern Peru) in 1780. While these rates of six percent led to violence in the Americas, rates in the Americas were generally lower than in the Spanish mainland. This was the same era in which disputes over taxes were a major factor leading to the American Revolution in what became the United States.
In the late 18th century, the alcabala generated 2.5 million pesos annually in Mexico and 600,000 pesos in Peru.
The alcabala was abolished in the Spanish tax reform of 1845.
Another use of the term.
The term "alcabala" also refers to military checkpoints in Colombia and Venezuela.


Joseph McGoldrick

Joseph Daniel McGoldrick (June 5, 1901 – April 5, 1978) was an American politician and lawyer. He served as Comptroller of New York City for nearly nine years. He subsequently was the New York State Residential Rent Control Commissioner, founded a law firm, and was chairman of the Department of Political Science at Queens College for a decade.
Early life.
McGoldrick was born in Brooklyn, New York. He had three younger siblings, and his parents were Loretta and Daniel McGoldrick, an accountant.
He graduated from Erasmus Hall High School. McGoldrick then attended Columbia University, graduating in 1922 with an A.B. with honors in History and Greek. He was then an instructor in government at Columbia. He received a law degree from Fordham University in 1929. He was granted a Ph.D. from Columbia in 1931.
Career.
McGoldrick in 1934 became deputy to Comptroller of New York City W. Arthur Cunningham. Cunningham died, and McGoldrick was appointed by Mayor La Guardia to take his place. McGoldrick later ran in a special election, and lost. But when La Guardia ran for a second term in 1937, McGoldrick joined him in office as comptroller, and the same happened four years later.
After serving as comptroller he become the New York State Residential Rent Control Commissioner in 1946. In 1948 he founded the law firm of McGoldrick, Dannett, Horowitz & Golub. In 1958 he joined the Queens College faculty, where he spent a decade as chairman of the Department of Political Science.
McGoldrick was the author of "The Law and Practice of Municipal Home Rule 1916‐1930" and "Building Regulation in New York City", and co‐author with R. E. and M. P. Keohane of "Government in Action".
He died of cancer on April 5, 1978 in Savannah, Georgia. As of 2019, he was the last Republican to have served as Comptroller of New York City.