title: Danish cuisine

text: Fish from Bornholm, Iceland and Greenland also has a special place in the Danish cuisine. The island of Bornholm, a part of Denmark located in the Baltic Sea, to the east of Zealand and south of Sweden, is noted for its smoked fish items. Iceland and Greenland have long shared histories with Denmark, and the fish from these North Atlantic lands is a sign of quality.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Pork is the favourite meat in Denmark and pork meat has been a major export sector for more than 100 years. As regards home cooking and meat, the Danes primarily eat pork (42%), followed by poultry (28%) and beef (26%). These are 2016 numbers and does not include processed meat and eating out. Processed meats comprise a lot of pork in Danish cuisine, including hams, smoked pork, many kinds of cold cuts, sausages and salamis, so the pork consumption percentage would be even larger if processed meat were included. Ground pork meat is used in many traditional recipes requiring ground meat. Danish bacon is generally of good quality (exported Danish bacon is of exceptional quality), and available in both the striped and back varieties.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Beef is also very popular in the modern Danish kitchen. Danish cattle are primarily used for dairy and Denmark has a centuries-old tradition of dairy products. Hence, cattle bred for their meat were formerly rare and expensive. Dairy cattle rarely make good meat cattle – especially after several years as dairy cows- and for that reason, beef has traditionally been ground and cooked as patties or prepared as boiled roast or soup. Today meat-cattle is more common and steaks are popular, especially top sirloin steak of beef ("culottesteg") is a classic dish to serve for guests.


title: Danish cuisine

text: The Danes meat consumption remains high, but meat has overall lost a little bit of ground to vegetables and vegetarian food in the 2010s. Also there is a tendency to replace popular meats with chicken.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Many traditional dishes have been abandoned in Denmark in the last 4-5 decades, especially dishes requiring long preparations but also organ meat dishes. Fast preparations, pre-cooked meals and foreign inspired cooking from around the world, has increasingly found its way into the kitchens of the common Danish family. Traditional Danish main course dishes includes:


title: Danish cuisine

text: Cakes are usually not served for dessert in Denmark, but as an occasional sweet treat in between meals or at celebrations and particular festive events. Coffee or tea is usually offered with cakes.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Danish culture has a number of annual recurring traditional feasts. Most of them are rooted in both the Norse pagan tradition and the Christian culture, including the most widely celebrated feast of Christmas, known as Jul in Denmark. Christmas and Easter are the most prominent feasts in Danish culture, both in terms of religious and traditional importance but also food wise. A number of smaller feasts such as "Fastelavn" (Carnival), "Pinse" (Pentecost) and "Mortensaften" (St. Martin's Day), are also of some importance regarding food while other traditional celebrations such as "Grundlovsdag", May Day and "Sankthans" (St. John's Eve) are not coupled to the Danish food culture in any special way.


title: Danish cuisine

text: The celebration of New Year's Eve is perhaps on par with both Christmas and Easter in modern times and is also coupled with some strong food traditions. Poached cod served with mustard sauce, boiled potatoes and horseradish is traditionally enjoyed as the main course on this evening, known as "nytårstorsk" (New Year's Cod), with champagne and "kransekage" served later in the night. Slices of boiled ham served with stewed kale is another traditional dish for this particular evening. In recent decades, the traditional menus has given way to contemporary gourmet servings in many places, even though the champagne and the "kransekage" remains very popular.


title: Danish cuisine

text: There are some regional variations of the traditional Christmas cuisine within Denmark, but it is generally the same across the country. It includes a lot of spices, in particular cinnamon, cloves and cardamom.


title: Danish cuisine

text: "Julefrokost", or Christmas lunch, is a variation on "Det Kolde Bord" buffet, celebrated on various occasions throughout the whole Christmas month of December. Most communities, workplaces, organisations and associations set aside time for an annual gathering and "julefrokost" on a non-specific Friday or Saturday. This includes coworkers, club members and all kinds of organizations and the festivities often include music and dancing, and usually continues into the early hours of the morning with plentiful drinking. In addition to these public gatherings, there is also tradition for a special family event "julefrokost", but this is celebrated in the home on Christmas Day or shortly after.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Apart from the standard food items for a Danish cold buffet, Christmas lunch "julefrokost" traditionally also includes some specialities, such as "sylte" (pork meat jelly), fried "blodpølse", and "Risalamande". "Blodpølse" is a sweetened and spiced blood sausage with raisins, but it has decreased a lot in popularity since the 19th century. "Risalamande" is a rice pudding served with hot or cold cherry sauce and it is very popular. The pudding consists mainly of sweetened and cooled rice porridge mixed with whipped cream, vanilla and chopped almonds. A popular and traditional game is to put a whole, peeled almond in the common bowl of pudding. The lucky person to find it in his or her serving wins a prize, which in popular traditions would be a pig shaped of marzipan.


title: Danish cuisine

text: "Juleøl" Christmas beer brews and herb infused "akvavit" spirit is commonly paired with the "julefrokost". All over Denmark, trains and buses run all night during the "julefrokost" season and the police are on a special lookout for drunk drivers to avoid alcohol related accidents.


title: Danish cuisine

text: A special part of not only the "julefrokost" lunch but of many festive, celebratory meals is the "selskabssang" (party song). It is a tradition unique to Denmark, and includes event-specific sing-along songs to traditional tunes, but with lyrics specifically written for the occasion.


title: Danish cuisine

text: In Denmark, the Christmas dinner is served on the evening of 24 December (Christmas Eve). It takes the form of a main dish (usually pork, goose or duck) and the "Risalamande" dessert. The traditional recipes from Frk. Jensen's 1901 cook book (see below) still form the basis of Christmas cooking today.


title: Danish cuisine

text: "Flæskesteg", a pork roast cut from the breast or neck and with the skin left on, is prepared by cutting the skin through to the meat layer sideways and rubbing it thoroughly with coarse salt flakes and sometimes spices to guarantee crispy tasty cracklings. Slices of roasted "flæskesteg" is served with brown gravy and accompanied by both boiled potatoes and caramelized potatoes ("brunede kartofler") specially prepared in a frying pan with melted sugar and a lump of butter. Sour-sweet spiced red cabbage is always included too and is widely available in jars and cans.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Goose and duck are filled with a stuffing of apple boats and prunes before they are roasted in a hot oven. The bird is served with a brown sauce based on the broth obtained by boiling the heart, neck, liver and gizzard, thickened with a little fat from the bird, flour and sour cream. Gravy browning may be added. Just like the pork, the bird is served with two kinds of potatoes and red cabbage.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Holy Saturday the traditional dish served for lunch is "Skidne æg" (Dirty eggs), the name referres to fact that the homes were usually dirty on Holy Saturday, as no work and no cleaning or laundry would be done on the two holidays: Maundy Thursday and Good Friday. Skidne æg is medium boiled eggs, served with mustard sauce, cress and ryebread.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Families gather for lunch on Easter Sunday. The lunch will typically consist three courses, starting with "det kolde bord" with pickled herring, prawns, hard-boiled eggs, tuna, liverpaté and various cold cuts. Strong Easter Brew beer and snaps is usually served. The second dish is a warm dish, that according to tradition should contain either lamb, eggs or chicken. The third dish is cheeses with grapes, red peppers and crackers.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Eating out in restaurants can be a costly affair, with the average price running higher than that of the European average. As a result of the New Nordic Cuisine trend, Danish restaurants are now firmly on the international gourmet map.


title: Danish cuisine

text: In the big cities, and in shopping districts, there are many more reasonably priced eating places, including such chain fast food possibilities as McDonald's and Burger King. The most common quick food restaurant is the "burger bar" or "grill bar", offering hamburgers, hot dogs and a wide variety of other fast food staples. Pizzerias are equally popular and can be found in every town in the country, large or small. Other commonly found fast foods include Turkish and Middle East food specialties such as falafel, shish-kebab and spit-roasted meat (most often shawarma) with salad in pita bread, or wrapped in durum wheat based flatbread.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Denmark has many fine dining restaurants, not only in the larger cities, but also in the countryside. The "kro" (roughly equivalent to an inn, but held in higher social regard) provides lodging as well as meals and drinks. Especially the royally privileged lodges have a long and interesting history. Danish cuisine continues to evolve and keep up with the times. It has become more health-conscious, and has drawn inspiration not only from the traditional French and Italian kitchens, but also from many other more exotic gastronomical sources. Increasingly, restaurants are turning to trends based on a combination of continental cooking and the growing interest in products from the local environment served in accordance with seasonal availability.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Another reasonable place to eat is at a café. These are plentiful, especially in the bigger cities, and usually offer soups, sandwiches, salads, cakes, pastries, and other light foods, in addition to the expected coffee, tea, beer and other beverages. Quite a few cafés serve breakfast and brunch, and some double as evening restaurants.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Most cafés in Denmark are unique, but chains are increasingly popular. The Danish coffee-bar chain of Baresso Coffee, founded in 1999, mainly serves coffee and tea related products and is present with many cafés in most larger towns across Denmark, but also in the Faroe Islands as well as Copenhagen Airport and MS Crown of Scandinavia. International café chains has gained ground in the capital of Copenhagen, currently including two Starbucks and several Caffè Ritazza (UK), at the Copenhagen Airport, Magasin Torv by the Magasin Du Nord department store, and at Copenhagen Central Station.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Street food has made an enormous impact on the way Danes eat in the 2010s, but street food has been part of Danish dining culture for many years.


title: Danish cuisine

text: The pølsevogn (lit. sausage wagon) food truck is a well-established common fast food option and the "original" street food outlet in Denmark. They serve a variety of pork sausages, including Denmark's renowned red sausages, "røde pølser". These hot dog-like sausages of the Vienna type are about 20 cm long, about the diameter of an index finger and stuffed in brightly coloured red skin. "Røde pølser" are traditionally served on a small, rectangular paper plate with a bread (similar to a hot dog bun, but without a slice in it) on the side, and a squirt of both ketchup, Danish remoulade sauce and mustard. Danish remoulade is somewhat similar to American relish and the mustard served with sausages is hot and unsweetened. The bread and sausage is eaten alternately, dipped into the condiments. Typical and classic sausages served from a pølsevogn also includes, thick and juicy "knækpølser" (both red and uncoloured), long thick and grilled "frankfurtere", hearty grilled "medisterpølse", large grilled "kryddersvend" sausages spiced with curry, and "pølse i svøb" (sausage in a wrap) which are a sausage wrapped in and grilled with bacon.


title: Danish cuisine

text: When the sausage is served in a traditional hot dog bun, it is called a "hot dog". It is commonly served with Danish remoulade, ketchup, mustard, onion (both raw and toasted, i.e. "ristede") and thinly sliced pickles on top. The "ristede løg" fried onions are similar in taste to French-fried onion rings. The pickled condiment varies from region to region, and includes "rødkål" red cabbage in some places, but cucumber relish is the most widespread. Another variety is the French hot dog ("Fransk hotdog") which is a sausage stuffed into a special long baguette-like bread roll. The roll has a hole in one end, and after the requested condiment has been squirted in (ketchup, mustard, different kinds of dressing), a sausage is slipped through. The simplest sausage wagons are portable and very temporary. They are typically a metal wagon with an open window to the street, and a counter where customers can stand and eat their sausages. More advanced wagons includes limited seating, usually both inside and outside. Through the years the number of sausage wagons has dropped as competition from convenience stores, gas stations, kebab and pizza-places has increased.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Food courts emerged on the Copenhagen dining scene in 2011 and quickly became very popular, inspiring similar initiatives in Aarhus from 2015. Parallel with the stationary and sheltered food courts, mobile food trucks appeared, selling a wide variety of meals at events and random popular spots. This new development is part of a broader popular movement of social dining across the country, with a multitude of local food, dining and cooking clubs, purchasing societies and urban farming projects sprouting among citizens in larger cities.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Potato recipes are ubiquitous in Danish cooking. The potato was first introduced into Denmark by French immigrant Huguenots in Fredericia in 1720. The potato is considered an essential side dish to every hot meal.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Although the potato is the central vegetable in traditional Danish cooking, it is by no means the only vegetable associated with Danish cuisine. Those other vegetables that play an important role often had to be preserved for long periods of time in cold rooms, or were pickled or marinated for storage. Cauliflower, carrots and a variety of cabbages were often a part of the daily meal, especially when in season, in the days prior to widespread refrigeration.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Denmark is known for quality dairy products, and that includes cheese. In Denmark, cheese might be served as part of breakfast, lunch or in salads and also as an after-dinner snack, referred to as a so-called (lit.: cheese-table) or (lit: cheese-plate) along with grapes, crackers and wine.


title: Danish cuisine

text: While the most commonly eaten cheese in Denmark is mild, there are also stronger Danish cheeses available, some of which are very pungent. Danish Blue cheese can be quite strong, and Danish cheese manufacturers produce molded cheeses that span the range from the mildest and creamiest to the intense blue-veined cheese internationally associated with Denmark. Another strong cheese is "Gamle Ole" (lit: Old Ole – Ole is a man's name), a brand of pungent aged cheese that has matured for a longer period of time. It can be bitingly strong. It is often served in combination with sliced onion and aspic ("sky") on Danish "rugbrød" spread with lard. Rum may be dripped on this pungent cheese prior to serving.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Strong cheeses are an acquired taste for Danes too. Elderly Danes who find the smell offensive might joke about "Gamle Ole's" smelling up a whole house, just by being in a sealed plastic container in the refrigerator. One might also refer to Gamle Ole's pungency when talking about things that are not quite right, i.e. "they stink". Here one might say that something stinks or smells of "Gamle Ole".


title: Danish cuisine

text: Danish cheese is almost exclusively produced from cow's milk. Some well-known Danish cheeses include:


title: Danish cuisine

text: In relation to "Apetina", Denmark lost a long legal battle with Greece, to use the term "feta" for Danish cheese produced using artificially blanched cow's milk. Since July 2002, feta has been a protected designation of origin (PDO), which limits the term within the European Union to feta made exclusively of sheep's/goat's milk in Greece. Because of the decision by the European Union, Danish dairy company Arla Foods (who also manufacture Danbo) changed the name of their Feta product to "Apetina".


title: Danish cuisine

text: Fresh herbs are very popular, and a wide variety are readily available at supermarkets or local produce stands. Many people grow fresh herbs either in the kitchen window, in window boxes or outside, weather permitting. Most commonly used herbs and other seasonings in Danish cooking:


title: Danish cuisine

text: Other spices used in the traditional Danish cuisine includes nutmeg, carraway, juniper, allspice and ginger (powder and candied). In modern times, the use and variety of spices has increased and now spices like chilli, paprika, basil and star anise is used widely.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Similarly to vegetables, fruit had to withstand long storage during the winter to become a part of the traditional cuisine. Fruit is generally eaten in smaller portions, often as an accompaniment to cheese, or as decoration with desserts.


title: Danish cuisine

text: A combination of strawberries, red currants, black currants, blueberries and mulberries is known as "forest fruits" ("skovbær") and is a common component in tarts and marmalades. A popular dessert is "rødgrød", made from one or more kinds of berries or rhubarbs, boiled down to a red porridge. It is served with cream, sometimes milk.


title: Danish cuisine

text: ""Rødgrød med fløde"" is often jokingly used by Danes as a shibboleth, as it contains the soft "d" several times, which most foreigners find difficult to pronounce.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Bread is a very important part of the Danish table. It is enjoyed at home, in the workplace or in restaurants and is usually based primarily on "rugbrød", which is sour-dough rye bread. It is a dark, heavy bread which is sometimes bought pre-sliced, in varieties from light-colored rye, to very dark, and refined to whole grain. Rugbrød forms the basis of "smørrebrød" (see above). Many people still bake at home, particularly "boller", which are small bread rolls, and often the traditional "kringle", which is a pastry filled with Zante currants and remonce paste. The Danish "franskbrød" (lit: French-bread) are leavened wheat breads, roughly equivalent to white bread. Franskbrød are available in many varieties, ranging from whole wheat to pumpkin, chestnut, or poppy-seed sprinkled loaves and loaves containing maize, müsli or honey. Some loaves are made with alternative wheat sorts like emmer or spelt and some contains small amounts of low-gluten grains such rye. Leavened brown loaves are also referred to as "franskbrød". People often eat jam with cheese on crusty white bread for breakfast, and also very thin slices of chocolate, called "pålægschokolade". Because of the popular rye bread, Danes eat less wheat bread than most other western countries, even though bread is part of most daily meals.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Denmark has a large variety of cakes and in 1997, the bakers guild launched the now countrywide celebration of "Kagens Dag" (Day of the Cake) as an annual recurring event in April–May. The region of Sønderjylland has become known for its concept of "Sønderjydsk kaffebord", serving copious amounts of coffee and regional cakes on gatherings and festive afternoons. Typical Danish cakes include:


title: Danish cuisine

text: Denmark is not a noted exporter of candies, but Danes eat more candy per capita than other countries.


title: Danish cuisine

text: There also exists a vast number of other types of sweets and candy, ranging from gumdrops and dragée to mints and caramel sweets. A concept known as "Bland selv slik" (literally "mix-yourself candy") is common in Danish supermarkets and kiosks. It comprises a number of lined-up containers, usually between 20 and 50, each with a different kind of candy, and customers then service themselves with a paper bag and a small scoop. The paper bag is then weighed, and paid for.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Both Danish and imported candy are found in these box assortments, and the shape, texture and flavor differences are often very creative. Candy has been manufactured resembling a vast number of objects, such as flying saucers, tennis racquets, soccer balls, butterflies, and even teeth and toothbrushes.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Substantial criticism has been directed at the nutritional content of Danish food; for example, at the ratio of meat, side dishes, and greens on the plate. Nutrition information campaigns have been trying to get the Danes to become healthier by eating less meat, fat, and sugar, and more raw vegetables. Instead of a healthier diet, however, the results too often have been feelings of guilt and a view of food as something which is just the correct fuel for the body's machinery.


title: Danish cuisine

text: Historian Søren Mørch has characterized the Danish cuisine as a "garbage kitchen" of insipid, sweet and unspiced "baby food" where the tastes of milk and sweetness forms the key elements. He believes that it arose because the export policy of the Danish food sector was to use the Danish home market as a "gutter" for left over products, after high quality bacon and butter had been sold abroad. Skimmed milk, meat scraps only suitable for chopping up, and the replacement product margarine, are all products which Søren Mørch describes as residue products.


title: Danish cuisine

text: The cookery book was published by Kristine Marie Jensen (1858–1923) in 1901 and titled "Frk. Jensens Kogebog" (Miss Jensen's Cookbook) is considered by many Danes to contain all the authentic recipes for traditional dishes as well as for baking bread, cakes, and biscuits. It has been reprinted dozens of times and new editions can be found in most Danish bookshops today. When Danes prepare meals for special occasions, for example at Christmas time, they frequently follow Frøken Jensen's detailed descriptions. The book has not been translated into English but many of the traditional Danish recipes on English-language websites are those of Frøken Jensen. The original edition (only in Danish) is available online.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Transport for Wales Rail Limited, branded as Transport for Wales and TfW Rail ( and ), is a Welsh publicly owned train operating company, a subsidiary of Transport for Wales (TfW), a Welsh Government-owned company. It commenced operations of the day to day services of the Wales & Borders franchise on 7 February 2021, as an operator of last resort, succeeding KeolisAmey Wales. Transport for Wales Rail manages 248 National Rail stations, including all 223 in Wales, and operates all passenger mainline services wholly within Wales, and services from Wales, Chester, and Shrewsbury to Liverpool, Manchester, Manchester Airport, Crewe, Birmingham, Bidston and Cheltenham.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: In May 2018, the Wales & Borders franchise was awarded by Transport for Wales to KeolisAmey Wales. Scheduled to run for 15 years, it commenced in October 2018.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Following a collapse in revenues, and a significant reduction in passenger numbers as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the original franchise had become financially unviable. On 7 February 2021, Transport for Wales Rail Limited, the Welsh Government's operator of last resort, succeeded KeolisAmey Wales as operator of the Wales & Borders franchise. KeolisAmey and Transport for Wales will continue a partnership on further improvements on the network, with Amey Infrastructure Wales (AIW) continuing to have an involvement in the delivering of some key projects such as the Core Valley Lines.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Transport for Wales Rail inherited from KeolisAmey Wales a fleet of Class 143, 150, 153, 158, 170 and 175 diesel multiple units, Class 230 diesel-battery-electric multiple units, Class 769 bi-mode multiple units and Mark 4 and DVT sets with an allocation of Class 67 locomotives.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Class 143 Pacers, which were not compliant with persons with reduced mobility legislation (PRM), were withdrawn on 29 May 2021 when their PRM dispensation ended.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Class 197 and 231 diesel multiple units, Class 756 tri-mode multiple units and Class 398 tram-trains will replace the Class 150, 153, 158, 175 and 769 units by 2023.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: All of Transport for Wales Rail's KeolisAmey Wales-inherited and extra temporary fleet is due to be replaced by 2023 (with the exception of the Class 67 locomotives).


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Six Class 67 locomotives have been adapted to work with three sets each comprising four Mark 4 carriages and a Mark 4 Driving Van Trailer, which will replace the Mark 3 stock previously used on locomotive-hauled services. The twelve carriages and three DVTs were able to cascade from London North Eastern Railway, as a result of the introduction of Class 800s and Class 801s on the East Coast Main Line. The Mark 4 coaches have retained the Virgin Trains East Coast livery, but with Transport for Wales labels attached. The Mark 4 Driving Van Trailers will be repainted into the new Transport for Wales livery. Four of the six Class 67 locomotives have been repainted into TfW Rail livery. TfW Rail introduced the Mark 4 sets in June 2021 on Cardiff to Holyhead services, and from December 2022 they will operate services between Swansea and Manchester using trains which had previously been planned to be used on the Blackpool route by Grand Central. The three Mark 4 sets will be retained and will remain on the routes they will work from their date of introduction on TfW Rail services.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: All 12 Class 170 units are to be transferred to East Midlands Railway. All of TfW Rail's two-car units have already moved to East Midlands Railway with the three-car units to follow in Spring 2023.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: For the longer term fleet replacement, 148 brand new trains will be introduced including 77 CAF Civity trains (Class 197), 35 FLIRT trains (Class 231 & Class 756) and 36 Citylink tram-trains (Class 398) have been ordered. The addition of these trains to the fleet, from 2021 to 2024 but mostly in 2022–23, will allow the 109 (total) Class 150, 153 (13 by then), 158, 175 and 769 units to be withdrawn.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: A total of 77 Class 197 "Civity" diesel multiple units have been ordered from CAF for long-distance routes. These trains will have end gangways, but fewer toilets than the Class 158 and Class 175 DMUs they replace. They will however be quicker, with more powerful engines and more efficient transmissions for better acceleration, as well as a higher top speed than the Class 158. Fifty one Class 197 units would be two-cars and 26 would be three-cars.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: CAF will undertake fabrication, welding and painting of the Class 197 fleet in their factory in Beasain, Spain. The first Driving Motor carriage vehicle bodyshell had largely passed this stage by 12 February 2020, when it was pictured in the Beasain factory. The painted bodyshells will then be shipped to Newport, South Wales, for further assembly/component-fitment at CAF's new UK factory in Llanwern.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Five "D-Train" diesel- and battery-electric multiple units were expected to enter service from May 2022. These are being built in England from former London Underground D78 Stock aluminium bodyshells by start-up rolling stock manufacturer Vivarail between 2019 and 2020. The units began driver training in late August and is yet to be confirmed of entering service. Five Class 230 units will be retained and will remain on the routes they will work from their date of introduction on TfW Rail services.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Also, a total of 35 Stadler "FLIRT" units have been ordered (consisting of 24 Class 756 tri-modes - 7 three-car & 17 four-car units - and 11 Class 231 diesel-electrics), along with 36 Class 398 Stadler "Citylink" tram-trains. These will be manufactured at the Stadler factory in Szolnok, Hungary and assembled at their plant in Bussnang, Switzerland.


title: Transport for Wales Rail

text: Between September 2021 and November 2022, all of the two-car Class 170s transferred to East Midlands Railway.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella I (1172 – 5 April 1205) was reigning Queen of Jerusalem from 1190 to her death. She was the daughter of Amalric I of Jerusalem and his second wife Maria Comnena, a Byzantine princess. Her half-brother, Baldwin IV of Jerusalem, engaged her to Humphrey IV of Toron. Her mother's second husband, Balian of Ibelin, and his stepfather, Raynald of Châtillon, were influential members of the two baronial parties. The marriage of Isabella and Humphrey was celebrated in Kerak Castle in autumn 1183. Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria, laid siege to the fortress during the wedding, but Baldwin IV forced him to lift the siege.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Baldwin IV, who suffered from lepromatous leprosy, had made his nephew (the only son of his sister, Sibylla by her first husband), Baldwin V, his heir and co-ruler, to prevent Sibylla's second husband, Guy of Lusignan, from mounting the throne. The High Court of Jerusalem stipulated that a committee of Western European rulers was entitled to choose between Sibylla and Isabella to succeed Baldwin V if he died before reaching the age of majority, but Sibylla and Guy of Lusignan were crowned soon after Baldwin V died in 1185. Guy's opponents tried to play Isabella and her husband off against him, but Humphrey did homage to the royal couple.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella was the daughter of Amalric, King of Jerusalem, by his second wife, Maria Comnena. Maria Comnena (who was a grandniece of the Byzantine Emperor, Manuel I Komnenos) married Amalric on 29 August 1167. Isabella was born before September 1172.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Amalric died unexpectedly on 11 July 1174. His son by his first marriage, Baldwin IV, was crowned king two weeks later. Before long, it became obvious that Baldwin suffered from lepromatous leprosy. To secure the succession of the ailing king, his sister, Sibylla, was given in marriage to William of Montferrat in November 1176, but he died seven months later. Baldwin's cousin, Philip I, Count of Flanders, who landed at Acre in August, offered Robert of Bethune for Sibylla's new husband, also proposing that Isabella (who was Baldwin's and Sibylla's half-sister) should marry Robert's younger brother, William of Bethune. The High Court of Jerusalem refused both proposals.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella's mother married Balian of Ibelin in autumn 1177. His brother, Baldwin of Ibelin, wanted to marry Sibylla, but the king preferred another candidate, Guy of Lusignan. After the marriage of Sibylla and Guy on Easter 1180, a division emerged between Guy of Lusignan's supporters and opponents. The first group included the mother of Baldwin IV and Sibylla, Agnes of Courtenay, her brother, Joscelin, and Raynald of Châtillon, Lord of Oultrejordain. Their opponents included Isabella's mother and stepfather, and Raymond III of Tripoli. To secure Guy's position, the king arranged the betrothal of Isabella to Raynald of Châtillon's stepson, Humphrey IV of Toron in October 1180. Isabella was sent to Kerak Castle to be educated by Humphrey's mother, Stephanie of Milly. Stephanie forbade her to pay visits to her mother and stepfather at Nablus.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: The relationship between Baldwin IV and Guy of Lusignan deteriorated. Baldwin IV removed Guy from the regency and denied his right of succession, making Guy's stepson (Sibylla's son from her first marriage), Baldwin V, his heir and co-ruler on 20 November 1183. A version of Ernoul's chronicle suggests that the child Baldwin V was made heir, because the ailing Baldwin IV wanted to avoid a debate between his sisters' supporters about his succession. Guy's principal supporters, Joscelin of Courtenay and Raynald of Châtillon, were not present at Baldwin V's coronation, because they attended the wedding of Isabella and Humphrey of Toron.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: The wedding took place in Kerak Castle. Saladin, the Ayyubid sultan of Egypt and Syria laid siege to the fortress. According to Ernoul's chronicle, Stephanie of Milly sent meals to the besiegers from the feast and Saladin forbade his engineers to destroy the tower of the fortress in which Humphrey and Isabella spent the wedding night. Baldwin IV assembled a relief army and departed from Jerusalem to Kerak, although he was unable to ride a horse. Saladin lifted the siege and retreated without fight on 3 or 4 December.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: The dying Baldwin IV appointed Raymond of Tripoli regent for Baldwin V in April 1185. On Raymond's demand, the High Court of Jerusalem ruled that a committee consisting of the pope, the Holy Roman Emperor and the kings of France and England would be entitled to choose between Sibylla and Isabella if Baldwin V died before reaching the age of majority. Baldwin IV died on 16 March 1185. About a year and a half later (before mid-September 1186) the child Baldwin V also died.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Sibylla's uncle Joscelin of Courtenay persuaded Raymond III of Tripoli and his allies to leave Jerusalem, and urged her supporters (including Raynald of Châtillon) to assemble in the town. Ignoring the 1185 ruling of the High Court, the noblemen and prelates who came to Jerusalem concluded that Sibylla was the lawful heir to her son. Those who were opposed to Sibylla (including Raymond III of Tripoli and Balian of Ibelin) assembled in Nablus. They argued that Sibylla's legitimacy was dubious, because her parents' marriage had been annulled. They also emphasized that Isabella was born after the coronation of her father. They sent envoys to Jerusalem to protest against Sibylla's coronation, but Heraclius, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, crowned her in mid-September. Heraclius also anointed Guy of Lusignan king after she placed a crown on Guy's head.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: On Raymond of Tripoli's proposal, the noblemen who assembled in Nablus decided that they proclaim Isabella and Humphrey of Toron queen and king. However, Humphrey (whose mother and stepfather were Sibylla's supporters) fled from Nablus to Jerusalem and did homage to Sibylla and Guy. Before long, all barons followed his example and swore fealty to the queen and her husband, with the exception of Raymond of Tripoli who left the kingdom.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Saladin imposed a crushing defeat on the united army of the Kingdom of Jerusalem in the Battle of Hattin on 4 July 1187. Isabella's husband was captured on the battlefield. Before long, Saladin's troops seized most towns and fortresses of the Kingdom of Jerusalem: Tiberias fell soon after the battle, Acre on 9 July, Beirut before 6 August, and Jerusalem on 2 October. Tyre was an exception, holding out for months under the command of Conrad of Montferrat who had come to the Holy Land from Italy a few weeks after the battle.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Conrad regarded himself the ruler of Tyre, forbidding Guy of Lusignan to enter the town in summer 1189. Guy laid siege to Acre, but James of Avesnes, Louis III of Thuringia and other crusader commanders who came to the Holy Land also questioned his claim to leadership. Guy's wife, Sibylla, and their two daughters died in autumn 1190. Guy's opponents argued that he had only been king by marriage, and his wife's half-sister, Isabella, inherited the crown. Guy did not want to abandon his claim to the Kingdom of Jerusalem. Taking advantage of the situation, Conrad of Montferrat decided to marry Isabella.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella's stepfather supported Conrad's plan. Isabella resisted, but her mother put her under pressure. Maria Komnena also swore that Baldwin IV had forced the eight-year-old Isabella to marry Humphrey of Toron, whose effeminacy was well known. Before long, the papal legate, Ubaldo Lanfranchi, Archbishop of Pisa, and Philip of Dreux, Bishop of Beauvais, annulled the marriage of Isabella and Humphrey. Baldwin of Forde, Archbishop of Canterbury, forbade her to marry Conrad, stating that both Isabella and Conrad would commit adultery if they married. However, Baldwin of Forde died on 19 November 1190.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Conrad married Isabella on 24 November. Isabella returned to Humphrey the Lordship of Toron that Baldwin IV had annexed to the crown in 1180. Guy of Lusignan refused to abdicate, but most barons regarded him as the lawful monarch. Conrad and Isabella returned to Tyre. After Philip II of France, who landed at Acre on 20 April 1191, acknowledged Conrad's claim to Jerusalem, Guy of Lusignan and Conrad's opponents (including Humphrey of Toron and Bohemond III of Antioch) sought assistance from Richard I of England, who decided to support them. Guy adopted the title of "king-elect of Jerusalem" in May.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: The crusaders captured Acre on 11 July 1191. On 28 July, Richard and Philip agreed that Guy could retain the title of king till the end of his life, but Conrad would rule Tyre, Beirut and Sidon; after Guy's death, the kingdom would be united under the rule of Conrad and Isabella or their issue. Three days later, Philip left for France and Richard became the sole supreme commander of the crusaders. The native barons remained hostile towards Guy. After Richard decided to return to England in April 1192, the barons urged him to revise the previous decision about the Kingdom of Jerusalem.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Richard held an assembly on 16 April 1192. The prelates and the noblemen who attended the meeting unanimously voted for Conrad. Richard accepted their decision, granting Cyprus to Guy in compensation for his lost kingdom. Richard dispatched his nephew Count Henry II of Champagne to inform Conrad about the barons' decision. Henry arrived at Tyre about four days later. It was agreed that Conrad and Isabella would be crowned at Acre.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella, who loved lingering in her bath, spent unusually much time there on 28 April. Being hungry, Conrad decided to have a dinner with Philip of Dreux, but by the time he arrived at Philip's house, the bishop had already finished his meal. Conrad wanted to return home, but two men ambushed and stabbed him in a narrow street. Most sources agree that they were sent by Rashid ad-Din Sinan, head of the Assassins. While dying, Conrad ordered Isabella not to give Tyre to anyone but Richard or to the new king of Jerusalem. When Duke Hugh III of Burgundy, the French king's lieutenant in the Holy Land, urged Isabella to deliver Tyre to him, she shut herself up in the fortress and refused to open its gates.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: On learning of Conrad's assassination, Henry of Champagne, who had meanwhile returned to Acre, hurried back to Tyre. Henry, who was the nephew of both Richard of England and Philip of France, was acclaimed king by the barons and the citizens of Tyre. According to Ernoul, Henry was hesitant, because Isabella was pregnant, possibly with a son. The barons and the citizens, continued Ernoul, promised him that his children would inherit the Kingdom of Jerusalem to convince him to accept the crown. The betrothal of Henry and Isabella was announced two days after Conrad's death. The marriage was celebrated in Acre on 10 May 1192.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella and Conrad's child, Maria of Montferrat, was born in 1192. Henry and Isabella then had three daughters, Margaret (born 1193/1194), Alice (born 1196) and Philippa (born 1197). Henry died in 1197 when a balcony or window-trellis gave way and he fell out of a window.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: After his death, Isabella married for a fourth time to Aimery of Cyprus, brother of Guy of Lusignan. They were crowned together as King and Queen of Jerusalem in January 1198 in Acre. They had two daughters, Sibylla (born 1198) and Melisende (born 1200), and one son, Amalric (born 1201). King Aimery died in 1205 of food poisoning caused by white mullet, four days before his wife, and shortly after their son. On her death on 5 April 1205, Isabella was succeeded as queen by her eldest daughter Maria.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: The legality of Isabella's divorce from Humphrey was challenged in 1213, during the dispute over the succession to Champagne between her daughters Alice and Philippa and Henry's nephew Theobald IV. However, its validity seems to have been upheld: no challenge was made to the legitimacy of Maria and her descendants to succeed to the throne of Jerusalem, and in Champagne, Theobald bought off his cousins Alice and Philippa.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: Isabella has made few fictional appearances, but she is a major character in Graham Shelby's "The Knights of Dark Renown" (1969) and its sequel "The Kings of Vain Intent" (1970). Shelby idealises her marriage to Humphrey, depicting them as his young romantic leads. He then goes on to depict her being beaten and raped by Conrad in a sadistically abusive relationship. This sensationalist depiction is not supported by any evidence. Shelby implies that Isabella plotted Conrad's murder in revenge for his abuse, and depicts her as mentally numbed and indifferent to Henry.


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: She is the title character of Alan Gordon's mystery novel, "The Widow of Jerusalem" (2003), which paints a more sympathetic portrait of her marriage to Conrad. She is introduced as a spoilt, vain young woman, but she matures in the course of the story. Only when it is too late does she realise that her husband loves her. His murder, and the later death of Henry, are investigated by the hero, the fool Theophilos (Feste).


title: Isabella I of Jerusalem

text: She is positively portrayed as a child and young woman in Sharon Kay Penman's The Land Beyond The Sea.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: Brajesh Pathak (born 25 June 1964) is an Indian politician and Member of 18th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh, Currently he is serving as the Deputy Chief Minister & Cabinet Minister of Legislative, Justice, Rural Engineering service in the Uttar Pradesh Government. He is also an ex Member of Parliament of Unnao from 2004 to 2009.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: He is the member of legislative assembly from Lucknow Contonment constituency after winning 2022 state assembly elections.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: Brajesh Pathak was born in Brahman family on 25 June 1964 to Pandit Suresh Pathak in Mallawan, Hardoi district, Uttar Pradesh. He is a lawyer by profession. He received a degree of Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from University of Lucknow.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: In 2004, Pathak was asked to work for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and became the Member of Parliament. In the next few years he was entrusted with the responsibility of organising the party's activities for the entirety of Uttar Pradesh.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: He joined Bharatiya Janata Party in presence of its national president Amit Shah and Union minister Mahesh Sharma in Lucknow.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: In 17th Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh (2017) elections, he was elected Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from Lucknow Central of Lucknow district in Uttar Pradesh. He defeated his nearest rival Samajwadi Party candidate Ravidas Mehrotra by a margin of 5,094 votes. After winning this seat, he was appointed Cabinet Minister of Law & Justice in the Government of Uttar Pradesh.


title: Brajesh Pathak

text: On 21 August 2019, after the first cabinet expansion of Yogi Adityanath his ministry department changed as Minister of Legislative, Justice, Rural Engineering service.


title: Tap code

text: The tap code, sometimes called the knock code, is a way to encode text messages on a letter-by-letter basis in a very simple way. The message is transmitted using a series of tap sounds, hence its name.


title: Tap code

text: The tap code has been commonly used by prisoners to communicate with each other. The method of communicating is usually by tapping either the metal bars, pipes or the walls inside a cell.


title: Tap code

text: The tap code is based on a Polybius square using a 5×5 grid of letters representing all the letters of the Latin alphabet, except for K, which is represented by C.


title: Tap code

text: Each letter is communicated by tapping two numbers, the first designating the row and the second (after a pause) designating the column. For example, to specify the letter "B", one taps once, pauses, and then taps twice. The listener only needs to discriminate the timing of the taps to isolate letters.


title: Tap code

text: To communicate the word "water", the cipher would be the following (with the pause between each number in a pair being shorter than the pause between letters):


title: Tap code

text: Because of the difficulty and length of time required for specifying a single letter, prisoners often devise abbreviations and acronyms for common items or phrases, such as "GN" for "Good night", or "GBU" for "God bless you".


title: Tap code

text: By comparison, Morse code is harder to send by tapping or banging because a single tap will fade out and thus has no discernible length. Morse code, however, requires the ability to create two distinguishable lengths (or types) of taps. To simulate Morse by tapping therefore requires either two different sounds (pitch, volume), or very precise timing, so that a dash within a character (e.g. the character N, ) remains distinguishable from a dot at the end of a character (e.g. E-E, ). Morse code also takes longer to learn. Learning the tap system simply requires one to know the alphabet and the short sequence "AFLQV" (the initial letter of each row), without memorising the entire grid. For example, if a person hears four knocks, they can think "A... F... L... Q". If after a pause there are three knocks, they think "Q... R... S" to arrive at the letter S.


title: Tap code

text: The origins of this encoding go back to the Polybius square of Ancient Greece. Like the "knock code", a Cyrillic script version is said to have been used by nihilist prisoners of the Russian czars. The knock code is featured in Arthur Koestler's 1941 work "Darkness at Noon". Kurt Vonnegut's 1952 novel "Player Piano" also includes a conversation between prisoners using a form of tap code. The code used in the novel is more primitive and does not make use of the Polybius square (e.g. "P" consists of sixteen taps in a row).


title: Tap code

text: United States prisoners of war during the Vietnam War are most known for having used the tap code. It was introduced in June 1965 by four POWs held in the Hỏa Lò ("Hanoi Hilton") prison: Captain Carlyle "Smitty" Harris, Lieutenant Phillip Butler, Lieutenant Robert Peel, and Lieutenant Commander Robert Shumaker. Harris had heard of the tap code being used by prisoners in World War II and remembered a United States Air Force instructor who had discussed it as well.


title: Tap code

text: In Vietnam, the tap code became a very successful way for otherwise isolated prisoners to communicate. POWs would use the tap code in order to communicate to each other between cells in a way which the guards would be unable to pick up on. They used it to communicate everything from what questions interrogators were asking (in order for everyone to stay consistent with a deceptive story), to who was hurt and needed others to donate meager food rations. It was easy to teach and newly arrived prisoners became fluent in it within a few days. It was even used when prisoners were sitting next to each other but not allowed to talk, by tapping on another's thigh. By overcoming isolation with the tap code, prisoners were said to be able to maintain a chain of command and keep up morale.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The asthenosphere () is the mechanically weak and ductile region of the upper mantle of Earth. It lies below the lithosphere, at a depth between ~ below the surface, and extends as deep as . However, the lower boundary of the asthenosphere is not well defined.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The asthenosphere is almost solid, but a slight amount of melting (less than 0.1% of the rock) contributes to its mechanical weakness. More extensive decompression melting of the asthenosphere takes place where it wells upwards, and this is the most important source of magma on Earth. It is the source of mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) and of some magmas that erupted above subduction zones or in regions of continental rifting.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The asthenosphere is a part of the upper mantle just below the lithosphere that is involved in plate tectonic movement and isostatic adjustments. It is composed of peridotite, a rock containing mostly the minerals olivine and pyroxene. The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is conventionally taken at the isotherm. Below this temperature (closer to the surface) the mantle behaves rigidly; above this temperature (deeper below the surface) it acts in a ductile fashion. The asthenosphere is where the mantle rock most closely approaches its melting point, and a small amount of melt is likely present in this layer.


title: Asthenosphere

text: Seismic waves pass relatively slowly through the asthenosphere compared to the overlying lithospheric mantle. Thus, it has been called the "low-velocity zone" (LVZ), although the two are not strictly the same; the lower boundary of the LVZ lies at a depth of , whereas the base of the asthenosphere lies at a depth of about . The LVZ also has a high seismic attenuation (seismic waves moving through the asthenosphere lose energy) and significant anisotropy (shear waves polarized vertically have a lower velocity than shear waves polarized horizontally). The discovery of the LVZ alerted seismologists to the existence of the asthenosphere and gave some information about its physical properties, as the speed of seismic waves decreases with decreasing rigidity.


title: Asthenosphere

text: This decrease in seismic wave velocity from the lithosphere to the asthenosphere could be caused by the presence of a very small percentage of melt in the asthenosphere, though since the asthenosphere transmits S waves, it cannot be fully melted.


title: Asthenosphere

text: In the oceanic mantle, the transition from the lithosphere to the asthenosphere (the LAB) is shallower than for the continental mantle (about 60 km in some old oceanic regions) with a sharp and large velocity drop (5–10%). At the mid-ocean ridges, the LAB rises to within a few kilometers of the ocean floor.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The upper part of the asthenosphere is believed to be the zone upon which the great rigid and brittle lithospheric plates of the Earth's crust move about. Due to the temperature and pressure conditions in the asthenosphere, rock becomes ductile, moving at rates of deformation measured in cm/yr over lineal distances eventually measuring thousands of kilometers. In this way, it flows like a convection current, radiating heat outward from the Earth's interior. Above the asthenosphere, at the same rate of deformation, rock behaves elastically and, being brittle, can break, causing faults. The rigid lithosphere is thought to "float" or move about on the slowly flowing asthenosphere, enabling isostatic equilibrium and allowing the movement of tectonic plates.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The asthenosphere extends from an upper boundary at approximately below the surface to a lower boundary at a depth of approximately .


title: Asthenosphere

text: The lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary (LAB) is relatively sharp and likely coincides with the onset of partial melting or a change in composition or anisotropy. Various definitions of the boundary reflect various aspects of the boundary region. In addition to the mechanical boundary defined by seismic data, which reflects the transition from rigid lithosphere to ductile asthenosphere, these include a thermal boundary layer, above which heat is transported by thermal conduction and below which heat is conduction largely by convection; a rheological boundary, where the viscosity drops below about 10 Pa-s; and a chemical boundary layer, above which the mantle rock is depleted in volatiles and enriched in magnesium relative to the rock below.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The lower boundary of the asthenosphere is less well defined, but has been placed at the base of the upper mantle. This boundary is neither seismically sharp nor well understood but is approximately coincident with the complex 670 km discontinuity. This discontinuity is generally linked to the transition from mantle rock containing ringwoodite to mantle rock containing bridgmanite and periclase.


title: Asthenosphere

text: The mechanical properties of the asthenosphere are widely attributed to partial melting of the rock. It is likely that a small amount of melt is present through much of the asthenosphere, where it is stabilized by the traces of volatiles (water and carbon dioxide) present in the mantle rock. However, the likely amount of melt, not more than about 0.1% of the rock, seems inadequate to fully explain the existence of the asthenosphere. This is not enough melt to fully wet grain boundaries in the rock, and the effects of melt on the mechanical properties of the rock are not expected to be significant if the grain boundaries are not fully wetted. The sharp lithosphere-asthenosphere boundary is also difficult to explain by partial melting alone. It is possible that melt accumulates at the top of the asthenosphere, where it is trapped by the impermeable rock of the lithosphere. Another possibility is that the asthenosphere is a zone of minimum water solubility in mantle minerals, so that more water is available to form greater quantities of melt. Another possible mechanism for producing mechanical weakness is grain boundary sliding, where grains slide slightly past each other under stress, lubricated by the traces of volatiles present.


title: Asthenosphere

text: Numerical models of mantle convection in which the viscosity is dependent both on temperature and strain rate reliably produce an oceanic asthenosphere, suggesting that strain-rate weakening is a significant contributing mechanism.


title: Asthenosphere

text: Decompression melting of asthenospheric rock creeping towards the surface is the most important source of magma on Earth. Most of this erupts at mid-ocean ridges to form the distinctive mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) of the ocean crust. Magmas are also generated by decompressional melting of the asthenosphere above subduction zones and in areas of continental rifting.


title: Asthenosphere

text: Decompression melting in upwelling asthenosphere likely begins at a depth as great as , where the small amounts of volatiles in the mantle rock (about 100 ppm of water and 60 ppm of carbon dioxide) assist in melting not more than about 0.1% of the rock. At a depth of about , dry melting conditions are reached and melting increases substantially. This dehydrates the remaining solid rock and is likely the origin of the chemically depleted lithosphere.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: Company Quartermaster Havildar Abdul Hamid, PVC (1 July 1933 – 10 September 1965), was an Indian Army soldier who posthumously received India's highest military decoration, the Param Vir Chakra, for his actions during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: Hamid joined the army in December 1954, and was posted to the 4th Battalion of the Grenadiers regiment. During the Sino-Indian War, his battalion participated in the battle of Namka Chu against the People's Liberation Army. During the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965, the 4 Grenadiers battalion was entrusted with a vital position before the village of Chima on the Khem Karan–Bhikhiwind line. At the Battle of Asal Uttar on 9–10 September 1965, Hamid destroyed eight Pakistani tanks and was killed destroying the ninth tank.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: He joined the Grenadiers regiment of the Indian Army on 27 December 1954. He was later posted to the regiment's 4th Battalion (formerly the 109th Infantry), where he served for the rest of his career. He served with the battalion in Agra, Amritsar, Jammu and Kashmir, Delhi, NEFA and Ramgarh.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: During the Sino-Indian War of 1962, Hamid's battalion was part of the 7th Infantry Brigade commanded by Brigadier John Dalvi and participated in the battle of Namka Chu against the People's Liberation Army. Surrounded and cut off, the battalion broke out on foot into Bhutan and on to Misamari. Second Lieutenant G. V. P. Rao was posthumously awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for his actions during the war; it was the highest gallantry award received by the battalion since Indian independence, until Hamid's commendation.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: As a prelude to Operation Gibraltar, Pakistan's strategy to infiltrate Jammu and Kashmir, and start a rebellion against Indian rule, Pakistani forces attempted a series of incursions across the Jammu and Kashmir border. From 5 to 10 August 1965, Indian troops uncovered a mass infiltration. Captured documents and prisoners revealed Pakistan's plans to capture Kashmir with a guerrilla attack were brought to light; about 30,000 guerrillas were trained by the Pakistanis for this purpose. For reasons which remain unknown, the guerrilla troops were dispersed, dissipated or destroyed and the action never took place. Haji Phir and Phir Saheba were captured by India in an attempt to eliminate the guerrilla bases, and Pakistan launched an offensive which captured Chhamb and Jourian. Indian Air Force bases in Amritsar were also attacked.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: In a counter-offensive, India launched operations across the international border. The 4th Infantry Division was charged with the capture of Pakistani territory east of the Ichogil Canal and the suppression of a possible attack along the Kasur–Khem Karan axis. After reaching the canal, the division awaited a Pakistani assault. 4 Grenadiers was entrusted with a vital position before the village of Chima on the Khem Karan–Bhikhiwind line.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: 4 Grenadiers arrived at midnight on 7–8 September, and had dug trenches by dawn. At 7:30am they heard the first rumbles of Pakistani tanks, which straddled the road an hour and a half later. Hamid led the Jonga-mounted recoilless rifle (RCLR) detachment of his battalion. The battalion held their fire until a tank away was hit by Hamid with his RCL gun, and Pakistani soldiers in the two following tanks fled. The Indians experienced artillery shelling at 11:30am, followed by another armour attack. Hamid knocked out another tank, and the Pakistani soldiers in the following tanks again fled. By the end of the day, an engineering company had laid anti-personnel and anti-tank mines around the Grenadiers' position.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: Their battalion was attacked by Pakistani Sabre jets at 9:00am on 9 September, with mass casualties. The Pakistanis made armoured attacks at 9:30, 11:30am and 2:30pm. By the evening, Hamid had knocked out four tanks. The battalion destroyed a total of 13 tanks, and many were abandoned. The Indians withdrew a squadron of Sherman tanks, which were ineffective against the US built Pakistani Patton tanks. Centurion tanks were also withdrawn to deploy them in a position more suitable for a tank battle. As a result, the 4 Grenadiers were left with only RCL guns and mines.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: On 10 September at about 8:00 am the first wave of three tanks, one leading and the other two following at a distance, arrived. Hamid knocked out another tank with his RCL gun. The Pakistanis attacked again with increased artillery support at 9:00 am, and Hamid destroyed another tank. Since his open jeep was vulnerable to the shelling, he moved to another position and ordered his men to take cover. Hamid and a Pakistani tank soon spotted each other. Alone and unable to change his position, he fired at the tank as it fired at him and he was killed instantly. The battalion suppressed further attacks by the Pakistanis, and the battle was a decisive Indian victory.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: For his actions at the Battle of Asal Uttar, Hamid was awarded the Param Vir Chakra on 10 September 1965. The official citation read:


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: A stamp commemorating Hamid was issued by India Post on 28 January 2000 as part of a set of five stamps honouring recipients of awards for gallantry. The stamp has a bust of Hamid and an illustration of a jeep with a recoilless rifle.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: Hamid's widow, Rasoolan Bibi, met Indian President Pratibha Patil in Lucknow in 2008 with requests to establish a military-recruiting center in his village, convert Hamid's home in Dullapur into a memorial, observe his death anniversary at the national level and help her grandchildren obtain government employment. Every year, there is big sports and culture fair is organized in asal uttar village on 9 September in the memory of Abdul Hamid A memorial to Hamid in his home village of Dhamupur which had fallen into disrepair was renovated in 2011 by the Flags of Honour Foundation for the 46th anniversary of his death. The renovation included a new statue of Hamid, repairs and painting of the gates and boundary, and improvements to the garden. Indian Member of Parliament Rajeev Chandrasekhar, founder of Flags of Honour, spoke on the occasion. On 10 September 2017, the 52nd anniversary of Hamid's death, then Chief of the Army Staff General Bipin Rawat unveiled a memorial in Ghazipur district.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: The tenth episode of "Param Vir Chakra", a 1988 TV series on the lives of Param Vir Chakra recipients, explored Hamid's actions on 10 September 1965. Hamid was played by Naseeruddin Shah, and the episode was directed by Chetan Anand.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: "Battle of Asal Uttar – Largest Tank Battle Since World War II" (2018) is a TV documentary which premièred on Veer by Discovery Channel series, Mission & Wars.


title: Abdul Hamid (soldier)

text: "Story of CQMH Abdul Hamid" released by the Indian Army detailing the events of the battle and his death.


title: Smartglasses

text: Smartglasses or smart glasses are eye or head-worn wearable computers that offer useful capabilities to the user. Many smartglasses include displays that add information alongside or to what the wearer sees. Alternatively, smartglasses are sometimes defined as glasses that are able to change their optical properties, such as smart sunglasses that are programmed to change tint by electronic means.


title: Smartglasses

text: Superimposing information onto a field of view is achieved through an optical head-mounted display (OHMD) or embedded wireless glasses with transparent heads-up display (HUD) or augmented reality (AR) overlay. These systems have the capability to reflect projected digital images as well as allowing the user to see through it or see better with it. While early models can perform basic tasks, such as serving as a front end display for a remote system, as in the case of smartglasses utilizing cellular technology or Wi-Fi, modern smart glasses are effectively wearable computers which can run self-contained mobile apps. Some are handsfree and can communicate with the Internet via natural language voice commands, while others use touch buttons.


title: Smartglasses

text: Like other computers, smartglasses may collect information from internal or external sensors. It may control or retrieve data from other instruments or computers. It may support wireless technologies like Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and GPS. A small number of models run a mobile operating system and function as portable media players to send audio and video files to the user via a Bluetooth or WiFi headset. Some smartglasses models also feature full lifelogging and activity tracker capability.


title: Smartglasses

text: Smartglasses devices may also have features found on a smartphone. Some have activity tracker functionality features (also known as ""fitness tracker"") as seen in some GPS watches.


title: Smartglasses

text: As with other lifelogging and activity tracking devices, the GPS tracking unit and digital camera of some smartglasses can be used to record historical data. For example, after the completion of a workout, data can be uploaded into a computer or online to create a log of exercise activities for analysis. Some smart watches can serve as full GPS navigation devices, displaying maps and current coordinates. Users can "mark" their current location and then edit the entry's name and coordinates, which enables navigation to those new coordinates.


title: Smartglasses

text: Although some smartglasses models manufactured in the 21st century are completely functional as standalone products, most manufacturers recommend or even require that consumers purchase mobile phone handsets that run the same operating system so that the two devices can be synchronized for additional and enhanced functionality. The smartglasses can work as an extension, for head-up display (HUD) or remote control of the phone and alert the user to communication data such as calls, SMS messages, emails, and calendar invites.


title: Smartglasses

text: Smart glasses could be used as a body camera. In 2018, Chinese police in Zhengzhou and Beijing were using smart glasses to take photos which are compared against a government database using facial recognition to identify suspects, retrieve an address, and track people moving beyond their home areas.


title: Smartglasses

text: Several proofs of concept for Google Glasses have been proposed in healthcare. In July 2013, Lucien Engelen started research on the usability and impact of Google Glass in health care. Engelen, who is based at Singularity University and in Europe at Radboud University Medical Center, is participating in the Glass Explorer program.


title: Smartglasses

text: Dr. Phil Haslam and Dr. Sebastian Mafeld demonstrated the first concept for Google Glass in the field of interventional radiology. They demonstrated the manner in which the concept of Google Glass could assist a liver biopsy and fistulaplasty, and the pair stated that Google Glass has the potential to improve patient safety, operator comfort, and procedure efficiency in the field of interventional radiology. In June 2013, surgeon Dr. Rafael Grossmann was the first person to integrate Google Glass into the operating theater, when he wore the device during a PEG (percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy) procedure. In August 2013, Google Glass was also used at Wexner Medical Center at Ohio State University. Surgeon Dr. Christopher Kaeding used Google Glass to consult with a colleague in a distant part of Columbus, Ohio. A group of students at The Ohio State University College of Medicine also observed the operation on their laptop computers. Following the procedure, Kaeding stated, "To be honest, once we got into the surgery, I often forgot the device was there. It just seemed very intuitive and fit seamlessly."


title: Smartglasses

text: 16 November 2013, in Santiago de Chile, the maxillofacial team led by Dr.gn Antonio Marino conducted the first orthognathic surgery assisted with Google Glass in Latin America, interacting with them and working with simultaneous three-dimensional navigation. The surgical team was interviewed by ADN radio. In January 2014, Indian Orthopedic Surgeon Selene G. Parekh conducted the foot and ankle surgery using Google Glass in Jaipur, which was broadcast live on Google website via the internet. The surgery was held during a three-day annual Indo-US conference attended by a team of experts from the US and co-organized by Ashish Sharma. Sharma said Google Glass allows looking at an X-Ray or MRI without taking the eye off of the patient and allows a doctor to communicate with a patient's family or friends during a procedure.


title: Smartglasses

text: In Australia, during January 2014, Melbourne tech startup Small World Social collaborated with the Australian Breastfeeding Association to create the first hands-free breastfeeding Google Glass application for new mothers. The application, named Google Glass Breastfeeding app trial, allows mothers to nurse their baby while viewing instructions about common breastfeeding issues (latching on, posture etc.) or call a lactation consultant via a secure Google Hangout, who can view the issue through the mother's Google Glass camera. The trial was successfully concluded in Melbourne in April 2014, and 100% of participants were breastfeeding confidently.


title: Smartglasses

text: Various techniques have existed for see-through HMDs. Most of these techniques can be summarized into two main families: "Curved Mirror" (or Curved Combiner) based and "Waveguide" or "Light-guide" based. The mirror technique has been used in EyeTaps, by Meta in their Meta 1, by Vuzix in their Star 1200 product, by Olympus, and by Laster Technologies.


title: Smartglasses

text: Various waveguide techniques have existed for some time. These techniques include diffraction optics, holographic optics, polarized optics, reflective optics, and projection:


title: Smartglasses

text: The Technical Illusions castAR uses a different technique with clear glass. The glasses have a projector, and the image is returned to the eye by a reflective surface.


title: Smartglasses

text: Smart sunglasses which are able to change their light filtering properties at runtime generally use liquid crystal technology. As lighting conditions change, for example when the user goes from indoors to outdoors, the brightness ratio also changes and can cause undesirable vision impairment. An attractive solution for overcoming this issue is to incorporate dimming filters into smart sunglasses which control the amount of ambient light reaching the eye. An innovative liquid crystal based component for use in the lenses of smart sunglasses is PolarView by LC-Tec. PolarView offers analog dimming control, with the level of dimming being adjusted by an applied drive voltage.


title: Smartglasses

text: Another type of smart sunglasses uses adaptive polarization filtering (ADF). ADF-type smart sunglasses can change their polarization filtering characteristics at runtime. For example, ADF-type smart sunglasses can change from horizontal polarization filtering to vertical polarization filtering at the touch of a button.


title: Smartglasses

text: The lenses of smart sunglasses can be manufactured out of multiple adaptive cells, therefore different parts of the lens can exhibit different optical properties. For example the top of the lens can be electronically configured to have different polarization filter characteristics and different opacity than the lower part of the lens.


title: Smartglasses

text: Head-mounted displays are not designed to be workstations, and traditional input devices such as keyboard and mouse do not support the concept of smartglasses. Instead Human Computer Interface (HCI) control input needs to be methods lend themselves to mobility and/or hands-free use are good candidates, for example:


title: Smartglasses

text: Analytics company IHS has estimated that the shipments of smart glasses may rise from just 50,000 units in 2012 to as high as 6.6 million units in 2016. According to a survey of more than 4,600 U.S. adults conducted by Forrester Research, around 12 percent of respondents are willing to wear Google Glass or other similar devices if it offers a service that piques their interest. Business Insider's BI Intelligence expects an annual sales of 21 million Google Glass units by 2018. Samsung and Microsoft are expected to develop their own version of Google Glass within six months with a price range of $200 to $500. Samsung has reportedly bought lenses from Lumus, a company based in Israel. Another source says Microsoft is negotiating with Vuzix. In 2006, Apple filed patent for its own HMD device. In July 2013, APX Labs founder and CEO Brian Ballard stated that he knows of 25 to 30 hardware companies which are working on their own versions of smartglasses, some of which APX is working with.


title: Smartglasses

text: In fact, there were only about 150K AR glasses shipped to customers through the world in 2016 despite the strong opinion of CEOs of leading tech companies that AR is entering our life. This outlines some serious technical limitations that prevent OEMs from offering a product that would balance functionality and customers’ desire not to wear daily a massive facial/cephalic device. The solution could be in transfer of battery, processing power and connectivity from the AR glasses frame to an external wire-connected device such as a smart necklace. This could allow development of AR glasses serving as display only – lite, cheap and stylish.


title: Smartglasses

text: In November 2012, Google Glass received recognition by "Time" Magazine as one of the "Best Inventions of the Year 2012", alongside inventions such as the Curiosity Rover. After a visit to the University of Cambridge by Google's chairman Eric Schmidt in February 2013, Wolfson College professor John Naughton praised the Google Glass and compared it with the achievements of hardware and networking pioneer Douglas Engelbart. Naughton wrote that Engelbart believed that machines "should do what machines do best, thereby freeing up humans to do what "they" do best". Lisa A. Goldstein, a freelance journalist who was born profoundly deaf, tested the product on behalf of people with disabilities and published a review on 6 August 2013. In her review, Goldstein states that Google Glass does not accommodate hearing aids and is not suitable for people who cannot understand speech. Goldstein also explained the limited options for customer support, as telephone contact was her only means of communication.


title: Smartglasses

text: In December 2013, David Datuna became the first artist to incorporate Google Glass into a contemporary work of art. The artwork debuted at a private event at The New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida, US and was moved to the Miami Design District for the public debut. Over 1500 people used Google Glass to experience Datuna's American flag from his "Viewpoint of Billions" series.


title: Smartglasses

text: After a negative public reaction, the retail availability of Google Glass ended in January 2015, and the company moved to focus on business customers in 2017.


title: Smartglasses

text: The EyeTap's functionality and minimalist appearance have been compared to Steve Mann's EyeTap, also known as "Glass" or "Digital Eye Glass", although Google Glass is a "Generation-1 Glass" compared to EyeTap, which is a "Generation-4 Glass". According to Mann, both devices affect both privacy and secrecy by introducing a two-sided surveillance and sousveillance. Concerns have been raised by various sources regarding the intrusion of privacy, and the etiquette and ethics of using the device in public and recording people without their permission. There is controversy that Google Glass would violate privacy rights due to security problems and others.


title: Smartglasses

text: Privacy advocates are concerned that people wearing such eyewear may be able to identify strangers in public using facial recognition, or surreptitiously record and broadcast private conversations. Some companies in the U.S. have posted anti-Google Glass signs in their establishments. In July 2013, prior to the official release of the product, Stephen Balaban, co-founder of software company Lambda Labs, circumvented Google’s facial recognition app block by building his own, non-Google-approved operating system. Balaban then installed face-scanning Glassware that creates a summary of commonalities shared by the scanned person and the Glass wearer, such as mutual friends and interests. Additionally, Michael DiGiovanni created Winky, a program that allows a Google Glass user to take a photo with a wink of an eye, while Marc Rogers, a principal security researcher at Lookout, discovered that Glass can be hijacked if a user could be tricked into taking a picture of a malicious QR code.


title: Smartglasses

text: Other concerns have been raised regarding legality of Google Glass in a number of countries, particularly in Russia, Ukraine, and other post-USSR countries. In February 2013, a Google+ user noticed legal issues with Google Glass and posted in the Google Glass community about the issues, stating that the device may be illegal to use according to the current legislation in Russia and Ukraine, which prohibits use of spy gadgets that can record video, audio or take photographs in an inconspicuous manner. Concerns were also raised in regard to the privacy and security of Google Glass users in the event that the device is stolen or lost, an issue that was raised by a US congressional committee. As part of its response to the governmental committee, Google stated in early July that is working on a locking system and raising awareness of the ability of users to remotely reset Google Glass from the web interface in the event of loss. Several facilities have banned the use of Google Glass before its release to the general public, citing concerns over potential privacy-violating capabilities. Other facilities, such as Las Vegas casinos, banned Google Glass, citing their desire to comply with Nevada state law and common gaming regulations which ban the use of recording devices near gambling areas.


title: Smartglasses

text: Concerns have also been raised on operating motor vehicles while wearing the device. On 31 July 2013 it was reported that driving while wearing Google Glass is likely to be banned in the UK, being deemed careless driving, therefore a fixed penalty offense, following a decision by the Department for Transport. In the U.S., West Virginia state representative Gary G. Howell introduced an amendment in March 2013 to the state's law against texting while driving that would include bans against "using a wearable computer with head mounted display." In an interview, Howell stated, "The primary thing is a safety concern, it [the glass headset] could project text or video into your field of vision. I think there's a lot of potential for distraction."


title: Smartglasses

text: In October 2013, a driver in California was ticketed for "driving with monitor visible to driver (Google Glass)" after being pulled over for speeding by a San Diego Police Department officer. The driver was reportedly the first to be ticketed for driving while wearing a Google Glass. While the judge noted that 'Google Glass fell under "the purview and intent" of the ban on driving with a monitor', the case was thrown out of court due to lack of proof the device was on at the time.


title: Smartglasses

text: Today most AR devices look bulky, and applications such as navigation, a real-time tourist guide, and recording, can drain smart glasses' batteries in about 1–4 hours. Battery life might be improved by using lower-power display systems (as with the Vaunt), wearing a battery pack elsewhere on the body (such as a belt pack or companion smart necklace).


title: John Megna

text: John Anthony Megna (November 9, 1952 – September 5, 1995) was an American actor, director and teacher. His best known role is that of "Dill" in the film "To Kill a Mockingbird".


title: John Megna

text: John Anthony Megna was born in Ozone Park, Queens, New York to Ralph W. Megna, a pharmacist, and Eleanor McGinley, a one-time nightclub singer. He was a half-brother of Connie Stevens and an ex-brother-in-law of Eddie Fisher, both famous singers. He attended Holy Cross High School in Flushing, New York.


title: John Megna

text: At age 6, Megna made his acting debut in Frank Loesser's Broadway musical "Greenwillow". At 7, he starred in "All the Way Home", an adaptation of James Agee's novel about the effect of a father's death on his family. This led to his being cast as Charles Baker "Dill" Harris, the toothy young summer visitor in the 1962 film "To Kill a Mockingbird". The character was based on writer Truman Capote, a childhood friend and later associate of Harper Lee, the author of the original novel.


title: John Megna

text: Megna appeared in many television programs throughout the 1960s and 1970s; he portrayed a near-blind child in the "Naked City" episode "A Horse Has a Big Head - Let Him Worry!", one of the "Onlies" in the "Miri" episode of "", Stephan in "I Spy" (1967), and Little Adam in the NASA-produced animated shorts "The Big World of Little Adam".


title: John Megna

text: His other film appearances include "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte" (1964), "" (1974), "The Boy in the Plastic Bubble" (1976) with John Travolta, and "Go Tell the Spartans" (1978) with Burt Lancaster. He also acted in two car-chase films starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Hal Needham – "Smokey and the Bandit II" (1980) and "The Cannonball Run" (1981).


title: John Megna

text: As an adult, he turned to directing plays. He was the founding director of L.A. Arts, a nonprofit theater group in Los Angeles. He later became a high school English teacher, and last taught at James Monroe High School in North Hills, California. He also taught Honors English at Hollenbeck Jr High in Boyle Heights.


title: John Megna

text: John Megna was one of the first actors to come out as gay in the 1960s. He died from AIDS-related complications on September 5, 1995, at Midway Hospital in Los Angeles at the age of 42.


title: Samsung DeX

text: Samsung DeX (stylized as SΛMSUNG DeX) is a feature included on some high-end Samsung handheld devices that enables users to extend their device into a desktop-like experience by connecting a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. The name ""DeX"" is a contraction of ""Desktop eXperience"".


title: Samsung DeX

text: Samsung first included the DeX feature on Samsung's Galaxy S8 and S8+ smartphones, and has continued to support the feature on all of its latest flagship smartphones, including the Galaxy S9, S10, S20, S21, S22, Note8, Note9 and Note10 series and Note20 series. The Galaxy A90 5G is the first Galaxy A phone with DeX support. It has also been introduced on several high-end tablets, including the Galaxy Tab S4, S5e, Tab S6, Tab S6 Lite, Tab S7 FE, Tab S7 and S7+.


title: Samsung DeX

text: In 2017, the original version of DeX was released, which required the use of a proprietary docking accessory called the DeX Station. This provided a USB-C port, ethernet, HDMI 2.0 output and two USB 2.0 ports.


title: Samsung DeX

text: In August 2018 with the launch of the Note 9, Samsung introduced the DeX HDMI adapter (USB-C to female HDMI), DeX cable (USB-C to male HDMI) and DeX multiport adapter, which whilst still proprietary and containing active electronics, eliminated the need for the previous docking accessories. This design enabled the cell phone to lie flat and function as a touchpad or even continue being used as a phone in its usual fashion whilst being connected to a display and with DeX operating.


title: Samsung DeX

text: Also in 2018, Samsung released the DeX PAD. This provided a USB-C port, HDMI and two USB ports. This design enabled the cell phone to lay flat and function as a touchpad or even continue being used as a phone in its usual fashion whilst being connected to a display and with DeX operating.


title: Samsung DeX

text: Since 2019, with the Note 10 and Galaxy Fold, DeX can now be launched via a direct cable connection to a physical computer using the existing provided charging cable or any similar off-the-shelf USB-C cable with data transfer, eliminating the need for any proprietary docking accessories.


title: Samsung DeX

text: Samsung also announced "Linux on Galaxy" (since renamed to "Linux on DeX") which allows use of a compatible Linux distribution rather than the default Android OS giving full personal computer capabilities.


title: Samsung DeX

text: The DeX Desktop can also be accessed with a downloadable app for Windows and macOS or through third party accessories. Users are able to connect to their mobile devices with a USB Cable. As of April 2022, MacOS and Windows 7 are no longer supported.


title: Samsung DeX

text: Samsung DeX devices can be managed by Samsung Knox (3.3 and higher) to allow or restrict access using the Knox platform for added control and security.


title: Samsung DeX

text: In October 2019 Samsung announced that Linux on DeX will not be available for Android 10 and warned users that after upgrade to Android 10 they will not be able to downgrade back, permanently losing the ability to use full Linux applications.


title: Samsung DeX

text: In 2020, wireless Dex was introduced, enabling Note 9 and newer phones to use MiraCast to project the desktop experience to a PC previously connected via USB or a wireless monitor/TV.


title: Samsung DeX

text: A few manufacturers (NexDock, HP, UPerfect and others) have created “LapDocks”, which are essentially laptop shells with no CPU, RAM, Disk or OS. They function as an external monitor, keyboard and trackpad while supplying power to the phone.


title: Astro (television)

text: All-Asian Satellite Television and Radio Operator, doing business as Astro, is a Malaysian satellite television and IPTV provider. It operates in Malaysia and Brunei and operates from the All Asia Broadcast Centre (AABC) in Kuala Lumpur and MEASAT in Cyberjaya. In 2016, the company was recorded as achieving 71% household penetration in Malaysia. It was granted an exclusive license as the sole pay-television provider by the Malaysian federal government until 2017. Astro is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Astro Malaysia Holdings Berhad and is operated by MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn. Bhd.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro launched the high-definition platform Astro B.yond in 2009 and the IPTV platform Astro IPTV in 2011, with the latter targeted at consumers who were unable to receive the company's satellite services.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro formerly operated in Indonesia from 2006 to 2008, under the brand and was operated by PT Direct Vision.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro has been criticised for its monopolistic practices in which it has become the dominant paid television service in Malaysia while its competitors ABNXcess, Mega TV, and MiTV were not able to compete against Astro and became defunct after Astro's launch. Astro was the sole paid television operator in Malaysia until 2017 when another competitor, Telekom Malaysia's Unifi TV, emerged as a strong cord-cutting alternative.


title: Astro (television)

text: The Malaysian government's plan to regulate Android-based set-top boxes in 2019 raised concerns that Astro's dominance over the country's television content market would be enhanced. While Astro's exclusive rights to Malaysian broadcast content expired in 2017, the company continues to have non-exclusive broadcast privileges under the Communications and Multimedia Act 1998. Starting in 2022, the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission will provide Content Applications Service Provider (CASP) licenses to 35 broadcasting companies, four of which are approved to deliver content via satellite television.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro has also enjoyed control of the broadcasting rights for sports events, including all Liga Super and Piala Malaysia events, and the FIFA World Cup 2014 and 2018. Competitors were restricted from airing those events, or were required by regulators to pay excessive royalties to Astro. The high royalty fees were criticised by Jeremy Kung, executive vice president of TM New Media, who argued that sports content on free-to-air television channels should be made available to public for free. Former Information, Communications, Arts and Culture minister Rais Yatim urged the media groups who had exclusive rights to major sports events to share their content to free-to-air television channels. Pakatan Harapan youth chief Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad argued that the rights to broadcast English Premier League should be co-licensed with Radio Television Malaysia instead of restricted to Astro.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro's short-lived Indonesian operations were also subject of investigation by Indonesian regulators, and accusations by rival providers, over allegations of the company also monopolizing Premier League rights in the country.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro has been criticised for raising its service prices and imposing penalty fees on customers. In 2007, Astro raised its service fee about 15% and converted previously free channels like Bloomberg, Al Jazeera English, and CGTN into paid channels. Anyone who attempted to drop such service packages was charged a fee. Malaysiakini reporter Cheah Kah Seng encouraged customers to protest against the price hikes and provided instructions on how to do so. Due to broadcasting rights it has received from the Malaysian government, Astro raised its fees several more times in the following years, while consumers had fewer competitive alternatives.


title: Astro (television)

text: Astro often shows commercials on premium channels for which consumers paid for an ad-free experience. Customers who use the Astro personal video recorder (PVR), Astro MAX, have reported performance problems and difficulty in recording certain channels.


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: "If You Don't Know Me by Now" is a song written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and recorded by the Philadelphia soul musical group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes. It became their first hit after being released as a single in September 1972, topping the US R&B chart and peaking at number 3 on the US "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: "If You Don't Know Me by Now" was originally written for Labelle (a trio led by Patti LaBelle) but they never recorded it. The song's composers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff gave it to Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, which featured Teddy Pendergrass as lead vocalist,


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: and the actual background vocals done by producers Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff, Carl Helm, and Bunny Sigler. In addition to the single release, the track was included on their debut album "I Miss You".


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: Patti LaBelle later made the song part of her concert repertoire in 1982; a live version appears on her 1985 album, "Patti".


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: "If You Don't Know Me by Now" has since been recorded by a number of other artists, most notably the English pop and soul band Simply Red, who took their version to number one on the "Billboard" Hot 100 in 1989.


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: Simply Red's version of "If You Don't Know Me by Now" was a major commercial success on the charts in 1989, giving the band their second US number one (also topping the Adult Contemporary chart), and peaking at number 38 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. This version also won the Grammy Award for the Best R&B Song of 1989. The track was also a number-one hit in Australia and New Zealand; in the latter country, it was the best-selling single of 1989. It reached number 2 in the UK, becoming the band's second top-10 hit after the re-issue of "Holding Back the Years" in 1986, which also reached number 2.


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: According to the producer Stewart Levine, he didn't want too much orchestration on the record, and went with a two-part harmony instead of a three-part harmony. Mick Hucknall admitted he loved Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes' version, and stated he danced to their music when he was 13.


title: If You Don't Know Me by Now

text: This version can be heard in the films "American Psycho" (2000) and Class Action (1991) and appears in the game "Karaoke Revolution Presents: American Idol". It is also available to download for the Xbox 360 game "Lips", which contains the music video.


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The ancient Roman units of measurement were primarily founded on the Hellenic system, which in turn was influenced by the Egyptian system and the Mesopotamian system. The Roman units were comparatively consistent and well documented.


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The basic unit of Roman linear measurement was the pes or Roman foot (plural: "pedes"). Investigation of its relation to the English foot goes back at least to 1647, when John Greaves published his "Discourse on the Romane foot". Greaves visited Rome in 1639, and measured, among other things, the foot measure on the tomb of Titus Statilius Aper, that on the statue of Cossutius formerly in the gardens of Angelo Colocci, the congius of Vespasian previously measured by Villalpandus, a number of brass measuring-rods found in the ruins of Rome, the paving-stones of the Pantheon and many other ancient Roman buildings, and the distance between the milestones on the Appian Way. He concluded that the Cossutian foot was the "true" Roman foot, and reported these values compared to the iron standard of the English foot in the Guildhall in London


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: Smith (1851) gives a value of 0.9708 English feet, or about 295.9 mm. An accepted modern value is 296 mm.


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The Roman foot was sub-divided either like the Greek "pous" into 16 "digiti" or fingers; or into 12 "unciae" or inches. Frontinus writes in the 1st century AD that the "digitus" was used in Campania and most parts of Italy. The principal Roman units of length were:


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: Other units include the schoenus (from the Greek for "rush rope") used for the distances in Isidore of Charax's "Parthian Stations" (where it had a value around ) and in the name of the Nubian land of Triacontaschoenus between the First and Second Cataracts on the Nile (where it had a value closer to ).


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: Other units of area described by Columella in his "De Re Rustica" include the "porca" of 180 × 30 Roman feet (about ) used in Hispania Baetica and the Gallic "candetum" or "cadetum" of 100 feet in the city or 150 in the country. Columella also gives uncial divisions of the "jugerum", tabulated by the anonymous translator of the 1745 Millar edition as follows:


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: Both liquid and dry volume measurements were based on the sextarius. The sextarius was defined as of a cubic foot, known as an amphora quadrantal. Using the value for the Roman foot, an amphora quadrantal can be computed at approximately , so a sextarius (by the same method) would theoretically measure , which is about 95% of an imperial pint (568.26125 ml).


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: Archaeologically, however, the evidence is not as precise. No two surviving vessels measure an identical volume, and scholarly opinion on the actual volume ranges between and .


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The units of weight or mass were mostly based on factors of 12. Several of the unit names were also the names of coins during the Roman Republic and had the same fractional value of a larger base unit: libra for weight and as for coin. Modern estimates of the libra range from with 5076 grains or an accepted figure. The "as" was reduced from 12 ounces to 2 after the First Punic War, to 1 during the Second Punic War, and to half an ounce by the 131 BC Lex Papiria.


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The complicated Roman calendar was replaced by the Julian calendar in 45 BC. In the Julian calendar, an ordinary year is 365 days long, and a leap year is 366 days long. Between 45 BC and AD 1, leap years occurred at irregular intervals. Starting in AD 4, leap years occurred regularly every four years. Year numbers were rarely used; rather, the year was specified by naming the Roman consuls for that year. (As consuls' terms latterly ran from January to December, this eventually caused January, rather than March, to be considered the start of the year.) When a year number was required, the Greek Olympiads were used, or the count of years since the founding of Rome, "ab urbe condita" in 753 BC. In the Middle Ages, the year numbering was changed to the Anno Domini count.


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The calendar used in most of the modern world, the Gregorian calendar, differs from the Julian calendar in that it skips three leap years every four centuries to more closely approximate the length of the tropical year.


title: Ancient Roman units of measurement

text: The Romans grouped days into an eight-day cycle called the , with every eighth day being a market day.