title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: The Russians proceeded to bombard Grozny with artillery, tank, and rocket fire as the rest of the battle centered on new tactics in which the Russians proceeded to destroy the city block by block. White phosphorus rounds and fuel-air explosive "Shmel" rockets were used by the Russian forces. They would then send in small groups of men sometimes spearheaded by special forces, making effective use of sniper teams. Two long weeks of costly bitter fighting ensued as the Russians moved to take the Presidential Palace.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: On 7 January, Orthodox Christmas, the Russians concentrated their assault on the Chechen Presidential Palace, a large, concrete structure built in Soviet times as the local Chechen Communist party headquarters, including a blast shelter underneath. It was defended by 350 Chechen full-time fighters and an estimated 150 part-time militiamen.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: The Russians launched heavy volleys of artillery and Grad rockets, setting buildings and the oil refinery ablaze. The Chechens held the Russians back, though the upper floors of the building caught fire. Russian Major General Viktor Vorobyov was killed by a mortar shell on the same day, becoming the first on a long list of Russian generals to be killed in Chechnya.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: On 9 January, the Russians declared a ceasefire which proved to be a lie. Two hours after the ceasefire started, on 10 January, the Russians launched a heavy bombardment of the Presidential Palace and managed to position three tanks around the building, firing at point-blank range. Towards the middle of January, there was heavy fighting within 100–200 meters of the palace. As the Chechen resistance fell low on ammunition, food, and water, resistance proved ever more difficult for them.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: On 18 January, Russian forces launched a massive air and artillery attack; by Chechen estimation, rockets were hitting the palace at a rate of one per second. Sukhoi Su-25 close air support aircraft dropped two bunker busters into the Palace. The bombs fell through all 11 floors and fell into the reinforced bunker below the building; one landed 20 meters from the HQ of General Maskhadov, but did not explode. Before midnight, the Chechen command left the Palace in three groups, Maskhadov being among the last to leave. These groups retreated to a hospital on the south side of the Sunzha river, while Russian helicopters flew over the city calling on Chechens to surrender with no effect.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: For the next two days, the Russians lulled their bombardment to collect the dead and wounded in the streets. Russian President Boris Yeltsin prematurely declared that the "military stage of the operation" was over. General Lev Rokhlin, the commander of the unit that seized the palace was offered to be decorated with the order of the Hero of the Russian Federation, but he refused saying he saw nothing glorious in "fighting a war on my own land."


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: After losing so many men when taking the northern part of Grozny, the Russians concentrated their artillery heavily on the southern half, firing over 30,000 shells each day. For a time being there was no close combat, with the Chechens using mainly sniper rifles. After blowing up most of the bridges the Chechens used the Sunzha river as a newly established front line as all but the southern part of Grozny was now in the Russian control. The city, however, was not completely sealed off until 22 February 1995, and the Chechens routinely resupplied their forces through the corridor from Shali.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: Eventually, Russians advanced within 200 meters of Maskhadov's HQ. Though he threw all his available forces against them, including the remaining three tanks, he could not manage to stop the offensive. It was at this point that they decided to move to abandon the positions along the Sunzha and retreat to the third line of defense along the mountain ridges that skirt Grozny.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: On 25 January 1995, the Chechen leader Dzhokhar Dudayev said that no more Russian prisoners of war would be released until a ceasefire was signed. On 8 February, a truce was announced and most of the remaining Chechen forces, including all heavy equipment, withdrew from the devastated city. They moved their headquarters to the town of Novogroznensk, the first of several temporary capitals to follow.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: On 13 February 1995, Russian and Chechen forces reached another ceasefire agreement limiting the use of heavy weapons, covering the use of aviation, artillery and mortars (however, the Russians returned to the large-scale artillery and aviation attacks in Chechnya a week later on 21 February). As the end of February approached, Shamil Basayev and his men were reduced to using small-scale hit-and-run tactics until they too finally pulled out by 6 March.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: Military casualties are unknown, but are estimated to run into the thousands of killed and wounded on both sides. The officially released figures on the Russian losses were 1,376 killed in action and 408 missing in action, yet the actual figure could be higher.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: As of the civilian casualties, Sergei Kovalev, the Russian Duma's commissioner for human rights, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin's aide on human rights, who had been in Grozny during part of the fighting, estimated 27,000 people, many of them ethnic Russians, died in five weeks of fighting, about 6% of the population. According to the World Peace Foundation at Tufts University,


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: sources estimate that a large percentage of civilian fatalities [during the First Chechen War] occurred during the invasion of Grozny between December 1994 and March 1995. From the beginning of the invasion to the middle of February, fatality estimates range from 25,000 to 30,000 civilian deaths. This range indicates that the majority of the civilian fatalities in the entire war occurred during a mere four-month window. Of the estimated 25,000 killed in the invasion of Grozny, it is estimated that 18,000 were killed by mid-January. According to General Dudayev, the first president of the Chechen Republic, 85 percent of civilians killed in the invasion (approximately 25,500) were ethnic Russians due to the fact that the Chechens were the first to evacuate the capital; this estimate is close to the figure put forward by Russian human rights campaigner Sergei Kovalyov, who estimated the number of ethnic Russian deaths at 24,000.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: Anatol Lieven, who was also in Grozny during the battle, in his book "Chechnya: Tombstone of Russian Power" put his estimates lower at about 5,000 killed civilians, with some 500 more killed by the Russian air raids prior to the battle.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: A report by the Human Rights Watch denounced indiscriminate bombings and shellings by Russian forces carried out against civilian populations, consistent targeting of civilian populations by ground forces and the destruction of three hospitals, one orphanage and numerous market areas. HRW estimates at least 350,000 people were forced to flee the region due to the conflict.


title: Battle of Grozny (1994–1995)

text: International monitors from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe described the scenes as "unimaginable catastrophe," while German Chancellor Helmut Kohl described the events as "sheer madness."


title: Literacy in India

text: Literacy in India is a key for social-economic progress. The 2011 census, indicated a 2001–2011 literacy growth of 97.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. An old analytical 1990 study estimated that it would take until 2060 for India to achieve universal literacy at then-current rate of progress.


title: Literacy in India

text: Census of India pegged average literacy rate to be 73% in 2011 while National Statistical Commission surveyed literacy to be 77.7% in 2017–18. Literacy rate in urban areas was higher 87.7% than rural areas with 73.5%. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India and effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) was 84.7% for men and 70.3% for women. The low female literacy rate has a dramatically negative impact on family planning and population stabillisation efforts in India. Studies have indicated that female literacy is a strong predictor of the use of contraception among married Indian couples, even when women do not otherwise have economic independence. The census provided a positive indication that growth in female literacy rates (11.8%) was substantially faster than in male literacy rates (6.9%) in the 2001–2011 decadal period, which means the gender gap appears to be narrowing.


title: Literacy in India

text: Literacy involves a continuum of learning enabling individuals to achieve their goals, to develop their knowledge and potential, and to participate fully in their community and wider society."


title: Literacy in India

text: The National Literacy Mission defines literacy as acquiring the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic and the ability to apply them to one's day-to-day life. The achievement of functional literacy implies (i) self-reliance in 3 R's, (ii) awareness of the causes of deprivation and the ability to move towards amelioration of their condition by participating in the process of development, (iii) acquiring skills to improve economic status and general well-being, and (iv) imbibing values such as national integration, conservation of the environment, women's equality, observance of small family norms.


title: Literacy in India

text: <nowiki>:</nowiki> The report on 'Household Social Consumption: Education in India as part of 75th round of National Sample Survey - from July 2017 to June 2018.


title: Literacy in India

text: The table below shows the adult and youth literacy rates for India and some neighboring countries in 2015.


title: Literacy in India

text: Adult literacy rate is based on the 15+ years age group, while the youth literacy rate is for the 15–24 years age group (i.e. youth is a subset of adults).


title: Literacy in India

text: One of the main factors contributing to this relatively low literacy rate is usefulness of education and availability of schools in vicinity in rural areas. There is a shortage of classrooms to accommodate all the students in 2006–2007. In addition, there is no proper sanitation in most schools. The study of 188 government-run primary schools in central and northern India revealed that 59% of the schools had no drinking water facility and 89% no toilets. In 600,000 villages and multiplying urban slum habitats, 'free and compulsory education' is the basic literacy instruction dispensed by barely qualified 'para teachers'. The average pupil teacher ratio for all India is 42:1, implying a teacher shortage. Such inadequacies resulted in a non-standardized school system where literacy rates may differ. Furthermore, the expenditure allocated to education was never above 4.3% of the GDP from 1951 to 2002 despite the target of 6% by the Kothari Commission. This further complicates the literacy problem in India.


title: Literacy in India

text: Severe caste disparities also exist. Discrimination of lower castes has resulted in high dropout rates and low enrollment rates. The National Sample Survey Organisation and the National Family Health Survey collected data in India on the percentage of children completing primary school which are reported to be only 36.8% and 37.7% respectively. On 21 February 2005, the Prime Minister of India said that he was pained to note that "only 47 out of 100 children enrolled in class I reach class VIII, putting the dropout rate at 52.78 percent." It is estimated that at least 35 million, and possibly as many as 60 million, children aged 6–14 years are not in school.


title: Literacy in India

text: The large proportion of illiterate females is another reason for the low literacy rate in India. Inequality based on gender differences resulted in female literacy rates being lower at 65.46% than that of their male counterparts at 82.14%. Due to strong stereotyping of female and male roles, sons are thought of to be more useful and hence are educated. Females are pulled to help out on agricultural farms at home as they are increasingly replacing the males on such activities which require no formal education. Fewer than 2% of girls who engaged in agriculture work attended school.


title: Literacy in India

text: Prior to the colonial era, education in India typically occurred under the supervision of a guru in traditional schools called gurukulas. The gurukulas were supported by public donations and were one of the earliest forms of public school offices.


title: Literacy in India

text: According to the work of historian Dharampal, based on British documents from the early 1800s, pre-colonial education in India was fairly universal. Dharampal noted that the Hindu temple and/or mosque of each village had a school attached to it and the children of all communities attended these schools.


title: Literacy in India

text: In the colonial era, the community-funded gurukul system and temple-based charity education, began to decline as the centrally funded institutions promoted by the British colonial administration began to gradually take over.


title: Literacy in India

text: From 1881 and 1947, the number of English-language primary schools grew from 82,916 to 134,866 and the number of students attending those institutions grew from 2,061,541 to 10,525,943. Literacy rates among the Indian public, as recorded rose from an estimated 3.2 per cent in 1872, to 16.1 per cent in 1941.


title: Literacy in India

text: In 1944, the British colonial administration presented a plan, called the Sargent Scheme for the educational reconstruction of India, with a goal of producing 100% literacy in the country within 40 years, i.e. by 1984. Although the 40-year time-frame was derided at the time by leaders of the Indian independence movement as being too long a period to achieve universal literacy, India had only just crossed the 74% level by the 2011 census. The British Indian censuses identify a significant difference in literacy rates, by: sex, religion, caste and state of residence, e.g.:


title: Literacy in India

text: The provision of universal and compulsory education for all children in the age group of 6–14 was a cherished national ideal and had been given overriding priority by incorporation as a Directive Policy in Article 45 of the Constitution, but it is still to be achieved more than half a century since the Constitution was adopted in 1949. Parliament has passed the Constitution 86th Amendment Act, 2002, to make elementary education a Fundamental Right for children in the age group of 6–14 years. In order to provide more funds for education, an education cess of 2 percent has been imposed on all direct and indirect central taxes through the Finance (No. 2) Act, 2004.


title: Literacy in India

text: In 2000–01, there were 60,840 pre-primary and pre-basic schools, and 664,041 primary and junior basic schools. Total enrolment at the primary level has increased from 19,200,000 in 1950–51 to 109,800,000 in 2001–02. The number of high schools in 2000–01 was higher than the number of primary schools at the time of independence.


title: Literacy in India

text: The literacy rate grew from 18.33 percent in 1951, to 74.04 percent in 2011. During the same period, the population grew from 361 million to 1,210 million.


title: Literacy in India

text: India's literacy rate is at 75%. Kerala has achieved a literacy rate of 93%. Bihar is the least literate state in India, with a literacy of 63.82%. Several other social indicators of the two states are correlated with these rates, such as life expectancy at birth (71.61 for males and 75 for females in Kerala, 65.66 for males and 64.79 for females in Bihar), infant mortality per 1,000 live births (10 in Kerala, 61 in Bihar), birth rate per 1,000 people (16.9 in Kerala, 30.9 in Bihar) and death rate per 1,000 people (6.4 in Kerala, 7.9 in Bihar).


title: Literacy in India

text: Every census since 1881 had indicated rising literacy in the country, but the population growth rate had been high enough that the absolute number of illiterate people rose with every decade. The 2001–2011 decade is the second census period (after the 1991–2001 census period) when the absolute number of Indian illiterate population declined (by 31,196,847 people), indicating that the literacy growth rate is now outstripping the population growth rate.


title: Literacy in India

text: Six Indian states account for about 60% of all illiterates in India: Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Andhra Pradesh (including Telangana). Slightly less than half of all Indian illiterates (48.12%) are in the six states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.


title: Literacy in India

text: Several states in India have executed successful programs to boost literacy rates. Over time, a set of factors have emerged as being key to success: the official will to succeed, deliberate steps to engage the community in administering the program, adequate funding for infrastructure and teachers, and provisioning additional services which are considered valuable by the community (such as free school lunches).


title: Literacy in India

text: Bihar has significantly raised the literacy rate as per the 2011 census. Literacy rate in year 1951 was only 13.49%, 21.95% in year 1961, 23.17% in year 1971 and 32.32% in year 1981. The literacy rate has risen from 39% in 1991 to 47% in 2001 to 63.8% in 2011. The Government of Bihar has launched several programs to boost literacy, and its Department of Adult Education won a UNESCO award in 1981.


title: Literacy in India

text: Extensive impoverishment, entrenched hierarchical social divisions and the lack of correlation between educational attainment and job opportunities are often cited in studies of the hurdles literacy programs face in Bihar. Children from "lower castes" are frequently denied school attendance and harassed when they do attend. In areas where there is discrimination, poor funding and impoverished families means that children often cannot afford textbooks and stationery.


title: Literacy in India

text: When children do get educated, general lack of economic progress in the state means that government jobs are the only alternative to farming labor, yet these jobs, in practice, require bribes to secure – which poorer families cannot afford. This leads to educated youths working on the farms, much as uneducated ones do, and leads parents to question the investment of sending children to school in the first place. Bihar's government schools have also faced teacher absenteeism, leading the state government to threaten to withhold of salaries of teachers who failed to conduct classes on a regular basis. To incentivize students to attend, the government announced a Rupee 1 per school-day grant to poor children who show up at school.


title: Literacy in India

text: Presently Tripura has the third highest literacy rate in India. According to the 2011 census, literacy level was 93.91 percent in Kerala and 91.58 percent in Mizoram, among the most literate states in the country. The national literacy rate, according to the 2011 census, was 74.04 percent.


title: Literacy in India

text: The Tripura success story is attributed to the involvement of local government bodies, including gram panchayats, NGOs and local clubs under the close supervision of the State Literacy Mission Authority (SLMA) headed by the chief minister. Tripura attained 87.75 percent literacy in the 2011 census, from the 12th position in the 2001 census to the 4th position in the 2011 census. The Tripura Chief Minister said that efforts were underway to literate leftover 5.35 percent people and achieve complete success in a state of about 3.8 million people. The programs were not just implemented to make the state literate but as long-term education programs to ensure all citizens have a certain basic minimum level of education. Tripura has 45 blocks and 23 subdivisions that are served by 68 government-run schools and 30-40 private schools.


title: Literacy in India

text: The holistic education system, implemented with equal interest in Agartala, remote areas and the tribal autonomic areas makes sure that people in Tripura do not just become literate but educated, officials emphasized. One pointer to the government's interest in education is the near-total absence of child labor in Tripura.


title: Literacy in India

text: Kerala topped the Education Development Index (EDI) among 21 major states in India in the year 2006–2007.[143] More than 94% of the rural population has access to a primary school within 1 km, while 98% of the population benefits one school within a distance of 2 km. An upper primary school within a distance of 3 km is available for more than 96% of the people, whose 98% benefit the facility for secondary education within 8 km. The access for rural students to higher educational institutions in cities is facilitated by widely subsidized transport fares.


title: Literacy in India

text: Kerala's educational system has been developed by institutions owned or aided by the government. In the educational system prevailed in the state, schooling is for 10 years which is subdivided into lower primary, upper primary and high school. After 10 years of secondary schooling, students typically enroll in Higher Secondary Schooling in one of the three major streams— liberal arts, commerce or science. Upon completing the required coursework, students can enroll in general or professional undergraduate programs.


title: Literacy in India

text: Kerala launched a "campaign for total literacy" in Ernakulam district in the late 1980s, with a "fusion between the district administration headed by its collector on one side and, on the other side, voluntary groups, social activists and others". On 4 February 1990, the Government of Kerala endeavoured to replicate the initiative on a statewide level, launching the Kerala State Literacy Campaign. First, households were surveyed with door-to-door, multistage survey visits to form an accurate picture of the literacy landscape and areas that needed special focus. Then, "Kala Jāthas" (cultural troupes) and "Sāksharata Pada Yātras" (Literacy Foot Marches) were organized to generate awareness of the campaign and create a receptive social atmosphere for the program. An integrated management system was created involving state officials, prominent social figures, local officials and senior voluntary workers to oversee the execution of the campaign.


title: Literacy in India

text: Himachal Pradesh underwent a "Schooling Revolution" in the 1961–2001 period that has been called "even more impressive than Kerala's." Kerala has led the nation in literacy rates since the 19th century and seen sustained initiatives for over 150 years, whereas Himachal Pradesh's literacy rate in 1961 was below the national average in every age group. In the three decadal 1961–1991 period, the female literacy in the 15–19 years age group went from 11% to 86%. School attendance for both boys and girls in the 6–14-year age group stood at over 97% each, when measured in the 1998–99 school year.


title: Literacy in India

text: Mizoram is the second most literate state in India (91.58 percent), with Serchhip and Aizawl districts being the two most literate districts in India (literacy rate is 98.76% and 98.50%), both in Mizoram. Mizoram's literacy rate rose rapidly after independence: from 31.14% in 1951 to 88.80% in 2001. As in Himachal Pradesh, Mizoram has a social structure that is relatively free of hierarchy and strong official intent to produce total literacy. The government identified illiterates and organized an administrative structure that engaged officials and community leaders and manned by "animators" who were responsible for teaching five illiterates each. Mizoram established 360 continuing education centers to handle continued education beyond the initial literacy teaching and to provide an educational safety net for school drop-outs.


title: Literacy in India

text: One of the pioneers of the scheme that started providing cooked meals to children in corporation schools in the Madras city in 1923. The program was introduced on a large scale in the 1960s under the chief ministership of K. Kamaraj. The first major thrust came in 1982 when Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Dr. M. G. Ramachandran, decided to universalize the scheme for all children up to class 10. Tamil Nadu's midday meal program is among the best-known in the country. Starting in 1982, Tamil Nadu took an approach to promote literacy based on free lunches for schoolchildren, "ignoring cynics who said it was an electoral gimmick and economists who said it made little fiscal sense." The then chief minister of Tamil Nadu, MGR launched the program, which resembled a similar initiative in 19th century Japan, because "he had experienced as a child what it was like to go hungry to school with the family having no money to buy food".


title: Literacy in India

text: Eventually, the program covered all children under the age of 15, as well as pregnant women for the first four months of their pregnancy. Tamil Nadu's literacy rate rose from 54.4% in 1981 to 80.3% in 2011. In 2001, the Supreme Court of India instructed all state governments to implement free school lunches in all government-funded schools, but implementation has been patchy due to corruption and social issues. Despite these hurdles, 120 million receive free lunches in Indian schools every day, making it the largest school meal program in the world.


title: Literacy in India

text: Although the decadal rise from 2001 to 2011 was only 6.7% (60.4% in 2001 to 67.7% in 2011), Rajasthan had the biggest percentage decadal (1991–2001) increase in the literacy of all Indian states, from about 38% to about 61%, a leapfrog that has been termed "spectacular" by some observers. Aggressive state government action, in the form of the District Primary Education Programme, the Shiksha Karmi initiative and the Lok Jumbish program are credited with the rapid improvement. Virtually every village in Rajasthan now has primary school coverage. When statehood was granted to Rajasthan in 1956, it was the least literate state in India with a literacy rate of 18%.


title: Literacy in India

text: The right to education is a fundamental right, and UNESCO aimed at education for all by 2015. India, along with the Arab states and sub-Saharan Africa, has a literacy level below the threshold level of 75%, but efforts are ongoing to achieve that level. The campaign to achieve at least the threshold literacy level represents the largest ever civil and military mobilization in the country. International Literacy Day is celebrated each year on 8 September with the aim to highlight the importance of literacy to individuals, communities and societies.


title: Literacy in India

text: Financial regulators in India such as RBI, SEBI, IRDAI, PFDRA, etc. have created a joint charter called National Strategy For Financial Education (NSFE), detailing initiatives taken by them for financial literacy in India. Also, other market participants like banks, stock exchanges, broking houses, mutual funds, and insurance companies are actively involved in it. The National Centre For Financial Education (NCFE) in consultation with relevant financial sector regulators and stakeholders has prepared the revised NSFE(2020-2025)


title: Literacy in India

text: The "National Literacy Mission", launched in 1988, aimed at attaining a literacy rate of 75 percent by 2007. Its charter is to impart functional literacy to non-literates in the age group of 35–75 years. The "Total Literacy Campaign" is their principal strategy for the eradication of illiteracy. The "Continuing Education Scheme" provides a learning continuum to the efforts of the Total Literacy and Post Literacy programs.


title: Literacy in India

text: The "Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan" (Hindi for "Total Literacy Campaign") was launched in 2001 to ensure that all children in the 6–14-year age-group attend school and complete eight years of schooling by 2010. An important component of the scheme is the "Education Guarantee Scheme and Alternative and Innovative Education", meant primarily for children in areas with no formal school within a one-kilometer radius. The centrally sponsored "District Primary Education Programme", launched in 1994, had opened more than 160,000 new schools by 2005, including almost 84,000 alternative schools.


title: Literacy in India

text: The bulk of Indian illiterates live in the country's rural areas, where social and economic barriers play an important role in keeping the lowest strata of society illiterate. Government programs alone, however well-intentioned, may not be able to dismantle barriers built over centuries. Major social reformation efforts are sometimes required to bring about a change in the rural scenario. Specific mention is to be made regarding the role of the People's Science Movements (PSMs) and Bharat Gyan Vigyan Samiti (BGVS) in the Literacy Mission in India during the early 1990s. Several non-governmental organisations such as Pratham, ITC, Rotary Club, Lions Club have worked to improve the literacy rate in India.


title: Literacy in India

text: Manthan SVK is a holistic education program initiated by Divya Jyoti Jagriti Sansthan under the guidance of Shri Ashutosh Maharajji. This initiative, started in 2008, has since then reached and spread education to over 5000 underprivileged children across India, with its centers spread in Delhi - NCR, Punjab and Bihar. The main aim of Manthan is to provide not just academic but also mental, physical and emotional education. Manthan has also been working for adult literacy through its Adult Literacy Centres for illiterate women. Vocational education is also given attention to, with Sewing and Stitching Centres for women.


title: Literacy in India

text: The motto of Manthan being "Saakshar Bharat, Sashakt Bharat", it has been providing quality education selflessly.


title: Literacy in India

text: Shantha Sinha won a Magsaysay Award in 2003 in recognition of "Her guiding the people of Andhra Pradesh to end the scourge of child labor and send all of their children to school." As head of an extension program at the University of Hyderabad in 1987, she organized a three-month-long camp to prepare children rescued from bonded labor to attend school. Later, in 1991, she guided her family's "Mamidipudi Venkatarangaiya Foundation" to take up this idea as part of its overriding mission in Andhra Pradesh. Her original transition camps grew into full-fledged residential "bridge schools." The foundation's aim is to create a social climate hostile to child labor, child marriage and other practices that deny children the right to a normal childhood. Today the MV Foundation's bridge schools and programs extend to 4,300 villages.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon neutrality is a state of net-zero carbon dioxide emissions. This can be achieved by balancing emissions of carbon dioxide with its removal (often through carbon offsetting) or by eliminating emissions from society (the transition to the "post-carbon economy"). The term is used in the context of carbon dioxide-releasing processes associated with transportation, energy production, agriculture, and industry.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Although the term "carbon neutral" is used, a carbon footprint also includes other greenhouse gases, measured in terms of their carbon dioxide equivalence. The term climate-neutral reflects the broader inclusiveness of other greenhouse gases in climate change, even if CO is the most abundant.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The term "net zero" is increasingly used to describe a broader and more comprehensive commitment to decarbonization and climate action, moving beyond carbon neutrality by including more activities under the scope of indirect emissions, and often including a science-based target on emissions reduction, as opposed to relying solely on offsetting. Some climate scientists have stated that "the idea of net zero has licensed a recklessly cavalier 'burn now, pay later' approach which has seen carbon emissions continue to soar."


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In December 2020, five years after the Paris Agreement, the Secretary-General of the United Nations António Guterres warned that the commitments made by countries in Paris were not sufficient and were not respected. He has urged all other countries to declare climate emergencies until carbon neutrality is reached.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon-neutral status can be achieved in two ways, although a combination of the two is most likely required:


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Balancing carbon dioxide emissions with carbon offsets the process of reducing or avoiding greenhouse gas emissions or removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to make up for emissions elsewhere. If the total greenhouse gases emitted is equal to the total amount avoided or removed, then the two effects cancel each other out and the net emissions are 'neutral'.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Reducing carbon emissions can be done by moving towards energy sources and industry processes that produce less greenhouse gases, thereby transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Shifting towards the use of renewable energy such as wind, geothermal, and solar power, zero-energy systems like passive daytime radiative cooling, as well as nuclear power, reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Although both renewable and non-renewable energy production produce carbon emissions in some form, renewable sources produce negligible to almost zero carbon emissions. Transitioning to a low-carbon economy would also mean making changes to current industrial and agricultural processes to reduce carbon emissions, for example, diet changes to livestock such as cattle can potentially reduce methane production by 40%. Carbon projects and emissions trading are often used to reduce carbon emissions, and carbon dioxide can even sometimes be prevented from entering the atmosphere entirely (such as by carbon scrubbing).


title: Carbon neutrality

text: One way to implement carbon-neutral products is by making these products cheaper and more cost effective than carbon positive fuels. Various companies have pledged to become carbon neutral or negative by 2050, some of which include: Microsoft, Delta Air Lines, BP, IKEA, and BlackRock. However, without cheaper carbon-neutral products, companies are less likely to switch over to renewable sources.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon neutrality is usually achieved by combining the following steps, although these may vary depending whether the strategy is being implemented by individuals, companies, organizations, cities, regions, or countries:


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In the case of individuals, decision-making is likely to be straightforward, but for more complex institutions it usually requires political leadership and popular agreement that the effort is worth making.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Commitment from countries and the organizations within is critical to the forward movement of Carbon Neutrality. The Net Zero Challenge Report states that "commitments made by governments so far are far from sufficient." One way to obtain more commitment would be to set carbon-neutral goals but allow flexibility for the organizations and governments to decide how to achieve these goals. Large well-known companies like Apple are laying out roadmaps to help these commitments become a reality. Then lesser well-known companies like Kinaxis, a supply chain management company, met their net-zero goal in 2020 by fully committing to their carbon emission objectives.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Counting and analyzing the emissions that need to be eliminated, and how it can be done, is an important step in the process of achieving carbon neutrality, as it establishes the priorities for where action needs to be taken and progress can begin being monitored. This can be achieved through a greenhouse gas inventory that aims to answer questions such as:


title: Carbon neutrality

text: For individuals, carbon calculators simplify compiling an inventory. Typically they measure electricity consumption in kWh, the amount and type of fuel used to heat water and warm the house, and how many kilometers an individual drives, flies and rides in different vehicles. Individuals may also set the limits of the system they are concerned with, for example, whether they want to balance out their personal greenhouse gas emissions, their household emissions, or their company's.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: There are plenty of carbon calculators available online, which vary significantly in the parameters they measure. Some, for example, factor in only cars, aircraft and household energy use. Others cover household waste or leisure interests as well. In some circumstances, going beyond carbon neutral and becoming carbon negative (usually after a certain length of time taken to reach carbon breakeven) is an objective.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Cities and countries are challenging for carbon counting and analyzing. This is because the production of goods and services within their territory can be linked either to domestic consumption or exports. On the other hand, citizens also consume imported goods and services. To avoid double counting in the calculation of emissions, it should be specified where the emissions should be counted: at the point of production or consumption. This can be complicated given the long production chains in a globalized economy. In addition, embodied energy and the consequences of large-scale resource extraction needed for renewable energy systems and EV batteries are likely to present their own complications – local point-of-use emissions are likely to be greatly reduced, but life cycle emissions may still remain significant.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In starting to work towards climate neutrality, businesses and local administrations can make use of an environmental (or sustainability) management system or EMS established by the international standard ISO 14001 (developed by the International Organization for Standardization). Another EMS framework is EMAS, the European Eco Management and Audit Scheme, used by numerous companies throughout the EU. Many local authorities apply the management system to certain sectors of their administration or certify their whole operations.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: One of the strongest arguments for reducing greenhouse gas emissions is that it will often save money. Examples of possible actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions are:


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Wind power, nuclear power, hydropower, solar power, and geothermal are the energy sources with the lowest life-cycle emissions, which includes deployment and operations.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon offsetting is the practice of removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere equivalent to the emissions generated by other activities. This is often done by paying "projects that either emit fewer emissions at source, such as cleaner energy production, or remove them from the atmosphere, such as forestry schemes." This aims to neutralize a certain volume of greenhouse gas emissions by funding activities which are expected to cause an equivalent reduction elsewhere, for example, with payed for ecosystem services, such as blue carbon. Offsetting schemes can also have significant co-benefits such as improving quality of life and reducing poverty.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon offsetting has been critiqued on several fronts. One of the main concerns has been the potential for offsets to delay needed action on active emissions reductions. In 2007, for example, in a report from the Transnational Institute, Kevin Smith likens carbon offsets to medieval indulgences where people pay "offset companies to absolve them of their carbon sins." This, he contends, permits a "business as usual" attitude that stifles the required major changes. Offsets have also been widely criticised for playing a part in greenwashing, an argument which has even mobilised in a 2021 watchdog ruling against Shell.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Another critique of offsetting has been that loose regulation of claims by carbon offsetting schemes that, combined with the difficulties in calculating greenhouse gas sequestration and emissions reductions, can result in schemes that do not in reality adequately offset emissions. Moves have been made to create better regulation. The United Nations, for instance, has operated a certification process for carbon offsets since 2001 called the Clean Development Mechanism. This aims to stimulate "sustainable development and emission reductions, while giving industrialized countries some flexibility in how they meet their emission reduction limitation targets." However, the UK Government's Climate Change Committee has also noted that "Although standards both globally and in the UK are being improved, the risk remains that the emissions reduction or removal reported may have happened anyway or may not persist into the future."


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Criticisms have also been levelled at the use of non-native and monocultural forest plantations as carbon offsets for its "limited—and at times negative—effects on native biodiversity" and other ecosystem services.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: This phase includes evaluation of the results and compilation of a list of suggested improvements, with results documented and reported, so that experience gained of what does (and does not) work is shared with those who can put it to good use. Science and technology move on, regulations become tighter, the standards people demand go up. So the second cycle will go further than the first, and the process will continue, each successive phase building on and improving on what went before.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Being carbon neutral is increasingly seen as good corporate or state social responsibility and a growing list of corporations and states are announcing dates for when they intend to become fully neutral. Events such as the G8 Summit and organizations like the World Bank are also using offset schemes to become carbon neutral. Artists like The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd have made albums or tours carbon neutral.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: To be considered carbon neutral, an organization must reduce its carbon footprint to zero. Determining what to include in the carbon footprint depends upon the organization and the standards they are following.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Generally, direct emissions sources must be reduced and offset completely, while indirect emissions from purchased electricity can be reduced with renewable energy purchases.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Direct emissions include all pollution from manufacturing, company owned vehicles and reimbursed travel, livestock and any other source that is directly controlled by the owner. Indirect emissions include all emissions that result from the use or purchase of a product. For instance, the direct emissions of an airline are all the jet fuel that is burned, while the indirect emissions include manufacture and disposal of airplanes, all the electricity used to operate the airline's office, and the daily emissions from employee travel to and from work. In another example, the power company has a direct emission of greenhouse gas, while the office that purchases it considers it an indirect emission.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Cities and countries represent a challenge with regard to emissions counting as production of goods and services within their territory can be related either to domestic consumption or exports. Conversely the citizens also consume imported goods and services. To avoid double counting in any emissions calculation it should be made clear where the emissions are to be counted: at the site of production or consumption. This may be complicated given long production chains in a globalized economy. Moreover, the embodied energy and consequences of large-scale raw material extraction required for renewable energy systems and electric vehicle batteries is likely to represent its own complications – local emissions at the site of utilization are likely to be very small but life-cycle emissions can still be significant.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon is used as both a source of electricity and a feedstock in energy-intensive industries, making decarbonization impossible. If emissions and sources are to be captured and stopped from entering the atmosphere, an alternate chemical solution must be formulated that achieves the desired output while not releasing as a by-product.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Carbon neutral fuels are those that neither contribute to nor reduce the amount of carbon into the atmosphere. Before an agency can certify an organization or individual as carbon neutral, it is important to specify whether indirect emissions are included in the Carbon Footprint calculation. Most Voluntary Carbon neutral certifiers in the US, require both direct and indirect sources to be reduced and offset. As an example, for an organization to be certified carbon neutral, it must offset all direct and indirect emissions from travel by 1 lb COe per passenger mile, and all non-electricity direct emissions 100%. Indirect electrical purchases must be equalized either with offsets, or renewable energy purchases. This standard differs slightly from the widely used World Resources Institute and may be easier to calculate and apply.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Much of the confusion in carbon neutral standards can be attributed to the number of voluntary carbon standards which are available. For organizations looking at which carbon offsets to purchase, knowing which standards are robust, credible and permanent is vital in choosing the right carbon offsets and projects to get involved in. Some of the main standards in the voluntary market include Verified Carbon Standard, Gold Standard and The American Carbon Registry. In addition companies can purchase Certified Emission Reductions (CERs) which result from mitigated carbon emissions from United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change approved projects for voluntary purposes. The concept of shared resources also reduces the volume of carbon a particular organization has to offset, with all upstream and downstream emissions the responsibility of other organizations or individuals. If all organizations and individuals were involved then this would not result in any double accounting.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Regarding terminology in UK, in December 2011 the Advertising Standards Authority (in an ASA decision which was upheld by its Independent Reviewer, Sir Hayden Phillips) controversially ruled that no manufactured product can be marketed as "zero-carbon", because carbon was inevitably emitted during its manufacture. This decision was made in relation to a solar panel system whose embodied carbon was repaid during 1.2 years of use and it appears to mean that no buildings or manufactured products can legitimately be described as zero carbon in its jurisdiction.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Being carbon neutral is increasingly seen as good corporate or state social responsibility, and a growing list of corporations, cities and states are announcing dates for when they intend to become fully neutral. Many countries have also announced dates by which they want to be carbon neutral, with many of them targeting the year 2050. However, setting an earlier date (i.e. 2025, 2030, or 2045) may be considered to send out a stronger signal internationally, and is recommended by the Climate Crisis Advisory Group. Also, delaying significant action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is increasingly being considered to not be a financially sound idea.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The original Climate Neutral Network was an Oregon-based non-profit organization founded by Sue Hall and incorporated in 1999 to persuade companies that being climate neutral was potentially cost saving as well as environmentally sustainable. It developed both the Climate Neutral Certification and Climate Cool brand name with key stakeholders such as the United States Environmental Protection Agency, The Nature Conservancy, the Rocky Mountain Institute, Conservation International, and the World Resources Institute and succeeded in enrolling the 2002 Winter Olympics to compensate for its associated greenhouse gas emissions.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Few companies have actually attained Climate Neutral Certification, applying to a rigorous review process and establishing that they have achieved absolute net zero or better impact on the world's climate. Another reason that companies have difficulty in attaining the Climate Neutral Certification is due the lack clear guidelines on what it means to make a carbon neutral development. Shaklee Corporation became the first Climate Neutral certified company in April 2000. The company employs a variety of investments, and offset activities, including tree-planting, use of solar energy, methane capture in abandoned mines and its manufacturing processes. Climate Neutral Business Network states that it certified Dave Matthews Band's concert tour as Climate Neutral. The Christian Science Monitor criticized the use of NativeEnergy, a for-profit company that sells offset credits to businesses and celebrities like Dave Matthews.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Salt Spring Coffee became carbon neutral by lowering emissions through reducing long-range trucking and using bio-diesel fuel in delivery trucks, upgrading to energy efficient equipment and purchasing carbon offsets from its offset provider, Offsetters. The company claims to the first carbon neutral coffee sold in Canada. Salt Spring Coffee was recognized by the David Suzuki Foundation in their 2010 report "Doing Business in a New Climate".


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Some corporate examples of self-proclaimed carbon neutral and climate neutral initiatives include Dell, Google, HSBC, ING Group, PepsiCo, Sky Group, Tesco, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Asos and Bank of Montreal.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Under the leadership of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the United Nations pledged to work towards climate neutrality in December 2007. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced it was becoming climate neutral in 2008 and established a Climate Neutral Network to promote the idea in February 2008.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Events such as the G8 Summit and organizations like the World Bank are also using offset schemes to become carbon neutral. Artists like The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd have made albums or tours carbon neutral, while Live Earth says that its seven concerts held on 7 July 2007 were the largest carbon neutral public event in history.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games were the first carbon neutral Games in history through a large partnership with the carbon offset provider, Offsetters.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Buildings, in 2019, made up 21% of global greenhouse gas emissions. The American Institute of Architects 2030 Commitment is a voluntary program for AIA member firms and other entities in the built environment that asks these organizations to pledge to design all their buildings to be carbon neutral by 2030.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In 2010, architectural firm HOK worked with energy and daylighting consultant The Weidt Group to design a net zero carbon emissions Class A office building prototype in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Goodvalley became a carbon neutral company as the first pork meat producer. It was possible by lowering greenhouse gases emission at every stage of production. In addition to reducing its primary carbon footprint, the company achieves carbon neutrality by producing green energy from its agricultural biogas plants. The sum of emissions and reductions are calculated by and since 2018, the calculation has labelled Goodvalley Group Corporate Carbon Neutral. The certification is done according to ISO-14064 and verified by TÜV Rheinland.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Since 2019, an increasing number of business organisations have committed to attaining carbon neutrality by, or before, 2050, such as Microsoft (2030), Amazon (2040), and L'Oreal (2050).


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In 2020, BlackRock, the world's largest investment firm, announced that it would begin making decisions with climate change and sustainability in mind, and begin exiting assets that it believed represented a "high sustainablilty-related risk". Activists have accused the company of greenwashing, as it still has a considerable amount of money invested in coal companies. In CEO Larry Fink's 2021 annual letter, however, he further pushed for businesses to begin laying out explicit plans on how they will be carbon neutral by 2050.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The 3 countries formed a small coalition at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference and asked for help so that other countries will join it.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In June 2011, the Canadian province of British Columbia announced they had officially become the first provincial/state jurisdiction in North America to achieve carbon neutrality in public sector operations: Every school, hospital, university, Crown corporation, and government office measured, reported, and purchased carbon offsets on all of their 2010 greenhouse gas emissions as required under legislation. Local Governments across B.C. began to declare carbon neutrality, including the Regional District of Mount Waddington on Vancouver Island, whose indoor ice arena, the Chilton Regional Arena, is now carbon neutral and relies on solely on electricity from flooding their ice to mowing the grass. The province intended to accelerate the deployment of natural gas vehicles. Under the LiveSmart BC initiative, natural gas furnaces and water heaters receive cash back thereby promoting the burning of fossil fuel in the province. The province stated that an important part of new natural gas production will come from the Horn River basin where about 500 million tonnes of will be released into the atmosphere.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: On 24 September 2019, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau pledged to make Canada carbon neutral by 2050 if re-elected. On 21 October 2019, Trudeau was re-elected, and in December 2019, the Canadian government formally announced its goal for Canada to be carbon neutral by 2050. In its speech from the throne, which was delivered on 23 September 2020, the federal government pledged to legislate its goal of making Canada carbon neutral by 2050.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The city of Edmonton, Alberta, is currently developing a carbon neutral community called Blatchford, on the grounds of its former City Centre Airport.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: By 2020, China has announced its goal of achieving carbon neutrality and has decided to complete this strategic plan by 2060.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Costa Rica aims to be fully carbon neutral by at least 2050. In 2004, 46.7% of Costa Rica's primary energy came from renewable sources, while 94% of its electricity was generated from hydroelectric power, wind farms and geothermal energy in 2006. A 3.5% tax on gasoline in the country is used for payments to compensate landowners for growing trees and protecting forests and its government is making further plans for reducing emissions from transport, farming and industry. In 2019, Costa Rica was one of the first countries that crafted a national decarbonization plan.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The EU has intermediate targets and in 2019 the bloc, with the exception of Poland, agreed to set a 2050 target for carbon neutrality.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: The European Union has become the first area to embrace climate neutrality by 2050 through the European Green Deal, being committed to forming Green Alliances with partner nations and regions across the world.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: On 29 September 2021, the EU Commission launched 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030, one of the five EU missions. This EU mission aims to have 100+ carbon-neutral and smart cities by 2030 and also, inspire other cities towards the EU target of carbon neutrality by 2050.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: On 28 April 2022, the EU Commission announced a list of 112 cities, which were selected from more than 370 cities, who have pledged to be part of the EU mission's goal of 100 Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities by 2030.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Samsø island in Denmark, with a population of 4200, based on wind-generated electricity and biomass-based district heating currently generate extra wind power and export the electricity to compensate for petro-fueled vehicles. There are future hopes of using electric or biofuel vehicles.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: On 27 June 2019, the French National Assembly voted into law the first article in a climate and energy package that sets goals for France to cut its greenhouse gas emissions and go carbon-neutral by 2050 in line with the 2015 Paris climate agreement. This was approved by the French Senate on 18 July 2019.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Iceland is also moving towards climate neutrality. Iceland generates over 99% of its electricity from renewable sources, namely hydroelectricity (approximately 80%) and geothermal (approximately 20%). No other nation uses such a high proportion of renewable energy resources. Over 99% of electricity production and almost 80% of total energy production comes from hydropower and geothermal. In February 2008, Costa Rica, Iceland, New Zealand and Norway were the first four countries to join the Climate Neutral Network, an initiative led by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to catalyze global action towards low carbon economies and societies.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: According to a 2019 study in the northern Icelandic municipality of Akureyri, low carbon transition will be effective by integrating disconnected carbon flows and establishing intermediary organisations. Reykjavík aims to be carbon neutral by 2040.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In October 2020, Japan announced its plans to reach carbon neutrality in real terms by 2050, this passed the National Diet and was codified in law on 26 May 2021.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In March 2009, Mohamed Nasheed, then president of the Maldives, pledged to make his country carbon-neutral within a decade by moving to wind and solar power. After he left the office, successive administrations abandoned the plan.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: On 7 November 2019, New Zealand passed a bill requiring the country to be net zero for all greenhouse gases by 2050 (with the exception of biogenic methane, with plans to reduce that by 2447% below 2017 levels by 2050).


title: Carbon neutrality

text: On 19 April 2007, Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg announced to the Labour Party annual congress that Norway's greenhouse gas emissions would be cut by 10 percent more than its Kyoto commitment by 2012, and that the government had agreed to achieve emission cuts of 30% by 2020. He also proposed that Norway should become carbon neutral by 2050, and called upon other rich countries to do likewise. This carbon neutrality would be achieved partly by carbon offsetting, a proposal criticized by Greenpeace, who also called on Norway to take responsibility for the 500m tonnes of emissions caused by its exports of oil and gas. World Wildlife Fund Norway also believes that the purchase of carbon offsets is unacceptable, saying "it is a political stillbirth to believe that China will quietly accept that Norway will buy climate quotas abroad". The Norwegian environmental activist Bellona Foundation believes that Stoltenberg was forced to act due to pressure from anti-European Union members of the coalition government, and called the announcement "visions without content".


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In January 2008, the Norwegian government went a step further and declared a goal of being carbon neutral by 2030. But the government has not been specific about any plans to reduce emissions at home; the plan is based on buying carbon offsets from other countries, and little has actually been done to reduce Norway's emissions, apart from a very successful policy for electric vehicles


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In Spain, in 2014, the island of El Hierro became carbon neutral (for its power production). Also, the city of Logroño Montecorvo in La Rioja will be carbon neutral once completed.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In May 2021, Spain adopted the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. In October 2021, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez released Spain 2050 report which sets 50 milestones towards Spain's goal to achieve carbon neutrality.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Sweden aims to become carbon neutral by 2045. The Climate Act which enforces actions towards that goal was established in June 2017 and implemented in the beginning of 2018, making Sweden the first country with a legally-binding carbon neutrality target. The vision is that net greenhouse gas emissions should be zero. The overall objective is that the increase in global temperature should be limited to two degrees, and that the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stabilizes at a maximum of 400 ppm.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In April 2022 an agreement between major parties in the Swedish Parliament was reached to include consumption and exports in its carbon neutrality target, which would make Sweden the first country in the world to include emissions from international trade in the pledges to mitigate climate change.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: South Korea aims to be carbon neutral by 2050, and enacted, on 31 August 2021, the enactment of the Carbon Neutral and Green Growth Basic Act, which stipulates the achievement of greenhouse gas reduction. This bill, also called the 'Climate Crisis Response Act', mandates, by 2030, a 35% greenhouse gas reduction in the country compared to 2018.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In July 2007, Vatican City announced a plan to become the first carbon-neutral state in the world, following the politics of the Pope to eliminate global warming. The goal would have been reached through a forest donated by a carbon offsetting company, which would have been located in the Bükk National Park, Hungary. Eventually no trees were planted under the project and the carbon offsets did not materialise.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In November 2008, the city state also installed and put into operation 2,400 solar panels on the roof of the Paul VI Centre audience hall.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: As recommended by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) the government has legally committed to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by the United Kingdom by 2050 and the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) has said it would be affordable. A range of techniques will be required including carbon sinks (greenhouse gas removal) in order to counterbalance emissions from agriculture and aviation. These carbon sinks might include reforestation, habitat restoration, soil carbon sequestration, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage and even direct air capture.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In 2020, the UK government has linked attainment of net zero targets as a potential mechanism for improved air quality as a co-benefit. The UK government estimated that eliminating fossil fuels for home heating and transportation could lead to a tripling of demand for electricity.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Scotland has set a 2045 target. The islands of Orkney have significant wind and marine energy resources, and renewable energy has recently come into prominence. Although Orkney is connected to the mainland, it generates over 100% of its net power from renewables. This comes mainly from wind turbines situated right across Orkney


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Thailand aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. As an initiative towards the carbon neutrality goal, Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment launched its first Carbon Credit Exchange in 2022.<ref name="carbon credit exchange Please credit and share this article with others using this link:https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2394946/carbon-credit-plan-meets-flak. View our policies at http://goo.gl/9HgTd and http://goo.gl/ou6Ip. © Bangkok Post PCL. All rights reserved."></ref>


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Taiwan has a 2050 target to achieve carbon neutrality. The Department of Forestry and Nature Conservation, Chinese Culture University and Forestry Economics Division, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute presented a study in August 2012 indicating that afforestation can offset the carbon footprint to implementing carbon neutrality. They analyzed the carbon reduction benefits of afforested air quality enhancement zones (AQEZs) established by the government in 1995.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Many initiatives seek to assist individuals, businesses and states in reducing their carbon footprint or achieving climate neutrality. These include:


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Although there is currently no international certification scheme for carbon or climate neutrality, some countries have established national certification schemes. Examples include Norwegian Eco-Lighthouse Program and the Australian government's Climate Active certification. In the private sector, organizations such as ClimatePartner can, for a fee, allow companies from many sectors to offset their carbon emissions using techniques like reforestation. These companies can then claim climate neutral status and even use the title online. However, there is no international clarity around these certifications and their validity.


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Certifications are also available from the CEB, BSI (PAS 2060) and The CarbonNeutral Company (CarbonNeutral).


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Tracing the history of certain illusions in climate policy from 1988 to 2021, climate scientists James Dyke, Robert Watson, and Wolfgang Knorr "[arrive] at the painful realisation that the idea of net zero has licensed a recklessly cavalier 'burn now, pay later' approach which has seen carbon emissions continue to soar...


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Current net zero policies will not keep warming to within 1.5 °C because they were never intended to. They were and still are driven by a need to protect business as usual, not the climate. If we want to keep people safe then large and sustained cuts to carbon emissions need to happen now. ...The time for wishful thinking is over."


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In March 2021, Tzeporah Berman, chair of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, argued that the Treaty would be a more genuine and realistic way to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement than the "Net zero" approach which, she claimed, is "delusional and based on bad science."


title: Carbon neutrality

text: Most are back-end loaded, meaning the majority of the cuts are to come well after 2030... Most of these targets also assume...steady technological advances and outright breakthroughs...Fossil fuel exports will not figure into the national accounting for the net-zero goal."


title: Carbon neutrality

text: In his 16-page report, "Dangerous Distractions," economist Marc Lee states that, Net zero' has the potential to be a dangerous distraction that reduces the political pressure to achieve actual emission reductions..." "A net zero target means less incentive to get to 'real zero' emissions from fossil fuels, an escape hatch that perpetuates business as usual and delays more meaningful climate action...Rather than gambling on carbon removal technologies of the future, Canada should plan for a managed wind down of fossil fuel production and invest public resources in bona fide solutions like renewables and a just transition from fossil fuels."


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Drop Dead Fred is a 1991 black comedy fantasy film directed by Ate de Jong, produced by PolyGram and Working Title Films and released and distributed by New Line Cinema, starring Phoebe Cates as a young woman named Elizabeth Cronin and Rik Mayall as her imaginary friend Drop Dead Fred, with Carrie Fisher, Ron Eldard, Tim Matheson, and Bridget Fonda in supporting roles. The film follows Elizabeth as she is haunted by Fred in adulthood.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Unassertive and repressed Minneapolis court reporter Elizabeth Cronin visits her husband Charles, from whom she is separated, on her lunch break, hoping to sort out their problems. He reasserts his desire for a divorce and says that he is in love with another woman, named Annabella.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: While she is at a public phone, first a man breaks into her car to steal her purse, and another steals the car itself. Forced to run back to work at the courthouse, she arrives late and gets fired. As she leaves the courthouse, she runs into childhood friend Mickey Bunce, who brings up memories they shared, including those of Elizabeth's imaginary friend, Drop Dead Fred. Mickey reminds her how everybody else thought she was crazy. A series of flashbacks show that though he caused havoc, he also gave her happiness and a release from her oppressive and emotionally abusive mother, Polly.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: After a pep talk from her friend Janie, Elizabeth moves back in with her mother, who is unsympathetic and blames her for her divorce. Her mother gives her a makeover in an attempt to win Charles back, styling Elizabeth exactly like her. She finds a taped-shut jack-in-the-box, and removes the tape, releasing Fred. He is confused that Elizabeth is now grown up, but proceeds to wreak havoc just as he did when she was a child. Eventually, Fred reveals that he can't leave until Elizabeth is happy again, so he agrees to help her win back her husband. However, his childish antics do more harm than good. He sinks Janie's houseboat, causes havoc at a restaurant, tricks her into assaulting a violinist in a shopping mall, rips the uniform off a waiter at a wine tasting event, and in general embarrasses Elizabeth and makes her look insane.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Worried by Elizabeth's recent odd behavior, Polly takes her to a (children's) psychologist. In the waiting room, Fred is reunited with his friends: the imaginary friends of other patients, who are all children. The doctor prescribes medication to rid her of Fred, whom he and Polly believe is a figment of her imagination. The medication also has the effect of slowly killing Fred.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Fred reminds Elizabeth that one day, while they were making a mess on the dinner table, she heard her mother coming and she imagined him hiding in a jack-in-the-box. Polly, fed up with Elizabeth playing with Fred, took the jack-in-the-box and taped it shut, essentially taking Fred away from her and causing her father, Nigel, to leave the family in anger. The event left Elizabeth traumatized. Fred shows her a letter she wrote to him not long after, promising they'd run away together if he ever came back. Elizabeth and Fred run away from Polly's and go to Charles' party, where Fred causes more havoc.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Charles asks Elizabeth to come back and she is overjoyed until Fred discovers he is still cheating with Annabella. Heartbroken, she tells Fred that she cannot leave Charles because she is scared of being alone. Fred helps her escape to a dream world in which she is able to reject Charles and stand up to Polly, declaring she is no longer afraid of her. She frees her imprisoned childhood self. Fred tells her that she no longer needs him, so they kiss and he disappears.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Upon awakening, Elizabeth dumps Charles and stands up to Polly. Polly begs Elizabeth not to leave her alone and Elizabeth encourages her to find a friend to escape her own loneliness. She goes on a walk with her friend Janie, who reveals that due to an unexpected set of loopholes in her houseboat insurance, she has received a payout that will make her wealthy. After revealing the news to Elizabeth, she gleefly shouts "Thank you Drop Dead Fred!", as this wouldnt have been possible with the boat disaster earlier in the film. Elizabeth later visits Mickey, who has embraced spontaneity after coming into contact with Elizabeth and Fred. Mickey tells Elizabeth that he would like to be "one of the options" she has now that she's free of Charles & her mother, to which she says "Okay" enthusiastically. His daughter Natalie's nanny quits, claiming she is too wild, and Natalie blames Drop Dead Fred for the mischief. Elizabeth realizes Fred is now with Natalie, although she cannot see him anymore. She tells Natalie she believes Fred is real and to give him her love. The nanny attempts to leave the front yard, but her leg is caught in a rope pulley trap set by Natalie and Fred, with her hanging upside down from the tree shouting for help as Mickey attempts to help her down. Natalie is seen giggling hysterically with her hand held out like she's got her pinky held by Fred in a pinky swear type gesture.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Tim Burton and Robin Williams were offered the role of director and Fred respectively. They turned the project down.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: The film's screenplay was rewritten by director Ate de Jong and producer Paul Webster throughout pre-production; de Jong took inspiration from being molested as a child by his older half-brother when writing the movie, stating "the trauma of child abuse goes deep and its claws reach far in time. It was not something ever spoken about on the set, not with Rik or anyone, but for me it existed."


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Filming took place in August and September 1990. Filmed in Minneapolis, a large part of "Drop Dead Fred" was filmed at Prince's Paisley Park Studios in the suburb of Chanhassen. It had been a rumor since the film's release that Prince visited the set, but Webster debunked this in an interview with "The Telegraph" in 2021.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: "Drop Dead Fred", produced on a budget of just under $6.8 million, was released theatrically in North America on May 24, 1991, grossing $3,625,648 on its opening weekend, and $13,878,334 over its entire theatrical run. It made £1,794,121 in the UK.


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: "Drop Dead Fred" was critically panned upon release, but has gone on to become a cult film. On Rotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 11% based on 36 reviews. The site's consensus states: "Tackling mature themes with an infantile sensibility, "Drop Dead Fred" is an ill-conceived family comedy that is more likely to stir up a headache than the imagination." On Metacritic it has a score of 25% based on reviews from 19 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews".


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Gene Siskel gave the film zero stars and said "This is easily one of the worst films I've ever seen." Writing for "Entertainment Weekly", Margaret Lyons asked, "Is it supposed to be hilarious, or a really, really depressing story about the long-term effects of emotional abuse?" Leonard Maltin stated that "Phoebe Cates' appealing performance can't salvage this putrid mess...recommended only for people who think nose-picking is funny."


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Peter Freedman of the "Radio Times" called it a "largely uninteresting and unfunny comedy", adding: "It's a nice idea, but it falls between all available stools and ends up as a mess on the floor thanks to the poor execution. It's particularly irritating if you've seen the much better "Harvey"."


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Angie Errigo of "Empire" magazine wrote: "There is scarcely a laugh to be had unless you are six years old or immoderately fond of such wheezes as depositing dog poop on a white carpet."


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Writing for "Mystical Movie Guide", Carl Schroeder wrote: "The imaginary friend is cavortingly rude for a reason; he served to push the girlchild to do mischief for attention and as a cry for help. Now grown up, the woman has forgotten and is about to lose her soul, so events call for some kind of literal return of her demon to force the exposure of her pain. This psychic crisis is poignantly realistic ... the creature who is visible only to the woman is like a poltergeist energy of her repressed self, a problematic ego container into which her powers of assertion and creativity were poured and stored." He went on to call the movie's resolution "startlingly beautiful."


title: Drop Dead Fred

text: Writing for "The Telegraph" in 2021, Alexander Larman praised the film, calling it "a sophisticated and ahead-of-its-time black comic exploration of anxiety and depression."


title: Zarina Wahab

text: Zarina Wahab (born 17 July 1956) is an Indian actress who predominantly worked in Hindi and Malayalam films. Known for critically acclaimed roles in "Chitchor" and "Gopal Krishna" in Hindi and Malayalam cinema with films like "Madanolsavam", "Chamaram", "Palangal" and "Adaminte Makan Abu".


title: Zarina Wahab

text: Wahab was born in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh into a Muslim family. She is fluent in her mother tongue Urdu, in addition to Telugu, Hindi and English. She was trained at Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune. Wahab has three sisters and one brother.


title: Zarina Wahab

text: After receiving negative feedback about her appearance from film producer Raj Kapoor, Wahab worked on her appearance and attended film parties and events. She eventually got noticed and was cast in films. She was usually cast as the middle-class girl after her first leading role in Basu Chatterjee's "Chit Chor" (1976) in movies like "Agar", "Jazbaat", "Sawan Ko Aane Do", and "Raees Zada". She was nominated for a Filmfare Award in the Best Actress category for "Gharonda" (1977). She has acted in many Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, films. Wahab made a comeback to Malayalam films with "Calendar", in 2009 and has continued to act in Malayalam movies. She is still remembered for her role in the critically acclaimed "Adaminte Makan Abu". She also appeared in "My Name Is Khan" as the mother of Rizwan Khan (Shah Rukh Khan's character). Wahab currently plays older roles in television serials.


title: Zarina Wahab

text: Wahab met actor Aditya Pancholi on the sets of "Kalank Ka Tika". They married in 1986 and have a daughter, Sana and a son, Sooraj. News of their turbulent marriage, her husband's temper and rumors of infidelity have been in the gossip columns. Wahab's daughter is an actress. Her son, Suraj, was arrested in June 2013, in connection with the death of Jiah Khan. He made his Bollywood debut with Sunil Shetty's daughter Athiya Shetty in 2015 in the movie "Hero".


title: Googie architecture

text: Googie architecture ( ) is a type of futurist architecture influenced by car culture, jets, the Atomic Age and the Space Age. It originated in Southern California from the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s, and was popular in the United States from roughly 1945 to the early 1970s.


title: Googie architecture

text: Googie-themed architecture was popular among roadside businesses, including motels, coffee houses and gas stations. The style later became widely known as part of the mid-century modern style, elements of which represent the populuxe aesthetic, as in Eero Saarinen's TWA Terminal. The term "Googie" comes from the now-defunct Googies Coffee Shop in Hollywood designed by John Lautner. Similar architectural styles are also referred to as Populuxe or Doo Wop.


title: Googie architecture

text: Features of Googie include upswept roofs, curvilinear, geometric shapes, and bold use of glass, steel and neon. Googie was also characterized by Space Age designs symbolic of motion, such as boomerangs, flying saucers, diagrammatic atoms and parabolas, and free-form designs such as "soft" parallelograms and an artist's palette motif. These stylistic conventions represented American society's fascination with Space Age themes and marketing emphasis on futuristic designs. As with the Art Deco style of the 1910s–1930s, Googie became less valued as time passed, and many buildings in this style have been destroyed. Some examples have been preserved, though, such as the oldest McDonald's stand (located in Downey, California).


title: Googie architecture

text: The origin of the name Googie dates to 1949, when architect John Lautner designed the Googies Coffee Shop in Hollywood, which had distinct architectural characteristics. The name "Googie" had been a family nickname of Lillian K. Burton, the wife of the restaurant's original owner, Mortimer C. Burton.


title: Googie architecture

text: Googies was located at the corner of Sunset Boulevard and Crescent Heights in Los Angeles but was demolished in 1989. The name Googie became a rubric for the architectural style when editor Douglas Haskell of "House and Home" magazine and architectural photographer Julius Shulman were driving through Los Angeles one day. Haskell insisted on stopping the car upon seeing Googies and proclaimed "This is Googie architecture." He popularized the name after an article he wrote appeared in a 1952 edition of "House and Home" magazine.


title: Googie architecture

text: Though Haskell coined the term Googie and was an advocate of modernism, he did not appreciate the Googie aesthetic. In his article he used the fictional Professor Thrugg's overly effusive praise to mock Googie, at the same time lampooning Hollywood, which he felt informed the aesthetic.


title: Googie architecture

text: Googie's beginnings are with the Streamline Moderne architecture of the 1930s. Alan Hess, one of the most knowledgeable writers on the subject, writes in "Googie: Ultra Modern Road Side Architecture" that mobility in Los Angeles during the 1930s was characterized by the initial influx of the automobile and the service industry that evolved to cater to it. With car ownership increasing, cities no longer had to be centered on a central downtown but could spread out to the suburbs, where business hubs could be interspersed with residential areas. The suburbs offered less congestion by offering the same businesses, but accessible by car. Instead of one main store downtown, businesses now had multiple stores in suburban areas. This new trend required owners and architects to develop a visual imagery so customers would recognize it from the road. This modern consumer architecture was based on communication.


title: Googie architecture

text: The new smaller suburban drive-in restaurants were essentially architectural signboards advertising the business to vehicles on the road. This was achieved by using bold style choices, including large pylons with elevated signs, bold neon letters and circular pavilions. Hess writes that because of the increase in mass production and travel during the 1930s, Streamline Moderne became popular because of the high energy silhouettes its sleek designs created. These buildings featured rounded edges, large pylons and neon lights, all symbolizing, according to Hess, "invisible forces of speed and energy", that reflect the influx of mobility that cars, locomotives and zeppelins brought.


title: Googie architecture

text: Streamline Moderne, much like Googie, was styled to look futuristic to signal the beginning of a new era – that of the automobile and other technologies. Drive-in services such as diners, movie theaters and filling stations built with the same principles developed to serve the new American city. Drive-ins had advanced car-oriented architectural design, as they were built with an expressive utilitarian style, circular and surrounded by a parking lot, allowing all customers equal access from their cars. These developments in consumer-oriented design set the stage for Googie during the 1950s, since during the 1940s World War II and rationing caused a pause of development because of the imposed frugality on the American public.


title: Googie architecture

text: With the increasing prosperity of the United States during the 1950s, however, American designers celebrated this new affluence with optimistic designs. The development of nuclear power and the reality of spaceflight captivated the public's imagination of the future. Googie architecture exploited this trend by incorporating energy into its design with elements such as the boomerang, diagonals, atomic bursts and bright colors. According to Hess, commercial architecture was influenced by the desires of the mass audience. The public was captivated by rocket ships and nuclear energy, so, in order to draw their attention, architects used these as motifs in their work. Buildings had been used to catch the attention of motorists since the invention of the car, but during the 1950s the style became more widespread.


title: Googie architecture

text: The identity of the first architect to practice in the style is often disputed, though Wayne McAllister was one early and influential architect in starting the style with his 1949 Bob's Big Boy restaurant in Burbank. McAllister got his start designing fashionable restaurants in Southern California, which led to a series of Streamline Moderne drive-ins during the 1930s; though he did not have formal training as an architect, he had been offered a scholarship at the architecture school at the University of Pennsylvania because of his skill. McAllister developed a brand for coffee shop chains by developing a style for each client – which also allowed customers to easily recognize a store from the road.


title: Googie architecture

text: Along with McAllister, the prolific Googie architects included John Lautner, Douglas Honnold, and the team of Louis Armet and Eldon Davis of Armet & Davis firm, which they founded in 1947. Also instrumental in developing the style was designer Helen Liu Fong, a member of the firm of Armet and Davis. Joining the firm during 1951, she created such Googie interiors as those of the Johnie's Coffee Shop on Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, the first Norms Restaurant, and the Holiday Bowl on Crenshaw Boulevard.


title: Googie architecture

text: America's interest in spaceflight had a significant influence on the unique style of Googie architecture. During the 1950s, space travel became a reality for the first time in history. In 1957 the Soviet Union launched Sputnik I, the first human-made satellite to achieve Earth orbit. The Soviet Union then launched Vostok 1 carrying the first human, Yuri Gagarin, into Earth orbit in 1961. The Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations made competing with the Soviets for dominance in space a national priority of considerable urgency and importance. This marked the beginning of the so-called "Space Race".


title: Googie architecture

text: Googie-style signs usually boast sharp and bold angles, intended to suggest the aerodynamic features of a rocket ship. Also, at the time, the unique architecture was a form of architectural expressionism, as space rockets were technological novelties at the time.


title: Googie architecture

text: Cantilevered structures, acute angles, illuminated plastic paneling, freeform boomerang and artist's palette shapes and cutouts, and tailfins on buildings marked Googie architecture, which was contemptible to some architects of then-current High Art Modernism, but had defenders during the post-Modern period at the end of the 20th century. The common elements that generally distinguish Googie from other forms of architecture are:


title: Googie architecture

text: The boomerang shape was another design element that captured movement. It was used structurally in place of a pillar or aesthetically as a stylized arrow. Hess writes that the boomerang was a stylistic rendering of a directional energy field.


title: Googie architecture

text: Editor Douglas Haskell described the abstract Googie style, saying that "If it looks like a bird, this must be a geometric bird." Also, the buildings must appear to defy gravity, as Haskell noted: "whenever possible, the building must hang from the sky". Haskell's third tenet for Googie was that it have more than one theme—more than one structural system. Because of its need to be noticed from moving automobiles along the commercial strip, Googie was not a style noted for its subtlety.


title: Googie architecture

text: One of the more famous Googie buildings is the Theme Building at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), designed by James Langenheim of William Pereira and Charles Luckman and built during 1961.


title: Googie architecture

text: One of the remaining Googie-styled drive-in restaurants, Harvey's Broiler (Paul Clayton, 1958), later Johnie's Broiler in Downey, California, was partially demolished in 2006. However, through the efforts of citizens, the city of Downey, and historic preservationists, the structure was rebuilt and reopened in 2009 as a Bob's Big Boy restaurant.


title: Googie architecture

text: Another remaining example of Googie architecture still in operation is the main terminal at Washington Dulles International Airport, designed by Eero Saarinen in 1958. This terminal exemplifies the dramatic roof slope, large windows, and generous use of concrete, somewhat similar to Saarinen's TWA Flight Center.


title: Googie architecture

text: Classic locations for Googie style buildings are Miami Beach, Florida, where secondary commercial structures were adapted from the resort style of Morris Lapidus and other hotel designers; the first phase of Las Vegas, Nevada; and their birthplace of Southern California.


title: Googie architecture

text: The beachfront resort town of Wildwood, New Jersey, features an array of motel designs, colorfully described by such sub-styles as Vroom, Pu-Pu Platter, Phony Colonee and more. The district is known collectively as the Wildwoods Shore Resort Historic District by the State of New Jersey.


title: Googie architecture

text: The term "doo-wop" was used by New Jersey's Mid-Atlantic Center for the Arts during the early 1990s to describe the unique, space-age architectural style. Many of Wildwood's Doo-Wop motels were built by Lou Morey, who specialized in such designs. His Ebb Tide Motel, built during 1957 and demolished during 2003, is credited as the first Doo-Wop motel in Wildwood Crest.


title: Googie architecture

text: After the 1960s, following the Apollo 11 Moon landing, the rise of ecology movements against nuclear power, and the de-escalations of the Space Race and the Atomic Age, Googie began to fall out of style. The architectural community rarely appreciated or accepted Googie, considering it too flashy and vernacular for academic praise, and so the architecture of the 1970s, especially the International Style, abandoned Googie. As Hess notes, beginning during the 1970s, commercial buildings were meant to blend into the urban environment and not attract attention. By the mid 1960s the novelty was starting to wane and a backlash rose up against the flashy style. Since Googie buildings were part of the service industry, most developers did not think they were worth preserving as cultural artifacts. The publication of Googie by Alan Hess in 1986 inspired a new appreciation for the style. Despite the humble origins of Googie, Hess writes that, "Googie architecture is an important part of the history of suburbia." Googie was a symbol of the early days of car culture.


title: Googie architecture

text: One of the earliest organizations in the country that advocated for the preservation of Googie architecture was the Los Angeles Conservancy Modern Committee, which was formed in 1984 in response to the demolition of Ship's coffee shop in Westwood and Tiny Naylor's Drive-In in Hollywood. Despite the loss of these and the original Googie's in Hollywood, other Googie coffee shops including Norms Restaurants, Johnie's Coffee Shop, and the Wich Stand have received historic designations. The world's oldest McDonald's in Downey and the earliest remaining Bob's Big Boy in Burbank, have also been preserved and restored.


title: Googie architecture

text: In Wildwood, New Jersey, a "Doo Wop Preservation League" works with local business and property owners, city planning and zoning officials, and the state's historic preservation office, to help ensure that the remaining historic structures will be preserved. Wildwood's high-rise hotel district has been the first in the US to enforce "Doo Wop" design guidelines for new construction.


title: Googie architecture

text: The architect Michael Hsu designed multiple restaurants for the Austin-based restaurant P. Terry's in the Googie style. Each location is uniquely designed, featuring oblique shapes, color, and large geometric roofs.


title: Googie architecture

text: Googie architecture developed from the futuristic architecture of Streamline Moderne, extending and reinterpreting technological themes for the new conditions of the 1950s. While 1930s architecture was relatively simple, Googie embraced opulence. Hess argues that the reason for this was that the vision of the future of the 1930s was obsolete by 1950 and thus the architecture evolved along with it. During the 1930s, Streamlined trains and Lincoln-Zephyrs had been advanced technology, and Streamline Moderne paralleled their smooth simplified aerodynamic exteriors. That simplicity may have represented the Depression era's forced frugality.


title: Googie architecture

text: The eye-catching Googie style flourished in a carnival atmosphere along multi-lane highways, in motel architecture and above all in commercial signage. The influence of Googie was prominently seen in the architecture and signage of Los Angeles and Las Vegas circa 1945–1970, where many of the same architects who designed Googie coffee shops in Los Angeles went on to design some of the seminal hotels and casinos in Las Vegas. Private clients were the main patrons of Googie. Ultimately, the style became unfashionable and, over time, numerous examples of the Googie style have either fallen into disrepair or been destroyed completely.


title: Googie architecture

text: The exaggerated, once-futuristic Googie style exemplified in "The Jetsons" cartoons and the original Disneyland (which featured a Googie Tomorrowland) gave birth several decades later to retrofuturism. Googie was also the inspiration for the background art style of animated television series and movies such as "Dexter's Laboratory", "Johnny Bravo", "The Powerpuff Girls", "Futurama", "George Shrinks", "", "My Life as a Teenage Robot", and "The Incredibles", as well as the cover of the faux-memoir "Based on a True Story" by comedian Norm Macdonald.


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: "25 or 6 to 4" is a song written by American musician Robert Lamm, one of the founding members of the band Chicago. It was recorded in 1969 for their second album, "Chicago", with Peter Cetera on lead vocals.


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: In a 2013 interview, Robert Lamm said he composed "25 or 6 to 4" on a twelve-string guitar with only ten strings — it was missing the two low E strings — and that he wrote the lyrics in one day. The band first rehearsed the song at the Whisky a Go Go.


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: Lamm said the song is about trying to write a song in the middle of the night. The song's title is the time at which the song is set: 25 or 26 minutes before 4 AM (twenty-five or [twenty-]six [minutes] to four [o’clock]). Because of the unique phrasing of the song's title, "25 or 6 to 4" has been interpreted to mean everything from a quantity of illicit drugs to the name of a famous person in code.


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: The song's opening guitar riff has been compared to chord progressions and riffs in other songs. In the opinion of writer Melissa Locker: "LA Weekly"s music editor, Andy Hermann, names it "The Riff" and describes it as follows:Hermann details the riff's similarity to the chord progression in Led Zeppelin's version of "Babe I'm Gonna Leave You" by Anne Bredon, which came out a year before "25 or 6 to 4", and the similarity of that chord progression to one in George Harrison's song "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which came out even earlier. He labels "Brain Stew", released in 1996, as "derivative" by comparison to "25 or 6 to 4".


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: The original recording features an electric guitar solo using a wah-wah pedal by Chicago guitarist Terry Kath, and a lead vocal line in the Aeolian mode.


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: The album was released in January 1970 and the song was edited and released as a single in June (omitting the second verse and most of the guitar solo), climbing to number 4 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100 chart and number 7 on the UK Singles Chart. It was the band's first song to reach the top five in the US. It has been included in numerous Chicago compilation albums. In 2015, Dave Swanson, writing for "Ultimate Classic Rock", listed the song as number one on his top ten list of Chicago songs. "Classic Rock Review" says the song is "one of the most indelible Chicago tunes". In 2019, Bobby Olivier and Andrew Unterberger, music critics for "Billboard" magazine, ranked the song number one on their list of "The 50 Best Chicago Songs".


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: The song was banned in Singapore in 1970 due to "alleged allusions to drugs"; the ban extended to later albums that included the song, such as "Chicago 18". In 1993, the ban on this song was lifted, along with long-time bans on songs by other artists such as the Beatles, Bob Dylan and Creedence Clearwater Revival.


title: 25 or 6 to 4

text: An updated version of "25 or 6 to 4" was recorded for the 1986 album "Chicago 18" with James Pankow listed as co-writer, and new band member Jason Scheff on lead vocals. It featured two verses instead of three. The single reached number 48 on the US chart. This version was also used as the B-side for the band's next single in 1986, "Will You Still Love Me?"