title: Proterozoic

text: The well-identified events of this eon were the transition to an oxygenated atmosphere during the Paleoproterozoic; the evolution of eukaryotes; several glaciations, which produced the hypothesized Snowball Earth during the Cryogenian Period in the late Neoproterozoic Era; and the Ediacaran Period (635 to 538.8 Ma) which is characterized by the evolution of abundant soft-bodied multicellular organisms and provides us with the first obvious fossil evidence of life on earth.


title: Proterozoic

text: The geologic record of the Proterozoic Eon is more complete than that for the preceding Archean Eon. In contrast to the deep-water deposits of the Archean, the Proterozoic features many strata that were laid down in extensive shallow epicontinental seas; furthermore, many of those rocks are less metamorphosed than there are Archean ones, and many are unaltered. Studies of these rocks have shown that the eon continued the massive continental accretion that had begun late in the Archean Eon. The Proterozoic Eon also featured the first definitive supercontinent cycles and wholly modern mountain building activity (orogeny).


title: Proterozoic

text: There is evidence that the first known glaciations occurred during the Proterozoic. The first began shortly after the beginning of the Proterozoic Eon, and evidence of at least four during the Neoproterozoic Era at the end of the Proterozoic Eon, possibly climaxing with the hypothesized Snowball Earth of the Sturtian and Marinoan glaciations.


title: Proterozoic

text: One of the most important events of the Proterozoic was the accumulation of oxygen in the Earth's atmosphere. Though oxygen is believed to have been released by photosynthesis as far back as the Archean Eon, it could not build up to any significant degree until mineral sinks of unoxidized sulfur and iron had been exhausted. Until roughly 2.3 billion years ago, oxygen was probably only 1% to 2% of its current level. The banded iron formations, which provide most of the world's iron ore, are one mark of that mineral sink process. Their accumulation ceased after 1.9 billion years ago, after the iron in the oceans had all been oxidized.


title: Proterozoic

text: Red beds, which are colored by hematite, indicate an increase in atmospheric oxygen 2 billion years ago. Such massive iron oxide formations are not found in older rocks. The oxygen buildup was probably due to two factors: exhaustion of the chemical sinks, and an increase in carbon sequestration, which sequestered organic compounds that would have otherwise been oxidized by the atmosphere.


title: Proterozoic

text: A second surge in oxygen concentrations, known as the Neoproterozoic Oxygenation Event, occurred during the Middle and Late Neoproterozoic and drove the rapid evolution of multicellular life towards the end of the era.


title: Proterozoic

text: The Proterozoic Eon was a very tectonically active period in the Earth's history. The late Archean Eon to Early Proterozoic Eon corresponds to a period of increasing crustal recycling, suggesting subduction. Evidence for this increased subduction activity comes from the abundance of old granites originating mostly after 2.6 Ga. The occurrence of eclogite (a type of metamorphic rock created by high pressure, > 1 GPa), is explained using a model that incorporates subduction. The lack of eclogites that date to the Archean Eon suggests that conditions at that time did not favor the formation of high grade metamorphism and therefore did not achieve the same levels of subduction as was occurring in the Proterozoic Eon. As a result of remelting of basaltic oceanic crust due to subduction, the cores of the first continents grew large enough to withstand the crustal recycling processes.


title: Proterozoic

text: The long-term tectonic stability of those cratons is why we find continental crust ranging up to a few billion years in age. It is believed that 43% of modern continental crust was formed in the Proterozoic, 39% formed in the Archean, and only 18% in the Phanerozoic. Studies by Condie (2000) and Rino et al. (2004) suggest that crust production happened episodically. By isotopically calculating the ages of Proterozoic granitoids it was determined that there were several episodes of rapid increase in continental crust production. The reason for these pulses is unknown, but they seemed to have decreased in magnitude after every period.


title: Proterozoic

text: Evidence of collision and rifting between continents raises the question as to what exactly were the movements of the Archean cratons composing Proterozoic continents. Paleomagnetic and geochronological dating mechanisms have allowed the deciphering of Precambrian Supereon tectonics. It is known that tectonic processes of the Proterozoic Eon resemble greatly the evidence of tectonic activity, such as orogenic belts or ophiolite complexes, we see today. Hence, most geologists would conclude that the Earth was active at that time. It is also commonly accepted that during the Precambrian, the Earth went through several supercontinent breakup and rebuilding cycles (Wilson cycle).


title: Proterozoic

text: In the late Proterozoic (most recent), the dominant supercontinent was Rodinia (~1000–750 Ma). It consisted of a series of continents attached to a central craton that forms the core of the North American Continent called Laurentia. An example of an orogeny (mountain building processes) associated with the construction of Rodinia is the Grenville orogeny located in Eastern North America. Rodinia formed after the breakup of the supercontinent Columbia and prior to the assemblage of the supercontinent Gondwana (~500 Ma). The defining orogenic event associated with the formation of Gondwana was the collision of Africa, South America, Antarctica and Australia forming the Pan-African orogeny.


title: Proterozoic

text: Columbia was dominant in the early-mid Proterozoic and not much is known about continental assemblages before then. There are a few plausible models that explain tectonics of the early Earth prior to the formation of Columbia, but the current most plausible hypothesis is that prior to Columbia, there were only a few independent cratons scattered around the Earth (not necessarily a supercontinent, like Rodinia or Columbia).


title: Proterozoic

text: The emergence of advanced single-celled eukaryotes and multi-cellular life, preserved as the Francevillian biota, roughly coincides with the start of the accumulation of free oxygen. This may have been due to an increase in the oxidized nitrates that eukaryotes use, as opposed to cyanobacteria. It was also during the Proterozoic that the first symbiotic relationships between mitochondria (found in nearly all eukaryotes) and chloroplasts (found in plants and some protists only) and their hosts evolved.


title: Proterozoic

text: The blossoming of eukaryotes such as acritarchs did not preclude the expansion of cyanobacteria; in fact, stromatolites reached their greatest abundance and diversity during the Proterozoic, peaking roughly 1200 million years ago.


title: Proterozoic

text: The earliest fossils possessing features typical of fungi date to the Paleoproterozoic Era, some 2,400 million years ago; these multicellular benthic organisms had filamentous structures capable of anastomosis.


title: Proterozoic

text: Classically, the boundary between the Proterozoic and the Phanerozoic eons was set at the base of the Cambrian Period when the first fossils of animals, including trilobites and archeocyathids, as well as the animal-like "Caveasphaera", appeared. In the second half of the 20th century, a number of fossil forms have been found in Proterozoic rocks, particularly in ones from the Ediacaran, proving that multicellular life had already become widespread tens of millions of years before the Cambrian Explosion in what is known as the Avalon Explosion. Nonetheless, the upper boundary of the Proterozoic has remained fixed at the base of the Cambrian, which is currently placed at 538.8 Ma.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Baker Hughes Company, organized in Delaware and headquartered in Houston, is one of the world's largest oil field services companies. The company provides products and services for oil well drilling, formation evaluation, completion, production, and reservoir consulting. It operates in over 120 countries, with research and manufacturing facilities in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, India, Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany, Norway, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Missouri. From 2017 to 2020, the company was majority owned by General Electric (GE); however, GE no longer owns a material stake in the company.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Baker Hughes traces its roots to the 1987 merger of Hughes Tool Company and Baker Oil Tool Company and the company has subsequently grown via acquisitions.


title: Baker Hughes

text: The Hughes Tool Company was founded in 1908 by business partners Walter Benona Sharp and Howard R. Hughes, Sr., father of Howard Hughes, Jr. That year, Hughes, Sr. and Sharp developed the first two-cone drill bit, designed to enable rotary drilling in harder, deeper formations than was possible with earlier fishtail bits. They conducted two secret tests on a drilling rig in Goose Creek, Texas. Each time, Hughes asked the drilling crew to leave the rig floor, pulled the bit from a locked wooden box, and then his associates ran the bit into the hole. The drill pipe twisted off on the first test, but the second was extremely successful. Following these successful drill bit tests, the partners founded the Sharp-Hughes Tool Company in 1909. The first shop to manufacture the bit occupied a 20-foot by 40-foot rented space. On August 10, 1909, the United States Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent to Hughes.


title: Baker Hughes

text: After Walter Sharp died in 1912, Hughes purchased Sharp's half of the business. The company was renamed Hughes Tool Company in 1915, and Hughes, Jr. inherited it after his father's death in 1924. In 1933, the company introduced the Tricone drill bit. Through the 1950s and 1960s, Hughes Tool Company remained a private enterprise, owned by Hughes. While Hughes was engaged in his Hollywood and aviation enterprises, managers in Houston, such as Fred W. Ayers and Maynard Ellsworth Montrose, kept the tool company growing through technical innovation and international expansion. In 1958, the Engineering and Research Laboratory was enlarged to accommodate six laboratory sections that housed specialized instruments, such as a direct reading spectrometer and x-ray diffractometer. In 1959, Hughes introduced self-lubricating, sealed bearing rock bits. After collecting data from thousands of bit runs, Hughes introduced the first comprehensive guides to efficient drilling practices in 1960; in 1964, X-Line rock bits were introduced, combining new cutting structure designs and hydraulic jets.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Hughes Tool Company acquired Brown Oil Tools in 1978. Brown Oil Tools was founded by Cicero C. Brown in 1929 in Houston and patented the first liner hanger in 1937. Liner hangers enable drillers to lengthen their casing strings without having the liner pipe extend all the way to the surface. This saves capital cost and reduces weight borne by offshore platforms.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Oil Base Inc. (OBI), founded by George Miller in 1942, was acquired by Hughes Tool Company in 1979, and renamed Hughes Drilling Fluids in 1982. In 1949, OBI introduced Black Magic SFT, a drilling fluid additive to free stuck pipe that is still sold today.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Reuben C. Baker (1872-1957) was a farm boy who never advanced in school beyond the third grade. He followed his brother Aaron Alphonso Baker into the oil business. In 1895, he got a job in a California oilfield driving a horse team to haul oil for drillers. One year later, he became a drilling contractor. In July 1907, he was granted a U.S. patent for a casing shoe that enabled drillers to efficiently run casing and cement it in oil wells. The casing shoe revolutionized cable tool drilling by ensuring the uninterrupted flow of oil through the bottom of the casing in the well. In 1913, he founded Baker Casing Shoe Company. In the 1920s, it expanded into national and international markets. In 1928, Baker Casing Shoe Company changed its name to Baker Oil Tools, Inc. to reflect its product line of completion, cementing, and fishing equipment. Baker Oil Tools expanded to Houston in the 1920s.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1942, driven in part by the shortage of steel during World War II, the company introduced the Model D Packer, which enabled multiple completions in the same well. In 1943, the company earned the Army-Navy E Flag for its wartime manufacturing contributions.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In early 1956, during one of the most successful periods in the company's history, Baker retired as President of Baker Oil Tools and was succeeded by his long-time associate Ted Sutter. Baker died only a few weeks later after a brief illness at the age of 85. Although he only had three years of formal education, Baker received more than 150 patents in his lifetime. In 1962, it acquired Pressure Services. In 1963, it acquired Kobe, one of the largest manufacturers of hydraulic systems for oil well pumping.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1964, Sutter was succeeded by E.H. "Hubie" Clark, who became the first Baker Hughes chairman of the board in 1987. During its 80-year history prior to its merger with Baker Hughes, Baker Oil Tools had only three chief executive officers.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1970, Baker Oil Tools acquired Lynes, Inc., which produced liner hangers and other completion equipment. In 1978, Baker Oil Tools introduced the Bakerline casing liner hanger. In 1985, the FlexLock Liner Hanger was introduced, extending the performance range and functionality of liner hanger systems. In 1987, the Brown liner hanger technology was merged into Baker Oil Tools. In 1992, Baker Oil Tools introduced the ZXP Liner Top Packer, with expandable metal seals, which set the stage for development of expandable screens, casing systems and liner hangers. In 1994, Baker Oil Tools introduced multilateral completion systems, which enabled operators to install completion tools and perform selective intervention work in multiple horizontal sections from a common main borehole.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1971, the company acquired Milchem, a provider of drilling fluids, for approximately $20 million in stock. In 1931, Max B. Miller devised a drilling mud using a white clay as a weighting material. To market the new mud, he formed The Milwhite Company in Texas. In the mid-1930s, the company mined barites in conjunction with the Magnet Cove Barium Corporation (later called Magcobar). After a hiatus during World War II, the company resumed grinding operations using barite from a mine in Missouri and conducted mud sales through independent distributors. After 1956, Milwhite Mud Sales Company built its own sales network. In 1963, the company acquired Aquaness, and in 1964 the combination became Milchem.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1972, the company acquired Exploration Logging Company (EXLOG), a leader in mud logging. EXLOG was founded in 1952 in Sacramento, California by Vern C. Jones, and had 800 employees.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In November 1975, the company acquired Reed Tool Cornpany of Houston in a $120 million stock transaction.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1976, it became Baker International Corporation with almost all of its operations headquartered in Houston.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1985, Baker International acquired the drilling fluids division of Newpark Resources and merged it with Milchem's mud division to form Milpark.


title: Baker Hughes

text: As a result of the 1980s oil glut, in 1987, Baker International merged with Hughes Tool Company in a $728 million stock transaction to form Baker Hughes Incorporated. The merger required Baker to enter into a consent decree to divest Reed Tool Company, Reed's facility in Singapore, and its Baker Lift division. Hughes attempted to terminate the agreement after Baker entered into the consent decree; however, Baker sued Hughes for $1 billion and Hughes shareholders voted overwhelmingly to complete the transaction.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In April 2007, the company pleaded guilty in U.S. federal court to violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and agreed to pay $44.1 million in fines and penalties for making $4.1 million in "commission" payments between 2001 and 2003 that allegedly resulted in an oil-services contract in the Karachaganak Field in Kazakhstan.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 2001, the company introduced the largest fracking proppants vessel for deepwater work in the Gulf of Mexico. It was named after founder Howard R. Hughes Sr.


title: Baker Hughes

text: On June 11, 2012, during the annual period of negotiations between trade unions, including SAFE, the Norwegian union for energy workers, and their employer counterparts in Norway, 114 Baker Hughes employees were called to a strike action, which would have affected over a dozen installations. On June 18, 2012, the strike was called off after the parties agreed to a new collective agreement.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In January 2019, Baker Hughes pledged to reduce carbon dioxide equivalent emissions by 50% by 2030, and 100% by 2050 from a 2012 baseline.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In June 2021, Baker Hughes signed a memorandum of understanding with Borg CO to develop carbon capture, liquefaction, and transportation technologies on a waste-to-energy plant in Sarpsborg.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1989, the company acquired Bird Machine Company for $47.5 million, Vetco Services for $37 million, and EDECO Petroleum Services for $12.1 million. In 1990, the company acquired Eastman Christensen, a leader in directional drilling systems and diamond bit technology, for $600 million. It also acquired the instrumentation units of Tracor Holdings for $93.7 million in cash and Chemlink for $136 million in cash. In 1990, the company also sold Totco division of its Exlog subsidiary to NOV Inc. for $41 million in cash and stock.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1929, H. John Eastman introduced "controlled directional drilling" in Huntington Beach, California, using whipstocks and magnetic survey instruments to deflect the drill pipe from shore-based rigs to reach oil deposits offshore. In 1934, Eastman Whipstock Inc. was founded by Eastman and Roman W. Hines, the same year the company drilled the world's first relief well to control a blowout in Conroe, Texas, that had been on fire for more than a year.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1957, Frank Christensen's Christensen Diamond Products opened a manufacturing plant in Celle, Germany. The facility built diamond core heads and drilling bits and soon began producing stabilizers, drilling jars and other equipment. In 1977, the Celle engineering and manufacturing team introduced the Navi-Drill line of downhole drilling motors, which has led the drilling industry in performance and reliability for three decades. Other innovations developed in Celle include the industry's first steerable motor system, and the AutoTrak Rotary Closed Loop System, a pioneering directional drilling tool. In 1978, Christensen Diamond Products was acquired by Norton Co. and changed its name to Norton Christensen. In 1986, Eastman Whipstock merged with Norton Christensen to form Eastman Christensen.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1990, Baker Hughes acquired Eastman Christensen from Norton Abrasives for $550 million. To receive approval from the United States Department of Justice, the company sold its Hughes Tool diamond bit business. Baker Hughes combined Eastman Christensen and the remainder of Hughes Tools to form Hughes Christensen.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1993, Hughes Christensen introduced the AR-Series PDC bits, anti-whirl bits with increased penetration rates up to 100% in some applications and extended bit life as much as four-fold, compared to previous bit designs. By 1995, Hughes Christensen's Gold Series PDC line increased drilling efficiency by reducing the frictional forces that can accumulate in front of the cutting edge, reducing the energy required to remove the rock. In 1996, patented ChipMaster PDCs, known for their efficiency and durability, were built on the success of the Eggbeater product line. Hughes Christensen next introduced the Genesis HCM bits for steerable motors with patented EZSteer depth-of-cut control technology. This same technology was adapted to Genesis HCR bits for rotary steerable systems, such as the Baker Hughes AutoTrak rotary closed loop system. Genesis ZX PDCs followed with new Zenith cutters.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In April 1992, Baker Hughes acquired Teleco Oilfield Services, a provider of directional measurement-while-drilling technology, from Sonat for $200 million cash, preferred stock and royalty from future sales of Teleco's "triple combo" sensors. Teleco Oilfield Services was founded in 1972 and introduced the world's first MWD tool in 1978. Teleco had approximately 1,300 employees, including 430 in Meriden, Connecticut. In 1993, Baker Hughes INTEQ was formed by combining five of the company's oilfield divisions.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Petrolite was formed in 1930 from the merger of William Barnickel's Tret-O-Lite with Petroleum Rectifying Company of California (PETRECO). In 1997, Baker Hughes acquired Petrolite for $693 million in stock. At that time, Wm. S. Barnickel & Co. owned 47% of Petrolite.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1997, the company acquired Drilex, a provider of drilling products and services, for $109 million in stock.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1998, the company acquired Western Rock Bit Company, a Canadian bit distributor, for $30.8 million.


title: Baker Hughes

text: Western Atlas, which specialized in finding oil by mapping geological formations with sound waves and using wires to manipulate tools and gauges in oil and natural-gas wells, was divested from Litton Industries in 1994. In 1995, Western Atlas acquired 50% of PetroAlliance Services Company, Ltd., which offered seismic, well-logging, and integrated project services in the Post-Soviet states. In May 1997, Western Atlas acquired Sungroup Energy Services, a Canadian well logging, production testing, and completion services provider. During the fourth quarter of 1997, Western Atlas acquired Geosignal, a seismic data processing company; Seismic Resources, a provider of nonexclusive seismic surveys; and ParaMagnetic Logging, a well-logging research company. In the fourth quarter of 1997, the company acquired Heartland Kingfisher, a Canadian well-logging company.


title: Baker Hughes

text: On August 10, 1998, Baker Hughes acquired Western Atlas for $5.5 billion in stock plus the assumption of $700 million in debt. The acquisition was made in part to prevent an acquisition of Western Atlas by Halliburton. The acquisition added strong seismic-data operations as well as downhole wireline and testing services.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1999, the only new seismic technology that was being introduced was the 4-dimensional seismic survey monitoring.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 2000, during a downturn in the petroleum industry, the company merged its Western Geophysical division with Schlumberger's Geco (Geophysical Company of Norway) to form WesternGeco.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 2001, Baker Hughes acquired OCRE (Scotland) Ltd. from Maritime Well Service, a division of Aker ASA.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In February 2006, Baker Hughes acquired Nova Technology Corporation, a supplier of permanent monitoring, chemical injection systems, and multiline services for deepwater and subsea oil and gas well applications, for $70 million in cash and assumed debt.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In October 2010, Baker Hughes acquired JOA Oil & Gas BV. JOA developed JewelSuite, a reservoir modelling software.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 1990, the company sold a 71% stake in BJ Services via an initial public offering. On April 28, 2010, Baker Hughes re-acquired BJ Services. In 2017, after the division suffered market share losses, the company sold a majority interest in BJ Services to private equity firms to obtain approval for the merger with GE Oil and Gas.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In November 2014, the company agreed to a merger with Halliburton valued at $34.6 billion. If consummated, it would have been the largest merger in the history of the petroleum industry. The merger was approved by both companies' stockholders; however, on April 6, 2016, the United States Department of Justice sued to block the transaction due to concerns that the merger would affect competition and prices in the oilfield service industry. On May 1, 2016, the companies terminated the merger agreement due to the regulatory opposition.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In July 2017, the company merged with GE Oil and Gas. As part of the transaction, the company sold a 53.3% percent stake in the hydraulic fracturing and cementing business to CSL Capital Management and Goldman Sachs’ West Street Energy Partners for $325 million. General Electric announced plans to divest its stake by 2023; by year-end 2021, its remaining ownership was approximately 11.4%.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 2019, the company sold its Reciprocating Compression division to Arcline Investment Management, a private equity firm.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In September 2020, Sterling Auxiliaries & Artek Surfin Chemicals acquired Baker Hughes' Sand Springs chemical manufacturing facility.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In November 2020, Baker Hughes acquired Compact Carbon Capture, a company developing solvent-based carbon capture patents.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In December 2020, Baker Hughes set up a joint venture with Aramco to create a non-metallic materials company called Novel Non-Metallic Solutions Manufacturing. Novel's facility is being developed at King Salman Energy Park.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In 2021, Baker Hughes acquired ARMS Reliability, a company providing advisory services and software to several industries.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In March 2021, Baker Hughes acquired a license for the use of Mixed-Salt Process technology for flue gas carbon capture from SRI International.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In March 2021, Baker Hughes announced the creation of a joint venture for drilling services with Akastor ASA's subsidiary, MHWirth AS.


title: Baker Hughes

text: in March 2022, Baker Hughes acquired Altus Intervention, an oilwell specialist company headquartered in Norway.


title: Baker Hughes

text: In August 2022, after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, the company agreed to sell its operations in Russia to local management.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Edward of Westminster (13 October 1453 – 4 May 1471), also known as Edward of Lancaster, was the only son of King Henry VI of England and Margaret of Anjou. He was killed aged seventeen at the Battle of Tewkesbury.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Edward was born at the Palace of Westminster, London, the only son of King Henry VI of England and his wife, Margaret of Anjou. At the time, there was strife between Henry's supporters and those of Richard of York, 3rd Duke of York, who had a claim to the throne and challenged the authority of Henry's officers of state. Henry was suffering from mental illness, and there were widespread rumours that the prince was the result of an affair between his mother and one of her loyal supporters. Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset and James Butler, 5th Earl of Ormond, were both suspected of fathering Prince Edward; however, there is no firm evidence to support the rumours, and King Henry himself never doubted the boy's legitimacy and publicly acknowledged paternity. Edward was invested as Prince of Wales at Windsor Castle in 1454.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: In 1460, King Henry was captured by the supporters of the Duke of York at the Battle of Northampton and taken to London. The Duke of York was dissuaded from claiming the throne immediately, but he induced Parliament to pass the Act of Accord, by which Henry was allowed to reign but Edward was disinherited, as York or his heirs would become king on Henry's death.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Queen Margaret and Edward had meanwhile fled through Cheshire. By Margaret's later account, she induced outlaws and pillagers to aid her by pledging them to recognise the seven-year-old Edward as rightful heir to the crown. They subsequently reached safety in Wales and journeyed to Scotland, where Margaret raised support, while the Duke of York's enemies gathered in the north of England.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: After York was killed at the Battle of Wakefield, the large army which Margaret had gathered advanced south. They defeated the army of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick, one of York's most prominent supporters, at the Second Battle of St Albans. Warwick had brought the captive King Henry in the train of his army, and he was found abandoned on the battlefield. Two of Warwick's knights, William Bonville, 1st Baron Bonville, and Sir Thomas Kyriell, who had agreed to remain with Henry and see that he came to no harm, were captured. The day after the battle, Margaret asked Edward what death the two knights should suffer. Edward readily replied that their heads should be cut off.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Margaret hesitated to advance on London with her unruly army, and subsequently retreated. They were routed at the Battle of Towton a few weeks later. Margaret and Edward fled once again, to Scotland. For the next three years, Margaret inspired several revolts in the northernmost counties of England, but was eventually forced to sail to France, where she and Edward maintained a court in exile. (Henry had once again been captured and was a prisoner in the Tower of London.)


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: In 1467 the ambassador of the Duchy of Milan to the court of France wrote that Edward "already talks of nothing but cutting off heads or making war, as if he had everything in his hands or was the god of battle or the peaceful occupant of that throne."


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: After several years in exile, Margaret took the best opportunity that presented itself and allied herself with the renegade Earl of Warwick. King Louis XI of France wanted to start a war with Burgundy, allies of the Yorkist King Edward IV. He believed if he allied himself to restoring Lancastrian rule they would help him conquer Burgundy. As a compliment to his new allies Louis made young Edward godfather to his son Charles. Prince Edward was married to Anne Neville, Warwick's younger daughter, in December 1470, though there is some doubt as to whether the marriage was ever consummated.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Warwick returned to England and deposed Edward IV, with the help of Edward IV's younger brother, the Duke of Clarence. Edward IV fled into exile to Burgundy with his youngest brother the Duke of Gloucester, while Warwick restored Henry VI to the throne. Prince Edward and Margaret lingered behind in France until April 1471. However, Edward IV had already raised an army, returned to England, and reconciled with Clarence. On the same day Margaret and Edward landed in England (14 April), Edward IV defeated and killed Warwick at the Battle of Barnet. With little real hope of success, the inexperienced prince and his mother led the remnant of their forces to meet Edward IV in the Battle of Tewkesbury. They were defeated and Edward of Westminster was killed.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: According to contemporary sources, Edward was overtaken and slain in the battle during the rout of the Lancastrians, with some accounts attributing the deed to the Duke of Clarence, to whom the prince appealed to for help. Paul Murray Kendall, a biographer of Richard III, accepts this version of events. Another version states that Clarence and his men found the grieving prince near a grove following the battle, and immediately beheaded him on a makeshift block, despite his pleas.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Another account of Edward's death is given by three Tudor sources: "The Grand Chronicle of London", Polydore Vergil, and Edward Hall. It was later dramatised by William Shakespeare in "Henry VI, Part 3", Act V, scene v. Their story is that Edward was captured and brought before the victorious Edward IV and his brothers and followers. The king received the prince graciously, and asked him why he had taken up arms against him. The prince replied defiantly, "I came to recover my father's heritage." The king then struck the prince across his face with his gauntlet hand, and his brothers killed the prince with their swords.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: However, none of these accounts appear in any of the contemporaneous sources, which all report that Edward died in battle.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: Edward's body is buried at Tewkesbury Abbey. His widow, Anne Neville, married the Duke of Gloucester, who eventually succeeded as King Richard III in 1483.


title: Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales

text: The Latin memorial brass to Edward in Tewkesbury Abbey is set in the floor between the choir stalls, under the tower. It reads as follows:


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: Star Trek: Short Treks is an American anthology television series created by Bryan Fuller and Alex Kurtzman for the streaming service CBS All Access. Originating as a companion series to "", it consists of several shorts that use settings and characters from "Discovery" and other "Star Trek" series. The shorts are around 10 to 20 minutes long.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: After signing a deal to expand the "Star Trek" franchise on television, Kurtzman announced "Short Treks" as the first such project in July 2018. The first four episodes aired from October 2018 to January 2019, between the and seasons of "Discovery". The shorts were mostly produced by cast and crew members from "Discovery", including composer Jeff Russo who provided an updated main title theme and original underscore for the series. Filming took place in Toronto, Canada, on the set of "Discovery".


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: In January 2019, two new animated shorts were revealed, with four additional live action episodes announced in June 2019. The second season of shorts aired from October 2019 to January 2020, between the second season of "Discovery" and the first season of "", with the last short serving as a teaser for the latter series. The animated shorts were created by visual effects house Pixomondo, while a roster of new composers supervised by Michael Giacchino provided the music for the second set of shorts.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: The series has received positive reviews, and has been nominated for several awards including a Primetime Emmy Award. Kurtzman has expressed interest in continuing the series, but the producers chose not to begin work on any new shorts when the COVID-19 pandemic began.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: Each episode of "Star Trek: Short Treks" tells a stand-alone story that serves as an "opportunity for deeper storytelling and exploration of key characters and themes that fit into "" and the expanding "Star Trek" universe."


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: The first set of "Short Treks" were released between the first and second seasons of "Star Trek: Discovery".


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: The second set of "Short Treks" were released between the second season of "Star Trek: Discovery" and the first season of "".


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: In June 2018, after becoming sole showrunner of the series "", Alex Kurtzman signed a five-year overall deal with CBS Television Studios to expand the "Star Trek" franchise beyond "Discovery" to several new series, miniseries, and animated series. A month later, he announced at San Diego Comic-Con that a spin-off miniseries titled "Star Trek: Short Treks", consisting of four shorts, would be released monthly between the first two seasons of "Discovery". He said they would "deliver closed-ended stories while revealing clues about what's to come in future "Star Trek: Discovery" episodes. They'll also introduce audiences to new characters who may inhabit the larger world of "Star Trek"." The shorts were expected to be around 10 to 15 minutes long. Kurtzman later said "Short Treks" had been devised as a way to buy time so they could get the second season of "Discovery" right. The shorts were designed to tie-in with the second season of "Discovery", but appear standalone at first so those connections would be a surprise for fans.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: CBS CCO David Nevins indicated in December 2018 that there would be more shorts released between the end of "Discovery"s second season and the release of the new series "". A month later, CBS All Access was confirmed to have ordered two new installments of "Short Treks" to be released in that time period, with both set to be animated. Kurtzman described the shorts as expanding "the definition of "Star Trek"" and allowing them to tell "very intimate, emotional stories that are side stories to characters. So you get the benefit of the experience in and of itself but then when you watch "Discovery" you'll see that these were all setting up things" in the main series. Kurtzman suggested in February that future shorts could tie directly into other new "Star Trek" series, and be used to introduce ideas to audiences and set up mysteries. At San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Kurtzman announced that the second season of "Short Treks" would consist of four new live-action shorts in addition to the two animated shorts previously announced, including one that ties-into "Picard".


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: After the end of the second season in January 2020, Kurtzman said the series was an interesting way to test both new stories and new filmmakers, with writers, directors, and composers on the shorts going on to work on other "Star Trek" series. He also said this short-form story telling was satisfying, comparing the shorts to those created by Pixar. He revealed that one of the first ideas discussed for "Short Treks" was a story featuring Nichelle Nichols in her original "Star Trek" role of Uhura. The short would have seen a young Jean-Luc Picard visit Uhura in hospital and receive a mission related to the Borg. These discussions led to the development of "Star Trek: Picard" with an older Jean-Luc Picard, but Kurtzman said this story could still be told at some point. At that time, "Short Treks" was reportedly ordered for a third season, with production scheduled to take place from May to June.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: Chabon said in March 2020 that there were no plans for any shorts based on "Picard" to be released between the first and second seasons of that series. No other shorts had begun production by July, when the series received an Emmy Award nomination. Kurtzman said he hoped the accolade would lead to more "Short Treks" being made and expressed interest in expanding the "Star Trek" franchise in "myriad other directions" with future short films, including potentially making a musical short and a black-and-white short. In January 2021, Kurtzman explained that further shorts had not been made due to the COVID-19 pandemic, since the restrictions on filming meant they had to focus on what they definitely needed to film for the main series. He expressed interest in making more shorts in the future.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: Of the initial four shorts ordered in July 2018, three were set to feature characters from "Discovery", with Mary Wiseman, Doug Jones, and Rainn Wilson reprising their roles of Silvia Tilly, Saru, and Harry Mudd, respectively, in a short each. Jones's short would explore the backstory of Saru, while Wilson would also direct the short that he was starring in. Aldis Hodge was set to star in the fourth short as a new character, Craft. The shorts were produced on the set of "Star Trek: Discovery" in Toronto, Canada. In August, Wilson revealed that his short was written by a writer from the popular science fiction animated series "Rick and Morty" and described it as "very funny and weird. You see some alien situations you have never seen before in the "Star Trek" canon, and I am thrilled." He added that in making the short he assumed it was set after his last "Discovery" appearance, "Magic to Make the Sanest Man Go Mad", but he was not certain of this since it "stands alone" and "doesn’t really tie into" "Discovery". The "Rick and Morty" writer of his short was later revealed to be "Star Trek" fan Mike McMahan, who went on to create another of Kurtzman's new "Star Trek" series, the animated comedy "".


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: In October, Wiseman explained that her short ("Runaway") "fleshes out a little bit who this character is" and introduces Tilly's mother, but otherwise would not affect the second season, so anyone who did not see the short could still understand the main series. Because of this, she did not have an exact placement of the short in the series' timeline though Jones pointed out that Tilly's hair in the short indicates it takes place during the second season due to her change in hair style between the two seasons. On his short ("The Brightest Star"), Jones confirmed that it is set before the rest of the series and explores how Saru first joins Starfleet. He said that his short would tie-into the second season more than the others with "breadcrumbs" and "hints", but the idea was still for the short and the second season of "Discovery" to stand alone. The writer of Hodge's short ("Calypso"), novelist Michael Chabon, explained that he had been working on a film project with "Discovery" producer Akiva Goldsman while development on the shorts was beginning, and through Goldsman joined the series as a writer for this short as well as showrunner of "Star Trek: Picard". This short was the first work Chabon wrote for television to actually be produced.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: After Anson Mount was confirmed to be leaving "Star Trek: Discovery" with the second-season finale, fans began calling, including through online petitions, for him to reprise his role of Christopher Pike in a spin-off set on the USS "Enterprise", alongside Rebecca Romijn as Number One and Ethan Peck as Spock. Mount and Peck both responded positively to the idea. In April 2019, Kurtzman also expressed interest, saying, "The fans have been heard. Anything is possible in the world of "Trek". I would love to bring back that crew more than anything." When announcing the second season of "Short Treks" at San Diego Comic-Con 2019, Kurtzman confirmed that three of the new stories would feature the "Enterprise" actors, with the fourth live-action short being a "teaser" for "Picard" set 15 years before the start of that series. Kurtzman said the "Enterprise"-based shorts was a way to bring those characters and actors back now that "Discovery" had jumped into the future for its , but that these new stories would not preclude a potential spin-off series featuring the "Enterprise" cast from being made. When a spin-off series starring Mount, Peck, and Romijn and titled "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" was officially ordered by CBS All Access in May 2020, Dominic Patten of "Deadline Hollywood" opined that the "Enterprise"-set "Short Treks" "now seem almost like rehearsals for "Strange New Worlds"".


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: Kurtzman explained in February 2019 that the first two animated shorts would have a different animation style to the series "Lower Decks", and that they would be directed by "Discovery" producing director Olatunde Osunsanmi and composer Michael Giacchino (who wrote the score for the "Star Trek" "Kelvin Timeline" films that Kurtzman wrote). Producer Heather Kadin said the animated shorts would answer questions that previous "Discovery" seasons had left and "fill in some blanks", while Kurtzman elaborated that the two shorts would have different animation styles from one another based on the story and tone of each installment. Pixomondo provided the animation for the shorts.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: The ideas for the two shorts were set before Giacchino joined, and he was able to choose which one he would direct. He chose "Ephraim and Dot", which focuses on a female tardigrade and a DOT-7 repair droid. "Discovery" originally included a tardigrade named Ephraim as a starring character, but the idea was abandoned due to budgetary requirements. A male tardigrade named Ephraim was then introduced as a major character in the "Dead Endless". DOT-7 repair droids were introduced in the second season finale of "Discovery". Giacchino wanted the short to be like an episode of "Tom and Jerry" set on the "Enterprise". The original designs for Ephraim were based on the tardigrades that Pixomondo created for "Discovery", which looked much more like real tardigrades, but Giacchino asked to add eyes and a mouth to the character model so she could express emotions clearly throughout the short. Similarly, the model for Dot was designed to stretch and move in ways that a real robot would not to help show more emotion from the character. This stretching was part of Giacchino's aim to use traditional animation techniques, such as those seen in the works of Tex Avery, to give the short a more retro style than modern, computer-generated animation generally has. The short takes place across 30 years of "Star Trek" history, and Giacchino was excited to include several easter eggs to other parts of the "Star Trek" franchise. The short recreates scenes from the episodes "Space Seed", "The Naked Time", "Who Mourns for Adonais?", "", "The Tholian Web", and "The Savage Curtain", as well as the films "" (1982) and "" (1984). Original audio from some of the episodes was reused for these scenes. The short ends with the USS "Enterprise" labelled as NCC-1701-A, which is a different ship from later in the franchise's timeline. Giacchino acknowledged this mistake after the episode's release, and indicated that it could be addressed moving forward.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: Osunsanmi's "The Girl Who Made the Stars" originated from "Discovery" writer Brandon Schulze wanting to expand on the character of Mike Burnham, father of that series' protagonist Michael Burnham, as Schulze identified with the character's role of a black man with a young daughter. Schulze co-wrote the episode that introduced Kenric Green as Mike in "Discovery", and pitched an idea for the second season finale of the series where Mike would be shown in flashback telling the story of a young African girl to Michael. This would have mirrored the second season premiere, where Michael recounted that story herself in narration. The flashback did not fit in the season finale, but Kurtzman liked the idea and it was developed into an animated episode of "Short Treks" with Green reprising his role. The story told in the short is based on an actual African legend, but Schulze wanted to bring the ideas of the myth into the world of "Star Trek" and embellish the original ideas based on Michael's imagination, which included introducing an alien being into the story. Osunsanmi was comfortable working with Pixomondo for the short after collaborating with the company on the visual effects for "Discovery" as a director of that show. He explained that the short was animated due to the magical feeling they wanted to capture for the story, and because of this he did not want the style to be too realistic. The designs for the "Discovery"-based part of the short were based on the series, while the African part of the short was based on images of Africa and African tribes from across the continent.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: "Star Trek: Discovery" composer Jeff Russo returned for the first season of "Short Treks". He based the main theme for the series on his "Discovery" title theme, and he was able to produce a different version of it for "The Escape Artist" which is not something Russo would be able to do for the main series. Russo approached each short's underscore individually. He was unsure how to approach the score for "Calypso" at first, and whether to have it similar to the music for "Discovery" due to that ship's presence or to intentionally make it different due to the different time that the short is set in. Russo was ultimately inspired for the music by the dance sequence in the short. Three cues from Russo's "The Escape Artist" score—"Many Mudds", "Star Trek Short Treks End Credits (Lounge Version)", and "Star Trek Short Treks Main Title (Disco Version)"—were released on the soundtrack album for alongside Russo's score for that season. The album was released digitally by Lakeshore Records on July 19, 2019.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: By the time work began on the second season, Russo was working on the score for "Picard" and did not have time to score each of the new shorts, though Kurtzman still asked him to compose for "Children of Mars" since that short ties-into "Picard". Giacchino was set to compose the music for his short "Ephraim and Dot", and Kurtzman asked him to provide music for the rest of the shorts as well. Giacchino was busy with film projects at the time, but suggested hiring a diverse group of composers who had not been given such an opportunity which he felt was in the spirit of "Star Trek". Giacchino supervised this group of composers, which consisted of Nami Melumad for "Q&A", Sahil Jindal for "The Trouble with Edward", Andrea Datzman for "Ask Not", and Kris Bowers for "The Girl Who Made the Stars". Two cues from Russo's "Children of Mars" score—"Page" and "Children Of Mars End Credits"—were released on the soundtrack album for on February 7, 2020.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: The shorts are released on CBS All Access in the United States. Bell Media broadcasts the series in Canada on the specialty channels CTV Sci-Fi Channel (English) and Z (French) before streaming episodes on Crave. The first four shorts were released monthly, beginning in October 2018 and ending in January 2019. At the end of January the first season was made available to countries outside of the United States and Canada on Netflix under the "Trailers and More" section of the streaming service's "Star Trek: Discovery" page. The first two shorts of the second season were released in October 2019 in the U.S. and Canada, with monthly releases through January 2020. After the second set of shorts had all been released on All Access, Kurtzman said that he expected they would be released on Netflix "at some point". The second season was made available for free in the U.S. on CBS.com, CBS mobile apps, and YouTube from August 17 to 31, 2020, as part of the series' Emmy Awards campaign. In September 2020, ViacomCBS announced that CBS All Access would be expanded and rebranded as Paramount+ in March 2021. Existing episodes of "Short Treks" will remain on Paramount+.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: The two shorts from the first set that tie directly into the second season of "Discovery", "Runaway" and "The Brightest Star", were included on the Blu-ray and DVD set of that season alongside all the season's episodes and several bonus features. This was released in the U.S. on November 12, 2019. A home media release collecting nine of the shorts was released in the U.S. on June 2, 2020. It includes the four original shorts—"Runaway", "Calypso", "The Brightest Star", and "The Escape Artist"—the three U.S.S. "Enterprise"-based shorts—"Q&A", "The Trouble With Edward", and "Ask Not"—and the first two animated shorts—"Ephraim & Dot" and "The Girl Who Made the Stars". The collection also includes making-of featurettes as well as audio commentaries with writers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet for "Runaway" and star Anson Mount for "Ask Not". "Children of Mars" was released on October 6, 2020, with the first season of "Picard". The release includes an audio commentary with writers Kurtzman, Lumet, and Kirsten Beyer.


title: Star Trek: Short Treks

text: In a positive review, "IGN"s Scott Collura mostly praised the series after the release of the first four episodes saying, "The "Short Treks" have been an interesting experiment that have mostly worked, and it seems with this final installment that the "Trek" production team was just starting to nail the formula down."


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: Prince Nikolai of Denmark, Count of Monpezat (Nikolai William Alexander Frederik; born 28 August 1999) is a member of the Danish royal family. He is the eldest son of Prince Joachim and his first wife, Alexandra, Countess of Frederiksborg, and oldest grandchild of Queen Margrethe II. He is currently seventh in the line of succession to the Danish throne. At the time of his birth, he was third, after his uncle and father.


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: Prince Nikolai was born at Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen on 28 August 1999. He is the oldest grandchild of Queen Margrethe II of Denmark and her late husband, Prince Henrik.


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: He was christened in the chapel of the Fredensborg Palace on 6 November 1999 by the Danish Chaplain-in-Ordinary, Christian Thodberg. At the christening, the musical work "Lys på din vej", composed by Frederik Magle and dedicated to Prince Nikolai, was performed for the first time. His godparents are his paternal uncle, the Crown Prince of Denmark; his maternal aunt, Nicola Baird; the Earl of Wessex, Peter Steenstrup and Camilla Flint. After their divorce in 2005, Prince Joachim and Alexandra had joint custody of Prince Nikolai and his brother.


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: Nikolai was confirmed on 18 May 2013 in Fredensborg Palace Church in the presence of his immediate family and all his godparents.


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: Like his father and uncle, Nikolai attended Krebs School in Copenhagen. In 2014, he attended 10th grade at Herlufsholm School in Næstved and received his upper secondary education there as well. Upon leaving Herlufsholm School in August 2018, Nikolai started a two-year military program at the Royal Danish Army's in Varde. However, he dropped out two months later as he felt a career in the military did not suit him. In July 2019, he was admitted to Copenhagen Business School to study Business Administration and Service Management.


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: In early 2018, Nikolai signed as a fashion model with the agency Scoop Models. He made his runway debut in February 2018 at Burberry's show at London Fashion Week. He says he sees modeling as a job rather than a career.


title: Prince Nikolai of Denmark

text: Originally styled "His Highness Prince Nikolai of Denmark", Nikolai's style was expanded on 29 April 2008 to "His Highness Prince Nikolai of Denmark, Count of Monpezat". In September 2022, Queen Margethe II decided to strip the children of her son Joachim from their princely status. From 1 January 2023, Nikolai will be known as "His Excellency Count Nikolai of Monpezat". Nikolai said he was "shocked and confused" when he learned about the decision. All four grandchildren maintain their places in the order of succession.


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: Manoj Pahwa (born 8 December 1963), is an Indian film and television actor who is noted for his role as Bhatia in the comedy series "Office Office" (2001). He has acted in over 70 films as a character actor, including "7½ Phere" (2005), "Being Cyrus" (2005), "Singh Is Kinng" (2008), "Dabangg 2" (2012), "Jolly LLB" (2013), "Dil Dhadakne Do" (2015), "Mulk" (2018) and "Article 15" (2019).


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: Pahwa was raised in a Punjabi family in Delhi. His father migrated from Punjab,Pakistan, after Partition. He was educated at the National Public School in Daryaganj, New Delhi.


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: In an interview,Pahwa stated that he lived in East Delhi Lakshmi Nagar after his father built house for them. His father had automobile batteries business and his father wanted him to join family business. Pahwa shifted to Mumbai in his late twenties.


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: He is married to actress Seema Bhargava, his co-actor in TV series "Hum Log", and lives in Versova, Mumbai, along with his daughter Manukriti Pahwa and son Mayank.


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: Pahwa started his career with television, acting in comedy series "Just Mohabbat" (1996-2000) and "Office Office" (2001). He debuted in the movie "Tere Mere Sapne" (1996) and has acted in 50+ films and TV series as a character actor.


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: He played the lead the opening segment of anthology horror film "Darna Zaroori Hai" (2006) directed by Sajid Khan.


title: Manoj Pahwa

text: During the shoot for "Mausam" (2011) directed by Pankaj Kapoor, in Chandigarh, he met the local producers, which led to his Punjabi film debut, "Heer & Hero".


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Inder Kumar Gujral (4 December 1919 – 30 November 2012) was an Indian diplomat, politician and freedom activist who served as the 12th prime minister of India from April 1997 to March 1998.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Born in Punjab, he was influenced by nationalistic ideas as a student, and joined the All India Students Federation and the Communist Party of India. He was imprisoned for taking part in the Quit India movement. After independence, he joined the Indian National Congress party in 1964, and became a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: He was the Minister of Information and Broadcasting during the emergency. In 1976, he was appointed the Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union. In 1996, he became the Minister of External Affairs in the Deve Gowda ministry, and developed the Gujral doctrine during this period. He was appointed the 12th Prime Minister of India in 1997. His tenure lasted for less than a year.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: He retired from all political positions in 1998. He died in 2012 at the age of 92, following hospitalization due to a lung infection.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Inder Kumar Gujral was born on 4 December 1919 in a Punjabi Hindu Khatri family to Avtar Narain and Pushpa Gujral in the village of Pari Darveza in the Sohawa Tehsil of the Jhelum District in undivided Punjab in British India, which is in present-day Punjab, Pakistan. He studied at D.A.V. College, Hailey College of Commerce and Forman Christian College, Lahore, all affiliated with the University of the Punjab. He was a member of All India Students Federation. He also participated in the Indian independence movement, and was jailed in 1942 during the Quit India Movement. As a student, he became a member of the Communist Party of India. He also has two sisters, Uma Nanda and Sunita Judge. On 26 May 1945, Inder Kumar Gujral married Sheila Gujral (24 January 1924 – 11 July 2011) and had two sons, Naresh Gujral (born 19 May 1948), who is a Rajya Sabha MP, and Vishal Gujral. IK Gujral's younger brother Satish Gujral was a world-renowned painter and sculptor.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Gujral's hobbies included poetry; he spoke Urdu and was, after his death, eulogised as a lover of the language by Maulana Azad National Urdu University, an institution where he held the position of chancellor. His wife Sheila Gujral, an acclaimed poet, died on 11 July 2011 after an illness. The couple had two sons, Naresh, who is a Shiromani Akali Dal MP in the Rajya Sabha, and Vishal. The couple also have two granddaughters and a grandson.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Gujral became vice-president of the New Delhi Municipal Committee in 1958, and joined the Congress party (INC) in 1964. He was close to Indira Gandhi, and became a member of the Rajya Sabha in April 1964. During the Emergency of June 1975, Gujral was Minister of Information and Broadcasting, where he was in charge of the media during a time of censorship in India and was in charge of Doordarshan. He again was selected to the Rajya Sabha to serve until 1976. He also served as Water Resources Minister. Later, Gujral was appointed Ambassador of India to the Soviet Union by Indira Gandhi and stayed on during the tenures of Morarji Desai and Charan Singh. He was rumoured to have been shunted out of the ministry due to conflicts with the prime minister's son, Sanjay Gandhi, over media censorship, and was replaced by Vidya Charan Shukla, who had no qualms following party lines on the matter; he was then moved to the Planning Ministry.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Gujral resigned from the Indian National Congress party in the 1980s. Then he joined the Janata Dal. In the 1989 Indian general election, Gujral was elected from Jalandhar in Punjab. He served as Minister of External Affairs in Prime Minister V. P. Singh's eleventh cabinet of India. In 1989, Singh sent him to Srinagar to negotiate with the perpetrators of the 1989 kidnapping of Rubaiya Sayeed. He also brought about controversy during the Gulf War when he hugged Saddam Hussein as a show-of-good-faith to ensure Indian expatriates would be safe. In the 1991 Indian general election, Gujral contested from Patna in Bihar. However, the election was countermanded following complaints of 'irregularities'. In 1992, Gujral was selected to the Rajya Sabha with the help of Lalu Prasad Yadav.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Subsequent to the 1996 election, when the United Front government was formed under the premiership of H. D. Deve Gowda, Gujral was again named Minister of External Affairs. During this tenure, he developed the 'Gujral Doctrine' which emphasised better relations with India's neighbours and was refined when he became prime minister. He also served as Union Minister or Minister of State of several other portfolios—Communications and Parliamentary Affairs, Information and Broadcasting, Works and Housing and Planning.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: The Indian National Congress party had been supporting the United Front government from outside, but citing its wish to have the incumbent prime minister replaced, decided to withdraw support; this led to the government's collapse in April 1997. To avoid mid-term elections, a compromise was reached: the INC agreed to support another United Front government under a new leader, provided its concerns—such as not being consulted before taking important decisions and being marginalised—were addressed. The United Front elected Gujral as its new leader, and he was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 1997.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Gujral became prime minister as the consensus candidate between others that included Lalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh Yadav; his government was supported by the INC from outside. In the early weeks of his tenure, the Central Bureau of Investigation asked for permission from the Governor of Bihar, A. R. Kidwai, to prosecute the state Chief Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in a corruption case related to the Fodder Scam, a move that Kidwai sanctioned. Even legal scholars said that Yadav could not escape prosecution. Subsequently, the demand for the resignation of Yadav was raised both from within and outside the United Front. United Front and Telugu Desam Party leader Chandrababu Naidu and Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Harkishen Singh Surjeet called for action against Yadav and for the resignation of other RJD members; while the same was said by JD members Sharad Yadav, H. D. Deve Gowda and Ram Vilas Paswan who called for the dismissal of accused RJD members Kanti Singh, Raghuvansh Prasad Singh and Captain Jai Narain Nishad. Though INC chairperson Sitaram Kesri offered minor calls for Yadav's resignation, Yadav then offered Gujral support to run from any Lok Sabha constituency in Bihar to get his support. Gujral, however, was silent on the matter, but later controversially transferred the CBI director Joginder Singh, who was investigating the case against Yadav, and replaced him with R. C. Sharma, who said Gujral would directly control the CBI and that the pace of investigating many sensational cases "will definitely slacken now." However, Yadav was still expelled from the party by JD leader Sharad Yadav, before forming his own Rashtriya Janata Dal in 1997.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Another controversial decision of his government was its recommendation of President's rule in Uttar Pradesh in 1997. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Uttar Pradesh government, headed by Kalyan Singh, sought a vote of confidence after violence and unruly scenes took place in the assembly. However, President K.R. Narayanan refused to sign the recommendation and sent it back to the government for reconsideration. The Allahabad High Court also gave a decision against President's rule in Uttar Pradesh. He also resisted signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: On 28 August 1997, the Jain Commission report was submitted to the government and was leaked on 16 November. The commission had inquired into the conspiracy aspects of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination and reportedly criticised the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), amongst others such as the Narasimha Rao government, for tacitly supporting Tamil militants accused in Gandhi's assassination. The DMK was part of the ruling coalition at the center and had ministers in the Union Cabinet. The Congress first demanded the tabling of the report on the floor of the parliament, which was refused by Gujral, who feared a battle between the DMK and the Tamil Maanila Congress would lead to the DMK's withdrawal from the government. Gujral later formed a Joint Parliamentary Committee to study the report after informing Sitaram Keshri of the decision, to which Keshri acceded. INC parliamentary party leader Sharad Pawar said they would call for the resignation of anyone implicated in the report. Gujral convened the government to inform them of the updates and said it supported the DMK. The DMK's Industry Minister Murasoli Maran said: "We are part of the United Front. We will stand and fall together. I am hundred per cent confident of that. If it were so easy to break the United Front, then it will be called the disunited front. No one is going to ditch their colleagues for a few loaves of power. We have no reason to quit at all. The report is full of recycled news. There is nothing startling about it, everybody already knows what the report is saying. A Madras court is expected to give its verdict on a criminal case on the assassination on January 28. Let us wait till then to know who was involved in the dastardly act. Until then, all this is disinformation." However, the Tamil Maanila Congress called for the DMK, which was in a coalition government in Tamil Nadu, to share all actions it would undertake. The report was tabled on 20 November 1997. On the same day there were angry scenes in parliament, as the INC then called for the DMK's removal from the cabinet and refused to partake in any parliamentary debate until that happened. Speaker P.A. Sangma then adjourned the house. The INC finally withdrew support from his government on 28 November after Gujral sent Kesri a letter saying he would not dismiss any DMK leaders. Gujral resigned following the withdrawal, and sent a letter to President K. R. Narayanan that read: "My government has lost its majority and does not want to continue in office on moral grounds", but did not call for the dissolution of parliament. The president accepted the resignation, but asked for Gujral to stay on in an interim capacity. INC General Secretary Oscar Fernandes then said: "All the secular parties are welcome to support a government which will be attempted by the Congress." The United Front's leader Chandrababu Naidu got the support of all the constituents saying they would neither support the INC nor the Bharatiya Janata Party, as did the TMC, saying they would not allow a "U.P.-like situation to happen in the centre." In similar measure, BJP leader M. Venkaiah Naidu said the party would "throttle" INC attempts to form a new government. The president then dissolved parliament on 4 December, triggering a snap election.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Gujral was the third PM to be from the Rajya Sabha, following Indira Gandhi (January 1966 - March 1969) and H. D. Deve Gowda (June 1996 - April 1997). They were followed by Manmohan Singh (May 2004 - May 2014).


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: As a Prime minister, Gujral had a practice of reserving Friday mornings for meeting the general public.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: The Gujral Doctrine is a set of five principles to guide the conduct of foreign relations with India's immediate neighbours, notably Pakistan, as spelt out by Gujral. The doctrine was later termed as such by journalist Bhabani Sen Gupta in his article, "India in the Twenty First Century" in International Affairs. These principles are, as he set out at Chatham House in September 1996 (which he later reiterated at the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies):


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: He wrote in his autobiography of the doctrine: "The logic behind the Gujral Doctrine was that since we had to face two hostile neighbours in the north and the west, we had to be at 'total peace' with all other immediate neighbours in order to contain Pakistan's and China's influence in the region."


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Following a series of attacks throughout the 2000s, said by the Indian media and government to have originated from and been planned in Pakistan, culminating with the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Gujral Doctrine was criticised by the Indian media. Following the attack, "India Today" said that targeted, covert strikes against Pakistani organisations such as Lashkar-e-Taiba were a "capability that I.K. Gujral dismantled as prime minister over a decade ago will take over a year to rebuild." The major setback of the Gujral Doctrine is said to be the debilitating impact it had on the R&AW's (Research and Analysis Wing) ability to conduct operations in Pakistan. On his orders Pakistan's special operations desk of R&AW was shut down leading to major gaps in India's intelligence capabilities. Analysts have time and again blamed this as the foremost factor for India's "intelligence failure" before the Kargil War commenced. It is said that this was because of Gujral's negligence towards such repercussions and his urge to leave an imprint on Indo-Pak relations that he did this. However, it was also praised in the media.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: The snap election was held in February–March 1998. Gujral contested again from Jalandhar as Janata Dal candidate with the support of the Shiromani Akali Dal. The Akali Dal, though a part of BJP-led coalition, opted to support Gujral because during his Prime Ministerial tenure, Gujral declared that the central government will share the expenses against the insurgency in Punjab during the 1980s and early 1990s, along with the state government of Punjab.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Gujral was admitted at Medanta Hospital in Gurgaon, Haryana (part of the National Capital Region), on 19 November 2012, after being diagnosed with a lung infection. He had had a serious chest infection a few days before being admitted to the hospital following more than a year of dialysis. His health deteriorated in the hospital and was reported to be "very critical". On 27 November, he fell unconscious and his urine output system stopped working. Gujral died on 30 November 2012, four days before his 93rd birthday. His body lay in state at his official residence, 5 Janpath, until noon the next day. The Government of India declared a seven-day period of state mourning and cancelled official functions until 6 December. He was given a state funeral at 15:00 on 1 December near Samata Sthal. His death was announced to parliament by Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, following which both houses adjourned. On 3 December, condolence references were held for him.


title: Inder Kumar Gujral

text: Reactions came from President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chairman Lalu Prasad Yadav. Other immediate reactions came from MPs: Law Minister Ashwani Kumar, Veerappa Moily, Ghulam Nabi Azad. Minister for New and Renewable Energy Dr. Farooq Abdullah offered his condolences and said Gujral was "a politician, a diplomat and a humanist who would be remembered for his many accomplishments in the diplomatic and political arena;" while Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Srikant Kumar Jena said Gujral had an "exceptional personality, courage and intellect" and that: "Today we feel extremely saddened on the demise of former Prime Minister Shri Inder Kumar Gujral, who was a man of exceptional courage and intellect." The Union Cabinet issued a statement that read: "In his death, India has lost a great patriot, a visionary leader and a freedom fighter." INC chairperson Sonia Gandhi wrote to Gujral's son, MP Naresh Gujral: "...the late leader had the ability to win goodwill and friendship across the political spectrum. It is these qualities and the genuine warmth of his personality that made him such a widely admired and respected Prime Minister of India, MP and ambassador." Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa sent a message to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in which he wrote: "Shri Gujral was ahead of his times in a rapidly globalising world. Sri Lanka will always remember with gratitude, Shri I K Gujral's contribution towards strengthening India-Sri Lanka relations and regional cooperation." Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Parvez Ashraf mentioned Gujral's "admirable role" in boosting India-Pakistan relations, while he also said South Asia had lost a noble and distinguished politician. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina sent an unnamed senior leader of her Awami League party for the funeral. Salman Khurshid and Lal Krishna Advani were amongst the dignitaries at his funeral.


title: Women in India

text: The status of women in India has been subject to many changes over the span of recorded Indian history. Their position in society deteriorated early in India's ancient period, especially in the Indo-Aryan speaking regions, and their subordination continued to be reified well into India's early modern period.


title: Women in India

text: During the British East India Company rule (1757–1857), and the British Raj (1858–1947), measures aiming at amelioration were enacted, including Bengal Sati Regulation, 1829, Hindu Widows' Remarriage Act, 1856, Female Infanticide Prevention Act, 1870, and Age of Consent Act, 1891. The Indian constitution prohibits discrimination based on sex and empowers the government to undertake special measures for them. Women's rights under the Constitution of India mainly include equality, dignity, and freedom from discrimination; additionally, India has various statutes governing the rights of women.


title: Women in India

text: Several women have served in various senior official positions in the Indian government, including that of the President of India, the Prime Minister of India, the Speaker of the Lok Sabha. However, many women in India continue to face significant difficulties. The rates of malnutrition are exceptionally high among adolescent girls and pregnant and lactating women in India, with repercussions for children's health. Violence against women, especially sexual violence, is a serious concern in India.


title: Women in India

text: During the British Raj, many reformers such as Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar and Jyotirao Phule fought for the betterment of women. Peary Charan Sarkar, a former student of Hindu College, Calcutta and a member of "Young Bengal", set up the first free school for girls in India in 1847 in Barasat, a suburb of Calcutta (later the school was named Kalikrishna Girls' High School). While this might suggest that there was no positive British contribution during the Raj era, that is not entirely the case. Missionaries' wives such as Martha Mault née Mead and her daughter Eliza Caldwell née Mault are rightly remembered for pioneering the education and training of girls in south India. This practice was initially met with local resistance, as it flew in the face of tradition. Raja Rammohan Roy's efforts led to the abolition of Sati under Governor-General William Cavendish-Bentinck in 1829. Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar's crusade for improvement in the situation of widows led to the Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. Many women reformers such as Pandita Ramabai also helped the cause of women.


title: Women in India

text: Kittur Chennamma, queen of the princely state Kittur in Karnataka, led an armed rebellion against the British in response to the Doctrine of lapse. Rani Lakshmi Bai, the Queen of Jhansi, led the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British. She is now widely considered as a national hero. Begum Hazrat Mahal, the co-ruler of Awadh, was another ruler who led the revolt of 1857. She refused deals with the British and later retreated to Nepal. The Begums of Bhopal were also considered notable female rulers during this period. They were trained in martial arts. Chandramukhi Basu, Kadambini Ganguly and Anandi Gopal Joshi were some of the earliest Indian women to obtain a degree.


title: Women in India

text: In 1917, the first women's delegation met the Secretary of State to demand women's political rights, supported by the Indian National Congress. The All India Women's Education Conference was held in Pune in 1927, it became a major organisation in the movement for social change. In 1929, the Child Marriage Restraint Act was passed, stipulating fourteen as the minimum age of marriage for a girl. Mahatma Gandhi, himself a victim of child marriage at the age of thirteen, he later urged people to boycott child marriages and called upon young men to marry child widows.


title: Women in India

text: Women in India now participate fully in areas such as education, sports, politics, media, art and culture, service sectors, science and technology, etc. Indira Gandhi, who served as Prime Minister of India for an aggregate period of fifteen years, is the world's longest serving female Prime Minister.


title: Women in India

text: The Constitution of India guarantees to all Indian women equality (Article 14), no discrimination by the State (Article 15(1)), equality of opportunity (Article 16), equal pay for equal work (Article 39(d)) and Article 42. In addition, it allows special provisions to be made by the State in favour of women and children (Article 15(3)), renounces practices derogatory to the dignity of women (Article 51(A) (e)), and also allows for provisions to be made by the State for securing just and humane conditions of work and for maternity relief. (Article 42).


title: Women in India

text: Feminist activism in India gained momentum in the late 1970s. One of the first national-level issues that brought women's groups together was the Mathura rape case. The acquittal of policemen accused of raping a young girl Mathura in a police station led to country-wide protests in 1979–1980. The protest, widely covered by the national media, forced the Government to amend the Evidence Act, the Criminal Procedure Code, and the Indian Penal Code; and created a new offence, custodial rape.


title: Women in India

text: Since alcoholism is often associated with violence against women in India, many women groups launched anti-liquor campaigns in Andhra Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and other states. Many Indian Muslim women have questioned the fundamental leaders' interpretation of women's rights under the Shariat law and have criticised the triple talaq system (see below about 2017).


title: Women in India

text: Mary Roy won a lawsuit in 1986, against the inheritance legislation of her Keralite Syrian Christian community in the Supreme Court. The judgement ensured equal rights for Syrian Christian women with their male siblings in regard to their ancestral property. Until then, her Syrian Christian community followed the provisions of the Travancore Succession Act of 1916 and the Cochin Succession Act, 1921, while elsewhere in India the same community followed the Indian Succession Act of 1925.


title: Women in India

text: In the 1990s, grants from foreign donor agencies enabled the formation of new women-oriented NGOs. Self-help groups and NGOs such as Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA) have played a major role in the advancement of women's rights in India. Many women have emerged as leaders of local movements; for example, Medha Patkar of the Narmada Bachao Andolan.


title: Women in India

text: In 1991, the Kerala High Court restricted the entry of women above the age of 10 and below the age of 50 from Sabarimala Shrine, as they were of the menstruating age. However, on 28 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on the entry of women. It said that discrimination against women on any grounds, even religious, is unconstitutional.


title: Women in India

text: The Government of India declared 2001 as the Year of Women's Empowerment ("Swashakti"). The National Policy For The Empowerment Of Women came was passed in 2001.


title: Women in India

text: In 2006, the case of Imrana, a Muslim rape victim, was highlighted by the media. Imrana was raped by her father-in-law. The pronouncement of some Muslim clerics that Imrana should marry her father-in-law led to widespread protests, and finally Imrana's father-in-law was sentenced to 10 years in prison. The verdict was welcomed by many women's groups and the All India Muslim Personal Law Board.


title: Women in India

text: According to a 2011 poll conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India was the "fourth most dangerous country" in the world for women, India was also noted as the worst country for women among the G20 countries, however, this report has faced criticism for promoting inaccurate perceptions.


title: Women in India

text: On 9 March 2010, one day after International Women's day, Rajya Sabha passed the Women's Reservation Bill requiring that 33% of seats in India's Parliament and state legislative bodies be reserved for women. In October 2017 another poll published by Thomson Reuters Foundation found that Delhi was the fourth most dangerous megacity (total 40 in the world) for women and it was also the worst megacity in the world for women when it came to sexual violence, risk of rape and harassment.


title: Women in India

text: The Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act, 2013 is a legislative act in India that seeks to protect women from sexual harassment at their place of work. The Act came into force from 9 December 2013. The Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013 introduced changes to the Indian Penal Code, making sexual harassment an expressed offence under Section 354 A, which is punishable up to three years of imprisonment and or with fine. The Amendment also introduced new sections making acts like disrobing a woman without consent, stalking and sexual acts by person in authority an offense. It also made acid attacks a specific offence with a punishment of imprisonment not less than 10 years and which could extend to life imprisonment and with fine.


title: Women in India

text: In 2014, an Indian family court in Mumbai ruled that a husband objecting to his wife wearing a kurta and jeans and forcing her to wear a sari amounts to cruelty inflicted by the husband and can be a ground to seek divorce. The wife was thus granted a divorce on the ground of cruelty as defined under section 27(1)(d) of Special Marriage Act, 1954.


title: Women in India

text: On 22 August 2017, the Indian Supreme Court deemed instant triple talaq ("talaq-e-biddat") unconstitutional.


title: Women in India

text: A 2018 poll by Thomson Reuters Foundation termed India as the world's most dangerous country for women. The National Commission for Women and the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies rejected the survey for its methodology and lack of transparency.


title: Women in India

text: Also in 2018, the Supreme Court of India struck down a law making it a crime for a man to have sex with a married woman without the permission of her husband.


title: Women in India

text: Prior to November 2018, women were forbidden to climb Agasthyarkoodam. A court ruling removed the prohibition.


title: Women in India

text: The steady change in the position of women can be highlighted by looking at what has been achieved by women in the country:


title: Women in India

text: India has one of the highest number of female politicians in the world. Women have held high offices in India including that of the President, Prime Minister, Speaker of the Lok Sabha and Leader of the Opposition.


title: Women in India

text: The Indian states Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan and Tripura have implemented 50% reservation for women in PRIs. Majority of candidates in these Panchayats are women. In 2015, 100% of elected members in Kodassery Panchayat in Kerala are women. There are currently 16 female chief ministers in India as of 2020.


title: Women in India

text: As of 2018, 12 out of 29 states and the union territory of Delhi have had at least one female Chief Minister.


title: Women in India

text: Currently there are 81 women members and 458 male members in the Indian Parliament which equals 15.3% and 84.97% respectively.


title: Women in India

text: The status of women in India is strongly connected to family relations. In India, the family is seen as crucially important, and in most of the country, the family unit is patrilineal. Families are usually multi-generational, with the bride moving to live with the in-laws. Families are usually hierarchical, with the elders having authority over the younger generations and men over women. The vast majority of marriages are monogamous (one husband and one wife), but both polygyny and polyandry in India have a tradition among some populations in India. Weddings in India can be quite expensive. Most marriages in India are arranged.


title: Women in India

text: With regard to dress, a sari (a long piece of fabric draped around the body) and salwar kameez are worn by women all over India. A "bindi" is part of a woman's make-up. Despite common belief, the bindi on the forehead does not signify marital status; however, the Sindoor does.


title: Women in India

text: In 1991, the Kerala High Court restricted entry of women above the age of 10 and below the age of 50 from Sabarimala Shrine as they were of the menstruating age. On 28 September 2018, the Supreme Court of India lifted the ban on the entry of women. It said that discrimination against women on any grounds, even religious, is unconstitutional.


title: Women in India

text: The Indian Armed Forces began recruiting women to non-medical positions in 1992. The Indian Army began inducting women officers in 1992. The Border Security Force (BSF) began recruiting female officers in 2013. On 25 March 2017, Tanushree Pareek became the first female combat officer commissioned by the BSF.


title: Women in India

text: On 24 October 2015, the Indian government announced that women could serve as fighter pilots in the Indian Air Force (IAF), having previously only been permitted to fly transport aircraft and helicopters. The decision means that women are now eligible for induction in any role in the IAF. In 2016, India announced a decision to allow women to take up combat roles in all sections of its army and navy.


title: Women in India

text: As of 2014, women made up 3% of Indian Army personnel, 2.8% of Navy personnel, and 8.5% of Air Force personnel. As of 2016, women accounted for 5% of all active and reserve Indian Armed forces personnel.


title: Women in India

text: In 1972 Kiran Bedi became the First Lady Indian Police Service Officer and was the only woman in a batch of 80 IPS Officers, she joined the AGMUT Cadre. In 1992 Asha Sinha a 1982 Batch IPS Officer became the First Woman Commandant in the Paramilitary forces of India when she was posted as Commandant, Central Industrial Security Force in Mazagon Dock Shipbuilders Limited. Kanchan Chaudhary Bhattacharya the second Lady IPS Officer of India belonging to the 1973 Batch became the first Lady Director General of Police of a State in India when she was appointed DGP of Uttarakhand Police. In 2018 an IPS Officer Archana Ramasundram of 1980 Batch became the first Woman to become the Director General of Police of a Paramilitary Force as DG, Sashastra Seema Bal. In March 2018, Delhi Police announced that it would begin to induct women into its SWAT team.


title: Women in India

text: On February 17, 2020 the Supreme Court of India said that women officers in the Indian Army can get command positions at par with male officers. The court said that the government's arguments against it were discriminatory, disturbing and based on stereotype. The court also said that permanent commission to all women officers should be made available regardless of their years of service. The government had earlier said that women commanders would not be acceptable to some troops.


title: Women in India

text: According to 1992–93 figures, only 9.2% of the households in India were headed by women. However, approximately 35% of the households below the poverty line were found to be headed by women.


title: Women in India

text: Though it is sharply increasing, the female literacy rate in India is less than the male literacy rate. Far fewer girls than boys are enrolled in school, and many girls drop out. In urban India, girls are nearly on a par with boys in terms of education. However, in rural India, girls continue to be less educated than boys. According to the National Sample Survey Data of 1997, only the states of Kerala and Mizoram have approached universal female literacy. According to scholars, the major factor behind improvements in the social and economic status of women in Kerala is literacy.


title: Women in India

text: Under the Non-Formal Education programme (NFE), about 40% of the NFE centres in states and 10% of the centres in UTs are exclusively reserved for women. As of 2000, about 300,000 NFE centres were catering to about 7.42 million children. About 120,000 NFE centres were exclusively for girls.


title: Women in India

text: According to a 1998 report by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the chief barriers to female education in India are inadequate school facilities (such as sanitary facilities), shortage of female teachers and gender bias in the curriculum (female characters being depicted as weak and helpless).


title: Women in India

text: The literacy rate is lower for women compared to men: the literacy rate is 60.6% for women, while for men it is 81.3%. The 2011 census, however, indicated a 2001–2011 decadal literacy growth of 9.2%, which is slower than the growth seen during the previous decade. There is a wide gender disparity in the literacy rate in India: effective literacy rates (age 7 and above) in 2011 were 82.14% for men and 65.46% for women. (population aged 15 or older, data from 2015).


title: Women in India

text: Contrary to common perception, a large percentage of women in India are actively engaged in traditional and non-traditional work. National data collection agencies accept that statistics seriously understate women's contribution as workers. However, there are far fewer women than men in the paid workforce. In urban India, women participate in the workforce in impressive numbers. For example, in the software industry 30% of the workforce is female.


title: Women in India

text: In rural India in the agriculture and allied industrial sectors, women account for as much as 89.5% of the labour force. In overall farm production, women's average contribution is estimated at 55% to 66% of the total labour. According to a 1991 World Bank report, women accounted for 94% of total employment in dairy production in India.


title: Women in India

text: In 2017, a study by Monster Salary Index (MSI) showed the overall gender pay gap in India was 20 percent. It found that the gap was narrower in the early years of experience.


title: Women in India

text: While men with 0–2 years of experience earned 7.8 percent higher median wages than women, in the experience group of 6–10 years of experience, the pay gap was 15.3 percent. The pay gap becomes wider at senior level positions as the men with 11 and more years of tenure earned 25 percent higher median wages than women.


title: Women in India

text: Based on the educational background, men with a bachelor's degree earned on average 16 percent higher median wages than women in years 2015, 2016 and 2017, while master's degree holders experience even higher pay gap. Men with a four- or five-year degree or the equivalent of a master's degree have on average earned 33.7 percent higher median wages than women.


title: Women in India

text: While India passed the Equal Remuneration Act way back in 1976, which prohibits discrimination in remuneration on grounds of sex. But in practice, the pay disparity still exist.


title: Women in India

text: One of the most famous female business success stories, from the rural sector, is the Shri Mahila Griha Udyog Lijjat Papad. Started in 1959 by seven women in Mumbai with a seed capital of only Rs.80, it had an annual turnover of more than Rs. 800 crore (over $109 million) in 2018. It provides employment to 43,000 (in 2018) women across the country.


title: Women in India

text: One of the largest dairy co-operatives in the world, Amul, began by mobilizing rural women in Anand in the western state of Gujarat.


title: Women in India

text: In 2006, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who founded Biocon, one of India's first biotech companies, was rated India's richest woman. Lalita D. Gupte and Kalpana Morparia were the only businesswomen in India who made the list of the Forbes World's Most Powerful Women in 2006. Gupte ran ICICI Bank, India's second-largest bank, until October 2006 and Morparia is CEO of JP Morgan India.


title: Women in India

text: Shaw remained the richest self-made woman in 2018, coming in at 72nd place in terms of net worth in Forbes's annual rich list. She was the 4th and last female in the list, thereby showing that 96 of 100 the richest entities in the country continued to be male controlled directly or indirectly.


title: Women in India

text: According to the ‘Kotak Wealth Hurun – Leading Wealthy Women 2018’ list, which compiled the 100 wealthiest Indian women based on their net worth as on 30 June 2018 Shaw was only one of two women, the other being Jayshree Ullal, who did not inherit their current wealth from family relatives in the top ten.


title: Women in India

text: However, India has a strong history of many women with inherited wealth establishing large enterprises or launching successful careers in their own rights.


title: Women in India

text: In most Indian families, women do not own any property in their own names, and do not get a share of parental property. Due to weak enforcement of laws protecting them, women continue to have little access to land and property. In India, women's property rights vary depending on religion, and tribe, and are subject to a complex mix of law and custom, but in principle the move has been towards granting women equal legal rights, especially since the passing of The Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act, 2005.


title: Women in India

text: The Hindu personal laws of 1956 (applying to Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, and Jains) gave women rights to inheritances. However, sons had an independent share in the ancestral property, while the daughters' shares were based on the share received by their father. Hence, a father could effectively disinherit a daughter by renouncing his share of the ancestral property, but a son would continue to have a share in his own right. Additionally, married daughters, even those facing domestic abuse and harassment, had no residential rights in the ancestral home. Thanks to an amendment of the Hindu laws in 2005, women now have the same status as men.


title: Women in India

text: In 1986, the Supreme Court of India ruled that Shah Bano, an elderly divorced Muslim woman, was eligible for alimony. However, the decision was opposed by fundamentalist Muslim leaders, who alleged that the court was interfering in their personal law. The Union Government subsequently passed the Muslim Women's (Protection of Rights Upon Divorce) Act.


title: Women in India

text: Similarly, Christian women have struggled over the years for equal rights in divorce and succession. In 1994, all churches, jointly with women's organizations, drew up a draft law called the Christian Marriage and Matrimonial Causes Bill. However, the government has still not amended the relevant laws. In 2014, the Law Commission of India has asked the government to modify the law to give Christian women equal property rights.


title: Women in India

text: Crime against women such as rape, acid attacks, dowry killings, honour killings, and the forced prostitution of young girls has been reported in India. TrustLaw, a London based news service owned by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, ranked India as the fourth most dangerous place in the world for women to live based on a poll of 213 gender experts. Police records in India show a high incidence of crimes against women. The National Crime Records Bureau reported in 1998 that by 2010 growth in the rate of crimes against women would exceed the population growth rate. Earlier, many crimes against women were not reported to police due to the social stigma attached to rape and molestation. Official statistics show a dramatic increase in the number of reported crimes against women.


title: Women in India

text: An analyses of Indian news reports determined that 72% of cases reported from January 2002 to October 2010 included at least one female victim. Sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and hydrochloric acid, the most common types of acid used in attacks, are generally cheap and widely available as a common cleaning supply. Acid attacks against women often are done as a form of revenge and are often done by relatives or friends. The number of acid attacks has been rising in recent years.