text: All have county councils. This definition of "shire county" excludes Berkshire because it has no county council. The counties are less urbanised and have populations of 109,000 to 1.4 million. Under local government reforms coming into effect in 2009, the number of such counties was reduced. The non-metropolitan counties of Bedfordshire and Cheshire were each split into two separate non-metropolitan counties, while Cornwall, County Durham, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire became unitary authorities.


title: Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties of England

text: 52 are coterminous with a non-metropolitan county, 43 of which are defined as counties with a single district council and no county council: "Bath and North East Somerset, Bedford, Blackburn with Darwen, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Christchurch & Poole, Brighton and Hove, Bristol, Central Bedfordshire, Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Darlington, Derby, East Riding of Yorkshire, Halton, Hartlepool, Kingston upon Hull, Leicester, Luton, Medway, Middlesbrough, Borough of Milton Keynes, North East Lincolnshire, North Lincolnshire, North Northamptonshire, North Somerset, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Portsmouth, Redcar and Cleveland, Rutland, South Gloucestershire, Southampton, Southend-on-Sea, Stockton-on-Tees, Stoke-on-Trent, Swindon, Telford and Wrekin, Thurrock, Torbay, Warrington, West Northamptonshire, York". The other 9 are technically counties with a county council and no district councils, but the effect is the same: "Buckinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Cornwall, Dorset, Durham, Herefordshire, Northumberland, Shropshire and Wiltshire"


text: The remaining 6 unitary authorities ("West Berkshire, Reading, Wokingham, Bracknell Forest, Windsor and Maidenhead, Slough") form Berkshire, however they are not non-metropolitan counties, as the non-metropolitan county of Berkshire still exists albeit without a county council; this is a unique situation.


text: The Local Government Act 1972 created the system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties and districts, but specifically excluded two parts of England from the new system, a situation which exists to the present.


text: Greater London was created in 1965 by the London Government Act 1963 as a "sui generis" administrative area, with the Greater London Council functioning as an upper-tier local government. It consists of 33 local authority districts and spans the area which was prior made up of the County of London, most of Middlesex, and parts of other neighbouring administrative counties. In 1972, no metropolitan or non-metropolitan counties or districts were created in this area. However, the council was abolished along with the metropolitan county councils in 1986.


text: In 1994, Greater London was designated as one of nine regions of England, each of which had a government office up until they were abolished 2011. Since 2000, Greater London has had an elected Assembly and Mayor responsible for strategic local government. In the other eight regions, plans for elected assemblies were abandoned (although they had regional chambers with limited functions between 1999 and 2010), leaving London as the only region with a conterminous authority.


text: The area does however include two counties for the purposes of lieutenancies (informally known as "ceremonial counties"): the county of Greater London (which covers the 32 London boroughs) and the City of London (which covers the City, that is, the original walled "square mile").


text: The Isles of Scilly are, like Greater London, not covered by the system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties. The Council of the Isles of Scilly remains a district council (constituted in 1890, by way of the Local Government Act 1888) with county council powers (granted by the Isles of Scilly Order 1930) and is therefore a "sui generis" unitary authority. Some functions, such as health and economic development, are shared with Cornwall Council, and the islands form part of the ceremonial county of Cornwall.


text: The current system of metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties came into effect on 1 April 1974 and replaced the administrative counties and county boroughs, which were abolished at that time. Greater London was created in 1965 under separate legislation, which also led to small parts of Middlesex transferred to Surrey and Hertfordshire.


text: In the 1990s, a new type of non-metropolitan county was created: the unitary authority, which combines the functions and powers of county and district. The existing non-metropolitan counties became known as shire counties to distinguish them from the unitary authorities.


text: By the late 1960s, it had become obvious that the structure of local government in England and Wales needed reforming. Harold Wilson's Labour government set up the Redcliffe-Maud Commission to produce proposals for wholesale reform.


text: The report proposed that for most of England the two-tier structure be abolished, and replaced with a system of 58 unitary authorities, which would generally ignore the previous administrative boundaries in favour of changes that made geographic sense - a total redrawing of the map. In the South of Lancashire, North East of Cheshire and the Birmingham area, there would be 3 metropolitan areas, with 20 district authorities.


text: These proposals were opposed by the Conservative Party opposition led by Edward Heath. They won the 1970 general election, and set to work defining their own scheme. This scrapped the concept of unitary authorities (even for existing county boroughs) – the entire area of England and Wales was to be divided into uniform counties and districts. In England the new divisions were to be largely modelled on the existing counties with quite radical reforms put forward, even in some non-metropolitan areas.


text: Despite reassurances from the government that nobody's loyalties were expected to change as a result of the local government reform, many changes did incur significant local opposition. Most of the radical changes were withdrawn. One aspect the government stood firm on was the mergers of small counties. Campaigns for the continuation of Rutland and Herefordshire were unsuccessful, although due to its special geographic circumstances, the Isle of Wight was permitted to retain a separate county council, as opposed to being reunified with its historic county of Hampshire.


text: The Local Government Act was passed in 1972, and defined the English counties and metropolitan districts, but not the non-metropolitan districts. These were set by a Boundary Commission that had already begun work.


text: The changes were adopted by the Royal Mail for the purposes of postal addresses wherever they were able, with the notable exceptions of Hereford and Worcester and Greater Manchester. Humberside was divided for this purpose into North Humberside and South Humberside.


text: In 1986, the county councils of the metropolitan counties and the Greater London Council were abolished by Margaret Thatcher's government following disputes with central government, but the counties themselves remained legally in existence.


text: The 1990s led to the restoration of county boroughs under a new name, unitary authorities, which radically changed the administrative map of England. The changes were carried out in several waves.


text: On 1 April 1995, the Isle of Wight became a single unitary authority. It had previously had a two-tier structure with an Isle of Wight County Council, Medina Borough Council and South Wight Borough Council. Also on this day, two small areas were ceded from Surrey and Buckinghamshire to Berkshire, giving it a border with Greater London.


text: On 1 April 1996, the unpopular counties of Avon, Humberside and Cleveland were abolished and their former area divided into unitary districts. Also at this time, the city of York was expanded and separated from North Yorkshire.


text: On 1 April 1997, the districts of Bournemouth, Darlington, Derby, Leicester, Luton, Milton Keynes, Poole, Portsmouth, Rutland, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent and Swindon (based on the former Thamesdown district) became unitary authorities. Also, the districts of Brighton and Hove were merged to form the new unitary authority of Brighton and Hove.


text: On 1 April 1998, Blackburn with Darwen (based on the former Blackburn district), Blackpool, Halton, Nottingham, Peterborough, Plymouth, Southend-on-Sea, Telford and Wrekin (based on the former Wrekin district), Torbay, Thurrock and Warrington became unitary authorities. Also, the districts of Rochester-upon-Medway and Gillingham were merged to form the new unitary authority of Medway, and the county of Hereford and Worcester was abolished and replaced by the unitary authority of Herefordshire and the shire county of Worcestershire. Berkshire was split into six unitary authorities, but not formally abolished.


text: The effect was that Bedfordshire and Cheshire became ceremonial counties that do not correspond to a non-metropolitan county of the same name.


title: Ankur Rathee

text: Ankur Rathee (born 24 March 1991) is an Indo-American actor. He is best known for his role in the Amazon Prime Video show "Four More Shots Please" (2019-2020).


title: Ankur Rathee

text: Ankur was born in Hisar, Haryana. He graduated from Princeton University where he trained under Tony Award winner John Rando, Tony Award nominee Leigh Silverman, and Academy Award nominee Christina Lazaridi. He also briefly studied filmmaking at USC School of Cinematic Arts. After graduation, Ankur worked in New York City for an advertising technology firm before quitting his job and pursuing acting full-time.


title: Ankur Rathee

text: As a student, Ankur was an active member of musical theater productions, a cappella groups, and dance companies. He began his professional acting career in New York City with short films and off-Broadway theater. In 2018, he found his way back to the stage, alongside Ila Arun and K. K. Raina, as the lead in Tammy Ryan's, Baby's Blues which premiered at the National Centre for the Performing Arts. However, it was his portrayal of Arjun Nair, the young intern opposite Kirti Kulhari, in Four More Shots Please! that first garnered him notable recognition. That same year he played Arjun Mathur’s gay love interest in another Amazon Prime series, "Made in Heaven". Ankur made his feature film debut with veteran actor Naseeruddin Shah in The Tashkent Files. In 2020, he was back on the big screen again with Taapsee Pannu in Thappad and with Jim Sarbh in Taish. Ankur went on to book his first lead roles with the crime thriller series, Undekhi, and the Marathi film, Nirmal En Route. He also portrayed the role of Indian freedom fighter, Bhagat Singh, in the film Sarabha: Cry for Freedom.


title: Ankur Rathee

text: Ankur is married to actress Anuja Joshi since 2022, daughter of child artist, Master Alankar, and niece of Pallavi Joshi. In the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, Ankur drove 4,500 kilometers cross-country to propose on 19 July 2020.


title: Misty (TV series)

text: Misty () is a 2018 South Korean television series starring Kim Nam-joo and Ji Jin-hee. The series marks Kim Nam-joo's small screen comeback after six years. It aired on JTBC's Fridays and Saturdays at 23:00 (KST) time slot from February 2 to March 24, 2018.


title: Misty (TV series)

text: Go Hye-ran (Kim Nam-joo) becomes the prime suspect in a murder case. Her husband Kang Tae-wook (Ji Jin-hee) ends up being her legal counsel despite their marriage being on the rocks.


title: Jennifer Gibney

text: Jennifer Gibney (born 7 July 1964) is an Irish actress. She is best known for playing Cathy Brown in the BBC television sitcom, "Mrs. Brown's Boys".


title: Jennifer Gibney

text: Gibney appears in "Mrs. Brown's Boys" as the daughter of Agnes Brown, played by her real-life husband, Brendan O'Carroll.


title: Jennifer Gibney

text: Gibney started work as a civil servant in the Irish tax office for seven years, and then joined the Bank of Ireland. She studied for a drama degree while at the bank and joined the company's amateur dramatics group. She trained to be an actress at Dublin Oscar Theatre School, gaining her first professional acting role in 1996, with a minor part in "Some Mother's Son", a film starring Helen Mirren.


title: Jennifer Gibney

text: In 2014, Gibney took part in the twelfth series of "Strictly Come Dancing". She was partnered with Irish professional, Tristan MacManus. She was voted off in week three of the series after dancing to ABBA's Mamma Mia on Movie Week. She competed in the bottom two against Blue star Simon Webbe and his partner Kristina Rihanoff.


title: Jennifer Gibney

text: Gibney has been married to Brendan O'Carroll since 2005 and has three stepchildren: Fiona, Danny—who also appear in "Mrs. Brown's Boys"—and Eric.


title: Down with the Sickness

text: "Down with the Sickness" is a song by American heavy metal band Disturbed. It was recorded in 1999 and released as the second single from the band's debut studio album, "The Sickness". "Down with the Sickness" is one of Disturbed's best-known songs and is a concert staple, usually played as the last song. This was Disturbed's first single to be certified platinum in the United States by the Recording Industry Association of America.


title: Down with the Sickness

text: "Down With the Sickness" is a nu metal song that features an unusual "ooh-wah-ah-ah-ah" staccato noise from Disturbed's singer David Draiman at the end of the intro, which reappears before the last chorus.


title: Down with the Sickness

text: Draiman has stated the sound was made possible by effects on his vocal cords after receiving surgery for acid reflux, but he has dismissed the rumor the noise was actually caused by heartburn, further explaining, "I mean the song originally was written and just had a pause. Mikey's beat is just so tribal and you know it just made me feel like an animal... [The noise] came out one day."


title: Down with the Sickness

text: Guitarist Dan Donegan has mentioned that the tuning for the guitar "is drop C-sharp... your bottom five strings are half a step down and your low string will be dropped to C-sharp." This is sometimes referred to as "E Drop D", the most common drop tuning for bands who play generally in E standard instead of E standard.


title: Down with the Sickness

text: A spoken segment near the end of the song describes a child who is physically abused by his mother and who ultimately retaliates. This segment is somewhat controversial and music critics sometimes express a negative opinion of its inclusion in the song. For example, Leor Galil of the "Chicago Reader" opined, "Yet I still find it hard to believe that the megasingle 'Down With the Sickness,' with its vocal breakdown in which front man David Draiman crudely describes being beaten by his mom (and vice versa), guided the band on to a path that's resulted in four albums topping the "Billboard" 200."


title: Down with the Sickness

text: However, the band has disavowed that this song is about literal child abuse, and that it is instead about a metaphoric abuse. Lead singer David Draiman explained to the "Phoenix New Times":


title: Down with the Sickness

text: ...the screamed psychodramas in metal hits like "Down With The Sickness" ... are merely "inspired" by personal history, not a literal journal of his own tortured upbringing. "I'm really talking about the conflict between the mother culture of society, who's beating down the child yearning for independence and individuality, and the submission of the child."


title: Down with the Sickness

text: A music video composed of live concert footage was produced for the song. The song is known for its segment which features a boy being attacked and abused by his mother, which was not featured in the music video. The music video was recorded at the "Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre" (at the time the Tweeter Center) in Tinley Park, Illinois during Q101's Jamboree 2001.


title: NCIS (season 4)

text: The fourth season of the police procedural drama "NCIS" was originally broadcast between September 19, 2006, and May 22, 2007. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs left NCIS at the end of season three after a terrorist attack had been successful because his superiors did not heed his warnings in time. The team is now led by Anthony DiNozzo for a short time until Gibbs' eventual return. New characters introduced in this season are Michelle Lee, who was briefly on DiNozzo's team and was transferred to the legal department upon Gibbs' return, and (already in the final episodes of season 3) Gibbs' former boss and mentor Mike Franks, both as recurring characters. Also, albeit later in the season, Army CID Lieutenant Colonel Hollis Mann is introduced as another love interest for Gibbs.


title: NCIS (season 4)

text: In December 2006, Bill Keveney from "USA Today" announced that the "CBS investigative drama "NCIS" topped the Nielsen viewership list for the first time with 17.4 million. CBS was the No. 1 network in viewers and young adults (ages 18 to 49) for the week of Dec. 11–17."


title: NCIS (season 4)

text: "TV Guide" reported on May 5, 2007, that creator and showrunner Donald Bellisario would step down and leave the series due to a disagreement with series star Mark Harmon. Because of Bellisario's "chaotic management style", Harmon threatened to leave NCIS. Co-executive producer Chas. Floyd Johnson and head writer Shane Brennan replaced Bellisario as showrunner.


title: Union List

text: The Union List, also known as List-I, is a list of 97 numbered items (after 101st Constitutional amendment act 2016, entry 92 and 92c removed) given in Seventh Schedule in the Constitution of India on which Parliament has exclusive power to legislate. The legislative section is divided into three lists: the Union List, State List and Concurrent List. In India, residual powers remain with the Central Government. This makes the government of India similar to the Canadian federal government, and different from the governments of the United States, Switzerland, or Australia.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The Chorus (, literally "The Choristers" or "The Choirboys") is a 2004 French musical drama film directed by Christophe Barratier. Co-written by Barratier and , it is an adaptation of the 1945 film "A Cage of Nightingales" ("La Cage aux rossignols"). The story is inspired by the origin of the boys' choir The Little Singers of Paris.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: At the 77th Academy Awards, "The Chorus" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Song (the latter for ""Vois sur ton chemin"", listed as "Look to Your Path", composed by Bruno Coulais).


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: In 2003, Pierre Morhange (Jacques Perrin), a French conductor performing in the United States, is informed before a concert that his mother has died. After the performance he returns to his home in France for her funeral. An old friend named Pépinot (Didier Flamand) arrives at his door with a diary which belonged to their teacher, Clément Mathieu. They proceed to read it together.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: In 1949, fifty-four years earlier, Clément Mathieu (Gérard Jugnot), a failed musician, arrives at Fond de l'Étang ("Bottom of the Pond"), a French boarding school for troubled boys of all ages, to work as a supervisor and teacher. At the gate, he sees a very young boy, Pépinot (Maxence Perrin), waiting for Saturday, when he says his father will pick him up. The viewers later learn that his parents were killed in the Second World War during the Nazi occupation of France, but Pépinot does not know this.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: Mathieu discovers the boys being ruthlessly punished by the very strict headmaster, Rachin (François Berléand) and attempts to use humour and kindness to win them over. When a booby trap set by one of the boys, LeQuerrec, injures the school's elderly caretaker, Maxence (Jean-Paul Bonnaire), Mathieu keeps the culprit's identity from the headmaster, while encouraging LeQuerrec to nurse Maxence during his recovery.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: On discovering the boys singing rude songs about him, Mathieu forms a plan: he will teach them to sing and form a choir as a form of discipline. He groups the boys according to their voice types, but one student, Pierre Morhange (Jean-Baptiste Maunier), refuses to sing. Mathieu catches Morhange singing to himself, discovers he has a wonderful singing voice and awards him solo parts on the condition that he behaves.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: Morhange's single mother, Violette (Marie Bunel), arrives at the school. When Mathieu goes to explain that Morhange cannot be visited because he has been locked up as a punishment, he finds himself pitying and being attracted to the boy's beleaguered mother and instead tells her that Morhange is at the dentist. Meanwhile, a cruel, uncontrollable boy named Mondain () arrives and begins causing trouble by bullying the others, influencing others to be like him and generally being rebellious. After stealing a watch, he is locked up for two weeks.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The choir is improving rapidly with Morhange as its lead soloist; the children are happier, and the faculty less strict — even Rachin begins to loosen up, playing football with the boys and making a paper aeroplane. After Mondain is released from lock-up, he runs away and seemingly steals all the school's money. After Mondain is captured, Rachin repeatedly beats him, until Mondain in turn attempts to strangle Rachin. Rachin hands him over to the police, still not knowing the location of the stolen money, and disbands the choir. Mathieu begins teaching his choir "underground", practising at night in their dormitory.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: Mathieu continues to meet Morhange's mother, who is unaware of his attraction to her. He plans to help her son win a scholarship to the music conservatory in Lyon. One day she blithely informs him that she has met someone: an engineer. Mathieu is dejected but expresses his feigned happiness and watches her leave in the engineer's car.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The Countess, a sponsor of the school, finds out about the choir; they perform before her and others, and Morhange enchants the audience with his solo. Mathieu discovers that another boy, Corbin, stole the money that Mondain was accused of taking. Despite this, Rachin refuses to accept Mondain back at the school.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: When Rachin departs to accept an award from the board after taking credit for the choir, Mathieu and Maxence suspend classes and take the boys on an outing. While they are out, Mondain returns and sets fire to the school. Mathieu is fired for breaking the rules, even though he saved the boys' lives, and Maxence is suspended. As Mathieu leaves, the boys —forbidden to say goodbye — lock themselves in their classroom, sing and throw farewell messages out of the window on paper planes. Touched, Mathieu walks away, musing about how he has failed and nobody knows of his existence.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: Back in the present, the adult Morhange finishes reading the diary and recounts what happened afterwards: he won his scholarship to the conservatory, and Rachin was fired after his fellow teachers exposed his abuse towards the students. Mathieu, Pépinot relates, continued to give music lessons quietly for the rest of his life.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The final scene (in the past again) shows Mathieu waiting for his bus after being fired. As he boards it, he looks back and finds Pépinot running after him, insisting that he come too. Initially, Mathieu refuses because it is not allowed, and he leaves Pépinot behind. Suddenly, the bus stops and Mathieu gives in: the two board the bus together. Pépinot finally got his wish, for he and Mathieu left on a Saturday, and Mathieu raised him.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: After making the short film "Les Tombales", director Christophe Barratier was looking for a subject for his first feature film. He noticed that many of his ideas were linked to his childhood, and the emotions he felt between the ages of four and eight. Coming from a musical background, he also wanted to tell a story linked to music. The themes of childhood and music made him think of the film "La Cage aux rossignols", which he had seen on television at a young age and which "touched [him] profoundly". Barratier told his idea to Gérard Jugnot, whom he had known for quite a long time and with whom he shared a taste for old French cinema and actors such as Noël-Noël; Jugnot liked it but thought that the film would have to be set in the past, otherwise his character would be transformed into someone who "teaches rapping in the suburbs". Barratier said he did not think about setting the film in the present time because "Clément Mathieu [would have] other priorities, he would have nothing in common with a 1950s music teacher". Barratier then began writing the script; Jugnot said that the first version somewhat "lacked roughness", and co-writer Philippe Lopes-Curval got involved. He collaborated with Barratier to strengthen the story and develop the psychology of characters such as Rachin—for whom the children are "the symbol of a failed professional life"—and Chabert.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The director was keen that the role of the young Pierre Morhange should be played by a real singer, and the search for him was tedious. While touring large French choirs to choose the one to record the film's soundtrack, they discovered the 12-year-old Jean-Baptiste Maunier of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc: Barratier described his voice as "exceptional and very moving", and composer Bruno Coulais said it was "incredible". They decided to cast him as Morhange and use the choir for the soundtrack, but that the rest of the choir would not play his classmates because the director did not want them to be professional actors. Instead, they looked for children near the filming location in Auvergne: casting director Sylvie Brocheré visited primary and secondary schools in Clermont-Ferrand, looking for children between the ages of six and 15. After over 2000 auditions, the roles were cast. Of all the children, only the Parisians Théodule Carré Cassaigne and Thomas Blumenthal had some small acting experience.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: Principal photography took place on location at the Château de Ravel in Puy-de-Dôme. Foam and salt were used as artificial snow and green leaves were removed from the grounds, since the beginning of the movie was filmed in the summer, but set in the winter. Fog machines were also used around the castle, and walls were deliberately scorched and stripped of paint to give the surroundings a "dilapidated" look, since boarding schools at the time often suffered from poor funding and management. When filming his first scene in which his character Mondain tries to intimidate Clément Mathieu, Gatignol had trouble behaving menacingly towards Jugnot, who described him as "too nice". For the scene in which Morhange drops ink on Mathieu's head, gouache was used. During choir scenes, song lyrics were written on large cue cards and the classroom's blackboard to aid actors. The children who played the choir described how their singing improved through the duration of the shoot; Nicolas Porte, the choirmaster of Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc, said that this "means that the story we tell is credible". Bruno Coulais, the composer of the film's score, said that the children "are passionate about music", which is "some kind of escape to them".


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The soundtrack for "The Chorus" was released on 3 May 2004 by Warner Bros. Records, and subsequently by Nonesuch Records in 2005 and Varèse Sarabande in 2012. It features the film's original score, which was composed by Bruno Coulais and performed by the Bulgarian Symphony Orchestra (conducted by Deyan Pavlov) and the choir Les Petits Chanteurs de Saint-Marc. The album's 2012 release added five additional tracks, most of which are the orchestral backing tracks of other songs. Filmtracks summed it up by saying "for enthusiasts of boys' choirs and heartwarming, sentimental choral performances in general, "The Chorus" translates into a strong, albeit repetitive album." The soundtrack topped the albums chart in France for 11 weeks and reached number three in Belgium, before its United States release in early 2005. Around the same time, the live album "Les Choristes en concert" was released on both CD and DVD.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: In the United States, the film was shown at multiple film festivals—including the Chicago International Film Festival, the Austin Film Festival, and the Heartland Film Festival—before opening in New York City and Los Angeles on 14 January 2005.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: The film had a worldwide gross of $83,580,890 including $3,635,164 in the United States and Canada, $2,062,908 in the United Kingdom and $48,765,590 in its native France. It ranked 72 on the list of the highest-grossing films of 2005 worldwide, and 195 in the US and Canada.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: "The Chorus" was released on DVD in France (as Les Choristes) on 27 October 2004 by Pathé. On 3 May 2005, Lionsgate released the film on DVD in the United States as "The Chorus"; on the same day, it was released by Alliance Films in Canada. On 11 July 2005, Pathé released a version with English subtitles in the United Kingdom.


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: "The Chorus" received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 69% "Fresh" rating, based on 109 reviews, and an average rating of 6.50/10, indicating that most reviewed it positively, and summarises that "While predictable, this low-key heartwarmer manages to be uplifting without overdoing the sentiment." On Metacritic, the film holds an average score of 56 out of 100 based on 32 critics' reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Peter Howell of the "Toronto Star" commended the film's "credible acting and outstanding score", saying they allowed it to "[rise] above feelgood status". The BBC's Matthew Leyland said "even though all the notes are predictable, the film hits them with a wit, warmth and gusto." Many critics felt that the film's format was predictable, and it was widely compared to other films about inspirational teachers, such as "Dead Poets Society", "Goodbye, Mr. Chips" and "Mr. Holland's Opus"; "The Salt Lake Tribune" commented "if you've seen one inspirational-teacher melodrama ... you've seen this one, too" and criticised the movie's "one-note characters" and "plodding predictability". Of the title characters, critic Roger Ebert said: "Their influence will forever change the lives of their students, and we can see that coming from the opening frame", and that "The Chorus" "should have added something new and unexpected". Ebert also commented that "This feels more like a Hollywood wannabe than a French film."


title: The Chorus (2004 film)

text: At the 77th Academy Awards, "The Chorus" was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Original Song (the latter for "Vois sur ton chemin", listed as "Look to Your Path"). At the 58th British Academy Film Awards, the film was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay (Christophe Barratier, Philippe Lopes-Curval) and Best Film Not in the English Language, and Bruno Coulais' score was nominated for Best Film Music. The film was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 62nd Golden Globe Awards. The 26th Young Artist Awards saw Jean-Baptiste Maunier nominated for Best Performance in an International Feature Film – Leading Young Performer, as well as "The Chorus" itself for Best International Feature Film. In France, the film won Best Sound (Nicolas Cantin, Nicolas Naegelen, Daniel Sobrino) and its score won Best Music Written for a Film at the 30th César Awards, where "The Chorus" received a further six nominations: Best Actor (Gérard Jugnot), Best Debut (Christophe Barratier), Best Director (Christophe Barratier), Best Film, Best Production Design (François Chauvaud) and Best Supporting Actor (François Berléand). In 2004, Bruno Coulais won the European Film Award for Best Composer; Gérad Jugnot was also nominated for Best Actor, and "The Chorus" for Best Film. The film later received the Lumières Award for Best Film in 2005, as well as London's Favourite French Film award in 2007.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: At the beginning of February 2022, a dispute pertaining to school uniforms was reported in the Indian state of Karnataka, when some Muslim students of a junior college who wanted to wear hijab to classes were denied entry on the grounds that it was a violation of the college's uniform policy which was also followed by the other religion students as well. Over the following weeks, the dispute spread to other schools and colleges across the state, with groups of Hindu students staging counter-protests by demanding to wear saffron scarves. On 5 February, the Karnataka government issued an order stating that uniforms must be worn compulsorily where policies exist and no exception can be made for the wearing of the hijab. Several educational institutions cited this order and denied entry to Muslim girls wearing the hijab.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Petitions were filed in the Karnataka High Court on behalf of the aggrieved students. On 10 February, the High Court issued an interim order restraining all students from wearing any form of religious attire. The order was implemented in all schools and colleges across Karnataka, with students, and in some cases teachers, being asked to remove hijabs and burqas outside the school gates. After a hearing of about 23 hours spread over 11 days, the court delivered its verdict on 15 March 2022, upholding the restrictions on hijab. The court ruled that the hijab is not an essential religious practice in Islam. Y-category security has been provided to the Karnataka High Court judges who delivered the hijab verdict, and two people were arrested for making threatening speeches.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The implementation of dress codes by educational institutes, banning the hijab, was criticised inside India and abroad by officials in countries including the United States and Pakistan, by Human Rights Watch, and by figures like Malala Yousafzai. The ban was defended by politicians such as Arif Mohammad Khan, Aaditya Thackeray, Vishva Hindu Parishad and activist Taslima Nasreen.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The education system of Karnataka involves 10 years of school and two years of pre-university college ("PU college"). Using powers conferred under the 'Karnataka Education Act, 1983', Sec. 145(1), the Government of Karnataka empowered recognised educational institutions to decide on uniforms for their students. For school students, uniforms are mandated by the state government and schools can choose the colours. For PU colleges, uniforms were not mandated by the government, but, over time, most college development committees (CDCs) adopted them, according to a PU department official. In 2017, the department issued a direction to all PU colleges saying that PU students should not be asked to wear uniforms. College managements that already had uniforms questioned the direction saying that the students and parents were happy with them. The direction was still found on the PU Education Department website in February 2022, but it does not appear to have been enforced.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Muslims constitute 13 per cent of the population of the state of Karnataka. Muslim women in the state are accessing public education in ever-increasing numbers. Data shows that the Gross Attendance Ratio of Muslim women in higher education rose from about 1 per cent in 2007–08 to a high of about 16 per cent in 2017–18. Many Muslim women consider hijab to be a part of the Islamic faith. In India, the public display of religious symbols is common, including the wearing of hijab and burqa. PEW reports that in Karnataka 71% of Muslim women and 42% of Hindu women cover their heads outside the home (in India, 89% of Muslim women and 59% of Hindu women cover their heads outside the home). Several colleges in Karnataka reported that a small number of Muslim students have "always" worn the hijab in classroom. M Raghupathy, who was Karnataka's education minister in a Janata Party government in the 1980s, said that the government's uniform mandates had allowed both the hijab and the Christian nun's habit. He said that the Bharatiya Janata Party had not objected to the hijab back then.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: According to the BBC, the coastal belt of Karnataka has seen protests over hijab in the past but such issues were often quickly resolved. Not all cases were easy, however. A second-year PU student at Moodabidri was disallowed from attending classes for an entire year in 2011–12 due to her insistence on wearing a hijab. There have also been instances of Hindu students protesting with saffron scarves to oppose Muslim students being allowed with hijab or burqa in classes. The Muslim women were said to have been anxious that their parents would not allow them to go to college without their religious clothing.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada and Udupi have seen sectarian polarisation over the decades with the rise of Hindu nationalism, represented by organisations like Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagarana Vedike, Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Akhila Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), and a parallel mobilisation of the Muslim community by the Popular Front of India (PFI) and its affiliates Campus Front of India (CFI) and the Social Democratic Party of India. The PFI, CFI and seven other associated outfits were banned by the Government of India for unlawful activities in September 2022.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Since 2019, Karnataka has been governed by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). It has adopted popular Hindu nationalist policies such as banning cow slaughter and passing an "anti-conversion bill" which prohibits conversion from one religion to another by misrepresentation, force, fraud, allurement or marriage. Because the bill prohibits conversion for the sake of marriage, critics fear that the bill makes it difficult for interfaith couples to marry or for individuals to convert to Christianity or Islam.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: In early January 2022, a dispute over the wearing of the hijab was reported at a government-run Pre-University College for Girls at Udupi that had disallowed the wearing of hijab as being in violation of its uniform policy. Six Muslim female students insisted on wearing hijab to classes on top of their college uniform, arguing that hijab was part of their faith, and their constitutional right. The college said its uniform policy did not allow for the hijab. The girls offered to use the existing uniform's dupatta to cover their head, arguing they didn't need to wear a separate hijab of a different colour or material, but the college refused. The college allowed them to wear the hijab on campus, but did not allow them into classes. They were found sitting in corridors and working with their notebooks.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The case was brought to the attention of the media by Ansar Ahmed, the district president of "Karnataka Rakshana Vedike", a voluntary organisation. Campus Front of India (CFI), the student wing of the radical Islamic organisation Popular Front of India (PFI), threatened a protest, prompting the college to arrange a police presence. The political wing of the PFI, the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), is also said to have threatened protests. The college authorities met and talked with the parents but remained firm in their resolution not to allow religious attire.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: What caused the students' change of mind on the hijab issue is uncertain. They admit to having attended the first year of class as per the college's no-hijab policy. They went to campus in burqas and removed them in a "ladies' room" before going to classes. One of the students also said that the parents were told about this when they joined the college in 2020. Others were doubtful. When the classes moved online due to Covid, the issue died down. With the on-campus classes resuming in September 2021, some of the students asked for permission to wear the hijab, which was denied on the grounds that everyone must wear a "common uniform". In October 2021, two of them took part in an anti-rape protest and a photograph of the event was circulated. This brought their situation into focus to their parents as well as the CFI. An investigation by the Udupi Police reported that CFI had approached the parents and offered help to challenge the college management. According to one of the students, the agreement "mentioned a compulsory uniform and said nothing about a hijab". So, the six students and their parents decided to insist upon hijab.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: According to the federated Muslim organisation "Muslim Okkoota" that is active in the district, PFI and its allied organisations used the students "for their benefit".


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The students' hijab protest seemed to be a ploy for the political wing (SDPI) to strengthen its support base. Some of the protesting parents and relatives are active members of SDPI and other PFI affiliates. The SDPI had just won six seats in the local body elections, which was termed a major triumph. "Muslim Okkoota" claims to have tried to resolve the dispute locally by talking to the college authorities, the parents and the CFI, but the CFI chose to publicise the issue by circulating photographs of students stranded outside classes, provoking the college and the BJP leaders to harden their stand. By the end of December, "nobody was in the mood for a compromise".


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The college development committee, which is responsible for setting the uniform policy, was headed by K. Raghupati Bhat, an MLA belonging to the ruling BJP. Its 21 members did not include any Muslims. After the dispute erupted, Bhat held a meeting with parents of all students on 1 January and declared that the college would continue with its uniform code, which does not allow for hijab. The CFI and SDPI took the position that, since uniforms were not mandated by the government, they could not violate the students' religious rights. Bhat wrote to the Pre-University Education Department of the state government to clarify the matter. Thus, the matter was escalated to the state government level.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Soon after the Udupi episode became public, groups of Hindu students started coming to their colleges wearing saffron scarves to protest against Muslim students being allowed with hijabs. A leader of the Hindu Jagarana Vedike, an affiliate of the Sangh Parivar, declared, "if girls are allowed to wear hijab then other students will come with saffron shawls to institutions across Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts."


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: A co-educational first-grade college in Koppa tehsil in the Chikmagalur district, was the first to witness this development when some students wore saffron scarves and demanded that the dress code be enforced. The college asked the Muslim students to remove hijab in classrooms to deflect the crisis. The matter was resolved a few days later at a parent-teacher meeting where it was decided to allow Muslim girls to wear the hijab as long as they did not pin the headcover or tie them around their head. The parents of the Hindu students did not support their wards' demand to don saffron scarves. On 6 January, Hindu students at Pompei College in Mangalore wore saffron shawls to protest against the hijab, and were supported by the Hindu nationalist organizations ABVP, VHP and Bajrang Dal.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The saffron protests gained momentum in February, being seen at the Governrment PU college in Kundapura (2 February),


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Bhandarkars' Arts & Science College in the same town (3 February), and Dr BB Hegde College near Udupi (3 February). At the last location, the saffron protesters successfully blocked the hijab-wearing Muslim students from entering the college.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The ministers of Bharatiya Janata Party-led Karnataka government reacted to the incidents with apparent distaste. The education minister B. C. Nagesh termed it as an "act of indiscipline". The students could not practise their "religion" in public educational institutions, in his view. The uniform had been present for over three decades and there had been no problem with it till this point, he said. He blamed "political leaders", an apparent reference to the PFI, for provoking the students, who were allegedly "playing politics". Home Minister Araga Jnanendra said that there must be a universal feeling in schools and colleges that "we are all Indians", which required that the uniform code set by colleges be followed.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: On 27 January, the government announced the setting up of an expert committee to study the issue. Until its decision was made, the government urged the students to maintain the "status quo". For the Udupi PU College students, the "status quo" apparently meant that they should "adhere to the uniform rule". The government issued an order to this effect. The CDC chairman Raghupati Bhat called a meeting with parents and told them that the students should remove the hijab in the classroom.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: On either 3 February or 4 February, the government issued an order stating that the uniforms mandated by the state government, the school managements or college development committees must be worn compulsorily. Students following religious tenents adversely impacted "equality and unity" in colleges, according to the order. The preamble stated that a ban on hijab was not illegal, and cited three court orders from Kerala, Bombay and Madras High Courts.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: For those colleges where the college development committees did not mandate a uniform, the students must still wear attire that maintains "equality and unity and doesn't hamper public order".


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The education minister B. C. Nagesh made a statement declaring, "those who want to defy the government's school uniform regulations cannot enter their schools and attend classes".


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The impact of the government order was instantaneous. Even before the order became public, the knowledge about it reached the coastal districts by 3 February and started getting implemented. Even colleges that had customarily allowed hijab in classes now felt compelled to disallow them. In many cases, Hindu students forced the issue by insisting that if the hijab was allowed in classes, they should also be allowed to wear saffron scarves.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: In Kundapura, 28 students wearing hijab were barred from entering the Government PU College premises on 3 February. Hindu students had apparently come in saffron scarves the previous day, and the minister B. C. Nagesh informed the college that students could come to classes in only uniforms and neither hijab nor saffron scarves would be allowed.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The students were very anxious because their public exams were just two months away. "The Telegraph" commented that their "tearful pleas fell on deaf ears".


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: At Bhandarkars' Arts & Science College, a private college in Kundapura, 40 students were barred from entering the premises the following day. The students pointed to the college rulebook, which permitted the wearing of the hijab.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: At the Dr BB Hegde College, where the hijab-wearing students were blocked by saffron protesters the previous day, the college administration banned the hijab on 4 February, citing the government order. The students had apparently been wearing hijab for three years at the school without issue.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: On 8 February, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial College prevented students in hijab from entering, even though multiple students said the college had not objected to her hijab in the past.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The dispute then began to spread to other institutions across Karnataka, between Muslim students who wanted to wear hijab and the administrations barring them. The controversy intensified in early February 2022. Between 4 and 7 February, counter-protests led by students who were against allowing students wearing the hijab to enter the college. These students marched to the college wearing saffron shawls. However, authorities stopped them from entering the premises and asked the students to remove the shawls. The students were allowed in only after they complied with the request. On 7 February, some students wore blue shawls and chanted "Jai Bhim" at a college in Chikmagalur in "support" of Muslim girls in hijab (as opposed to the saffron shawls that were against the wearing of hijab).


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: On 8 February, the Government of Karnataka announced the closure of high schools and colleges for three days, after the controversy over the wearing of hijab by Muslim students intensified. The Bangalore Police prohibited protests and agitations from 9 February until 22 February within the vicinity of any educational institution. Two Muslim men were arrested for allegedly carrying lethal weapons during a protest that was being held near a college in Udipi district. According to police officials, three others managed to flee.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: On 10 February, a lone Muslim woman, named Muskan Khan, clad in a burqa was heckled on her college grounds in Mandya by a crowd of male Hindu students wearing saffron shawls and chanting "Jai Shri Ram". She responded back shouting "Allahu Akbar", while the college staff controlled the crowd and escorted her into the building. A video of the incident went viral. The treatment of Muskan Khan was condemned by many notable figures, including by actors John Cusack, Pooja Bhatt, Fakhre Alam, and footballer Paul Pogba.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Several students from the Udupi PU college filed a writ petition in the Karnataka High Court on 31 January. The petition sought the wearing of hijab to be recognised as a fundamental right under Article 14 and Article 25 of the Indian constitution as it is an essential Islamic practice. The Campus Front of India said it provided them legal advice. The petition also argued that singling out the petitioner solely on the basis of wearing hijab is against "constitutional morality". The petition was argued by senior advocate Ravivarma Kumar and other lawyers.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: A second petition was filed by a student from Kundapura (referred to as "Smt Rasham") around 4 February, seeking a directive to permit Muslim students to wear hijab to classes. The petitioner was represented by senior advocate Davadatt Kamat. Two students from the Bhandarkar's arts and science college in Kundapura also filed a petition, who were represented by senior advocate Yusuf Muchhala.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Hearings began on 8 February, with Justice Krishna S. Dixit presiding. After hearing the initial arguments, the judge concluded that the chief issue was whether wearing hijab is an essential religious practice, and, if it is so, why the state should interfere in the matter. The judge decided that, given its public importance, the case should be heard by a "full bench" (consisting of three judges). A full bench consisting of the Chief Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi, Justice Dixit and Justice Khazi Jaibunnisa Mohiuddin was constituted the next day. By this stage, there were said to be five petitions representing 18 students in front of the court. Hearings resumed on 10 February.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The three-judge bench passed an interim order on 11 February. It requested the State to re-open the educational institutions and restrained students from wearing any sort of religious clothes in classrooms until the court decided the matter. Following the order few people from a Muslim organization Tamil Nadu Thowheed Jamaat threatened the judges citing an incidence of Dhanbad judge who died in accident. The accused were arrested and the judges were given Y category security.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: During the hearings on 14–15 February (Days 3 and 4), the students' lawyer, Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat argued that the Muslim women's right to wear the hijab is protected by the Article 25(1) of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of conscience and the right to practise one's religion. He asserted that wearing the hijab is an 'essential religious practice' as per Islamic scriptures including the Quran. These rights are subject only to concerns regarding public order, morality and health. He argued that for a practice to violate public order, it must be 'abhorrent by itself' and must cause 'disturbance to society'. Wearing the hijab is neither of such and so does not violate public order. When the bench questioned whether every verse of Quran should be treated as an Essential Religious Practice, Adv. Kamat replied that this isn't the matter in front of the court and hence should not appear for consideration before the court. Senior advocate Ravivarma Kumar also claimed that, by choosing to ban the hijab, the government was selectively targeting Muslim students. This amounted to religious discrimination as per Article 15(1) of the Indian constitution. He argued that the goal of education was to promote plurality, not uniformity, and the classroom should be a reflection of the diversity in society.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The Advocate general (AG) of the state, Prabhuling Navadgi, on 21–22 February (Days 8 and 9), challenged the petitioners by stating that only 'essential religious practices' are protected by Article 25. He claimed that the petitioners failed to prove that wearing of hijab is an essential practice. Further, by claiming it to be an essential practice, they were trying to bind every Muslim woman to the dress code consisting of hijab. Citing the Supreme Court decision in the "Ismail Farooqui" case, the AG asserted that an essential religious practice must be obligatory. Optional practices do not fall under the ambit of essential religious practices and do not merit constitutional protection. The AG asserted that the petitioners' claim to protection under Article 19(1) of the Indian constitution (right to freedom of expression) and the claim under Article 25(1) are "mutually destructive" (contradictory). The AG and other lawyers representing the state, CDC, MLA, teachers etc., backed these assertions by stating that the right to freedom of expression is 'forum internum' and applied to inner convictions and inner thoughts, while the right to practice religion is 'forum externum' and applies to the outwardly expression/manifestation of one's faith or practice. They also stated that these rights are subject to reasonable restrictions.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Devadatt Kamat assailed the Government Order of February 2022 during the Day 3 hearing. He stated that the order relied on three former High Court judgements to argue in favour of dress codes, but none of them applied to the present case. Senior Advocate Yusuf Mucchala, appearing on behalf of a Muslim student, stated that the Government Order was "manifestly arbitrary". It violated the Article 14 of the Indian constitution as well as the principle of fairness since the Muslim students were not allowed to be heard. Barring students from wearing hijab due to objections from other students was blatantly partisan.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The Advocate General of the state defended the Government Order by stating that it did not in fact ban hijab, it was merely a "suggestion". After the resistance from the Muslim students at the Udupi PU College, its college development committee referred the issue to the states PU Department. The government formed a "high-level committee" to study the issue and issued the order, giving autonomy to college development committees to prescribe uniforms. The order itself did not prescribe uniforms and was, therefore "innocuous". It neither prescribed nor proscribed the hijab. Upon query from the Chief Justice as to why the order mentioned hijab at all, the AG responded that it was merely an "indication" to the college authorities. The CJ probed further by asking the AG whether the government would have any objections to the hijab being worn in classrooms if they are permitted by the college. The AG replied that the state would be okay with it and that it would only intervene if grievances were raised under section 131 of the Karnataka Education Act.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: In his rejoinder, Devadatt Kamat alleged that the AG had given up ninety per cent of the Government Order in his arguments, thus effectively rendering the order inoperative, and that consequently, there was no need for further discussion on whether the wearing of the hijab was an essential religious practice.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: During the hearing on 16 February (Day 5), the senior advocate of the petitioners, Ravivarma Kumar, challenged the legality of the college development committees, which are said to have been empowered to decide on uniforms. He claimed that the CDCs were not recognised by either the Karnataka Education Act or the Rules issued under it. He also questioned the propriety of the CDCs being chaired by MLAs, who are subject to a political party and ideology. He contended that MLAs (legislators) could not be given executive functions.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The Advocate General of the state responded to the criticisms during the hearing on 18 February (Day 7). He said that CDC consisted of the local MLA as the President, a person appointed by them as the vice-president, and representatives of parents and students as well as the college principal and the lecturers' representatives. He said that the CDCs were constituted under directions given by the state government per section 133(2) of the Karnataka Education Act. He also contended that MLAs could perform executive functions under the Westminster form of governance.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The Advocate General of the state stated in the Day 7 hearing that the Udupi PU College had a dress code prescribed in 2013, and uniform had been the norm at the institution since its founding in 1985.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Senior Advocate S. Naganand, arguing for the PU college, asserted that the college had decided in 2004 to make uniforms compulsory. The government had left it to the colleges to decide uniforms and there was no problem with them for 20 years. Naganand claimed that the wearing of the hijab was a "cultural" practice, not a religious practice. He stressed that educational institutions had the power to impose dress codes to maintain discipline and that they were exercising "parental powers" in doing so. He said that a parent delegates their parental responsibility to the teacher or the institution when they send their child there (In loco parentis).


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The advocate for the teachers of the Government PU College, R. Venkataramani, argued that the practice of wearing hijab violates 'public order' under Article 25(1), and when a religious practice violates the restrictions under Article 25(1) (public order, morality and health), checking if a practice is essential is not necessary, since the question of essentiality applies only when interpreting Article 25(2). Senior Advocate Sajan Poovayya, appearing on behalf of educational institutions, cited the Article 28 of the Indian constitution to assert that education was a secular activity and no religious instruction was to be provided in schools. Even if the wearing of the hijab was an essential religious practice, authorities must ensure that no religious symbols be allowed into schools.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The Karnataka High Court upheld the ban on hijab by the educational institutes on 15 March 2022. The court ruled that hijab is not an essential religious practice under Islam and, hence, is not protected by the Article 25 of the Constitution setting out the fundamental right to practice one's religion.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The High Court carried out its own investigation by consulting "The Holy Quran: Text, Translation and Commentary" by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, which was previously used by the Supreme Court of India in the Shayara Bano case. Ali's commentary held that the Quran recommended hijab only to address the cases of "molestation of innocent women" during the time of "Jahiliya" (times of pre-Islamic "ignorance" prior to Islam) as a measure of social security; it was not a religious practice and much less essential to the Islamic faith. Y-category security has been provided to the Karnataka High Court judges who delivered the hijab verdict and two people were arrested for threat speeches.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: The Supreme Court of India rejected the petitions demanding an urgent hearing of the case. Advocates requested the court to urgently hear the case so that the girls can appear in the school exams to prevent the loss progress made over the previous year. These requests were rejected by the Chief Justice of India, N. V. Ramana, who stated that the exams had nothing to do with this matter and this issue must not be sensationalized. On 26 April, CJI Ramana assured that the pleas challenging the verdict of the High Court would be listed for hearing in the Supreme Court.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: A two-judge panel returned a split decision in October: one judge, Hemant Gupta, upheld the Karnataka High Court ruling, while the other, Sudhanshu Dhulia, found it had ruled in error. The judges requested the Chief Justice to refer the matter to a larger bench.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Parallel to the protests, there have been several instances of violence. Allegedly, these were a result of the victims' social media posts against allowing the hijab in colleges. Dilip, a shopkeeper in Davanagere, was attacked by a mob who dragged him out of his shop where he was attacked and stabbed. A man Naveen and his mother Sarojamma were also attacked in the village of Nallur, by an angry mob of around 300 masked people bearing deadly weapons. Both were alleged by the victims families to be a result of posting an anti hijab status on WhatsApp.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: On 21 February, a Bajrang Dal member who took part in the anti-hijab protests of Hindu students was found murdered in the Shivamogga district. According to the police, the incident may have been a result of his prior involvement in at least five assault cases and attempt to murder that had religious overtones. Investigations are ongoing. The Home Minister said that no connection had yet been found between the protests and the murder. A fatwa was issued against him earlier in 2015 by a Facebook group named ‘Mangalore Muslims’. Stones were pelted at his funeral procession, which injured 3 people when the procession reached Siddiah Road. A photojournalist, two bystanders and a policeman were also injured. Some vehicles were also set on fire, and more than 20 were damaged. The crowd retaliated torching vehicles, tyres, stoned many commercial establishments and houses belonging to the Muslim community. Local journalists claimed that they were attacked and their cameras damaged by the mob. 3 arrests were made out of the suspected 5 involved in the murder.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Sections of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act were invoked by the police, and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is now probing the case.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: Hazra Shifa, one of the petitioners in the Karnataka High Court, alleged that her brother Saif was beaten up by a group of intoxicated people, who opposed the statements made by their father to a local news channel in support of the hijab. In her social media post, she alleged that the attackers were "Sangh Parivar goons".


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: After the High Court verdict which upheld the hijab ban in government schools, many women students were either turned away or did not appear for the class 10th and 12th board exams.


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: In August 2022, six months after the order banning hijab from government colleges, an RTI response revealed that 145 of 900 (16%) female Muslim students from government and aided colleges in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, which were at the centre of the hijab controversy, took transfer certificates. Some of these students took admission in a college where hijab was allowed, while others did not take admission anywhere due to inability to pay the college fees. The number of transfer certificates were higher in government colleges (34%) in comparison to aided colleges (8%).


title: 2022 Karnataka hijab row

text: A study published by human rights body People’s Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) reported that the move to ban hijab has widened the social divide and increased fear among Muslims in Karnataka.


title: Elfdalian

text: Elfdalian or Övdalian ( or , pronounced in Elfdalian, or in Swedish) is a North Germanic language spoken by up to 3,000 people who live or have grown up in the locality of Älvdalen (""), which is located in the southeastern part of Älvdalen Municipality in northern Dalarna, Sweden.


title: Elfdalian

text: Like all other modern North Germanic languages, Elfdalian developed from Old Norse, a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age until about 1300. It has developed in relative isolation since the Middle Ages and is considered to have remained closer to Old Norse than the other Dalecarlian dialects.


title: Elfdalian

text: Traditionally regarded as a Swedish dialect, but by several criteria closer to West Scandinavian dialects, Elfdalian is a separate language by the standard of mutual intelligibility. Although there is low mutual intelligibility between Swedish and Elfdalian, because education and public administration in Älvdalen are conducted in Swedish, native speakers are bilingual and speak Swedish at a native level. Residents in the area having Swedish as their sole native language, neither speaking nor understanding Elfdalian, are also common.


title: Elfdalian

text: Elfdalian belongs to the Northern branch/Upper Siljan branch of the Dalecarlian dialects or vernaculars, which in their turn evolved from Old Norse, from which Dalecarlian vernaculars might have split as early as in the eighth or ninth century, i.e., approximately when the North Germanic languages split into Western and Eastern branches.


title: Elfdalian

text: Elfdalian (and other Dalecarlian language varieties) is traditionally placed among the East Scandinavian languages, together with Swedish and Danish, based on a number of features that Elfdalian has in common with them. According to Lars Levander, some of the West Scandinavian features that simultaneously do occur in Elfdalian are archaic traits that once were common in many Scandinavian dialects and have been preserved in the most conservative tongues east and west of Kölen. However, this is rebutted by Kroonen.


title: Elfdalian

text: Elfdalian is comparable to Swedish and Norwegian in the number and the quality of vowels but also has nasal vowels. It has retained the Old Norse dental, velar and labial voiced fricatives. Alveolo-palatal affricate consonants occur in all (Swedish "", north of Siljan) dialects. The realization of is , an apical alveolar trill. Unlike many variants of Norwegian and Swedish, Elfdalian does not assimilate into retroflex consonants. The stress is generally on the first syllable of a word.


title: Elfdalian

text: Elfdalian has nasal versions of most vowels. They have several origins, belonging to different layers of history, but most involve the loss of a nasal consonant, with lengthening and nasalisation of a preceding vowel.


title: Elfdalian

text: Nasal vowels are quite rare in Nordic languages, and Elfdalian and a few other neighbouring Dalecarlian dialects are the only ones that preserve nasal vowels from Proto-Norse; all other Nordic dialects with nasal vowels have developed them later as a result of the loss of a nasal consonant: compare Kalix dialect hąt and gås with Elfdalian hand and gą̊s.


title: Elfdalian

text: In common with some other Dalecarlian vernaculars spoken north of Lake Siljan, Elfdalian retains numerous old grammatical and phonological features that have not changed considerably since Old Norse. Elfdalian is thus considered to be the most conservative and best preserved vernacular in the Dalecarlian branch. Having developed in relative isolation since the Middle Ages, many linguistic innovations also present occur.


title: Elfdalian

text: Elfdalian has a morphological structure inherited from its Old Norse ancestor. Verbs are conjugated according to person and number and nouns have four cases, like Modern Icelandic and German. The Old Norse three-gender system has been retained. Like the other North Germanic languages, nouns have definite and indefinite forms, rather than a separate definite article (as in English). The length of the root syllable plays a major role in the Elfdalian declensional and conjugational system. The declension of , "wolf" (long-syllabic, strong masculine noun) was as follows in what is sometimes called "Classic Elfdalian" (as described by Levander 1909):


title: Elfdalian

text: Many speakers retain the distinct dative case, which is used especially after prepositions and also certain verbs (such as , "help"). The distinction between nominative and accusative has been lost in full nouns, and the inherited genitive been replaced by new forms created by attaching to the dative (see Dahl & Koptjevskaja-Tamm 2005), a trend that was well underway even in Classic Elfdalian.


title: Elfdalian

text: Unlike other Swedish vernaculars, the syntax of Elfdalian was investigated in the early 20th century (Levander 1909). Although Elfdalian syntax has attracted increased attention, a majority of its syntactic elements are still unresearched. In May–June 2007, a group of linguists from the pan-Scandinavian NORMS network conducted fieldwork in Älvdalen especially aimed at investigating the syntactic properties of the language.


title: Elfdalian

text: Other syntactic properties are negative concord, stylistic inversion, long distance reflexives, verb controlled datives, agent-verb word order in coordinated clauses with deleted subjects, etc. Some of the properties are archaic features that existed in Old Swedish, but others are innovations, but none of them has been studied in any detail.


title: Elfdalian

text: In Älvdalen, Germanic runes survived in use longer than anywhere else. The last record of the Elfdalian Runes is from 1929; they are a variant of the Dalecarlian runes. Älvdalen can be said to have had its own alphabet during the 17th and 18th century.


title: Elfdalian

text: Due to the great phonetic differences between Swedish and Elfdalian, the use of Swedish orthography for Elfdalian has been unpredictable and varied, such as the one applied in the Prytz's play from 1622, which contains long passages in Elfdalian, or in the Elfdalian material published in the periodical "Skansvakten".


title: Elfdalian

text: A first attempt to create a separate Elfdalian orthography was made in 1999 by Bengt Åkerberg. Åkerberg's orthography was applied in some books and used in language courses and is based on Loka dialect and is highly phonetic. It has many diacritics (Sapir 2006).


title: Elfdalian

text: In March 2005, a uniform standard orthography for Elfdalian was presented by (lit. "Let us confer"), The Elfdalian Language Council, and accepted by ' (lit. "Let us speak Dalecarlian"), The Organization for the Preservation of Elfdalian. The new orthography has already been applied by Björn Rehnström in his book ' 'Three Bears from Älvdalen' published in 2007. Råðdjärum's orthography was also used in Bo Westling's translation of 's "The Little Prince", ".


title: Elfdalian

text: Other than the letters occurring in the Swedish alphabet, Elfdalian has letters with ogonek, denoting nasal vowels: Ąą, Ęę, Įį, Ųų, Y̨y̨ and Ą̊ą̊. Additionally, it uses the letter eth (, ) for the voiced dental fricative.


title: Elfdalian

text: As of 2009, Elfdalian had around 2,000 speakers and is in danger of language death. However, it is possible that it will receive an official status as a minority language in Sweden, which would entail numerous protections and encourage its use in schools and by writers and artists. The Swedish Parliament was due to address the issue in 2007, but apparently has not yet done so. The Council of Europe has urged the Swedish government to reconsider the status of Elfdalian on four occasions, most recently in October 2011. The Committee of Experts now encourages the Swedish authorities to investigate the status of Elfdalian through an independent scientific study. In 2020, the Committee of Experts concluded that Elfdalian fulfils the criteria of a Part II language, and asked the Swedish authorities to include reporting on Elfdalian in its next periodical report as the language covered by Part II of the Charter.


title: Elfdalian

text: ', The Organization for the Preservation of Elfdalian, was established in 1984 with the aim of preserving and documenting the Elfdalian language. In 2005, ' launched a process aimed at bringing about an official recognition of Elfdalian as a language by the Swedish authorities.


title: Elfdalian

text: ', The Elfdalian Language Committee was established in August 2004 within ', its first task being to create a new standard orthography for Elfdalian. In March 2005, the new orthography created by ' was accepted by the ' at their annual meeting. " consists of five permanent members: linguist Östen Dahl, dialectologist Gunnar Nyström, teacher Inga-Britt Petersson, linguist and coordinator of the committee Dr. Yair Sapir, and linguist Lars Steensland.


title: Elfdalian

text: As an initiative from "" to encourage children to speak Elfdalian, all school children in Älvdalen who finish the ninth grade and can prove that they can speak Elfdalian receive a 6,000 SEK stipend.


title: Elfdalian

text: In March 2016, Swedish Radio reported that the Älvdalen City Council had decided that, starting in autumn 2016, the local kindergarten would operate solely through the medium of Elfdalian.


title: Elfdalian

text: In 2015, a new genus "Elfdaliana" of deep-sea nudibranch molluscs was named after the Elfdalian language in reference to evolutionary basal characters of the new genus never before reported for the family, just as Elfdalian preserves ancestral features of Old Norse.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The Dalles is the largest city of Wasco County, Oregon, United States. The population was 16,010 at the 2020 census, and it is the largest city on the Oregon side of the Columbia River between the Portland Metropolitan Area, and Hermiston.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The site of what is now the city of The Dalles was a major Native American trading center. The general area is one of the continent's most significant archaeological regions. Lewis and Clark camped near Mill Creek on October 25–27, 1805, and recorded the Indian name for the creek as "Quenett".


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The name of the city comes from the French word "", meaning either "sluice", akin to English "dale" and German "T"["h"]"al", "valley", or "flagstone", referring to the columnar basalt rocks carved by the river (in "voyageur" French used to refer to rapids), which was used by the French-Canadian employees of the North West Company to refer to the rapids of the Columbia River between the present-day city and Celilo Falls. Also in the same area was the Petite Dalles or Little Dalles, or Short Narrows. In French, "Les dalles" means "the slabs". When a river flows over hard flat rocks, it becomes shallow, and rapids are created.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The first use of the name "Dalles", according to "Oregon Geographic Names," appears in fur trader Gabriel Franchère's "Narrative", on April 12, 1814, referring to the long series of major rapids in the river. Starting in the 1810s, Americans and Europeans passed by what became The Dalles, active in the North American fur trade as employees of either the American Pacific Fur Company (PFC) or the Canadian North West Company (NWC). Men like NWC officer David Thompson voyaged both down and up the Columbia, traveling through Celilo Falls. The War of 1812 led to the 1813 liquidation of the PFC, its properties like Fort Astoria sold to the North West Company.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1821 the North West Company was absorbed by the giant London-based Hudson's Bay Company (HBC). Fort Vancouver, built in 1824, replaced Fort Astoria as the regional fur trade headquarters. The HBC's trading network made extensive use of the Columbia River. The rapids of the Columbia River at The Dalles was the largest and longest of the four "great portages", where fur trading boats had to unload and transship their cargoes. Sometimes, during high water, boats traveling downriver would "shoot the rapids" instead of portaging, although the practice was dangerous and many people died as a result over the years.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1838 a branch of Jason Lee's Methodist Mission was established at Celilo Falls, named the Wascopam Mission, after the native Wasco Indians. In 1850 the U.S. Army founded a small post at the site of the old mission, being eventually named Fort Dalles. Fort Dalles became the nucleus of the town of The Dalles, which began to develop along the waterfront. In 1855, at the end of the Cayuse War, the Indians living near The Dalles were forcibly relocated by the U.S. Army to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In the early 1840s American settlers began to arrive in significant numbers, traveling overland via the Oregon Trail. The trail ended at The Dalles. It was not possible to take wagons farther west due to steep cliffs that fell straight into the Columbia River. Until the construction of the Barlow Road in 1846, the only way to reach Fort Vancouver and the Willamette Valley was by rafting down the river from The Dalles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: A post office was established within the boundaries of the current city in 1851, and The Dalles was incorporated as a city in 1857. It has been the major commercial center between Portland and Pendleton since. The city was originally named just "Dalles". In 1853 it was changed to "Wascopum," then, in 1860, to "The Dalles".


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1864, the U.S. Congress appropriated money to build a U.S. mint in The Dalles that was to use gold from Canyon City for coinage. The supply of gold from Canyon City began to dwindle, however, and other problems, such as cost overruns, workers leaving to work the gold fields, and flooding from the Columbia River, also contributed to the project running two years behind schedule and led eventually to its demise. In 1870, the State of Oregon received the property from the U.S. Government and the building was put to other uses. The mint is now home to Freebridge Brewing.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1963, Ken Kesey's novel "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" was published featuring the narrator, Chief, who is from The Dalles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1970, the Bonneville Power Administration opened the Celilo Converter Station near the northern terminus of the Pacific DC Intertie which sends 3,100 megawatts of electricity to Los Angeles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1982, a curly-coated kitten was born on a farm in The Dalles owned by Linda and Dick Koehl. The Koehls used this kitten and her offspring to develop a new breed of cat called the LaPerm, which went on to become a popular, established, championship pedigree cat breed around the world.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1984, The Dalles was the site of the first and single largest bioterrorism attack in United States history.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1986, "Penalty Phase", a film starring Peter Strauss and Melissa Gilbert, was filmed in and around The Dalles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 2018, Terry A. Davis, creator of the TempleOS operating system, walked from Portland, Oregon to The Dalles in three days via the Columbia River Gorge. There, he was struck by a train and died at the age of 48.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The Dalles is usually classified as a semiarid (Köppen "BSk") climate region. However, it has some characteristics of the midlatitude oceanic climate that dominates west of the Cascade Mountains, combined with seasonal precipitation patterns very similar to those found in Mediterranean climates. The city's location in the eastern Columbia Gorge results in the presence of numerous microclimates within a few miles of town. To the immediate west, the winters are significantly wetter, and summers are significantly cooler. In contrast, upland locations to the south are significantly cooler in all seasons. The generally warm and dry summers near town make it the ideal climate for the numerous Bing cherry orchards in the area.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The summer season runs from mid-June through early September and is quite warm by Pacific Northwest standards; however, summer weather often oscillates between intense heat waves and much cooler and windier periods. Except for the occasional sporadic thunderstorm, there is almost no summer rainfall.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: From late September through early November, the area experiences an abrupt autumn during which normal temperatures drop very rapidly and cloudy, wet weather quickly picks up. Prior to the sudden onset of the rainy season in mid- to late fall, there are often days with a very wide disparity between daytime and nighttime temperatures, sometimes exceeding . There is far less wind in the fall than in spring and early summer, though passing frontal systems can still bring quick bouts of strong wind.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: Winter is the wet season in The Dalles. Despite the rain shadow effect created by the Cascades, there is still enough precipitation most years to support relatively high soil moisture levels for most of the winter. This is a very similar pattern to what happens in classic Mediterranean climates – except that the temperatures are significantly colder. The area receives measurable snowfall virtually every year, but the snow totals fluctuate dramatically from one year to the next; some seasons see only one or two brief light snow events while others get major snowstorms and cumulative totals of or more. The most snowfall in a season has been between July 1949 and June 1950. Average winter temperatures are only about colder than in cities such as Portland and Seattle, and temperatures below are very rare, but not unheard of – historically occurring on three mornings out of every five winters, but only once since February 1996.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: As in the summer, winter temperatures can vary tremendously from one day to the next. During arctic air events the daytime high temperatures will generally be well below , while a strong subtropical push can raise temperatures into the 50s and low 60s F, even in January. It is quite common for relatively cold air to become trapped at low elevations due to an inversion above; depending on the temperature of the surface airmass, depth of the inversion layer, and temperatures above the inversion layer, this can result in snow, sleet, freezing rain or a very cold liquid rain.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: Springtime conditions generally run from late February through early June, during which time the overall trend gradually becomes warmer and drier and the landscape briefly turns lush and green. This is the windiest season of all, with a powerful west wind on most afternoons. During stormy periods in spring, conditions are usually cloudy and cool, while most sunny and calm days become intensely warm, especially from April onward. Springtime temperatures often vary more from one week to the next than they do from one month to the next.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The growing season is roughly 200 days long in a typical year, generally running from early April through most of October. However, the spring frost dates can range from mid-March to early May, and the fall frost dates can range from late September to mid-November.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: A weather station is located at nearby Columbia Gorge Regional Airport, also known as The Dalles Municipal Airport.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 2006, Google began building a major data center, known locally as Project 02, along the Columbia River in The Dalles, using the area's reliable hydroelectric power and the underutilized fiber optic capacity of the area. The new complex includes two buildings, each approximately the size of a football field, and two cooling plants, each four stories high. The project promised hundreds of jobs in the area, mainly in construction, with an additional 200 permanent positions expected later in 2006 although as of 2013 Google employed only 150 combined company employees and contractors in The Dalles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: As of 2012, the top 15 employers in The Dalles according to the Mid-Columbia Economic Development District report on "Largest Employers in Wasco County" are:


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The Dalles is home to Oregon School District 21. Originally 2 school districts; District 9 in the Chenoweth area and District 12 which included much of The Dalles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: District 21 includes 3 elementary schools: Colonel Wright Elementary, Chenoweth Elementary and Dry hallow Elementary. District 21 is also home to The Dalles Middle School and The Dalles High School.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: Columbia Lutheran School is a Christian elementary school of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod in The Dalles.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The Dalles is also home to the main campus of Columbia Gorge Community College which began in 1977 as Wasco Area Education Service District. It is a leading institution in renewable energy technology education and training.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 13,620 people, 5,472 households, and 3,441 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,903 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.9% White, 0.5% African American, 1.5% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 5.7% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 17.0% of the population.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: There were 5,472 households, of which 30.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.1% were married couples living together, 12.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 37.1% were non-families. 31.0% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40 and the average family size was 2.99.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The median age in the city was 39.7 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.3% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.1% were from 25 to 44; 25.8% were from 45 to 64; and 17.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 48.4% male and 51.6% female.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: As of the census of 2000, there were 12,156 people, 4,896 households, and 3,226 families residing in the city. The population density was 892.3/km. There were 5,227 housing units at an average density of 383.7/km. The racial makeup of the city was 87.8% White, 0.4% African American, 1.2% Native American, 1.0% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 6.2% from other races, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 10.5% of the population.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: There were 4,896 households, out of which 30.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.1% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.1% were non-families. 29.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.40, and the average family size was 2.94.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.8% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 25.7% from 25 to 44, 23.5% from 45 to 64, and 18.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: The median income for a household in the city was $35,430, and the median income for a family was $43,041. Males had a median income of $36,387 versus $22,583 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,511. About 9.0% of families and 12.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 8.6% of those age 65 or over.


title: The Dalles, Oregon

text: In 1984, The Dalles was the scene of a bioterrorist incident launched by members of the Rajneesh Movement in an attempt to gain control of the local government of Wasco County, which failed on Election Day. Salmonella placed in ten restaurants resulted in 751 cases of Salmonellosis. It was the first known bioterrorism attack of the 20th century in the United States. The circumstances of the attack are documented in an American Medical Association article (JAMA Vol 278, No 5, page 389, 6 Aug 1997).


title: Geoff Capes

text: Geoffrey Lewis Capes (born 23 August 1949) is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.


title: Geoff Capes

text: He represented England and Great Britain in field athletics, specialising in the shot put, an event in which he was twice Commonwealth champion, twice European indoor champion, and competed at three Olympic Games.


title: Geoff Capes

text: As a strongman, he twice won the title of World's Strongest Man, was World Muscle Power champion on two occasions, and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man.


title: Geoff Capes

text: As a Highland Games competitor he was six times world champion, first winning the title in Lagos in 1981, and held world records in numerous events. Following retirement from competitive sport he continued to be involved in strength athletics as a referee, event promoter and coach. He also ran a sportswear retail shop, and became renowned as a world-class breeder of birds. Capes stood and weighed at his peak condition.


title: Geoff Capes

text: Capes was born in 1949 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, the seventh of nine children. He was the seventh child of Eileen Capes, though the eldest of her three children by her third husband Bill Capes. Of his older siblings, the elder two were Braithwaites and the middle four Cannons. He grew up in the town and went to the local secondary school, George Farmer. He became a member of Holbeach Athletic Club where he was coached by Stuart Storey. He was a gifted sportsman, and represented Lincolnshire at basketball, football and cross-country. In addition he was a decent sprinter, running 23.7 s for the 200 m. Growing up on the Lincolnshire fens he had an early fascination with the natural world and cared for injured birds and animals from when he was a young boy. After school he worked as a coalman and an agricultural labourer, being able to load twenty tons of potatoes in twenty minutes. He joined Cambridgeshire Constabulary in 1970, and remained in the police for ten years.


title: Geoff Capes

text: Capes was a shot putter and represented his country over a span of 11 years, winning two Commonwealth Games and two Indoor European Championship titles. His first major competition was the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he finished fourth. In the next two games in 1974 and 1978 he took the gold medal. In this period he also became the European Indoor Champion in both 1974 and 1976. His first Olympic experience was in 1972 when he competed in Munich. The 21-year-old Capes did not make it past the qualifying round, but improved on this considerably four years later. Having thrown a personal best of 21.55 m on 28 May 1976 at Gateshead, he went into the 1976 Montreal Olympics as one of the favourites for the gold medal. He came second in his qualifying group but sixth overall in the final, the winner being Udo Beyer of East Germany. 1980 was the year that saw Capes throw the longest distance of his career: his 21.68 m (71 ft. 3.5 in.) in Cwmbran on 18 May 1980 being a new Commonwealth and British record. He went into the Olympics as the athlete with the best distance that year and once again a favourite for the title. However, he eventually placed fifth, the winner being Vladimir Kiselyov whose Olympic record of 21.35 m was well short of what Capes had achieved prior to the Games. Capes said his performance at the 1980 Moscow Olympics had left him "numbed with disappointment".


title: Geoff Capes

text: Capes is the most capped British male athlete of all time, receiving 67 International caps and earning 35 wins, not including a further 35 caps for England. He is a winner of 17 national titles, including being seven times a winner of the AAA championship and three times UK champion. In 1983 he was voted Britain's best-ever field athlete. Capes' 1980 British record still stands. In 2003 Carl Myerscough threw further but the distance was not ratified.


title: Geoff Capes

text: As a strongman, Capes became a household name in Britain and many parts of the world. He was particularly known for his incredible hand and arm strength, easily tearing London telephone directories in half and bending rolled steel bars measuring over 1 inch in diameter, and three feet in length. Capes turned fully professional in 1980, the Olympics in Moscow being his last event as an amateur athlete. He had already begun to make a name as a strongman having won the inaugural Britain's Strongest Man in 1979. In that competition he beat Bill Anderson, the World Highland Games champion into second place. Bill went on to the 1979 World's Strongest Man, the first Briton to compete in this tournament, whilst Capes concentrated on his athletic career. In 1980 the Olympics dominated the year and Capes did not compete in Britain's Strongest Man, but he did compete later in the Europe's Strongest Man competition and won that. This ensured his invitation to the 1980 World's Strongest Man and on his first entry he came third behind the by then more experienced Bill Kazmaier and Lars Hedlund. In 1981 he returned and improved to second place, again behind Kazmaier, and in 1982 he came fourth. The 1983 contest was the first held outside the United States and in Christchurch, New Zealand he held off the challenge of a world class field including the young Jón Páll Sigmarsson and to take the first of two World's Strongest Man titles. The Christchurch hosted tournament also had the Canadian world powerlifting champion, Tom Magee, and the European powerlifting champion, Siem Wulfse, competing. But it was the duel between Sigmarsson and Capes that heralded the beginning of a great rivalry. The following year in Mora, Sweden, Sigmarsson, eleven years Capes' junior, took the title proclaiming "The King has lost his crown!". Capes retorted "I'll be back" and the following year won the title in Cascais, his closing remark being "The King has not lost his crown". Sigmarsson won once again in 1986 with Capes coming second.


title: Geoff Capes

text: Aside from the World's Strongest Man, Capes also won Europe's Strongest Man on three occasions, in London (1980), Amsterdam (1982) and Marken (1984). He regained his Britain's Strongest Man title in 1981 and again in 1983. He won the World Muscle Power championship in 1987, and has been ascribed two World Muscle Power championships by the creator of the event, David Webster, although other sources suggest the 1987 victory was the only one. In 1987 his win in the World Muscle Power was accompanied by a win in the World Strongman Challenge and he is one of only three athletes to have won all three titles. There was no World's Strongest Man that year, but an event was held designed specifically to pit the three most successful strongmen against one another. Called the Pure Strength, the Ultimate Challenge, it featured Bill Kazmaier, Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Geoff Capes. The event was held at Huntly Castle and Capes entered despite having been in hospital the previous weekend with strained trapeziums. Strong performances in the first few rounds belied his condition but he eventually pulled out during the log-lift and ended the contest in third place. Capes, the oldest of the three, was close to strongman retirement at this stage and the next year, the World Muscle Power where he finished second, proved to be his last major outing as a strongman.